How to find the correct 3d printing temperature for a filament -

How to find the correct 3d printing temperature

How do I find the correct printing temperature for a filament?

Have you bought a new filament and want to find the perfect printing temperature? Have you asked yourself "What temperature do I set for the nozzle? Do I print with hot plate or cold plate? Is it better to leave the cooling fan on or off?

With this article we will try to give you some tips to help you find the correct printing temperature for each filament.

Slicing softwares provide preset profiles for the most common materials such as PLA and PETG, but we know that each printer has its own calibrations, and therefore it is necessary to slightly adapt the parameters to our needs.

Not only the printer is a variable to be taken into account in the creation of a new profile for a 3d printing filament, but also the material itself in fact may require a few degrees more if it is metallic in color or has glitter in it, or simply if we want to make the print more solid by improving the adhesion between layers. For this reason, it is important to learn to recognize the correct printing temperature of a filament and when it is necessary to raise or lower it by a few degrees.

FILOALFA® filament temperatures

FILOALFA® provides its customers with the ideal temperature range for each material both on the filament tab on the website and on the reel and box labels. To find the nozzle temperature for your printer, we always recommend starting with the highest temperature indicated and going down 5°C at a time until you get the perfect print.

There are two ways to do this test: manually lower the temperature when printing a test file, or use a Temp Tower.
This kind of print file allows you to easily compare the behavior of a filament at different temperatures. Just set the temperature change to the corresponding height in the file from the slicer.

If you want to download the FILOALFA® Temp Tower  CLICK HERE

High temperatures

High temperatures allow a faster melting of the filament, with a consequent decrease of its viscosity, with the result of facilitating the exit of the material from the nozzle. This allows a better adhesion between layers, making the object more resistant at the expense of the definition of the outer walls. With higher printing temperatures in fact it is more difficult to control the flow, resulting in increased phenomena of over-extrusion, stringing and oozing.

If you want to download the test for Oozing and Stringing that we have developed directly in FILOALFA®  CLICK HERE

Low temperatures

The lower temperatures can be an ally if you want to improve the definition of the printed object, but if you are too far from the ideal temperature can cause problems of under-extrusion up to the blocking of the filament inside the nozzle (clogging).

If you want to download the FILOALFA® generic print test  CLICK HERE

Build plate temperatures

In the printing of a material a fundamental role is also given by the print bed: its correct temperature allows first to avoid problems of adhesion and warping, but also other phenomena, such as elephant foot, the subject of other articles of this Academy.

The ideal printing temperatures

Here are some tips and tricks to find the perfect temperature for the most common materials.

PLA

PLA is an easy material to print because it adapts to different printing temperatures: it can be successfully extruded from 180 to 220° and even higher. In FILOALFA® we suggest setting the nozzle at 200-205°C, the printing plate at 40-50°, or even cold if your printer does not have this function. In addition, PLA well tolerates cooling, allowing you to "freeze" the filament in place in case of undercuts and bridges.

ABS

FILOALFA® ABS needs higher temperatures ranging from 240° to 290°, with the top at 70°-110°. ABS needs to cool very slowly, or it will tend to shrink, so we recommend keeping the cooling fans off and printing in a closed chamber.

PETG

The temperature range for PETG is between 230° and 250°C, while it is advisable, but not essential, to heat the printing plate to 60-70°. Ventilation can be kept on if special finishing is required. Printing PETG is almost as easy as printing PLA, however, retractions must be set correctly as this material tends to string.

FILOFLEX

The parameters of TPU-based flexible materials are similar to those of PLA, with an ideal temperature around 210°C. However, when printing flexible materials it is essential to significantly lower the printing speed and to reduce considerably, if not eliminate completely, the retractions to prevent the filament from jamming after the knurling wheel of the extruder.

NYLON

It requires high temperatures and cares in printing because of its tendency to shrink. As with ABS, it is best to use a closed chamber to avoid abrupt cooling, we recommend a temperature between 210 and 240°C for the nozzle with the fan off, and a hot plate between 60-80°C.

Follow us for more tips and tricks on 3D printing and write us if you want suggestions on how to find your perfect printing temperature.

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