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Printing issues with silk PLA

jamess2345

I have an ender 3 and recently tried to run some silk PLA.  I ran into issues with the print stopping part way through the print.  It acted like it had a clog.  But I could pull the PLA back and then it would move through the orifice when moving the axis.  I tried different temperatures and retract settings.  Has anyone had issues running silk PLA?  If so were there special settings that had to be used?  I appreciate your help;.

  • I don't have an Ender 3 but it pushes filament through a Bowden tube. it seems like your problem is that the filament gets bunched up in the tube and cannot slide freely. I am just speculating but here are a couple of possible solutions:

    • Make sure the Bowden tube is not kinked anywhere and the nozzle end is smooth - to minimize friction.
    • A slightly smaller diameter Bowden tube might prevent bunching - they can be found with various inner  diameters.
    • Shortening the Bowden tube should make the filament less likely to bunch up, but the tube still needs to be long enough to reach full travel without a radical bend.
    • Pause the print every hour and free it up by pulling the filament out, trimming a bit and re-feeding it.

  • I had issues with shiny filament on my Ender3pro, which was due to a cracked extruder arm. The discussions are somewhere here on element 14, but in a nutshell, remove one screw and inspect the bottom of the extruder arm - the plastic lever you press when starting new filament. Mine had a hairline crack. I replaced the whole thing with a metal extruder and it’s been fine since. I was happily surprised that these parts are easy to find and cost only around $10 or $15 iirc.

  • I've just recently finished a project using Silk PLA on my Ender 3 Pro. I haven't changed any settings or the nozzle for that matter compared to running normal PLA. Have you switched back to the filament that you works well on your machine to rule out a fault with the printer itself? Also, if you have some pictures of the failed prints, those can be of help on trying to diagnose the issue.

  • I had the same problem using standard pla, even after purging the extruder nozzle and hot end multiple times. My fix was to completely tear down the extruder feeder mechanism and wipe it clean of all dust and debris. The feeder gear was totally cleaned of all debris in the gear splines, and then I reversed the gear on the feeder stepper motor shaft, so the filament was pushed by an unworn area of the gear. Essentially it was like changing the stepper feed gear. 

    It ran like new. 

  • Have you considered a direct drive extruder upgrade? I have a Sovol6, with direct drive extruder, and very happy with it’s consistency.