TIPS: Printing PETG (especially Prusament)
Hi,
TL;DR:
- Raise fan speed from 30% to 35% for PETG.
- Use a glue spray and make a really thin layer, especially on the nozzle cleaning area.
I had some issues with printing PETG on the core one, there is a thread also about nozzle cleaning, some glue spray fixes that. When I printed with PETG, some PETG always sticked to the nozzle forming a drop. It lowered the print quality as it started to smear. The fix is to raise the fan speed. It defaults to 30% and increasing it to 35% keeps the nozzle clean.
I hope that might help someone else 🙂
Cheers
RE:
I found that trying to print PETG after PLA causes adhesion issues on the build plate due to sugar deposits from the PLA, you have to wash the build plate using hot water and washing up liquid, sugar does not dissolve in alcohol. If you wash it, dry as much as you can then heat on the printer at full bed heating for at least 15 minutes to ensure all water is evaporated, this is mainly for textured build plates.
Use a textured build plate.
I've been trying the speed profile with PETG and can confirm, it is just not as good as the structural profile, it's just a bit too fast for generic PETG, maybe there is a generic PETG that works out of the box, but it looks like I will be dialling in filaments for best results. Try printing with Archimedean infill and see if it stays put.
I knew I was likely to get issues with PETG as it was printing with a fairly matt surface, which is usually indicative of going to cold or too fast or too much cooling after all PETG is fairly glossy by nature. You ever seen a pop bottle that's not glossy?.
Do a small test print which checks for strength of layer adhesion (This is where you try to break it apart), stringing and detail. You can get really good detail, but layer adhesion will be really poor or you can get strength, but detail will be lost, ultimately PETG needs to melt into the previous layer for strength, the more it melts the stronger the join, but of course at the expense of detail.
Dry your filaments!, ideally print directly from a filament dryer, you will have NO stringing full stop. Fan speed is again one of those where it depends on what you are trying to achieve, looks or strength, dry filaments also are less prone to zit production.
Normal people believe that if it is not broke, do not fix it. Engineers believe that if it is not broke, it does not have enough features yet.
RE: TIPS: Printing PETG (especially Prusament)
I’ve recently started using Elegoo Rapid PETG and it works great on the HF Speed profile. Absolutely no warping and great adhesion. Costs about $12USD/kg in bundles of four (with free shipping to Texas on Amazon).