Why is this happening to my prints?

Hi all, first time 3D printer owner here. I picked up a PowerSpec 3D Pro (Flashforge Creator Pro clone) a few weeks ago and still haven't managed to print anything substantial due to print quality issues.

First few layers look okay, but then it's downhill. The print below was using the latest version of Makerbot Desktop, 100% infill, 2 shells, .2 mm layer height, extruder temp 228C, build plate 110C, 30 mm/s extruding, 40 mm/s traveling. Using a black ABS from Micro Center, on a sheet of glass with hairspray.

Any ideas why this is happening?

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Cheers,
Stefan

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Originally Posted by stefan

Hi all, first time 3D printer owner here. I picked up a PowerSpec 3D Pro (Flashforge Creator Pro clone) a few weeks ago and still haven't managed to print anything substantial due to print quality issues.

First few layers look okay, but then it's downhill. The print below was using the latest version of Makerbot Desktop, 100% infill, 2 shells, .2 mm layer height, extruder temp 228C, build plate 110C, 30 mm/s extruding, 40 mm/s traveling. Using a black ABS from Micro Center, on a sheet of glass with hairspray.

Any ideas why this is happening?

Attachment 3957Attachment 3958

Cheers,
Stefan

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It could be either a bad filament or possibly some gunk in there... The only filament I have ever had that destroyed my nozzles came from flashforge. The second photo looks like one of your heads is also dragging across the print.

Re this thread:

http://3dprintboard.com/showthread.p...ighlight=black

page 2..

been there, done that... FF replaced it but didn't care much for the nozzles it destroyed, hence the reason I said a big <insert appropriate hand gesture> and made sure my next purchase was not a flashforge.

Thanks for the reply, Geoff. I seemed to be having the same problem with different colors / brands of filament, so I decided to try some of the Makerbot Desktop settings mentioned in the first Amazon review for the Flashforge Creator Pro. Seems to have made a decent improvement. Seems like it might be over-extruding?

This is the latest build of the detachable Flashforge door hinge although I cancelled it after I realized I should've had supports turned on.

-Stefan

Attachment 3967

I thought over extrusion too but when I see the first photo.. the first 10 or more layers seem consistent.. I am actually starting to think more of a calibration issue now after looking at your new photo, see how most of it is ok and you just have that line there? And when I look at your first photos, that is around the same point it started messing up also, just with a worse final outcome.... It's sort of like the Z axis is not moving down as far as it should OR is missing a step, so the plastic ends up being too close when extruded and you get that... but at some point it corrects the Z error and starts printing again ok... Very odd...

Knowing these machines well, the Z axis is pretty stable so I have no idea why that would be off other than firmware... what version is it running?

As for makerware, I just use the replicator 2 profile and always have, but I am using the very first flashforge creator dual, still with firmware 1.0 as it works like a charm - I upgraded once and it was a big mistake so I reverted and for me, ABS, PLA no problemo printing on my old flashy.

Silly question I know, but you have tried printing several other objects ? different models etc , in different areas of the build plate? different rotations?

I'm seeing overextrusion. I had the same problem and I found a setting in my slicer that got changed by accident. My extrusion tweak was at 300% instead of 100% and my hot end was moving around is a wet and gooey pile of plastic. It was driving me crazy until I found it.

Geoff, I think the line showed up on the layer that has a flat surface. On the hexagonal infill layers the shell looks good, but then once it hits that outer layer (roof?), I noticed the nozzle plowing through the infill and I think that's where we see the defect. The hinge from the first set of pics was @ 100% infill, whereas the second was something like 30%. As far as firmware version, I think the LCD reads PowerSpec 3D Pro v1.2 on startup and Skeinforge sees it as a Sailfish firmware, but I'll have to go back and check tomorrow. I'll also try the hinge again in a different location/rotation and see what happens.

RobH2, I played around with the feedDiameter and currently have it jacked up to 1.90mm and managed to print an OK-looking Marvin. Probably should be changing the feedstockMultiplier instead, but I've read conflicting accounts of whether to increment or decrement that variable to reduce the amount of extruded plastic. Which slicer are you using? I'm actually thinking about upgrading to Simplify3D soon based on all the glowing reviews.

Attachment 3983

Stefan

EDIT:
Was looking at the wrong side of the hinge, I see what you meant, Geoff, about the first 10 layers or so...then the line. Still not sure what the cause is, maybe those layers were are at 100% infill and the problem gets compounded by layer ~10?

'stefan', looks like you are narrowing in. Sometimes it takes weeks to get it right. Keep vigilant.

I use Simplify3D and I'm one of those "glowers." I can't say enough good things about it but I have to watch myself or people will think I work for them... I just really like it. After cutting my teeth on Slic3r, Cura, Kissllicer (the cleanest slicer I've ever seen), Repetier and Skeinforge (the hardest and most configurable with the 'worst' interface ever) I feel like S3D solves all of my needs and wants for now. It makes sense to me and it just works. Plus, I love the way it lets you do custom supports. See, there I go, rambling on about it. My wife says, "please god, don't say the words "S3D" around him, we can't take it anymore" ... lol....

I'm glad that 'Geoff' got you going. He's a good diagnoser.

