I have not printed the parts on the forum here, but i have been printing PLA parts for the development of a jet water pump the last two years. PLA is neither air tight nor watertight with standard print settings. (But I’m printing with a cheap Pollin 3dp-100.) I had some success with clear laquer.
I recently discovered how to get airtight parts. I printed these with Cura 2.6.2 (in short: 0.1mm layers, first layer 0.25, nozzle: 0.4mm, 5 contour lines and 16 top and bottom layers, 105% flow (=overextrusion), 225°C for the first layers and 210°C after that, 60°C on diy heated bed) High infill settings were not useful in my experiments. Contour lines were the solution for me. I printed pipe connectors for hoses with these settings. I pressurized the parts with 5 bars (73psi) of airpressure and sprayed them with soap water. I have them in use with water now and don’t have any visible leaks.
I would love to have more scientific results on this topic. Please let me know of any ideas.
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