MK4 - PLA printing issues (new to 3D printing); PETG works
Hi guys,
New to 3D printing so bear with me,
I've done a couple of great PETG prints (see picture with galaxy blue filament) with the MK4 and wanted to run some prints with the Prusament galaxy black PLA. Unfortunately all prints keep failing like 1 cm up, see pictures. i'm wondering what the cause could be? is it because i'm trying to print 0.4mm height with a 0.4mm nozzle? heatbed and nozzle temps are default for that exact PLA type (selected in the slicer).
The layers also seem not to attach to each other as well. is this a temperature issue? Am i looking at warping issues? I have no clue...
I prefer the black PLA color and matte look, and also yeah i would like the PLA to work as well as the PETG so... Also there is barely stringing with PLA, something i do have with the PETG.
Thanks Mitch
RE: MK4 - PLA printing issues (new to 3D printing); PETG works
I'm far from being an expert, but I think layer height should be less than 80% of the nozzle diameter. So for 0.4mm nozzle, max layer height should be 0.32mm.
I would just go with one of the defined print profiles for the Prusament PLA, and not change any parameters, and see how that comes out.
RE: MK4 - PLA printing issues (new to 3D printing); PETG works
Yes 0.4 mm layer height is too high for a 0.4 mm nozzle. I wouldn't go beyond 0.3 mm. If part durability is of importance 0.2 mm would be preferable as it should lead to better layer adhesion.
If you want faster prints and don't need max x/y resolution I would swap the nozzle for one with 0.6 mm diameter. You can print with them much faster (50% wider lanes, 50% higher layer height). Otherwise, especially if you are new to 3D printing, I would just stick to the default settings in Prusa Slicer. Those have been tested and generally work quite well. Once you get them to work well, you can try tweaking one way or another.
Mk3s MMU2s, Voron 0.1, Voron 2.4
RE: MK4 - PLA printing issues (new to 3D printing); PETG works
Ive never gone above 0.2 with a 0.4 nozzle.
0.1 for detailed prints and 0.2 for everything else. I print solely PLA and have never had any issues like those seen above.
RE: MK4 - PLA printing issues (new to 3D printing); PETG works
So i did another run at 0.2mm height and it ran fine, i did see the first 5mm disk warping off the build plate (1mm gap) causing some bad top layer lines but after that it printed fine. could i increase heatbed temp to stop that from happening? there no wind or draft in home (+-23°C). Does PLA need a box so it remains more hot when printed so it does not warp/ dis-attach from the build plate while printing?
Generally when poor adhesion occurs the first suspect is bed cleanliness - a good scrub to get rid of any fingerprints is the starting point.
Cheerio,
RE: MK4 - PLA printing issues (new to 3D printing); PETG works
Btw you ask of this is because the layer height? Select a standard profile and print with predefined layer height without changing anything.
And I would print 0,4 mm layer height only with a 0,8mm nozzle.
Beat regards,
TigerClaw
PCPointerDE
RE: MK4 - PLA printing issues (new to 3D printing); PETG works
For more on layer heights, you might take a look at Prusa's article https://help.prusa3d.com/article/layers-and-perimeters_1748
You might also want to look into the adaptive layer height option in prusaslicer, which aims to put thin layers where needed for detail and thicker layers where they won't show so much.