Solved First print - infill not touching perimeter

I just got the printer in last night and set it up completely stock. Eventually I will make some changes, but I wanted to print something.

I loaded up a toothpaste pusher. It printed pretty good except on the first layer the infill didn't meet the perimeter layer at some points.





You can see the issue clearly on the back side, but only one one side of the inner perimeter and outer perimeter. I used the standard PLA settings from Matter Control. 50C print bed heat with a glue stick rub. I watched the first few layers go down and can confirm everything stick good.

After reviewing some troubleshooting guides and forum posts, my 2 thoughts are:
- I might not be depositing enough filament. I should consider increasing the extrusion multiplier by 5%.
- I might be moving too fast. The default for PLA is 80mm/s, which seems fast compared to what I've read online. This seems unlikely as the rest of the print came out fine without layer shifting.

Also, shouldn't the first layer be 10% infill?

Would I be better suited just to move to Cura or Simplify3D right away?

 

First layer should be low, slow, and solid. Try about 30mm/s for first layer. Check your z offset. It might need to be lowered a bit more to get a bit more squish. Finally your infill should be solid on the first x layers. That is defined in the slice how many layers on bottom and top are solid. I normally go for about 1mm of solid top and bottom. So if I print at .2mm layer height, then I select 5 layers for top and bottom. If there are any layers left in the middle, that is when you will start seeing your infill percentage working. You can also calibrate your extrusion to make sure you are where you need to be instead of messing with extrusion percentages. Also, what temp are you printing at? PLA is normally best at the lowest temp you can still extrude correctly at.

https://printedsolid.com/blogs/news/tagged/first-layer

 

Welcome Nate!
These guys are great, well worth the advise they offer.
Got me going in short order a few months ago.
Congrats on the new printer.

 

Thanks. I just ran with the standard setting which is 210C for PLA.

I was reading a post (http://community.robo3d.com/index.p...ng-perimeter-and-later-layer-fethering.11720/) and his problem is very similar to what I am seeing. The layer on mine is definitely rounded like his and people mentioned the problem might be the Z-Axis offset is too large. I don't see any "squish".

I checked the infill on the generation and everything looks good. 5 solid layers. The grid with 25% infill was really only present on the "nose" of the part.

I will run a printer calibration procedure. I literally unboxed the machine and started to print that part within 10 minutes. Still not bad at all for a first print.

Regarding the first layer speed being lower and slower, I don't believe I can do that in Matter Control. Sounds like I should switch to Simplify3D or Cura. They would give me the ability to specify different parameters for the first layer?

 

Thanks! I am looking forward to the printer. The main reason I got it was for my rocketry pursuits. I need if for some of the avionics bay designs I am doing and for some camera mounts with some unusual 3D geometry. Both pieces I can't easily do on my CNC routers or CNC mill.

 

z offset is something I pointed out. Did you see the link I posted as well for the blog @Printed Solid made about first layer? It can also be helpful. Some have had issues with the newer MC and z offset. Are you using the built in macros or defining it yourself with the M565 Z-1.0 command? The lower the Z value, say -0.8 will get you closer to the bed btw.

You should be able to define first layer speed in MC. Let me fire it up.

 

Yep...look at the bottom of this screenshot. It is under the advanced setting in MC.

 

I did see the blog post and the video post. Thanks for the btw. I think the blog post clearly illustrates the problem and I am confident I can get it fixed. I used the built in macros. I actually didn't change any of the settings. Just selected the PLA and Medium presets and looked at the settings they provided. Is it better to use the MDI and run the gcode manually?

Regarding MC, it might be in there. I wasn't looking particularly hard for it.

 

Thanks!

 

Way back when I used MC, I did the z offset manually. You can always save the gcode to file to double check to make sure the M565 command was set correctly and is a negative Z value.

 

I got to experiment with the Z offset last night. I first tried .7 instead of the .9 that is standard on MC. It wasn't enough. Then I tried .5 and I thought it had fused good looking at the print from the top.

Here are the side by side comparisons. The one with the horns was printed last night.









