Need help with soluble supports
Hi,
I'm trying to print with eSun PVA - my first time with soluble supports. I have dried the roll and am printing from the dryer.
My problem is I can't get the PVA to stick to anything. Pieces fall on the hotbed and the overhangs of the model sag just like they would without supports, and if I use PVA for the first layer it doesn't stick to the bed and the print fails. I have tried with nylon too, with the same results or worse as nylon warps.
I have used the "Fiberlogy BVOH" profile (selected randomly, the other possible profiles are "Verbatim BVOH" and "Primaselect PVA+"), which has a nozzle temp of 220° and a bed temp of 60°. This is within the range specified in the data sheet (180-230°) but I've noticed that the roll itself has a different range on its label (180-210°).
What are the recommended settings with PVA? Should I change settings other that the nozzle temperature? Also, the PrusaXL doesn't have a PVA filament type so I've used "PVB" when loading the filament, does that change anything?
I'm interested in any tip for printing with PVA. Thanks!
RE: Need help with soluble supports
In cas anyone has the same problem, I've been able to get PVA to stick to the bed by playing with the temperature and the first layer height, and using glue stick. I have however not been able to get it to stick to PLA (or vice-versa). And (too many) hours of research turned up with no solution offered to other people who had the same problem. In fact, the most useful answer to "how do I print with PVA?" seems to be "don't". I guess I'll have to try BVOH but ouch, the price...
RE: Need help with soluble supports
I have BVOH, and I only use it for the support interface!
Joan
I try to make safe suggestions,You should understand the context and ensure you are happy that they are safe before attempting to apply my suggestions, what you do, is YOUR responsibility.Location Halifax UK
RE: Need help with soluble supports
Have you also tried PVA and if so how do the two compare? Does BVOH work well, stick to the bed and PLA? What material do you use it with?
RE: Need help with soluble supports
I have tried PVA without success in the past.
Gave up, and used PLA as support for PETG, again, interface only.
I was using MMU2 or MMU3 and you can get contamination of the filament if there is insufficient Purge. (Not an XL issue)
I also found that reducing the width of the purge block from 60 mm to 30 mm, reduced the chances of warping between PLA and PETG layers.
I had the same with BVOH.
PVA never got that far for me...
ALSO, I used PETG for the Purge Block Perimeter, this seemed to improve the resillience of the purge block laminations.
regards Joan
I try to make safe suggestions,You should understand the context and ensure you are happy that they are safe before attempting to apply my suggestions, what you do, is YOUR responsibility.Location Halifax UK
RE: Need help with soluble supports
So I bought some BVOH and made some tests. I was able to print with it but I found the surface aspect after removal of the supports kind of odd.
Same model - left had supports printed with the same material (PLA), right had BVOH supports (most of which were removed manually). Is that the expected aspect with BVOH supports or am I doing something wrong?
Settings were those of "0.20mm SOLUBLE FULL" profile copied to "0.10mm FAST DETAIL" (z-distance=0mm, lowered speeds), filament profile "Fiberlogy BVOH" (the BVOH brand I have). The BVOH roll was dried at 45°C and printed from the dryer.