I just purchased a TAZ4 and am trying to print with black Lulzbot PLA. The prints seem very squishy (like a sponge) and can be flexed and bent like foam. I’m thinking this has something to do with the print temperature. I’m using 180 C for the extruder and 60 for the bed. Attached is what it looks like. What could I be doing wrong?
Hello Verasen,
I would recommend that you double check your extruder calibration using this guide:
https://ohai-kit.alephobjects.com/project/extruder_calibration/
Double check if the extruder is very severely underextruding, as this is the only reason I can think of that PLA, a very stiff material, would be spongy, unless this is right after it is removed from the heated bed. It may be that the nozzle has a partial clog, causing the filament to come out only partially, producing a weak print.
Let me know what you find!
I think I figured it out. I had to turn the temperature of the extruder to 190 and now things seem more solid. I think what was happening was the PLA wasn’t melting enough to settle on the previous layer and bond to it. I also tried 185 and it was slightly better. Maybe 195 will be even better but I haven’t tried.
Another thing I did was turn up the heating in the room to raise the ambient temperature. Not sure if that made any difference though.