EDIT: it was the nozzle and I’ve been printing mainly eSilk and recently glow-in-the-dark. I did not know that both are hard on nozzles.
Can anyone take a look at these images and give me an idea of the cause? Original A350; eSun eSilk PLA and with the same maker’s PLA. Initial printing temperature is 200˚C. Model sliced with Cura and printing with octopi.
I was printing multiple copies of the same model, when out of the blue, I can’t lay down the base layer. Adhesion is poor and extrusion seems inconsistent. Like in total, the correct amount of filament is extruded, but with periodic under- and over-extrusion.
Edit: Also something I’ve never seen before. After cancelling, the print head leaves a vertical filament stringer, which is visible in the front right of the print. It seems that extrusion has suddenly gone wonky.
Things I’ve tried:
Auto leveling at base layer print temperature.
Adjusting Z offset incrementally in multiple directions
Different filament (All filament is stored in a desiccator)
Nothing is improving print quality. While I’ve been printing for over 10 years now, I don’t consider myself an expert by any means, and I have never encountered this.
When you are printing the same object again and again on the same position on the sheet, i can imagine that this is smoothing the PEI. Did you ever tried to print the same object on a different position on the sheet? Not just mid.
When did you replaced the nozzle last time? Brass nozzles are consumables and have to be replaced from time to time. Especially when using silk, glow in the dark, or other abrasive filaments.
Was it the same filament or the same from a new spool?
If you keep printing the same object in the same spot on the plate, I can imagine this might smooth out the PEI surface. Have you ever tried printing the same object in a different location on the plate? Not just in the center.
It’s possible, but then it would gradually get worse, not suddenly.
To me, it almost looks like temperature fluctuations or the bed being cold. I never check whether the bed is at the correct temperature, so I wouldn’t immediately notice it either
Thank you for the comments. I usually set the bed temperature in advance and let it warm up and sit at temperature for about 30 minutes before starting. I have not actually measured the temperature, though.
I have never changed the nozzle and I do indeed print a lot with the eSilk filament. I have never worked on a print head. I see that this came with a “hot end kit”. Is it possible to only change the nozzle, or would I need to replace the entire hot end?
Z offset is -2.25. I brought it down as far as -2.6, but saw zero improvement…
Well, the nozzle definitely needs to be replaced. Is it better to replace the entire hotend? or just the nozzle? The opening is more than 1 mm. I can push the end of a 1 mm diameter paper clip through the opening.
Snapmaker is just selling the whole hotends. But mk8 nozzles are compatible, so you can just change that. But take care, that the proximity sensor is correct adjusted when the new nozzles are “to long". It is also possible that the width of other mk8 nozzles do not fit into the hot end socks, then you have to cut them wider. Both is possible without any problem.
Wow, I didn’t realize how abrasive the glow in the dark PLA is. I’ve been using the same nozzle for years with eSilk and no issues. I received a free glow in the dark spool from the vendor that previously distributed snapmaker in my country, and just started using it. I’ve perhaps used 500 g in total.
The nozzle on the hotend I just swapped is already toast. It seems that one brass nozzle can print about 250 g of the eSun glow in the dark PLA. The opening is already >1 mm.
