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Denatured alcohol 3d printing


How to Clean Resin 3D Prints Without Isopropyl Alcohol – 3D Printerly

Cleaning resin 3D prints seems like a simple task, but there are more details to it than I realized at first. I decided to look into how to clean resin prints with and without alcohol, then share it with you guys.

You can clean 3D prints without isopropyl alcohol by using alternatives like Mean Green, Acetone, Mr. Clean, and ResinAway. There are water washable resin out there which work really well. Using an ultrasonic cleaner or an all-in-one solution like the Anycubic Wash & Cure are popular choice.

Keep on reading for some of the key details, as well as some tips and tricks that you can implement with your resin printing process.

Can I Clean My Resin Prints Without Isopropyl Alcohol? (Alternatives)

You can clean your resin prints without isopropyl alcohol using many alternatives. People use products such as Mean Green, Simple Green, Acetone, Ethanol, Denatured Alcohol, Rubbing Alcohol (70% Isopropyl Alcohol), Mineral Spirits, Mr. Clean, Evergreen, and more. 

The most popular cleaner that people use is isopropyl alcohol (IPA), but a lot of people complain about the harsh smells, and another complaint is how they make transparent resin prints cloudy, even before any curing has happened.

These are some reasons why people look towards IPA alternatives, so this article will go through a few of them with more depth to help you figure out which one you should go for to clean those resin prints.

Prices of IPA can fluctuate according to demand, especially if people are buying it because of the pandemic. In due time these prices should start to balance out, but the alternatives work just fine.

You can opt in to using a water-washable resin to clean your resin prints so you can instead just use water. A good one is the Elegoo Water Washable Rapid Resin from Amazon.

The odor is a lot less harsh than normal resins, and even though it’s a little more expensive than normal resins, you do save on the cleaning liquid.

If you wash normal resin with water, it can result in those white marks over your model, though it usually happens when you cure prints that are wet.

If you use this method, then make sure that water is well treated and soft.

You may need to scrub or agitate the print as well, with many people using a soft toothbrush to clean out the resin and get into those crevices.

How to Clean Resin Prints Without Isopropyl Alcohol

For cleaning purposes, you can use an All-In-One machine, an ultrasonic cleaner, or just containers with the cleaning liquid of your choice.

For a really good All-In-One cleaner and curing machine, you have to go with the Anycubic Wash & Cure Machine from Amazon. There is a beauty in having a professional-looking and efficient device that improves your resin printing experience.

I definitely plan on investing into an all-in-one solution soon, so I can fine-tune the resin printing process.

In terms of an ultrasonic cleaner, which comes in much cheaper than the Anycubic Wash & Cure, one of the most popular ones has to be the Magnasonic Professional Ultrasonic Cleaner from Amazon.

Not only does it do wonders for cleaning all the resin from around and inside your 3D prints, but it is multipurpose, being used for jewelry, eyeglasses, watches, utensils, and much more.

I’d recommend getting one of these ultrasonic cleaners!

In terms of safety, people say to avoid using alcohol or any other flammable liquid in your ultrasonic cleaner.

There is said to be a low risk of an ultrasonic cleaner causing a small spark, and that would be enough to cause a sort of micro-explosion, and could cause a fire.

If you have an ultrasonic transducer that fails, the energy from it can transfer into the cleaning fluid, which if flammable, can result in a ball of fire.

Some people decide to use IPA in their cleaners regardless, but I’d try to avoid it to be safe.

Fumes or spilled solvents can actually be ignited by electrical equipment or an improperly used ultrasonic cleaner, especially if it isn’t explosion proof.

The recommended technique is to fill the ultrasonic cleaner with water, and have a separate bag or container filled with your liquid that you put inside the machine to work its magic.

There are larger containers out there with a similar sieve container where you put your resin print in, then dip it around the cleaning liquid manually. This is what I currently do with my resin prints.

You can get the Lock & Lock 1.4L Pickle Container from Amazon for a good price.

Before using any of the materials, wear safety gloves and safety glasses of some soft. It is recommended to wear nitrile gloves while using materials such as acetone or denatured alcohol.

