quality of the print with fan

Hello all,

How important is it to blow with a fan on your PLA filament?
I have a fan for the hot-end ofcourse. but I don't have a fan for the filament.
Is it a big different for the quality of the print without a fan on your filament?

thanks,

very

Ok, what is the big different?
layers, precision or something?

PLA starts to sag after printing if it is not cooled. In worst case in the end you have a blob of plastic, in best case it is just a bit out of shape.

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[www.bonkers.de]
[merlin-hotend.de]
[www.hackerspace-ffm.de]

The fan is most useful for printing small area layers that don't have time to cool before the extruder nozzle comes around again. Do that over an over and you end up with a blob of plastic. If you run a cooling fan the plastic can solidify before the next layer is started.

An alternative to a fan is to print either multiple copies of the object or a sacrificial object that will give the extruder something to do for a while before it comes back to your print. You could probably add custom gcode that activates on each layer change that would move the nozzle away from the print, wait several seconds, then resume printing. That would increase print time because it would happen at every layer change, not just the ones that need it.

If you're printing large objects without any small areas a cooling fan doesn't do much for you.

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Ultra MegaMax Dominator 3D printer: [drmrehorst.blogspot.com]