P1S with 0.2 mm and a very slow filament swap

[simple vale]

I've mounted a 0.2 mm nozzle to my printer, and use it to print very small and detailed parts. Keys in particular.
The best quality prints are by printing the key upright in PETG, and supporting it with support filament for PLA/PETG.
Currently, each layer with a filament change takes around ten minutes, which feels absurdly long.
I've already deduced that the flushing volume is the same, independent of the nozzle diameter.

So the question is, is it normal for swapping filament to take ~5 minutes with an 0.2 mm nozzle?
What makes the filament change take so long with an 0.2 mm nozzle so long? Is it something more complex than just half the diameter, quarter the surface, and 1/8th the flow?
Please share resources on how to reduce the filament swap times.

My printer is a Babulabs P1S with AMS with a 0.2 mm nozzle. The slider is Orcaslicer.

The standard print is 1h. The print with support is 1h30. This print is near 6h. Say 4h for swapping 22 times, for a total of 10 minutes per swap.
The total time in PLA + support and PETG with PLA support is slightly better time, but not by a lot.
I'm aware the prime tower does not have to be this big, but it reduces the risk of failure.

I've added a few screenshots, and can certainly provide more information.

[wise jolt]

AI Help

It is unusual for filament changes to take around 5 minutes with a 0.2 mm nozzle, especially if you are swapping filament multiple times during a print. The smaller diameter of the nozzle does contribute to a slower flow rate, but the time taken for filament changes should not be as long as you are experiencing.

Possible reasons for the longer filament change times could be related to the specific settings in your slicing software (Orcaslicer), such as retraction settings, purging volume, or temperature adjustments for different filaments. It may also be helpful to check for any potential clogs or obstructions in the filament path that could be contributing to the slower filament changes.

To reduce filament swap times with a 0.2 mm nozzle, you can try:

1. Adjusting retraction settings: Optimize retraction speed and distance to minimize the time taken for filament changes.
2. Using a lower purging volume: Experiment with reducing the amount of filament purged during a filament ch...

WARNING: This response is AI generated and may contain errors.

[pearl cliff]

If you set the flushing volume to 0 what would the swap time be then?

[simple vale]

Good suggestion to check that. It's a 3h print when I set the flushing multiplier to zero.

[pearl cliff]

Compared to 6 with flushing?

Because I mean the flushing on my A1 does take a while with a 0.2mm nozzle but I wouldn't say it takes 5 minutes per swap. Maybe around 3? But the ams lite does swap faster than the AMS

If it's PETG you are flushing out you want to flush out a lot so yeah maybe 5 minutes isn't completely off

[simple vale]

I guess it makes sense, and I was mostly looking for conformation. Most people I talked to have little to no idea what their printer does or how to optimize the settings. Where they may swap once to get crisp lettering. (The LLM above said so as well, but I don't know where it gets the information from. And I can easily get an LLM to agree with that swapping should take an hour 🙂 )

@pearl cliff Do you have resources for reducing the total time, beside reducing flushing volume?

[pearl cliff]

You could try enabling the printer setting called long retraction before cut.

That should reduce how much you need to purge before it's completely flushed out but I have no idea how much you need to flush. PLA/PETG prints can easily mess up the part strength if you don't flush enough and I'm thinking strength is fairly important for the keys so you would need to experiment.

Other than that I think you're at the mercy of a long flush time or switching to 0.4mm nozzle using arachne if that can print the key.

[simple vale]

It's not a feature shown in my build, so I'll look for where this setting is. Or how to add it.
These printers aren't really made for 0.2 mm, but that they can is a nice feature. I'm very near the resolution limit and may need to go for more messy resin prints, next.

[pearl cliff]

Oh sorry long retraction before cut is a filament setting not printer setting

[simple vale]

Thanks. I'll play with it some more.

This setting, smaller flush volume, and a smaller prime tower should all reduce it. I'll just enable everything, and if the printer keeps printing reliably, I'll keep it there.

?solved