How do I solve the "spider web" little thin hairs on my PLA print  

RE: How do I solve the "spider web" little thin hairs on my PLA print

Personally, I use a small kitchen torch like one used to make creme brulee or heat the shrink tubes for wiring.  Something like this:

https://www.amazon.com/Sondiko-Lighter-Refillable-Adjustable-Included/dp/B07YJMYNPS

Stoke it up and start about 12" away from the model, then gradually move in, waving it like a hair dryer.  It takes very little heat contact to melt the fibers.  You'll see them start disappearing when you get to the right distance.  DO NOT LINGER THE FLAME.  The model will heat up some, but so long as you don't touch it or overheat it, it'll be fine.

Once the filaments are melted, they scrape off easily with a small file or even a fingernail.

Your filament is damp.  Look up drying methods here.

A heat gun, gas flame or even some hair dryers will shrivel those strings.

Cheerio,

RE: How do I solve the "spider web" little thin hairs on my PLA print

A heat gun is your best friend.

RE: How do I solve the "spider web" little thin hairs on my PLA print

Thank you for the advice. I tried my wife's hair drier and it did the trick. I will into the drying methods and ways to keep my filament dry for future prints.

RE: How do I solve the "spider web" little thin hairs on my PLA print

I had stringing on one of the PLA spools even though it was dry.. I turned down the extruder temp about 10 degrees and it fixed.. so too hot an end can cause some oozing and stringing as well as dampness.

RE: How do I solve the "spider web" little thin hairs on my PLA print

The oozing you mention does actually occur when the extruder is heating up. Interesting that you mention that. I have had my printer for about 6 months and the oozing has been recent. The oozing didn't occur when I first started printing, just within the last month. I have used the same extruder temp for PLA filament since I first started printing. I will decrease the temp like you mention and run another print to see if the issue resolves itself. Thanks.

RE:

I've been using about 3 different PLAs in the last month.. I've found that certain prints will tend to string more than others depending on what the print head is doing. I was getting a lot of stringing on one particular print, but the print head was moving from one place in the print to another remote location then another. I had my printer about 3 months and had never noticed this before.. I chalked it up to moisture as this was one of the few spools that I just left on the Prusa spool spindle every day. I did a stringing test and sure enough, I got stringing.. I dried the PLA (PolyTerra +) for 6 hours in a SunLu (we have pretty high humidity here.. about 50-60%.. and it will get worse in July/Aug). Then it passed the stringing test with flying colors.. Sometimes stringing occurs if there is no retraction, but I have a visualizer on my extruder so I could tell it was retracting before moves.. So I thought my stringing problem was solved (and I put the spool in a dry box).. Then about a week later I noticed some strings on another particular print.. but I found I had not chosen the proper PLA in my slicer and the temp was set higher than I normally used  for that filament.. I redid the exact print right away but with 10 deg. lower nozzle temp and zero stringing. 

I never thought PLA was super sensitive to humidity, but I now don't print with open spools.. everything prints from a dry box.. A pain.. but I make mine out of cereal containers.. And I'm now willing to try different temps more. I also found that lower temps will help if you have bridging in your model.. especially for PETG. Playing around with cooling and temps have huge effects on the success of certain models.

So I've found that humidity is the most common culprit.. but it can also be temperature.. and I think every PLA has slightly different chemicals in them and they all need some tuning. I have a 10-15 degree difference between some of my PLA brands.

RE:

Dry your filament, don't waste your money on one of those crappy SUNLU style dryers, get something like a Printdry system.

https://www.printdry.com/product-category/dryer-pro/

I don't have anything to gain by suggesting this, they just work, and they work properly. I own three, It's your call but don't wine when you try to save a buck and have the same problem.

Also a modified food dehydrator will work if your willing to put in the build time to  build one.

Don't fuck around just get what works.

Regards

Swiss_Cheese

RE:

grin.. well the printDry system is $190 (US) and the SunLu is about $60-70. I'd agree that the printDry is likely much better engineered.. There is only a heater and timer in the SunLu .. the LCD has typos and some symbols are misformed because of coding errors.. but it does the job to dry the filament. After that it must be transferred to a dryBox. And here EVERY spool needs to be in some sealed container. I make my own dry boxes with Desiccant which has lasted about 2 months before needing to be dried. I think filament humidity control is seldom considered before the printer endeavour is started. 

I've used the SunLu twice when spools got humid and it did the job both times (I did stringing tests before & after).. maybe it won't last.. not sure.. but for now, it does the same job that I'd use a PrintDry system for.. If you were also only printing from a PrintDry system.. I'd agree with you.. you have 3 Dryers.. $600.. I build my own DryBoxes for that.. I have 8 at $20 a pop.Do you print from your PrintDriers?  Does that mean you turn them on every so often to dry the spools.. ? or do you print on an open spool holder? Here, a 4 hour print using an open spool would get the filament too wet and I don't want to constantly put them in/out of driers.. 

Maybe I'll change my mind if my SunLu dies soon. But unless you live in a very dry climate, you need at least one active heat, drying solution.

RE:

To each their own 🖐️ , I probably don't know what I'm talking about, I only have tens of thousands of hours of experience, do what you need to do.

please feel free to disregard any information I provide.

Oh and BTW I used to own one of the sunlu POS's and found them to be woefully inadequate.

just my experience, have at it.

