After a few weeks in storage, I finally tested a beautiful Blue Panchroma CoPE filament. The color itself is stunning and the prints quality is excellent, but the main issue is its extremely strong adhesion. Unfortunately, this caused some damage to my PEI sheet. Worse still, it managed to clog the nozzle on my Bumble Lab printer, and I ultimately lost a nozzle because of this filament. Handle it with care. I imagine it’s a matter of proper calibration, but I don’t think the filament’s beauty justifies the cost of replacing a print plate and a nozzle.
After trying to resolve the issue and doing some research online, I found that this is actually quite common with this type of filament. It’s not a true PLA, but rather a copolyester-based material, which makes it difficult to remove from a PEI sheet. I guess I should’ve read the forums before trying it out—but hey, lesson learned.
Hello all,
My filament reseller issued the same warning and gave some advice:
- no textured PEI, I used the smooth PEI (H2D)
- use a glue (I used Magigoo)
I downloaded the provided profile from Polymaker and used the recommended settings otherwise.
Results: very good, speed increase noticeable.
Downside: some residue on the hotend, more than any other filament I’ve used so far, brass brush welcome 
Overall I’d say it’s usable, but be aware of these restrictions. Price wise it was ok (15 EUR / 1kg), no RFID, colour choice quite good.
Also, forgot to mention, it doesn’t adhere at all to Basic PLA, so I’ve used some as support material, works great (dual nozzle setup).
What do you mean it’s not true PLA? It is not PLA at all.
“it doesn’t adhere at all to Basic PLA”
You scared me because I want to use it for support material, but if it doesn’t adhere at all to PLA, then it wouldn’t work.
No. That’s exactly what you want as a support material.
I use PLA as a support for PETG because it doesn’t stick at all. Lets you set the support interface distance to zero. You get supported surfaces that are closer to the quality you’d get printing on the build plate.
200% agree, in that case the Panchroma behaves like PETG with PLA, that’s a winning combination!
That’s correct, but you should be careful to use it only on the upper part of the supports. This filament adheres very strongly to rough surfaces such as the PEI plate and may cause damage. Don’t use it for brims or rafts.
If it does not ahere “at all” (as was stated) it will be no use as a support interface filament. It would be like trying to build a block tower on ice.
PETG and PLA do not stick at all, yet they are universally recognized as suitable support filaments for each other.
I’m guessing you haven’t actually used a dedicated support filament or you’d know “doesn’t stick” is the correct/desired characteristic.
There’s probably some minimal adhesion when the plastic is extruded hot. But once it cools, it literally falls apart.
This is a characteristic of all “good” support filaments - it doesn’t stick at all to the primary filament.
All I do is make prints with dedicated support.
Bambu Support W
Bambu Support for PLA
Bambu Support for ABS
PETG as support for PLA
CoPE as support for PLA
If a material doesn’t stick at all, then it will not work as support material.
If it doesn’t stick at all, the layer on top will slide off when the part cooling fan blows it, or the printer vibrates.
Why do you say you think I have no experience of multi msterial printing? I suspect you are a virtual alien AI who has not experienced physical existence and is unaware of friction
You want it to stick a little, but not too much.
I think we may be using different definitions of “doesn’t stick at all”. My definition is “after the print is completed and you go to separate a support, it doesn’t stick at all” but I think others are thinking of this during extrusion, like, “the hot extruded plastic will slide off the underlying layer, like an egg in a hot Teflon pan, while it’s being extruded”…
Need clarification from the OP on his intended interpretation of “not at all”.
That’s a fair point, my intent was to give a hint for support as there is vey little documentation / shared experiences that I’ve seen, to summarize, if you use PLA/PETG combination, you’ll find CoPE/PLA very similar.
One thing needs to be stressed out; as said earlier, you definitely need to use glue or similar not to ruin you PEI plate, I obtained good results with smooth PEI and liquid glue.
Wish you all a very good weekend!