Cannot print solid layer over an infill layer

Hi,

I've been printing for a while now, with quite a few successful prints. I have been having a problem recently though with printing over infill.

First 3 layers print great, then a few infill layers print great, but if I try to print a solid layer on top of the infill, it bunches up causing a mess. I've calibrated my printer, measured actual diameter of the filament, slowed down prints but it still does it. The filament is 1.75 and my nozzle is 0.3, with a 0.2 layer height.

Any ideas as to whats going on?

What material? That's what's going to give your answers, ABS and PLA behave differently and have different fixes.

PLA; it may be too hot, and if the bed is too hot [surface any higher than 65C] it will cause problems, typically on the first layer, sometimes after the first layer.
Make sure you have your extrusion width set correctly, hopefully you already have your nozzle width set.

As far as my limited experience goes, that looks like a temp based issue. Material and temps would help.

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It's PLA I'm using, set at 200 hot end, 57 bed. I've been doing a few tests with different settings, and finding that a more dense infill helps. It is a cheap reel at £18, so could partly be down to that too.

I have my nozzle width set correctly, but what is extrusion width? I may have missed something here!

If you use various spools, be aware that the filament diameter may not have exactly the same diameter. You should measure this diameter with a caliper, and set it in your slic3r settings (or adjust the "extrusion multiplier" setting).

If it's cheap filament, the diameter may vary along its length, which might be causing your problems. Try measuring at a few spots on the roll.

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