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Answered Print Quality Not Very Good

Discussion in 'Troubleshooting' started by Travis M, Jan 2, 2016.

  1. Travis M

    Travis M New Member

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    I have been trying for quite a while to get a good quality print other than some simple test cubes that I printed. I also added a picture of the Marvin test file from 3dhubs that I have been trying to print.

    Settings from Cura -
    Layer Height - .1 (Also tried .2 but that did not help)
    Shell Thickness - .8
    Retraction is on
    Bottom/Top Thickness - .8
    Fill Density - 20% (I also tried at 25% but that did not help)
    Speed - 30mm/s
    Print Temp. - 210 (Also tried at 195 even worse result)
    Bed Temp. - 50 (Also tried at 70 even worse result)
    No Support or brim/raft
    Retraction Speed - 50mm/s
    Retraction Distance - 4.5mm
    Initial Layer Thickness - .3mm
    Travel Speed - 150mm/s
    Bottom layer Speed - 30mm/s
    Infill Speed - 40mm/s
    Top/Bottom Speed - 40mm/s
    Outer Shell Speed - 45mm/s
    Inner Shel Speed - 45mm/s
    Minimal Layer time 15 sec
    Fan full on at height 1mm
    Fan min/max 100%
    Minimum Speed 19mm/s
    Cool head lift - on

    Sorry if this was a long list.. but I did not want to miss anything that could be the cause! Besides settings are there any other calibrations that I should do to improve quality? (I have already done the Z height calibration which let me get to this point at least).

    IMG_2858.JPG
     
    #1 Travis M, Jan 2, 2016
  2. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Did you calibrate the eSteps (extruder)?
    Some of that might be over extrusion (or a loose belt -- kind of hard to call).
     
    #2 mark tomlinson, Jan 2, 2016
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  3. Travis M

    Travis M New Member

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    Not yet, but that was something I was thinking about trying. On Cura it does not give a default value for the eSteps (It references the firmware with just a 0) so what would be a good value to try first? Tightening the belt is something I will also try.
     
    #3 Travis M, Jan 2, 2016
  4. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    #4 mark tomlinson, Jan 2, 2016
  5. Travis M

    Travis M New Member

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    Is it possible to just use the E-steps per 1mm filament setting in Cura instead of reflahsing the firmware? (I have the Robo 3D R1 +Plus and on the firmware release notes site it says to not reflash the firmware for the printer...).
     
    #5 Travis M, Jan 2, 2016
  6. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    It says that for a couple of reasons the most important one being it is so easy to pick the wrong one (the other being that there are no updates by Robo for the R1+ that require changes).

    The one on that page that you need is the one labeled "leadscrew update"

    I do not know Cura so I can't say what it could do, but seriously this is best done in the firmware at any rate. You are not going to change it once you get the correct value since it is all mechanical dependencies.
     
    #6 mark tomlinson, Jan 2, 2016
  7. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    #7 mark tomlinson, Jan 2, 2016
  8. Travis M

    Travis M New Member

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    Ok thanks... I used the M500 command to save the new value and then rebooted the printer and verified that the new value was remembered with the M503 command. Does this accomplish the same thing as reflashing the firmware?
     
    #8 Travis M, Jan 2, 2016
  9. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    #9 mark tomlinson, Jan 2, 2016
  10. Travis M

    Travis M New Member

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    Hmmm... Here is another Marvin that I just printed with the new settings (I decided to go ahead and reflash the firmware with the new eSteps setting). It is about the same as the one I started out with. The belt seems to be tight already. Are there any other things I could try?

    IMG_2861.JPG IMG_2862.JPG
     

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    #10 Travis M, Jan 2, 2016
  11. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Well, try another slicer. Slic3r maybe.
    If mechanically everything is right then it must be in the software.
    Still looks like a loose drive component to me, but if those are all secure it must be the slicer.

    Don't forget that the belt may be tight, but the drive gear for the belt (on the motor shaft) may not be.
     
    #11 mark tomlinson, Jan 2, 2016
  12. Travis M

    Travis M New Member

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    Just checked the screws and they were all tight. I recently tried Slic3r and it did not seem to improve the problem. Would investing in Simplify3D be a good idea? I was considering contacting them and asking if they could offer a trial license or just buy it and see how if it would help.
     
    #12 Travis M, Jan 2, 2016
  13. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Best money I spent after buying the printer, but you need to make that call.
    I used to run into slicer issues every few weeks and played the 'which slicer fails the least' game on more complex models. That has happened exactly... urrm... let me see... (carry the one, divide by 3)... ZERO times since switching.

    They don't, but I wish they did.

    Seriously, while S3D is a good product and I would recommend it highly, I just want to be sure there isn't a mechanical issue here since that is easy to fix :) Loose belts, loose drive gears, something blocking the carriage, over/under extrusion -- all of those things need to be eliminated. Seems like you might have covered all of them. The only other thing I would suggest is try a different spool of filament. I have not had wet or otherwise old filament behave exactly that way (it usually has more visual than structural issues) but might as well rule it out.
     
    #13 mark tomlinson, Jan 2, 2016
  14. Travis M

    Travis M New Member

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    Ok thank you so much for your help. I will try another spool and see if that helps. Otherwise I might just decide to get Simplify 3D. :cool:
     
    #14 Travis M, Jan 2, 2016
  15. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    You won't be unhappy with the software, I just wanted to make sure it can help this issue -- for certain there are others it will solve (like support material, faster slicing, etc.) I could be wrong and it might very well squash this as well.
     
    #15 mark tomlinson, Jan 2, 2016
  16. Geof

    Geof Volunteer Moderator
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    I agree with Mark T. It looks like over extrusion. The belt on my robo had to be tightened...more so than I thought was needed. The set screws on the shaft was tight but not tight enough (visably saw them moving on the shaft). I'm currently using cura for print issues (was using matter control) but that seems really reminiscent of the loose belt issue I had.
     
    #16 Geof, Jan 3, 2016
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  17. Travis M

    Travis M New Member

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    I purchased Simplify3D this morning and my prints today have been MUCH better (after I redefined the z height offset in the start gcode). I am thinking now that it could have just been a bad setting in Cura. Regardless I would have bought Simplify3D just for the other benefits it offers eventually. Regardless how do you tighten the belt? It already seems pretty tight, but l could be wrong as I have no reference point to accurately make that assumption.
     
    #17 Travis M, Jan 3, 2016
  18. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    #18 mark tomlinson, Jan 3, 2016
  19. Geof

    Geof Volunteer Moderator
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    Diddo. As Far as how tight... I have no way to answer other than tight. I wasn't able to over tighten mine, doesn't mean you can't but my specific belt (x) has almost no slack on top (like a banjo string as the old timer at work says). Please remember that is my machine, they will all be different
     
    #19 Geof, Jan 3, 2016

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