Shaun167

Just lost a print with 90% of the pva direct onto the plate.

I am going to try the horizontal expansion next time I print with PVA. I usually do not have problems until humidity or temperature becomes a factor. And, I do try to save on the PVA because, well, it is pricey. That is why I recycle the heck out of the stuff into slurry. Believe it or not, I have more than three gallons of the stuff. And, I believe that it is a bit thicker than most people make when doing the 1:10 ratio of glue to water. But, I am also experimenting a bit with settings to cut down on waste, while not sacrificing quality or functionality. That piece died about 4/5 of the way through due to a piece coming loose (first time I have had that happen) in a place that was glass to part and was well cradled. It just did not stick in that area. It started to spin air webs and then drag to another part of the model and deposit a blob on the model elsewhere. It was the bumping of the head on the blob that alerted me to a problem. So, I am doing two color PLA prints to try something and then back to the week long render again. Until it died though, it really printed nice. Figured a way to rescue/repurpose the model though Just started a print today and already failed. 90% of the PVA was direct onto the plate the rest was on the PLA and lost adhesion and started to mis-shape and pull from the plate. Cheers.

Can you send me your direct email address to me in a DM and I will send you as many photos and files as you need to show this problem. All work has now come to a stop as yet another print has failed, this time the pva has not adhered to the plate which is the major area or small areas of the pla. This is a very large project with one of the biggest power stations in the UK. Regards Shaun.

Thank you for the tips, the settings are already in use. I am trying to print parts of a power station which consists of slabs, steelwork pipework handrail and open mesh flooring. The PVA is required in a number of places on each print, direct to the plate and direct on the structure supporting other parts above. Jack Broughton at GBIRE UK has a very large selection of photos of failed prints over the last 3 months, we even duplicated one of the problems at his office using his settings and printer. Attached are photos from the last failure and parts which have printed ready for assembly. Hope these help to make it clearer Shaun

After trying for over 3 months it is now obvious that the Ultimaker 3 is not capable of using PLA and PVA together and I would not reccommend this machine and any claims you may make that it can work. This problem appears on the web from other users also, it is just not my printer. This problem needs and must be sorted in order for Ultimaker to retain their good name. Yours VERY UNHAPPY