Trying to print out these frames and I keep getting this strip effect. Shows up with different brand filaments too and most visible with black. If I look at the preview all layers look identical besides the layer time option, you can see the stripes clearly. However, I am not seeing anyway to remove it. I tried slowing down the print time, but does have any effect. Any suggestions? Thanks!
Can’t really see enough in the pic but assume you print this part so these strips would be vertical?
Is this a FLAT surface ?
Can you post some screenshots from the slicer preview?
In particular those showing the speed and flow rate.
If not in the model than in those previews you should see something to match those stripes.
If those stripes relate to the flow rate or speed:
Print just a tiny bit of the part, enough to let those stripes become visible.
Use different extrusion temps.
Like going down in 3 degree increments and if no change going up the same way.
In case a different temp changes the appearance of those stripes you can try find a temp that makes them blend together as best as possible.
Do a proper flow rate calibration so something printed in vase mode comes out with exactly the wall width set in the slicer.
Also do a proper k-factor calibration.
Prefer the pattern over the lines 
Pick the value that gives you the cleanest and sharpest corner - if in doubt use a magnifying glass!
You want the ones with no gaps between the lines that still has a sharp and well defined 90 degree angle without any rounded corners…
I would set the speed for the outer wall loop to the lowest value that the slicer has calculated for the outer walls of the model and that I can estimate in the preview. In order to achieve an even outer skin for large housing parts with PETG, I have already reduced the speed very much, for example to 35mm/s, 25mm/s or even 20mm/s at outer wall loops. If PETG is printed colder, it becomes more matt; if it is printed hotter, it becomes shinier. This is also related to the printing speed + temperature and ultimately how much a filament can be melted in a certain time. There are also some of these differences with PLA.
Thanks for the response. Here is a picture from the slicer for a better idea of what I am seeing. These strips only show up in layer time, they are not there in any other layer scheme…all solid colors. I was able to reduce them by upping my print temperature to 235, but that is high for PLA+. The corners are nice and sharp.
I ended up bumping the temps to 235, which is ALOT for PLA+, but it drastically reduced the stripes. Still visible, but better.
What temperature range is indicated on the filament roll? For some PLA+ this goes up to 230°C. Here eSun for example:
Print temperature: 210-230°C (recommended temperature 215℃) Bed temperature: 45-60°C Fan speed: 100% Print speed: 40-100mm/s
The material must be melted. Once the material has to come out of the nozzle very quickly, you need a higher temperature if you want to print at a higher speed.
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I second that…
LOW speed, low print temp.
High speed, like well over 150mm/s means high temp.
For PLA I won’t even start below 230 unless I am printing tiny things.
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Yes, print temps on the roll are 215-230C and printing at 200-300mm/s. However it never goes above 170 as my max volumetric flow is 10. Works fine with most colors, black is the only one giving me trouble. Seems to come out more matte than the others as well. I’ll mess around with higher temps and lower speeds.
Yeah, model maxes at 170 mm/s. I’ll try bumping the temps a bit more, how high have you gone with PLA?
With Generic PLA, I needed a printing temperature of 245°C for speeds of up to 320mm/s.
Let me try to end the confusion for those relatively NEW to 3D printing, especially with high speed printers…
In order to get THE BEST LOOKING result you optimise ALL print settings based on those complex test prints.
Like print temp, extrusion rate and factor, k-factor and then you always start with a LOW speed, like in the range of 80mm/s.
From there you work your way to the point where things start to fail or start to look less than perfect.
Most users however aim for settings that cover most things in acceptable ways and finetune from there.
Like when you mostly print simple models with no complicated overhangs and support structures you try to max out what you can.
There are people who go as high as 500mm/s with PLA…
The confusion seems to start once things fail to work out as expected…
So let’s go with this to create a good workflow…
Start with the DEFAULT setting for all.
First model to print is a box or cylinder in vase mode.
Measure the resulting wall thickness.
The default for outer perimeter is either 0.42 or 0.45.
E.g.: You wall width is set to 0.42 and the model comes out with just 0.39 as the average.
Default extrusion rate is 0.98.
Divide the default 0.98 by the ACTUAL width of 0.39.
Multiply with what is set in the slicer, like 0.42 - the result is your CORRECT value for THIS print profile.
To confirm it actually fits as advertised do another vase mode print.
You CAN then also print a cube without infill and top layers but with 3 wall loops.
Check what is inner, outer and gap fill in the slicer and add the set values.
IF your wall is way off while the vase mode is fine it usually means you have to adjust the overlap settings for the wall loops and gap fill so you get a match.
With that you should already get quite acceptable looking test prints.
Next is the k-factor.
It defines the acceleration at the start and end of an extrusion.
Use the pattern, not the lines as the pattern is far easier to remove from the plate …
Pick the corner that looks best - meaning no gap between the lines while still being a SHARP corner.
Towards one end of the scale you will see the gaps increasing, towards the other end the corner starts to look messy and fat, or gets too rounded.
