Hi everyone,
I have since purchase of my x1c never printed other filaments than pla/+ (1200 hours).
For a build I am working on, I wanted to use rapid PETG from Elegoo and a smooth Plate for a nice surface. I could print 1.3kg in different colors with PETG without a problem. Then all of a sudden filament got stuck in the extrusion gears due to heat-creep. I had to disassemble the whole extruder. No problem for me at least. However, the next prints began get worse the more I tried to fix. I even had a second clog but I could fix that with a cold pull.
Today I noticed that the PETG begins to stick to the nozzle. Wiping nozzle doesn’t drop the poop but gets dragged with the extruder across the hotbed. I wanted to brush the nozzle with a brass brush (heated up) and noticed that the nozzle didn’t stop oozing for ages… but only small amounts of plastic.
Cool plate seems to be no issue, but slightly stringing at the begin of the print.
For the smooth plate, I tried printing the following way:
- different temps between 35-80°
- Open door and top cover
- a different plate with the same texture but different manufacturer
Since I already unclogged the extruder/nozzle twice, I dont know what else I could do, except replacing the nozzle. But I think the nozzle might be still “good” compared to a replacement nozzle I have. I still have the shipped nozzle installed (think it was the hardened steel one)
I dried my filament over night (80° - 7 hours instead of 12) in the printer itself. But I wonder why all of a sudden all PETG filaments I have began to fail and not only the one I was mainly using.
Should I replace the nozzle?
The pic shows a 3D effect plate rather than a textured plate.
Note that the 3D effect plates are much more difficult to print on. I’d recommend trying with PLA first and follow the Bambu instructions for printing (set Smooth PEI plate, increase bed temp to 60-65°C). In a pinch, you can also increase first layer nozzle temp by 5-10°C. Bambu is not specificaly recommending anything other than TPU and PLA. Probably due to possible sticker damage…
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Oh, you are right. Had the wrong term in mind. 
But I wonder why I nethertheless could print on it without issues (and it looked really good).
After creating my post I decided to try the cool plate again. Now it seems that there are more gaps, blobs and stringings on my print with the cool plate.
I can print, but it looks awful. This happened because the filament sticks to the nozzle (clogging)
I dont have my PLA in the color I need for my build project. That’s why I currently have to stick to PETG.
How do I prevent the filament to stick to the nozzle after extrusion?
edit: I use default Generic PETG settings btw.
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It is certainly possible that a blob led to a clog. So doing a number of hex key cold pulls can have a positive effect (the “simple” unclogging procedure never worked for me). While you are at it, it makes sense to use the opportunity to clean the extruder gears in case some dust accumulated there from extruder grinding.
https://wiki.bambulab.com/en/x1/troubleshooting/extruder-clog
When printing PETG, there are a few “rules”.
As PETG loves to cling to anything, in particular the nozzle, it is important to avoid speed bumps from crossing infills and surfaces. Go for Monotonic surfaces and Gyroid or Honeycomb infill. Also, I have found PETG to reward going slower. And of course it is rather sensitive to speed and cooling settings. Going slower will help with that as well. In particular that nasty edge curling that brings the layers up into the nozzle again.
With PETG being much more sensitive, it is, in my experience, essential to ensure that it is well dried.
https://wiki.bambulab.com/en/filament-acc/filament/dry-filament
I also tend to enable “Wipe on Retract” in the filament settings but never had to play with z-hop or z-hop type.
As for the cool plate, I do not have one but am aware of some very mixed experiences.
With a textured plate, it is very important to remember that it’ll catch filament dust and needs more thorough and regular cleaning when using both PLA and PETG. Those two are freuqently used as a support interface for each other as they do not adhere to each other (much).
& 
I have found using Plastic Repellent Paint from slice engineering will help with the petg sticking to the hotend. It doesnt need applied very often.
