How can we help you?

The short answer: Only dry plastics can be properly extruded through your 3D printer's nozzle. Only properly dried materials also offer the desired material properties, such as stiffness or flexibility.

The long answer: Some materials bind water between their molecules – similar to your clothes in the washing machine. When the plastic is heated in the nozzle, the water in the plastic evaporates and expands. This leads to uneven extrusion and unsightly print results. This is the case with materials such as TPU, PA, or ABS.

It gets even worse when the water begins to damage the molecular structure of the plastic, which is known as hydrolysis. This changes the physical properties of the plastic. In the worst case, this makes printing an impossible task. Sometimes the properties of the finished parts are also degraded as a result, e.g., they withstand less load than intended.

VXL differs from all other support materials you may have already tried. Its chemical composition is particularly different from water-soluble materials such as PVA/PVOH and BVOH.
You can use VXL as a support material for almost any model material available*. It adheres well to your model materials and effectively prevents your parts from warping.

*except PP

Depending on the printing environment (open printer, enclosed printer, actively heated printing chamber), different printing conditions prevail inside the printer. We have therefore developed various VXL types that are specially adapted to the respective conditions.

We develop and polymerize all our materials in our own chemical plant. Although all VXL support materials are different polymers, the monomers used are identical. Therefore, there is a similarity between the different polymers, so that all VXL support materials work with almost the same model materials.

To determine the right VXL model material combination, it is best to ask our VXL Assistant. Depending on your printer and printing conditions, it will suggest the right VXL for your model material.

Yes, you can print VXL support materials on any 3D printer. If you are using only a single extruder, please ensure that you choose a sufficiently large purge volume between materials. In general, we recommend using printers with multiple extruders or print heads.

Yes, our VXL spools are compatible with common material change systems such as AMS, MMU, CFS, etc.

VXL is printed like most other FDM/FFF filaments. You can find the recommended printing settings and extruder temperatures in our user manuals or directly on the spool box and the spool itself.

You can use any nozzle with our material. PEI (ULTEM), BuildTak, PI (KAPTON), or PC are best suited as a build surface. VXL adheres perfectly to these materials when the build plate is warm and can be easily removed when cold. You should avoid printing on glass or CF, GF, or epoxy plates. The adhesion is so strong that you will no longer be able to remove the layer adhering to such build surfaces. But don't worry: VXL is soluble. You can place your build plate in a cleaning bath (make sure that your build plate can withstand the alkaline pH of approximately 11.5).

Please store our VXL in the included aluminum bags. These have a pressure seal and are packed with a large amount of desiccant.

If you do not want to store the spools in the aluminum bags, please use material change systems or filament cabinets that can keep the spools dry.

We recommend drying VXL 70 at 50 °C, VXL 90 at 70 °C, VXL 111 at 90 °C, and VXL 130 and VXL 150 at 100 °C in an oven (preferably under vacuum or with dry air), each for four hours.

Generally, the higher the temperature, the better, as this leads to faster dissolution.

But the reality is a little more complicated. You must consider the maximum temperature that your model material can withstand without deforming. A good rule of thumb for amorphous thermoplastics is to stay 30 °C below the glass transition temperature of the model material. For semi-crystalline thermoplastics, this is more difficult, as higher temperatures can also lead to crystallization, which can cause your model to deform.

You can find precise information from the material suppliers in the respective technical data sheets under heat resistance or softening temperature.

VXL-EX usually dissolves your VXL supports in a few hours, depending on the following parameters: The higher the temperature and turbulence in your bath, the faster VXL dissolves. 
Light supports dissolve faster than dense supports. Easily accessible support structures dissolve faster than hidden supports such as deep holes, enclosed channels, and corners.

Tip: Choose the maximum temperature for your bath below the maximum temperature resistance of your model material (too high a temperature can damage your part), as well as the maximum turbulence.

Yes, our VXL support materials dissolve faster than PVA/PVOH.

Our recommended temperature for dissolving VXL 90 might already be too high for some PLA materials. You can safely dissolve it at 40 °C, which extends the dissolution time. To optimize the dissolution time, you need to find out what max. temperature your PLA can withstand.

Yes, you can.

To manufacture composite parts, you can print the core using VXL and then wrap carbon or glass fiber prepregs around the core. After the resin has cured, the VXL core can be removed.

During longer print jobs in enclosed build chambers with active chamber heating or
high print bed temperatures, the support material may become discolored.
This is due to the effect of the elevated ambient temperature on the chemical properties of the material. This does not affect its function during printing. However, the dissolution process may take longer.

During 3D printing, soft filament such as VXL 70 can wrap around the drive gears because its flexibility makes it prone to getting caught between the gear teeth. This risk is particularly high if the filament is not guided through the extruder optimally or if the feeder tension is not set correctly. It is important to carefully calibrate the extruder settings to minimize such problems.

VXL 70 and VXL 90 are relatively soft materials. If the feeder tension is not set correctly, the drive gears can wear down over time, and the resulting debris can become lodged between the teeth. As a result, the drive gears may no longer be able to properly grip and feed the filament. This can make it appear as though there is a clog. For example, the drive gears can be easily cleared of debris using compressed air.

Translucent filaments, such as VXL, can be problematic for 3D printers equipped with optical filament sensors because the sensor's light may pass through the translucent material. This may cause the sensor to fail to detect the filament reliably, leading to an incorrect interruption of the printing process. In this case, the filament sensor should be disabled.

Adhesion between the support, model, and print bed depends on several factors. If the nozzle and/or bed temperatures are too low, the print speed in the slicer is too high, or the Z-offset is too large, adhesion may be too weak, causing the support, model, and/or print bed to detach. This is especially important on printers with multiple print heads/extruders, where the Z-offset must be correctly set for all print heads/extruders. If adhesion is too weak, the nozzle and/or bed temperatures can be increased, the print speed in the slicer reduced, or the Z-offset decreased. When adjusting the Z-offset, even a few hundredths of a millimeter can make a difference.

The adhesion between the raft and the print bed is significantly influenced by the Z-offset. If the Z-offset is too low at the start of the print, the filament is pressed too firmly onto the print bed, resulting in excessive adhesion between the raft and the print bed. In this case, you can try scraping the raft off the bed with a spatula (beware of sharp edges!), soaking it in isopropanol to loosen or remove it, or freezing it to reduce the adhesion between the raft and the print bed. The Z-offset should be increased before the next print. A change of just a few hundredths of a millimeter may already be sufficient.