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Slic3r Manual

Temperature plays a key part in determining print quality. Too hot and the material deforms, too cool and layer adhesion may be problematic. Applying cooling will allow the freshly deposited material to solidify enough to provide a good base for the next layer, helping with overhangs, small details and bridges.

There are two main techniques for cooling: adding a fan and slowing down the print speed. Slic3r may choose to use both techniques, using a fan first, and then slowing down the print if the layer time is too fast.

Cooling strategy.

Cooling strategy.

Figure shows the strategy adopted by Slic3r. Reading from right to left, when the minimum fan threshold (#2) is reached the fan is turned on. This increases in intensity as the layer time decreases. The print speed remains constant until the estimated print time drops below a certain threshold (#1), this is when the print speed is reduced until it reaches it’s minimum value.

Fans

Most electronics and firmware allow the addition of a fan via a spare connector. These can then be instructed with G-code, from Slic3r, to turn on or off as the model requires, and to rotate at different speeds.

Care should be taken with the positioning of the fan so that it does not cool any heated bed more than necessary. It should also not cool the heater block of the hot-end so as not to force it to do more work and waste energy. The air movement should aim for the nozzle tip, flowing over the freshly extruded material.

A duct may help in guiding the flow correctly, and there are several designs available online, for a wide variety of printers.

Slowing Down

Slic3r can tell the printer to slow down if the estimated layer time is above a certain threshold.

Care must be taken as the intended effect could be mitigated by the nozzle not moving far enough away from the fresh extrusion, a problem with small, detailed layers. For this reason it is usually recommended to use a fan where possible.

Configuring

Cooling settings.

Cooling settings.