Background on Temperatures in the Ez3D Software
They say every snowflake is different, and rolls of filament are similar when it comes to the temperatures at which they extrude best. For example, darker filaments tend to need to be extruded at a higher temperature than lighter colors. A blue from one vendor may extrude at a different temperature than the same color blue from a different vendor. Even two rolls of yellow from the same company may have slightly different temperatures that they extrude best at if the vendor changes their formula.
The Ez3D software is designed to take this into account, and allows you to store filament temperatures in several different places:
- The "material" level
- The "filament" level
- The "part" level
There are several reasons why this may be useful. For example, if you know that ABS always extrudes hotter than PLA, you can set the "ABS" temperature to 220º, and the PLA temperature to 180º. But, when you create a particular filament (which is a combination of material, color, and vendor), you can then override the default material temperatures. This is useful when, for example, you know that ABS black may need to extrude at 260º instead of 220º. Finally, you can override filaments at the individual part level. This is a fairly advanced use case, and is good if you may need to lower the default temperature to prevent "ooze," for example.
What are the different temperatures for?
Cold-End
The cold-end controls the fan on the underside of the extruder. The fan turns on when the extruder block becomes hotter than your set temperature. If you set the cold-end to 40º, for example, the fan will turn on at 41º, and will turn off when it drops to 39º.
The cold-end is an important temperature, as it can help maintain better filament flow, and it prevents your extruder from suffering any damage to heat.
Hot-End
This is the temperature at the nozzle, and is the temperature you'll want to set for your filament.
Build Platform
This is the temperature of print bed, measured at the center.
Best Temperatures for ABS
We have found that:
- Cold-End: 40º
- Hot-end: 225º
- Build Platform: 80º+
works best for ABS. Please note, though, that darker ABS filaments generally require higher temperatures, and lighter ABS filaments can often be extruded at lower temperatures. You'll want to try to find the lowest temperature at which your printer will reliably extrude, and save your temperatures accordingly.
Best Temperatures for PLA
PLA requires a bit more experimentation than ABS, since PLA tends to have very small tolerances for variations in heat.
Here are some guidelines to get started, though:
- Cold-end: 60º (you may need to go as low as 20º, in case you need to keep your cold-end fan on all the time to keep your filament flowing consistently)
- Hot-end: 180º
- Build Platform: 60º
I've tried all these, and I still have problems.
First, you should establish whether or not you can flush filament. If you are able to push filament through by hand, or if clicking the "Flush Nozzle" button will allow filament to extrude, then your hot-end temperature is likely fine, but your cold-end temperature is too high.
If you are not able to flush filament, or feed through by hand, you may have a clogged nozzle or tube. We're working on a support article for that. In the meantime, there are many resources on the Internet about this, as clogged nozzles are a common problem for 3D printer users.