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  1. #1

    Filament Question

    Hello All:

    I am very new to 3D printing but I understand the idea behind the heat and size it lays down, bed leveling etc...

    What I am noticing is this, when my rolls are full, they print perfect. When they get below half empty, I start noticing lifting issues with the prints.
    I have checked and rechecked the bed for level and its great. Earlier in the roll it was printing perfect. Nothing has changed at all.
    So, is it possible as the roll gets closer to the center of the spool it obviously is tighter wound, could this be causing the prints to lift?
    It appears this media has a memory and wants to return back to that shape as it cools. Mainly on PLA but I did notice it last night a little on my ABS as well.

    I have two machines
    FF Creator (does not have a glass plate yet..its ordered and on the way)
    This machine runs most of my PLA and is the one I have noticed it more on.
    Doesn't matter what color it is, if the roll is less than half empty I get these same results.
    Using S3D and my heat settings are 230 on the extruder ( I have played with the heats as low as 200 and as high as 240 and obviously the lower the harder the material to feed)
    No heat on the build plate using blue tape. I have tried heat on the plate from 50c up to 75c, this just makes things worse.
    I have also tried it on both extruders and get the same results.
    My environment is very controlled at a constant 73 degrees and roughly 48% humidity.

    FF Creator Pro I run mainly all ABS on. I have run PLA on it but they were full rolls and had no issues.
    The ABS started lifting a little last night but heat settings are Extruder @ 245 & Plate @ 110

    BTW this is the material that came with my machine..as I have only had the two of them going on three weeks now.

    Is there a smart way to respool the filament onto a bigger core to get the tight wrap shape out of it? Is there a better media to use with these machines?

    I hope somebody has some advise--Thanks in advance
    Jason

  2. #2
    Engineer
    Join Date
    Oct 2013
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    new jersey
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    jason, the spool and where in the spool you are getting your filament from has nothing to do with print lifting. abs warps and lifts because it shrinks as it cools.

  3. #3
    ABS has been working fairly well until just late last night. The PLA is where I'm having my problems at mainly.

  4. #4
    Hello,

    I suspect part of your problem is moisture getting into the filament. All the plastics absorb water and become brittle and start to print poorly. E.g., I was printing from a roll of pla for a week when the weather was very dry low humidity. All was well. Then it turned rainy and humid and the filament literally broke apart into pieces just sitting on the reel. I rigged up a Rubbermaid plastic container with some holes in the sides for pvc pipe axles. Then put silica gel cylinder from Tractor Supply made for gun safes into the container. Put a small hole for the filament to exit and position the container above your machine to feed the filament into the extruder. This assumes your machine is open at the top.

    Or at least store your filament in a sealed container with some type of desiccant in between uses. Some people dry their filament in the oven before first use which will help also. The old keep your powder dry for muskets is todays keep your filament dry....

    Regards

  5. #5
    Technologist GOC's Avatar
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    Nov 2014
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    Huron County, MI
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    Quote Originally Posted by ole_blue_moon View Post
    ...
    I suspect part of your problem is moisture getting into the filament
    ...
    - This very well could be a factor and is a variable to take into consideration

    - Another aspect to take in is the diameter and circularity of the filament when it get towards the center of the roll. Some of my filament that I got from SainSmart became more oval and had a smaller diameter towards the center. This will cause issues if you don't adjust the filament diameter variable when getting towards the center of the roll.

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