I have this geometric piece that i am trying to print, and in one direction, moving from the front of the printer to the back, it makes a bit more noise (almost like a low growl), when printing the walls (both inner and outer) and the wall finish of that wall is terrible.
It also seems to show somewhat when the printhead moves from left to right, but not when it moves from right to left or from the back to the front….
I am printing PCTG which i have dried and dialed in wrt temperature, Flow, PA, etc
I also had to “babysit” the printer the entire print: often small blobs fell off the nozzle into the print or on the printbed (i took them out of the print to make sure the print finished):
I have printed black PCTG with the same filament settings, temperatures etc etc on another printhead and i did not notice these blobs or buildup on the nozzle (parts were smaller so i cannot compare the wall finish)
I recommend using the process of elimination to pinpoint the issue:
First check if your slicer settings are correct—material and process. If unsure, select “Generic PLA” filament and “Generic PLA” process (or use the official PLA profile). Print a small test piece with the supplied PLA or a trusted third-party spool; if it looks good, the toolhead is fine.
Next test your suspect filament with the generic profile for your filament. If the print improves, the problem was the original filament or its profile; if it still fails, the filament itself is likely bad.
Keep changing one variable at a time until you isolate the culprit.
You can submit a ticket at the same time in case the technical staff or fellow users in the forum don’t respond promptly.
The textured wall looks under extruded, like there are small holes in it. Can you confirm?
If so, is the filament binding somehow? I’ve had a problem like that where a movement in one direction would pull filament off the spool, and the movement back would push filament back onto the spool. When it bound, pulling filament would under extrude, then it would be fine going in the opposite direction.
The picture is a bit misleading maybe, but there are no holes or under extrusion really, more like a wavy pattern with small blobs that create a very uneven surface.
I dont notice any binding either.
The blob on the nozzle is also on the side which was “trailing” when the nozzle was moving in that direction which showed the defects,
Thanks, i will try to print something with another printhead as well (have PLA loaded up in printhead 2 and 3 and PCTG black in printhead 4), but this kind of defect cannot really be because of filament right, why would it appear in one direction only, that must be related to the toolhead or the belts or steppers or something right? (if it was filament related i would expect it to show on all sides)
printed something else with a different toolhead and different filament (still PCTG) and the exact same lines showed up on the movement on the Y axis of the printer front to back. the print also failed at about 3/4 completed because there was a massive layershift: (this print however didnt leave any residue material blob on the nozzle)
So all i can deduct is that something is wrong with the stepper motors or the belts or something in relation to the movement of the toolheads.
I had re-done the belt tensioning steps, vibration compensation, cleaned the carbon rod and cleaned and lubricated the steel rods as well, no change yet.
in the meantime i will also try another PLA print again, see if that changes anything
If PLA prints fine, it’s likely the material/process profile isn’t good enough; if PLA shows the same issue, it’s maybe hardware—work with tech support to trace it.
The PLA print finished…. and it’s perfect! (should have done that test immediately indeed as suggested above)
So apparently it is something in the filament or print profile of the PCTG that is causing these issues. I am assuming fan-speed might be the main issue, because the fan has an outlet that covers 270 degrees rather than 360degrees around the nozzle and the problem always occurs when the nozzle is moving in the direction where the fan is not. so i assume this cools the plastic in that direction too fast, messing up the surface. Will play around with the PCTG profile to see if that fixes it.
