Recently I've been printing larger width items (like 70mm x 100mm) and started getting the edges lifting/warping off the heatbed. I use the blue painter's tape, but also heat the bed to 60 degrees. The PLA I use recommends between 210-230 so I stick to ~210. This was not a problem before but I have changed a couple of things in my printing practice and rather than wasting 20+ layers to find out through trial and error, I thought perhaps others may have some good tips.
First off I switched from Repetier to MatterControl, which I don't think should be an issue, except that I cannot set an "after first layer" temp controls unless done manually. With Repetier, I would drop the temp of both the heatbed and hotend by a couple degrees after the first layer.
Second, to help with bridges and overhangs, I built/remixed this fan shroud to cool the bridge as it was extruded: [
www.thingiverse.com] . I need a fan on at least low to cool my extruder motor or it will overheat. With this shroud, it's pushing air around 35% speed throughout most of the print save for the bridges which should be higher.
3rd: I'm finally using coloured filament as I've done most of my experimenting/prints using transparent.
I'm suspicious that the fan cooling in the direction of the hotend, even at a low speed, could be counteracting the heat coming off the heatbed. And of course there is conflicting info on [
reprap.org] as to heating when using blue tape or not. I could include images but the warping is fairly textbook.
Thoughts? Ideas? Comments?
~b
Prusa XI3 printer
1.75 filament
0.4 nozzle
Slic3r / MatterSlicer
Repetier / MatterControl