Why is this happening?

[JosieGudia]

Little bumps and tares when filling the first layer.
Second and sometime subsequent layers will catch these and make a mess.

I’ve tried different filament brands and colors

I’ve leveled the bed multiple times, so many, that the little piece of paper they give you, is starting to wear out.

I’ve tried different temperatures, thickness and heights.

Firmware Snapmaker-GD32Base-2.11
Settings using Snapmaker Luban 3.8.0…
Filament diameter: 1.75
Flow: 100%
Printing Temp: 210c
Printing Temp Initial Layer: 215c
final Printing Temp: 210
Build Plate Temp:70c
Build Plate Temp Initial layer:70c

Layer height: 0.1mm
Initial Layer height: 0.3mm
Initial Layer line width: 120%

Wall Thickness: 0.8mm
Top Thickness: 1mm
Bottom Thickness: 0.6mm

Infill Density: 100%

Initial Layer Print Speed: 10mm/s
Infill Speed: 35mm/s
Outer wall speed: 20mm/s
Inner wall speed: 25mm/s
Top/bottom speed: 30mm/s
Travel speed: 40mm/s
Initial layer travel speed: 30mm/s

Enable Retraction: True
Retract layer change: True
Retraction distance:6.5mm
Retraction speed: 25mm/s
Z hop when retracted: True
Z hop height 1mm

Spiralized outer contour: False
Surface mode: both

Build plate adhesion type: none

support: false

[brent113]

It looks identical from corner to corner and the middle, bed levelling is good here.

I think your z height is too low, which is causing the nozzle to push filament up and out the sides as it extrudes. Try another print exactly the same, but right when the print starts, on the touchscreen raise the z-height offset by 0.05mm. I think that’ll help, and may be enough.

If that fixes it, next time you do a calibration maybe do the exact same thing you’re doing now, but right at the end adjust the height up by 0.05mm.

Specifically looking at this one small area of your picture:

Comparing that perimeter against the reference images from here: https://all3dp.com/2/3d-printing-first-layer-problems-how-to-make-it-perfect/

I think your perimeter is showing the same type of look as the “too low” image. It looks smeared onto the plate, with adjacent passes being pushed into each other and being forced upwards.

[clewis]

I had the same issue, and the fix was as brent113 describes. Although the v1 doesn’t let us mess with the print head while it’s printing, so I raised every calibration point by 0.05mm before printing. I also changed Initial Layer Line Width to 100%, and Initial Layer Height to match the Layer height.

I took it a step farther though. I’ll use the paper to do a rough calibration. I lower the nozzle until I can pull but not push the paper, then raise it up one 0.05mm step. Then I’ll print a solid 125mm square that’s 0.05mm tall (I made a Ultra High Quality profile, with an Initial Layer height of 0.05mm). Use whatever quality you print at the most, because the calibration for a 0.05mm print doesn’t work that well for a 0.4mm print (it works, just not well).

On the first print, I’ll usually let it do the inner and outer walls, then stop the print. At least one corner will be either too low (filament so thin that it tears when I remove it from the print bed) or too high (filament doesn’t stick). Manually adjust the calibration accordingly, and repeat until I’m happy. Once I’m happy watching the outer walls print, I let the print run to completion. That’s usually enough that I’ll get a good layer without too much buckling or tearing, but I sometimes I have to adjust calibration based on the complete print. If a section has pushed the first layer up off the bed, it’s too low. If the print is so thin it tears, it’s too low. If it doesn’t stick to the bed, it’s too high. It’s usually only one corner that needs adjusting by this point, but based on your print direction, the first corner printed might negatively affect other corners. You should get a nice solid sheet of 0.05mm PLA that might have an occasional rough spot, but no holes.

If I recheck this calibration with the paper, I found that the nozzle is barely putting any pressure on the paper. It easily slides in all directions.

BTW, you’ll have to repeat this process if you upgrade the firmware, or switch between Luban and Cura.

