PLA Printing Like Lace?
- The Rigger
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PLA Printing Like Lace?
Test-printing PLA with the new E3Dv6 hot end... It's not working too well.
Shooting SMC's PLA off a 1K spool through the stock EZ-Struder. 0.4mm nozzle in the new v6. Temps set at 220°for the nozzle, 70° for the bed. Shooting on glue& glass. Great first-pass adhesion, skirts & rafts look excellent, as do the first few layers...
And then it all goes tango-uniform. I hear a stuttering from the hob gear in the EZ-struder, and the layers start to look like... Well... Like these photos. As if the nozzle was partially blocked or something. I thought PLA was supposed to be easier to print then ABS. The E3D head sure likes ABS, though... This PLA? Not so much.
Ideas?
Shooting SMC's PLA off a 1K spool through the stock EZ-Struder. 0.4mm nozzle in the new v6. Temps set at 220°for the nozzle, 70° for the bed. Shooting on glue& glass. Great first-pass adhesion, skirts & rafts look excellent, as do the first few layers...
And then it all goes tango-uniform. I hear a stuttering from the hob gear in the EZ-struder, and the layers start to look like... Well... Like these photos. As if the nozzle was partially blocked or something. I thought PLA was supposed to be easier to print then ABS. The E3D head sure likes ABS, though... This PLA? Not so much.
Ideas?
-Dave
Central Michigan, USA
(unless I'm at work)
Central Michigan, USA
(unless I'm at work)
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- Printmaster!
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Re: PLA Printing Like Lace?
The v6 has a reputation for not liking PLA but it usually comes down to assembly mistakes, inappropriate settings, or both (or a bad counterfeit).
They say 2mm or less retraction and they mean it. Retraction should also be slow. Some get away with 20 mm/s. I use 10.
Are your thermistor settings updated in the firmware?
Is the fan turning the correct direction and is the duct covering all the cooling fins?
Did you get it directly from E3D or an authorized distributor?
They say 2mm or less retraction and they mean it. Retraction should also be slow. Some get away with 20 mm/s. I use 10.
Are your thermistor settings updated in the firmware?
Is the fan turning the correct direction and is the duct covering all the cooling fins?
Did you get it directly from E3D or an authorized distributor?
Re: PLA Printing Like Lace?
oh yes that looks like blockage. with new materials there are always steps to fine tune for your own machine... its best to slow things down and tweak from known working settings. set retracts to zero and work up from there, slow down the nozzle speeds and take your time for best results.
- The Rigger
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Re: PLA Printing Like Lace?
Well... I bought it directly from E3D, so I assume it's not a bad counterfeit hot end...IMBoring25 wrote:The v6 has a reputation for not liking PLA but it usually comes down to assembly mistakes, inappropriate settings, or both (or a bad counterfeit).
They say 2mm or less retraction and they mean it. Retraction should also be slow. Some get away with 20 mm/s. I use 10.
Are your thermistor settings updated in the firmware?
Is the fan turning the correct direction and is the duct covering all the cooling fins?
Did you get it directly from E3D or an authorized distributor?
Took my sweet time and assembled it in accordance with directions on the wiki referenced from the E3D website...
Updated the Rostock's printer profile in MatterControl to this: http://tinyurl.com/jo56lao" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
The three cooling fans are all turning the correct direction and nothing's blocking the duct - the hot end platform *is* the duct; it gets cooling air from 360 degrees.
I don't recall the retraction speed/distance, off the top of my head - I'm not at home at the moment - but I'll check it out when I get back there.
-Dave
Central Michigan, USA
(unless I'm at work)
Central Michigan, USA
(unless I'm at work)
- The Rigger
- Prints-a-lot
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- Joined: Wed Feb 17, 2016 6:34 pm
- Location: Michigan, unless I'm on tour
Re: PLA Printing Like Lace?
I wondereed if 0.4 was too small or not... I susect not, but...bubbasnow wrote:oh yes that looks like blockage. with new materials there are always steps to fine tune for your own machine... its best to slow things down and tweak from known working settings. set retracts to zero and work up from there, slow down the nozzle speeds and take your time for best results.
-Dave
Central Michigan, USA
(unless I'm at work)
Central Michigan, USA
(unless I'm at work)
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- Printmaster!
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Re: PLA Printing Like Lace?
I've put a good amount of ABS, PLA, PETG, and polycarbonate through my v6. The only times I've had issues anything similar to that were when I was NOT using the 0.4mm brass nozzle...Experimentation with a 0.8 and trying bronzefill and laywoo3d with a hardened nozzle. I am using 2mm, 10mm/s retraction.
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Re: PLA Printing Like Lace?
Some quick questions:
Did you add thermal paste between the heatbreak and the heatsink? That is suggested to help.
Have you had any jams/oops's before this with the E3D? Did you clean out the nozzle between filaments/jams? If not, that may be the issue, and the easy fix is a torch.
Is the fan all the way down on the heasink? You want the bottom of the duct on the bottom of the bottom fin.
