Rough Area of Printing

[CCRN]

I printed this vase today using a transparent PLA at 60 degrees bed/225 degrees hotend. It printed very well except for a rough area towards the bottom. I was wondering what it is or what happened to cause this. It is just on the one side shown in the second picture.

Thanks,
Jerold

Clean Edges

[Jules]

That is an overhang area, and it was on the back of the print, where the fan did not hit.

Point a separate fan at the back of the print and that won't happen. PLA warps and slumps as it cools. The hotter you print it, the worse that effect is, because it takes longer to cool. Once PLA cools, it stops warping. The strings are from printing too hot as well.

(You will have better results if you print at a lower temperature and add a small desk fan or something to blow on the back.)

[CCRN]

Yep, just started a new print and it is at the back. Any idea why most of the back is clean, just the starting 1.5 cm or so at the back? Maybe the heat dissipates more as it gets larger.

It is MakerGear transparent PLA, so their default temp is 220 degrees C. Do you have a better temp recommendation? 200? I've got my table fan ready to go!

Thanks,
Jerold

[Jules]

Because that is the area with the steepest overhang. (PLA acts that way with overhangs.)

Go with about 210 for MakerGear PLA. 205 to 210 for other varieties. (Some of them can go lower than that, but 205-210 is a good range for most PLA.)

[CCRN]

Thanks Jules! You are a tremendous help!.

[Jules]

My pleasure.