GregValiant

All Right! A geodesic egg. That wouldn't be too bad if there was a big ole hole in the base. Without an access hatch it would be really tough getting the support material out.

I'm far away but I can see you aren't managing your cables. Anything that CAN snag WILL snag and cause problems. I printed a couple of parts to manage the filament and cables. The cables are just hanging from looped together rubber bands but that allows them to move around while holding them up away from the bed as it slides in and out. The filament guide is one of the rubber band hang points. I used a ceramic ring from an old fishing rod guide and cut it into a half moon and it's a chafe protector in the filament guild. The filament was eating it's way through the loop. I've nipped the tie wraps off the bowden tube so it can move independent of the electric cables. As the print head slides back and forth on the X beam the bowden tube rotates in the fitting on top of the hot end. That fitting has little knife blades that keep the bowden from backing out, but the little blades chew up the bowden and it gets loose. That allows it to back away from the nozzle and a gap develops there. Molten filament gets pulled into the gap and in turn it causes a lot of friction on the filament. Not enough to skip steps, but enough to impede the filament flow. The stock hot ends on these printers are prone to those kind of clogs where the bowden meets the back of the nozzle. Every 20 or so hours of printing (and before every long print) you need to pull the bowden tube out of the hot end and trim it back 5 or 6mm leaving a nice square cut. Eventually it will get too short to work, but that takes a while. To clean the clog you need to heat up the hot end. Carefully remove the nozzle using a properly size socket wrench (NOT a pair of pliers). With the bowden pulled out you can shove a piece of coat hanger or properly sized piece of wire (or a piece of filament if you're quick) down through the hot end to clear any clog. Carefully reassemble and it will last awhile. I went to an all-metal hot end. It's much better...but it's not maintenance free.

Even the cube that printed doesn't look very good. Are you certain there are no loose parts on the printer? Hot end is tight and no wobble in the X carriage or Y bed carrier? No clogs at the top of the nozzle where the bowden tube is supposed to seal? A project file ("File | Save Project") would help.

I don't know anything about your printer, but I was starting to lean towards maybe a mechanical problem. It certainly doesn't seem to like printing PETG very much.

I don't think "too cool" is coming into it. The print I did came out very well. My problem with it is that I can't divorce the support from the model. The cross sections of the model are so thin that trying to muscle the support off is wrecking the print. Those little spring tabs fail really easily. There is a lot more support than there is model and the support is more robust. The extrusions that are cutting across the radius instead of staying in place concern me. They should be following the radius. I've seen that when printing "outside walls first" but it shouldn't happen with the single wall support structure. Part of that could be a printer issue. What do you have for a hot end on the printer? (Is it the stock unit or did you swap it out for something different). Have you tried printing that piece in PLA? I understand that PETG is your material of choice but PLA is easier to deal with and a PLA test print might give you a better handle on how to approach this with the PETG. There is no doubt that you have a tough piece to print. A PLA test print will also give you an idea of what I'm talking about in regards to the support removal. I've got all kinds to tools for that and I still scrapped the print. You could try switching the Cooling Profile over to "By Feature" and just running the fan on the Support-Interface and off on everything else.

Your raft air gap is 0.30mm but your layer height is 0.12mm. Cura works to next common multiple and so .30mm is three layers. There is no air gap for support so it starts building right away while it takes another 3 layers (from layer 5 to layer 8 ) for the first bit of part to show up. So set your air gap to "1 layer height" (NOT Initial Layer Height) and you should be good. I learned something here. When you type an 8 and then a closed parentheses you get this guy 😎

Funny you should ask. I've started scribbling some post processors. Unzip the attached folder and put "AddCoolingProfile.py" in the ".C:\...\UltiMaker Cura 5.3.1\share\cura\plugins\PostProcessingPlugin\scripts" folder. It will be available like any other post processor under: "Extensions/Post Processsing/Modify Gcode "and then "add a script". You can set cooling "By Layer" or "By Feature". If I do say so myself (and I do) it's the Ritz. AddCoolingProfile.zip

Good for you. Remember - the printer has no will of it's own and it doesn't do anything without being told. It might be the firmware, it might be the gcode, but something tells it where to go and what to do. Here is the Marlin list of Gcode and Mcode commands. You don't need to memorize the list of course but certain ones will show up all the time. G28, G1, G0, M104, M190, M201,etc. those you should read up on so you have some idea of what's going on when some weirdness shows up AND to customize your prints so you get what you need from them.

