Porous prints on larger prints

Printer: Monoprice IIIP with Arduino Mega 2560 and Ramps 1.4

Firmware: Marlin 1.1.0-RC8

Melzi board fried the bed connector and have replaced with the Arduino/Ramps board. Have worked to get it printing and am getting porous prints (see attached JPG)

M501 reveals these settings:

echo:Marlin 1.1.0-RC8
echo: Last Updated: 2016-12-06 12:00 | Author: (none, default config)
Compiled: Jun 4 2017
echo: Free Memory: 4639 PlannerBufferBytes: 1136
echo:V27 stored settings retrieved (398 bytes)
echoteps per unit:
echo: M92 X80.00 Y80.00 Z400.00 E99.68
echo:Maximum feedrates (mm/s):
echo: M203 X80.00 Y80.00 Z5.00 E25.00
echo:Maximum Acceleration (mm/s2):
echo: M201 X3000 Y3000 Z100 E3000
echo:Accelerations: P=printing, R=retract and T=travel
echo: M204 P100.00 R200.00 T200.00
echo:Advanced variables: S=Min feedrate (mm/s), T=Min travel feedrate (mm/s), B=minimum segment time (ms), X=maximum XY jerk (mm/s), Z=maximum Z jerk (mm/s), E=maximum E jerk (mm/s)
echo: M205 S0.00 T2000.00 B20000 X9.00 Y9.00 Z0.40 E7.00
echo:Home offset (mm)
echo: M206 X0.00 Y0.00 Z0.00
echo:Material heatup parameters:
echo: M145 S0 H180 B70 F255
M145 S1 H240 B110 F0
echoID settings:
echo: M301 P28.63 I1.75 D116.79
echo: M304 P452.12 I74.18 D688.86
echo:Filament settings: Disabled
echo: M200 D3.00
echo: M200 D0

Have tried setting the E up to get the correct 50mm extrude but it does no better.

New nozzle in hot end.

Using Cura to generate g-code and Repetier to print.

Any help would be greatly appreciated...

Looks like the hotend temperature drops a lot on long traces?
You either print to fast, the extruder current is too low or the hotend needs a better PID tuning.

That makes some sense. I printed the 20x20x20 test block and it prints like it should. The extrudeer motor on those long excursions will bump ( I think try to extrude but cannot) during those long moves.

I've run the PID several times and set both the bed and hot end after the auto-tune.

Should I drop the M203 x and y down? They are set on x80 y80. I noticed that the speed on the initial two or three layers is much slower. Once the printer gets above the first two or three layers it speeds up and goes really fast.

The cube print comes out exactly on 20mm x,y,z on the m92 setting of x80 y80 z400. The e of 99.68 seems to print ok on the small prints. If i do a test extrude at this setting I only get about 40 of 50 mm. Doing the calculation 50/40 x 99.68 gets me about 111 for a setting. This makes the print worse.

Very confusing...

Please advise...

Quote
Should I drop the M203 x and y down?

No, M203 sets the max axis speed (not print speed) if anything i would set someting like
M203 X150 Y150 Z10 E25 this will allow faster travel speeds.

The print speed is set in the slicer

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/28/2017 12:03PM by obewan.

I think you are right....

I did set m203 to the lower x and y speeds and that did the trick except it is dog slow. No holes/gaps etc. i've attached a pic of it on the printer.

I will set it as soon as this one is done and print another item in my list.

Thank you very much...

In looking in the reprap settings M3303 is for autotune PID

Is there another setting that will do this or do I need to do this in the slicr?

Please advise...

Quote

The e of 99.68 seems to print ok on the small prints. If i do a test extrude at this setting I only get about 40 of 50 mm

There is a guide to calibrate e-steps ( and stepper current too ). Both will probably help you improve extrusion quality.

PID tuning can be done once and then store the values in Eeprom. No need to repeat it any time soon.

In Marlin Firmware you can add the U1 parameter to apply the PID results to current settings upon completion. 

Good to know on the U1 for the autotune. I used the display to set them when I ran it.

I checked the extrusion amount and it needed some more steps. It is now 112. The test print at the slow x and y worked fine. Now I just need to find a setting on x and y to allow for speedier printing. I tried 125 for both and got bad results going to go with 50 today and see what happens.

i'll update when it I know if the 50 is about right.

Thanks...

You are on the wrong path, believing you can slow down the printer by changing the scale of the print!

You better do that from PC with a printerhost like Pronterface or Repetier-host.
I'm sure you can also set printspeed from your LCD
Last but not least you can slice the part again with new speed settings.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/30/2017 03:44AM by o_lampe.

I have it printing really well with:

M203 x10 y10 z5 e99.68

It is slow but the surfaces are very smooth and no holes.

Going to start tweaking from here...

Thanks...

