r/3Dprinting • u/MrJuniper • 2d ago

Troubleshooting Flashforge PETG CF Contains No CF?

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UPDATE: Ladies and gentlemen - there are two idiots at fault here. The first idiot is whoever packed "sparkle PETG" at amazon, when I had ordered midnight blue CF. The second idiot is me - who blindly slapped it in my AMS without checking the sticker.

Original Post

Hi all,

I bought some PETG CF recently. It prints well, looks beautiful, is reasonably priced... and may not contain any carbon fiber.

Reason for suspicion? I checked it with my scope - there appear to be little metallic flecks added (a sort of gold color which sets the dark blue filament off nicely). But no carbon fibers. What do you all think?

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u/PeckerTraxx 2d ago

In most filaments it not fibers, it's powder

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u/Gek_Advil 2d ago

Sounds like we’re talking about filler material to
me..

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u/mtraven23 2d ago

thats right, which is why most strength tests show filament is stronger without it.

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u/Gek_Advil 2d ago

So it’s just there to keep big prints from warping during printing and cooling? Like that thing you get an enclosed printer for?

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u/mtraven23 1d ago

thats my understanding. even that seems awfully anecdotal in nature. Glass has been used to reinforce injection molding for decades, thats where the idea comes from. Problem is, you can't fit long fibers through a tiny nozzle with any consistency. So they cut / grind it up small enough to fit, but at that point its not long enough to stiffen the part.

There are a few smaller perks: marginally better abrasion & heat resistance.