FAQ's

Fusion Filaments - Frequently Asked Questions

 

Fusion Filaments takes pride in creating the highest quality, no compromise filament. Unlike many other manufacturers, we don't use fillers to save on costs. Unfortunately, this practice is extremely widespread in the industry and common printing profiles are set up to print this cheap filament. We hope this FAQ helps new Fusion Filaments customers spin up on the important differences when printing with our high quality products!

 

What PLA resin manufacturer do we use?

There are plenty of places to get raw PLA from, but here we only use pure NatureWorks resin. 

 

What do all the grades of materials mean? What is the difference between PLA and HTPLA+?

Without getting too complicated, each grade has a specific amount of this that or the other thing to make it unique. At the end of the day, filament is filament and it prints in your 3D printer. 

PLA (4043D) has been around the longest, and it's the most used PLA material for prototyping around. It has many good qualities and some negative qualities. 4043D is great at rigidity. It holds it's shape and does not like to bend much. It doesn't warp when printed. It is prone to cracking before bending which gives it a brittle quality. It also has the lowest melt temperature than any material.

HTPLA+ (3D870) is the new kid on the block. It too can be heat treated, but it works just as well without it. This is the best PLA material to use for objects that require all of the best properties of PLA and ABS. It stays rigid like 4043D, but it also can bend like 3D850 and ABS before it breaks. It prints like ABS (which everyone seems to love). Layer adhesion is also the best with this material. The only drawback, it's hard to pigment. The base material is milky white when extruded, so most colors are earth tones or pastels. Ongoing research is being done right now to provide us with a material that is more clear like 3D850. 3D870 is an engineering grade PLA.

 

What is the empty refill spool weight?

This can be tricky. The ones that we print are typically right around 150 grams. Everyone has their own way of printing one, various infill, different materials, nozzle diameter etc. But we print ours from HTPLA+ (3D870) using a custom S3D profile. If you decide to print your own, it could be more or less around that weight. But 150 grams seems to be sufficient.

 

Where can I get the files for the refill spool?

The latest files are located on our Thangs repo.
https://thangs.com/mythangs/file/196907

 

How should I adjust my printing profile to get the best results? 

By far, the biggest issue we see users running into is printing filament at the wrong temperature. Since we don't include fillers in our filament, the print temperature is typically ***higher*** than our competition. We include a recommended printing temperature on the side of each Fusion Filaments roll. We recommend this temperature as a starting point, and you may need to adjust up or down from it depending on the accuracy of your printer's hotend thermistor reading and your print speeds.

 

Why are my prints suddenly stringy?

Nearly all filament types absorb moisture from the air, degrading print quality. This can present as surface roughness caused by moisture and audible "popping" during extrusion, or as stringing. Fusion Filaments ships filament rolls in sealed bags with desiccant to help keep your filament dry during the shipment process; however, it is nearly impossible to keep filament "dry" for an extended period of time.

Some users create dry boxes filled with desiccant to help keep moisture away, but in most cases this merely delays the issue and doesn't actually fix the problem. Some filament types (such as PET) may absorb enough moisture to degrade performance within a day of being out in open air. Users truly concerned with performance and print quality need to invest in a filament drying system. Several third parties make units specifically for drying filament before use, or DIY savvy users really like using repurposed food dehydrators. Either way you go, this should be considered as important as any printer mod to improve your quality!

If you don't have access to drying equipment and have to make the best of it, turning down print temperature in a pinch may decrease the bad effects of wet filament, just be sure to test part strength and ensure you don't drop too low to extrude properly.

 

How do I dry my filament properly?

Please reference the table below for recommended drying temps and durations on various Fusion Filaments material types.

NOTE: Not all drying devices are built equally, failure to follow these temperatures could result in a damaged spool

 ResinSpool TypeTemp (C / F)Drying Time
HTPLA+Refill Spool46 / 11512 hours
HTPLA+Injection Spool55 / 1316 hours
PLARefill Spool46 / 11512 hours
PLAInjection Spool55 / 1316 hours
PETGRefill Spool46 / 11516 hours
PETGInjection Spool55 / 13112 hours
HTPET+Injection Spool74 / 16512 hours
ABSInjection Spool74 / 16512 hours
PolycarbonateInjection Spool74 / 16516 hours

 

How do I prevent jams?

