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Solved Bad Print Quality. Request advice.

Discussion in 'Troubleshooting' started by Toro1966, Aug 16, 2016.

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  1. Toro1966

    Toro1966 Active Member

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    Thanks!
     
  2. Toro1966

    Toro1966 Active Member

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    Prints are definitely getting better. Learning how to use S3D a bit more. Bed is still not quite level as evidenced by the fact that my first layer is really squished on one side and not as much on the other. Problem is that to adjust the right z limit switch, I have to remove the top to get to the screw. Will probably wait until this weekend since I think I am going to add an LED strip to the center for more light. I might just shim the left side to be as high as the right side - then I can adjust with z offset (m565) and they'll be level on both sides. Here are some pics of the double fan setup going in tomorrow.
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
     
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  3. danzca6

    danzca6 Well-Known Member

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    Spare no expense my good sir. Those are some very nice fans. Very quiet compared to stock and very high quality. Looks great. I have kids come over all the time to see what I am making with the printer and I ended up printing a few fan guards as well to go over these since now there is a fan bare out front. Not sure if you have little one with curiosities around, but worth mentioning just in case.
     
  4. danzca6

    danzca6 Well-Known Member

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    Oh and nice solder station back there...beats the cheap Harbor Freight wand I have. :oops:
     
  5. Toro1966

    Toro1966 Active Member

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    Thanks Danzca. I appreciate that. Do you have a link to the file you made for the guards?

    Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk
     
  6. Toro1966

    Toro1966 Active Member

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    Thanks! I collect and restore pinball and Arcade machines so it comes in handy :)

    Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk
     
  7. danzca6

    danzca6 Well-Known Member

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    What? We may have to talk more about that someday. I've always wanted an arcade machine in the house and my father in law is huge into pinball. He has a couple now and is wanting another.
     
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  8. Toro1966

    Toro1966 Active Member

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    Excellent. Any time. I'll pm you my email and phone.

    Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk
     
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  9. Toro1966

    Toro1966 Active Member

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    One of the other issues with the bed leveling is that the glass is not completely flat. Even if it's level, it dips slightly in the middle. Makes leveling it even more fun. That's my project this weekend - trying to finally get this dang thing level...
     
  10. danzca6

    danzca6 Well-Known Member

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    Well if you have a warp, then abl will only get you so far. You may want to look into mesh leveling. That actually accounts for warping in the bed. That will mean going to the rc7 version of Marlin firmware that @WheresWaldo has between keeping up with for us. Or you get a new glass plate.
     
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  11. Toro1966

    Toro1966 Active Member

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    Thanks. Might have to check out the mesh leveling. It's not super warped so I think I'll try leveling it. I think part of the problem is that the auto level does not consistently take into account the differences. Sometimes it does, other times it doesn't. For instance, I printed a couple of things yesterday and the first layer and subsequent print was great. Very even. Finished that, went to print something else out and the first level was not even at all. Again, its like the auto level compensated appropriately on the first prints but not the next prints. Does that make sense?

    Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk
     
  12. Toro1966

    Toro1966 Active Member

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    One more clarification on the bed leveling process. I am getting ready to get this right because it's driving the retentive individual in me crazy. Even if the prints are actually coming out great. I know the right side of the bed sits a mm or two higher than the left. I know that because I homed the printer and then manually moved the print head up (jog controls in S3D) until I could place a piece of paper under the print head. I did that for the four corners and I had to move the print head up about 1.5-2mm more for the right side than I did for the left side. So some specific questions:
    1 - Is it normal that when homed, I would not be able to put the paper under the print head? Is that why we adjust the z offset prior to actually printing?
    2 - How do I level the z axis given that it is only off by 1.5-2mm. That is a lot, in my opinion in printing - especially when you are talking about .1-.2 mm layer heights. If I have it correct based on other posts, I should home, manually (jog and twist rods) move print head until I get the piece of paper to fit under the nozzle correctly. Then I should note that position, and then move the switch (by unscrewing the clamp on the one side) until it's now flush (completely engaged) with the z carriage on that side. Is that correct?

    Assuming that's correct, my problem is that the distance is so close, it is hard to adjust the switch ONLY that amount. One thing I thought of that might work, but I want to get your opinion, is instead of moving the switch, I want to use my wife's craft hole punch, to punch pieces of thick paper she uses for crafting and shim the left side (between the magnets), so that the left matches the right, as closely as possible. Then when I use the appropriate z offset, it should lay the appropriate amount of filament down on both sides. Thoughts?

    Can't thank you guys enough. I am learning so much!
     
  13. danzca6

    danzca6 Well-Known Member

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    Absolutely correct

    So maybe it is your bed that you could do some adjusting to. If the actual bed is truly up by a couple mm on one side you can use a paper hole punch and punch a couple circles out of paper to use as shims to go between the magnets of the bed to help level that off first. Then you can to through the process of leveling the X axis in reference to the bed. I would keep the switches where they are at IF they are 1) allowing the X end caps to be pushes down as far as they can onto the z axis nut. 2) that they are firmly against the bottom of the X axis endstops. That should help the ABL routine to work the best it can.
     
  14. Toro1966

    Toro1966 Active Member

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    Thank you sir. I appreciate it. Here are a coupe of pics of the end caps, but they look good and don't impede any travel. They are also seated fully on the switches. So I think I am going to go the route of the paper circles between the magnets and adjust the z offset to get the perfect first layer!
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
     
  15. Toro1966

    Toro1966 Active Member

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    Well I ran out of blue and needed to finish this prop for my son - so I figured since I would probably lose the print anyway, that I would go ahead and try changing the filament on the fly. Pics below. Came out great! Lucky in this case it doesn't matter what the colors are since it will eventually be airbrushed, but I am very surprised. I wish there was an implementation in S3D for this feature. Yes, you can do it in code, but I want to be able to just check a box and go!

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
     
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  16. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Awesome. We airbrush 99.9% of everything that comes off the printer. After some prep it is a really nice finish.
     
  17. Toro1966

    Toro1966 Active Member

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    Thanks Mark. I have to learn how to do that. My son does, but I have no idea. Just haven't gotten around to learning :)
     
  18. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Mine is the airbrush Guru too :)
    I can struggle along and make it not look ugly, but for best results I hand it off.
     
  19. Toro1966

    Toro1966 Active Member

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    Ok - need help. Trying to remove the fan holder so I can do the dual fan mod. I know there are only two screws that hold it on. The problem is, whatever clown at the company put the front screw in, they either cross threaded it or the mount is bad - because when I go to turn the screw, the captive nut just turns and turns. The back screw comes out fine. It's the front screw that just turns. Any thoughts on how to fix this? I can't get anything on the nut because of where it is. I am extremely peeved right now. This should have taken 5 minutes and it was most definitely not me that stripped it as all I did was turn the screw and it turns the nut.
     
  20. Geof

    Geof Volunteer Moderator
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    You can try sticking a flat head screwdriver on the nut to hold it, possibly even an o ring pick
     
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