Level / Printing Issues

[RDaugherty]

So I recently bought a 3D Printer; Upgraded from a Monoprice Mini -> Qidi X-Pro and was super stoked to get to printing. But I have had non-stop issues from it.

First of all, I'll say I am in contact with the customer support and where they have been great they are a little slow on the responses (understandable) so I figured I'd query you guys here as well!

So the issue I believe I am having is a level issue, and I BELIEVE/HOPE it is not my issue. I feel as if the bed is warped or something but I cannot confirm this myself.

The issue right out of the box I had was inconsistent prints, I would have something sliced and 1/5 it would print well, the rest it either never would stick to the plate of shortly after the first few layers the infill/layers would fail and I would end up with a big old glob/mess.

I was finally able through the help of Qidi Support get one thing to print 100% of the time, with the same detail (Benchy Boat) but that was the only thing I could get to print well. I could re-slice the Boat myself and get good prints but when I went to print other STL's they were hit or miss as well. Namely, calibration cubes. So that got me to thinking, and I took the Benchy Boat and decided to print it NOT centered and found I believe my issue was with leveling. If I moved it anywhere other than center I could not get it to print what-so-ever. So I started messing with manually moving the extruder around and testing various points on the plate for exact level-ness and found I could not get a consistent level on all points of the plate.


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Let me preface this with I have spent almost 2 hours trying to get it consistent with 0 success, no matter how finely I tune the screws I cannot get results to match up.

For this sake, lets go with the default level function on the printer which is 3 points, A, C and E. If I match those 3 points up with the level sheet that comes with the printer I can slide it under the extruder and then move it around with little resistance, but not a lot.

Points F and D have 0 resistance at all, it doesn't even touch the nozzle as I am sliding it under.

Point G has little resistance going under, and almost non moving it back and fourth compared to A, C and E.

Point B I cannot slide the paper under the nozzle at all, it is too close to the plate. And this is my problem, no matter how I level the plate, F, B and D are vastly different from each other and markedly different from A, C, E and G.

Any thoughts ?

Thanks for the time!

[RDaugherty]

A little update; tentatively.... I looked under the build adhesion plate and found the like.. 12x screws that I guess holds the plate together/maybe the magnetic plate ? Either way, since these were spread out throughout the plate I figured maybe I could try and fine tune the level even further by loosening/tightening the areas that I am finding inconsistencies. So I tightened everything to snug (1-3 took like, || much of a snug) and then I loosened the four corners just a hair and then releveled everything by hand (moving the extruder manually) and did this a few times until I got it pretty damn close. So point B, F and D I got it to where they were pretty close to the default A, C and E. I started a calibration sheep (one of the things that I could not get to print) and so far its actually printing it and looking good. It's not a long print, so I sliced it 7x, Middle, Front Right, Front Middle, Front Left, Back Left, Back Middle and Back Right. So I'm going to print it all 7x and see if any of them fail and go from there. Fingers crossed!

[RDaugherty]

A: My adjustments did not resolve all my issues. I was able to get a little head way but still 3/4 of my prints would fail due to adhesion for the most part.

B: Heard back from Qidi, they are sending me a new build plate / told me in the mean time to put some paper under the magnetic plate on the corners to try and even it out. So will try that when I get home later tonight and see if that helps any after I retighten all the screws ect.

[minneapolis-matt]

I came incredibly close to buying a Qidi Xpro. Have you done any dual material prints with it yet?

[Gambo]

You don't say if you are using an auto level system but in general they are hopeless. I had much the same problem with the bed on my Ender 3 pro and after end less tests found that simply chucking away the magnetic bet and getting a piece of borosilicate glass bed, Just go for an aftermarket sheet of glass. On that stick or PEI or which ever surface works for you on to that. My favorite is a 1mm sheet of Tufnol ( Garalite in USA) but what you eventually use depends on the filaments you use. At least you will have flat surface to start with without that you haven't a hope.

[RDaugherty]

I came incredibly close to buying a Qidi Xpro. Have you done any dual material prints with it yet?

I have not attempted a dual material print because I haven't been able to get a single extruder to work properly yet, lol so don't wanna throw that into the mix

I have literally almost used 75% of a 1KG spool of PETG on test prints alone (Benchy Boat's ect) so if that gives you some idea how long I have battled this then yeah

If I ever get to the point I can I will try and remember to let you know!

You don't say if you are using an auto level system but in general they are hopeless. I had much the same problem with the bed on my Ender 3 pro and after end less tests found that simply chucking away the magnetic bet and getting a piece of borosilicate glass bed, Just go for an aftermarket sheet of glass. On that stick or PEI or which ever surface works for you on to that. My favorite is a 1mm sheet of Tufnol ( Garalite in USA) but what you eventually use depends on the filaments you use. At least you will have flat surface to start with without that you haven't a hope.

I am going to give them this chance with the new plate and see if it doesn't fix my issue but if not I will look into that, thanks!

[Gambo]

I wish you well but my experience with magnetic plates has been disappointing. the purpose of the thin steel plate is so you can flex it to get the model loose but relies on the heated bed for it's flatness.Incidentally despite all the hype about it PET-G is harder to print than PLA the window between which it will stick to the bed but not string really badly is quiet narrow!!

[RDaugherty]

So I eventually chucked the removable plate that came with the printer and just used a generic adhesion plate with clips + some paper underneath of it to fine tune the leveling and I was able to get really good first layers. I am waiting for them to send me a new build plate and then I'm gonna try a glass plate. But for now I am calling this good. I've got another issue I'm gonna post now! haha