Delamination usually disappears once you raise the nozzle temperature by 10–15 °C above the low end of the recommended range and cut your cooling fan speed in half — check your current settings against the print temperature table and compare them with what we show below. This is the most common cause: the layers don't have time to fuse to each other before they cool, so the bond between them breaks — not the material itself.
You'll usually see it as a vertical crack on the side of a print, or layers that peel apart from each other like sheets of paper. Sometimes it shows up only after a few days; sometimes it snaps right as you remove the model from the bed. In this article we cover where delamination comes from, how to diagnose it quickly, and which settings fix it — with concrete values for PLA, PETG, ABS, and ASA.
Starting settings for delamination — table
| Parameter | Value | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Nozzle temperature (PLA) | 210–230 °C | Start at the upper end of the range, not the lower |
| Nozzle temperature (PETG) | 245–260 °C | Too low a temperature is the most common cause with PETG |
| Nozzle temperature (ABS) | 250–270 °C | Also requires stable ambient temperature |
| Nozzle temperature (ASA) | 250–270 °C | Same as ABS — avoid drafts |
| Cooling (PLA) | 80–100% | Lower to 50–60% only if delamination is visible |
| Cooling (PETG/ABS/ASA) | 0–30% | High fan speed blocks layer fusion |
| Print speed (perimeter) | –5 to –10 mm/s | Especially on outer walls and overhangs |
| Layer height | ≤ 80% of nozzle diameter | Max. 0.32 mm for a 0.4 mm nozzle |
| Ambient temperature | no drafts | Critical for ABS and ASA, less so for PLA |
| Filament moisture | dry, stored in a box | Moisture weakens layer bonding regardless of temperature |
You'll find the full temperature ranges for every Porima material in the print temperature table — it's the reference point before you change anything else.
Why does a print delaminate?
Each new layer has to literally "re-melt" into the one below it for a solid bond to form. That only happens when the material is hot enough, at the moment it's laid down, to slightly remelt the already-printed layer underneath. If the temperature is too low, or the layer below has already cooled too much, you get a weak, mechanical connection instead of a true material fusion.
That's why delamination and warping share a common root: both come down to material cooling too fast and too unevenly. The difference is that warping pulls at the corners in the plane of the bed, while delamination tears the model apart vertically, between layers. If both symptoms show up at once, it's almost always a sign your printer is cooling too hard or too fast relative to the temperature you're printing at.
The second, equally common cause is the material itself — damp filament, under-extrusion, or too high a speed on the outer walls. Before you start changing temperature, it's worth checking whether the cause lies elsewhere — below we show you how to tell the difference.
Print temperature and delamination
Nozzle temperature is the first thing worth checking — and it usually solves the problem on its own, without touching any other setting. The rule is simple: if your print is delaminating and you're not seeing stringing or scorched material, raise the temperature in 5 °C steps until the layers start to hold together.
PLA: when to raise the temperature
PLA delaminates less often than other materials, but when it does, the culprit is usually too low a temperature combined with too much cooling — a common combination among beginners who set the fan to 100% "just to be safe." If you're printing in the lower range of 200–210 °C and seeing cracks between layers, raise the temperature to 220–225 °C before you touch anything else.
PETG and ABS: different causes, the same diagnosis
PETG almost always delaminates for the same reason: temperature set too low to avoid stringing. That's the wrong trade-off — it's better to accept a bit of stringing and keep the temperature in the upper half of the 245–260 °C range than to end up with a model that snaps under load. ABS, on the other hand, delaminates mainly because of drafts and uneven ambient temperature, not the nozzle temperature itself — which is why an enclosure works better here than raising the temperature alone.
Cooling and print speed
Too much cooling
The cooling fan is the most commonly overlooked suspect. Its job is to quickly solidify a freshly printed layer so the model holds its shape on overhangs and bridges — but that same function, set too aggressively, stops the next layer from fusing to it. For materials other than PLA (PETG, ABS, ASA, nylon), a good rule is: fan on only where it's actually needed (bridges, sharp overhangs), not running the whole print.
Print speed and overhangs
Higher speed means less contact time between the hot stream of material and the layer underneath — less time for them to "re-melt" together. If delamination only shows up on outer walls or in overhang areas, lower the perimeter speed by 5–10 mm/s while leaving infill unchanged — that's usually enough, and it won't meaningfully extend print time.
Filament moisture and material quality
Damp filament is one of the invisible causes of delamination — you won't always hear the crackling or hissing typical of PETG or nylon, but moisture in the material vaporizes in the nozzle and weakens the cohesion of the molten plastic at the layer boundary. If delamination appeared suddenly, even though the same settings worked fine before, check the filament first before you change anything in the slicer. You'll find more on the symptoms and drying in our guide to storing and drying filament.
