Let’s be honest with each other, getting to understand your printer is a hard task. More so, if it’s the very first experience you’ve had with a printer. The buying part of it is always easy. But if you are having a hard time getting the best printer for you, check out our list of the best affordable printers.
If you are having trouble finding the best settings for your printer, then you’ve come to the right place. A proper 3D setting can be the difference between a failed and a successful print. That is why this article is at your best interest.
Some of the problems that you are likely to face include:
- Leaning prints: Your models appear leaned or skewed
- Walls are apart: A piece of the wall or the entire parts are not fused and touching
- Grinding: The feeder screw has scratched through the filament
- Caving in: The lower part of the print appears to cave in
- Scratched surface: The nozzles causes scratches on top of the surface of your print
- Protruding axes: rods start sticking out your printer
Among other issues. Also you need to know which material you will be using on your printer. The most preferred material is PLA (Polylactic Acid). That’s because the material is easy to use, affordable and dimensional accuracy. It’s actually the default filament especially in most extrusion based 3D machines.
PLA doesn’t require a heated bed and can be printed at very low temperatures. On top of that, it’s one of the most environment friendly filaments today. To avoid a lot of the common problems resulting from poor settings, here are some of the standard settings to consider.
Settings that might help you avoid most of the 3D printing problems
There’s no single setting that is always 100 % accurate. There are a number of variables you need to put into consideration. For example, the type of filament you are using. All in all, here are some of the settings that helped me get the better results. You can also adjust the settings to your convenience.
- Extruder settings
One of the primary problems that anyone who’s using a 3D printer is likely to run into is the filament extrusion. Common problems include, stringiness of the filament, oozing out of the filament and also the filament is not enough.
Some of the problems you can actually control by adjusting the filament settings. Some of the settings that need adjustments include:
Extrusion multiplier: the extrusion multiplier is a setting that allows you to control the filament and how it flows out of the nozzle. It also helps you make slight changes in the flow rate of the extrusion. ABS will always print well at 1 which is 100% while PLA prints at 0. But in case you notice any problems with this settings, then you need to make adjustments by 0.5. that’s because even small adjustments result into great differences. In case you want to increase the multiplier, you will have to increase the temperature well.
Retraction speed: this will help you control how the filament is pulled back into the nozzle. The average speed that will give you the best results is a range of 30 to 100mm or 1800 to 1600 mm per sec. This will also depend on the type of filament you are planning to use. When the retraction speed is too low, you might find that the filament might come out slowly from the nozzle even before the head finishes its movements. More to that, the retraction speed should also not be the same as the travel speed. That said, try making the retraction speed faster than the travel speed.
Retraction distance: oozing happens when hot filament is dragged or extruded hence leaving a spider web of some sort between the parts of the model. This problem is mostly caused by the retraction setting. This setting is what will determine how much filament is pulled out from the nozzle during retraction. Direct drive extruders require a shorter retraction distance as compared to a Bowden extruder. That’s because there is less distance between the drive gear and the nozzle. In case your filament oozes when your nozzle moves, then you will have to increase the retraction distance by 1mm or 0.5 and see in case it helps.
Coasting: if you have ever had any hot leftovers around the perimeter of your model, it might cause defects in your overall design. Coasting will help tell your extruder when to stop printing after a given distance. This will ensure that any leftover filament will be cleared out even before the retraction sets in. If your coasting distance is 7mm then your nozzle will stop printing at that distance even before the end of the perimeter. The best coasting distance lies between 0.2 to 0.5mm. This distance is enough to cause a noticeable effect on your model. However, if you put the setting too high, you might risk extrusions or even gaps in your model.
- Layer Setting
First Layer height: the first layer is always one of the primary features in any model. It will determine the success or failure of your print. If you want give the first layer a larger surface to stick on to the bed, then you will have to change the height of the layer to anything below a hundred percent. This will not change the amount of filament that comes out of the machine. Therefore, the same volume will be forced to space out with less height. Hence you will get that extra pressure, surface area and heat needed to stick properly onto the bed.
First layer speed: like I said earlier, the first layer is very important. You want to ensure that it has a good hold on the bed. Therefore, you should have a slower speed on the first layer typically is below 50%. This gives your filament more time to stick to the bed.
- Infill settings
Generally, the strength of your prints depends highly on the type of internal fill you settle for. in case you want a strong print, then you should settle for triangular, grid or solid honeycomb prints. However, if you want prints that really require that sturdy print, then a fast honeycomb will do. This will also help you get the print a lot faster.
- Temperature settings
Without a doubt, the temperature settings will dramatically affect how your prints will appear. With that in mind, you are able to control the temperature of your device using the slicer.
Usually there are some set guidelines when it comes to temperature depending on filaments. However, these settings will vary largely depending on the type of machine. Therefore, to get the appropriate temperature, start with the recommended one then adjust by either 5 to 10 degrees. You will be able to learn the which one fits your machine better depending on the results.
This setting is basically operated on a trial and error routine. More importantly, the extrusion temperatures typically vary depending on the filament you are using. The recommended temperature for PLA lies between 215 to 235 degrees Celsius. On the other hand, the temperature for ABS is between 230 to 240 degrees Celsius.
You should also note that when printing with small details, it’s always a good idea to use low temperatures as possible. Additionally, you should also keep in mind that other variables should also be considered. For instance, nozzle size, layer height, among others.
One thing that most people are prone to overlook is the temperature of the plate. However, it has a large impact on the results of your prints. Normally, the filament is heated to temperatures beyond 200 degrees Celsius and lands on a cool print bed. This will result to the wrapping of your print. Therefore, you need to consider the temperatures of your bed. If you want to prevent this effect, you should use a heated bed.
That way, you will ensure the lower layers stay heated as the nozzle extrudes the rest of the filament onto the first layer. This will also give your print the chance to evenly cool down.
- Cooling settings
In case your prints come out deformed or with melted spots, then turning on the fan might help reduce this effect. Be careful with the fan though. Especially when it comes to the first few layers. That’s because it might cause adhesion problems. This is even more pronounced when you are using ABS as your filament.
All in all, you are able to adjust the fan speed which will help disable the fan when printing the very first few layers.
Final verdict
In conclusion I hope you will be able to get the prints that you want. One bonus tip, make sure you adjust the support manually. This will help you place it in a convenient level. You also have better control of the results.
That’s quite a lot of procedures to go through. But believe me, we’ve just scratched the surface. All in all, if you follow through the above settings, you will be a master of 3D prints. Good luck!