first layer infiil

I just finished my i3 rework and I have printed some small parts (calibration cubes, endstop holder e.t.c).
I tried to print a part with bigger surface and it doesn't fill the first layer after it prints the perimeter. I'm not sure if it doesn't stck.
I think it doesn't extrude much filament after printing the perimeter due to the low flow of the extrusion.
Is there any setting to increase the flow immediatly when it finishes the first perimeters? How could I fix this?
See the attached file.

Your first layer looks a little thin. You could be printing too close. It looks as though you are printing directly on your heatbed. Try putting painters tape on the surface, print on a piece of glass, clean the surface very good, use glue stick or hairspray, ABS juice (if you are printing with ABS filament). Try to slow down your infill speed for the first layer.

It's not directly on the PCB heatbed. I have a 3mm glass.
I use PLA and I tried to use painters tape with the exact same result. Also I have used glue stick (on the bottom left of the picture you see a white reflection on the thin glue layer).
See the image for my Slic3r settings. What should I change?

I also think it looks thin, meaning your Z axis needs to be adjust slightly (physical Z end stop on the machine)

I am only a newbie myself, but maybe your heatbed is not level enough? small layers it should be very accurate i think. Try increasing first layer height ?

Stock extruder and hot end? Is your hot end fan running 100% of the time?

First layer too thin. Calibrate your endstop. This will make your printing much easier.

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http://www.marinusdebeer.nl/

The extruder is a E3D v5 clone from ebay. The extruder fan is running all the time. I don't have a printing fan yet.
I have increased the nozzle-glass distance from one single piece of paper to a folded piece of paper.
Also I increased the layer height from 0.2mm to 0.3 mm and the first layer height from 0.2mm to 0.4mm (equal to my nozzle diameter).
What are the best options for layer height and extrusion width for a 0.4mm nozzle?

I think its better now but I get some gaps in both the infill and the perimeters and between them. See the attached files.

A good starting point would be for layer height 80% of nozzle diameter: 0.32mm and extrusion width 0.5 (doing a free extrude and measuring the width would yield a good starting point too).

If the perimeter vs infill have gaps or blobs, you can adjust the infill/perimeter overlap (in advanced tab) in slic3r or structures tab in cura. 15% is the default setting. Try 17-19%. But make sure you're not under extruding. The infill should be quite flat without ridges or ribs, and the perimeters should be equally snug.

Could these problems occur if I have thinner filament?
I measured my filament with a digital calliper (I'm not sure about its accuracy) and instead of 1.75mm it's 1.63 to 1.67mm. Should I change the filament diameter in slicer software?

Yes, this could be your problem because if your printer thinks it is laying down a greater volume of filament than it actually is then you could see under infill problems. But it seems to me if that were the case then you would see a more consistent distribution of thinner infill lines and gaps between those lines than your picture shows especially since that is a pretty large difference between your actual and theoretical filament diameter. Anyhow, you should change your filament diameter in your slicer and see what happens.

That would be a 'duhhh'. Of course!

The printer doesn't know anything, you have to tell it everything it needs to know. That includes filament width. The software needs the correct real-life values to calculate the volume it has to extrude to get the correctly shaped object.

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http://www.marinusdebeer.nl/

I have a .4mm extruder and print onto glass and get perfect sticks every time.

First layer height: 0.35mm
First layer extrusion width: 1.0mm
First layer temp: extruder: 220C, bed: 70C

Clean the glass well with warm soapy water, and wipe it between prints with distilled malt vinegar (or distilled white vinegar).

More details in this thread: [forums.reprap.org]


The gaps you're getting in your first layer might be from having the z origin too high. I calibrate mine to the point where I'm not able to slide a piece of paper between the hot end tip and the glass bed, and I'd rather have a z stop slightly too low than slightly too high.