Z-PLA Pro: Printer is loosing steps on the first layer of the raft...

Hey guys,

I designed a custom top housing for my Zortrax, but never printed it due to wrapping with ABS and the other Z-filaments…

After Zortrax released their own version of this for 160€, I decided to finish my project using Z-PLA Pro. The parts basically look like 3-demensional “L”s filling nearly all of the heated bed.

Back to the problem:

Using Z-PLA Pro I always encounter extruding problems at the first layers of the raft…

You can actually hear the extruder motor loosing steps, resulting in a critically low material output. :frowning:

Any ideas how to fix this? Most attempts will work though, but considering the premium price of the spool (which already was on the lower end of the +/- 5% 800g when I got it) I am pretty disappointed in the workflow and quality…

The printer is a M200 V4, only used with Zortrax materials.

All other materials (mostly ABS) work like a charm, resulting in my expectation of a true plug and play workflow.

As the “cover project” will use 1,5kg of the material, I would really appreciate some help! :slight_smile:

Thanks!

Okay, acutally the whole raft is of bad quality… “Upper” layers still loose a lot steps. :frowning:

Any idea why this does not happen when using ABS?

Btw: The second fan is not connected at the moment. So no mods on the printer right now.

Hi, Scide.

Take a look at the tips from the website: https://support.zortrax.com/tips-for-printing-with-z-pla-pro/

As you can see, Z-PLA requires a new, dedicated hotend to achieve the best quality. It is a very dense material with low melting temperature, so other materials’ residues in an old hotend might cause improper extrusion.

You can’t be serious?! Why the hell is this advertised as a standard PREMIUM material then?

Neither the Zortrax website nor the material descriptions on all retailer websites I checked mention this… :confused:

Instead of letting the customer getting frustrated “burning” through the 60€ spool there should be a notice about that in the packaging and product description. You can’t assume the customer will read the tips and tricks when your printer is famous for it’s ease of use and plug and play abilities… This is pretty disappointing.

Considering this said, can you „guarantee“ me spending an additional 50€ on a new hotend I will get my printer to an ABS like quality with this material? Right know the surface is pretty much unusable and the model cracked at the first sight. Additionally bonding to the bed is insanely bad, while the support is super sticky.

Would love to get an honest answer, even if this says stay with ABS. :wink:

What I am looking for is something of the same quality and ease of use like standard Z-ABS without the wrapping as the models geometry does not allow for this… :frowning:

My recent disappointing attempt on PLA Pro is shown in the pictures.

You can’t be serious?! Why the hell is this advertised as a standard PREMIUM material then?

Neither the Zortrax website nor the material descriptions on all retailer websites I checked mention this… :confused:

Instead of letting the customer getting frustrated “burning” through the 60€ spool there should be a notice about that in the packaging and product description. You can’t assume the customer will read the tips and tricks when your printer is famous for it’s ease of use and plug and play abilities… This is pretty disappointing.

Considering this said, can you „guarantee“ me spending an additional 50€ on a new hotend I will get my printer to an ABS like quality with this material? Right know the surface is pretty much unusable and the model cracked at the first sight. Additionally bonding to the bed is insanely bad, while the support is super sticky.

Would love to get an honest answer, even if this says stay with ABS. :wink:

What I am looking for is something of the same quality and ease of use like standard Z-ABS without the wrapping as the models geometry does not allow for this… :frowning:

My recent disappointing attempt on PLA Pro is shown in the pictures.

Z-HIPS has lower shrinkage rate than Z-ABS. It might be perfect for your purpose.

Anyway, you can pass me the model via PM - I'll perform a few sample prints using different materials (including Z-PLA Pro). I will provide you with a few pictures of them, to compare the results then.