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What is the average or recommended lifespan for standard Creality printer nozzles used with non-abrasive standard PLA only? What is a proper metric for that, time used, time heated, filament meters that passed through?

Does the nozzle diameter affect the lifespan?

I know nozzles are cheap, but I'm asking because I'm thinking of writing a maintenance tracking plugin for printer parts in OctoPrint.

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  • $\begingroup$ I will be surprised if you get an answer for this considering that regular brass nozzles that come with most printers are rather inexpensive and are easily replaced. $\endgroup$
    – agarza
    Commented Nov 5, 2023 at 22:37
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    $\begingroup$ Nozzles don't wear out fast. You could consider a ruby nozzle or a steel one for an even longer life span. Furthermore, this has been asked before: How long is an extruder's/nozzle's life?. Also, the question contains 2 questions, the first is a duplicate the second not. $\endgroup$
    – 0scar ♦
    Commented Nov 27, 2023 at 10:43
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    $\begingroup$ Nozzle tip wears out with meters traveled, nozzle diameter enlarges with meters printed, and speed of both depends on factors like filament color (as different pigments have different abrasiveness, white being notoriously worst), temperature of the nozzle (hotter wears out faster), temperature of the chamber (colder previous layer wears out nozzle tip faster) and many, many more. I don't think anything short of proper scientific study can give you a really useful answer. $\endgroup$
    – Mołot
    Commented Nov 27, 2023 at 10:48
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    $\begingroup$ @Mołot CNCkitchen did a study on abrasive filament - tip grinding is much more impactful than bore increase. $\endgroup$
    – Trish
    Commented Nov 27, 2023 at 14:03

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Print material matters more

Non-abrasive materials can leave a soft brass nozzle live for dozens of filament spools without noticeable degradation, especially if the nozzle tip is hot enough to keep it above melting point and does not scrape over cooler areas. However, abrasive filaments can eat a nozzle within just a couple gross meters. One of the worst offenders is Carbon-Fiber or Glass-Fiber infused material, requiring, for example, ruby-tipped nozzles, or glass-nozzles to withstand more than about 300 meters (~2 Gross).

Note that any filled filament is abrasive to some degree, and nobody advertises with the fact that the filament is abrasive.

Nozzle formfactor impact

A larger nozzle allows the extrusion of more plastic per time. The plastic itself, as it cools, can act as an abrasive itself. So to a degree, nozzle geometry will have an impact on the print. A flat around the nozzle orifice such as with the venerable e3D v6 nozzle design can help in keeping the orifice intact a little longer (as the nozzle has more thermal mass and can press down the filament further away from the orifice), but a thinner tip has other benefits (such as reacting faster to temperature change) at the cost of longevity in this one regard.

Nozzle diameter impact?

Typically, nozzles wear much faster and lose their tip from grinding on the printed material than that the material getting pushed through them starts to bore out the nozzle. This can be seen very well in the experiments Stefan/CNC Kitchen conducted. Also here.

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