Swollen prints - any ideas? I'm finding that all my prints come out slightly swollen. I've been trying to print the z-gear and z-driven gear, but the parts I print are too tight to fit on the motor spindle and bearing. If I drill/file them out so that they fit, then the teeth mesh too tightly and won't rotate. So my printed gears are swollen on the inside and the outside. I've tried reducing the extrusion factor in slic3r, first to 0.95 and now to 0.90. This has helped somewhat, but not enough. I'm going to try reducing it even further. But why should this be necessary? I calibrated the steps/mm for the filament feed and it was spot on at 420. The filament I am using is not oversize, if anything it is nearer 1.70mm than the 1.75mm I set in slic3r. So I have a couple of questions: 1. What is the tolerance on the diameter of the 0.5mm nozzle? 2. Are there any other factors that might be causing my prints to swell? https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?340,295177,295177#msg-295177 Sun, 17 May 2026 05:30:39 -0400 Phorum 5.2.23 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?340,295177,295778#msg-295778 Re: Swollen prints - any ideas? https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?340,295177,295778#msg-295778
Quote
dmould
Also, if the Y belt is a bit too loose there will be backlash, which I found causes a slight bulge on the edges of the print in the direction of Y movement, but the side of the bulge depends on the direction of travel that the layer was printed, so can change from layer to layer. I will definitely be trying the clothes peg trick to tension the Y belt as soon as my machine is running again (thanks to whoever posted that video).

Dave
(#106)

That was me :) - I was getting offsets in layers along the Y axis before using it which I presumed was from the direction changes as I could see the belt flexing.
Daryl]]> djb Ormerod Thu, 16 Jan 2014 09:18:14 -0500 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?340,295177,295742#msg-295742 Re: Swollen prints - any ideas? https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?340,295177,295742#msg-295742 all moves (printing and non-printing) and that seemed to work, but gave very long print times. Later I increased the motor current to 1000mA in the startup g file, and the problem appears to have disappeared, so now I can print at faster speeds again. In fact I should have been playing with the acceleration settings, because it is acceleration rather than speed that causes missed steps. My bed moves very easily and smoothly when the machine is switched off, and I've oiled the runner, so it's not a sticking bed - I think 800mA may be a little too low for the inertia of the bed, and 1000mA is well within the specs of the stepper motors.

Also, if the Y belt is a bit too loose there will be backlash, which I found causes a slight bulge on the edges of the print in the direction of Y movement, but the side of the bulge depends on the direction of travel that the layer was printed, so can change from layer to layer. I will definitely be trying the clothes peg trick to tension the Y belt as soon as my machine is running again (thanks to whoever posted that video).

Or maybe I mis-diagnosed the fault and am spouting rubbish - although what I did appears to have worked!

Dave
(#106)]]> dmould Ormerod Thu, 16 Jan 2014 08:04:34 -0500 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?340,295177,295662#msg-295662 Re: Swollen prints - any ideas? https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?340,295177,295662#msg-295662
I had retraction set to 4mm and speed to 30mm/s. Firmware was 058 but I had those errors with firmware versions before. Extruder temp is 200 for the first layer and 190 for the subsequent layer.

Markus]]> markbee Ormerod Thu, 16 Jan 2014 05:03:31 -0500 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?340,295177,295661#msg-295661 Re: Swollen prints - any ideas? https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?340,295177,295661#msg-295661
It looks more like a Z axis movement problem to me, like those layers are not moving up enough, so it squashes out like the filling in a sandwich. Are you on the latest firmware?
The nodules on corners look like you need to increase retraction distance and/or speed.

Ian
RepRapPro tech support]]> reprappro Ormerod Thu, 16 Jan 2014 05:03:27 -0500 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?340,295177,295650#msg-295650 Re: Swollen prints - any ideas? https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?340,295177,295650#msg-295650
What extruder temperature and which firmware version are you using? I think you may have the temperature a little high.]]> dc42 Ormerod Thu, 16 Jan 2014 04:45:05 -0500 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?340,295177,295647#msg-295647 Re: Swollen prints - any ideas? https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?340,295177,295647#msg-295647
Maybe your head, or your table is moving a little when the head snags on these boundaries?

Ray]]> rayhicks Ormerod Thu, 16 Jan 2014 04:41:10 -0500 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?340,295177,295640#msg-295640 Re: Swollen prints - any ideas? https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?340,295177,295640#msg-295640
I tested those settings but still get the same result. It's even like the printing errors also on other parts of the print almost always repeat at the same places, so it could be a software/ slicer or firmware issue?