  1. Ensure you have found the correct extrusion temperature. Some "jams" are actually just extruding too cold causing the extruder to slip or grind the filament!
  2. Ensure you have retraction tuned correctly. The vast majority of users have retraction set much higher than required, potentially pulling molten filament up into the cold side of the hotend's heatbreak where it solidifies. An excellent guide on tuning retraction is here: https://www.sublimelayers.com/2016/10/some-musings-on-retracts.html pay special attention to their recommendation to get temps correct first, then tune retraction.
  3. It is critical to have proper hotend heatsink cooling. If hotend cooling is insufficient, your printer may experience "heat creep" causing filament to melt above the heatbreak and stick to it. This may present as jams or basketweave, a good example of this issue occurring here: https://github.com/prusa3d/Prusa-Firmware/issues/602
  4. Some parts with many retractions in a short period of time can churn filament up into the cold side of the heatbreak causing a stick. If your slicer supports it, we recommend enabling settings that limit retractions in close succession. This will ensure molten filament continues going the correct direction.

 

What guarantee do I have that your material will work in my printer?

Our filament is made with only pure resins, no fillers. Our filament is held within the industry standard of +-0.05mm, but we try harder to make sure it is held within +-0.025mm. Our filament is filtered during extrusion to prevent any possibility of debris getting into your nozzle and causing a jam. Please feel free to contact us with any questions / concerns / refund issues or even to just say hi. We care and we listen!

 

What does / does not the guarantee cover?

This guarantee covers manufacturing defects for a period of 30 days from the original purchase date. If during the 30 day period you would like to return it for any other reason, the spool will be prorated. For any other reasons that this guarantee doesn't cover, please contact us. We are willing to work with our customers to make sure they are satisfied.

Items being returned must be re-packed to prevent damage during shipping. It is the senders responsibility to pack these items properly.

Items that do NOT qualify for a return:

  • Beta filaments / test filaments
  • Bags that lose vacuum
  • The product is too difficult to get working
  • Tangled filament, (we can help with this, please contact us)
  • Unexpected print quality, (we can help with this also, please contact us)
  • Unexpected filament color shade / darkness / lightness.
  • Using the wrong type of refillable spool on a new style refill coil
  • Reusing a spool on a refill coil from a previously used refill spool
  • If your package was not insured
  • Insufficient or incorrect shipping address resulting in return to sender
  • If the filament was respooled
  • Print appearance (shiny vs matte) unless specifically stated in the product listing
  • Items that are NOT insured are not covered for a refund if damaged / lost in shipping.


Insufficient or incorrect shipping address
Fusion Filaments is not responsible for incorrectly entered shipping addresses resulting in lost or otherwise undeliverable items. If a package is returned to sender, we will refuse delivery, resulting in the package going to the respective shipping reclamation center. If you feel there was an error during delivery, please contact us immediately.

Support
Fusion Filaments does not offer support for 3D printers of any kind. Our filament is made to industry specifications and standards. We are not responsible for improper operation resulting in damage to user components or equipment.

 

Fusion Filament's Privacy Policy

Protecting your private information is our priority. This Statement of Privacy applies to fusionfilaments.com and 3D Excellence LLC and governs data collection and usage. For the purposes of this Privacy Policy, unless otherwise noted, all references to 3D Excellence LLC include fusionfilaments.com and Fusion Filaments. The Fusion Filaments website is a ecommerce site. By using the Fusion Filaments website, you consent to the data practices described in this statement. 

Collection of your Personal Information 
In order to better provide you with products and services offered on our Site, Fusion Filaments may collect personally identifiable information, such as your:

  • First and Last Name
  • Mailing Address
  • E-mail Address
  • Phone Number

If you purchase Fusion Filaments's products and services, we collect billing and credit card information. This information is used to complete the purchase transaction. 
  
Please keep in mind that if you directly disclose personally identifiable information or personally sensitive data through Fusion Filaments's public message boards, this information may be collected and used by others. 
  
We do not collect any personal information about you unless you voluntarily provide it to us. However, you may be required to provide certain personal information to us when you elect to use certain products or services available on the Site. These may include: (a) registering for an account on our Site; (b) entering a sweepstakes or contest sponsored by us or one of our partners; (c) signing up for special offers from selected third parties; (d) sending us an email message; (e) submitting your credit card or other payment information when ordering and purchasing products and services on our Site. To wit, we will use your information for, but not limited to, communicating with you in relation to services and/or products you have requested from us. We also may gather additional personal or non-personal information in the future. 
  
Use of your Personal Information 
Fusion Filaments collects and uses your personal information to operate its website(s) and deliver the services you have requested. 
  
Fusion Filaments may also use your personally identifiable information to inform you of other products or services available from Fusion Filaments and its affiliates. 
  
Sharing Information with Third Parties 
Fusion Filaments does not sell, rent or lease its customer lists to third parties. 
  