These are water-like substances that can easily splash all over the place, and the last place you’d want them is in your eyes.

As there are plenty of alternatives to IPA we will discuss the best of all in all their aspects for cleaning the resin 3D prints.

Can You Clean Resin Prints with Mean Green?

 

Mean Green is a great alternative to IPA which many people use to clean their resin prints successfully. It is a lot less harsh smelling and it does a pretty good job cleaning out resin. You can use this in an ultrasonic cleaner without issues. 

You can get yourself the Mean Green Super Strength All-Purpose Cleaner from Amazon for a pretty good price.

It is pretty inexpensive and less smelly as compared to IPA and other alternatives, but it could take a little more time to clean the prints.

Just remove your prints from the build plate and put your prints in a container of mean green for a few minutes. Swirl the print in the mean green to get most of the resin off.

If you want a really deep clean, put the prints in an ultrasonic cleaner for about 5 minutes and then wash the prints with warm water. You can either use paper towels or a fan to dry your print.

You want to make sure your prints are completely dry before curing them because when they are wet, it can lead to those white marks.

The potential downside of using Mean Green is that it may leave resin prints a bit tacky to touch.

Can You Clean Resin Prints with Simple Green?

Simple green is easy to use as it does not have a stinky smell and is not very flammable as well. It cleans the prints well and most of the time there shouldn’t be any residuals left behind on the print.

Simple Green Industrial Cleaner & Degreaser is a really popular product and quite inexpensive, you can get yourself a gallon for around $10 from Amazon.

Can You Clean Resin Prints with Acetone?

Acetone can be used to clean resin 3D prints, though the odor is really harsh, and it is highly flammable. Ensure that you use acetone in a well-ventilated area. Resin prints cleaned with acetone usually come out very clean and rarely leave any residuals behind.

You can get a bottle of Vaxxen Pure Acetone from Amazon that should do the trick.

Unlike other alternatives to IPA, your resin prints shouldn’t feel tacky and should dry up pretty quickly. Similar to other liquids, simply wash your prints in a container of this liquid, swirl it around and dip it thoroughly until it is cleaned of resin.

Miniature prints don’t need as much time as your larger models, sometimes requiring only 30-45 seconds of cleaning.

If the prints are left in the acetone for a bit longer, then you may find some white spots left behind on the prints. If there are any, just wash them again with warm water and brush them off.

Can You Clean Resin Prints with Denatured Alcohol?

This method is one of the most favorite and some people claim that it is far better than isopropyl as well. It is basically ethanol but mixed with a percentage of methanol.

It is highly flammable, similar to IPA, but it brings amazing results when it comes to cleaning the resin prints. You can also clean your prints with simple ethanol because it is not much different from this.

Cleaned prints will dry up quickly and will not have any white specs on them as can be seen after washing with acetone. It brings smooth, clean, and non-tacky prints and can be found easily in any hardware store.

Using Mineral Spirits to Clean Resin Prints

Mineral spirits can be used to clean the resin prints but not an extremely great material for this purpose.

Washing resin 3D prints with mineral spirits should clean most of the resin from the prints. But some amount of resin may still stick to the prints and the residuals of the mineral spirits as well.

They are definitely flammable but not as much as compared to acetone or IPA. This could be quite inexpensive and the cleaned prints may dry out quickly. Do follow the precautionary measures as mineral spirits may cause rashes or irritation to the skin.

Cleaning Resin with Ethanol ? - 3D Printing - Talk Manufacturing

Left

#1

Hi,

Does anyone know if its possible to clean the resin with ethanol ?

I can’t find Isopropyl in a local store.

Thanks

5 Likes

Tobias_4

#2

I think it should work, but maybe not as good. Isoprop and Ethanol/Methanol are pretty similar. Acetone works too, if you can get that (don’t keep the prints exposed to it for too long though it’s very aggressive)

Where I live, some apothecaries and pharmacists carry Isoprop (and Ethanol) You can get the Acetone in DIY stores as it’s also used as a thinner for paint.

