Prusament PC Blend Carbon Fiber Printing Issues
Printer: MK3s+ with the latest firmware
Bed: textured w/ glue stick
Slicer: PrusaSlicer 2.4 w/ Prusament PC Blend Carbon Fiber Presets and temps
Nozzles: 0.6 and 0.8mm hardened steel (Amazon - POLIS3D Brand [good reviews])
I'm working on a prototype for my jet ski using Prusament PC Blend Carbon Fiber mainly for its characteristics. It's strong, lightweight, good with high temps and has good chemical resistance. However, I've been having some weird issues that I'm hoping some of you may have resolved. First layers are a huge problem. Especially on support material. Fine Z doesn't seem to have a positive impact. It's either too low and plowing through filament during direction changes and making a fuzzy first layer or it's too high and the filament starts peeling up when the print head changes directions (on the tiny rounds). So far the filament seems very finicky. The only thing I've found that works is slowing the printer down 15-25%. I printed my first part with a 0.8mm nozzle due to the fact there are actual fibers in the filament, so I felt like the performance would be better. It did print well, but it seemed like the extrusion width was a little inconsistent on the outside perimeters which made walls protrude out slightly on the finished part. The 0.8mm nozzle also made the radiuses I had on the part look unfinished and rough, which was to be expected. That being said, I switched to a 0.6mm nozzle for more detail. First layer issues again, but worse and outside perimeters are still not great.
Does anyone have any settings that you've found that work better than the PrusaSlicer presets for this filament? Recommended nozzles, extruder temps, bed temps, speeds, etc. would be greatly appreciated!
The filament has not been dried (Prusa says it's not required), but it has been stored in a bag with desiccant.
RE: Prusament PC Blend Carbon Fiber Printing Issues
I am also having this issue with a .4mm steel nozzle.
RE: Prusament PC Blend Carbon Fiber Printing Issues
Start with:
0.6mm Hardened Steel NozzlePrusament PC Blend Carbon Fiber Presets @ 0.35mm resolution
Modify:
- First Layer Nozzle Temp: 270c (for best bed adhesion)
- First Layer Bed Temp: 100c (for best bed adhesion)
- First Layer Thickness: 0.2mm (for best bed adhesion on textured sheet, use glue stick)
- First Layer Speed: 15mm/sec (keeps sudden direction changes from peeling first layer up)
- Middle Layers Nozzle Temp: 235c (Prevents middle layers from distorting)
- Middle Layers Bed Temp: 90c
- Middle Layers Thickness: 0.36mm (I'll explain this below)
- Support Material Speed: 35mm (Normal 50mm/sec tends to rip first layer support material up and put it into your part print area)
Okay, so the 0.36mm thickness came from a CarbonX PC+CF recommendation via Vision Miner. While this is a different filament, they pointed something out that made sense:
"Ideal layer height is 60% of nozzle diameter. We do not recommend printing layers below 0.25mm with carbon fiber grades. Lower than 0.25mm may create too much back pressure in the hot end and result in poor feeding, jams, drive gear clicking, and eating a notch into the filament."
60% of a 0.6mm Nozzle is 0.36mm. While I thought I'd be sacrificing the overall appearance of the part by increasing the layer height by this much, but the part turned out awesome! I strongly recommend using a 0.6mm or higher nozzle. Reason being is, the filament is impregnated with carbon fibers and they just don't flow very well through a 0.4mm as they would a 0.6mm or higher. I suspect the cheaper carbon fiber polycarbonate filaments (such as this one) are probably a little behind the 8-ball on fiber impregnation techniques and I would assume that the fibers are not uni-directional like Prusaments PC CF, but rather pointing in all directions. I also believe this plays a part in the unique matte appearance of the finished print and it's reduced rigidity, but this is my speculation. I've also read that this filament contains around 3% carbon versus the 14ish% that CarbonX contains. While this would reduce rigidity, it also seems to aid to this filaments flexibility. Which in a lot of ways is a good thing. Let me know your thoughts. Here to help!
RE: Prusament PC Blend Carbon Fiber Printing Issues (UPDATE)
I performed a stress test on the parts made and while the parts turned out great, I found breakage occurring between layers. That being said, I would recommend increasing the main layer temps from 235c to 240c. If your stress tests still show breakage between layers, then increase the temperature a little more.
RE: Prusament PC Blend Carbon Fiber Printing Issues
FYI these settings are NOT for Prusament, these are for Priline PC CF filament! I wrote this information under the wrong topic! Sorry!
RE: Prusament PC Blend Carbon Fiber Printing Issues
FYI these settings are NOT for Prusament, these are for Priline PC CF filament! I wrote this information under the wrong topic! Sorry!