PLA Delaminating

[friedl_basson 5]

Hi - 

 

I have been printing successfully (using PLA, CPE, TPU & TPE) for the past 8 months or so and have never experienced delimitation before, let alone while printing with PLA. I have had warping of CPE parts (pulling off the bed) but PLA has been straight forward a trouble free... so far.  I read through a couple of posts, the seem quite dated so it seems everyone else has figure this out but me 🙂 

 

It is the first winter since owning the UM2+, so I am trying to figure out whether ambient temperature could be playing a part.  It has been quite cold lately (7-10C).  I do however have a custom Plexiglass lid in the front of my printer, but not is not enclosed on the top.

 

My basic settings are:

 

• Print Temp: 210C
• Bed Temp: 60C
• Layer Height: 0.15mm
• Speed: 60mm
• Cooling Fan : 85% (started at 100% but reduced it in an effort to stop the delaminating)

 

I attached a picture of the parts.  I also included a picture of the first layer printing, it seems bed is levelled just fine.   I have had some success printing with a draft shield, which made me wonder if it is now better controlling the heat around the model.

 

Hope someone can help.

 

Regards,

Friedl.

 

[Dim3nsioneer 557]

If the ambient temperature at the printer location is indeed 7-10degC then you probably have found the cause of your printing issues.

Please be aware that the official operating temperature for Ultimaker printers is 15-32degC.

You can try closing the front as you did and increasing the bed temperature by 5-10deg. I would not close the top in an uncontrolled way as it might lead to temperature issues with some printer components.

[UlrichC-DE 109]

4 hours ago, friedl_basson said:

 I do however have a custom Plexiglass lid in the front of my printer, but not is not enclosed on the top.

Hello,

in cold temperatures a cover on the printer can help. PLA likes it cool. But CPE not so much.

In winter I like to help with adhesion with Magigo sticks and increase temperatures as @Dim3nsioneer suggested.

Many greetings

[Smithy 1,144]

@friedl_basson

Complete other question, the boxes in the background of your first picture, are these boxes printed? They look great and I am looking for such boxes but haven't found any useful ones on Thingiverse yet. 

[friedl_basson 5]

@Smithy- 

 

They are printed and they are great indeed.  By far the better ones I have found so far.  I scaled them to 50% as they are for small components, I have attached them for your convenience 🙂   Maybve scale the drawer 1% more, but depends on your printer I suppose.

 

Regards, Friedl.

CUBE_-_Modular_Organiser.zip

[friedl_basson 5]

@Dim3nsioneer & @UlrichC-DE - 

 

Thank you for the tips.  I saw the black bag on YouTube videos 🙂  Was getting desperate when even PLA prints started to delaminate.  Seems the cause then is the ambient temperature as it is below 15C indeed.  I will have to heat up the room I suppose.

 

Regards,

Friedl. 

[Smithy 1,144]

@friedl_basson

Thanks a lot, really appreciate it. 🙂 Will give it a try.....

[Smithy 1,144]

1 hour ago, friedl_basson said:

I will have to heat up the room I suppose.

Yes when it is really so cold then this is the better choice. I guess just covering the printer could work, but then you get maybe other problems when the difference between "outside" and "inside" the printer too high.

[friedl_basson 5]

@Smithy - 

 

Ok, so I built a thermometer posting readings to my phone so I can monitor the temperature.  Without covering it with "something" it drops well below 15C inside the chamber.  I covered it loosely with a black bag and temperature is hovering around 25C-26C.  Prints are working.  

 

I do have one nagging problem I have been facing since I can remember.  When printing larger parts like the enclosure I am currently printing, everything goes smoothly until I am ±50% up the side walls.  I then start hearing these noises and it seems to be occurring when the nozzle is travelling to some some point to start printing again.  It is also making these small bead-like deposits which then seem to be the cause of the 'rumbling' sound the next time the nozzle travels over that part.  For the life of me I cannot seem to understand why the nozzle is doing so much travelling without printing.  

 

I suppose one fix is the keep the nozzle out of the infill area?  Do I do this by turning combing OFF?? 

 

Regards, Friedl.

[Smithy 1,144]

It looks like, that you are printing too hot, too fast or if you have some over-extrusion. So you have more material on the top of the last layer and that is the rumbling noise when the nozzle travels over it. I have it too sometimes, especially with bigger infill areas, but I don't care about it.

 

So if you are happy with the result, I would not change anything just to get rid of the noise. 

[friedl_basson 5]

Thanks @Smithy  - I am printing the PLA at 210C, 100% flow and 60mm/s.  I will try printing at 200C and see how it goes, thanks.  

 

The sound is not too much of a problem, but I can see the knock-on affect on the outer walls as well.  Not the end of the world, but would still prefer to 'fix' if 🙂 

[Smithy 1,144]

Maybe try also to print a little bit slower, I would try 50mm/s and try if 90% flow is still enough. But keep in mind that with less flow you also get less layer adhesion.

[friedl_basson 5]

Great thanks!  ugh... 50mm/s?? these enclosures will take all day to print 😄

 

ps:  Did you try those drawers?  I will be printing more this week.  Have some components on the way, need to make place to keep them 🙂 

[UlrichC-DE 109]

Hello,

20 minutes ago, friedl_basson said:

ugh... 50mm/s?? these enclosures will take all day to print 😄

To print faster, you can use a larger nozzle. I think the 0.6 nozzle should be included with the UM2+. So it is faster in terms of time. I never print fast but more often with 0.8 😉

 

Many greetings

[friedl_basson 5]

Hi @UlrichC-DE - 

 

I do indeed have the 0.6mm and 0.8mm nozzles, only tried to use them once, but found the layer lines to be 'too visible' for most clients 🙂 

 

I have no idea that 60mm is too fast of 0.4mm nozzle?  I found some math in the forum on how to calculate speeds, and it seemed well within the capabilities of the UM2+. I will change these tomorrow and see how it goes.

 

Looking to upgrade to UM3 or S3 soon, so maybe it will improve things a bit 🙂 

[Smithy 1,144]

1 hour ago, friedl_basson said:

Did you try those drawers?  I will be printing more this week.

Not yet, but already downloaded and on my todo list. I think I will also scale it down, I need it for resistors and such smaller things.

[Smithy 1,144]

21 minutes ago, friedl_basson said:

I have no idea that 60mm is too fast of 0.4mm nozzle?

It is not too fast, but quality decreases with higher speed and you could get some side effects like the rumbling.

 

22 minutes ago, friedl_basson said:

Looking to upgrade to UM3 or S3 soon, so maybe it will improve things a bit 🙂 

hmm, not speed wise. I print max 30 or 40mm/s with the dual head printers otherwise dimension accuracy and ringing is too bad, because the head is much heavier.

[friedl_basson 5]

23 hours ago, Smithy said:

It is not too fast, but quality decreases with higher speed and you could get some side effects like the rumbling.

 

hmm, not speed wise. I print max 30 or 40mm/s with the dual head printers otherwise dimension accuracy and ringing is too bad, because the head is much heavier.

 

Thank you for the heads-up 🙂 

 

I also used the drawers for resistors, small ICs and Capacitors.