Amazon 1.75mm PLA filament print settings

AON

I am a newbie to 3D printing. Just received my A5 in mid December and had a number of problems which were quickly resolved by support... they sent me a new machine.

This one works fantastic with the Yellow generic PLA filament from China (supplied with the machine).
I purchased more (a 5 reel/colour package) from Amazon.ca (Canada).  This stuff is also manufactured in China.

Tried to print in Black using the same gcode and after a few minutes the feed gear got choppy and ruined the print.  Tried White and experienced the same issue.  Cleaned the feed gear with a dental pick and soft brass wire brush both times.  The filament was primed beautifuly all times.  I was told to wipe some canola oil on the first 2 to 3 inches of the filament to lubricate the Bowden feed tube to reduce friction.  Did this and it did not help.

I tried to print again with the same gcode and the original Yellow... perfect.
So it is the Amazon filament.

Did some internet sleuthing and it seems I may need to run colder (possibly 190°C versus 210°C) and slower (40mm/sec versus 60mm/sec) print speed.  Even the bed is a lower temperature (40°C versus 65°C).  It was even suggested on one posting that the Feed may need to be reduced (93% vesus 100%).

Has anyone experienced anything like this?  Has anyone suggestions as to what and how I should tweek the settings to get a good print with this other filament?  I suspect this is a standard occurance with new filament?  Is it all trial and error ($$$$)?

Any suggestions offered will be greatly appreciated by this novice.

BTW, I successfully printed a centre piece for a Dominoes Train  game and have printed two of six or seven Dominoes Tile Racks.
Made my own models (Inventor) and sliced with Cura 3.6.0

Alan

AON

Well I reduced the print temp to 200
reduced the print speed to 40mm/sec
reduced the bed temp to 55
fan off while building raft

sporatic feed gear knocking on second layer of raft but nothing after that.
raft a bit rough but it gets tossed anyway
it has just started the actual build
going to let this test run another half hour or so then cancel it.

I will try tomorrow with more adjustments
print temp 210
print speed 30mm/sec
fan on at middle layer of raft at 50% and 100% on top layer

trial and error it is
normally you limit changes to one thing at a time in lab testing to be able identify cause and effect, but....

Samuel Pinches

Welcome Alan! @AON
Different filaments can definitely need different temperatures. But I think if the filament is grinding, then I would try a higher temperature not a lower one. Getting your first layer height right also takes some practice. You will get a choppy first layer print texture if your nozzle is too close to the bed. I recommend these settings for the first layer: https://jgaurorawiki.com/A5/bed-adhesion

feel free to post photos if you want some suggestions
Cheers,
Sam

AON

Thank you for the response Sam.

I lowered the temp because I read that someone had good results at 190°C and I wanted to see for myself.\190 is the low end threshold recommended by the supplier (printed on the spool)  so I decided to drop to only 200°C from 210°C

I believe you are correct and the temp should be higher as it may have had issues feeding at the rate needed at 60mm/sec print speed.  Possibly all I needed to do was lower the print speed.

Going back to 210°C and down to 30mm/sec for my next try.

There are so many possibly variations.
Alan

AON

Started print at 6:48AM  This is a COURSE print.
raft 1st and 2nd layers perfect
3rd layer a bit rough (fan on at 50%)
last layer smoothed things out
started part at 7:38AM and seemed much better
now is 8:37AM, almost 1 inch  (25mm) in height completed and looks much better than before... comparible to the Yellow filament finished product.  Hope it holds up for the full10 inches (250mm) total height.

AON

Here is what I've printed so far
a couple Yellow racks and one Black Centre Piece
I left the raft on the centre piece.

AON

11:05 AM
got to 2-3/4 inch (70mm) height and the print stopped.
The bed moved back to locate the extruder clear and nothing.
I thought possibly something might have over heated (thermistor protection) but cannot find anything about this on line.
shut down
11:25 AM trying again