Part of the problem is that you didn't enable "Keep Motors Engaged" in the pause dialog. The stepper motors turned off and lost their position. The printer knew that and auto-homed itself. Second problem is you didn't enable the "StandBy Temperature" in the Pause at Height dialog and so the nozzle cooled off and you had to wait for it to get hot again. Third is the G1 X0 Y0 line below that I highlighted. That was for a specific situation and you don't need it. Same with the G10 line. That is for a firmware controlled retraction and you aren't using it. Use this string for the replacement: M400\nM25\nM117\nM117\nM117\nM117\nM117\nM117 That's the bare bones version and should be all you need. M400 M25 G91 G1 Z5 G10 G1 X0 Y0 F6000 M117 M117 M117 M117 M117 M117 ; Do the actual pause M109 S200 ; WAIT for resume temperature G1 F300 Z0.4 G1 F9000 X113.568 Y112.681 G1 F300 Z0.4 ; move back down to resume height G1 F1200 ; restore extrusion feedrate M82 ; switch back to absolute E values G92 E8.88482 ;LAYER:1 M106 S85 ;TYPE:WALL-INNER ;MESH:lampaburarogzitoalbi.stl G1 F1350 X113.858 Y112.649 E8.89453

Those little tangs suck. They have such a small contact patch to the build surface they could break away and scrap the print. I decided to go with small support blockers configured to "print as normal part" so they would have a greater chance to actually last through the print. Second, at 260° I think you are way too hot. I typically print PETG at 230. I haven't seen any problems with layer adhesion and it isn't as soupy at the lower temp. I think that should be your first consideration. Constantly changing speeds causes fluctuations in the pressure within the nozzle. It makes it hard to tune a print. Enabling Coasting and Retract at Layer Change causes the same problem. All taken together, it makes this print more difficult than it should be. Here is my little plan for the tangs. They have a much better chance of surviving and they aren't hard to slice off with a hobby knife. There is a lot of support interface going down and then there is very small part features being printed on top of it. I would use Search and Replace or manually add a lot of cooling for layer 24 and 25 and then shut it off again at layer 27. I have noted that when the interface is cool then the print doesn't stick as well. Thinking about that I went so far as to add a pause before layer 26 and I gave it 15 seconds to cool. Even with the crappy filament I used this print looks good. Unfortunately, the part has such fine features that there is no way to separate it from the support without destroying the part itself. What you have here is a part that needs a dual extruder printer so you can put down break-away or (even better) water soluble support.

Load the model into Cura. Set Cura up with your normal settings for PETG (the ones you've been hoping would work). Then use the "File | Save Project" command. Post the resulting 3mf file here. It will have your printer, Cura settings, and the model in it. I have some left over PETG here and I don't mind using it up on a test print.

No, it isn't Cura. Remember that this is UltiMaker Cura. UltiMaker has been kind enough to support our printers but they don't have the resources (or probably inclination) to really look at every printer model that is available. You have to work with what the program gives you, and what your firmware supports. There is a lot of room for customization though. The printer isn't likely to be doing things on it's own. Either some gcode (if you use pause at height) or something in the firmware (if you use filament change) is telling it where to go and what to do. If you would post one of those "bad" gcode files someone will take a look. If you would set up Cura that way that is giving you problems (with a calibration cube or Benchy on the build plate) and then use the "File | Save Project" command and post the 3mf file here that would be good to. It will have all your settings in it.

Thanks. I haven't had any problems with bed adhesion in general, but as I mentioned - PETG is one of those materials that really wants to warp and long skinny prints are the worst. Like the gooeyness, it's part of the deal.

I have the Creality glass build plate. I don't know how much it varies from the flexible one you are using. I think the base prep is important though. I wash it with dish detergent, wipe it down with isopropyl alcohol, and then give it a coating of hair-spray at least in the area the print will be. Glue stick or Magi-goo(??) are other options for adhesion promoter. You have to get squish though. The side of each extrusion needs to weld to the previous extrusion and you can see in your video that didn't happen. Leveling is a big part of that. If your initial Z gap is too tall then you won't get the squish you need. Dropping your print temperature can help the gooeyness, but it isn't going to go away. Here is that print finished. Along with 4 trapped nuts there is a 3/16" x 9" steel rod running through it (the Florida sun is tough). There are two of them and they mount to the roof rack on the wife's SUV. Now she can find it in the Walmart parking lot. If I print these again I'll put LED's in them. I need to figure out how to hide the wires that would come up from the taillights.

