1 Topic by morrisey0

  • morrisey0
  • Newbie
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2015-02-16
  • Posts: 3

Topic: Switched To PLA, Major "bridging" Issue

Hey all!

First time post here, and hope I don't come off as too much of a newbie.  I have a DaVinci 1.0A, that I have been messing around with stock firmware and ABS for about a month now with good results, but in the past week or so I have changed up a few things with great success on some items, and a bit of failure on others.

Setup:  DaVinci 1.0.1 (is physically a 1.0A, but haven't updated).  XYZware 1.1.34.7 (again, not updated).

This weekend I finally got around to switching to a pla spool, and via dimensionbx resetter, I changed the temps to 190/60.  I am using slic3r to create gcode, and that is automatically converted to 3w for the xyzware to work with.

I can print a test cube, hollow and filled, fantastically, no issues.  But bridging is a whole different story.  I dl'd a simple 50mm bridge test, and it "strings" it anywhere from 185-205 at the hot end.  190-195 was the best, and outside of that range got worse, but all of them were complete fails.  I am new to 3d printing, and especially slic3r, so I am unsure where to attack other than temperature.  I have attached a pic of my four 185-205 bridge tests; all made with a 60* bed which seems to work just fine.  I am sure there is a simple fix for this, and I would appreciate any guidance as to a direction to look.

Thanks for any help!

Post's attachments

IMAG1331.jpg
IMAG1331.jpg 1018.55 kb, file has never been downloaded. 

You don't have the permssions to download the attachments of this post.

2 Reply by oscahie

  • oscahie
  • Member
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2014-08-17
  • Posts: 70

Re: Switched To PLA, Major "bridging" Issue

You need a fan cooling the extruded filament for PLA. It's not optional.

3 Reply by carl_m1968

  • carl_m1968
  • carl_m1968
  • Member
  • Offline
  • From: Far North almost not Dallas
  • Registered: 2014-10-17
  • Posts: 6,512

Re: Switched To PLA, Major "bridging" Issue

As already said unlike ABS, PLA needs to be cooled almost immediately for it to bridge and even bond correctly. Any printer that is truly PLA ready will have a fan or fan duct that blows directly on the filament as it emerges from the nozzle and the area just below the nozzle. With your machine the easiest way is to temove the side panels and have a desk fan blow through the unit while you print.

Printing since 2009 and still love it!
Anycubic 4MAX best $225 ever invested.
Voxelabs Proxima SLA. 6 inch 2k Mono LCD.
Anycubic Predator, massive Delta machine. 450 x 370 print envelope.

4 Reply by morrisey0

  • morrisey0
  • Newbie
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2015-02-16
  • Posts: 3

Re: Switched To PLA, Major "bridging" Issue

Thanks guys!  I did the fan into the side trick, and that combined with slowing down the bridging speed substantially helped get me much better results.  Nothing really acceptable yet, but at least starting down the path.  I am playing around with a couple of extruder fan ideas in sketchup right now.

Post's attachments

IMAG1336.jpg
IMAG1336.jpg 906.38 kb, file has never been downloaded. 

You don't have the permssions to download the attachments of this post.

5 Reply by oscahie (edited by oscahie 2015-02-17 19:48:30)

  • oscahie
  • Member
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2014-08-17
  • Posts: 70

Re: Switched To PLA, Major "bridging" Issue

I'm using this design: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:641370

BTW when using a cooling fan you actually need to increase the speed for the bridging, not decrease. To me at least that typically yields better results.