Unresolved random "ribs" fat layers

I'm getting random ribs on my projects since switching to repetier.

I think I've successfully transferred all my settings from MC... MC was giving me great prints, but was having auto leveling problems.

Repetier has a lot of promise.. but.

The picture is of a hastily fast printed object on .2mm layer. The lower res seems to be more obvious. I slowed down my speeds to see if that helped. Printing a step pyramid calibration block slow as hell... still happening.
The layers that poke out follow all the way around. They aren't just on one axis. they're "FAT LAYERS"...

There is no obvious pattern to the striations.
I think I've eliminated Z wobble, and I didn't have anything at all like this on MC so again, seems like software.

What do you think the problem is?

 

ABS or PLA? Whats your temp? Have you measured your filament diameter? What about extrusion calibration?

 

Pla... Im extruding between 200-215... Messing around with various settings... But the ribs persist through all.

The thing is, the only difference is matter control vs repetier. I pulled over all the settings from matter control. The setting in matter control were calibrated. X,Y,Z and extruder steps. Used slic3r engine for both.

Matter control was good... Repetier has these bumps, same numbers...
Does everything need re-calibration for the new software?

I know they act quite a bit different. Matter control was causing erroneous z data... Repetier erroneous x y?

 

Does your printer have a cover on the bottom? You should always specify the filament size as close to actual dimensions as you can. The Extruder steps per mm calibration should be written to the firmware, if you used the EEProm settings in MatterControl they won't stick to other slicers.

Does your printer have a cover on the bottom? If not what are you using for your layer height?

Check your X and Y pulley set screw as well to make sure it's snug and tight.

 

It has the bottom on it. Its brand new. Only had it a week.
I've been using the eeprom writing them in each time before a print. I'll re-calibrate when i get home.

Everything was super tuned up and tightened. I'll check and see though.
It looks like its actually printing a bit wider around the perimiter on purpose. It seems software. It still works fine in matter control, but for the auto-alignment issue.

 

Ok if you have a bottom then you should be running 2560 steps per mm and even layer heights (.1, .2, .3, etc)

What temp is your bed running at? I heard a theory that unpredictable ribbing like that might be caused by temperature fluctuations in the bed during thermal cycles from Bang-Bang.

I'd start by calibrating your extrusion steps per mm and then make sure your filament diameter is set correctly. Looks a bit like bulge to me. I do see some slight ribbing up at the top.

 

Thanks... I'll try all this and report back

 

well... I re-calibrated... instead of 2560, my number is 2290... over and over... 2290 for z step.
I got 748 for the extruder. So... those numbers look weird right? Well? My cube came out perfect.. well almost. Something with the base layers. 2 attempts.. 2 issues with 3rd layer either extruding too little or being too far away. Strange.
but this is the result with the above steps. within .02 all the way around.


ok... changed some things... looks like that bottom is fixed now. will report back after successful "real" print.

 

2267.72

Something is wrong here. That Z step per unit number should be an exact number and only depends on your leadscrew pitch. You have a new machine which has 1.25mm per rotation *(http://prusaprinters.org/calculator/) so the firmware value must be 2560.0. I'm not sure how you got 2290 but it is wrong and will accumulate and give you worse and worse off Z heights as you get to taller prints. Note that you will always get a small offset in the Z height due to your first layer setting but this is only for one layer and won't accumulate every layer.

(Also the X and Y steps per numbers are exact and should not be changed.)

The extruder number is not exact and depends on your effective hobbed bolt diameter. It can be calibrated and modified.

( *Calculation: (200 steps/rotation)*(16 microsteps/step)/(1.25 mm/rotation) = 2560.0 steps/mm )

 

yea... I hear and obey... started at 0 again.

but these ribs keep appearing. But only in repetier...

Not sure what's causing that spacing on the bottom layer..

 

ugh.. now its going back to the fails it was having with matter control. I am afraid it might be a bum machine. Losing commands or something.

