GregValiant

Go to File | Save Project. It will create a 3mf file with all your settings, your printer, and the model. It's the easiest format to troubleshoot. It's actually the easiest to work with too. When you save a project then the next time you open it all the support blockers, model files, whatever, are still in place.

If you will post the 3mf file I'll take a look. It does look like a model problem.

Everything runs in streaks...You have some faces flipped around. Go to Service.netfabb.com and create a free account, upload the file, download the repaired file, and load that one into Cura.

PrusaSlicer and Cura handle models with errors differently. I'm not positive but it appears that PrusaSlicer automatically repairs a model and then slices it. Cura should inform the user that the model has errors. TinkerCad is well known for leaving faces that are backwards and that causes slicing errors that turn into print errors. "Automatic Repair" is an option in the IdeaMaker slicer but not in Cura. @gr5 will know how to fix it in TinkerCad. In the meantime if you go to Service.Netfabb.com and create a free AutoDesk account, you can upload that STL file, it will be repaired, and then you can download the fixed file.

I haven't been able to find anything regarding the port settings for the XYZ printers. Have you tried 230400 baud rate? It definitely won't be as low as 9600.

It may be something as simple as unchecking "Origin at Center" which is on the Manage Printers / Machine Settings page. If it is already unchecked then: Load an STL in Cura. Set Cura up with your normal settings. Choose "File | Save Project". The resultant 3mf file will contain the model, the printer, and all your settings. Post that here along with that gcode file that is in the video.

There are a LOT of slicers. Many are Cura based (one bears mentioning). I am running Windows and the options for Mac's and Linux may be different. Ultimaker Cura - my personal favorite. Among other things it is very good at supports. Lots of options makes it tougher to learn. Great post-processors allow customization by users. Between the Cura team, the regular Cura contributors, and the volunteer help (myself excluded), tech support is excellent. PrusaSlicer - Has a lot of fans. I use it once in a while mostly to keep my hand in. I like it. Cura Master (the SmartAvionics Version) is slightly different than the mainline Cura. SmartAvionics is/was also a contributor to mainline Cura. Support for his version runs parallel to mainstream Cura. I find it has some minor glitches but it does have a slightly different feature set. IdeaMaker (Raise3D) Nice interface that's a bit easier to navigate. Model repair is very good. The "fan speed control list" allows a user to enter a cooling profile (nice feature that I've added as a post processor to my own program). I've never used the tech support. SimpliFy3D has been inactive and there haven't been any updates in a couple of years. It's falling behind and the user base is getting restless. Because of that, tech support is very spotty (bordering on non-existent). Cura Clones (Creality slicer, QIDIPrint, LottMax, etc) mostly are attempts to lower the learning curve. The result is just less features. Slicers that suck Sometimes a printer manufacturer will develop a slicer that is proprietary and install proprietary firmware into their machines. The result is that their machines MUST use their slicer. Those slicers are tough to get to work with anything but those particular printers. The reverse is also true. Getting one of those printers to work with Cura can be really tough (the DaVinci XYZ printers immediately come to mind).

What we have here is a moving target. I agree that's what the first preview looks like. I was working with the gcode file that Baltic posted. Here is "1.gcode" open in Cura. The surface is at 28.3 and is below that first break line of the right wall. The mid point of the vertical walls is Y=118. But point C is at Y=129.58. You can see in this orthogonal view of layer Z=28.3 that C is not at the midpoint. I think the key here is why ptB was ignored on this layer (or other points on other layers since dependent on the settings, error surfaces came and went and moved around). EDIT: Looking at Baltic's "Multi-Error" image, all the missed ptB's are in the right square corners. No errors relate to the left side radiused corners.

That was the height of the top layer and it's what it should be. It sounds like the machine is shorting the dimension. There are a couple of things you can look at. Make sure the coupler on the Z motor isn't touching the body of the motor. There should be 6 or 7mm clearance. Check that the set screws in the coupler are tight. With the printer auto-homed - is the Z screw parallel to the aluminum upright? If it isn't then that can cause Z binding when the Z is at 0 to some distance above 0. If you don't find an issue with those three then: The default Zsteps/mm is 400. Your print tells the story (20/19.15) * 400 = 417.75. So you can try setting the Zsteps/mm to 418. Print another cube and measure it. The X, Y, and Z steps on the Creality printers don't usually need adjustment once a printer has worn in. That doesn't mean they never need adjustment. On the other hand, the Esteps usually do need an adjustment and need to be revisited about once a month.

Sure he did. They made a snuff film of it.

Pt C is in the middle of nowhere. When I slice the file and generate a gcode I can't reproduce the error. Everything is as I would expect. FYI there are 796 triangles in the part.

