After many tests with PLA, I decided to give PETG a go, which I’ve found to be rather temperamental, but with calibration and testing I think I’m nearly where I want to be with regards to finished print quality.
This is by far the best print I have achieved with PETG on this specific model I’ve created, however the walls connecting the bottom “platform” and the top “platform” it seems to break really easily and where the break is, it doesn’t appear to me at least that the plastic is “moulding” to each other properly on those rows, which makes me think that this issue is probably occurring throughout the print but harder to break in other areas due to the structure of the model.
Orient the print differently, standing it up on the small end, so the layers do not coincide with the breakage line. It might then become a bit wobbly while printing the top layers - I’ve found that Tree Organic style supports work well to stabilize the print.
Even then, a 1 mm wall will be very fragile, so it may just break at a different point. Consider using thicker walls.
I’ve just been reading up on support materials as I want to print in PLA but use PETG for support. It looks like you are printing your full support with the secondary material (PLA) which would drastically increase the material changes and time but the important part is it can introduce some PLA into the PETG. You use PLA because it doesn’t stick to PETG so if any gets into the actual print, It will fall apart at the layer line like you are experiencing.
Under the “Support” tab change “Support/raft base” to Default
Under the “Support” tab change “Support/raft interface” to your support PLA filament
change “Top Z distance” to 0mm
change “Top interface spacing” to 0mm
in the “Filament” head section, click “Flushing volumes”. Find the “From” filament (support PLA) then go across to your PETG filament and double that number
All this will ensure only the top layer of support is PLA, flush more PLA and hopefully reduce the chance that your model has any contamination from the PLA
I can see from this one photo alone. I’m afraid you’re asking too much of the technology. If my eyesight is correct, there’s about 4 layers on the walls. Even the strongest materials like ABS, PETG , PC etc. aren’t going to withstand a wall that long and that thin.
To get a good feel for what the tech can and cannot deliver, may I suggest just printing a simple object that has walls similar to the one’s your printing. Then using the clone and scale utility, print multiple objects at varying scales to thicken the walls. Then try to break them by hand. You’ll quickly build an intuitive “feel” for what will and will not work.
