Solved Anyone have an idea about this?

It looks to me like too much material is being put down and causing the print head to drag over it causing it to get all clumpy. it goes away after the first layer but the bottom of whatever i print ends up not looking so smooth. the more surface area on the bottom the worse it gets. Here is a pic of what I am talking about.

As you can see the worst area is in the center of the pic that square is about 1 inch by 1 inch you can also see that most everywhere else its not as big of a problem.

What am I doing wrong.

The following are pics of the first 3 layers. by the 3rd layer whatever problem there is has pretty much covered it up.

hot end : 210
bed : 60
any other settings just ask.

 

You think over extrusion would work it self out after the first few layers?

I will give that a try.

 

Check your nozzle to,see if it's got a partial clog. I started seeing some ugly lines when I had a bit of a clog. Filament was flowing, but not a smooth stream straight down out of the nozzle end.

 

Will do as soon as my print finishes.

I am using matter control 1.2 with cura engine.

what worked best when trying to clean out a clog? not sure I have anything around the house thin enough to stick in the tip.

for my next print I will try turning down the extrusion, as far as I know the filament comes out pretty nice I will make a video so you guys can see what you think.

Thanks a lot by the way.

 

I tried to clean my clog in situ using a guitar string, but was not able to get it. I ended up needing to take the nozzle off and hitting it with a butane pen torch to burn out whatever was clogging it - I think it was ABS that never made it through.

After the thorough burning and more guitar string, the clog was gone.

If you end up doing this, make sure the hot end is tightened up completely afterwards, both the nozzle and above the heater block. My first attempt had it leaking badly on both sides of the heater block. Make sure it's hot when you tighten it back up. I used the pen torch to heat it away from the printer, and it's sealed better now than it was from the factory...

 

I think I am going to do everything I can to not take it apart. I have only used PLA so far maybe I will put the heat way way up and extrude some material and see how that works or do you think running it hot for a min without extruding would be better?

Or is that just a bad idea all together?

 

I think running it hot could be a bad idea, because it won't get hot enough to really do anything and could make some of the plastic harden even more.

I think one of the downsides of owning a 3D printer at this stage is that you will be required at some point to disassemble it a bit - that's why it came with a bag of tools! I didn't want to do it either, but once I did, I realized that the hot end is very easy to work with. It's really not as bad as it sounds; you can be up and running again in fifteen minutes.

Make sure you season your hot end with some oil, it should help prevent clogs going forward.

 

Yes I am using a oiler. I have been for the past few days. I will try a few tests (extruding in mid air to see what comes out, and printing a big first layer with the extrusion turned down maybe .85?) and make a video and then post it up here in a hour or two.

I guess i will stay away from running it hot.

I know I will end up having to take it apart sooner or later I was just hoping to get a few weeks of learning before I made any big changes.

But if I have to I will.

 

I'm sure the video will tell all. I would have posted it already but I didn't want to stop a print to do a few tests.

 

I cleaned the bed with alcohol before this print. I usually use gluestick but this happens with or without.

in my video I will show everything cleaning extruding in air and first few layers.

maybe even a quick 250 extrude.

Also I have read that guide and found it very useful.

Thanks

 

That to me says the first layer is too low

 

It is possible I am setting up too low. I am super new. I am only a week into ownership. I am just working on the video right now and I took a few more pics.

The first item is the finished piece from the earlier pics. the second item is a failed bottom of a new print. I first tried 100% then 85% then finally 70%.

At 85% it started to get pretty thin I new 70% would never work but no harm in trying it pretty much just stopped printing at 70%.

extruding at 210c and 235c did not show any difference to my eyes but I will have the video up soon.

I guess now I am hoping I am just set up too low so after I post the video I will try raising it up a bit and seeing how that goes.

I wish there was something a little better to check the gap with other then paper like something that was 100% once you set it.

Oh well enjoy the pics.

Thanks again to everyone.

Video to follow.

 

Here is the video.

0:15 its extruding at 210c
2:00 its extruding at 235c
6:00 bed leveling starts
6:45 skirt starts
7:25 object starts
7:50 fill starts and looks fine
8:15 things start going wrong