Gaps between perimeter and infill

Hello,
I get gaps in many slices, I thought it's something with my printer but then I looked at the gcode simulator of repetier and I saw it's actually the slicing.

Is it some setting I'm doing wrong?

Attached a photo

***I'm using the latest RC2 version.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/13/2014 01:53PM by itaysp.

You can't go by the simulation at all. My simulation shows gaps but when I print I have none. The simulation is just an approximation of the print not an exact replica.

That being said, gaps in the actual prints are caused by either the printer not being properly calibrated, you don't have the nozzle diameter set right in Slic3r or you have the infill width set to something other than -0- default. This is in the advanced settings in the "print setting" menu. Also in the "filament setting" menu make sure the nozzle size is set to the same as your nozzle and that Extrusion multiplier is set to 1 (default).

If slic3r thinks you have a larger nozzle then it places the paths further apart. If the nozzle is set correctly then either the Extrusion multiplier or advance width are set to low so it extrudes a narrower path than normal. On the other side, if it's just a weirdness with your printer you can adjust these settings to "compensate" for something being off in the printer but of course it's better to get the printer dialed in properly instead.

Hey,
Thanks for your answer.
I'm aware of the "Advanced" settings and I tried playing with it. it can help sometimes but not this time.
If you look at the photo I attached you can see the gap is very very big, it's not something you can fix with a litter more extrusion.
There are some places the gap is small (in the photo) and maybe more extrusion width will help.. but for the bigger gaps - it's something wrong with the slice.

In this case the simulation and the print was the same, I'm using 0.5 nozzle and the settings are the same (I doubled checked now), and I measured the filaments width and made an average, that's the value I set for it.

Same settings (nozzle, filament diameter etc..) just with Cura (I attached a photo).. why slic3r is makes it so bad?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/14/2014 04:31AM by itaysp.

Quote
itaysp
Hello,
I get gaps in many slices, I thought it's something with my printer but then I looked at the gcode simulator of repetier and I saw it's actually the slicing.

Is it some setting I'm doing wrong?

Attached a photo

***I'm using the latest RC2 version.

Do not change too many settings you don't understand the consequences of.
Maybe better to have a default setting and change a few if needed and see what happens.
I assume your printer is fully calibrated before you make any changes to improve?

1) your Fill density = 0; // how do you think that would influence your infill?
2) your solid infill extrusion width = 0.28; // how do you think that would influence your infill as your nozzle is 0.5mm?
3) your top infill extrusion width = 0.28; // how do you think that would influence your infill as your nozzle is 0.5mm?
4) your extrusion multiplier = 0.90; // how do you think that would influence your infill?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/14/2014 04:59AM by justcurious.

Hey, thanks for you responce.

1. The object should be hollow, so I must have 0 infill, but first few layers are solid.
2.I set it to 140% at the "Advanced" tab to check if it solves the problem. when I set it to 0, the same happens (slic3er makes the calculations)
3. the same as 2.
4. My exturer steps/mm are not correct to instead of changing it in the firmware I changed in slic3r. I followed this tutorial.

And i'm attaching a photo of all the "Advanced" tab are 0 (slic3r makes all calculations)

Quote
itaysp
Hey, thanks for you responce.

1. The object should be hollow, so I must have 0 infill, but first few layers are solid.
2.I set it to 140% at the "Advanced" tab to check if it solves the problem. when I set it to 0, the same happens (slic3er makes the calculations)
3. the same as 2.
4. My exturer steps/mm are not correct to instead of changing it in the firmware I changed in slic3r. I followed this tutorial.

And i'm attaching a photo of all the "Advanced" tab are 0 (slic3r makes all calculations)

How can you claim settings are the same as in CURA?

2/3) If you set infill to 0.2x1,4 = 0.28 nothing has changed, wright? and you get same result. try to set it to nozzle width or larger
4) so you have an uncalibrated printer you try to compensate for, wright? that would probably never work, so why not just make the calibration first, before you miscredite slicer?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/14/2014 05:58AM by justcurious.

4. I followed the tutorial of solidoodl for calibrate the flow rate, so eventually it came that I need to set the extrusion multiplier to 0.9, It's the same as changing the steps per mm in the firmware.
Maybe it will have some effects for the retraction, but this is not the problem right now.. When I use smaller nozzle (0.35) I found out that I don't have to change the multiplier, so instead of messing with the firmware every time, I just change the multiplier.

I don't know how Cura works, maybe I need to change the multiplier there too. I don't print with Cura, I just wanted to check how it slices the model and I tried to match the same settings of layer height and perimeters.

If I my printer is not calibrated correctly I will see the result while printing, but this huge gap is not something that calibration can resolve.

I opened slic3r, used the wizard to make a new configuration, I only changed the layer height, perimeters, top and button solid layers and you can see it sliced it the same. Even if I will use the most calibrated printer in the world, the gcode makes a big gap.

The first solid layer is fine, from that later to the last solid layer (number 7) the gap is growing.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/14/2014 06:43AM by itaysp.

I had a similar problem. and my solid layers were not solid. The fix was
to set the "Default Extrusion Width" to the nozzle size leave all the others set to
default.

Hey,
It's not the problem in this case.
the first, the second and the third layers are good (also in the simulation). From the forth layer there is a gap that starts growing, and on the seventh layer the gap is very big.
Usually I print with 3 bottom solid layers so everything is good, but this time I tried with 7 bottom solid layers and slic3r makes this "bug".

I also checked with 3 other people, same model, same configuration (7 bottom solid layers) and all had the same problem with this slice. it's not something with the printer, the gap is very big and more extrusion width can't fix that.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/20/2014 04:47AM by itaysp.

A good feature in slicing software would be to interlock the infill with the perimeter. IE add one extra perimeter every X layers, so the infill and perimeter form a lapped joint in cross section.

Slic3r seems to have some quirks that can ruin a print. Instead of trying to find that one setting you'll have to play with each time you print, I suggest just changing altogether. Try kisslicer or skein forge if you want to stay in repetier host. Skein forge can be really intimidating but in the end you have more control and the slicing is better programmed, IMO.

Quote
itaysp
1. The object should be hollow, so I must have 0 infill, but first few layers are solid.

Setting infill to 0 is not the correct way to get hollow objects.
If you want a hollow object you draw it hollow in CAD before slicing.

I accept that this is not the way, but I didn't make this model, I just wanted to print it from the STL from thingiverse.

Here I'm talking about the base solid layers so it doesn't really matter if I set infill for 30% or for 0% because the first layers should be 100% solid.

I did try to slice it with 60% infill, and the seventh layer was different, but not as I expected it to be.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/30/2014 11:01AM by itaysp.