First layer questions

[LePaul 321]

The other day, after leveling the bed, I started a print at 210C (PLA)

The first layer went on like this: . .... . .. .... .... ....

Rather than the usual: ______________________

I hadn't changed anything with the PLA, the extruder.....just the temp.

Too cold? It eventually built up some layers and printed ok.

 

[Dim3nsioneer 557]

It depends of the speed of the first layer. I usually print the first layer at 220°C with 20mm/s and without fan. But 210°C should work as well (I just see quite a difference in adhesion between these two temperatures). If you have an UM1 and had the fan running during the first layer, you might want to check if the fan blows onto the nozzle?

Sometimes purching the nozzle, e.g. extruding about 20-30mm of filament helps as well... And if one has at least part of the original end.gcode one should be aware that it does a retract at the end which could result in stammering at the beginning of the next print.

 

[LePaul 321]

Its an Ultimaker original and usually the fan doesnt run on the first layer

 

[gr5 2,167]

That happened to me several times in the past few days and it was always that I had left the nozzle hot for 10 minutes wihtout priming it just before starting the print. You have to grab that gear and make sure it's primed before starting.

However it's also good to do the first layer at 230 or 240C. I always set the temp to 0 in cura and set temp to 240 and when it is passing 230C I start the print (you don't have to wait for warmup if temp is 0 in cura), then when first layer is done I lower to the temp I want - which could be anywhere from 190 to 240 depending how I feel. 220 is a nice compromise for UM2 and 210 for UM1.

 

[yellowshark 153]

For PLA If I am printing at 210 or above then I set the first layer temp. = to the printing temp. If I want to print at 210 and set first layer to 220 then it takes time for the extruder to reduce to 210 after layer 1 and it will probably drop below 210 on the way down and probably bounce back beyond 210 - so for a while I am not printing at 210.

I prefer to stabilise the temperature and then start printing.

I rarely have any warping issues printing PLA on glass with hairspray at a temp of 210. For a couple of PLA filaments I will use 220 minimum for layer 1 and the same if I have a big print, say 4hours+ (to be safe).