First Print Issues on Prusa i3

Hi! I just printed my first calibration piece and attached is the result I got. I am using PLA plastic my hot end temp is set to 192 C and the bed at 60 C. I am using 3mm filament and extruding at 0.4. When the print starts and it prints the first couple layers it looks good but then it seems as if the whole right side does not print good then it just gets worse as you can see in the photos. While the printing is going my Z motors are making a ticking sound while they are stationary then once they move the ticking stops and they move fine. Anyone having a similar issue. Any help would be greatly appreciated.


Thanks

Pat Di Sarro

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/18/2013 09:16PM by pds1974.

Here are some additional photos

Hi,
If your Z motors are ticking while stationary you may have the current set too high. If you do, it will slowly make them pulse and may move out of position.
What is your nozzle size and what layer height are you using?
Not sure what you mean by extruding at 0.4. Is this your extruded plastic dia, nozzle size or layer hight?
As a starting point try layer hight 2/3 of nozzle size. If 0.35 nozzle try 0.2 layer hight.
Go very slow to start with to give your extruder a chance to work in case it can't work at high speeds.
When you get a good result start speeding up and monitor especially your extruder and hot end.
The photos are not very good to go by as they are out of focus, and to me it looks like it could be anything from poor extruding, wrong layer hight, wrong speed etc.
What extruder hobbed bolt do you use? What hot end?
If you have made it your self make sure the hobbed bolt is perfectly round and is not oval in any way as it will alter the extrusion amount during its rotation.

As for the i3, I like it a lot and have just put my first together and it prints very good prints provided it is calibrated and have extrusion set correctly.

And remember: Make sure everything is calibrated perfectly or you will be chasing your own tail.

3D printing is a very patient hobby.....frustration is part of the package!

All the best
Jan

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/20/2013 02:30AM by IceMan.

Jan,

Hi! Thanks for the reply, I really appreciate it. The 0.4 I was referring to was the layer height. I also figured out why my Z motors were ticking I had the wires run next to my power wires so I moved the power wires and now no more ticking. Below are links to the hot end and hobbed bolt I am using. I am inclined to believe that the extrusion is the issue. I will try at .3 and .2 What speed settings do you recommend I start with?


Hot end
[www.ebay.com]


Hobbed Bolt

[www.ebay.com]

What exactly are you trying to print? It looks like a cube, but it doesn't have a solid base, is it supposed to have infill? If it's just a hollow cube with no extra shells, then it'll have to be printed sloooooooow ("cool" settings) to allow the layers to cool before depositing the next layer on top.

Hi,

If you are printing object size about 20x20 (calibration piece/block) try speed in slic3r or Kisslicer around 20mm/s or even 10mm/s.
This is just to see what's going on during your print process.
(I have not seen that hot end before and know nothing about it as I make my own)

Regards
Jan

Looks to me like your trying to print the 0.5 mm thin walled object from the calibration guide. Here is what I would try:

- Lower you hot end temp. I have thus far not had to print PLA at anything above 185.

- You need a fan blowing right on the piece that small an thin when printing in PLA. A fan with too much speed will cool your hotend too much though. You will have to find a blanace.

- If these two things don't straiten it out, you need to take a look at the step configuration for all four in your firmware. I would start with your exturder and make sure the steps aren't set too high. This will cause too much PLA to extrude. Then I would go on to the Z steps to make sure you are acutally moving up and down what distance you think you are. WIth the print not adhearing like that it could be because Z has raised up too much and the plastic isn't getting pressed to gether a little bit when it's laid down.

- Don't skip over the top part of the configuration (not saying you did) and go straight to trying to print. You prints will be spotty untill you have the machine dialed in.

I also suggest taking a look over the alternate config guide: [reprap.org]