PLA Layers

Hey,

I have got my printer printing recognisable shapes at long last, however the finish is a bit rough in places.

I have noticed that there are bands of perfect edges and layers. In the photo attached you can definitely see the darker bands. (dark bands are at the base and just below my fingers)

So my question is, what causes these bands and how do I make it fully dark so I can get nice clean sharp edges.

I would say that it isn't extruding enough, but then surely it wouldn't have any darker bits?

Also these darker bits are stronger than the other parts.

Thanks for any help,

ayouden.

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The light areas are caused by low extrusion. Check your drive gear and idler for slippage, maybe check the vref on the pot and you may need to adjust temp.

Hey,

Thank you for your suggestion tjb,

As my set temp was 180*C I decided to actually get a digital thermometer and check what the actual temp was on the hot end.

Turn out it was only 150-160*C And i know that PLA should be another 20-30*C higher than that value. I have now set it to 200*C and it seems to be printing much better! I will update when the print is finished.

Thanks again,

ayouden

(and there was no slippage, but again, this may be caused by that low temp)

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/19/2013 12:50PM by ayouden.

Well that is caused by low extrusion so I imagine it was slipping because of the low temp but if your idler is loose you probably wouldn't see any excess on the gear. You should try to find a DMM with a thermocouple to check hotend temp, the infrared aren't that accurate.

I didn't use an infrared thermometer, I used a multimeter which has a special attachment. (I have tested this and is accurate to about 1-2*C) I attached it to the hot end and waited until the reading didn't jump around.

My print is about 2/3's of the way through and is looking really good!

I think this temp change has worked wonders!

thanks

Quote
ayouden
I didn't use an infrared thermometer, I used a multimeter which has a special attachment. (I have tested this and is accurate to about 1-2*C) I attached it to the hot end and waited until the reading didn't jump around.

My print is about 2/3's of the way through and is looking really good!

I think this temp change has worked wonders!

thanks

Oh ok sorry, the multimeter would be using a thermocouple. I just seen digital thermometer and assumed infrared. Glad it's working out for you.

This is what came out of my most recent print, the layers are nice and even and the entire shape is strong. A bit of fraying at the top where the arch is, but thats due to me not using enough vertical shells.

Thanks,

ayouden

that looks really nice, i can barely see the layers. Wish my printer would print that fine...