After a few failures, I finally have achieved 100% success using Polymaker’s PolyLite PETG Black filament. The trick was basically following the numerical instructions in this guide:
Tonight, I opened by brand new bag of Polymaker’s Translucent Clear PETG. I loaded up the same settings I used with the black.
The result came out like the attached image. In fact, the first result was worse, but I changed the Z-offset from 0.3mm to 0.6mm and the pictured one was better (I used a Z-offset of 0.3mm for the Black PETG). The first layer actually looked pretty good, but yeah this second layer was horrible.
Based on the image, and the suggestions of the website linked above, do you have any ideas on what I should try? Of course, ideally, someone on here will have used this exact brand and type of filament and has some ideas. Thank you!
Clear transparent and opaque black filaments are obviously made of different ingredients. There is no reason to think that they would print equally well with the same settings. It’s not clear what you hoped to accomplish by randomly changing z-offset, the default values have always worked well for me with all filaments.
That link only says “these filament settings work, plug them in here”, without explaining how the author arrived at those numbers.
The most certain method to find the best settings is to test one parameter at a time, over a range of values, and then pick the best result as produced on your printer - then test the next parameter…
There are many different models available for these tests, but the simplest way is to use OrcaSlicer, which offers many tests in a single menu. There is a detailed Wiki to explain how to interpret and use the results. Flow rate, pressure advance and temperature are the basic settings most commonly needing calibration.
Once you know how to perform your own calibrations you will not need to depend on finding someone who can suggest settings for the exact same printer, nozzle, filament material, color, and manufacturer - and then hope that they work in your environmental conditions.