A second, less-discussed factor is filament quality itself — an unstable diameter causes fluctuations in how much material is fed, which in turn translates into under-extrusion in certain spots on the model and weaker layer bonding right there. If delamination shows up in specific spots rather than across the whole height of the model, it's worth checking the diameter tolerance of the filament you're using.
If predictable moisture straight out of the box and a stable diameter without surprises matter to you, check out Porima PLA — a solid starting point if you're still ruling out variables and want to be sure the problem isn't the material itself.
Mechanical settings and first-layer adhesion
Delamination is sometimes confused with a first-layer problem, but they're two different things — the first layer is about adhesion to the bed, while delamination is about the bond between layers higher up. Still, they share a common root: if the base of the model is unstable or lifting slightly off the bed, the printer starts introducing small vibrations that weaken every subsequent layer bond above it.
It's also worth checking your flow (extrusion multiplier) — under-extrusion of even 3–5% is enough to weaken layer cohesion, even though the print looks normal at a glance. If flow calibration has been sitting at the back of your mind as an "unnecessary step," this is exactly the kind of problem that makes it worth doing properly, once.
The last piece is the extruder's own grip — a loose idler tension means the drive gear starts slipping on the filament once it hits some resistance, which shows up as irregular under-extrusion and, as a result, weakened layer bonding in random spots on the model.
Settings for popular configurations
Your printer's build affects how quickly and precisely you can respond to delamination. The table below shows what to watch for depending on your extruder layout and enclosure.
| Configuration | What to watch for |
|---|---|
| Bowden | Slack in the tube can mask under-extrusion — check flow before changing temperature |
| Direct drive | Easier to raise temperature without risking heat creep — a good first diagnostic step |
| CoreXY in an enclosed cabin | Watch that chamber temperature doesn't climb uncontrolled with ABS/ASA — it can clog the nozzle |
| AMS / CFS (multi-material) | A color or material change mid-print is a common, overlooked cause of local delamination |
Common mistakes
Lowering the temperature instead of raising it. Intuition says that if something is "falling apart," you should cool it more — that's the exact opposite of what helps with classic delamination.
Changing several settings at once. If you raise temperature, cut cooling, and lower speed all at the same time, you won't know what actually fixed the problem — change one variable at a time.
Ignoring filament moisture. Drying filament tends to get treated as a "last resort," when it should be one of the first steps in diagnosis, especially with PETG and nylon.
Setting PETG temperature too low out of fear of stringing. This is the most common mistake with this material — stringing can be cleaned up in post-processing, a cracked layer can't.
Skipping a temperature tower test. Instead of guessing, print a temperature tower — a twenty-minute test that shows exactly at which temperature the layers start to hold.
Printing a large model right after changing settings. A test on a small object takes a few minutes and saves hours of print time if the settings still aren't right.
Skipping flow calibration. Under-extrusion mimics the symptoms of delamination, but no temperature change will fix it — you need to calibrate flow.
Frequently asked questions
Can a delaminated print be fixed without reprinting it?
Partly — thin cracks can be glued with cyanoacrylate (super glue) pressed into the gap, which restores some mechanical strength. It's not a durable fix for load-bearing parts, though — in that case it's better to reprint the model with corrected settings.
What nozzle temperature prevents delamination?
There's no single universal value — it depends on the material. As a general rule, aim for the upper half of the manufacturer's recommended range rather than the lower: typically 220–230 °C for PLA, 245–260 °C for PETG, and 250–270 °C for ABS and ASA.
Does hairspray or glue stick help with delamination?
No — those products improve first-layer adhesion to the bed, while delamination is about the bond between layers higher up. They're two different problems with two different solutions.
Is an enclosure necessary for ABS and ASA?
It's not strictly necessary, but it makes it much easier to maintain a stable ambient temperature, which is the main factor protecting these materials from delamination. Without an enclosure, the most important thing is avoiding drafts and open windows near the printer.
How can I tell if my filament is damp?
Typical signs are crackling or a faint hissing sound during printing, a matte instead of glossy print surface, and small bubbles in the extruded material. The most reliable test is to dry a sample of the filament and compare print quality before and after.
Summary
Delamination almost always comes down to one of three causes: nozzle temperature too low, cooling too aggressive, or damp filament. Start with temperature — it's the change that most often solves the problem on its own, without touching the printer's mechanics.
If delamination keeps coming back despite correct temperature and cooling settings, especially with technical materials, check out our full range in the technical filaments collection — stable diameter tolerance and predictable parameters cut down on the number of variables that can cause the problem.