Regards

Swiss_Cheese

RE: How do I solve the "spider web" little thin hairs on my PLA print

Like Swiss_cheese, I'm super happy with my PrintDry Pro. Works great to dry filament and to print from it directly.  I have the 2 spool version, which can be extended to more. 

RE:

You might start with a better attitude to explain exactly why the PrintDry solution works 4x better than the SunLu ( likely you've not owned a SunLu, but have owned other crappy driers that for some reason did not work).. I'm not saying you are not right.. as I don't have tens of thousands of hours of experience.. (have 3D printers been around that long?).. But simple statement that "use this because that is crap", doesn't provide any usable data to base decisions.. Why would the SunLu not dry filament properly.. It seems to do the same as a food dehydrator..

And I fully would expect the PrintDryer to work very well from your experience. 

RE:

I owned the best Sunlu they made and it's a rip off, not only that I live in California in an area that has an average relative humility of 30%  and can fall forward of 50% and it matters, I use my printers professionally, and it matters. The Sunlu's and their like do not do the job. That is a professional opinion. If you don't care or know  better and just want to save a buck then buy what you want, But the Sunlu and the equivalent systems are inadequate. They are designed to take your money, not to do the job.

I stand by this

Swiss_Cheese

RE:

just to be clear I wasn't attempting to argue about this, by all means do what you feel is right by your $$$. But I have to make a living with this information and  have no compunction to stop people from doing what they want. However I will not offer false experience to a person asking, or in need.

Regards

Swiss_Cheese

RE: How do I solve the "spider web" little thin hairs on my PLA print

I am only a hobby user and everything is for my personal use. So the effectiveness of some of the equipment is not that critical. I did want a reliable printer and that is where I spent my money.  Certainly if it were my profession, then I would never consider a $60 drier. I do wonder what makes a good and bad drier. The SunLu has no fan, nor does it provide a sealed environment so it is a very low end tool. But it did regulate the temperature for the set time.. and at least in my case it did do a good job based on my stringing (tower) tests. My humidity is similar to yours.. I see my meter reading 54% today, and I've seen it go up to 65%. What I didn't expect was to have to put every spool of PLA & PETG in a dryBox during use. To that end I started building dryBoxes, starting with a good  box that has an air-tight seal. That has worked pretty well so far. I am glad to know of the PrintDryer and its recommendations.. but I hope for the little use I might need it, I can get by with the SunLu..I also have little faith in these type of manufactured products, but I did read a few positive reviews so decided to try it. We will see how it holds up.

RE: How do I solve the "spider web" little thin hairs on my PLA print

@crab

Please allow me to provide my professional opinion as to what makes a good dryer. This would be a dryer that is capable of drying PA (Nylons & the like),PC's,ABS, PETG and the like probably in that order as PETG and PLA are in the lower spectrum of the list, however still very much need drying.

Now just to be clear In the past a legitimate modified food dehydrator, was more then adequate to handle the needs of these filament types. Frankly they are to this day easy enough to modify for filament use, However there are a couple of commercially available alternatives if your don't have the time or desire to build/modify one yourself. If your already willing to spend  $80 US dollars or more on a Sunlu that frankly is lacking, and it is, spend the $189 USD on a print dry, or equivalent because it just gets the  job done, no matter what, it does, it doesn't matter where you live or what your humility is it works. As would a  self built food dehydrator, you can contest this to your hearts desire you will find my information to be true. I have spent the time and the money already. If you chose to experiment and play around with your money, then by all means do so, but you are wasting your money, as someone that has learned better through time and experience is letting you know 

The SUNLU system and it's like were not worth a crap, you can spend your money on them if you like, however  once you own a real, and effective drying system you won't suggest them again in good conscience.

I say Whatever, I don't care to continue this conversation.

Say what you like.

Swiss_Cheese

RE: How do I solve the "spider web" little thin hairs on my PLA print

You may already be a winner.  😉

Food dehydrators also work quite well on damp 3d print filament.

We have one of those Ninja Cookers which has a dehydrate mode.  If I have a suspected damp filament spool I'll just put it in the Ninja, set it to dehydrate at about 120F/49C and let it run overnight.

People have reported having good luck in a regular full-size ELECTRIC oven, set to a low keep-warm temperature, but there have been reports of ruined filament when trying to dry it in a gas oven.

The oozing you mention does actually occur when the extruder is heating up.

This too can be a symptom of wet filament - some being pushed out by steam.

I use a food dehydrator:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/HOMCOM-Dehydrator-Adjustable-Temperature-Control/dp/B01N8OWBLQ/ref=sr_1_5?crid=YLPBZLC5NVD8&keywords=dehydrator&qid=1636119085&sprefix=dehy%2Caps%2C73&sr=8-5

I didn't do much research - just picked one that used up the remaining credit on a gift-card.

You can either snip out the bottom of a couple of trays to make room for a filament roll or do what I did and print a tall spacer.  A translucent PETG spacer has worked OK for me so far...

Attached are files for the spacer. dryerinsert should fit a Mini, print three and glue together to make a spacer.  dryerinsert1 fits an i3, print two and glue together.  

dryerinsert

dryerinsert1

Cheerio,

RE: How do I solve the "spider web" little thin hairs on my PLA print

I would like to thank everyone for their inputs. Obviously, there is a lot for me to think about.