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Prints not filled in enough

Posted by adenton 
Prints not filled in enough
May 23, 2017 01:24PM
Hello,

I am trying to print a small piece for a project I am working on. Since it's so small I don't mind using more plastic. I essentially want it to be a solid piece. I have tried adjusting the layer height, fill density, and the extrusion multiplier but I do not see any change in my prints. I am using sli3r to make these changes.

Please see the link to my 4 attempts at this print: [drive.google.com]

I'd really appreciate any suggestions.

I'm printing with PLA.
Re: Prints not filled in enough
May 23, 2017 01:31PM
Fill should be at 100%.
Those all look no where close to 100%
Re: Prints not filled in enough
May 23, 2017 01:33PM
Actually, fill density was at 100% (1.0)....
Re: Prints not filled in enough
May 23, 2017 04:34PM
If thats 100% then you have some massive extruder calibration issues.
Re: Prints not filled in enough
May 23, 2017 05:34PM
Or a blockage?

Was this printing well before or is this a new printer?

Do you have your z-steps set right so that you are moving the correct layer height?
Re: Prints not filled in enough
May 23, 2017 06:42PM
I was just reading that an extruder calibration is recommending with every new roll of filament. Thanks for the suggestion, I'll try re-calibrating. All of the prints I've have been larger than this (the base only has an area of 1 in^2) so it hasn't been as noticeable, but I would that I've never really achieved a water tight seal... Also, I have the layer height set to 0.4 to match the nozzle diameter. I've read if these values no not match it can confuse the printer, is that true?
Re: Prints not filled in enough
May 24, 2017 07:19AM
Not sure how it all works out but don't forget there are "solid infill" parameters in Slic3r as well as the obvious ones.
100% infill may not use the same as "solid infill". Top infill is also separate.
There is an area parameter that defines when to use "solid infill" so it may be that your larger items were using normal infill and now you are using solid.
Just a thought.
Re: Prints not filled in enough
May 24, 2017 08:11AM
DO NOT use .4mm layers with a .4mm hot end.
Id go no more than .3mm layers with that hot end.
Most run .2mm with a .4mm hot end.
Re: Prints not filled in enough
May 24, 2017 10:25AM
Great suggestions! I think I'll have time today to test some of these out.
Re: Prints not filled in enough
May 24, 2017 05:01PM
Wow really interesting. I tried to re-calibrate the extruder and realized that when I tried to extrude 100mm of filament I am only getting about 22mm..so I changed the value in my Sprinter to (100/(120-98))*900= 4090 which doesn't make sense... I tried 900, but that barely extruded anything...

Has anyone else encountered something like this before?
Re: Prints not filled in enough
May 24, 2017 05:16PM
Is your extruder drive gear either chewing the filament or slipping?

I'd try increasing the tension the extruder idler applies to the filament and make sure you do not have a clogged or blocked nozzle.
Re: Prints not filled in enough
May 24, 2017 06:04PM
Are you using a ramps setup for the motion?
WITH THE PRINTER OFF check that there are 3 jumpers under the driver chip for 1/16 microsteping.
Re: Prints not filled in enough
May 25, 2017 11:56AM
What type of extruder are you using, bowden or direct drive ?
Re: Prints not filled in enough
May 25, 2017 02:10PM
The extruder doesn't seem to be chewing up the filament or causing it to slip.

I've had a clogged nozzle before but it currently does not seem to showing the signs that it had in the past when this was the case.

I am using a green RAMPS 1.4 and here is a picture from way back when the electronics were first being assembled: [drive.google.com]
Do these jumpers look alright?

I am using a E3D V6 for 1.75mm filament, 0.4mm nozzle, and 12V with bowden.
Re: Prints not filled in enough
May 25, 2017 04:22PM
Looks like all the jumpers are in there.
Have you tried extruder calibration with the new 4090 value?
Re: Prints not filled in enough
May 25, 2017 04:26PM
also are you measuring the filament going into the extruder and not what comes out the hot end right?
Your only interested in the input, not the output.
Re: Prints not filled in enough
May 30, 2017 03:14PM
I was hesitant to try 4090 because its seems so much high than what is typically used, so I essentially started over at 700 and extruding 30mm at 50mm/min. Here are some calculations I used with the guidance of this website: [richrap.blogspot.com] if anyone is curious.
1st: 700*30=21000/1617.87
2nd: 1617.87*30= 4853.10/32.86= 1477.07
3rd: 1477.06*30= 44311.80/24.70= 1794.00
4th: 1794.00*30= 53820/31.04= 1733.89
5th: 1733.89*30= 52016.7/31.65= 1643.50 --which gave me 30.00mm!!!!!!!

It is still odd to me that my E-steps that work best for my extruder is a value of 1643.50 and this is only at 50 mm/min.

Good question, I am measuring the filament going into the extruder NOT what is coming out.

On to testing fill densities!
Re: Prints not filled in enough
May 30, 2017 05:24PM
you got do your calibrations with the hot end off, extrude out 10mm then mark then in steps of 10mm or how long your want to do it i did 100mm so 10 steps at 10mm then marked the filament then i measured and adjusted my e-steps until i got the correct amount, i followed the prusa calculator way


Check my rubbish blog for my prusa i3

up and running
[3dimetech.blogspot.co.uk]
Re: Prints not filled in enough
May 30, 2017 07:46PM
Yes. I also did 100mm total in 10mm steps.
Re: Prints not filled in enough
May 31, 2017 01:28PM
Wow!! Check it out! Before is on the left, after is on the right. Amazing difference! [drive.google.com]

I changed all of the speeds in Slic3er to 50mm/s except the first layer speed... 35% which is what I used in the above image on the right

Here are my old Sli3er values
Perimeter: 40mm/s
Small perimeter: 70%
External perimeter: 90%
Infill: 40mm/s
Solid infill: 100%
Top solid infill: 90%
Support material: 45mm/s
Bridges 50mm/s
Gap fill: 50mm/s
Travel: 100mm/s
First layer speed... 35%

If anyone has some Sli3er speeds that they are very enthusiastic about I'd be interested to try them out. My printer seems to work best at slower speeds so I'm all for slowing it down.

The acceleration in my firmware is set to 500.
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