Silk PLA at high temperatures, 1st layer waves
TLDR: 1st layer waves and some stringing when printing at 250°C and 8 volumetric speed. Help.
Hi all.
I've got a problem printing Silk PLA. The first layer always has some waves on it (see image). My print settings:
- Nozzle temperature for all layers: 250°C (compared to 215°C for Prusament PLA)
- Volumetric speed: 8 (compared to recommended 15 for Prusament PLA)
- Extrusion multiplier: 0.98 (compared to recommended 1.00 for Prusament PLA)
Other than that, all of the settings are the same compared to Prusament PLA (at least the profiles that are in the Prusa Slicer).
The reason for the nozzle temperature and the volumetric speed is due to manufacturer recommendations, to make it more shiny. And yeah, it does come out really shiny.
I've read that waves are due to the extracted material in relation to the layer height is too high. I've tried decreasing the extrusion multiplier down to 0.90, but the waves still appear. I don't feel so safe just raising the layer height of the first layer, since that might mean I got too much extrusion inside of the print (that's not visible) which might cause problems.
I also have some more stringing than usual, which I don't really know how to counter, but the 1st layer waves / ridges is by far the biggest concern. To be clear, the waves are seemingly just a visual defect, I don't feel any un-even-ness or anything other than flat when running my finger over it.
RE: Silk PLA at high temperatures, 1st layer waves
EDIT: Sorry, forgot to mention that the material is add:north PLA Premium Silk.
RE: Silk PLA at high temperatures, 1st layer waves
Waves like that in the first layer usually means your live z is slightly too close to the bed. Silks behave differently to normal pla as it exits the nozzle, and adjusting the live z a fraction is sometimes needed depending on the formulation of the filament. If you watch it carefully you should see it expands slightly.
Its not anything to do with extrusion multiplier, once you have that set correctly for the actual filament you should be good. I've never had to adjust EM for silks yet though, I just make sure the configured filament diameter matches the actual filament average.
I haven't used that brand but I have used a lot of mkoem silk silver, for that it has a recommended temp range of 205-235 and I use 235. On the hotter end of the scale usually works best for silks.
RE: Silk PLA at high temperatures, 1st layer waves
Waves like that in the first layer usually means your live z is slightly too close to the bed. Silks behave differently to normal pla as it exits the nozzle, and adjusting the live z a fraction is sometimes needed depending on the formulation of the filament. If you watch it carefully you should see it expands slightly.
Thank you for the tip. I found the "Z offset" setting in the Prusa Slicer settings, I suppose that's the setting that I should adjust? (A shame that z offset isn't a thing for filament settings btw)
Do you have any pointers on how much offset we're talking about here? Are we talking like 0.1 or 0.01 or like 0.005?
RE: Silk PLA at high temperatures, 1st layer waves
No, not in the slicer settings. Its part of the menu on the printer. There are loads of threads about dialling in live z correctly. You should have already done that process to dial in your first layer for normal printing. Its just that for some materials you have to tweak that setting on the printer.
RE: Silk PLA at high temperatures, 1st layer waves
No, not in the slicer settings. Its part of the menu on the printer. There are loads of threads about dialling in live z correctly. You should have already done that process to dial in your first layer for normal printing. Its just that for some materials you have to tweak that setting on the printer.
I don't think I should have done that, given that I'm using the MK4. It does the z-calibration automatically every time it prints right?
I could do it by adjusting the z live while it's printing, but why not just set in in the slicer settings? Won't have that have the same effect?
RE: Silk PLA at high temperatures, 1st layer waves
Ah mk4, maybe then. Don’t have a mk4. You will have to wait until someone with one can advise you on the specifics for that printer.
RE: Silk PLA at high temperatures, 1st layer waves
Like Neophyl suggested, waves like this are usually a sign of nozzle too close to the bed, and on my Mk3S I've seen them and dealt with them by adjusting Live Z, not EM. I haven't seen any waves yet with my Mk4's, using TTYT3D's silk filaments. With that said, given that I found the Mk4's always perfect first layer everything but perfect surprisingly often and requiring manual Live Z adjustments, I wouldn't be surprised if some adjustments were necessary for your combination of filament and sheet type.
Formerly known on this forum as @fuchsr -- until all hell broke loose with the forum software...