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ABS Print Edges and Corner Curl

Discussion in 'Printing Filament' started by jonebersole, Jul 26, 2014.

  1. jonebersole

    jonebersole Member

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    Hi everyone. I just got my R1 last week and sent some test prints (the test cube) using the PLA that comes with the printer. They come out 'ok', but not the best. They have some roughness around the edge of each corner, and at the end of the print (the top layer), they have sharp nipples at each of the corners. The top layer is also a little rough.

    Printing the same object (test cube) in ABS with all of the default settings in MatterControl 1.1 yield a print that is much worse. I've attached a pic of the two. Can someone lead me in the right direction to print perfection. :)
    Thanks in advance. WP_001099.jpg
     
  2. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    That is pretty normal for ABS.
    ABS is very sensitive to transition temperature and with a higher transition temp it will warp and curl.
    The heated chamber some printers have is there to help reduce this by minimizing the transition temperature for freshly printed layers and previously printed ones.

    All you can do it crank the bed temp up and hope. Or look at the enclosure that @Mike Kelly and @Printed Solid have designed. This will let the print area stay much warmer and help minimize warp (at least in theory). Someone who has one can comment on how it works. If you must use ABS it is a good upgrade.

    With the PLA based composites out there now, I just don't do ABS.
     
  3. Printed Solid

    Printed Solid Volunteer Admin
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    I think you might be running a little too hot on both materials. Those rippled corners and patchy infill on the top are indicators of that in the PLA. The potholes in the top of the ABS are definitely indications that you're too hot.
    What temps are you running at for the different materials for the bed and the extruder?
    You might also need to tighten up the belts a bit.
     
  4. jonebersole

    jonebersole Member

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    Those prints were really high. I think the extruder was like 240 and the bed was at 84. I have had better results with ABS Black with the extruder at 235 and the heat bed at 78. What should I be doing?
     
  5. Printed Solid

    Printed Solid Volunteer Admin
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    For PLA, your actual surface temperature of the bed should not be much hotter than about 60, but I think this tends to be around 70 for the robo due to the temperature drop from the thermistor at the heater to the other side of the glass. You have a new robo with the hexagon hot end, right? Extrusion temp of typically 210 with the hex or other all metal hot end such as e3d. Closer to 190 if you have the older stock hot end.
    ABS typically needs to be closer to 100-110 for the bed. However, the cooler the better. If you can keep your print stuck at 78, more power to you. Nozzle temp for ABS is closer to 225 on most printer, however I don't run ABS on the robo, so I can't weigh in there. Regardless, experimenting with lower temps is a good idea.
     
  6. jonebersole

    jonebersole Member

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    I tried printing a shaft with ABS and the shaft was lying down. I want it that direction so it can withstand torque. The support material (rectilinear-Grid) and as it goes across the grid it breaks the previous layer. Picture attached. The R1 is supposed to autolevel,which is what I would think the problem is, but maybe it is that the extruder isn't hot enough so it pulls?
    WP_001104.jpg WP_001105.jpg
     
  7. tesseract

    tesseract Moderator
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    if you are running at the same temp you may see better results with a higher retraction you may be getting ooze from the nozzle tip due to the higher heat level and the oozing will allow and material that comes out of the tip to be laid on the print as it moves across printed areas.
     
  8. jonebersole

    jonebersole Member

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    Why would the filament curl up and hit the extruder as it comes out? It curls so fast that it never hits the surface to start the print.
     
  9. Printed Solid

    Printed Solid Volunteer Admin
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    From your pics, it still looks like you're just running too hot.

    Responding to some of your other comments:

    I've actually found the autoleveling to be a little tricky. I understand how important it is for new users, but a manually leveled bed is much better once you get the basics figured out.

    Regarding your filament curling issue. If it's that bad, it may mean you have some kind of a contaminant in your nozzle partially obstructing flow. You can get a high e string from a guitar store and floss out the nozzle a big.
    However, that curling shouldn't be an issue at the first layer. The nozzle should be so close to the surface that it is impossible for that to happen.
    Check out Tesseract's famous 'check your skirt' method for dialing in your first layer here:
    printedsolid.com/firstlayer
     
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  10. Yufay

    Yufay New Member

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    i had the same problem with my ABS parts lifting and curling at the edges. I fixed it by building a cheapy enclosure made out of cardboard boxes lined with 2 layers of foil (radiation shields). You could include more layers of foil but anymore than 2 isn't doing that much. I guess the things I learned in school about heat transfer are paying off haha! here are some pictures. I even made a small viewing window out of some tape. It works great! Even if the cardboard doesnt make a perfect seal with the printer frame photo 2.JPG photo 1.JPG
     

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