Hope this helps.

1 Like

DruckWege

#3

hey StudioK,

we had this conversation right now with the guys on the formlabs forum (https://forum.formlabs.com/t/recoating-resin-vats-druckwege/4801). Formlabs once suggested to use isoprop, but now says it could harm the vat… But honestly we didn’t had any issues with isoprop nor ethanol. We have the subjective feeling, isoprop works better, but honestly we use what is there. Regarding acetone, we used that too in the beginning, but besides the fumes I think this really could harm your vat.

Since we are running our Kickstarter and got a lot of questions regarding the best vat cleaning fluid we queried our chemical experts and are awaiting an answer soon, so stay tuned.

2 Likes

rcsl1693

#4

You dont have any local pharmacy stores like CVS? That’s where I got mine.

1 Like

MADEJUST4ULTD

#5

ebay get a big tank

Tobias_4

#6

Yes, you shouldn’t use acetone on the vat / platform. Works fine to clean prints though and it doesn’t harm the containers or any of the tools.

And yes, fumes. I always wear a mask using Acetone or Isoprop.

1 Like

Matterthings

#7

Hello!

You find isopropyl alcohol 70% at any pharmacy.

1 Like

Tobias_4

#8

This is actually not true (at least for where I live)

A lot of pharmacists stopped selling technica because there isn’t enough demand for them. But they usually know _which_ pharmacy still carries those things.

DruckWege

#9

+1 in germany, we get it also from the pharmacy stores and not from the tool stores.

Richard_Beck

#10

They sell 90% Isopropyl in CVS.

Left

#11

hi all, thanks for all replies, In the mean time i found some isopropyl at the pharmacy on the corner. either way I going to test the ethanol issue. because i think its still not clear if it’s possible. so I keep you posted. thanks again!

PrintAWorld

#12

Hi StudioK,

Currently we use 91% isopropyl alcohol from CVS and Walgreens to clean the resin printed by Kast 3D Printer. However our engineers said that it is OK to use ethanol for cleaning.

We are working on finding new ways for better cleaning and we are running for Kickstarter soon. Stay tuned for Kast, the ultra-fast next generation 3D printer!

Left

#13

Hi all,

I tried the Ethanol yesterday and had no problems at all.

cyprien

#14

Hi,

I don’t know where you live, but you can find IPA at 2€/L on http://hoefer-shop.fr/alcool-isopropylique-99-9/ or the german version : https://hoefer-shop.de/technische-chemikalien/isopropanol/

IPA is recommended to clean parts. We (I work at Formlabs) had a discussion about why isopropanol but I can’t find it.

To clean the printer/tank, we recommend Novus (avail. on goprint3d in EU)

Left

#15

Hi @cyprien,

I am from Belgium, and the thing is Isopropanol can be bought in pharmacies and webshop.

In Belgium, ethanol is easier to get and 40% cheaper. Thats the main reason why I wanted to know if it was possible.

I hope you find the report of the discussion, cause I am very curious about this.

Thanks for the information on the Acrylcleaner. But also in this case i think the are similar and cheaper products in local stores.

How to properly print with PLA filament

Let's take a closer look at the process of 3D printing with PLA filament. We will discuss what PLA is and how to make friends with your printer, how to choose the right temperature and what surfaces to print on.

PLA is an amazing material for 3D modeling. But it is non-toxic and smells pleasant during operation. PLA comes in a wide variety of colors, and because of its temperature characteristics, it's exceptionally easy to make great objects.

If you've worked with ABS, you'll find that PLA is harder, applies more slowly, and produces remarkably smooth details more easily. PLA is less distorted by temperature, and it is easier for them to print large objects. It should be taken into account that since this material is more rigid, it is therefore more brittle. If you are going to use your printed object in an environment where it will experience a lot of impact and violent collisions, PLA may not be the best choice.

Another important consideration when printing PLA is the temperatures that the print will be exposed to. PLA becomes soft at 70-80°C, and objects made from this plastic will deform if exposed to temperatures above these for extended periods of time. That's why ABS or some other material should be used near the extruder. We usually print all other parts of the printer from PLA - except for those next to the extruder, they are from ABS.

