Another "what causes this"

[lovincup]

i3v 10, ABS @ 225, E3Dv6 .35, 3mm Filament, bed @ 100, Simplify 3D

Greetings Farmers,

Recently I have been getting these weird "ripples". Any ideas?

The first layer went down perfectly, what you are looking at is the second layer. This anomaly has only been happening on this larger print. Smaller prints it doesn't happen, although I have only re-printed the Greg's small and large gears thinking they might be the culprit. The pattern makes me think it's something extruder related.

Tried varying hotend temp (hotter)
Changed extrusion multiplier
Changed glass thinking it might be warpage or glue stick buildup
Changed speed to slower thinking filament might be slipping because it couldn't keep up with the extrusion rate
I manually level with a feeler gauge before every print.

20151122_225151772_iOS.jpg

I appreciate any input.

[Chadd]

Have you observed this while it is happening? It could be a few things, and helps if you actually see it while it does it.

[Roxy]

Just for kicks, you should tell the Slic3r to fill at a different angle. That will change the length of time it is travelling in a given direction. My guess is if you still see ripples, they will change shape noticeably.

[Bobby Lin]

Hi Lovincup! There are several factors we can consider as to why you're getting ripples when printing. Here are a few things you can try:

1. Make sure the belts on your x and y axes didn't loosen up. They should be tight enough to pluck.
2. Try to gently rotate your y bed and make sure it is solid both where the delrin idlers press against the y rails. If they are loose tighten them up so the y bed only moves in the y direction and has no play in any other directions. Also do this with the x carriage.
3. Look under the z carriage and make sure that the two nuts that are on the threaded rods are still seated in their laser cut slots.
4. Make sure your hotend is rigidly mounted to the base of your extruder/x carriage.
5. Verify that the clipped down glass is securely fastened.
6. Verify that your seatbelt is securely fastened and your tray table is in it's upright position

Let me know if this works for you!

[lovincup]

Thanks guys,

@Chadd - yes I can see it happening but I cannot figure out why. Going to look more closely as I work through it.

@Roxy - good thought as it seems shorter runs are less susceptible to this issue. I will give it a shot

@Bobby Lin - Belt tension was also on my list of troubleshooting steps but I forgot to add it to my opening post list. The fact that the first layer is perfect had me looking looking elsewhere. It has been a while since I've checked the Y idlers against the rails, but I am pretty sure they are good. I did look at the x carriage path along the v rails thinking filament flakes or something could be on the rail, no such luck.

You all have given me some food for thought. When I get home I will try your suggestions. My gut still makes me think it's something in the extruder. I have a .4 nozzle that I will try while I acetone bath my .35 to clean and rule out partial cloggage. I will update once I have had a chance to work on it.

Thank you.

[Chadd]

When you see it does it look like the layer is not sticking to the previous layer and curling up in the areas where the ripple is or does it look like the hotend is dragging across the previous layer?

Thanks guys,

@Chadd - yes I can see it happening but I cannot figure out why. Going to look more closely as I work through it.

@Roxy - good thought as it seems shorter runs are less susceptible to this issue. I will give it a shot

@Bobby Lin - Belt tension was also on my list of troubleshooting steps but I forgot to add it to my opening post list. The fact that the first layer is perfect had me looking looking elsewhere. It has been a while since I've checked the Y idlers against the rails, but I am pretty sure they are good. I did look at the x carriage path along the v rails thinking filament flakes or something could be on the rail, no such luck.

You all have given me some food for thought. When I get home I will try your suggestions. My gut still makes me think it's something in the extruder. I have a .4 nozzle that I will try while I acetone bath my .35 to clean and rule out partial cloggage. I will update once I have had a chance to work on it.

Thank you.

[Roxy]

When you see it does it look like the layer is not sticking to the previous layer and curling up in the areas where the ripple is or does it look like the hotend is dragging across the previous layer?

Or... One more possibility... Does it look like extra material is being extruded? When I see this type of thing on my prints I believe it is extra material coming out of the nozzle.

[Chadd]

Or... One more possibility... Does it look like extra material is being extruded? When I see this type of thing on my prints I believe it is extra material coming out of the nozzle.

Yep that is usually what causes the dragging, either over extrusion, incorrect gap between the hotend and bed, first layer height set wrong, or if the bed happens to be warping from the heat cycle.

[lovincup]

Or... One more possibility... Does it look like extra material is being extruded? When I see this type of thing on my prints I believe it is extra material coming out of the nozzle.

Yes, this is one of my theories, That's why I was thinking perhaps the gears might have warped or worn out causing inconsistent extrusion, or excess pressure built up due to partial blockage.

[lovincup]

Yep that is usually what causes the dragging, either over extrusion, incorrect gap between the hotend and bed, first layer height set wrong, or if the bed happens to be warping from the heat cycle.

Agreed. If you look around the cutout in the picture of the print it looks like the hotend is being dragged through the plastic. What's weird is that I have been using the same profile for ages. I will cut the print in half just to confirm it's not an adhesion issue. I did consider a filament issue, inconsistent diameter or contamination. It is a good quality filament but it's my only roll so I cannot test with another. Ordering some more anyway.