And here we are @gr5. The light gray lines are the triangles. Triangle abc is the surface that is in error in the gcode file and it is at Z=28.3 and nowhere else. Travel is Clockwise and should be ptA to ptB to the btm rt corner. There shouldn't be a stop at ptC. These are the relevant lines from the gcode file and are the first evidence of the error: G1 X57.698 Y218.13 E3174.98208 ; ptA G1 X155.509 Y129.584 E3177.1762 ; ptC G1 X155.51 Y17.1 E3179.04682 ; btm rt corner This is from the next layer up: G1 X57.463 Y218.1 E3387.91512 ; ptA G1 X155.527 Y218.1 E3389.54593 ; ptB G1 X155.528 Y17.1 E3392.88857 ; btm rt corner Here is that area of the outer and inner walls represented in AutoCad as derived from the Gcode file. There are actually additional stops at ptC on some other layers, but ptB is not ignored on the other layers. So all the evidence points to @baltic running Cura on a Gateway 2000 486SX computer in DOS mode and from a floppy drive. In other words, I don't know why this happened and it only happens on one computer (as far as we know).

+1 USB printing seems attractive. Then Microsoft pushes a Windows update at 3:00AM and the PC restarts. When that happens the USB 5 volt signal is lost at the printer (along with the gcode data feed) and of course printing stops. When the PC comes back to life - the 5 volt USB signal comes back on and that causes an External Reset of the printer so it reboots (which is not the same as a recoverable power loss). At that point all is lost. Removing the PC from the network while printing (or disabling automatic Windows updates) can SOMETIMES fix the problem. There is still the M105 issue. Pronterface suffers from that one as well. I wrote a Windows app to completely control the printer. I can pick which file on the SD card to print. If it's an over-night print then I have to disable the network on the PC or the same problem occurs (printer reboot due to Windows update) even though the printer is printing from the SD card. If you have your heart set on printing remotely then a RaspPI with Octoprint may be the best choice.

I guess I called that one pretty good. It's odd how some times the support will come off like a zipper and leave a decent finish, and other times it's welded on so good that removing it would destroy the part. It's one of the reasons why even though right side up would use a lot of support - it would all be on the backside. Designing parts for FDM involves different realities, or alternate universes, or something.

Thank you sweetheart.

@gr5 and @baltic - I tried all kinds of things to reproduce the problem. No luck. @baltic, could you post a gcode file created from that slice with the errors in it? I can read it into AutoCad and bypass Cura.

Service.netfabb.com is an AutoDesk site and is the repair utility. Upload, wait a bit, download. It does require that you create a free account. It's painless. If you load a model file into Cura and get the "Model is not watertight" or "Model consists of XX sub-meshes" popups then using the repair facility can fix a model. Any repaired model needs a close look to see if anything might have been changed that shouldn't have been changed. In the case of your leg bracket, that only takes a second. For some complicated models you have to stare at them for a while. Cura's Mesh Tools are OK, Microsoft 3D Builder is a bit better, I've found that the Netfabb site is the best (so far). I think if you zip the file you can post it here and then @Torgeir can take a look.

Here @Torgeir and @CondorDave The OBJ model sliced showing missing layers. (the lines in the cross hole are travel moves) This is after the model was repaired at Service.netfabb.com. (I exported it from Cura as an STL.) GV_LegBracket1v20v3_fixed.stl

"Like if you had the old pentium from years ago where sometimes the floating point processor returned the wrong answer?" It goes back a bit further. Intel was having trouble getting the floating point side of the 486's to work consistently. Their fix was simple. If the floating point side of a chip didn't work when tested, they totally disabled the floating point side and renamed that particular chip a 486SX and were able to sell their scrap (slightly discounted of course). It was a brilliant solution. If the floating point side worked it was a 486DX.

Another option is to make the "hooks" glue on additions. I often put matching 2.2mm holes into mating parts, glue in pieces of filament in one of the parts as locating pins, and then glue the parts together. We get carried away with Print In Place but sometimes making things as assemblies is much simpler and just as strong. Super Glue works well with PLA and PETG.

The skirt or brim take up space outside the model. If you make "Build Plate Adhesion Type = NONE" you will recover the areas around the border of the build plate. Sorry for the response in English.

That's a fussy part. If I had to print things like that all the time I do believe I'd get a second extruder so the supports could be PVA (or something easier to remove).

Have you tried setting the Support Top Distance to 0? That gets rid of the gap but I think you're right that removing the supports won't be easy. That 3mf file is the model. If you use "File | Save Project" it will also produce a 3mf file but it will have your printer and settings in it.

Open a gcode file with Notepad and check the MaxZ (noted a few lines down from the top of the page).

I could ask a lot of questions but it would be easier to see if you would use File | Save Project and post the 3mf file here if you can. The first question would be - Do you happen to have Coasting turned on?