Is the stepper motor getting too warm? Have you tried PLA with the stock hotend (I presume yes, and that it worked. It's probably not the motor current, but it never hurts to check)
Other little things that may have escaped notice or not been known to be important to you:
The hotend end of the PTFE should be even and straight. It may be a little off angle.
Something may have slipped into the fan and stopped it.
Did you add thermal paste between the heatbreak and the heatsink? That is suggested to help.
Have you had any jams/oops's before this with the E3D? Did you clean out the nozzle between filaments/jams? If not, that may be the issue, and the easy fix is a torch.
Is the fan all the way down on the heasink? You want the bottom of the duct on the bottom of the bottom fin.
Is the stepper motor getting too warm? Have you tried PLA with the stock hotend (I presume yes, and that it worked. It's probably not the motor current, but it never hurts to check)
Other little things that may have escaped notice or not been known to be important to you:
The hotend end of the PTFE should be even and straight. It may be a little off angle.
Something may have slipped into the fan and stopped it.
Machines:
Rostock Max V2, Duet .8.5, PT100 enabled E3D V6 and volcano, Raymond style enclosure
Automation Technology 60W laser cutter/engraver
1m X-carve router
Sic Transit Gloria Mundi
01-10011-11111100001
Rostock Max V2, Duet .8.5, PT100 enabled E3D V6 and volcano, Raymond style enclosure
Automation Technology 60W laser cutter/engraver
1m X-carve router
Sic Transit Gloria Mundi
01-10011-11111100001
Re: PLA Printing Like Lace?
I've had prints look exactly like that from my EZ struder motor heating up the hobbed gear, the filament starts to slip when softened. Another thing I've had happen with the E3d is that the nozzle worked itself loose.. I had similar looking prints when this happened.
Machines- Rostock Max v2 with E3D v6, Corsair 750 power supply, PEI bed,injection molded carriages and new arms. Aluminum mount. X carve with x controller. Stratasys Uprint SE
- The Rigger
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Re: PLA Printing Like Lace?
Yes.Xenocrates wrote:Some quick questions:
Did you add thermal paste between the heatbreak and the heatsink? That is suggested to help.
No; the E3D shoots ABS perfectly. And it began shooting PL fine, until it didn't...Xenocrates wrote:Have you had any jams/oops's before this with the E3D? Did you clean out the nozzle between filaments/jams? If not, that may be the issue, and the easy fix is a torch.
YesXenocrates wrote:Is the fan all the way down on the heasink? You want the bottom of the duct on the bottom of the bottom fin.
The printer shoots PLA just fine with the stock hot end.Xenocrates wrote:Is the stepper motor getting too warm? Have you tried PLA with the stock hotend (I presume yes, and that it worked. It's probably not the motor current, but it never hurts to check)
The fan is unobstructed. And I trimmed the PTFE tube square before inserting it into the E3D's heat sink.Xenocrates wrote:Other little things that may have escaped notice or not been known to be important to you:
The hotend end of the PTFE should be even and straight. It may be a little off angle.
Something may have slipped into the fan and stopped it.
I'll doublecheck the retracts and back off as suggested.
-Dave
Central Michigan, USA
(unless I'm at work)
Central Michigan, USA
(unless I'm at work)
- Eaglezsoar
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Re: PLA Printing Like Lace?
Please let us know the results of what you changed.
“ Do Not Regret Growing Older. It is a Privilege Denied to Many. ”
- The Rigger
- Prints-a-lot
- Posts: 34
- Joined: Wed Feb 17, 2016 6:34 pm
- Location: Michigan, unless I'm on tour
Re: PLA Printing Like Lace?
I've reduced the retraction from 3mm to 2mm, and slowed it down to 10mm/s in MatterControl. Next time I get home and have a chance to print some PLA (which will most likely be in late April/early May, to be honest), I'll let y'all know how it goes.Eaglezsoar wrote:Please let us know the results of what you changed.
Thanks to all for the ideas, though. Let's see what happens.
(p.s. for those of you in the Goshen environs, my "job" will be playing the Embassy Theatre in Ft. Wayne for a one-night stand next Friday.)
-Dave
Central Michigan, USA
(unless I'm at work)
Central Michigan, USA
(unless I'm at work)
Re: PLA Printing Like Lace?
Run a print with part cooling turned way down, or off. If there's too much air blowing, it can overtax the hot end, and it will overheat the filament. The E3D Cyclops is especially bad about this.
Questions? Ask in a thread - PMs are off.
AI Calibration | Dimensional Accuracy Calibration | Hand-Tune your PID | OctoPi + Touchscreen setup | My E3D hot end mount, Z probe, fan ducts, LED ring mount, filament spool holder, etc.
AI Calibration | Dimensional Accuracy Calibration | Hand-Tune your PID | OctoPi + Touchscreen setup | My E3D hot end mount, Z probe, fan ducts, LED ring mount, filament spool holder, etc.