PLA filament is the first choice of every 3d printing beginner user. Just because it’s easy to print, widely available, cheap, has a variety of colors, and needs minimal printer settings to get good quality 3d print. This perspective starts to change when a 3D printer user starts printing with their first filament.
Even with the minimum printer setting required, this filament can have a hard time for beginners. There are several common problems or issues associated with this filament that any new user may face. If not properly understood, these basic problems can be very difficult to solve.
PLA Filament Problems
Problems like premature brittle failure, oozing or stringing, Object warping, and filament grinding or filament contamination are considered common, as almost all new users experience these problems.
All these problems can easily be solved or avoided with proper knowledge about filament and printer settings. So this article is about the best settings to solve PLA filament 3D printing problems. The article will deal with comprehensive information about issues and how to solve them based on the printer setting or filament handling.
PLA Filament Object Warping Problem
Object warping when printing with PLA filament happens if the user is printing a large size object. Object warping is the lifting of an object or any one side of the object from the printer bed. This also involves loss of adhesion at any level of the printing along the height of the print. This means any layers of the print can lose adhesion, and object warping may occur.
The main reason for object warping is uneven cooling or quick cooling of one side, layer, or portion of print as compared to the other side. Uneven cooling air distribution by 3d printer fan, placing your 3D printer near a window or ventilation area, and use of an air condition unit in a 3D printer room, all contribute to PLA filament warping.
As PLA heats, melts and cools quickly, uniform cooling of layers cooling fan with 100% of its speed is recommended. To make the flow of air more uniform, a special duck design that enables a uniform flow of air on a complete layer is recommended. Direct flow of moist air is not recommended while 3D printing PLA filament. Keep your printing in a dry and isolated space with no air condition unit installed. If the warping problem is not solved, try to place your printer inside an enclosure to fully isolate it from the moist environment.
PLA Filament Oozing Problem
Oozing, strings and hairs are all names given to a certain condition in PLA filament 3D printing. Oozing is long or short hair-like strings of material coming out of the parts. This happens when the nozzle moves between gaps or empty areas present in the printing design. This can produce a very poor surface finish.
Oozing happens when printing materials continue to flow out of the printer nozzle as it moves away from print boundaries. PLA flows relatively easily as compared to other materials, so it can easily continue to flow at the end of each segment. Depending on the filament manufacturer, the chemical composition of the material can vary, and so the solution to this oozing problem.
The best solution to the PLA oozing problem is the retraction setting of the 3D printer. Different PLA brands may need different retraction settings, so a couple of experiments may be needed to get an optimum solution. Having an effective cooling setup can also reduce the stringing chances by quickly cooling the nozzle and solidifying the remaining materials.
PLA filament Breaking Problem
Brittle failure, filament breaking, or filament snapping is a common problem in PLA filament. It breaks off the filament while being fed to the printer. This breaking can happen when the filament is passing through the feeder or when winding off from its spool.
There can be several reasons for PLA brittle failure, and the most common of them is the moisture in the atmosphere. PLA material can easily absorb moisture from the environment and become brittle. This makes him break with even the smallest of external stress. Another reason is the expired PLA filament. It’s a biodegradable material that can decompose easily at the end of its life. Near the end of its PLA filament starts to break with even small movement of its filament. Another reason also includes mishandling at the user end or the manufacturer end while winding it on a spool.
The best practice to avoid breaking problems is to keep your filament as dry as possible. Keeping your filament in a dry box when not in use will be sufficient to avoid brittle failure due to moisture. If not, using a dehumidifier with an enclosure box for our printer will help overcome this problem. Other than this, using high-quality and recommended brand PLA filament will solve this problem.
PLA Filament Grinding Problem
Filament grinding is the wearing of the material during the feeding stage of 3d printing. In this case, the material is in such a poor condition that any handling or work on the material will wear to produce small cracks and holes, and even reduce filament diameter.
Feeding the gear of printer grips and passing the filament to the hot end as and when needed. In this case, the gripping force and rotation of the gear start to wear the material off instead of moving the filament forward. This is due to one of two main reasons. First is the quality of the filament by the manufacturer, and second is because the extruder drive gear needs to be clean so that its teeth can properly engage the filament.
There is a simple solution to this problem and that is to use high-quality and recommended PLA filaments. Another problem associated with poor-quality filament is an unclean extruder inside, where external materials like dust or filament particles are embedded in the drive gear of the extruder. In this situation, you need a needle to clean the extruder of your 3D printer.
Conclusion on PLA filament Problems, their causes, and solution
PLA filament is the first choice of every beginner 3d printing user but problems like a brittle failure, oozing or stringing, Object warping, and filament grinding or filament contamination can make things a little difficult. These problems can easily be solved using some simple guidelines and good printing practices. It’s always recommended to use high-quality and recommended brand PLA filament for best results.