Check the quality of the filament

Problem The plastic filament is brittle and breaks in the hand. When printing, the layers lay unevenly, rough, frequent gaps and smudges, clicks and pops are heard. (Happens with ABS and PLA)

PLA and ABS are hygroscopic, meaning they absorb moisture from the environment. Wet rod becomes more brittle and brittle. Can break by hand when bent. Such a filament, if not broken in the extruder feed mechanism, entering the hot end in a split second is heated to the boiling point of water, as a result of which even a small moisture content instantly boils and breaks out, creating a characteristic explosion. Outwardly, such plastic will not differ from healthy one, but it will be more fragile and brittle. Quality PLA and ABS should not break by hand without effort.

Solution dry the plastic spool

  1. Place the filament in an electric oven for 2-3 hours at 70°C. You can use the closed chamber of the printer with a heated table for these purposes.
  2. Store unused plastic in sealed box or desiccant bags. The correct factory packaging for PLA and ABS is a sealed vacuum bag with a silica gel bag.
  3. The desiccant will not dry out the plastic, but will provide excellent protection against excess moisture.
  4. Use non-hygroscopic grades of SBS and HIPS plastic - they do not absorb moisture, can be stored as long as you like without the risk of deterioration

Problem Plastic leaks from extruder nozzle.

It is very difficult to find the right extruder temperature for some brands. Capricious printing, the layers do not lie evenly, the print quality leaves much to be desired. This is not an ideal plastic, all that remains to be done is to select the temperature of the extruder with each loading of plastic.

Solution Purchase quality materials from trusted manufacturers.

How to print the first layer correctly

The first layer is the most important part of any printout. There are a few things that need to be done to get the first coat to stick well.

  1. The mounting plate (or print substrate) must be installed at the correct level.
  2. The extruder must be at the correct height above it.
  3. The base material must be good enough for the PLA to stick to.

Printing on a Backing

Use Adhesive Materials: Backings are one of the easiest and fastest ways to get great prints from PLA, just like ABS, SBS or HIPS.

Used to be 3M blue duct tape - not perfect, but very easy to use until it was discontinued. But sometimes during printing, your part could tear off the tape from the table, and in such cases the object will have distortions.

Heated bed printing

If you have a temperature controlled table, you can print directly on the glass quite successfully. The recommended table temperature for PLA printing is 70°C.

When printing on glass, it is extremely important to set the table and extruder to the correct height. If the extruder is too far away from the table, the PLA won't stick AT ALL; if too close, the glass will completely block the extrusion of the material, and again it will not stick AT ALL.


If your first coat doesn't stick

  1. Check table level.
  2. Make sure the printhead is close enough to properly extrude the first layer. The gap between the nozzle and the table surface is checked with a plain sheet of paper. The leaf should be able to fit through this distance, but not get stuck.
  3. Make sure you run the extruder enough before you start printing so that the filament is on the table during the entire printing process of the first layer. In slic3r you can set the number of passes up to 4 or 5 depending on the part.
  4. Clean glass with denatured alcohol.

When everything is set up correctly, glass is the best option for working with PLA. It produces a wonderful shiny bottom layer, and the table heating ensures that everything comes out smoothly and evenly.

Other printable surfaces

Printing on a transparent self-adhesive film for a 3D printer table

Transparent self-adhesive polyester film with a permanent heat-resistant adhesive layer. Stick the film on the printtable. This film is much denser and stronger than Kapton tape, so you can print much longer, withstand high temperatures. Brim (Brim) is not needed - gears without Brim are great. Lasts longer than Kapton.

Printing on Kapton ribbon

Many people have had good results printing on Kapton ribbon. To print on it with PLA, a heated pasteboard is required. We used to print exactly like this, but when we learned how to do everything right on glass, we stopped considering this option the best. The process of printing on kapton tape is almost identical to printing on glass, but requires more preparatory work and cleaning. If you know of any other benefits of kapton tape, please share. We are constantly working to improve the process.

