Hey all, I’m hoping someone who has dealt with this can help me out. I’ve got a print that would really benefit from soluble supports. I spent some time reading about using PVA picked up SainSmart PVA 500g as it was recommended on a few different places though I didn’t think to check, it doesn’t have a filament profile in Prusa Slicer, so maybe that was a mistake. I ended up picking the only other PVA filament profile in hopes it was close which I think was PrimaSelect PVA+ or something.
So I spent more time reading and people suggested print it around 190c. What I ended up doing is using the printing profile “soluble interface”, which only puts the soluble material between the support and the print. I didn’t change too many other settings (slowed down initial layer, turned off wipe tower).
What I found is that the PVA keeps triggering the filament runout sensor on the hotend, so I kept manually feeding it back in but each time it seemed to just run out again.
Additionally, the PVA would come out in big bubbles instead of thin lines. What am I doing wrong?
You should be fine. It is about temperature and time. Don’t keep the nozzle heated up when it isn’t used. Don’t dry it frequently (keep it in a dry environment) and use low temperatures.
190° is the low end of printing temperatures. SainSmart should probably be okay when printed below 210°C
With “special” PVA like FormFutura Helios you go up to 250°C: https://formfutura.com/product/helios-support/
Regardless BVOH should be the better choice at higher cost.