Calibration Cube Issue - S3D

[Rara]

If you've got the ratio set correctly, it looks like the nozzle might be a little high....did you remember to reset the Z-Offset for PLA as opposed to PETG? (Which we tend to air print a little.)

Or maybe it's gotten a bit out of level.

And, you're printing white....which is a problem child. (slightly higher temp?/slower speed? needs more time to melt?)

I set the Z to squish the first layer by .01-.02mm - not much, but enough to stick well.

So what I did find when trying to quiet down a fan - I had a cracked extruder mount! I thought I saw the whole thing wiggling a bit. I ordered up the new metal setup hoping that would fix things. Nooope! The wiggle is gone but it's still printing like crap (actually the next 4 tries all looked like the worst one above).

So, I switched back to PETG and gave it a whirl with a known good profile. Those came out just fine. So either the PET-G isn't getting all the way purged from the nozzle, or something is up with the print profile. Out of time today, but next step will be to remove the tip and try to get it all 100% cleared out before trying the PLA+ again..

[Rara]

Finally got more time to work on this. It's is both interesting and frustrating - I pulled my .50 nozzle and threw the .35 in to try and get this thing dialed in with a more commonly used size. Burned it out with a torch just to be sure it's clean and clear.

My results are better. What is odd though is that my multiplier does not seem to be doing anything. Dimension-wise, I am rather happy with things coming in +/-.02mm or so. But to try and fill in the gaps and connect my walls, the extrusion ratio seems to be doing nothing. The cube on the left is printed at .92, the one on the right at 1.04, and they are for all intents and purposes identical. Same gapping in the top layers; same perimeter wall separation. Any ideas..?

Settings:

Temp: 210
Bed: 60 (on Buildtak)
Layer: .20
Extrusion Width: .40

[Jules]

After I switched to using a Dual extruder, I also discovered that the extrusion multiplier actually does very little in S3D. (So now I just leave the filament diameter at 1.75 mm, and the extrusion multiplier at 0.90, and I get perfectly acceptable results.)

The only things I can suggest is that you are still just a hair too far away from the bed with the nozzle. (Might try shifting your Z-Offset number by -.04 mm to bring it closer.)

You can also adjust the first layer width upwards, but that's only going to impact the first layer. And make sure the Infill overlap amount is set to about 15%.

Other than that, I have no idea what to suggest. It's a puzzler.

[Rara]

Calipers actually indicate I'm still squishing the first layer by .01-.02mm, if anything. 1st/2nd layers don't seem to have the voids that the top layers are getting (I have it set to 2 bottom, 3 top currently). I'll try bumping the filament diameter down a bit and see if that can effectively get me just a *little* bit more out of it.

Next step I guess is ditching the eSun filament and getting some direct from MakerGear and see if this is some sort of weird filament issue..

[Rara]

More cubes. This time I adjusted the filament diameter down, starting with the actual measurement of 1.74mm. 1-3 I dropped it .01mm each cube. Not noticing much difference, I ran 4-6, and then 7-9 at .02mm increments (but reduced my overall height from 10mm to 3mm for faster testing). #9 was set for 1.58mm filament. Virtually no change in the top finish if it's hard to tell, and X/Y dimensions on 1-7 are identical - 7's sidewalls were kinda wonky, but 8 and 9 looked pretty bad and were barely holding on, both popping in halves as I took them off the bed.

Time to try different filament...? Now I am really getting stumped.

[Jules]

The way that S3D describes it as working, is to leave the filament diameter at 1.75 mm, and start increasing the extrusion multiplier to increase the extrusion.

For PLA, the multiplier is normally about 0.90, so you would increase that to say 0.95 and go up by a couple tenths each time.

Actually, one other guy was talking about a similar issue this morning - everything was set correctly, but his prints looked identical, with spots where the extruded thread thinned out.

What's your infill width set to?

[Rara]

Right - well my multiplier manipulation wasn't seeming to do anything (adjusted between .90 and 1.06) so I tried to make changes via filament diameter to see if I could get the sidewalls and top layers looking better. I just ran the 7-9 set again, and #9 only made it 1/3 of the way through before it just stopped extruding; I tried increasing the filament tension and apparently it stripped.

Infill width is set to the S3D default PLA profile - or I think at least - 100%.

[Jules]

You could try bumping it up (Infill Width) by about 10% and see if it makes a difference. (Aside from moving the first layer closer, I'm out of ideas.)

(Did you use the Filament Tension setting guide to set the tension?)

[Rara]

I'll give that a go tomorrow..

Yeah, I just attempted a print a couple days ago and the tension came all the way out and I had little PLA shavings blown all over the place. How it finished the print, I don't know, but it too had the same top/bottom layer issues (which for this application meant it was scrap anyway). It looked a little loose so I gave it another 1/2 turn and went to town, admittedly without re-checking the bite pattern.

Is this what I get for having practically no issues with this thing for about 3.5 years...?

[Jules]

You were due!

You know Rara, if you've had that thing for 3 and a half years, have you checked the teeth on the extruder (pinion) gear? They might be getting worn and slipping.