Hello netizens of Lemmy, while printing this single wall wing segment i ran into a problem with significant bulging around the middle. This causes the segments to not fit onto the frame or each other. If anyone has ideas on how to fix this, please share. At this point i’m pretty desperate and willing to try just about anything.

Update

In the end it was a combination of slowing down the print, lowering nozzle temperature, and adding perpendicular supports to the flat parts.

Solution (for PLA): Nozzle temp 190C, bed temp 55C, print speed 30mm/s, keep the fans spinning, double walls so that the supports can be printed with the body in one stroke as otherwise they won’t attach.

  • fuckwit_mcbumcrumble@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
    2·
    5 days ago

    If I had to guess I’d say cooling. What filament are you using, what print temp, and what fan speed? And more importantly where is the printer?

    Creality makes a little tent for the Ender 3 and it helped with a lot of inconsistent prints I was getting. In winter time the printer was in a super cold room and bigger prints would warp. But just normal airflow in a room can cause enough of a temp difference to warp big prints like that. If you can shield the sides of your printer with something that might help.

    • Pastel@sopuli.xyzOPEnglish
      3·
      5 days ago

      Thanks for helping. It’s PLA at 210C, 60C bed temp, with an enclosure. The whole thing finishes in just 1.5h and is 25cm high so new layers might be getting placed before the ones below had time to cool down. I’ll try it slowed down and update the post when it’s done.

      • ffhein@lemmy.worldEnglish
        2·
        5 days ago

        You mean with a closed enclosure? Maybe try printing with it open then, PLA generally want as much cooling as you can muster. I don’t have an enclosure myself, but I’ve heard that some people who do have to print with their doors open when using PLA.

        Also does it print straight, and then later start bulging while its printing other layers on top? Or did it print the bulge that way?

        update: I zoomed in closer on your other photo, and that choppy edge + horizontal lines are also indications that something is wrong. My first guess(es) would be either an extrusion issues (mis-calibrated extruder/slider, trying to print too fast, poorly machined nozzle…) something mechanical (frame isn’t properly assembled, loose roller wheel, hotend isn’t fully screwed to the carriage…).

        Btw. I saw you wrote that you have a 0.2mm nozzle. Just to be sure, you did put that into your slicer, right? The default settings are probably 0.4mm nozzle. Also what line width and layer height are you using in the slicer settings?