What's going wrong with my prints?
What's going wrong with my prints?
Hey,
Still fairly new to this hobby and have lots of ideas but I've got a snag with a few prints now and was hoping someone could help me work out what I'm doing wrong.
The project is small trays for a custom advent calendar but as you can see the corner on the second picture has lifted massively.
This has happened before with a different print too and I never solved that issue either.
Using an Ender 3 Pro with some generic filament from amazon, hot end at 200C (goes stringy any higher), bed was 50C for this print I think.
Any help would be wonderful :)
You're viewing a single thread.
Great comments, but Id like to add bit more.
Start with calibration if you havent already:
- e-steps calibration - do it once after any hardware change
- Temperature tower - every filament is different
- Flow tower - do it every time you notice extrusion issues after changing filament
- First layer calibration (bed leveling and nozzle distance) - you obviously did that, but look if there is any room for improvement
- Retraction calibration - not relevant for this model, but thats the last part of basic calibration
On top of that, you want to improve 1st layer adhesion to avoid lifting:
- Use brim
- Add more squish (reduce nozzle to bed distance)
- Print first layer slowly
- Clean your bed and dont touch it with fingers
- Use round corners when possible
- Dont use part cooling fan on first layer
- Leave bed heater on for some time before you start printing (to give enough time for build plate to heat up evenly)
- Lower bed temp after first layer (example: I print PLA on clean glass at 60C, but after first layer I drop it to 55C)
- Use mouse ears (basically a fat brim that you place manually on sharp corners)
Use glue or hairspray if nothing else helps, or consider better build plate like PEI or even better quality filament
I recommend using mineral spirits. It's the only thing that has improved bed adhesion. WITH THE HEAT OFF! I don't know that mineral spirit vapors are bad, but they're definitely not good...
I've got some odd spots in the middle of the bed where it's not always printing a neat line in the first layer which is odd. Unsure if it's due to not being clean or a levelling issue but I'll investigate. Thanks for the thorough checklist of things to do though - really helpful!
Unsure if it's due to not being clean or a levelling issue
It can be both. To exclude bent X axis or bed, I think its best to get nozzle close to the bed, then observe the gap while moving head in XY. Light can help with good angle as well as getting your eye close to the nozzle 👁️