Journey into PLA (issues)

[ZionPhil]

Last night was the first time I printed PLA since I built my Rostock Max v1.CUSTOM at MRRF in 2013.



Glenn and Jim Makerspaced me with Glenn's new HotEnd Setup (Prototype) and the PLA cooling fan, as well as Jim's Resister on the ATX power supply trick.



I printed a low height square part and it did fine except some minor lift up on the part. I used no hairspray thought, it was clean glass.



Today I tried printed a vase using the spiral vase setting in MatterSlicer and after about 4 to 5 mm in height the PLA filament jammed up in the EZStruder. I was printing at 190c the first time when it jammed and then went up to 200c the second time to solve any issues of the filament not being hot enough once it starts getting away from the ambient temp of heated bed. It jammed at 200c also.



Am I just not hot enough? (that's what she didn't say).



Also, I got some PLA filament from SeeMeCNC from last year March 2013 and the spools are a little wide and do not fit in the TrickLaser top mounted spool holder. What is the solution?



IMAGE BELOW OF PLA SPOOL FROM SEEMECNC

[sgraber]

What were your slic3r speed and layer settings? Also are you running a fan pointed at the hotend?

[ZionPhil]

30m/s. Fan pointing just below nozzle. Do have Peak Fan on barrel.

Was trying  .1mm layer height 

[sgraber]

I'd probably start at 0.3-0.2mm and I suspect it might be thermal creep that's causing the problem. Run your peek fan at 100% and any other fan you have for that matter. I run a peek fan and two 40mm fans at 100% all the time when printing PLA. Also I run my bed at 65 and use hairspray...

[ZionPhil]

Ok thanks. Doesn't seem like anything is jamming in the nozzle, as when I pull out the filament it doesn't look bunched up. It's just jamming at the knurl nut inside the EZStruder and then wearing out the filament to where it just curls it underneath the nut and feeds it inside the open cavity of the EZStruder. Similar issues use to happen to me with the Bowden tube and Black ABS which required much hotter nozzle temps once it got away from the ambient heat of the bed.

[BeeAmaker]

The spool (Older PLA) was a bit tight for me also, I was a bit worried about it doing what you described but it seemed to be fine. I don't know how tight yours is but that might be the problem.

[ZionPhil]

I wasn't using that spool yet. Was just using sample line that Jim gave me.

[BeeAmaker]

Hummm, I was printing at 195. Possibly the new hot end is not reading correct on the Termister? Can you verify the Temp?

[ZionPhil]

How would I verify the temp?

[sgraber]

Walmart has a cheap $20 multimeter that comes with a thermocouple.

[BeeAmaker]

Sept 20, 2014 23:55:40 GMT -5 ZionPhil said:

How would I verify the temp?

I thought you had one of those laser thermal readers. I can read it with my meter if you don't have one.

[ZionPhil]

I have both, but I don't think you get a true reading with the laser as you have to measure inside the tube where the nozzle would screw in correct?

[BeeAmaker]

Sept 21, 2014 20:01:20 GMT -5 ZionPhil said:

I have both, but I don't think you get a true reading with the laser as you have to measure inside the tube where the nozzle would screw in correct?

It should be within 5 or better I would think.

[navkram]

Should get close with checking the end of nozzle.

[jimustanguitar]

The other trick I've heard is to set the temp and manually feed it (knob on the ezstruder) while you change the temp up and down to find where it feeds the smoothest. I guess PLA has a temp curve where it gets softer and then turns around and firms up again, so you can't go too high and have to find the sweet spot.

I've been running that filament at 190, but I haven't calibrated my thermistor or changed my firmware for the E3D, so you ought to find the right temp for yourself.