Materials · With some practice
Soluble supports (PVA and BVOH)
Materials that dissolve in water: for supports you could never pull out by hand.
Supports
What changes most if you're coming from PLA:
What it's for
- Supports in parts with holes, cavities or mechanisms printed already assembled.
- Surfaces that must stay smooth where the support touched.
What it's not for
- Final parts: it dissolves with water and room humidity.
- A single-material printer: it's used together with another one, with an AMS or two extruders.
If you're coming from another material
- Nozzle temperature220 °C 220 °CAbout the same: it melts at a similar temperature.
- Bed temperature65 °C 65 °CSimilar: the part sticks to the plate the same way.
- Part fan60–80 % 60–80 %Similar: it cools with about the same airflow.
- Max volumetric speed12 mm³/s 16 mm³/sIt takes more plastic per second: the profile lets it print faster.
- Softens at45 °C 45 °CIt handles heat about the same.
What it's like to print
- It's printed only in the support layer that touches the part (or the whole support, if you want).
- Afterwards, the part goes into warm water until the support dissolves.
- BVOH dissolves faster than PVA.
Starting values
From Bambu Studio's generic profile for the A1: they're meant for any brand, so they're cautious. They're a starting point; the calibration tests get you to your filament's own values.
| PVA | BVOH | |
|---|---|---|
| Nozzle | 220 °C (190–240) | 220 °C (190–240) |
| Bed, textured plate | 65 °C | 55 °C |
| Bed, smooth plate (PEI) | 65 °C | 55 °C |
| Bed, cool plate | 45 °C | 40 °C |
| Fan | 60–80 % | 100–100 % |
| Max flow | 16 mm³/s | 8 mm³/s |
| Softens at | 45 °C | 45 °C |
| Hardened nozzle | not needed | not needed |
Moisture
It absorbs a huge amount of moisture, because it's made to dissolve in water. Always keep it sealed with desiccant and dry it before use.
Drying time and temperature come from your filament's maker: every brand and blend is different, so we don't give numbers here. Look for them on the filament's label or the brand's data sheet.
The settings that change the most
- Support/raft interface filamentProcess › SupportPick the soluble one here so only the layer touching the part is soluble.
- Avoid interface filament for baseProcess › SupportThat way the rest of the support uses the regular material and you spend less soluble.
Typical problems:Support won't come off or tears pieces away
Calibrate first:1Temperature
The numbers come from Bambu Studio and the A1, but the material is the same on any FDM printer: on another machine or slicer, the values are similar and everything explained here still applies.
Other materials
PLAPLA SilkPETGPCTGTPUABSASAPC (polycarbonate)Nylon (PA)PP (polypropylene)HIPSFiber-filled (CF and GF)