Fine print quality.

I followed this guide [wiki.solidoodle.com] , and I am getting step closer to get a finer print. This test print-bad1.jpg for example, was printing ok until it gets to near the to, the filament starts to break up. What caused that? temperature? Z axis? Extruder motor?

Looks like:

Z axis too many steps per mm. This will cause the print head to get further and further away from the part, until you get gaps forming like that. To check, measure the part, and compare to where it THINKS that the Z axis is. If the part is longer, then your Z axis needs to be recalibrated.

Extruder too few steps pre mm. This will cause the extruded filament to be too thin, and will eventually end up with the same problem. Go through the steps in calibrating your printer, and don't skip this step.

This can also happen if your slicer thinks that you have 3mm filament and you have 1.75mm filament, or if it thinks that the nozzle is the wrong size. Make sure that you have the correct values entered into your software!

It can also happen if your extruder stepper motor starts skipping steps after it gets hot, so the printer extrudes okay for the first layers, then starts to under-extrude as time goes on. Also check tension on the filament at the extruder, that it's not so light as to slip, and not so tight as to require excessive power from the motor. (My printer had the hole for the filament too small, and it was binding in there. I drilled it out and it's been working great since.)

Quote
SupraGuy
Looks like:

Z axis too many steps per mm. This will cause the print head to get further and further away from the part, until you get gaps forming like that. To check, measure the part, and compare to where it THINKS that the Z axis is. If the part is longer, then your Z axis needs to be recalibrated.

Extruder too few steps pre mm. This will cause the extruded filament to be too thin, and will eventually end up with the same problem. Go through the steps in calibrating your printer, and don't skip this step.

This can also happen if your slicer thinks that you have 3mm filament and you have 1.75mm filament, or if it thinks that the nozzle is the wrong size. Make sure that you have the correct values entered into your software!

It can also happen if your extruder stepper motor starts skipping steps after it gets hot, so the printer extrudes okay for the first layers, then starts to under-extrude as time goes on. Also check tension on the filament at the extruder, that it's not so light as to slip, and not so tight as to require excessive power from the motor. (My printer had the hole for the filament too small, and it was binding in there. I drilled it out and it's been working great since.)

Hi SupraGuy,

thanks for the reply.

Because of my ignorance of 3D printer. I am having a lot of trouble getting the Z to work properly,

Do you think the filament is also a problem? because I changed to a different filament, Used the same code, and the print out got better, no more breaking as in the attached pic.

Each filament, depending of it's formula, pigments and charge, will extrude properly at different temperatures. For each new spool, print a test temperature column and write on the spool the better settings.

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Collective intelligence emerges when a group of people work together effectively. Prusa i3 Folger (A lot of the parts are wrong, boring !)

Thank you all for putting with a noob like me. After some tinkering, Finally I am able to produce some decent looking prints. yay!
One thing still bugs me tho, it seems ver inconsistance on the extruder, for most part the filament comes out fine as a nic smooth thread, but sometimes it just drips of, makes a small droplet, once that happens, the layer has a tiny gap, how can I improve this?
Thanks again.

You might have the hotend temperature too high, making your plastic resin too thin. If you do that, it will sometimes drip. It's a fine balance and changes with the filament.

I have 2 spools of PLA, one black, one white. the white gets thin and drippy when heated to 165C, where the black comes up with excellent results at that temp. If I drop the temperature to 160, the results with the white look much better, but I think it needs to go down a tiny bit more.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/20/2015 11:21AM by SupraGuy.