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Solved Infill has air gaps between layers

Discussion in 'Troubleshooting' started by 1nxtmonster, Mar 6, 2015.

  1. 1nxtmonster

    1nxtmonster Active Member

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    Well this is a new problem that sprang up a week or so ago. I haven't changed any settings regarding infill, yet this started happening. The layers of infill are not fusing together and leaving a gap between them, causing weak prints. Picture of print with side removed to see infill:

    20150307_101250.jpg

    Any ideas?
     
    #1 1nxtmonster, Mar 6, 2015
  2. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    The layers are not bonding well either from that pic.
    No clue what to suggest since we don't know anything about how you are printing this: what filament it is, what temperatures you are using or software involved or really, anything about settings...
     
    #2 mark tomlinson, Mar 7, 2015
  3. 1nxtmonster

    1nxtmonster Active Member

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    Hatchbox PLA filament at 196 C. The layer bonding is good and on a piece with solid infill will print normally.

    Screen Shot 2015-03-07 at 12.05.27 PM.png
     
    #3 1nxtmonster, Mar 7, 2015
  4. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    In that pic the layer bonding is not good (you can see splits between a number of them).
    Boost the fill density a bit (try 35%) on a test model. Perhaps try creeping up the temperature a little (200 or a little hotter) and if that doesn't help then I'd suggest slicing it with something else.

    Repetier host would be my suggestion. Of the free ones it was the best (feature wise) and most consistent. Cura might have caught up since then, but try something else.

    The fact that you didn't change any settings ... not sure. The filament could be 'wet' now (having absorbed moisture) but in my case I have never had wet filament perform quite that badly.
     
    #4 mark tomlinson, Mar 7, 2015
  5. Quest

    Quest Member

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    are you using the same spool of filament as before you had this problem?
     
    #5 Quest, Mar 7, 2015
  6. 1nxtmonster

    1nxtmonster Active Member

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    Yes this spool has been fine before. I did change my rods to m5 shortly before this problem occurred, but the steps per mm are correct and a 30mm high structure measures in at 30.05 mm. Don't see any indications that the that could be causing it. There is a setting in repetier-host where it will combine multiple layers of infill into a thicker single line, I might try that.

    You mentioned the poor layer bonding, would that cause the numerous defects and divots on the side of the print? I can try using a different roll of filament to see if it absorbed moisture severely or has some other anomaly that would cause the poor bonding.
     
    #6 1nxtmonster, Mar 7, 2015
    Last edited: Mar 7, 2015
  7. Quest

    Quest Member

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    I would try printing a bit hotter like Mark said fist.
    It looks a bit on the cold side to me.
     
    #7 Quest, Mar 7, 2015
  8. 1nxtmonster

    1nxtmonster Active Member

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    I turned the temp up to 205C. On a test print it didn't make an improvement. Right now i'm printing with a new spool of filament, fresh out of the vacuum sealed bag. I'll update once the print finishes.
     
    #8 1nxtmonster, Mar 7, 2015
  9. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Yes, the splits you can see in that picture are a symptom of that as well. Try a little hotter for starters.
     
    #9 mark tomlinson, Mar 7, 2015
  10. 1nxtmonster

    1nxtmonster Active Member

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    Even with a new spool of filament running at 205, it still has the same issue.

    The only thing I can think of at this point is to remove the oiler from the filament.
     
    #10 1nxtmonster, Mar 7, 2015
  11. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Try anything, I am not convinced that will help. Unless you are using way too much the oil is not going to affect the print. Heck I have even had mine pool on the print when I first started using it and the worst that happened was some discoloration.

    20% infill is a bit low as I mentioned earlier, but if none of those setting affect it try a different program or at least a different slicer.
     
    #11 mark tomlinson, Mar 7, 2015
  12. 1nxtmonster

    1nxtmonster Active Member

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    I was looking at an old print, and saw that the infill lines were considerably wider than the current infill:

    20150307_132427.jpg

    In the settings for extrusion width, I had mistakenly changed the width from 0 (default) to 100%, not realizing that the percentage was of the layer height. So with a larger infill percentage, it was not that noticeable. But once I tried low infill (20%) the issue of thin lines really compounded for the worse. Now a new rule for myself: "Don't mess with the settings, stupid!"

    I set it back to default and the prints are looking much better. Thanks all for your help
     
    #12 1nxtmonster, Mar 7, 2015
    mark tomlinson likes this.

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