A few months back, I had some “PLA” that would not print. Later, I looked for some PETG I thought I had, yet could not find it. Then I eventually wondered if the “PLA” was actually the missing PETG. It was. It had been mislabelled, and as soon as I used settings for PETG, it printed fine.
Today I rediscovered another roll of “PLA” (older, different brand, different color) on which I had written on it a long time back that it, “does not print right.” Well, I happened to try again with it, and then thought, “that spaghetti mess looks suspiciously like the ‘PLA was actually PETG mess’.” Well, it was also mislabelled; it was actually PETG. At least, it finally prints right when I use PETG settings.
Moral of the story: If you have filament that won’t do right, try using settings for different filament types.
PS: I have no idea whether the mislabelling was all me or started with the manufacturer, but I think at least the latter roll was for sure on the manufacturer.
I usually buy expensive filament, but every now and then I stray. Last week I bought a roll of “pure” PLA, which I assumed was a marketing term.
Apparently not - “pure PLA” was what it said- I tried everything in my power to get it to print, and it did, but it felt like a piece of cheese, and there was zero layer adhesion. I tried hotter colder, more push, less fan and got it to produce a reasonable looking print that was like a jenga tower - as soon as you picked it up it collapsed!
I had a chat with the manufacturer, who was really nice about it - says they usually only sell it to universities who use it in experiments because it’s actually biodegradable. He said he had no clue how they make it work, was surprised that I could even get it to stick to the plate, and offered to send me a spool of PLA Max which he tells me is full of good stuff and will do the trick.
He doesn’t want the other one back either, which gives me a problem - I think I’ll drop it in next time I’m passing anyway.
If anyone wants a kg of PURE PLA - let me know and we’ll sort out how to get it to you.
@bitingmidge
I also recently ordered some PLA that is apparently “just” PLA (not PLA “plus” or PLA “max” or PLA “pro”) and I’m finding it hard to print with. I have not done as much experimenting as you — I just tried lowering the flow rate to hopefully slow down the print rate I was demanding of it. But it’s not as hard as what you’re describing. It’s working somewhat, just not the stellar result I’ve been getting.
