PLA Curling with Glow filaments on overhangs
The issue:
I'm printing out a large unicorn toy for my daughters (that would be pretty weird if it was for myself. Come to think of it, this parenthetical makes it a little weirder but I'm leaving it in anyways). I keep having print failure because of the toolhead colliding with the print. I discovered it was a result of curling of PLA. I've been running the default settings using a high flow E3D Obxidian nozzle (.4 mm). I've tried this with and without the MMU. I'll also note that this problem doesn't exist on the first few layers, it only becomes pronounced on overhangs after layer 20 or so.
Note:
This doesn't happen as much on standard PLA, it's only typical of glow-in-the-dark PLA.
If I can't print glow in the dark rainbow colors with pink, blue, and gold, then my girls will only have to be happy with matte-colored prints. They'll probably grow up to be something boring like librarians (that's just what I think of as boring, I realize/hope not all librarians are boring).
Things I've tried (that didn't seem to make a difference):
1. Slowing the print down to 70%, 50% and even 30%
2. Increasing wall thickness/infill using gyroid for part stability
3. Decreasing the nozzle temp down to 210 (default is 220)
4. Leaving the door open
5. Random seam positioning
6. Using different brands of PLA glow filament
Best Answer by Diem:
A fairly common problem with steeper overhangs.
You might reduce the number of perimeters and experiment with printing external perimeters first (advanced mode) or trying Classical generation instead of Arachne.
Cubic fill might be more stable than gyroid here.
Cheerio,
A fairly common problem with steeper overhangs.
You might reduce the number of perimeters and experiment with printing external perimeters first (advanced mode) or trying Classical generation instead of Arachne.
Cubic fill might be more stable than gyroid here.
Cheerio,
RE: PLA Curling with Glow filaments on overhangs
I'm running into this exact same issue! In my case, I'm using a Prusa Mini+ with an 0.4mm E3D Obxidian nozzle, using Inland Luminous glow-in-the-dark PLA. I'm printing an articulated spider, which has some 45 degree overhangs. I've printed the same model with regular PLA, and with PHA, all without issue. Just the glow-in-the-dark stuff seems to present this issue. Inland recommendations for the glow PLA and for regular PLA are listed as the same, from 190-230 C for the nozzle and 25-60C for the bed. I've been using the default "Generic PLA" profile in Prusa Slicer, which does 220C and 60C respectively (but 230C for the first layer). Perhaps that's just too hot since it's at the high end of the range?
The suggestions by Diem didn't seem to work either, although thanks for posting those suggestions. I'm using cubic infill to start, using the Mini+ input-shaper profile, and classic vs Arachne didn't seem to help.
Any help is much appreciated.
RE: PLA Curling with Glow filaments on overhangs
Just in case this helps anyone else trying to print this type of glow filament. After a lot of testing, I found that it is indeed that the print bed was too hot. I had tried a temperature tower, which started at 190C at the bottom and went to 230C at the top in 5 degree increments, the bed at 60C the whole time. I had expected to see the curling get worse as the nozzle temperature increased, but I strangely saw the opposite. Closer to the bed, the curling was worse. So I flipped the tower, 230 at the bottom and 190 at the top, and got the same result! Curling was worse at lower Z height, i.e. closer to bed, regardless of nozzle temperature. So I think the bed was just too hot and was warping these overhangs. I then tested the same temperature towers with the bed turned off, at 40C, 50C and 60C, and sure enough, when the bed was at 60C the warping occurs. However, at lower bed temperatures I was getting less than ideal bed adhesion. It would still print, but when the bed was off for instance, the base of the tower would curl up from the bed. So what I wound up doing was 60C for the first layer only, and then drop it down to 50C, and that did the trick! No more curling on overhangs!