Answered ABS Printing problems and the Z axis

Hi, I hope you guys can help me! I am printing on a newly replaced R1 and having increasing problems with printing. I’ll address the most important issue first.

From the day that I first fired up my replacement printer, it squealed when moving along the x-axis. I’ve had some good prints but starting having more and more problems. I printed one piece three times and each time it was short along the x-axis. I checked my 123D file several times and could not figure out the problem. Well now, I've had several failed prints and the x-axis does not work at all, when I’m prompting it in Matter Control.

I've attached an image of my last attempt at printing. You can see where the hot-end is dragging through the print, because the printer can not raise it to the next layer.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

Thanks Mark, yes I'm a total noob. I mean the Z axis - up/down. Any suggestions for that?

 

Thanks Mark. Which would you recommend, for lubricating the threaded Z rods - White Lithium Grease or White Lightning (Bicycle Chain Lube)? I'm going to give it another shot today. I'll let you know.

 

Mark - I bought the lithium grease. Should I use it on the x rods also. And while I'm at it, does anything else need that lube?

 

You can use the lithium on all sliding surfaces on the machine. Threaded Z, smooth Z, X-axis, and y-axis.

Then go apply some to the squeaky car door.

 

Thanks guys - I greased the z threaded and smooth rods and the x smooth rails and it's not squealing and binding as before. While I'm in maintenance mode, I hope you guys can help me with a few more issues. I'm attaching two photo. The first is an early print. The surfaces are good and the corners are crisp. The second is a very recent print. The surface looks horrible. My problem with the binding threaded rods may have contributed to this. Should I try and dip my filament in vegetable oil and run it through the hot end a few times? I read here that it helps with print quality. What's your opinion?

 

If you are using PLA it is highly recommended that you add an oiler. There is a sticky tab dedicated to this.

 

Thanks guys. I'm printing with ABS. Mark, is seasoning a good idea based on the pics that I uploaded? You can see my deteriorating print quality.

 

His thread title says ABS so I assume he's still using that.

Looks a bit like over extrusion. Calibrate you E steps per mm:

 

Thanks Mike. I'll check out the video.

 

So Mark, should I season or not - oiler or not - knowing that I'm only interested in printing ABS.

Also, Mike. Might I be having that problems if the z axis is not advancing properly, yet the extrude rate remains the same?

 

Print a calibration cube and measure the height. If you lubricated your Z threaded rods it shouldn't be an issue

 

Mike, I printed a 25x25x25 test cube and it still looks pretty rough to me. My actual measurements are z=22.72 and x/y=24.68/24.73 (don't know which dimension is x and which is y, because I measured it after I removed it from the bed. Do I need more adjustment to the z-axis? The video you posted about calibrating the extrude rate looked pretty complicated. What would you suggest? BTW, I lubed the threaded and smooth z rods, at least they sound better.

 

Definitely do the extruder calibration. It's not too complicated and you'll be able to figure it out

Whats your Z steps per mm? a 10% error is usually a symptom they're set to 2267.72 instead of 2560.