3D Printing Ball Joints: How to Fix The Ball Joints that Loosen Up

If you've tried 3d printing a ball joint, like the ones use in PrintABloks, you may have run into a problem. The joints start out fine, but over time they loosen. Fortunately there's a couple of solutions you can employ, and Cymon and I will tell you all about them.
3D Printing Professor is made possible by YOU!
www.3dpprofessor.com/support/
I'm social!
/ discord
mastodon.online/@3DPProfessor
/ 3dpprofessor
/ 3dprofessor
Buy the Beginner's Guide to the 3D Printing Galaxy on Amazon: amzn.to/2ws7OiT
Shop on Amazon to support the channel: bit.ly/3DPPrinters
Follow my other 3D printing adventures at: www.3dpprofessor.com
Join the mailing list and never miss anything important: bit.ly/3DPPnews
00:00 Why are my joints loose?
05:13 Solution : Bluetak
06:30 Solution 2 : Swap for Tighter
07:38 Solution 3 : Nailpolish
08:38 Solution 4 : Print in PetG
09:23 3D Print to Win

[@3dpprofessor]

If you're reading this, I am probably modeling BattleMechas. www.3dpprofessor.com/2023/08/24/how-to-solve-loose-printablok-ball-joints-video/

[@adscomics]

Loosening ball joints has been the bane of my existence when printing articulated figures. Thanks for this video! Also subbed.

[@oliverfong418]

You were in the right direction, It's the problem with the PLA, it's not shrinkage, and it's not the "ball" part deforming under pressure that caused the problem. Instead, it's the "joint" part (the Y/U-shaped part that holds the ball joint) being stretched outward under pressure, that's why rotating the "ball" part doesn't fix the problem, as it is the joint that's getting too loose.
PLA does have a tendency to deform under pressure over time, that's why when I am working with ball joints and other mechanical parts, I tend to use PETG, which holds way better than PLA while being fairly easy to print.

[@ManOfVidav]

Petg for sure is a great material for the ball joints, it’s low friction and flexibility make it hold ball joints so much better, even better than ABS.

[@ethansdad3d]

I've had problems with loose ball joints in the past, and these are some great solutions. Thank you!

[@wallegamecube]

this is fantastic thank you!!

[@keeleycarrigan]

Love everything about this video ❤

[@cdsmakestuff]

PLA is known for "mechanical creep" (for a lack of a better term)... It's not the ball that's the problem, it's the socket. The "ears" of the socket are being pushed outward by the ball. Eventually the PLA will just give in to the shape that it's being forced into. And PLA doesn't / won't return to it's original shape when the force being applied is removed like other plastics may do easier, ABS for example.
You may be able to "fix" this a little if there is a way to reinforce the ears so they don't/can't flex as easily?

[@3dpprofessor]

Interesting. I could add strust to the side of the ball to hold them in place, but I worry then they won't flex enough to allow the ball to enter. And even if they do, I worry they won't hold the ball enough to prevent deformation. I'll have to check this out, though.

[@GuruMN]

I found out the hard way after printing shelf supports to hold filament on my wall that PETG creeps over time. Originally I could hold my full body weight off of each individual support, then later after putting a laminate shelf on it and about 20 spools of filament, 2 months later it all crashed to the floor, which knocked over a table holding other things and made a big mess. Watched some TH-cam videos about 3d printed material creep and learned that there was a good reason why Vorons are made using ABS(ASA works too) instead of PLA, PETG, or Nylon(even CF Nylon creeps, see Stefan's example with cnckitchen and his Voron). I think PETG or ABS would be great for this application but I've had multiple examples of PLA creep in different functional applications and have used different materials, mainly ABS because with only a cardboard enclosure I've been more happy with printing it than the effort of drying PETG just to print something basic. ..plus vapor smoothing ABS is a fantastic thing

[@GuruMN]

First few sentences, I meant to type "PLA creeps over time"

[@sadierobotics]

Is that Super Robot Spirits for the Nintendo 64 on the screen at the start?

[@3dpprofessor]

Yup. Super fun, and very inspirational in the designs.

[@freightuk]

Have you tried using ABS for the ball joints? Jim

[@3dpprofessor]

I have not. I tend to avoid ABS these days, but I should give it a shot.

[@freightuk]

Hi, why do you avoid ABS? @3dpprofessor

[@3dpprofessor]

@@freightuk because when printing anything taller than a few inches out tends to delaminate without active chamber heating. It's 3d printing in hard mode, and I like things easy. PLA and PETG suit most of my needs.

[@freightuk]

By active chamber heating are you referring to a heated build plate in an enclosure like that of a DaVinci Pro, one seemed to be lurking below your shelf.@@3dpprofessor

[@3dpprofessor]

@@freightuk That's passive heating, which can help and be successful if you have an enclosure. And if your printer's room isn't too cold. And if it's not winter where you are. And if the moon isn't in venus or something.
It helps.

[@TheDavicious]

CREEP, and I don't mean the guy in the video. I mean "creep" the phenomenon plastics are subject to when they are under constant stress, they will undergo slow deformation, hence the loosened up joint. Some plastics are more prone to creep than others, look up for the creep curves in material datasheets.
So, your 2nd theory is most likely the root cause. The ball itself will not deform much because of it's spherical shape, the hub is the one deforming, so it does not matter if you rotate the connector in any direction, the joint will still be loose.
One way of solving this thru design is to maintain stress levels low, the lower the stress the lower the deformation caused by creep. It is challenging since you do want the hub to apply pressure around the spherical ball, try reducing stress concentrators, round-off sharp corners, etc.
Trust me, I'm an engineer.