Best eSun PLA+ settings?

[jeffmorris]

I have been using eSun PLA+ filament for a while and I like it because it's stronger than other filaments BUT it's very hard to remove rafts and supports from 3D-printed stuff. For me, the extruder temperature is set to 220 degrees C, the heated bed temperature is set to 0 degrees C, and fan speed is 50% after second layer. How can I change the settings in "FFF Settings" window to make it easier to remove rafts and supports from 3D-printed stuff?

[gwhite]

You may want to try lowering your temperature. Also, I've found significant variation is optimum settings with different colors, and even different spools of the same color purchased over time. I don't know if they have been tweaking the formula or what, but I could swear the older stuff was more forgiving. I still prefer it to regular PLA for the greater strength.

[jeffmorris]

I can't lower the extruder temperature because it won't stick to glass plate. I thought I need to tweak the raft and support settings in "FFF Settings" window.

[gwhite]

Try using an adhesion booster. There are all sorts of things that will help. I don't use rafts because I don't need to. First one to try is Elmer's glue stick. I put a few swipes on the glass, and then mist it with water and spread it around with my finger so I have an even thin film. Another favorite is hair spray. I use Garnier Fructis Style Sheer Set Extreme Hold Breathable Hairspray. The great thing about that is the prints just pop off when they cool down.

[billyd]

Set the support angle so that it is printed 90 degrees different than the infill angle you've set (which is also the angle of the top bottom layers). This reduces the area of contact between the supports and the surface it's close to. I have found this makes a big difference. Also have one layer separation (which you're probably doing) for .2mm resolution or larger. I find you need 2 or even 3 layers when printing at .1mm resolution.

[billyd]

ps off topic but I use a 60 degree C bed with hairspray on glass and get excellent results with PLA. Never comes off the bed when printing and when cool the PLA pops right off. Leaves the hairspray on the glass and can get dozens of prints before I have to clean the glass and put new hairspray on. If you don't use anything between the glass and PLA, the glass can get permanently marked by the plastic, in my experience.

[RoboDLC]

I have been using eSun PLA+ filament for a while and I like it because it's stronger than other filaments BUT it's very hard to remove rafts and supports from 3D-printed stuff. For me, the extruder temperature is set to 220 degrees C, the heated bed temperature is set to 0 degrees C, and fan speed is 50% after second layer. How can I change the settings in "FFF Settings" window to make it easier to remove rafts and supports from 3D-printed stuff?

I have a few suggestions.
If you are printing on glass, you need to heat the bed. 60C is fine. Use the Aquanet Ultra Super unscented on the glass, or you may have problems getting the print off of it. If you are not going to heat the bed, cover it with blue painters tape and your PLA will stick great.
BUT.
Only if you have your bed leveled. If you level the bed, you don't need a raft. It seems to me that a raft is a horrible band-aid for a printer. Sucks up huge amounts of time and filament that you just throw away. Leveling the bed will correct almost every first layer adhesion problem there is.

Now, after you have leveled your bed, and ditched the raft, try these suggestions:
Set your first layer to 150% of your layer (.3mm if you are using .2mm layers)
Set your first layer to a higher temperature than that rest, I typically go 10C higher.
Increase your first layer line width to 110%

Doug Knightly set me on the right way for using and loving supports, the following comes from things I read and my experiences from experimenting with S3D.
Go to the support tab. I assume you use a raft to make supports more reliable, there are better ways.
I set my supports pattern to be -45,0,45,45,45 and 15% density. If I have supports on many small islands, I will go up to 25% density.
If you do have several smaller support islands, then use a brim to anchor them to the bed.

Now, after all that, the next few suggestions can help you get the supports off of the model easier.
In general, I prefer to use supports as only-from-bed rather than normal if at all possible, I hate getting supports out of a model.
Set your upper support separation layers to 2 and the lower support separation at 0 if you are on the bed, 1 if you are using "normal" supports. Depending upon the filament (harder PLA comes off easier) you can set the upper to 1 as well.
If you find that you don't get supports auto-generated where you want them, decrease their size or use the manual support button and put them where you want them.

Good printing!
DLC