# Problems with PLA **URL:** \ **Category:** Filament\ **Created:** [December 4, 2015, 11:21pm UTC](https://forum.lulzbot.com/t/problems-with-pla/2568 "2015-12-04T23:21:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![spacorum](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/forum.lulzbot.com/spacorum/32/75_2.png) [@spacorum](https://forum.lulzbot.com/u/spacorum)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2015, 5:51pm UTC](https://forum.lulzbot.com/t/problems-with-pla/2568/21 "2015-12-08T17:51:53Z")
@Sebastian, I´ll take a deep look at the Esteps documentation, it´s a pretty new concept for me. Advanced stuff, I guess, but I´ll try my best to understand it. Seems important for the future. @geburges, thanks for the apointment, but I think that Brent in fact mentioned it. I was entering 3mm (stupid me, that´s what the filament label says…), but now I understand that this is not real, and going back to 2.85mm as in the default PLA profile seemed to fix the stringing a lot. Now I would like to share some pictures of the final piece, with additional comments that come to my mind. First of all, I quadruplicated the size of the model (decorative purposses). I used the default PLA profile with standard quality (layers of 0.25mm). The printing went smooth, no problems at all (well, I had a first failed attempt with 0% infill, a big nonesense to save some hours, but I discovered how wrong I was when it was time to draw some roofs and there was nothing to print at… Noob error). ![1_first_look.jpg](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/uploads/lulzbot/original/2X/0/013ce320ba64159cac25b6a5decbe2930a31103b.jpeg) The results were georgeous just at a first sight. Just a few ultra-tiny strings that were extremely easy to remove. I could try playing a bit with the retraction values, but it´s not worth it. The print is very good. ![2_just_removed.jpg](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/uploads/lulzbot/original/2X/b/b6ab1d10ca0b3a56acb7914e5430f44aa0b42389.jpeg) These are the pieces just after the removal. Nice result. Good definition and really strong pieces, solid as a rock. ![3_support_material.jpg](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/uploads/lulzbot/original/2X/e/e55aadd0e480a31854d8f995f68c8f3cbab62ade.jpeg) The support material was very easy to remove in some parts, just with a few turns. In others it was harder and as in the neck of the head, there were visible marks of the removal procedure. I would like to play with the “Support \> fill amount (%)” parameter, its 30% by default but I would like to try with less to make an easy removal, maybe 15%. Also, should I lower the X/Z/Y distances to improve this procedure? ![4_fitting_pieces.jpg](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/uploads/lulzbot/original/2X/0/08173038bf65df79eb0fb3ee682e575be3f212b2.jpeg) The pieces that were supossed to fit were VERY hard to fit. This obviously has a lot to do with the Esteps you people mentioned later. ![5_infill_lap.jpg](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/uploads/lulzbot/original/2X/b/b7b37bd12aafe054df1892a44fc7220573b07770.jpeg) Maybe related with the fit issue. I noticed that (even with a 1mm shell thickness) I can see-through against a light and cleary watch the filled structure. How could I make it disappear? Obviously a 0% is not the solution if you have roof parts… So maybe a thicker shell like 2mm? Don´t get me wrong, the shell is harder enough with 1mm, but it still allows to see the internal parts and joins, and I would like to avoid this. It´s a common problem in all my printed pieces. I´m pretty sure this is related to the “Infill overlap(%)” parameter, maybe I should lower it to avoid this visible joins between the external shell and the internal infill? ![6_taz5_wins.jpg](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/uploads/lulzbot/original/2X/6/6a110498271ad06acd4030438f8d518f78281f5f.jpeg) Here it is, after struggling a lot trying to fit the pieces. I should notice that something was wrong with my custom profiles. I´m now getting the quality of my first prints, the TAZ5 is simply amazing. Thanks all for your help and suggestions! ---
**Author:** ![Sebastian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4da419/32.png) [@Sebastian](https://forum.lulzbot.com/u/Sebastian)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2015, 6:24pm UTC](https://forum.lulzbot.com/t/problems-with-pla/2568/22 "2015-12-08T18:24:34Z")
For everything that has to fit together, it’s essentialy to have corect e-steps and filament diameter (measured with a caliper). As the prints are looking quite good, I wouldn’t chance other parameters before this two are set. Evereything else will be affected by esteps and diameter. Regaring the visible infill: It seems your are using a translucent filament, you will always see the infill in this case at least if you hold the part against a ligth source. Hint if you are choosing another slicer in the future: In such cases, it’s worth changing the infill to a nice looking one, like a hexagon infill. But Cura isn’t supporting such things at the moment. Edit: Don’t change overlap infill to perimeter. It’s necessary to get a good bonding between the two and it’s nearly never necessary to change it… [Previous page](https://forum.lulzbot.com/t/problems-with-pla/2568.md?page=1)