I have a P1P, with no mods. It’s a few weeks old. I used the Bambu Slicer, and used the default values. I am printing a piece of plastic, a custom design, to lay in my sink to make the a flat part perpendicular to the sides of the sink (or take away the gradual slope to the flat bottom of the sink). Then I can set large quart of half gallon bottles on the plastic, right up to the side of the sink - to make them sit flat and fill them up under a triple osmotic faucet in my sink.
PROBLEM: At some point in the print, but not in the first 1/8" or so… something happened and the print became all kinkly or crinkly or crumbled looking (see pics). Basically the extruder was moving like it always does, and stuff was coming out, but it wasn’t laying down layers… so I stopped /canceled the print.
I have a P1P with no mods; I have printed 10 or so prints with no issues (that I know of); I recently changed the filament spool - but this messed up print is the 2nd print from the new spool. The first print from the new spool seemed fine.
I did not (sorry) save the project in the Bambu Slicer. I used the default slicer settings for PLA because this was to be a crude prototype. I have attached the 3mf of the print from my Fusion 360 software.
PLA - Polymaker brand ordered from Amazon
One other possible influence here… the room where I do my prints, an upstairs room, is typically hot in the Winter (as heat rises); I happened to have a fan pulling some of the heat out and pushing it over a balcony in that room. Not certain if that played into the mess or not.
I second @BambuBanker . Dry the filament, change to non-crossing surfaces (monotonic) and infill (Gyroid, Honeycomb).
You may also want to check chamber temps during printing. I usually print PLA with a warm chamber (35-39°C) to counter curling. Do not do that if you use ironing though!
@EnoTheThracian and @BambuBanker - Thank you so much for taking the time to look and provide input. I just bought a Creality Pi Filament Dryer. I will eject or unload the filament and dry it.
I will also switch the infill pattern per the suggestions
QUESTION: Is there a test print I can use?
QUESTION: Would the P1P enclosure kit help at all with ensuring or keeping the environment, or at least the build plate environment dry? - or does it not help with that so much?
There are plenty of different test prints available, but most of the time it is enough to dry the filament, regularly clean the build plate with water and dishwashing liquid (and a clean, stiff brush for the textured plate) and to do the recommended maintenance.
If that then still leads to errors, the failure characteristics usually already indicate likely root causes (speed bumps, flow too high, thermal issues, too fast,…).
As for enclosure, it depends on what you want to do. For PLA, it is not strictly needed. But it can help against unexpected drafts, curling, warping or if the room is a bit cold. So in my view, it is always a good idea.
Just keep in mind that the build volume is the volume of least concern regarding humidity. Having just passed through the nozzle and sitting on a heated bed for a comparatively short time, there’ll not be a significant water uptake. Besides, at this point, the printing process is already done.
What you do want to take care about is to dry new filament (frequently moist, but dryinh not always needed) and then store it with low humidity in an AMS, container or bag with dessiccant to keep it dry longer.
You don’t need to keep the chamber dry, the issue is that when the filament is wet, the humidity inside it gets heated by the nozzle creating steam which results in uneven flow. once the material is printed it doesn’t matter if the environment it’s in is humid.
