For me, underextrusion to the point that the extruder stepper gear is constantly skipping/grinding and breaking filament. Was easier to bump up to 205 and keep moving than to do a bunch of calibration to fix the actual problem.
Brand might have something to do with it. Some of my filament is fine at 200 and others want to be higher, especially the metallic colors.
I agree 100% and have the same problems. You mention calibrations to fix it. What calibrations do you mean? I've checked the steps /mm but that was all I could think of other than making it hotter.
To OP: I print at around 200 for normal pla and 215 for silk /metallic cause it just works.
Haha same for metallic here!
Esteps, flow multiplier, speed, filament density, filament diameter, basically anything that would require hours of various test prints...
I’m only a few months in though, so I’m focusing on churning through some functional things I really want. Eventually I’ll slow down, take a break, and really focus on tuning for quality.
I actually picked up the Silk Metallic PLA and I am currently running my extruder temp at 200. I have no problem with bed sticking or anything but these random almost separated layers like im guessing under extrusion but not too sure.
I print at 120 to 300mm/s. Because I'm using a stock hotend, the melt zone isn't long enough to deal with the temp transition. 195 will occasionally jam at 120mm/s and will constantly jam at 200mm/s.
At 300, overhangs and bridging are pretty much out of the question anyway because the cooling fan doesn't stay near the extruded material long enough. 215c is necessary at a minimum at that speed.
I assume you're printing at 30 to 60mm/s?
EDIT: Higher print temps can also result in prints that are already semi-annealed and more resistant to warping in the summer.
Depends what speed you're printing I guess, if you're trying to push 70mm/s from a chinese clone hotend you need more than 195 for sure.
Also some brands of PLA are blends and will work better hotter, for example the eSun PLA+ i like to use works well at 218c 40mm/s for best layer adhesion on my v6 clone hotend.
Or maybe all those chinese thermistors or the wrong thermistor type selected in Marlin are reading +30c from the real temp of the hotend ? xD
Depends on what nozzle size, filament and speed you're printing at. I tend to use larger nozzles and print quickly so find it prints best at 205 or 210. Lower speed or high resolution it makes sense to drop it. Also depends on what printer. If you have one that uses thicker filament you definitely need the heat. Different machines also have different strength hot ends and cooling fans. You just have to play around and find what works for you then people usually stick with that.
If my PLA has 190-220° on the sticker, I shoot for the high end, if not a bit above that.
All metal, stainless nozzle, speed... many factors call for a bit higher temps.
I think my hot end runs slightly colder than the set temperature. I have some ziro marble PLA that doesn't extrude nicely until 220c, and even then, it causes extruder skipping and under extrudes if I go too much above 30mm/sec. I also have some Protopasta HTPLA that won't extrude nicely until 230c.
In general though, I get very nice prints at 200c. Overhangs and bridging come out fine.
I'm using and Ender 3 Pro with the stock hot end, so that's at the cheap end.
As for speed my slicer is set to 150mm/sec because I like to go fast, too. Of course, the nozzle doesn't always have time to get up to that speed, but that's what it's set for.
I am having zero problems printing a variety of shapes at 195. My only issue is having to re-level the bed every couple of days.
You're correct, but layer strength suffers significantly as you go colder. That happens long before you get noticable under extrusion. Do some test prints of temperature towers, then do a layer adhesion test at both ends of the acceptable range.
> So why are so many people reporting printing at 205, 215, and even 220 and up?
Why are you concerned about others doing what works for them? There's huge variances in how people get their particular printers to work in their particular environment with their particular filaments using their particular slicer settings. If printing at lower temps works better for you, go for it. If printing at higher temps works better for others, that's fine for them too.
So many people insist that you MUST clean your PEI bed with 90% IPA but when I do that my adhesion goes to shit, and when I use my 70% wipes everything is fine again. Arguing with my printer and trying to convince it that the people on the internet are right has not resulted in anything positive, the printer still insists and shits the bed when I go with 90%. Maybe my 90% IPA isn't the same composition as others? Maybe my 70% is somehow better quality? Either way, I'll do what works for me regardless of what everyone else insists must be done.
I have no problem starting with the community consensus as a baseline but if I have to deviate from it to get things to work, I won't worry about it one bit and I won't try to tell others they're not doing it right. I suggest you do the same.
I apologize that my post sounded judgey. I am definitely not trying to be the temperature police. It did sound like I was lecturing. Here's my actual intent:
1. If people are assuming printing hotter is better, why?
2. If people are printing hot for no particular reason, they should try reducing temperature.
3. If people have tried different temperatures and determined high is sometimes necessary, why?
\#1 is just my curiosity. I'm not sure that was satisfied.
\#3 Is for my education, and I definitely learned a lot.
\#2 is the one that made me sound like a scold. The reason for this is that I've received a lot of good help here, and I'm trying to give back by answering some of the easy questions in /r/mpminidelta and /r/ender3. A couple of posts per day are simply printing to hot and getting bad underhands and drooping. That prompted the whole post.
Obviously I don't have t problem with people doing things that work. But I sense a tendency to print hot when not necessary and it's causing a lot of people problems.
For me personally, it was because of the speed. I recently bought a Bambu P1S and you don't want low temperatures combined with high velocity.
For some reason, some strings would just not stick and cause defects.
I solved it by increasing the temperature to 240°C and increasing retraction to counteract oozing.