Printing on polycarbonate

We experimented a bit with polycarbonate, lightly oiling it with vegetable oil. Polycarbonate works, everything prints well. That's just the part is difficult to remove, so the benefits are somehow not obvious. It seems to us that this method deserves a deeper study, and we will report our research as soon as they are carried out. In the meantime, we recommend working with blue tape.

What to watch out for

If the temperature is too high

Between different parts of the print you will notice a lot of a kind of string (snot) and the extruder will "leak", releasing a lot of plastic when moving between different printable areas. If this happens, you should try to lower the temperature in 5 degree increments until there is no more material coming out of the extruder.

Sometimes you have to work with a material that is simply less viscous than PLA usually is and therefore flows more easily even at lower temperatures. We recommend increasing the return feed by a few millimeters (retract)

If the temperature is too low

You will notice that the filament either does not adhere to the previous layer and you get an uneven surface, or the part is not strong enough and is easy to separate. One way or another, you should increase the temperature by 5 degrees and continue to increase it until you get good cuts on each layer, and after printing the part is strong enough.

Filament change

PLA color change:

  1. Set the cold extruder to 80 °C and wait for it to heat up.
  2. When the temperature reaches 80 °C, remove the filament from the extruder. You can pull it out by hand, or reverse feed may be required.
  3. If you have trouble removing the filament, increase the temperature to 100°C and try again.
  4. Increase the temperature further and insert new filament in the usual way.
  5. Run it through the extruder until it comes out clean, i. e. just a new color. If you are switching from a darker color (such as black) to a lighter color (such as white or natural), run longer to ensure there are no dark stains:
  • Clean the extruder gear and blow out any particles from the inlet.
  • Print something you don't mind if it has some previous color, or run the extruder for a few minutes. This process can take 10 to 15 minutes before you can confidently note that the dark material is no longer mixed with the light material.

We recommend removing the filament when it is in a soft, rather than fully melted state - then there is less chance of melted material depositing on the inside of the extruder or even before the melt chamber. In both cases, this kind of residue can lead to hard-to-remove clogging of the printing mechanism. You can also shove a flexible piece of filament through to make sure all debris is removed from the end of the extruder.

What to do if something is wrong

There are a few key things to check if printouts are not coming through. But before we consider the solutions, we must briefly characterize the symptoms.

"First coat does not stick at all".

  1. Make sure the extruder is at the correct height. Set the limiter or the extruder itself to a height of 0.
  2. Make sure the table is level. The gaps at all calibration points between the nozzle and the table should be approximately the thickness of a sheet of paper.

"Part has poor inner layers and top surface."

  1. Check extrusion temperature (you may need to increase it in 5 degree increments)
  2. Check filament tension.
  3. Clean the filament feed gear

“There are a lot of small bumps on the edges of my part.”

  1. Make sure the printer is getting enough data. When printing from a computer, make sure that it is not overloaded and sends commands to the printer normally. If the printer slows down, it usually means that it is overloaded.
  2. Print from an SD card. On some printers, you can try printing from an SD card. This often helps the printer get enough data and run more smoothly.
  3. Buy better quality PLA. We have found that the quality of the source material can have a significant impact on print quality. Buying higher quality PLA can help you achieve better results. However, do not rush to blame everything on PLA. With the right settings and a lot of patience, 3D printers have been able to successfully print a wide variety of materials, many of which have very low viscosities and very large inhomogeneities. You have to be able to get at least functionality out of a part - even if with slightly lower quality filament.

"The vertical elements of my print look melted or stuck together."

  1. Turn on "cooling". If your printer has a cooler, you must enable "cooling" in the print settings.
  2. Purchase a small fan. If your printer does not have a built-in cooler, you should consider looking for a small desktop fan. This will greatly improve the situation with the vertical elements of your printouts and will help with "bridging" (where the top layer bridges the gaps on the bottom).

"My printer is not outputting any media."

