3d printing problems I have

[Marius87bv]

So I have decided to create a new post as I have never really enjoyed my 3d printer and frustrations are at full level now.
Hopefully everyone can pitch in and help unravel this mystery.
So after posting on several groups and even DM-ing people that helped, couldn’t really get anywhere.
Meanwhile, I have done a factory reset. Only done the K Value and e steps, please see M503 below.
M503
G21 ; (mm)

M92 X160.00 Y160.00 Z400.00 B888.89 Current E225.84, BACKUP SINGLE E225.84, BACKUP DUAL E667.22
M203 X120.00 Y120.00 Z40.00 E25.00
M201 X3000.00 Y3000.00 Z100.00 E10000.00
M204 P1000.00 R1000.00 T1000.00
M205 B20000.00 S0.00 T0.00 P0.05 L3.00 C0.05 J0.02
M206 X-17.00 Y-8.00 Z0.00
M218 T1 X26.00 Y0.00 Z-1.500
left_z_compensation: 1.00 right_z_compensation: 1.00
M420 S1 Z0.00
G29 W I0 J0 Z8.27875
G29 W I1 J0 Z8.31499
G29 W I2 J0 Z8.32374
G29 W I3 J0 Z8.24000
G29 W I4 J0 Z8.11749
G29 W I0 J1 Z8.21250
G29 W I1 J1 Z8.28374
G29 W I2 J1 Z8.20000
G29 W I3 J1 Z8.14499
G29 W I4 J1 Z8.04500
G29 W I0 J2 Z8.21749
G29 W I1 J2 Z8.34500
G29 W I2 J2 Z8.25999
G29 W I3 J2 Z8.21499
G29 W I4 J2 Z8.10625
G29 W I0 J3 Z8.21749
G29 W I1 J3 Z8.35625
G29 W I2 J3 Z8.33000
G29 W I3 J3 Z8.26875
G29 W I4 J3 Z8.08750
G29 W I0 J4 Z8.25500
G29 W I1 J4 Z8.35250
G29 W I2 J4 Z8.34875
G29 W I3 J4 Z8.26125
G29 W I4 J4 Z8.11749
M301 E0 P13.00 I0.10 D17.00
M301 E1 P13.00 I0.10 D17.00
M851 Z0.00
M900 T0 K0.07
M900 T1 K0.04
Z1.00
ok

Started printing
sleepingcatplanter 450ml_1692101652639.gcode (5.3 MB)

And then started doing photos of the progress

First layer :

After a few layers ( not sure why that layer is in the air ) maybe because the default bed temp is 70 and then drops on its own to 50… Personally I’ve used 60 for my bed, plenty of adhesion …

Stopped the print so I could show you how it looks from underneath ( the side that sticks to the bed )

And then left it print.

Paused a bit just to show some ghosting straight away and some inconsistent infill ( on red is not as noticeable, but pulled one from my archive to show you what I mean.

The final result, in all it’s glory:

Now people would say that the filament is bad, i have hundreds of photos with different PLA colours and brands and some petg that shows the same issue… I can send them …
I have also done a flow calibration cube… just to see if under-extrusion might be a cause, and the result was the opposite of what I was expecting:

Small deformation on first 4 layers and then of, only some really small cracklings on the wall… maybe air bubbles or something, the camera couldn’t see them, but they were all over the walls… I blame the filament on this one…
But then I took my callipers and measured : 0.47, 0.46, 0.46, 0.45, so an average of 0.46, nice…

Unfortunately I don’t know how to adjust the flow on Luban and not sure if I should… baring in mind I have under-extrusion problems, and before people say that I should use different slicers, I did… the problem is still there no matter what…
So now I am out of any solutions…

[Georg2]

Can you upload the stl file from the sleeping Cat?

[Marius87bv]

sorry mate, can’t do, it is a commercially available file from STLflix, it wouldn’t be ethical of me… have fun with the g code though

[nweolu]

I’m putting together some pics, meanwhile could you upload a screenshot of the model, just to verify that things are present on the model that are present on the print. Like that weird pattern on the back across the layer lines.

[xchrisd]

I believe you are still under extruded. This is visible on your first few layers and infill.
Calibrate your e-steps again, mine was at 250 steps per mm on my single extruder, your 225 seems like factory setting for me.
Additionally to this i would suggest to lower your live z-offset, your first layer is too high and the extrusions do not join together.

If this is not causing the (whole) issue, is your filament pulled easily?
If the force of pulling is too high while extruding, this would cause the same issue like inconsistent extrusion and holes in the print.

Clogging would cause similar behaviour but exchanging the hotend or nozzle should be the last resort in this case.

By the way, what speeds and retraction settings do you use?