Once I was happy with the print, I started having bed adhesion issues. Any bit or dirt, dust, or oil on the print surface causes the filament to come loose. So I designed and printed a build plate cover for my v1. In the images, you can see that I still hadn’t completely dialed in my over-extrusion on the first layer. It took me a while to figure out everything I mention above. Now, I can usually get a calibration dialed in how I like it in an hour or two, depending on how many times I have to print the solid square.

[JosieGudia]

@brent113

age. It looks smeared onto the plate, with adjacent passes being pus

Thank you for the reply Brent.
My touchpad doesn’t have the ability to change anything about the run. I guessing the Snapmaker Original is just too primitive. lol.
The Snapmaker Luban application shows the controls but they are locked as soon as I select run.
I can interact with the printer using the console, I don’t know the commands to manually enter calibration settings and have not been able to find them via googl.

These are my calibration settings. The piece of paper they give for calibration wore out. I found a post that said you could use a piece of A4 paper. Which is what I used.

I moved the points up .05mm up from the print I showed in the last post.
This is what the print looks like now. This seems considerably looser than what the Snapmaker calibration video shows but there is less pushing of material.

I also checked the calibration after the base plate is heated, there is slightly more drag, maybe a micron or two is lost when the base plate is heated.

I moved the left side up again.

The left side is still not good. However, I am starting to see gaps/spaces in the print, so if I move it up any more, I am going to have a new problem.

I slowed the initial layer print speed down to 5mm/s and increased the initial layer height by .05mm for a total of .35mm. These changes, add 30 minutes to the print.

I am not sure I can get it any better than this without modifying the bed. I really wish there were longer screws and springs for the bed mounts. This would allow me to adjust the left side better.

Thanks for the help, it really made a difference.

[JosieGudia]

@clewis

uld get a nice solid sheet of 0.05mm PLA that might have an occasional roug

Thank you for your reply clewis.
I will take a look at your cover.
I’ve been using a copper wire brush to clean off the build plate. I noticed that the Snapmaker “sticker” gets coated after about 10 prints. I have two. I saved the backing of the “extra” one they supplied, and put the sticker in the freezer over night, I scrape it with a metal spatula and then brush it between prints. Not sure how long they will last but for now this method works. I probably should order some more before they don’t sell them anymore. lol

[clewis]

I’m still on my first sticker, although I don’t print much. I’m nearly done with my 4th spool of 500g filament. I’ve rubbed the sticker with isopropyl alcohol a couple times, but not since I started using the cover. That’s the most aggressive that I’ve cleaned it. At one point, I did have some very thin PLA left on the plate because it tore during a calibration. It came off with the next attempt (at a higher calibration point).

Another thing to keep an eye on is the thumbscrews that attach the build plate to the Y axis. I had calibrated, and started getting bad prints again. I re-calibrated again, and it just wasn’t getting better. It turns out that the thumbscrew was very loose, and the build plate was just kind of floating around. I could wiggle the plate up and down. So now I check the thumb screws every couple of months to make sure they’re still tight. If they rotate at all, I’ll print a calibration layer to make sure it’s still good.

[Catalyst]

Apologies if this related question is off topic, but is that image of the print (the square with the X) a diagnostic-type print? If so, how do I get it?
I’m trying to diagnose my print bed and the Z position and would like to try using it.

[clewis]

Sorry for the slow reply @Catalyst. I thought the forum would show a notification on my profile icon for a reply, but it did not. TIL.

I can’t say for certain about @JosieGudia 's X, but I’d call that a calibration print. Calibration prints are almost always specific to the build plate size and layer height, so I image it was custom designed. In my previous comments, I mentioned a 125mm^2 x 0.05mm sheet. It’s something I designed in tinkercad really quickly, and didn’t bother sharing. It’s probably the simplest thing you can design yourself, so give it a try. If you really can’t figure it out, I can share the solid sheet I use.