  1. Make sure the hotend gets hot at all. If not, the printer needs to be serviced. Most likely, your connection is broken or the electronics are “fried” (this is if the printer is connected at all and responds to program commands :)
  2. Clean feed gear and adjust tension. The very first thing to do is to clean the feed gear that touches the filament and make sure the thread tension is correct. Incorrect tension or a clogged feed gear usually results in much the same pattern as a low filament temperature, but sometimes it will block extrusion altogether. Clean the pinch roller with a wire brush and make sure the filament tension is good and tight (too much can also interfere with extrusion, usually with direct feed printers - when the motor directly turns the feed gear; this happens less often with intermediate gears).
  3. Remove the loaded filament. Perhaps small particles of plastic are stuck in the very tip of the extruder and clog it. Use the filament change technique described above to remove all particles from the end of the extruder.
  4. Check for blockage between extruder and hot end and correct. This problem is the most extreme because it can only be fixed by disassembling the extruder. Sometimes the filament from the hot end can flow back into the extruder, resulting in bubbles that then freeze and block further work. This usually happens at the junction of the extruder and the hot end. Remove the extruder and remove all the PLA you can (you may need to preheat the hot end to 80-100°C for this). If you can't remove all of the filament by pulling it out, you can try pushing it through the hotend. To do this, we usually use a small hex (inbus) key. If it still doesn't work, you can try drilling out the extruder or hot end, but then they may need to be replaced. Be sure to take precautions against electric shock and burns. If you don't have enough experience, find someone who does - it's better than risking injury.

what to do if the PLA peels off the printer bed.

You bought a 3D printer, set it up, everything is great. But here's the problem, the part is constantly peeling off the table. What to do? I bought a lot of different adhesives and adhesive tapes to compare different methods and dot all the I.
In general, for a long time I did not understand the meaning of all the pies that 3D printing lovers make on the table - glass, paper, adhesive tape, glue, beer, varnish for hair. It remains only to put the sausage with scrambled eggs on the table and then everything will definitely stick as it should. Let's take a look at these 3D printing issues one by one and compare different methods for dealing with part peeling.

Sections of the article

  • 1 Features of 3D printing with PLA and ABS
  • 2 What to do if the PLA peels off the printer bed
  • 3 Check the quality of the filament
    • 3. 1 Problem The plastic filament is brittle and breaks in your hands. When printing, the layers lay unevenly, rough, frequent gaps and smudges, clicks and pops are heard. (Happens with ABS and PLA)
    • 3.2 Solution dry the spool of plastic
    • 3.3 Problem plastic leaks out of the extruder nozzle.
    • 3.4 Solution Purchase quality materials from trusted manufacturers.
  • 4 Printing on a 3M liner
  • 5 Printing on a heated bed
  • 6 Other printable surfaces
  • 7 Changing the filament
  • 8 What to do if something goes wrong 9D-printing with
  • Printer Features
  • and ABS

    A special resin material is required for printing. To work on different models of printers, different materials are used. To understand what material to use for your equipment, check with specialists or a consultant in the store.

    The most common polymers for printing are PLA and ABS, the features of which include the following characteristics:

    • are made from natural materials - ABS from oil, and PLA from agricultural crops and products of their processing;
    • are easy to process and can take a variety of shapes and sizes specified by the program;
    • are able to be painted and change the degree of transparency of the product;
    • strength, while maintaining the plasticity of parts;
    • solubility - allows you to glue parts and smooth the edges of the workpieces.

    Another distinguishing feature is the good fusibility of the material. However, the low melting point is a disadvantage and can ruin the quality of the printed part.

    ATTENTION! If the first layer of the workpiece spreads or extends far beyond the table, the structure will also have a bad shape later on. It is better to stop work immediately and start again.

