Since I bought my printer I’ve been printing ABS without any issues using the default settings:
Feedrate: 40
Travel Feedrate: 55
Bed temp: 100
Print temp: 220
Infill: 10%
Now I ran out of my ABS roll and have had trouble ever since with most prints using PLA, half way through the printer will start creating a layer of stringy mess, I’m not too sure what is happening exactly maybe under extrusion, maybe the PLA is cooling too quickly or temp isn’t right and is melting the PLA filament further up than it should.
Here are the settings I’ve tried (All Infill: 10%):
Feedrate: 40
Travel Feedrate: 55
Bed temp: 60
Print temp: 220
Feedrate: 40
Travel Feedrate: 55
Bed temp: 60
Print temp: 205
Feedrate: 50
Travel Feedrate: 80
Bed temp: 60
Print temp: 205
All result in the same mess around the same layer, then I noticed on ReplicatorG one of the Gcode lines “something will be printed but there is no guarantee it will be the correct shape”. So thought ok it must be the software, but in between all these failed prints I’ve managed to print a door stop perfectly fine which has confused me even more, using the exact same settings as above.
I also checked for the same line in the Gcode for the item in the picture that is still in the printer and could not see it mentioned anywhere, but still it created a mess. The printer almost doesn’t seem to follow the usual route for printing like something is misaligned suddenly half way through.
Is there alternative free software I could try?
Any thoughts guys? Your help would be much appreciated!
HI @Harisahmad, @MindFuLL I’m not sure the extrusion temperature is the problem - I print PLA at 217 all the time and it’s fine - and Harisahmad has tried it at 205, which I’d think was getting on the low side… The only obvious difference I can see between the doorstop and the two failed prints is size. Both the failed prints are printing towards the edges of the bed, so I’m wondering if it’s a calibration issue? That doesn’t really explain why the first few layers seem OK though.
Can you upload the .stl files? It’s hard to see what the print should look like from the photos and I’m also wondering if it’s the model itself. Have you run it through netfabb?
Thanks cobnut, I followed these recommendations for printing PLA which I thought were reasonable: Flashforge 3D Creator forum. 15 But when the print messed up I reverted to the default. Yeah that’s what’s confusing, it prints perfectly accurate and then half way through it goes wrong. I’ll upload a .STL file tonight Thanks for the help!
So I tried Flashprint, similar settings. (I tried 200c and it didn’t seem to extrude properly and created ball of filament on the first layer). I had the exact same problem, I see the printer making stringy layers so watch it for a bit and see it trying to print in mid air and slightly out of alignment. I have reset all settings on the printer previously, to make sure I hadn’t messed anything up. I’m running out of ideas, now that I’ve tried different software could it be something to do with the hardware?
I know this post is old, but I’m wondering if the OP ever found a solution. I am a high school teacher and I purchased 3 of the same machines and I am getting the same issue. It will print fine for the first 30 - 60 minutes then it will print in mid air with nothing being extruded and sometimes it will restart extruding and end with a stringy mess. I will try lowering my bed temp and pulling the tops and doors off. When I watch I find that the object being printed is not cooling down enough before the next layer is printed. I tried messing with a delay between layers but that didn’t work.
