Printing big thing problem

[dree 0]

Hello,

My printing just goes fine, I only have one problem.

If I want to print big things the printer does not print so well anymore, the higher, the uglier it gets.

This is the result of the latest bird feeder I tried to print, I held it against the light to demonstrate, first part goes well but the higher it gets the more light comes through and it gets more fragile of course.

Walls are 1.5 mm thick

PLA at 210 C

Layer hight 0.2 mm

Infill 20%

I use this

All suggestions are welcome.

Groet Dree

 

[owen 19]

Try 1.2mm layers or more heat or print slower

 

[dree 0]

Thanks for the reply, I will try more heat,

A 1.2 mm layer height seems to me a little overkill :-) Cura says 0.25 is the maximum.

Groet Dree

 

[SandervG 1,521]

I believe Owen means wall thickness.

You can also set this in Cura.

Can you make some screenshots of the settings you have been using?

 

[dree 0]

Ah, wall thickness.. euh.. shell thickness?

These were my settings.

 

[owen 19]

Sorry I meant 0.12mm layer height :oops:. So that you are extruding at a lower rate.

 

[SandervG 1,521]

Have you measured your filament?

It rarely is 3mm, it usually is 2.85mm for example.

This makes a big difference in the extrusion.

Being 0.01mm is no biggie, but 0.2mm is a lot.

I would remeasure that first, changing shell thickness can also help but that probably won't be the key-factor.

 

[dree 0]

I have two types filament, from the Ultimaker store 2.85 and 3.00 mm from http://www.plastic2print.com/en/filament.html?diameter=130&material=129&___from_store=nl

That black one from the picture is 3.00 mm.

If I print the same project with the 2.85 filament and the same Cura settings (except the filament thickness) I get the same result.

I think I try to print a little hotter next time 0.12 layer and thicker walls, for this project that makes it a 23 hour print, a while longer because Cura is not so good with predicting how long it's going to take.

Dree

 

[gr5 2,172]

3.00mm filament can be a problem as if it is a tiny bit bigger (typically 3.1mm) it can get stuck in the bowden tube. I recommend you buy a 3mm drill and drill out a perfectly 3mm hole in a piece of sheet metal. Then test several meters of your filament. I suspect it goes up to 3.1mm diameter on occasion.

Also maybe use pliers to squish your filament so that it is 3.1mm and see if it can fit through the bowden.

This would explain the areas the underextrude as filament can vary a tiny bit.

Some people pretest their filament with a sheet metal hole and you can possibly use this to correct the diameter of the filament.

 

[dree 0]

I had the same problem with the 2.85 filament but I will do that print with that to be sure.

Maybe it's a temperature thing, maybe my walls/shells are to thin or my filament to thick, maybe my nozzle is clogging with dust, for the next print I will deal with all that. I probably start the print tonight so I can report tomorrow how it went.

Dree

 

[dree 0]

Hi,

Well.. Cura said it would be a 24 Hour print, it took 26..

It went really well with all your help en suggestions, thank you all very much. It got out beautiful without any holes at all and it’s very strong.

The only test that I have to do is the same project with 3 mm filament, I’m confident that it’s no problem and after a successful breeding season and some old bird feeders I can use more.

Shell thickness/bottom-Top 1 mm

Layer height 0.12 mm

Fill Density 20%

Temperature 230 C

Filament (Ultimaker shop) 2.85 mm

Print speed 50

Brim only, no support.

Photo one is how it come out of the printer, two is with the installed Plexiglas, lid, seeds and birds J

Groet Dree

 

[makingzone 2]

Lucky birds ...

 

[edis 0]

looks very nice

 

[dree 0]

In the mean while I printed a second one with 3mm filament, went good as well.

It's another design, rounder and higher, bigger, but the printing lasted just as long as #1, I guess there is less material in this design.

This is natural PLA so not so beautiful color.

Groet Dree