Warping Issues
I finished assembling my printer a few days ago and have been going through various issues with my first prints which I am slowly solving, but one thing I am seeing consistently is warping at the base of prints. I have to run my printer in a coolish basement (ambient temp around 18C) and from what I have read in the troubleshooting guides it sounds like that may be the source of the warping. I am using the PLA filament that came with the printer at this point.
Questions
- Have I correctly diagnosed the source of the problem or should I be looking elsewhere?
- I saw recommendations for using an enclosure when working in a colder environment, although these were more for higher heat materials such as ABS. I'm guessing though the 18C is low enough to cause issues with PLA as well. If an enclosure would help I will look into it, but as a quick and dirty solution and to test the theory has anyone tired just putting a large cardboard box over the printer while it is printing? It wouldn't be pretty but might tell me if I am on the right track before I go and sort out a more permanent solution.
RE: Warping Issues
For abs you need a enclosure, cold or hot outside.
18 C is not cold.
You need to get the pla stick better:
- A new bed sticks a little less then a old one.
- Clean bed with dish soap, and always use alcohol(pei bed)
-Some people sand the pei bed a little, i would not do this.
-The first layer should be perfect, this is needed for better sticking to the bed.
-slow the first layer down to 10 mm speed.
-The bed a little hotter, 5 or 10C.
-First layer more heat if needed, 5 or 10C for the extruder.
-You can buy a film, photo tent, is cheap, if do not need a enclosure al the time, a enclosure can become to warm in the summer, depends were the printer is standing.
RE: Warping Issues
Also a big brim attached to the model will help.
Big flat model can warp more, so a big brim will help.
Small model, only small part attached to the bed, a big brim will help so that the printer will not push it over, or it will release while printing.
RE: Warping Issues
You failed to mention the most important thing. Are you using the smooth or the textured print bed?
Single most common cause of warping is lack of adhesion to the bed. Well that and some objects and filaments just shrink a lot.
If your print bed is textured - get a smooth one for now. Textured is fine - but has more of a learning curve.
Adhesion starts with a clean plate. Scrub yours under hot water with an unscented dish detergent like Dawn.
Rinse well and dry with a clean paper towel. Now print. No IPA this time.
RE: Warping Issues
Thanks for all the advice. I was having a lot of first layer issues and trying most of the things mentioned here, however I thought I had that licked. From what you are saying though it sounds like my first layer adhesion is still marginal - the layer goes down correctly enough to get the print started but it is not strong enough to prevent warping later.
My print bed is the smooth one that comes with the kit - I have not tried any other beds at this point.
I am already using a lower speed for the first few layers and turning the bed heat up to 70. One thing that occurred to me is that I have been leaving it at 70 for the whole model, and that might be adding to the temperature gradient as the model progresses and contributing to the warping.
Tonight I will try:
- cleaning the bed as recommended
- further adjusting the first layer calibration - I think the nozzle needs to be a smidge lower
- adding the brim
- Setting the bed temperature to 70 for the first layers only and then dropping it back to 60