Basic 3D printing filament is relatively affordable, but nobody likes to waste money. Avoiding disaster requires not falling into the trap of making rookie mistakes. Knowing what these are can save you rope, money and time.
Here are some things you should avoid doing.
Mishandling the reel so that it opens
Reassembly is possible, but tedious
I’ve lost track of how many Reddit posts contain a picture of an unfolded spinning rod and the title “how do I fix this”. I’m also a little paranoid about this happening to me, so I’m always very careful when loading and unloading spools.
When drying your spools in a rotary filament dryer, be sure to insert the filament end into the holes in the spool itself. Alternatively, grab some filament clips that allow the spool to spin freely (and use them when you store your filament). Finally, be careful not to let the spool open from the center (this is so you can use it to fill it).
If you drop a spool and everything turns into a spaghetti mess, you can try recover with a filament repooler (but the process is time-consuming and best avoided).
Do not dry your filament before use
Poor quality 3D prints mean wasted filament
I’m a strong believer in always drying your filament before use, even if it’s plain old PLA. Moisture can ruin your 3D prints by causing layer adhesion problems, thread pulling, uneven surfaces, and general printing errors. Not everyone shares my opinionhowever, I don’t print that often, so running the drying cycle isn’t too much trouble for me.
When it comes to harder filament types like PETG, ABS, ASA and other engineering filaments, drying is not easy at all. You have spent good money on a more durable and specialized filament; why not take a few hours to dry it overnight?
Drying at the wrong temperature
Note the glass transition temperature
This is another mistake I’ve seen people make, thankfully I’ve avoided it. mainly because I prefer PLA. The glass transition temperature of a material is the point at which it begins to deform (the melting point, the point at which it turns into a liquid, is too high).
For PLA, this is about 65ºC, so PLA should be dried at about 45ºC – hot enough to evaporate the moisture held in the filament, low enough to prevent the filament from warping. Different filaments have higher glass transition temperatures, meaning they can be dried at higher temperatures.
If you make a mistake and dry the PLA at about 65ºC, you will fuse the entire roll into one solid piece. Since most dryers have hot spots, even 50 or 55ºC is a risk.
Using PLA spools for PETG (or other filament types).
Your coils should be able to withstand your drying temperature
You can do it 3D print your own spoolsthis is useful if you buy filament refills without a spool. Filament is cheaper, but you still need a spool to securely mount the filament. The cheapest spools are made from the cheapest material, which just happens to be PLA. If you’re drying PLA on a PLA reel, that’s fine.
However, if you are using PETG or ABS (or material that requires a higher drying temperature), you should not use a PLA spool. The spool will deform at higher temperatures, potentially fusing with your fresh filament or causing it to come off the spool and become a spaghetti monster on the floor.
Even if you can salvage the filament, the spool is ruined and any filament you used to make it is wasted.
Repeating the same mistakes without making changes
Do you know the definition of insanity?
Tim Brookes / How to Geek
It’s bad when a print fails and you don’t know why. There can be many reasons: “wet” filament, oily print bed, unsafe slicing settings, nozzle blockages, or even just a “bad” model file. One thing you should definitely not do is not make any changes and stick to reprinting the model right after a failure, thinking it was just a failure.
I prefer to stack the odds in my favor by eliminating as many possible points of failure as possible, even though that means I’ll never know why the failure happened. Get started clean your print bed and check the moisture levels in your filament. If you don’t have an AMS or similar system with a hygrometer, consider a “quick” six-hour dry cycle anyway.
Make sure your slicer settings are correct as well. Have you selected the “correct” nozzle type? Does your slicer know what filament is loaded? If you have enabled support for hanging fields? If you downloaded the model, check the reviews to make sure no one else is having the same problem as you.
If a model fails twice and you’ve tried your best, it may be time to find another one.
No matter what you do, sometimes prints fail. Here to make up for your losses Here are a few ways to save money on filament.
