3D Prima PrimaValue PLA Filament, 1.75 mm, 1 kg Spool, Red

I use this brand a lot

This stuff was, when I ordered it, relatively cheap. (In the midst of the COVID-19 lockdown, when suddenly everyone's printing PPE for the health services that governments couldn't be bothered to supply, the prices of filament, especially 1.75mm PLA, started to go up).By relatively cheap, I mean a normal sort of price, cheaper than the premium stuff I'd normally buy for personal use. I bought this for making bulk PPE, so went mostly by price. When it arrived, I was pleasantly surprised - it prints nice and cleanly, it's a lot less fussy and kinked than some fluorescent yellow stuff I'd paid more for, and is generally, well, pretty good. It leaves a slight residue on my print bed, but not as bad as the glow-in-the-dark stuff I'd recently tried. After a few dozen prints, I'm having adhesion and warping issues, but to be fair I think that's because I probably corroded my extruder nozzle with glow-in-the-dark filament beforehand, making it more prone to clogging. I expect it to be fine after changing the nozzle. The colour I got, a kind of lime green, is a lot nicer in real life than in the pictures.Unfortunately, after I bought it it shot up in price and is, at time of writing around 75% more expensive than it was.At the original price I would say this is very good value, a bargain even, I would happily pay a bit more for it, it's pretty decent filament. At the dramatically increased price, though, which is the same as I'd usually pay for premium filament for occasional use, I would go for something that's always that kind of price and is better again.Obviously the price is likely to fluctuate over time, and only the reader can judge whether it represents good value at any given moment, which is why I've tried to make qualitative sort of price comparisons rather than stating actual figures - this was originally about 60% of the cost of premium "standard" PLA, and 50% the cost of more exotic premium PLA. At that price it was very good value. Currently, it's slightly more expensive than premium "standard" PLA.Price isn't everything, but it's not nothing, either.

The filament is great, very very strong colour, very dense strong parts result from it, and great bed adhesion. No issues with blockages or any tangles or anything like that. The only reason I'm giving it 4 stars is because of the poor packaging. Let me elaborate. I've bought spools from a handful of brands. The best packaged so far was zero. They vacuum-pack the filament, and include a resealable bag (kinda like a ziploc bag, but without the zip) to store the filament in after you first open it. The sealed bag in combination with the silica gel they include will keep moisture out of the filament. Most other brands I tried (cctree, surreal, technologyoutlet) come in a sturdy vacuum-sealed plastic bag, so all I have to do is slice off the top of the bag neatly, and I can store the filament back in that bag after sealing the cut end with tape. This one (PrimaValue) came in a nice cardboard box, but the spool inside was only wrapped with a very thin heat-sealed plastic wrapping. Not vaccum packed, in fact the plastic was so thin and fragile that it had holes in places. This meant that by the time the spool was shipped to me, it had been absorbing moisture from the air for weeks. The fact that it still printed well despite that is testament to the high quality of their filament I suppose, but I've had to figure out how to protect it from further moisture by myself (since the thin plastic wrapping ripped immediately on taking out the spool).

Like other reviewers I received this PLA and immediately had a series of poor results and failed prints using my usual settings. Bad layer adhesion and under extrusion were the main issues. HOWEVER, because I’d bought 3 rolls of this stuff, PLA is in such short supply at the moment and after having a quick chat with the manufacturer in Sweden (who was very helpful) I decided to stick with it and see if I could make it work.First thing I didn’t realise was that there was a leaflet in the box with recommended print settings, good starting point. Then I proceeded to make a series of temperature towers and nozzle speed tests and discovered that the PLA worked best for me at a slightly elevated 230 degrees, and at a slightly slower speed of 70mms, than usual. I’m also running my fan at 94% now, middle of the recommenced settings. Using a creality CR-20.After making these adjustments I’ve had about 200 prints so far without any issues. It prints out really nicely and layer adhesion is no longer a problem. Trying to get it work was a little frustrating at first, but then sometimes a little challenge can be quite rewarding when it works out!