Prints Not Good Quality

[At0Mic_Tech]

Hi I’m new to 3D printing and I just got myself a CTC printer. But I’ve noticed my the small parts on prints are not in good shape and some overhangs are printed roughly (like the bottom of the Marvin key chain.)

The small parts on my prints are not setting before the next layer comes on(see the hook on this Xmas tree). I think this is a cooling issue. How can I stop this from happening and are there any settings on makerware that I’m overlooking?

Other than this my print are fine but I’m would appreciate any tips though

[James_McKinney]

At what settings are you printing? What slicer software are you using? What material? (This will help assess your situation better)

At first glance I would say you are both printing too hot and over extruding. The first thing I would look at is you extrusion multiplier and you filament diameter settings. Have you measured your filament diameter and calibrated your extrusion multiplier?

[iCloud]

What material? If it’s pla you need a fan on the extruder head to cool the prints if it’s abs you don’t use a fan ever your printing speed should be around 40-60 mms printing speed 80mms moving speed max heated bed temp for pla of 55°c and abs 130°c on the ctc as the thermistor reads 130 but the bed is more like 100°c

[MasterFX]

Especially for small parts you should install a cooling fan for the filament, since the each layer is printed for a very short time, the filament doesn’t get cool enough without active cooling. There are many models on thingiverse: Search Thingiverse - Thingiverse

[James_McKinney]

Why is it that people say to never use a cooling fan on ABS. I have found it improves the quality of my print pretty dramatically.

[adamcooks]

This is 100 percent caused by not enough cooling. You have two choices, point a big box fan at the side of your printer, or install a filament fan. There are many on thingiverse, the fan under your printer pointed at the motherboard is completely superfluous and can be used for this purpose. That fan is a leftover from bad Makerbot engineering and does nothing for the mightyboard. You can also print more then one at a time, on opposite corners of the build plate. This gives the model a chance to cool before having a hot nozzle dwell over it. While reducing temps might be slightly beneficial, this is a hardware limitation and can not really be compensated by changing settings.

[adamcooks]

Well, mostly because abs shrinks(warps) as it cools. Adding a cooling fan causes cooling. With ABS what you really want is a warming fan. Cooling fan on ABS requires advanced skills and understanding of 3d printing and, in my opinion, that advice should not be given lightly.

[James_McKinney]

In an enclosed build chamber the temperature sits around 50-60 degrees C. I would say that is a warming fan.

[adamcooks]

Someone coming here for advice will most likely not have an enclosed printer. 50-60c will also require actively heating that chamber, which will also require some other cooling solution for the extruder. All of that requires extensive knowledge and modification of a CTC printer.

[At0Mic_Tech]

Thanks I will install a filament cooling fan because I do not have enough room for a box fan. I hope a filament fan will increase the quality of my builds. Thanks again for the help.