Last 10 or so layers print really slow

[robboz4 0]

I'm using 15.04.03 on a Mac and a PrintrBot Play and I have noticed that the last several layers for a model print really slow making the time estimate wrong. I 'm not sure if I have a setting set somewhere that is causing it. Nothing seems to come to mind. For example I printed the all-in-one print elephant, LFS_elephant .stl, and the last several layers of the ears took over 20 minutes. The issue doesn't seem to happen when printing a test 3mm box, only on a curved surface.

I tried searching the forum, but could not seem to find anything to match what I'm seeing.

Can anyone guide me to a solution?

Thanks

Dave

[Labern 775]

There are 2 settings that can cause this.

One is in the advanced menu and called top / bottom speed. If this is set to 0 then it will print at the normal print speed. If a number is entered it will print at that speed.

The other setting which can cause it and the problem it think you have with the ears is called minimum layer time. If one layer will take less then this time it will slow the print speed down till it takes the amount of time set in this layer time setting.

This is to try and prevent the printer from putting down another layer when the previous layer is still hot. This setting can be good and bad as the hot nozzle travels slowly and it can over extrude. So you can adjust this but you may experance over heating. The best way to fix this it to either print 2 items at once (if they are small) or print a small tower next to the print.

[robboz4 0]

I have the second setting set to 5 seconds so I think that is the one causing the issue. I'll play around with different values to get a good print.

Thanks for the information.