As you can see, the height was better. I had infill fusion with the perimeter and the part didn't have any edge issues. I still think I need to lower the height some more. Maybe 0.4?

My main question is why is this so far off the standard setting of 0.9? What Z-offset are others running? Could I have another problem like too low of a filament flow through the extruder? Note that I haven't done the extruder calibration test from the video yet. Didn't have time.

 

Better for sure, but you should do an extruder calibration like Geof said to make sure you aren't under extruding. If that looks good, then continue to adjust your offset. It should be completely smooth with no gaps on the bottom. Think water tight. Also, did you adjust your speed down for the first layer on that last print? And make sure you have the fan off for the first layer.

 

I will do the calibration for sure tonight. Question on saving the value: Should I put a gcode line in the start section to set the value or can I access the eeprom to configure?

I double checked my settings and the speed for the first layer print was the default 30% of standard. Standard was 60mm/s so it was 18mm/s. I will check MC tonight to see if there is a fan off on first layer setting.

Tonight's print: new feet for the printer.

 

The video shows how you can do a temporary save of the value. I would look at making the change in the firmware file so if you need to do any future updates you are covered. Tom shows that as well. Just make sure you have the correct version for your printer. If you have the R1+, I would recommend going with the one down the page called Leadscrew Upgrade Firmware. You want he arduino files not the hex. And download the arduino software to do your edit and compile. We can help you on that when you get to that point.

http://guide.robo3d.com/Wiki/ROBO_3D_Firmware_Release_Notes

Feet are great. I added some felt/rubber adhesive sheets to the bottom of my feet to make it quieter and less likely to slide around or scratch the table. Do some calibration cubes while you are getting the z offset and extrusion dialed in. You will be happier with your real print results when that is all done.

 

Why the Leadscrew Upgrade Firmware and not the R1+ Firmware V2? I have a refrubished R1+ purchased a week ago. The page says not to use the Leadscrew Upgrade Firmware if you have an R1+.

Regarding flashing, I have done it before. It looks like I need to change the last integer in the set in line 445 of Configuration.h.


Also, while I am in here I noticed some settings for the ABL. When my printer does ABL, on the last row of points when it moves the Y-Aixs it hits the end stop of the table axis. Looking at the printhead position it's about 3mm behind the white outline of the heated bed. In my mind that can be caused by 2 things: the homing switch is positioned further down the axis than it should be or the limits are off. Given the back probe position is 10mm less than the max I would assume the limit switch is off. Should I adjust the BACK_PROBE_BED_POSITION parameter on line 365 down or should I be checking the homing switch on that axis to make sure it's seated properly and the axis is triggering it at the end of it's range?

Also, note for the robo 3d folks. When my printer arrived the red wire left side limit switch was disconnected. It was easy enough to plug back in but if I hadn't noticed it the ABL wouldn't have gone so well. I may solder a pig tail to the switches and switch the connector to a positive locking connector like the molex minifit.

 

The leadscrew upgrade firmware is the original R1+ firmware. The V2 has added some very minor changes and introduced a bug. Robo has yet to fix the bug, so I don't recommend it to anyone. Actually the best firmware you can get is the new Marlin 1.1.0 that @WheresWaldo has been updating for us. Move over to Mesh leveling and enjoy the nirvana of printing without ABL and with firmware that isn't outdated. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

 

The white box on the bed means nothing. It is just a graphic that has no bearing on where the build area should be. When you say the ABL hits the Y-axis to the endstop, so when it is doing the probing in the back it hits the endstop? Shouldn't go that far back if the grid is defined correctly and stock firmware should have it defined correctly.

 

I don't mind making that move to Marlin 1.1.0. You got a link on the firmware and the needed changes?

Also, another annoyance I ran into yesterday. If I stop a print in MC it will automatic move X to home but it doesn't raise the Z-Axis and the nozzle ends up brushing the printed mess. Is this a MC thing? Some point very soon I will be moving to OctoPrint. I flashed the Pi last night, just got to plug it in an get it setup.