3D Printing Basics: Signs your Print Head or Bed Temperature is Wrong

In 3D printing, the temperature is key. If the temperature of your print head or the print bed is wrong, you can face a multitude of issues. The key is to find a good balance for your machine, in your environment with your filaments. You can change the environment by moving the printer to a different room, adjusting ventilation, or getting a printer enclosure.

This type of change is necessary if you continually face temperature issues despite adjusting many settings within the filament manufacturer’s advised ranges. Spotting temperature-related issues are generally relatively simple, especially at the extremes.

If the Temperature Is Too Cold

First of all, if the print head temperature is too cold, it may not melt the filament. In this case, nothing at all will come out of the nozzle. In some cases, it might not be hot enough to melt the filament quickly enough. This leads to a delay in anything coming out and generally results in under-extrusion. When hot, the printed filament is sticky. If layers of your print are separating or delaminating, then your printer may be just a little too cold.

Many filament types require a heated print bed. This helps the print to stick in place and ensures it cools slower. If your print bed is too cold, you will likely see issues with part or even all of your print coming unstuck from the print bed. Warping is also a common issue caused by a low bed temperature, especially with ABS and Nylon filaments. These filament types are particularly prone to thermal contraction as they cool and need to be cooled carefully.

If the Temperature Is Too Hot

If your print head is tooIf the Temperature Is Too Hot hot, you are likely to run into a range of issues such as stringing and blobbing. You’re also likely to see issues that you could probably guess were due to overheating. For example, prints generally looking melted or squashed. You can also see this issue if your printer struggles to print bridges or overhangs as the printed material gains its strength as it cools. Fine details in prints also tend to get lost when printed at too high a temperature.

If your print bed is too hot, you’re most likely to face issues with the bottom of your print, such as Elephant’s foot. This is where the bottom of a print gets squeezed out under the weight of the rest of the print as it is too hot and runny.

Conclusion

These tips should give you an idea of the sort of effects that you should consider temperature to cause. If you’ve got any other temperature-related tips to share, let us know down below.