Help with TERRIBLE print quality

Hello,
I have finally got my i3 to start print (4 to 6 months of trouble and rebuilds)...

Unfortunately the prints are terrible...

Its an i3 with Wades Herringbone..

The extruder seemed to be extruding OK. I do think at the end the filament was not flowing right (jam maybe), but the results are fairly similar in the lower layers...

Please help!

Thank you!

Config:

#ifndef CONFIGURATION_H

//===========================================================================
//=============================Mechanical Settings===========================
//===========================================================================


// default settings

#define DEFAULT_AXIS_STEPS_PER_UNIT {80,80,4000,760*1.1} // default steps per unit for Ultimaker
#define DEFAULT_MAX_FEEDRATE {500, 500, 1, 25} // (mm/sec)
#define DEFAULT_MAX_ACCELERATION {9000,9000,100,10000} // X, Y, Z, E

#endif //__CONFIGURATION_H

Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 12/23/2013 06:23PM by kingoddball.

It looks to me like your extruder is not pushing filament at a consistent rate. Unfortunately, this could be due to many things:

1. Make sure that your filament spool is feeding your extruder freely. If it tugs against the extruder, it can cause problems that look like this.
2. Check that you have a good idler tension.
3. Check that you are extruding the proper length. If your hotend is jamming or is not calibrated correctly, this measurement will reflect that.
4. Could be a problem with temperature not being stable.


People will probably suggest some more things, but this should get you started. It looks like filament is being deposited in the right locations, just not in the right amounts -- which really indicates to me an extrusion problem.

Thank you. Does seem right. At the lower levels it seems consistent and then fails the higher it goes - Could be too tight or jamming?

I am unsure if my extruder setting is correct:

#define DEFAULT_AXIS_STEPS_PER_UNIT {80,80,4000,760*1.1}

My old i2 has the same extruder and the default steps was "699", could the one above be wrong?

Also, how do you know if you have good idler tension? That's always confused me.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/23/2013 06:26PM by kingoddball.

Ah ok. Now I think we're getting somewhere.

You should always measure the filament as it is extruded to get that number exactly correct. Here is what you do:

1. Leave that number as-is.
2. Take a permanent marker and make a dot on your filament a couple inches away from the extruder.
3. Measure exactly how far that mark is from the top of the extruder.
4. Open pronterface and extrude 20mm of filament.
5. Measure the distance of your mark from the top of the extruder again.

Your mark should have moved 20mm. If it moved 15mm for instance, then take your steps_per_unit for the extruder and multiply by 20/15 (or 20 divided by whatever you measured).
Then you can take that scaled number and put it into your steps_per_unit and try again. If you repeat this process once or twice, you should be getting accurate extrusions.

It's been a while since I've done this, so someone correct me if I missed something.

Quote
iquizzle
Ah ok. Now I think we're getting somewhere.

You should always measure the filament as it is extruded to get that number exactly correct. Here is what you do:

1. Leave that number as-is.
2. Take a permanent marker and make a dot on your filament a couple inches away from the extruder.
3. Measure exactly how far that mark is from the top of the extruder.
4. Open pronterface and extrude 20mm of filament.
5. Measure the distance of your mark from the top of the extruder again.

Your mark should have moved 20mm. If it moved 15mm for instance, then take your steps_per_unit for the extruder and multiply by 20/15 (or 20 divided by whatever you measured).
Then you can take that scaled number and put it into your steps_per_unit and try again. If you repeat this process once or twice, you should be getting accurate extrusions.

It's been a while since I've done this, so someone correct me if I missed something.

Right on, that's exactly how I calibrate my filament when I get a new spool

Once you have done this, measure the nominal diameter of the filament with calipers and enter it into slicer. This should give you very accurate extrusion. If you are extruding a little too much or too little, you can always tweak the extrusion multiplier in slicer.

Eric

I had a similar issue, where it started off nice and messed up a few mm up. Make sure your idler is really tight- it should hurt your finger to pull it back. listen closely for a "clicking" when it starts to mess up. This is the hobbed bolt slipping on the filament which is very bad but can be fixed in a few ways.

My bet is that it's a jam.