Now that the dead basics for the filament are done it is time to check on the extrusion temp.
The defaults are a good start for low to moderate speeds.
Save the profile you are working on, preferably with ‘slow’ or detailed’ in the name.
We will now start to tune for complex prints where speed is not all that matters.
Pick one of those temp and speed test towers or just a model you already have that has slim structures, some overhangs and such.
Something really ‘bad’ like a figurine with a sword or stick that is ABOVE the build plate works great if you want to make sure these tiny details won’t get lost or fail.
Rule of thumb: If you get a blob or spiderwebs the temp is too high, if the layer adhesion fails or things just snap between layers the temp is too low.
There is no golden rule or temperature - you have to find what suits you best for low speeds and lots of fine details.
DON’T worry if it refuses to come out prefect!
We will now LOWER the speeds for those areas with fine structures until they come out clean and acceptable enough.
The slicer should already show you that most of these details are printed at a slower speed - pay attention to those values!
You will find the matching numbers in precentages or as a general speed in the slicer.
For those areas where the models keeps failing REDUCE those values.
Like when something like fingers look like a big mess or you see these structures flexing around with the nozzle movements.
You only need to lower the print temperature once these speed adjustments fail to prevent blobs and such.
If you do have to change the temp down then please do a quick vase mode check to ensure this did not affect your extrusion width.
Once you are satisfied save this profile as a new one and re-load the previous one as we now go for speed
With all vital things calibrated the fun can start - how high you you push things…
The max volumetric flow is usually set much lower by default as a highspeed filament can go.
But that does not mean that ramping it up to the max is always best
There is some good volumetric flow calibration models in the forum that you can use.
But despite their accuracy the resulting value is not always what you are after.
Actual print speeds and flow rates vary a lot depending on the model.
I prefer a simpler and IMHO often superior test - infill…
Let’s face it: We like to combine infill layers to save time…
And quite often this breaks the fun and produces a failed print - or one looking less impressive.
The lower your layer heights the less filament has to go through the nozzle.
With a 0.2 nozzle and printing delicate figurines you won’t have a problem the flow rate…
But even the standard 0.4 nozzle can quickly max out what standard PLA is capable of.
Meaning that it FAILS to let enough plastic through.
If the calibration model tell you 23 is your value than use it.
But now print a cube of 50 by 50mm with lots of bottom layers and combine those layers - do the same for the infill layers - 5% is enough to see if it works.
IF you notice that the infill struggles, especially those infill layers then reduce the max flow rate by 1 until these come perfect and with a good bond.
Ok, I said something about fun…
Use a simple model, nothing fancy.
Start the print and after the first layer is down and the infill for the second starts press the speed button and go one stage higher.
Watch the print and check if there is any struggles coming up, if so please stop the print.
Let the print complete if it looks fine, then check the quality and especially layer bond.
All good? Go one stage higher…
With standard PLA you might now start to see problems…
If you see them early enough try to increase the extrusion temp by 5 degrees.
Does it improve the result while printing ?
In case it does let it print a few more layers to hopefully get a really smooth and even layer.
If not but the mess won’t cause the print to fail increase the temp by another 5 degrees.
Things should get a bit better.
Assuming the model was simple and small start over with that temp plus 5 but keep the first layer temp as it was.
You might now already be past the 230 mark and get worried…
If the model prints good there is nothing to worry about, if it prints better but still not as good as with the standard speed keep increasing now in 2 degree steps.
Of course there is a good chance your filament is already maxed out…
You will notice that once the temp increase does nothing good anymore.
Now do yourself a favour and use the highest temp that worked well and lower it by 3 degrees to make it your HIGHSPEED print temp.
With this high temp do another vase mode test and also increase the print speed as above - measure the wall and if NOT within acceptable tolerance adjust the flow rate accordingly to match.
Of course it means saving this change into a new profile to reflect the high speed status!
The rest it ‘child’s play’
Ludicrous mode might only work with high speed filaments and a high flow nozzle.
To hone in on the fasted sprint speeds for all cases you just multiple the default speed values to match the setting you had for the tests, e.g. 133%…
From there you use the standard test models to do the overhangs, fine details, bridging, combine infill and all that.
First lower what needs lowering and confirm it comes out well.
Then check if certain things can be ramped up a bit, like the inner wall loop speed or the infill speed for the simpler ones.
Ok - but why all this ???
Honestly?
Don’t do it, do what you think works best for you.
I only shared how I do for so many years now but that does not have to mean it is the best solution.
It will get you to the finish line though
The real reason is this:
Assuming you did this for a roll of PLA…
Does all this hard work and wasted filament give us correct values for a different roll of PLA?
Hell no! But you WILL have a working baseline.
With that a new roll is calibrate quite quickly
Wow thanks, this is one of the most detailed answers I have ever received…lol. It is much appreciated and I will try them all. Thanks!
Its the infill! I’m getting the exact same visuals as you, and its a consequence of crosshatch/gyroid infill