 

Can you try printing the Z_Resonence test here: https://www.youmagine.com/designs/make-2015-3d-printer-shoot-out-test-geometries

 

SO... Printed your requested file. Thanks for that.
First one I did at .03 res. Figured no reason to spend forever printing to show the bumps.. But it came out well. Close to good...
SO... Rather than stop there, I printed one at .02. You can easily see which is which.

Oh yea... and all my resolution settings are the same setting just with a .01 .02 .03 layer height

Other thing... the 2nd one... the junky one froze up about 10 mm from the top.
Heaters stayed on, but axis stopped responding. First time for that. Don't know if it was computer or Robo fail. The more I clicked "home" etc the more commands stacked up. But it doesn't mean the computer was trying to communicate.

 

So, watching prints... it seems to print along fine, then all of a sudden, its over stuffing. this goes on for a few layers then it levels out. If I put it on high speed it works better, but not always 100%. Don't understand why medium or high quality would work worse than low.. just more opportunities i guess.

I've tried it on the factory default 723 e step and also my calibrated step ... about 760.

 

Yeah I really think that's a calibration issue with the filament. I'm not seeing ribbing or anything that would indicate a mechanical issue. Just looks like a filament issue. Also the fact that there's not a consistent pattern lends to that theory.

Slow it down to like 30mm/s or slower and try again at .2mm.

Over stuffed layers that eventually even out also might be a rounding error issue. But you see more of a gradient increase instead of one big fat layer

 

Thanks for all the help....

I do get 1 big fat layers sometimes..
I was already at 30 mm/s.. I can slow it down more and re-print.
I'll try again.
I've had some colossal fails and some decent success trying different things today. Strange. I'll print the same thing twice and one will all but work, the next will fail catastrophically. I've used 4 different brands of high quality filament in different colors. I get the same ribbing and occasionally, failure of layers to adhere to eachother. Still messing with settings. But I have my "factory" settings saved as a baseline.

I have the strange problem of, on the same part I will get layer separation (I don't mean warping, I mean, they never touch well) in the same print that I have sides bulging out in apparent over stuffing.

I did find that one grub screw on the x axis might have been a touch loose... but tightening it didn't prove any better.
I went through every bit of hardware last night with an allen key and tried to make sure everything was tight and fit well.

Hopefully its a case of the "noobs" and I'll find some setting I've had backwards this whole time.

Though I am a bit skeptical. The extruder stopped extruding on y- earlier.. Then started again for no reason.

That is, when it would turn a corner and be heading 90% y- It would stop extracting. Wheel would stop. Then when it turned the next corner, it would start up again. Tried 2 different programs and 3 slicers, flashed firmware to v1, then v2 again... restarted, unplugged everything... then it changed to not extruding while heading x-... then x+. but only one axis 1 direction at a time.
gave up, turned it off, walked away. Came back and it was working.

Oh yea.. and it printed a spiral yesterday. It was printing fine... walked away.. about half way through, my model turned into a spiral. Then later the wife was printing something, it came out skewed 30% taller and narrower than it should. Printed the same slice again, and it was fine, but for some ribs.

 

mind you... this is what I was printing over last weekend...

nothing new... Switched to repetier to get auto-leveling to work (It was failing z axis control of some sort in matter control) and now neither will work.
I'm leaning toward hardware.. but in the mega board area. Or... I'm the only one that's running windows 8 and 8.1. Haven't successfully got my mac to recognize it as a printer... though I have gotten it to connect.

 

Fixed it...
Well... hopefully. Its doing well so far.

The big difference between what I'm doing now and what I was doing 3 days ago...
I returned the robo and got a new one.
Of course, the one I got wouldn't power on, but after I opened it and plugged in a few wires.. it worked. Even works with matter control just fine.

Strange... bought 1 week apart... not even... and this one has a extruder fan that actually stays in place, the z screw rods are teflon taped into their housings and there are bushings on the z support rods. Its about 3 times quieter than the last one as well. Thanks amazon...

Thanks Mike...
Hopefully this gets it.