Poor quality need help!

Hi!

I dont get any nice prints from my prusa i3.

The object got holes in it (see pictures)

I also have weird lines on the "outside" if the object. semes to be a rertaction problem.

the prints also take dubbel the time to complete (curas estimate is 30min the print takes 60min etc)

please help

Some info:

0.4mm hotend
200c on hotend 60 on bed
marlin on ramps 1.4
printed with retraction in cura layer hight 0.1mm
printspeed: 50mm/s
100% fill density

pictures: [drive.google.com]


Thanks

So you must be printing PLA?

Have you calibrated the printer, is the feed rate been calibrated and did you measure the filament size to be sure it was set 'exactly' to that size in the software?

It looks like you either have too much heat or extruding too much filament. After you are sure the feed rate is calibrated. Also try turning the temp down to 190 and it's hard to get .1mm layer height unless your machine is really dialed in perfect so start with .2mm and when you do go to .1 try a slower print, maybe at low at 15mm/s depending on what your printer is capable of. 50mm/s is fine for .2mm

So try to get .2mm working good first before you jump to .1mm.

Also next time, it helps to see what the object is before you show photos of the problems, it's hard to tell what those are and thus how bad the print is.

Try at .35 layer and 50% infill.
Have you calibrated feedrate? If you press 50mm filament extrusion, does it eat 50mm of filament?

HI!

thanks for the help.
Im right now printing with the settings you recommended and its looking good!
I have calibrated the extruder feedrate before but it seems to be wrong.
The filament was 2cm of (30mm extruded of 50mm) but thats fixed now!

The object is the makerbot gnome from thingiverse (http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:138642).

What is the "top speed" of the prusa i3? and what is recommended to use for 0.1 and 0.2?
How do i inprove my printing resuotion and speed?

Thanks again!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/27/2014 03:00PM by Sir.Fluffel.

The feedrate is now calibrated.

I've addded some more photos to the google drive link.
I got some stringing and globs and other nasty stuff, i dont know whats wrong!
I have tested diffrent tempratures but it dosent work.(175c, 185c, 200c, 210c) I got the best results with the temp over 200c.
The the filament make small "globs" at 50% fill density.


dont know what to do. Thankful for all the help!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/27/2014 04:18PM by Sir.Fluffel.

Your nozzle seems too hot,
I am printing my Chinese Filament at 190c without issue

test your thermistor, is it reading correctly? it may be giving a lower reading. and extruder is actually much hotter than you think.
Check the setting in your firmware regarding thermistor settings.

or try this,
Disable steppers
bring temp down to 150 and try to hand feed the filament with the feed-wheel,
and bring up or down temp until the point where you just see a good flow, (then i like to bring it up just a little to ensure good layer adhesion.)
then atleast if it extrudes well at say 100c, you know your thermistor is busted and only giving 50% of actual reading.

Hi!

I tested 185-190c and it works great!
The termistor seems to work.

the problem i have now is that the filament get "picked up" by the print head.

I also get holes in printed objects in some places and "blobs" on other parts.

pictures: [drive.google.com]

Im now printing
with:
hotend: 190c
bed: 70c

It seems to be a adhesion problem but im not sure....

Thanks!

Quote
pushthatbolder
Your nozzle seems too hot,
I am printing my Chinese Filament at 190c without issue

test your thermistor, is it reading correctly? it may be giving a lower reading. and extruder is actually much hotter than you think.
Check the setting in your firmware regarding thermistor settings.

or try this,
Disable steppers
bring temp down to 150 and try to hand feed the filament with the feed-wheel,
and bring up or down temp until the point where you just see a good flow, (then i like to bring it up just a little to ensure good layer adhesion.)
then atleast if it extrudes well at say 100c, you know your thermistor is busted and only giving 50% of actual reading.

Could you also tell me your settings if you use cura??

also have any tips for bed-leveling?

Hello,

I used filaments from e bay when i first started and found it impossible to really get the quality of print I was looking for. I found cheap3dfilaments and have been using them for some time now. I think maybe you need to try a different filament. Its surprising how many times you get bad quality filaments that lead to poor quality prints. Hope this helps. Good luck

Hi!

Thanks for the answer but i dont think the fillament is the problem.
Im buying my filamament from www.creedo.se wich is a swedish website with great filament!

I think the problem is that my bed isnt level and the print doesnt stick....

Got any tips for bed leveling?

Im using a heatbed with a 3mm mirror and kapton tape on top but it still wont stick
I also tested glue stick on top of the kapton tape but noting good came out of that...
Just using glass cleaned with window cleaner wouldnt work ether.

Tomorrow i will try to clean both the kapton tape and the plain glass with aceton and see if it stick better!


Thanks!

Hotend looks like a bad clone, it might be causing a problem. Did you buy this Aliexpress hotend/extruder combination, or is it another kind of J-head clone?

