So I'm trying to print with 1.75mm black PLA filament. I can get the first layer or two to bond beautifully with the bed, but once I ascend above that, it becomes hard for the PLA to stick to the layers that are already there. Additionally, what gets extruded looks like a whispy mess, and by the time the print is over, I have this mass of plastic fibers that don't really do anything. I wonder if anyone has had a similar problem and what they did to fix it. For further info, I am using a J-Head hot end with a 0.4mm nozzle. My layer height was set at 0.4mm, and I kept the hotend at around 200C. I know that "ideally", PLA is to be extruded at around 185C, but when I bring it down that low, it starts clumping up/beading a lot. https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,266846,266846#msg-266846 Mon, 10 Aug 2026 19:21:43 -0400 Phorum 5.2.23 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,266846,269560#msg-269560 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,266846,269560#msg-269560 Azrael_UK General Wed, 20 Nov 2013 03:39:37 -0500 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,266846,269512#msg-269512 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,266846,269512#msg-269512
And thanks, nophead. I set the layer thickness lower and increased the hotend temperature to 230C. It's printing beautifully now. I think my thermistor table may not be completely accurate. What tools do you guys recommend to measure the hotend temperature so that I have something to reference the thermistor values I'm getting?]]> psktam General Tue, 19 Nov 2013 21:49:50 -0500 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,266846,266981#msg-266981 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,266846,266981#msg-266981 nophead General Thu, 14 Nov 2013 12:11:07 -0500 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,266846,266881#msg-266881 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,266846,266881#msg-266881 jamesdanielv General Thu, 14 Nov 2013 07:40:33 -0500 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,266846,266846#msg-266846 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,266846,266846#msg-266846
For further info, I am using a J-Head hot end with a 0.4mm nozzle. My layer height was set at 0.4mm, and I kept the hotend at around 200C. I know that "ideally", PLA is to be extruded at around 185C, but when I bring it down that low, it starts clumping up/beading a lot.]]> psktam General Thu, 14 Nov 2013 06:38:41 -0500