So apparently I’m having some Z wobble issues with my printer. I still can’t quite figure out what’s going on aside from the fact that I have a cheap printer. The wobble use to be worse but I recently added an anti-wobble mod that basically detaches the Z axis rods so that they can’t push things around. Well apparently they still are. Do you guys think that upgrading to some actual lead screws will help vs the current threaded rods that I have? Or is there something else I can try? I’ve tried tightening and loosening the belts and that doesn’t seem to do much. Any other ideas? I’m about to just say screw it and buy a new printer.
Also, that rectangular tower is like 20mm wide I think. Just for some scale of the wobble.
The banding isn’t uniform except within uniform sections. So I’m not sure that what you’re seeing is Z wobble. I suspect a problem with extrusion and layer height settings.
It looks like the banding is the same on all sides, wobble would mean that the banding “shifts” from side to side. Is the temperature stable? Is it metric screws or Imperial? I heard somewhere that non metric screws can have layer height problems since steps/mm won’t add up and there will be rounding errors showing in intervals. This seems a bit severe for that thou.
@Gary_Tolley_Grogyan well that was the idea with the Z wobble mod that I did. The rods basically float so it seems like the rods being bent wouldn’t have much of an impact. But I’m probably wrong. I just didn’t want to spend the money. Lol. Idk what size I need, plus I’d have to buy new couplers and I just bought the ones I have a couple of weeks ago. I’m really considering just getting a different printer.
@Dale_Dunn idk. I’ve tried a bunch of settings and it’s pretty consistent. I have another printer I use at work and I don’t have this issue. Same software.
@Rikard_Hamrin yes temp is stable but idk about the screws. I assume they are 6mm threaded rods. I’m kinda nervous about getting different rods as idk which ones are the right ones to get.
It can also be caused by backlash, or a poor placement of the bed thermistor combined with a lack of PID algorithm.
To test backlash, try printing circular shapes and seeing if they are not round. There are also backlash test prints you can try.
To fix issues with the bed, you will need to reflash your firmware with a version that uses PID on the bed, and calibrate the PID. You can also try printing with the bed turned off.
Check and make sure your z step/mm is correct, and set you z layer height to be full step multiples of the height.
Does the pitch of the banding match the pitch of your screws?
I’ve had a similar problem and I found that my lead nut was too loose and the screw was “walking around” inside the nut, causing inconsistent layers
I had all 3 problems on a makergear, which is a rather expensive printer. The leadscrew is inches, so millimeter layer heights caused some banding. The thermistor was off to the very edge of the bed, so the bang-bang heating of the bed caused it to expand (heat) and contract (cool) significantly causing the bed to warp up and down. The belt was a loop belt and was clamped poorly on both the x and y axis causing massive backlash (you couldn’t tension the belt against the clamp, since it was a loop). All of this made for bad prints until I fixed all of the issues.
@Lukas_Mathis no, the filament seems fine. It’s just something with this printer. I’m thinking I may need new Z axis lead screws but idk at this point.
I agree with Lukas, the third pic seems to rule out that the pitch of the banding has much/anything to do with the pitch of the z rods/screws. I’d say try to look really close at the printer head and bed while printing, and see if you can detect any relative movement between the two. It may be tiny, so you you may have to find a way to measure it If you can. Bed warping seems likely, maybe just leave the bed under printing conditions (any cooling fans should be on as well), and put something on it to indicate movement relative to the hot end.