The settings for the prints shown in the photo are changed between those prints (and some more) but the errors always stays the same. Settings changed: randomize starting point, retraction length, wipe on retraction, only retract when crossing perimeters - but to no avail.

A photo of the recurring errors regardless of the settings change:



Markus
]]> markbee Ormerod Thu, 16 Jan 2014 04:32:47 -0500 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?340,295177,295251#msg-295251 Re: Swollen prints - any ideas? https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?340,295177,295251#msg-295251
SCNR

Markus]]> markbee Ormerod Wed, 15 Jan 2014 14:13:24 -0500 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?340,295177,295244#msg-295244 Re: Swollen prints - any ideas? https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?340,295177,295244#msg-295244 Ray]]> rayhicks Ormerod Wed, 15 Jan 2014 14:06:16 -0500 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?340,295177,295222#msg-295222 Re: Swollen prints - any ideas? https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?340,295177,295222#msg-295222
Quote
markbee
As we are taking settings - any ideas how to get rid of those "blobs" in inner edges? Outer edges are ok...

My guess is that they are caused at the start or end of a non-print move that is made without retracting the filament. Make sure you have changed the setting to retract 4mm instead of the default of 1mm, and try a print after unticking the box that says "Only retract when crossing perimeters" in the "Print Settings" / "Infill" page of Slic3r.

Dave
(#106)]]> dmould Ormerod Wed, 15 Jan 2014 13:17:08 -0500 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?340,295177,295209#msg-295209 Re: Swollen prints - any ideas? https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?340,295177,295209#msg-295209
Like so:





Markus

Sorry dc42 no hijacking intended!
]]> markbee Ormerod Wed, 15 Jan 2014 12:58:43 -0500 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?340,295177,295199#msg-295199 Re: Swollen prints - any ideas? https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?340,295177,295199#msg-295199
The Slic3r manual (or website, I forget which) recommends measuring the extrudate's width (extruded from up high and measured at a few points then using the average) to find a useful value to enter as the the nozzle size. They also suggest printing a single wall shell noting the expected thickness in the gcode then comparing to measured thickness, and using that ratio to set the extrusion factor (this last on top of the calibrations you've already done - if you have the extrusion factor set to say 0.90 and find the expected/actual width is 0.9, then you need to compound the two and set it to 0.81, or just set it to 1 before you run the test). You can quickly make a test shell by slicing a simple cube stl with no infill, no top layers, two or three bottom layers and a single perimeter (rather like the gearfail.gcode I uploaded recently) - the (newish) spiral vase slic3r option may be quicker .

to get more "accurate" prints, I find it helps to constrain the layer width - I set the default width to 0.5mm and it really does seem to help getting parts to fit.

Ray]]> rayhicks Ormerod Wed, 15 Jan 2014 12:41:08 -0500 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?340,295177,295197#msg-295197 Re: Swollen prints - any ideas? https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?340,295177,295197#msg-295197
only some of them where I think they are important for finer structures like perimeter e.g.

Markus]]> markbee Ormerod Wed, 15 Jan 2014 12:38:32 -0500 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?340,295177,295192#msg-295192 Re: Swollen prints - any ideas? https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?340,295177,295192#msg-295192 dc42 Ormerod Wed, 15 Jan 2014 12:34:51 -0500 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?340,295177,295180#msg-295180 Re: Swollen prints - any ideas? https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?340,295177,295180#msg-295180
did you try to print the gears with lower speed, say 10mm/s? That works fine for me.
I usually slow down when I need high accuracy/ resolution.

Markus]]> markbee Ormerod Wed, 15 Jan 2014 12:16:10 -0500 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?340,295177,295177#msg-295177 Swollen prints - any ideas? https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?340,295177,295177#msg-295177
I've tried reducing the extrusion factor in slic3r, first to 0.95 and now to 0.90. This has helped somewhat, but not enough. I'm going to try reducing it even further. But why should this be necessary? I calibrated the steps/mm for the filament feed and it was spot on at 420. The filament I am using is not oversize, if anything it is nearer 1.70mm than the 1.75mm I set in slic3r.

So I have a couple of questions:

1. What is the tolerance on the diameter of the 0.5mm nozzle?

2. Are there any other factors that might be causing my prints to swell?]]> dc42 Ormerod Wed, 15 Jan 2014 12:12:07 -0500