Thank you for the quick response!
I do hear a bit of crackling when it switches to the PVA nozzle (so maybe it has absorbed some moisture). It seems like the nozzle leeks about 1-2mm while it's not printing (image below).
We attempted the prime tower before, and it wasn't too much of a help (as it toppled over), but I'll try the different location. Attached are images of the model after the PVA dissolved. The geometry is pretty lean, but those interruptions of the PLA are pretty apparent. We had printed the model only with a PLA support, and that turned out much cleaner, but we are still trying to master working with PVA.
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gr5 2,224
yes, pva is very hard to work with. I've had these same issues.
If the pva absorbs a lot of water you can hear it crackling/sizzling as it prints and boils the water. More likely the pva just isn't sticking well to itself or to some layer of pla. I'd like to see a photo of the pva nozzle when it's not printing - how much leaks out before it starts printing again? For me it's about 1/2mm.
One fix for this is a prime tower. You will still get these "holes" due to pva occasionally pooking a hole in your pla walls. But put the prime tower in the back center (not back corner where it defaults) because it is more likely to stick well near the leveling screw (back center) and so is less likely to fall over and make things even worse than without the tower.
Having said all that I'd like to see what your print looks like after you dissolve all that pva. I suspect you don't need any support for this print.
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