Details about  Stratasys Cartridge EEPROM Reprogrammer

All Dimension models including BST, SST, BST 768, SST 768, BST 1200, SST 1200, BST 1200ES, SST 1200 ES, and Elite. It is also compatible with the Fortus 200MC, and Fortus 250MC.

The Stratasys printers utilize an EEPROM chip in the filament cartridge that tracks the usage of the ABS filament inside the cartridge. As the filament is consumed the printer writes the remaining percentage of filament left to the EEPROM chip. Once the remaining percentage reaches zero, the printer considers that cartridge to be empty and you must load in a new cartridge to continue printing. The Reprogrammer works by overwriting the existing percentage in the EEPROM chip back to 100%. Once reset, the printer will see the cartridge as a brand new cartridge with 100% filament remaining. This allows you to refill the cartridge with inexpensive ABS and re-use your cartridge over and over.

No. The reprogrammer only supports resetting the Build material (ABS) EEPROM. The Stratasys support material is proprietary and the printers are highly tailored to the proprietary material. There is currently no suitable refill material available on the market. If that ever changes I will offer a free software upgrade to your Reprogrammer to enable this feature. In general most prints use far more build material than support material, so the majority of the cost savings would come from refilling the build material anyways. 

The Reprogrammer is very easy to use. Find a clean, dust free area to complete the procedure. Open the spent cartridge by removing the 4 screws and remove the EEPROM chip. Plug in your Reprogrammer to any USB power source with the included micro USB cable and wait for the red LED to turn on, indicating the Reprogrammer is booted and ready. Remove the EEPROM chip. Press and hold the EEPROM chip against the two contact points on the Reprogrammer, making sure to get good contact. Wait for the LEDs to cycle. The yellow LED means the Reprogrammer is reading and writing to the EEPROM. Wait about 10 seconds until the green LED turns on, indicating your EEPROM is successfully reset. The programmer will then power itself down. That's it! Your EEPROM is now reset to 100% and ready to be installed in the cartridge with your ABS refill spool.

Yes! The EEPROM and cartridge can be re-used indefinitely. One thing to be careful of is to maintain solid contact between the EEPROM chip and the Reprogrammer contacts during the reset process. If contact is lost during the read/write process before it is complete, that EEPROM chip will be corrupted and you won't be able to use it or reset it anymore.

No. At least not well and without plugged print nozzles and layer adhesion issues. You should use only the highest quality ABS to refill your cartridge. While the Stratasys printers are generally very reliable, they are more highly tuned to work with the filaments they were designed for. They are less forgiving with other filaments than other printers. They print at hotter temperatures and are more sensitive to filament diameter tolerance. I have tested a variety of ABS filaments with varying results. The best results by far were achieved using a filament made fromm Sabic MG-94 ABS pellets, such as 3DXTech Premium ABS. Sabic MG-94 is the raw material that Stratasy uses in the P430 cartridge. This can be a bit difficult to source, but if you can it is worth it. Filament made with Chi Mei 757 ABS also produced good results. While there may be other filaments that produce good results, it is HIGHLY recommended that you source filament made from one of these two raw materials in order to avoid layer adhesion and clogging issues.

If you are careful about selecting the appropriate ABS filament for refills and follow the instructions, then you should have no problems. I have run dozens of refilled cartridges without any issues. That being said, care must be taken during the refill process. Any dust or contamination introduced into the cartridge can result in clogged print nozzles. I have not had any issues but that does NOT guarantee that you will not. By using the Reprogrammer you assume all risk and responsibility for any damage to your printer. You may also be voiding any warranty your printer is still under.

Of course that depends on the rate at which you use cartridges. Quality refill filament can be found for under $40 per spool. The OEM cartridge costs $260, so that is a savings of over $200 per refill!

Yes. The Stratasys cartridges use propriety spools inside that differ in size than most I have seen when testing refills. You may need to modify a cartridge to allow it to accept a refill ABS spool. I also found that too much friction between the refill spool and the cartridge can cause print failures. You may need to find a way to reduce the friction to get successful prints. Making the cartridge work with your refill spool will vary from spool to spool and may take a bit of trial and error before you get it just right. Once you find a brand of refill filament that works well it's a good idea to stick with it, rather than continually trying to make different spool sized fit and work.