I think I finally understand what’s wrong with my printer
When it’s laying down a solid layer the lines have a gap between them (this is easiest to spot on the first couple layers on the bottom, etc.). The result is a waffle-like pattern, almost like it’s skipping fill every other line.
This became obvious when I started printing something that gets wider as it goes up, because the outside shells would print into open air because they were getting laid down a line’s width wider than the layer below.
My only guess as to why is that maybe it’s a microstepping mismatch between the hardware (RAMPS) and firmware, but I’m not sure if that could do this. Possible?
If it’s got four legs and hooves, it’s probably a horse and not a zebra. (It could be a zebra, but it probably isn’t.)
As suggested - check your calibrations with a ruler. Send 100mm movement commands in the X and Y, and check what’s actually being performed. Mark your filament 15mm from the extruder or so, send a 10mm extrusion command, and see how much it actually extrudes. Check your filament diameter and compare it to what your slicer expects. Once all of that checks out, get back to us.
@jesse_mccabe Extrusion multiplier is just a quick and dirty fix for an incorrect calibration. Best to make sure the extrusion calibration is correct before tweaking the multiplier.
“Plaid” layers is usually indicative of your filament slipping on the drive gear or being chewed up before finally having enough pressure to pass through.
I had issues like this with slic3r, setting the extrusion width manually helped. Use a micrometer on the filament to check for diameter. Calibrate your extrusion rate, make sure 100mm of filament is really 100mm. Print calibration cubes slower to check that your extruder isn’t slipping. Make sure your motors aren’t overheating, if they get hot to the touch, then the current is set too high.
Print solid calibration prints, if there are gaps between the lines, increase your extrusion multiplier. If the lines are bumpy and smushed together then reduce the multiplier. Unless you’re using spectra, the x y and z axis should be calculated, not measured and adjusted.
I chased this for a long time as an extrusion problem, everything cleaned, calibrated and most replaced. It got better, but didn’t go away.
I even was tricked into thinking it was under-extrusion because when I cranked up the flow the problem was reduced, but based on what I’m seeing now I think that was just masking the real problem by overfilling into the gaps between lines (it never completely eliminated the error).
Since last night I did more noodling and reading and I’m pretty sure it’s an error in my steps-per-mm firmware setting error. I’m not sure if this is something I introduced or if it’s a wear-and-tear on the printer issue, but my next move is going to be a complete recalibration of the X and Y axis, and I’m also seriously considering swapping out the stock old belts for GT2 stuff.
I’ll definitely check back in once I have time to recalibrate and run a test. Thanks again to all of you who have provided feedback through this long process
TL;DR: when all else fails, recalibrate everything (individually).
I couldn’t get a clear answer about my stock belts so I used that as an excuse for a long overdue upgrade to GT2 belts & pulleys.
This gave me a reliable starting point and with little more than @Josef_Prusa 's calculator I had moves that were accurate beyond my ability to measure.
Still there were gaps between the lines (not as bad but still there, so I ran through @Triffid_Hunter 's E steps fine tuning and after a few rounds had results rivialing the output I had before all this started so long ago.
I’m not sure how things got out of whack, could have been physical wear or a mistake updating firmware, etc. but the morale of the story is don’t overlook recalibration, and do so systematically, starting at the bottom
