Come to the Dark Side, we have PETG
Cue the Imperial March...
Printed with supports in black eSun PETG; 250C/70C with 0.1mm layer height; using Prusa PET settings in Slic3r.
It didn't come out perfectly though...
As you can see the surface on his neck is a little rough.
The brim around the helmet is not smooth either... there were supports under this.
It's also super stringy. The first couple prints I did at 240C & 230C did not work well at all, so maybe 245C would help the stringiness?
I want to print a bigger one, but need to figure out the best settings. Any tips on PETG in Slc3r that might help?
Re: Come to the Dark Side, we have PETG
I guess what I'm really curious about is does it make sense to use PETG for detailed prints like this or is it better for more basic geometric items like parts? I know some people have claimed to have completely replaced ABS & PLA with PETG, if you are one of them, are you printing models like this? Do you often need supports?
Re: Come to the Dark Side, we have PETG
I've done some PETG printing, with different results.
What I'm using is:
1. 100% fan for better surface, details and less stringing, no fan if I really want good layer bonding, although I've never experienced layer splitting with PETG and full fan either.
2. Always raising the Z level some, not squeezing as with PLA at all. Its pretty much impossible to remove the print from the build plate if I use the same Z settings for PETG as for PLA. I usually almost "airprint".
3. I tend to under extrude some
4. Print slower than PLA
And this is a good post to get some ideas from:
Re: Come to the Dark Side, we have PETG
I guess what I'm really curious about is does it make sense to use PETG for detailed prints like this or is it better for more basic geometric items like parts? I know some people have claimed to have completely replaced ABS & PLA with PETG, if you are one of them, are you printing models like this? Do you often need supports?
PETG seems very sensitive to temperature. I can not successfully print with it at such a wide range, as I can with PLA. I would create some calibration prints, such as this setup:
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:24238
Try at 5C degree increments, say between 230 and 250C.
You might also experiment with different speeds. I had to print more slowly with PETG than with PLA.
John
Re: Come to the Dark Side, we have PETG
Thanks all! I read through that makergear post, great info there! One thingI couldn't figure out was how to adjust support extrusion in Slic3r.
I also realized that I've been slicing with the settings from the Mk1, not the Mk2! I exported a new gcode for the castle at 0.2mm. It's printing now, we'll see how it goes.
Re: Come to the Dark Side, we have PETG
100% fan for better surface, details and less stringing
I tried this the other day and got a Thermal Runaway error. When I researched it, I found some documentation that said if you turn the fan on 100% for a filament that needs 240+C then you'll get this error, and should keep the fan around 50%.
I tend to under extrude some
Does that mean changing the extrusion multiplier (in Slic3r) to some value less than 1?
Re: Come to the Dark Side, we have PETG
I tried this the other day and got a Thermal Runaway error. When I researched it, I found some documentation that said if you turn the fan on 100% for a filament that needs 240+C then you'll get this error, and should keep the fan around 50%.
Either that, or purchase the E3D sock, which is what I did.
Re: Come to the Dark Side, we have PETG
John, did you mk2 come with the new style E3D heater block with the barrel style push in thermistor rather than the screw to the side thermistor that the sock needs, or did you buy the "block and sock" kit from E3D?
Thanks,
Paul.
Re: Come to the Dark Side, we have PETG
100% fan for better surface, details and less stringing
I tried this the other day and got a Thermal Runaway error. When I researched it, I found some documentation that said if you turn the fan on 100% for a filament that needs 240+C then you'll get this error, and should keep the fan around 50%.
I tend to under extrude some
Does that mean changing the extrusion multiplier (in Slic3r) to some value less than 1?
Ok, never seen that, I've been printing PETG at 100% fan for many hours without any issues...
You can change the extrusion multiplier, but before you set that value, you can just adjust "flow" while printing and see how that changes the look of the print. If I want to under extrude some I change the value from 100 to 95, and if I want to over extrude some I change the value to 105%.
I did some PETG tests yesterday, printing a column with temperatures from 210 degrees to 250 degrees with 5 degree steps, also printed with the fan off the first part of the print and turned it on the last part of the print. Cant see any difference on the column at all hehe
Re: Come to the Dark Side, we have PETG
Ok, never seen that, I've been printing PETG at 100% fan for many hours without any issues...
From the pics I saw of your workspace, it doesn't look like you have an enclosure, but maybe somehow you're keeping the heat trapped in better than I am and that's why?
Re: Come to the Dark Side, we have PETG
John, did you mk2 come with the new style E3D heater block with the barrel style push in thermistor rather than the screw to the side thermistor that the sock needs, or did you buy the "block and sock" kit from E3D?
Yes, my MK2 came with the new style E3D heater block, such that all I needed was the sock. My printer kit was assembled on September 1st, 2016.
Re: Come to the Dark Side, we have PETG
Yes, my MK2 came with the new style E3D heater block, such that all I needed was the sock. My printer kit was assembled on September 1st, 2016.
Thanks! Hopefully mine will be the same when it arrives!
Cheers,
Paul.
Re: Come to the Dark Side, we have PETG
I've started printing with PETG 3 days ago, and tried initially using the preset for PET. a good starting point but a few refinements had to be made.
temp @ 250C.... 240 was just to low and wasn't giving even extrusion. plus the layer bond was weak and it was stringy.
30mm/s for the print speed seemed to work just fine.
bed temp was optional for me, i have a messed up PEI sheet so i printed this stuff on blue tape with glue stick "amazing adhesion" @ both 50C and 90C.
thermal runaway was the challenge of the material. apparently in slicer the default PET setting has a fan bridge setting of 100% but during normal ops. it would be at 50%.... the setting for the fan max % does not regulate bridging as a global variable. you MUST set the bridge fan speed to the same or a little more than your fan max setting. i have max and bridge at 50% fan speed and last night i printed a beautiful clear phone case... after 3 days of failures.
also for the stringing i kept the temp high at 250C and reduced the extrusion multiplier to .9
hope this helps
Re: Come to the Dark Side, we have PETG
Yeah, I had thermal runaway constantly when trying to use PETG (Simplify3D here, but same issue - 100% fan speed on bridging).
Like others have already mentioned, I bought the "Block & Sock" kit to upgrade to the cartridge-based thermistor so that I could use E3D's silicone 'sock', and with that attached, I can have the fan at 100% and maintain 250C with no issue.
Re: Come to the Dark Side, we have PETG
Been printing alot of PETG the last week, and the results are great!
Huge differences between filaments and filaments though. Been printing black from eSun, hard to get a nice surface and some issues with layer bonding etc. Printed with the same eSun PEG but transparent orange, and it prints flawless!