    What to do if the PLA peels off the printer bed

    If you encounter a similar problem: the part does not stick to the table surface during operation, you should try the following:

    • Adjust the temperature supplied from the nozzle. With strong heating, the lower layers can melt, which harms the entire structure.
    • Set the minimum allowed distance from the table to the printing press. The height must not be less than the diameter of the nozzle.
    • Calibrate and adjust the print head for the first layer. If the part is not attached to the table, change the amount of pressure and the amount of material fed to the lower layers.
    • Select and replace the table. It is better to choose a material with good adhesion (sticking): cardboard, beer, plexiglass.
    • Try to print the first levels solid to create a special substrate on which the future part will be attached. At the end of the work, you can carefully remove the lower layers and edges.
    • Make sure that the workpiece does not go out of the working area. Reduce the size of the figure or expand the field.

    If there is no effect, you can change the system settings when printing. But, most likely, you will have to contact the equipment repairman. Describe the problem, use the warranty for free diagnostics and troubleshooting.

    Check the quality of the filament

    Problem The plastic filament is brittle and breaks in the hand. When printing, the layers lay unevenly, rough, frequent gaps and smudges, clicks and pops are heard. (Happens with ABS and PLA)

    PLA and ABS are hygroscopic, meaning they absorb moisture from the environment. Wet rod becomes more brittle and brittle. Can break by hand when bent. Such a filament, if not broken in the extruder feed mechanism, entering the hot end in a split second is heated to the boiling point of water, as a result of which even a small moisture content instantly boils and breaks out, creating a characteristic explosion. Outwardly, such plastic will not differ from healthy one, but it will be more fragile and brittle. Quality PLA and ABS should not break by hand without effort.

    Solution Dry the plastic spool

    • Place the filament in an electric oven for 2-3 hours at 70°C. You can use the closed chamber of the printer with a heated table for these purposes.
    • Store unused plastic in sealed box or desiccant bags. The correct factory packaging for PLA and ABS is a sealed vacuum bag with a silica gel sachet. The desiccant will not dry out the plastic, but it will perfectly protect against excessive moisture.
    • Use non-hygroscopic brands of SBS and HIPS plastic - they do not absorb moisture, they can be stored for as long as you like without the risk of deterioration.

    The problem is plastic leaking out of the extruder nozzle.

    It is very difficult to find the right extruder temperature for some brands. Capricious printing, the layers do not lie evenly, the print quality leaves much to be desired. This is not a perfect plastic, all that remains to be done is to select the temperature of the extruder with each load of plastic.

    Solution Purchase quality materials from trusted manufacturers.

    • BestFilament

    Printing on 3M Backing

    Use 3M Self Adhesive Heat Resistant Coating is one of the easiest and fastest ways to get great prints from PLA, just like ABS, SBS or HIPS.

    Used to be 3M blue duct tape - not perfect, but very easy to use until it was discontinued. But sometimes during printing, your part could tear off the tape from the table, and in such cases the object will have distortions.

    Use the aforementioned half backing which is less problematic.

    Printing on a Heated Table

    When printing on glass, it is essential to set the table and extruder to the correct height. If the extruder is too far away from the table, the PLA won't stick AT ALL; if too close, the glass will completely block the extrusion of the material, and again it will not stick AT ALL.

    If your first coat doesn't stick

    • Check table level.
    • Make sure the printhead is close enough to properly extrude the first layer. The gap between the nozzle and the table surface is checked with a plain sheet of paper. The leaf should be able to fit through this distance, but not get stuck.
    • Make sure you run the extruder enough before you start printing so that the filament is on the table during the entire printing process of the first layer. In slic3r you can set the number of passes up to 4 or 5 depending on the part.
    • Clean glass with denatured alcohol.

    When everything is set up correctly, glass is the best option for working with PLA. It produces a wonderful shiny bottom layer, and the table heating ensures that everything comes out smoothly and evenly.

    Other printable surfaces

    Printing on a transparent self-adhesive film for a 3D printer table

    Transparent self-adhesive polyester film with a permanent heat-resistant adhesive layer. Stick the film on the printtable. This film is much denser and stronger than Kapton tape, so you can print much longer, withstand high temperatures. Brim (Brim) is not needed - gears without Brim are great. Lasts longer than Kapton.