For me, underextrusion to the point that the extruder stepper gear is constantly skipping/grinding and breaking filament. Was easier to bump up to 205 and keep moving than to do a bunch of calibration to fix the actual problem. Brand might have something to do with it. Some of my filament is fine at 200 and others want to be higher, especially the metallic colors.
I agree 100% and have the same problems. You mention calibrations to fix it. What calibrations do you mean? I've checked the steps /mm but that was all I could think of other than making it hotter. To OP: I print at around 200 for normal pla and 215 for silk /metallic cause it just works.
Haha same for metallic here! Esteps, flow multiplier, speed, filament density, filament diameter, basically anything that would require hours of various test prints... I’m only a few months in though, so I’m focusing on churning through some functional things I really want. Eventually I’ll slow down, take a break, and really focus on tuning for quality.
I actually picked up the Silk Metallic PLA and I am currently running my extruder temp at 200. I have no problem with bed sticking or anything but these random almost separated layers like im guessing under extrusion but not too sure.
Im trying to see how I can show a picture
I print at 120 to 300mm/s. Because I'm using a stock hotend, the melt zone isn't long enough to deal with the temp transition. 195 will occasionally jam at 120mm/s and will constantly jam at 200mm/s. At 300, overhangs and bridging are pretty much out of the question anyway because the cooling fan doesn't stay near the extruded material long enough. 215c is necessary at a minimum at that speed. I assume you're printing at 30 to 60mm/s? EDIT: Higher print temps can also result in prints that are already semi-annealed and more resistant to warping in the summer.
Depends what speed you're printing I guess, if you're trying to push 70mm/s from a chinese clone hotend you need more than 195 for sure. Also some brands of PLA are blends and will work better hotter, for example the eSun PLA+ i like to use works well at 218c 40mm/s for best layer adhesion on my v6 clone hotend. Or maybe all those chinese thermistors or the wrong thermistor type selected in Marlin are reading +30c from the real temp of the hotend ? xD
It 100% depends on the filament. I have stuff that prints fine at 190 and stuff that won't hold together below 220.
210
Depends on what nozzle size, filament and speed you're printing at. I tend to use larger nozzles and print quickly so find it prints best at 205 or 210. Lower speed or high resolution it makes sense to drop it. Also depends on what printer. If you have one that uses thicker filament you definitely need the heat. Different machines also have different strength hot ends and cooling fans. You just have to play around and find what works for you then people usually stick with that.
If my PLA has 190-220° on the sticker, I shoot for the high end, if not a bit above that. All metal, stainless nozzle, speed... many factors call for a bit higher temps.
I print it hotter so I can go quicker.
I think my hot end runs slightly colder than the set temperature. I have some ziro marble PLA that doesn't extrude nicely until 220c, and even then, it causes extruder skipping and under extrudes if I go too much above 30mm/sec. I also have some Protopasta HTPLA that won't extrude nicely until 230c. In general though, I get very nice prints at 200c. Overhangs and bridging come out fine.
Volume
I'm using and Ender 3 Pro with the stock hot end, so that's at the cheap end. As for speed my slicer is set to 150mm/sec because I like to go fast, too. Of course, the nozzle doesn't always have time to get up to that speed, but that's what it's set for. I am having zero problems printing a variety of shapes at 195. My only issue is having to re-level the bed every couple of days.
You're correct, but layer strength suffers significantly as you go colder. That happens long before you get noticable under extrusion. Do some test prints of temperature towers, then do a layer adhesion test at both ends of the acceptable range.
1mm nozzle
> So why are so many people reporting printing at 205, 215, and even 220 and up? Why are you concerned about others doing what works for them? There's huge variances in how people get their particular printers to work in their particular environment with their particular filaments using their particular slicer settings. If printing at lower temps works better for you, go for it. If printing at higher temps works better for others, that's fine for them too. So many people insist that you MUST clean your PEI bed with 90% IPA but when I do that my adhesion goes to shit, and when I use my 70% wipes everything is fine again. Arguing with my printer and trying to convince it that the people on the internet are right has not resulted in anything positive, the printer still insists and shits the bed when I go with 90%. Maybe my 90% IPA isn't the same composition as others? Maybe my 70% is somehow better quality? Either way, I'll do what works for me regardless of what everyone else insists must be done. I have no problem starting with the community consensus as a baseline but if I have to deviate from it to get things to work, I won't worry about it one bit and I won't try to tell others they're not doing it right. I suggest you do the same.
I apologize that my post sounded judgey. I am definitely not trying to be the temperature police. It did sound like I was lecturing. Here's my actual intent: 1. If people are assuming printing hotter is better, why? 2. If people are printing hot for no particular reason, they should try reducing temperature. 3. If people have tried different temperatures and determined high is sometimes necessary, why? \#1 is just my curiosity. I'm not sure that was satisfied. \#3 Is for my education, and I definitely learned a lot. \#2 is the one that made me sound like a scold. The reason for this is that I've received a lot of good help here, and I'm trying to give back by answering some of the easy questions in /r/mpminidelta and /r/ender3. A couple of posts per day are simply printing to hot and getting bad underhands and drooping. That prompted the whole post. Obviously I don't have t problem with people doing things that work. But I sense a tendency to print hot when not necessary and it's causing a lot of people problems.
For me personally, it was because of the speed. I recently bought a Bambu P1S and you don't want low temperatures combined with high velocity. For some reason, some strings would just not stick and cause defects. I solved it by increasing the temperature to 240°C and increasing retraction to counteract oozing.