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Solved Why are my prints coming out like this?!

Discussion in 'Troubleshooting' started by Malek, Jun 21, 2018.

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  1. Malek

    Malek Member

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    Ok, so for the past couple years my Robo3D R1+ has been spitting out phenomenal prints comparable to my Original Prusa MK2S and MK3, and now all of a sudden I'm getting prints that look like they're out of a 70's horror movie (they used to make them real scary back then). It would appear to be printing fine for a while, then all of a sudden... Well, a picture is worth a thousand words, so here's 5...
    I have my e-steps calibrated pretty well. I've tried using several types of filament. I've tried the same filament on my Prusa MK3 and the Benchy comes out perfect. My belts are adjusted well, I've tightened every nut/bolt/screw on the machine.
    I'm using an original E3D v6 with 0.4mm nozzle
    I have a strong suspicion that it has something to do with the extruder itself. Not sure if it's the nozzle, throat, or what, but the reason is as follows: I did a little test on the Robo and performed the exact same test on the MK3: On the Robo, I extruded 100mm of filament at 130mm/min, and the result is exactly what you see in the picture with the green filament. Performing the same test on the MK3 produced the results you see in the picture with the orange filament. Clearly the green filament on the Robo is coming out much thicker than on the other MK3 (Robo: 0.68mm thick, MK3 = 1.10mm thick). I measured how much filament was actually being extruded on each printer (by using the known method of calculating e-steps, and it was 100mm, just like I specified. Furthermore there appears to be a problem with the pressure. When I extrude a couple mm on the Robo, as soon as it stops, it sucks in quite a bit of filament back into the nozzle. What would cause this? It's not normal, and it never used to do that.
    I'm using PLA at 195c nozzle, 60c bed.
    Thanks in advance!

    DSC_0608.JPG DSC_0609.JPG DSC_0616.JPG DSC_0618.JPG DSC_0619.JPG
     
    #1 Malek, Jun 21, 2018
    Last edited: Jun 21, 2018
  2. Geof

    Geof Volunteer Moderator
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    You can raise your temp and see if that helps. At a guess either the nozzle needs seasoning (If PLA), you have a partial jam thats causing to much back pressure, feed gear may be worn, may have a weak heatercore. Take the sock off and see if you get a temp fall error while printing (gcode log in your slicer- need to be hooked up USB to see it)
     
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  3. BrooklynBay

    BrooklynBay Active Member

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    Not all PLA materials behave the same way at the same temperature. I've used PLA which only extruded correctly when I increased the temperature to 235*. I've never used PLA which was able to work at 195*.
     
  4. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    And I have a printer that wants it at 175c :) *
    Not all printers run the same and you are right that not all filaments do either.
    Play around, print test towers, etc.





    *and this is why focusing too much on finding other peoples perfect temperature settings is pointless. Different printers and filament batches and even different rooms can mean different temperatures :) Run tests on every batch of your filament to find the best spot and go with it. Temperature towers (you can find these on thingiverse) are great or eventually you get some experience with it and a small simple print like a DePrime test can be enough to dial it in quickly.
     
    #4 mark tomlinson, Jun 22, 2018
    Last edited: Jun 22, 2018
  5. Reece Markowsky

    Reece Markowsky New Member

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    check your feeder bolt, the tiny screw that holds it in tight may be loose. i have seen my prints look like this along with ticking noises. once tightened everything was great again.
     
  6. Malek

    Malek Member

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    Thanks for the responses. Much appreciated. It gives me a starting point. I will run a few more tests. I was just confused because I've been printing at 190c - 195c without problems for the past couple years. I've gone through dozens of rolls of filament rolls. But yeah, I'm going to try some of your suggestions. I will post back if I find the solution. The first thing I'm going to try is up the temp.
     
  7. Reece Markowsky

    Reece Markowsky New Member

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    [​IMG]

    This is a pic of the feeder job bolt. You can see the tiny screw. If it’s even a bit loose the bolt won’t be tightly aligned (pushed in as far as it can be) and cause all kinds of issues which steer you in many directions. You need to remove the push down button to get at it properly. I would check this first.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     
  8. Malek

    Malek Member

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    I'm not sure what bolt you're referring to... Is your pic of a bowden setup? I don't believe I have any such bolt on my Robo R1+. I use a big hobbed bolt to feed the filament.
    Also, for the record, I tried upping the temp to 210 and same problem. First few layers were ok then all of a sudden it became a mess and the nozzle was ripping through the fuzzy print.
    And I tried replacing my entire extruder with another one; new nozzle an' all. Same results!
     
    #8 Malek, Jun 22, 2018
    Last edited: Jun 22, 2018
  9. Reece Markowsky

    Reece Markowsky New Member

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    Oh my apologies. I thought C2. So assumed you have cleaned the feeder gear and ensured the hobbed bolt is tight as it should be then.
     
  10. Malek

    Malek Member

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    No problem :)
    Yes, the hobbled bolt has just the right amount of tightness, and it's completely clean. The filament tension springs are also well tensioned.
    At any rate I placed an order for a new hobbed bolt and extruder motor, and plan to print a new extruder gear for it. The motor I'm currently using has a completely round shaft and I ordered the one with a flat side because it's obviously way better. The original motor died a couple months ago, may it rest in peace.
     
  11. Malek

    Malek Member

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    Well, my prints are once again coming out spectacular. I can't pinpoint exactly what it was, but I did a pretty major overhaul of the printer. I downloaded and printed a new carriage assembly from Thingiverse with a new fan shroud (https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1411833), inserted new bearings into it (there was a HUGE difference in the stability of the carriage so this might have been it), replaced X and Y belts with new steel reinforced ones, and problem solved! Ooh, and I tried a different filament. It's strange, because the old filament would do this weird pressure thing where after extruding it would suck in a substantial amount after stopping, and the new filament doesn't do that. It's like the old filament is filled with air or something. But what's strange is that the old filament printed perfectly on my MK3 and MK2S.
    Ah well, all part of the fun of 3D printing.
     
  12. Reece Markowsky

    Reece Markowsky New Member

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    Glad to hear!


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     
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