Can i ask what slicer program you use

Cura v15.04.3

I've attached an Excel spreadsheet with the settings.

I'm getting really good results but really slow.

This morning I tried moving the m203 x and y up to 12 but I was getting the slipping on the extruder that was causing to porosity. I reduced the print speed to 85% of that which is approximately x10 and y10.

Using Repetier Host for printing. It seems to do a good job. Tried printing with Pronterface to see if something in Repetier was causing it and go the same slipping on the extruder as before on the higher setting for m203

I also know that it is not set right because when Repetier starts one of my prints it tells me that it should take about 2 hours. The current print started at 7:00am this morning and is just now finishing at 12:44pm. That is about 5 hours and 44 minutes. That is about 35% of what Repeitier is reporting.

Here are the setting as shown by m501 in Pronterface

Connecting...
start
Printer is now online.
echo:Marlin 1.1.0-RC8
echo: Last Updated: 2016-12-06 12:00 | Author: (none, default config)
Compiled: Jun 4 2017
echo: Free Memory: 4639 PlannerBufferBytes: 1136
echo:V27 stored settings retrieved (398 bytes)
echoteps per unit:
echo: M92 X80.00 Y80.00 Z400.00 E111.00
echo:Maximum feedrates (mm/s):
echo: M203 X10.02 Y10.02 Z5.00 E25.00
echo:Maximum Acceleration (mm/s2):
echo: M201 X3000 Y3000 Z100 E10000
echo:Accelerations: P=printing, R=retract and T=travel
echo: M204 P100.00 R200.00 T200.00
echo:Advanced variables: S=Min feedrate (mm/s), T=Min travel feedrate (mm/s), B=minimum segment time (ms), X=maximum XY jerk (mm/s), Z=maximum Z jerk (mm/s), E=maximum E jerk (mm/s)
echo: M205 S0.00 T2000.00 B20000 X20.00 Y20.00 Z0.40 E5.00
echo:Home offset (mm)
echo: M206 X0.00 Y0.00 Z0.00
echo:Material heatup parameters:
echo: M145 S0 H180 B70 F255
M145 S1 H240 B110 F0
echoID settings:
echo: M301 P30.47 I1.86 D125.02
echo: M304 P435.90 I85.28 D557.02
echo:Filament settings: Disabled
echo: M200 D3.00
echo: M200 D0

Not sure where to look to get the times down and get solid prints.

Any ideas?

looking at your spreadsheet i think your main problem is the print speed =100, far to fast
I would reset the M203 x and y to 100 and in the cura settings set the print speed to about 45

i have attached my cura speed settings

I'll do that on the next print.

I'll let you know how it goes...

Thanks...

Check your extruder again.
It must not slip at 12mm/s print speed...
Does it have a tensioner screw you can adjust? Maybe it is clamping the filament way to hard. If the tension is to low, it would grind into the filament.
Also check the Vref of the extruder driver, it might be to low..

No tension screw to tighten. Very basic spring loaded tension device. The Vref is set at about 5.1. Motor is running at about 115 F.

Here is my current settings:

SENDING:M501
echo:V27 stored settings retrieved (398 bytes)
echoteps per unit:
echo: M92 X80.00 Y80.00 Z400.00 E111.00
echo:Maximum feedrates (mm/s):
echo: M203 X14.00 Y14.00 Z5.00 E35.00
echo:Maximum Acceleration (mm/s2):
echo: M201 X3000 Y3000 Z100 E10000
echo:Accelerations: P=printing, R=retract and T=travel
echo: M204 P100.00 R200.00 T200.00
echo:Advanced variables: S=Min feedrate (mm/s), T=Min travel feedrate (mm/s), B=minimum segment time (ms), X=maximum XY jerk (mm/s), Z=maximum Z jerk (mm/s), E=maximum E jerk (mm/s)
echo: M205 S0.00 T2000.00 B20000 X20.00 Y20.00 Z0.40 E5.00
echo:Home offset (mm)
echo: M206 X0.00 Y0.00 Z0.00
echo:Material heatup parameters:
echo: M145 S0 H180 B70 F255
M145 S1 H240 B110 F0
echoID settings:
echo: M301 P30.47 I1.86 D125.02
echo: M304 P435.90 I85.28 D557.02
echo:Filament settings: Disabled
echo: M200 D3.00
echo: M200 D0

Left M92 E at 111.

I've set M203 x,y to 14 and E to 35

I'm running a print now but have set the flowrate and feed rate back to 90% and it is faster and not doing the slipping. (See JPG attached)

Can you find a way to put more pressure on the idler wheel of the extruder? There are pretty good "all metal direct drive Extruders" for a few bucks. Maybe it's worth investing in a new extruder?
What means Vref 5.1? Did you follow this guide to measure Vref?