After taking my MendelMax 1.5 apart to try my E3D v6 I’ve had some extrusion problems. I’ve watch the print very carefully and I don’t see any problems with the gears or bolt. The hobbed bolt is clean and in good condition. Any guesses what the problem might be? At least on the positive side, the recently added bed leveling with a fotek inductive sensor is working extremely well.
Was the hot end the only thing you changed?
I gave up on the E3D hot end after babying it for months, too sensitive for me and I made many accomidations to try to work with it but it clogged one too many times.
I am using Printrbot Ubis hot end now with effector designed by JohnSL for his 3DR simple.
Looks like the first layer is too close to the bed. If you stop the print while it’s still laying down the first layer, you can use calipers to measure the actual layer thickness and compare that against the nominal one you set in your slicer.
Could also be a loose belt pulley (or other mechanical issue), check if the grub screws are all tight.
And last but not least, at what speed and layer thickness are you using?
@Richard_Turnock , I’ve swapped back to my trust j head and it was a v6 which should be better with pla.
@Thomas_Sanladerer perhaps. it doesn’t explain the banding on the second layer though nor why the artifacts on the first layer have the same spacing. I’'ll measure the part that only had one layer to check the height later though it looked pretty good.
Did it behave differently with different filament?
Summoning @Sanjay_Mortimer
Just to be clear, the E3D v6 isn’t the problem but something I did while changing hotends. I see the same issue regardless of whether I use the jhead or E3Dv6. i’ve gone back to my jhead to eliminate the hotend as a variable. I intend to re-test the E3Dv6 once I’ve fixed this problem (and printed a new x carriage to better fit the E3Dv6).
The 3D printer is a system. As you know the parts make an interconnected whole that does something none of the parts can do alone. Well, anyway, a systemic approach to problem solving might be needed. I sometimes waste a lot of time not taking measurements or testing wiring and just guessing. Then in a burst of measuring, eliminating possible problems, and insight I have been able to resolve most issues. Many people helped me along the way in the Google Group on Delta Printers. There is also the Reprap forum to try for Prusa help.
Slicer settings? Just guessing.
I still have to wonder if there is an intermittent issue along the length of the filament…or a belt/line/screw/rod rubbing.
Looks to me like the hot end is not perfectly aligned along the z axis. One side plows and the bead is raised on the other side.
Odd thing is it appears not to have effected the perimeters. Maybe an extrusion width issue?
@NathanielStenzel Interesting thought. Thanks. My test print is quite small 50x50x0.5 so I’ll try it again with different filament. I’ll also try watching the spool holder to see if it is periodic pulling/tightening of the filament delivery part of the system.
@Richard_Turnock It’s not a slic3r problem. I’ve checked the gcode and each one of the infill lines is the same with respect to relative motion and filament extruded.
@Mark_Hindess Keep in mind that filament thickness and kinks have been known problems in some cheap filament.
@NathanielStenzel I tend to avoid cheap filament for that reason. This was faberdashery red. I’ve not checked it but I’ve never had filament problems with the (literally) miles of filament I’ve used from them.