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Originally Posted by stefan

Geoff, I think the line showed up on the layer that has a flat surface. On the hexagonal infill layers the shell looks good, but then once it hits that outer layer (roof?), I noticed the nozzle plowing through the infill and I think that's where we see the defect. The hinge from the first set of pics was @ 100% infill, whereas the second was something like 30%. As far as firmware version, I think the LCD reads PowerSpec 3D Pro v1.2 on startup and Skeinforge sees it as a Sailfish firmware, but I'll have to go back and check tomorrow. I'll also try the hinge again in a different location/rotation and see what happens.

RobH2, I played around with the feedDiameter and currently have it jacked up to 1.90mm and managed to print an OK-looking Marvin. Probably should be changing the feedstockMultiplier instead, but I've read conflicting accounts of whether to increment or decrement that variable to reduce the amount of extruded plastic. Which slicer are you using? I'm actually thinking about upgrading to Simplify3D soon based on all the glowing reviews.

Attachment 3983

Stefan

EDIT:
Was looking at the wrong side of the hinge, I see what you meant, Geoff, about the first 10 layers or so...then the line. Still not sure what the cause is, maybe those layers were are at 100% infill and the problem gets compounded by layer ~10?

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Changing the filament diameter to larger than actual isn't a good way to operate. In makerware you increase the feedstock to reduce the amount of filament. Print out some 20mm x 20mm x 10mm calibration cubes. .2mm layers, 100% infill, 235 temp, 90degree bed, 60mm/s speed. Measure the exact filament diameter in several spots, almost all the filament I have is 1.7ish. Start with a feed stock about 1.1 then work your way down. Each cube should take about 15-20min to print, they go pretty fast.

Speed up your print. I discovered by accident that there is such a thing as printing too slowly. I can't tell you why that is, it would seem that slower is always better other than the time increase but I had several prints that looked a lot like yours not too long ago. I was trying for some fine details and a good surface finish so I dropped my feed rates down to 40/60 and got that same kind of crappy results. After several failed prints I decided it was time to experiment with some settings but I didn't want to spend hours getting there so I sped things back up to my normal 70/80-90 and suddenly everything was coming out great again. Now maybe that has something to do with other settings that I don't have correct but for now I'm ok with fixing the symptoms without knowing the cause.

Wow, thanks everyone for the great responses. It's much appreciated.

RobH2, glad to hear about another S3D fan...looking forward to making the jump soon.

jfkansas, thanks for the clarification of feedstockMultiplier. The calibration cubes will be my next step.

soofle616, that's really interesting...agree it seems counterintuitive to speed up. Definitely will give that a shot as well. I'm curious to see what kind of quality others have managed to get from their machines.

-Stefan

printing too slow on a small model results in the plastic staying hot and still soft when the next layer goes down.
You can improve this by adding active cooling to the print area and/or printing several modesl at once which gives the plastic time to cool between layers.

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Originally Posted by curious aardvark

printing too slow on a small model results in the plastic staying hot and still soft when the next layer goes down.

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I tend to disagree. I've found that when printing very small items with a normal/fast feedrate, the layer it's trying to print on is still soft so the whole thing gets mushed and wiggled around like jello as the extruder drags along the item. Slowing it down (via the "minlayerduration" option in Makerbot Desktop json file) as well as calibrating the feed diameter and feedstock multiplier solved my problem.

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Originally Posted by curious aardvark

printing several modesl at once which gives the plastic time to cool between layers.

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Fully agree with that--that's the best solution I've found.

I have this same printer, and I'm having similar issues. Stefan, did you ever figure it out? Some of my prints come out good, and others are pretty rough. Any time I up the infill, they come out looking pretty rough, though. Should I be able to print ABS at 100% infill without issue?

I also picked up Simplify3D, but the print quality was worse that I was getting with ReplicatorG, so I likely need to fine tune and tweak the settings once I start reading up on it and learning it.

I am also using Microcenter's cheap $15 Filament, so I might grab a roll of something else today to try it out.

Simplify3D is not unlike any other slicer in that you won't generally get amazing prints right out of the bag by default. You'll need to get in there and figure it out and tweak a bit. But once you get it you'll love it I think, especially once you start playing with the 'custom' supports.

Yeah, I'm not sure what I was doing wrong, but with ReplicatorG's supports, my prints were coming out fine. With Simplify3D's, the bottom of every print is saggy and loopy.

I am sure I can fix it, but out of the box, it is significantly worse than what I had.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by catalyst

I have this same printer, and I'm having similar issues. Stefan, did you ever figure it out? Some of my prints come out good, and others are pretty rough. Any time I up the infill, they come out looking pretty rough, though. Should I be able to print ABS at 100% infill without issue?

I also picked up Simplify3D, but the print quality was worse that I was getting with ReplicatorG, so I likely need to fine tune and tweak the settings once I start reading up on it and learning it.

I am also using Microcenter's cheap $15 Filament, so I might grab a roll of something else today to try it out.

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I can't confirm 100% that I've worked through all the issues, but I've attached my latest print of the 'fully printable PCB vice' drive screw from thingiverse, and it's my best yet. I was looking my printer over and found a few surprises, like my Y-axis stepper mount was broken, photo attached. After replacing the mount with the spare provided with the PowerSpec 3D Pro, I also tightened up the Y-axis belt (loosen the two mounting screws on back of machine, push down to increase belt tension, and tighten screws again), and also tightened the X-axis belt (loosen the four screws, increase tension by pulling to the right, re-tighten). I then leveled the bed once more after pre-heating to 105C and set feedstockMultiplier to 1.08 in Makerbot Desktop. I just got Simplify3D too, but haven't used it yet.

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