First Print -- Smooth Build Plate Marks Normal?
Just finished building the Core One Kit. I printed everyone's first print, Benchy, and was extremely impressed with the results (this is my first 3D printer, so I was loosely expecting to run into problems but, considering the settings I used, it came out darn near perfect!).
One likely silly, new-to-3D-printing question though: I used Inland PLA+ with the default PLA profile and printed on the Smooth PEI print sheet. It seemed like the idle & nozzle temperatures were slightly too high as even when idle (during bed leveling, ect) melted filament was slowly coming out of the nozzle. Every spot the nozzle touched the built plate during the bed leveling and nozzle cleaning stages left tiny dots of plastic. The print came off easily (even with the added brim PrusaSlicer added) when I slightly bent the built plate. I expected the tiny dots of plastic to come off easily once the plate cooled but they seem to be really stuck on (see photos below).
Is this normal? Should I scrape these off between prints? I tried using a plastic razor blade (on the dots left from the nozzle cleaning) and IPA but they still didn't want to come off.
Before doing any other prints and/or messing up the built plate I figured I should check.
Thanks!
Best Answer by Steve:
As many on the forum will attest a sealed filament bag is no guarantee of dry filament :). Some vendors are better than others but there no certainty with even the biggest names.
As noted by commenters above you should try to remove those little dits, but it is not usually critical to printing success. As for why they are there, it is likely, as mentioned, that your filament is wet and oozing during the bed probing operations.
Prusa added automatic filament retraction into the Core One firmware to try to mitigate that, but sufficiently wet filaments can overcome even that mitigation (especially those that are already prone to oozing (looking at you TPU!) and some additives that are used to change the filament properties can make some filaments more hygroscopic than the normal base materials.
If you don't have a filament dryer you can use an air fryer or if you don't have one (or would prefer not to put plastics into your food prep tools) you can always use the poor man's method of laying the spool on the heatbed, covering it with a cardboard box or the like, and heating it with the printer's heatbed for a few hours.
Regards,
Steve
Your filament is damp. The moisture boiling off is messing with the extruder's internal pressures.
Dry it.
Cheerio,
RE: First Print -- Smooth Build Plate Marks Normal?
The filament was brand new, taken directly out of the vacuum-sealed packaging. Regardless, that only explains the oozing filament before the print starts.
Thoughts on the existing plastic dots that were left behind from the first print?
RE:
And you should remove those small bits of plastic, especially if they are not chipping off easily. Be very careful to never touch the print sheet surface with your hands: fingerprint oils migrate and will ruin surface adhesion printing relies on.
RE: First Print -- Smooth Build Plate Marks Normal?
As many on the forum will attest a sealed filament bag is no guarantee of dry filament :). Some vendors are better than others but there no certainty with even the biggest names.
As noted by commenters above you should try to remove those little dits, but it is not usually critical to printing success. As for why they are there, it is likely, as mentioned, that your filament is wet and oozing during the bed probing operations.
Prusa added automatic filament retraction into the Core One firmware to try to mitigate that, but sufficiently wet filaments can overcome even that mitigation (especially those that are already prone to oozing (looking at you TPU!) and some additives that are used to change the filament properties can make some filaments more hygroscopic than the normal base materials.
If you don't have a filament dryer you can use an air fryer or if you don't have one (or would prefer not to put plastics into your food prep tools) you can always use the poor man's method of laying the spool on the heatbed, covering it with a cardboard box or the like, and heating it with the printer's heatbed for a few hours.
Regards,
Steve
RE: First Print -- Smooth Build Plate Marks Normal?
To reinforce the earlier comments about the filament not being optimal: those dots on the bed are exactly what excess moisture in the filament will do. Ooze that happens continuously almost always is moisture content.
There are cases where you've printed something and the filament extrusion ratio is wrong, so excess filament is scraped up by the nozzle and the nozzle is coated. The next print will deposit that excess as the printer goes through the basic startup. A wire brush will help clean that up. Or silicone brushes these days. Even using an edge of cardboard or paper towel works. But here the cause is the filament diameter is larger than expected.
RE: First Print -- Smooth Build Plate Marks Normal?
I suspect that the firmware contains a programming error where the nozzle cleaning and bed probing cycles have been mixed up.
I.e. the nozzle cleaning cycle should include a slight pulse of the extruder but doesn't. The bed probing should not pulse the extruder but does.
I suspect that the firmware contains a programming error where
No, it's wet filament. Dry it and the problem goes away.
Cheerio,
RE:
Thanks for all of the advice! I obtained a filament dryer and dried the filament before performing another print. It definitely oozed less and what did ooze out came right off the build plate after the print was done (ie: it didn't stick as bad).
The little plastic dots that the 2nd print printed on top of ended up coming off when the print was removed (as indicated above). The others seem persistent (mainly the ones in the nozzle cleaning area) and I don't want to damage the plate trying to remove them. I may customize the G-code and reverse the direction of the nozzle purge & extended it slightly to gobble up the remaining dots.
RE: First Print -- Smooth Build Plate Marks Normal?
Even straight out of the bag filament might be damp. Polymaker renamed their PC a couple of years ago but you can still find the old name in some retailers which indicates that the filament is a few years old.