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).
RE: TIPS: Printing PETG (especially Prusament)
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.
Water and dish soap are not solvent for PLA and it's remains on build plate. They must be washed off. It's easier under tap, but not necessary. It's enough to clean any build plate with IPA. Just not smudge everything in the middle, but wipe it in one way, e.g. from back to front. It's bit more foolproof with 90% IPA (recommended by Prusa), because those 10% of water evaporates slower and it's easy to clean bed properly. But if you use wet enough paper towel or cloth, 99% IPA works fine as well.
I'm using almost exclusively 99% IPA on all Prusa plates (smooth, satin and textured) for years and I never had any significant adhesion issues. (My MK3S smooth sheet have seen water only a few times when I was cleaning glue stick off it after printing PC.) I mostly print PLA and I have never noticed any adhesion issues when switched to PETG or other materials. And I'm using always the same side of Satin sheet on Core One.
When I learned about these PLA sugar residues, I was considering using one side of the sheet for PLA and other side for the rest of materials. But I don't have any issues with PETG (Prusament and Aurapol). And I would eventually forget to flip it and mix it anyway. But if anyone has these issues, try to use one side exclusively for PETG. Maybe it will help.