I have an issue with my artisan I am not able to solve. The overall printing results are good, but the top layers over infill structurs turn out really bad. The bottom layer is fine and the bed adhesion perfect. The infill structurs seem to be fine as well. But as soon as the infill is supposed to be covered the problem starts. The very first layer over the infill doesnt work at all. It seems the nozzle is hitting the infill structures and thus can’t produce an even layer.
I tried a bunch of options to remedy this problem, but couldn’t find a solution as of now. Here are some things I tried so far:
z height calibration
printing speed
print position on the bed
heated bed calibration
z heigt adjustment (+/- 1mm in small steps)
top layer adjustments
printing temperature adjustment
The picture shows the problem with the layers. Sorry, it’s a little out of focus
I typically use 3 top and bottom, minimum. If I want to build a lighter part with less infill, or a stronger part, I’ll increase it.
That was my thought as well. It’s also possible your temperatures are not tuned. If the filament is too hot and/or there’s not enough part cooling, long bridges will fail.
thanks for the replies so far. I have three top layers, but will try more. However, even if the two extra layers result in a fine topmost layer, the problem seems not to be really fixed. The symptom is healed, but not the cause.
The bridges aren’t actually very long (the picture might be deceiving). They are about 5 mm long. That shouldnt be a problem. I have a heat tower with longer bridges that work (mostly) fine. And 10% Infill should normally be enough.
One more thing. It sounds as if the nozzle is hitting the Infill structure while printing as if it is to low. I don’t know if it really does, but it sounds like it, which I dont get at all.
Regardless, i will try both suggestions. Thank you.
Here is another picture. Left, the part of a heat tower with 20mm bridges. Right a finished surface with 3 top layers. The Filament between the infill structures seems to go up.
As you can see, yes, higher infill did manage to get a better result. However, my old cheap printer I never had an issue with infills between 10 an 15%. And to be honest. An overhang of 4 or 2.7mm should be able to print easily. And as you can see at the lower picture… That doesn’t satisfy me. Still no smooth result.
I just can’t identify the problem.
Thank you for productively stating the obvious…
Just to be clear: You say that it is normal for the Snapmaker Artisan, that I can’t bridge a 2.7mm gap? That would be just a very sad conclusion and would be unaccaptable for a machine in this price range in my opinion.
And: could you explain to me (I’m seriously asking) why it can’t bridge the small gap above the infill, but doesn’t seem to struggel with a gap more than 5 times as big at the heat tower?
Don’t put words in my mouth. Based on your particulars, yes that appears to be the case (you can’t bridge 2.7mm). You clearly need to learn the machine, printing on a new machine is all about trial and error until you figure it out.
If you’re using Luban for slicing, consider a better slicer. Some will allow you to define dense infill layers, allowing you to use coarse infill up to a certain point and then switch to a fine infill that is easy to bridge.
Hi guys. @TheBum: I’m using Cura as a Slicer @xchrisd : Thanks for the tip. So far I couldn’t register any slipping, but I’ll keep that in mind.
I think I found a solution, or rather part of a solution. It turns out somehow I had a typo in the settings for the top layer speed which I didn’t notice for months. I turned down the top layer speed to the intended 40mm/s (it was set to 140mm/s). The result is so much better now (see picture)
Some slicers have the option to slow down printing for bridges. That would have helped your situation. Do you print your walls at 140mm/sec? I don’t go over 100mm/sec for PLA or 60mm/sec for PETG and TPU.