Fusion Filaments may, from time to time, contact you on behalf of external business partners about a particular offering that may be of interest to you. In those cases, your unique personally identifiable information (e-mail, name, address, telephone number) is not transferred to the third party. Fusion Filaments may share data with trusted partners to help perform statistical analysis, send you email or postal mail, provide customer support, or arrange for deliveries. All such third parties are prohibited from using your personal information except to provide these services to Fusion Filaments, and they are required to maintain the confidentiality of your information. 
  
Fusion Filaments may disclose your personal information, without notice, if required to do so by law or in the good faith belief that such action is necessary to: (a) conform to the edicts of the law or comply with legal process served on Fusion Filaments or the site; (b) protect and defend the rights or property of Fusion Filaments; and/or (c) act under exigent circumstances to protect the personal safety of users of Fusion Filaments, or the public. 
  
Tracking User Behavior 
Fusion Filaments may keep track of the websites and pages our users visit within Fusion Filaments, in order to determine what Fusion Filaments services are the most popular. This data is used to deliver customized content and advertising within Fusion Filaments to customers whose behavior indicates that they are interested in a particular subject area. 
  
Automatically Collected Information 
Information about your computer hardware and software may be automatically collected by Fusion Filaments. This information can include: your IP address, browser type, domain names, access times and referring website addresses. This information is used for the operation of the service, to maintain quality of the service, and to provide general statistics regarding use of the Fusion Filaments website. 
  
Use of Cookies 
The Fusion Filaments website may use "cookies" to help you personalize your online experience. A cookie is a text file that is placed on your hard disk by a web page server. Cookies cannot be used to run programs or deliver viruses to your computer. Cookies are uniquely assigned to you, and can only be read by a web server in the domain that issued the cookie to you. 
  
One of the primary purposes of cookies is to provide a convenience feature to save you time. The purpose of a cookie is to tell the Web server that you have returned to a specific page. For example, if you personalize Fusion Filaments pages, or register with Fusion Filaments site or services, a cookie helps Fusion Filaments to recall your specific information on subsequent visits. This simplifies the process of recording your personal information, such as billing addresses, shipping addresses, and so on. When you return to the same Fusion Filaments website, the information you previously provided can be retrieved, so you can easily use the Fusion Filaments features that you customized. 
  
You have the ability to accept or decline cookies. Most Web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify your browser setting to decline cookies if you prefer. If you choose to decline cookies, you may not be able to fully experience the interactive features of the Fusion Filaments services or websites you visit. 
  
Security of your Personal Information 
Fusion Filaments secures your personal information from unauthorized access, use, or disclosure. Fusion Filaments uses the following methods for this purpose:

  • SSL Protocol 

When personal information (such as a credit card number) is transmitted to other websites, it is protected through the use of encryption, such as the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol. 
  
We strive to take appropriate security measures to protect against unauthorized access to or alteration of your personal information. Unfortunately, no data transmission over the Internet or any wireless network can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. As a result, while we strive to protect your personal information, you acknowledge that: (a) there are security and privacy limitations inherent to the Internet which are beyond our control; and (b) security, integrity, and privacy of any and all information and data exchanged between you and us through this Site cannot be guaranteed. 
  
Children Under Thirteen 
Fusion Filaments does not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from children under the age of thirteen. If you are under the age of thirteen, you must ask your parent or guardian for permission to use this website. 
  
E-mail Communications 
From time to time, Fusion Filaments may contact you via email for the purpose of providing announcements, promotional offers, alerts, confirmations, surveys, and/or other general communication. 
  
If you would like to stop receiving marketing or promotional communications via email from Fusion Filaments, you may opt out of such communications by "replying STOP" or "clicking on the UNSUBSCRIBE button.". 
  
External Data Storage Sites 
We may store your data on servers provided by third party hosting vendors with whom we have contracted. 
  
Changes to this Statement 
Fusion Filaments reserves the right to change this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you about significant changes in the way we treat personal information by sending a notice to the primary email address specified in your account, by placing a prominent notice on our site, and/or by updating any privacy information on this page. Your continued use of the Site and/or Services available through this Site after such modifications will constitute your: (a) acknowledgment of the modified Privacy Policy; and (b) agreement to abide and be bound by that Policy. 
  
Contact Information 
Fusion Filaments welcomes your questions or comments regarding this Statement of Privacy. If you believe that Fusion Filaments has not adhered to this Statement, please contact Fusion Filaments at: 
  
3D Excellence LLC
1701 Creek Rd Unit F
WEST BEND, Wisconsin 53090
  
Email Address: 
management@fusionfilaments.com
  
Effective as of May 22, 2020