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Different colors of the same material, different settings?

Discussion in 'Off Topic' started by dbvanhorn, Feb 18, 2015.

  1. dbvanhorn

    dbvanhorn Active Member

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    I have limited experience.

    I have been working with Inland PLA in Green and Blue, and I have had good results after getting things dialled in. I switched to black, same material same vendor, and now the prints are peeling off the bed, and failing mid print into a mess. This run was a bunch of cylinder objects, and some of them totally failed, some tilted badly, and some warped on the bottom end pretty badly. I'm used to things coming off the bed almost mirror smooth and flat.

    It looks to me like the settings I was using (210 nozzle 70 bed) are too hot. I'm retrying now at 200/60 and it looks much better.

    Is it normal for what seems like almost identical material to behave so differently?
     
    #1 dbvanhorn, Feb 18, 2015
  2. milks

    milks Member

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    Just the dyes used in the material can have an effect on the settings it requires. I have a grey PLA which delaminates and comes unstuck from the bed while other colours from the exact same manufacturer print perfectly.

    210C for PLA is too high and a 70C bed shouldn't be necessary either. I usually print PLA at 195-200C with a 60C bed. The lower nozzle temperature should improve bridging performance also.
     
    #2 milks, Feb 19, 2015
  3. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Said it before, will say it (yet again) any two spools can have different sweet spots.
    They really can. The ranges where they print well usually are similar for spool of the same material from the same vendor (of the same age) but still may not be the same. As @milks pointed out the dyes can alter it a small amount as well.

    Also as he mentioned 210 is rather hot so you might want to try lower.

    A good way to test this* is to park the extruder in the middle of the bed, lift it 100mm and heat it up.
    Do a test extrude and watch the filament.

    Does it extrude smoothly and drop down smoothly towards the bed? (that is good)
    Does it curl around and wrap back onto the hotend? (that is bad--usually too hot).

    Print a test cube and make sure your layers are bonding and you should be set.

    If you keep the filament 'dry' then note the extrusion temp and you are good to start there next time you want to use it.

    * (PLA and ABS only--not all filament types work this way)
     
    #3 mark tomlinson, Feb 19, 2015
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  4. milks

    milks Member

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    cool tip :)
     
    #4 milks, Feb 19, 2015
  5. dbvanhorn

    dbvanhorn Active Member

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    I tried it at 210, 200, and 190, and all were pretty much identical. Puzzled.
     
    #5 dbvanhorn, Feb 19, 2015
  6. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    That is OK, it means you are not too hot (assuming it is extruding correctly).
    There will be a band of temperatures where the filament will work... I would suggest using the lower end of the band. So if it is extruding correctly at 190, print at 190.
     
    #6 mark tomlinson, Feb 19, 2015
  7. Mike Kelly

    Mike Kelly Volunteer

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    The dye they use in filament can make a big difference. As mark said there's not just one point that works best for all.
     
    #7 Mike Kelly, Feb 19, 2015
  8. dbvanhorn

    dbvanhorn Active Member

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    I see that now.

    I have a suspicion that I'm going to end up with a package containing the 3D design file, the STL output, printer settings saved to a file, and notes on each filament spool.
     
    #8 dbvanhorn, Feb 21, 2015
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  9. Galaxius

    Galaxius Well-Known Member

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    Pics of the problem would help us help you.
     
    #9 Galaxius, Feb 21, 2015

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