---

http://www.marinusdebeer.nl/

Everything is bought from kitprinter3d.com and I have compared it to others and it seems legit but I could be wrong... Could take some better pictures If you want!

But I'm pretty sure the problem is in the bed adhesion and the bed level but I'm not really sure how you level the bed!


Thanks!

Quote
Sir.Fluffel
Everything is bought from kitprinter3d.com and I have compared it to others and it seems legit but I could be wrong... Could take some better pictures If you want!

But I'm pretty sure the problem is in the bed adhesion and the bed level but I'm not really sure how you level the bed!


Thanks!

Ah, with bed leveling I have set it up with four screws in each corner with springs, so that I can just tighten each corner.

What I do is move the machine so that the nozzle is above a corner, or close to it, then put a piece of paper in between and move it around while turning the screw loose. I do this until the piece of paper starts to get gripped between print bed and nozzle. Then I move it to the next corner and set the screw again with a piece of paper. I redo this for each corner multiple times as the height changes on the other screws too slightly when you're adjusting the neighboring screw.

I just had to do this once every time I replace my kapton tape, and then it's good for a year.

Also made an adjustable endstop holder so that I can adjust the height of the nozzle. When the bed is exactly flat, the only thing you need to adjust is the endstop.

---

http://www.marinusdebeer.nl/

the issue could be resolved by decreasing print speed for layer adhesion, and lowering the z height. lowering the z height would be ideal, but your back pressure will increase, so for first layer you will need either a higher temp, or to print slower so the feedstock does not skip. and if motor current is turned down so it skips instead of feed stock, then current may have been adjusted too low. so slow down first layer by half, decrease z height by calibrating table and if bulges still exist, check to ensure motor is not skipping, if it is then turn current up cautiously just to where it no longer skips on first layer.

also wipe of area of bed used to print with any of the following sparingly: flour acrylic, or alcohol, or elmers glue. you need something that pla will stick too but is easy to peel off. make sure bed is heated, as this helps adhesion.

i took a look at some of your older pictures. quality will improve if you slow down your print or add cooling fan facing pla

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/30/2014 01:24AM by jamesdanielv.

Hi!

i will try printing with a print speed of 30mm/s to see if i get better adhesion.
I will also try to clean the kapton tape with acetone,

I have not adjusted the motor driver (drv8825) for the extruder motor could that be a problem?

how high should the hotend (tip) be from the bed?

I will print a fan holder for a j-head with mount for 3 fans.

I use cura right now but im not able to control stuff while i print like temp and speed.... What do use?

Thanks!

Quote
Ohmarinus

Quote
Sir.Fluffel
Everything is bought from kitprinter3d.com and I have compared it to others and it seems legit but I could be wrong... Could take some better pictures If you want!

But I'm pretty sure the problem is in the bed adhesion and the bed level but I'm not really sure how you level the bed!


Thanks!

Ah, with bed leveling I have set it up with four screws in each corner with springs, so that I can just tighten each corner.

What I do is move the machine so that the nozzle is above a corner, or close to it, then put a piece of paper in between and move it around while turning the screw loose. I do this until the piece of paper starts to get gripped between print bed and nozzle. Then I move it to the next corner and set the screw again with a piece of paper. I redo this for each corner multiple times as the height changes on the other screws too slightly when you're adjusting the neighboring screw.

I just had to do this once every time I replace my kapton tape, and then it's good for a year.

Also made an adjustable endstop holder so that I can adjust the height of the nozzle. When the bed is exactly flat, the only thing you need to adjust is the endstop.

Ok ill test that!

Thanks!

Quote
jamesdanielv
the issue could be resolved by decreasing print speed for layer adhesion, and lowering the z height. lowering the z height would be ideal, but your back pressure will increase, so for first layer you will need either a higher temp, or to print slower so the feedstock does not skip. and if motor current is turned down so it skips instead of feed stock, then current may have been adjusted too low. so slow down first layer by half, decrease z height by calibrating table and if bulges still exist, check to ensure motor is not skipping, if it is then turn current up cautiously just to where it no longer skips on first layer.

also wipe of area of bed used to print with any of the following sparingly: flour acrylic, or alcohol, or elmers glue. you need something that pla will stick too but is easy to peel off. make sure bed is heated, as this helps adhesion.

i took a look at some of your older pictures. quality will improve if you slow down your print or add cooling fan facing pla

Do you know how you connect a fan to the RAMPs board??

Thanks!

For adhesion of PLA on my 55 deg glass bed I just use a little bit of PVA glue mixed with some water (about 10 or more water to 1 glue ratio) then spead the mix all over the glass bed and heat up until the mix is all dry and grey. Then its ready to print. no tape, spray or anything else, this works really well for me anyway. When the print is finished you have to wait until the bed is completely cold again and then the print comes away easily with a slight tap. Hope this helps.