    Printing on kapton ribbon

    Printing on polycarbonate

    Changing filament

    When changing PLA color:

    • Set the temperature on a cold extruder and wait for 80 °C.
    • When the temperature reaches 80 °C, remove the filament from the extruder. You can pull it out by hand, or reverse feed may be required.
    • If you have trouble removing the filament, increase the temperature to 100°C and try again.
    • Increase the temperature further and insert new filament in the usual way.
    • Run it through the extruder until it comes out clean, i.e. just a new color. If you are switching from a darker color (such as black) to a lighter color (such as white or natural), run longer to ensure there are no dark stains:
    • Clean the extruder gear and blow out any particles from the inlet.
    • Print something you don't mind if it has some previous color, or run the extruder for a few minutes. This process can take 10 to 15 minutes before you can confidently note that the dark material is no longer mixed with the light material.

    What to do if something goes wrong

    There are a few key points to check if printouts are not coming through. But before we consider the solutions, we must briefly characterize the symptoms.

    "First coat does not stick at all".

    • Make sure the extruder is at the correct height. Set the limiter or the extruder itself to a height of 0.
    • Make sure the table is level. The gaps at all calibration points between the nozzle and the table should be approximately the thickness of a sheet of paper.

    "Part has poor inner layers and top surface."

    • Check extrusion temperature (you may need to increase it in 5 degree increments)
    • Check filament tension.
    • Clean the filament feed gear

    “There are a lot of small bumps on the edges of my part.”

    • Make sure the printer is getting enough data. When printing from a computer, make sure that it is not overloaded and sends commands to the printer normally. If the printer slows down, it usually means that it is overloaded.
    • Print from an SD card. On some printers, you can try printing from an SD card. This often helps the printer get enough data and run more smoothly.
    • Buy better quality PLA. We have found that the quality of the source material can have a significant impact on print quality. Buying higher quality PLA can help you achieve better results. However, do not rush to blame everything on PLA. With the right settings and a lot of patience, 3D printers have been able to successfully print a wide variety of materials, many of which have very low viscosities and very large inhomogeneities. You have to be able to get at least functionality out of a part - even if with slightly lower quality filament.

    "The vertical elements of my print look melted or stuck together."

    • Turn on "cooling". If your printer has a cooler, you must enable "cooling" in the print settings.
    • Purchase a small fan. If your printer does not have a built-in cooler, you should consider looking for a small desktop fan. This will greatly improve the situation with the vertical elements of your printouts and will help with "bridging" (where the top layer bridges the gaps on the bottom).

    "My printer is not outputting any media. "

    • Make sure the hotend gets hot at all. If not, the printer needs to be serviced. Most likely, your connection is broken or the electronics are “fried” (this is if the printer is connected at all and responds to program commands 🙂
    • Clean feed gear and adjust tension. The very first thing to do is to clean the feed gear that touches the filament and make sure the thread tension is correct. Incorrect tension or a clogged feed gear usually results in much the same pattern as a low filament temperature, but sometimes it will block extrusion altogether. Clean the pinch roller with a wire brush and make sure the filament tension is good and tight (too much can also interfere with extrusion, this is usually the case with direct feed printers - when the motor directly turns the feed gear; this happens less often with intermediate gears).
    • Remove the loaded filament. Perhaps small particles of plastic are stuck in the very tip of the extruder and clog it. Use the filament change technique described above to remove all particles from the end of the extruder.
    • Check for blockage between extruder and hot end and correct. This problem is the most extreme because it can only be fixed by disassembling the extruder. Sometimes the filament from the hot end can flow back into the extruder, resulting in bubbles that then solidify and block further work. This usually happens at the junction of the extruder and the hot end. Remove the extruder and remove all the PLA you can (you may need to preheat the hot end to 80-100°C for this). If you can't remove all of the filament by pulling it out, you can try pushing it through the hotend. To do this, we usually use a small hex (inbus) key. If it still doesn't work, you can try drilling out the extruder or hot end, but then they may need to be replaced. Be sure to take precautions against electric shock and burns. If you don't have enough experience, find someone who does - it's better than risking injury.

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