[Rwide]

Those are seam artifacts on the red cat. I think the most common cause of that is bad retraction settings but there are other possible causes too… Also I dont think “randomize seam” is the best seam placement setting for that model…

Try lowering your retraction distance to 1 or similar, and change the seam placement setting. You should probably also change your e-steps setting acording to @xchrisd suggestion…

Are you using a 0.4 nozzle? If so, you should definitely lower your layer height. It is way to heigh for a 0.4 nozzle…

[Marius87bv]

Cheers for the reply, yeah those bumps are there in the model… It’s simulating fur

[Marius87bv]

I don’t really print with 0.4mm layer height, but I did it this time, just because at 0.4 the problem is exaggerated like above, and the settings were absolutely stock, what I would have got if the machine was delivered yesterday and just hit print on something.
So meanwhile I have used a gcode of the same file from a friend with a profile that is known to work in Prusa.
And the difference is like night and day

I would take this everyday…but then I started looking… layer height lowered at 0.2, retraction at 2mm at 20mm/s, printing speed 80…
but started looking more in dept as it still seem off, some surfaces are perfect and some seems off.

from the bottom, a couple of ghosted lines and some thinned out line where the symbol is… I can live with this.
Now on the model itself … the seam seams random but I’ve noticed something is happening before and after the seam.

Toward the bottom of the tail… just a little bit of ghosting…

A bit more seam… with some subtle lines on the bottom

The neck looks good , a bit of hairline thinning of the filament

Some lines on the back

Some more seam with a little bit of layer separation

Some more seam with some more hairline gaps
Now the e steps… will have to make some photos … I cut about 20cm of filament, put it on table with one of those filament e step guides off internet, just to keep it straight… make my measurement and marking, push the filament down by hand until the first marking is flush with the tool filament entry, send the command etc…
This is the guide I use https://teachingtechyt.github.io/calibration.html#esteps

[Rwide]

The seam looks fine. You just need to change the placement to sharpest corner/hide seam or whatever is available in Luban.
But the horizontal lines looks suspicious… Might be a bed heating issue. You could try M303

PID Tuning - Marlin Firmware

[Marius87bv]

Yep, machine out of operations… knackered good now
The universe is plotting against me :)))
Did a beachy from a post here, ended up tilted forward, now all my prints are like this…
Surely this is a warranty issue, but support ghosted me after I’ve sent them the initial photos and problems…

[Rwide]

The bangs you mention in the other thread is most likely the nozzle hitting the object, causing layer shifts. This problem is probably caused by too hot material and/or too slow cooling.
Make sure that your part cooling fan is working and that you have the nozzle temp set to a reasonable/low value.

[Marius87bv]

Yeah, I’ve used the gcode that worked in the second post and settings should be good or at leat they were last night…
Now it can’t finish a print :)))

[Marius87bv]

Well update, the bang bang disappeared for now, I guess from all that stress from that benchy from the firmware post the belts got a bit hot and were slipping… Seems good…
So now I am printing with seam aligned, same model, profile from the friend…
Although looking at that failed print… something definitely happened there… Hopefully my linears are still good

[xchrisd]

This is a feeding or extrusion issue.

Could your filament pulled easily from your extruder? Do you see filament grinding?
This could happen by too much needed force for pulling the filament or excessive retraction or clogged nozzle.

Your filament diameter is consistent, right?

[Marius87bv]

Good shout on the filament, I’m getting toward the end of spool and always gets thin on last meeter or so, and yes about 1.72 the lowest and 1.76 the highest… Ovality about 0.2 in some spots… might be a point…
So did the e step method without the nozzle in and ended up with 228.121… that 1 mm difference is so hard to measure…
Need to see if there is some sort of jig where I can hang the calipers on to the filament and measure like this as opposed to almost eyeballing…
Curious now on the difference it will make.
I’ve only seen once some filament shavings at the tool entry when I was doing some petg, but that was my fault, put the feeding from the top instead from under… cleared after I’ve sorted it…
In terms of spool moving freely… I’m still using the stock support, I did notice some vibration and some whipping, if I can say like this, but only with full spool and when printing fast… Generally when I see any severe layer separation or under extrusion and crank the speed just to get it done with … I generally rub&buff
Time for a less challenging model…

Thank you all for support… maybe I can get to the root of my never ending failed prints

[Marius87bv]

When you are saying adjust the live z offset do you mean this?

Also do I need to change it back after the first layer?

Cheers

[Marius87bv]

Any more ideas?
This print ended up worse, with a lot of blobs and lines

[Rwide]

@Marius87bv I see in your original Gcode:“M204 P1000.00 R1000.00 T1000.00”

T1000 doesn’t work with PLA. You must use liquid metal instead…
Yea sorry, I’ll see myself out now…

[Marius87bv]

So, I’m not sure what that means… but it’s sliced with prusa… Not sure if I need to change anything…
Although acceleration should be limited by software…maybe it’s something with the printer profile… Although tbh… I’ve used all the trifecta of slicers ( Luban, Cura, Prusa) and didn’t make any noticeable difference

[Rwide]

@Marius87bv What seam placement setting did you use for this one? Still random?
Regarding the horizontal lines: I dont think its a slicer issue. I suggest printing 2 tower-like objects. One after the other, but the second one at half speed. Then compare them to see if the horizontal lines match. That will narrow down the source of problem…