PLA Sparkle with .4mm Nozzle

I just ordered the PLA sparkle bundle and plan to print it with my P1S Combo, which currently has the standard 0.4mm nozzle. However, I’ve read on Reddit that using a 0.4mm nozzle for this type of filament is not recommended due to potential wear and tear on both the nozzle and the AMS.

Is the wear really that significant, or has anyone here successfully printed this filament with a 0.4mm nozzle? Would it be better to switch to a 0.6mm nozzle instead to avoid issues?

Any advice or shared experiences would be greatly appreciated!

You can reliably print sparkle with even the stainless .4 nozzle, it is a supported configuration and there is no issue.

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On the BL website, there’s no mention of the need for a reinforced nozzle, and this filament is classified as AMS-compatible.

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I am reviewing this thread because I had my print fail (stopped mid-print. Clot) with PLA sparkle, AMS and 0.4 mm nozzle.

Sorry to hear about the clog, I’ve printed about 8kg of alpine green and 3kg of onyx black with no problems on .4, were you printing a different color? The data sheet definitely only warns about .2mm and lists .4mm as compatible.

How did you end up clearing it and what did the clog look like?

I removed the extruder and poked the hot end. Worked for a layer or so and stops extruding. I am thinking that I did not properly clean the gears when I took the extruder apart. Will update when I check the extruder gear closely.

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If by any chance you are using the gold please let me know, I just realized I’ve never tried it. For quite a while it was only stocked in the UK.

Not the gold. Purple sparkle.

Cleaned the extruder again. There was some filament ground into the gear teeth. Extruding better now but having issues stringing or layer adhesion. Printer was sitting for a while so I am going to try drying the filament.

I have printed just over half a spool of PLA Sparkle Crimson Red doing some prototyping in a single 24 period, 3 6 hour prints, one after the other.

I have not had issues.

I used one of my P1S printers with a 0.4mm nozzle.

I have upgraded to the hardened gears and hardened nozzle though.

Before this I printed a decent amount (combined) of Sparkle and Galaxy over a few days using the original gears and original 0.4mm nozzle (no hardened anything) without issue.

I think the point I am making is it works fine with a 0.4 nozzle and basic gears without issues and equally well with an all hardened setup.

Whatever went wrong wasn’t the type of gear, type of nozzle or the size of nozzle.

At least not based on my usage. Which of course means nothing other than what I experienced.

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Still having issues. I am going to replace the hot end and extruder gears. That will probably take care of it but I’m still new to 3D printers.

Would be nice to remove the hot-end and connect it to a controller. I like the concept behind a cold pull but looks like it’s harder to do in the printer. Do you know if anyone makes a separate controller.

Would be simple to design one but always short on time.