PETG Collecting on the Extruder
I have recently bought a spool of eSun PETG. So far I really like the filament. My only complaint is, I get lumps of charred filament deposited on my object. The slicer I used is Craft Ware and I have played with the Far Travel -> Elevation settings. I have noticed that this helps but then I have little to no adhesion to the print surface and my supports do not stick to the raft. Does any one know how to mitigated PETG from collecting on the extruder?
Different brands and blends of PET filaments seem to do this to different degrees. Esun's PETG is definitely one that tends to glob onto the nozzle. Basically, the nozzle plows through the top surface of the filament and lifts up some plastic, much like the bow of a ship lifting up some water at high speeds. PET's viscosity and stickiness seem to amplify this effect more than other filaments.
Some things you can do to minimize the globbing:
- Calibrate extrusion volume on the low end of what you'd normally use for other filaments (how you do this depends on your slicer)
- Use your slicer's "Z-hop" or "avoid perimeters" feature so you don't do travel moves across printed surfaces
- Invest in an anti-stick coated nozzle, such as are sold by Micro Swiss or Performance 3-d (these don't eliminate globbing, but they do reduce it and make the nozzle much easier to clean)
- Play with slicer settings such as extrusion width, layer height, and infill/perimeter overlap to reduce the amount of "excess material" that sticks above the print surface
Again, this is a common problem with PET blend filaments. Anecdotally, some brands seem to glob more or less than others, so switching to a different vendor may be worth trying if you want to do a lot of PETG prints.
I have never printed any PETG so far, but could this also be an issue related to extruding temperature? I would assume that a less viscose extrusion could help extruded filament bits to not stick to the nozzle.
Nice answer. I would like to add "calibrate your first layer height" as one of the countermeasures - in particular for small, compact models.
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Content dated before 7/24/2021 11:53 AM
kamuro 7 years ago
I have never printed any PETG so far, but could this also be an issue related to extruding temperature? I would assume that a less viscose extrusion could help extruded filament bits to not stick to the nozzle.