But if you give it a bit of time (and someone is willing to shamelessly steal AHoeben's thought)... I'm more of a "throw it in the refrigerator and bust it off the plate" sort of guy but here 'ya go. I arbitrarily picked 3°/step. The settings are "Shut Off Temperature" and "Time Span". Unzip the file and put "TimedCoolDown.py" in the: "C:\Program Files\UltiMaker Cura 5.3.1\share\cura\plugins\PostProcessingPlugin\scripts" folder. It will be available in "Extensions/Post Processing/Modifiy Gcode" then "Add a Script" Update from "Quick and Dirty" to "Make Nice" in order to avoid Time Travel. TimedCoolDown.zip

I print a lot of PETG. Many models need additional stiction to keep them from warping. When that's the case I often design my own elephant ears for areas of the model I think will lift. You can use the "Spoon Anti-Warping" or either of the two "Tab Anti-Warping" plugins that @Cuq (@5axes in the Marketplace) has thoughtfully provided. This is a case in point. You can see the added "ears" . They are robust but I've added a chamfer right at the part so they are pretty easy to remove. This is silver PETG by the way. I always give the build plate a good bath and then a liberal coat of AquaNet Super-Hold hair spray. It's necessary as certain types of cross-sections will want to pull up. Here is the underside of that print. You can see the dimples caused by the stress the model was imparting to the elephant ears. That print was pulling hard. But your model is symmetrical on the build plate. I don't think it even needs a brim but it will likely need some adhesion help (although I would print it with a skirt). Chemical warfare to aid bed adhesion is mandatory for PETG. I've settled on hair spray but there are certainly other substances you can use. I've attached a project file with your model with my PETG settings. My printer is an Ender 3 Pro about 3 years old. I did change to an all-metal hot end and I've swapped out all the stock fans for nice ball bearing models. The mainboard is still the stock 1.1.5 board running Marlin 1.8. I print PETG at 230 with the retraction at 6.5. You may want to change those to your preferences. My printer is dialed in and fully calibrated. Even so I still print PETG with the flow at 105%. Experience has proven that to be necessary on my printer. PETG is different. It's gooey and sticky and you are likely to pick up boogers on the side of the nozzle. Don't worry about it so much for this model. The material that collects on the nozzle is a lot more likely to occur on large skin areas as opposed to the geometry of this model which is mostly walls. Good Luck! GV_93percent_ring.3mf

Your setup is showing a .4 line width with a .4 layer height. That comes out to almost no squish at the build plate. I would expect bad adhesion with the line width and layer height at a 1:1 ratio. Drop your layer height to at most .28mm. If you feel you really need layer heights that tall you should really go to a larger nozzle that can accomodate it. You can see here that the Layer Height setting boxes are yellow. That's a warning that your settings are on the fringe.

Here is the front baffle for an Ender 3/3Pro (with the steel hot end cover) Baffle. Here is the baffle for the power supply fan. I'm really proud of this one. PS Baffle. That one will teach you something about support removal.

That is typically controlled by settings in the firmware. In Marlin firmware there isn't any way to over-ride that.

I'd go a different way with this. Each of those models really have different needs so I separated them each to their own file. For the "knife" file I've done as AHoeben suggests and fixed the Support. The knife is 1mm off the build plate. I added some horizontal expansion to the support so the tip would be supported. Because the cylinder object is so tall I've used "Search and Replace" to change the Y acceleration at layer 650. Bed slinger printers can be rough on tall narrow objects so slowing down the accel on the Y axis softens the moves and keeps the print from being shaken loose and failing. The vertical orientation will allow those fine features around the cylinder to have much better definition. (BTW the cylinder had errors in the model. The one in the attached project file was repaired with MS 3D Builder.) I rotated the ring so it's vertical. I think it will just print better than way. With the "Floor Distance" at 2X layer height the scarring from the support won't be as bad. That part does have a couple of features around the base that really could use support, but they are so small that the support can't get in there. You don't have to do any of that of course, it's just another way to skin this cat. One last comment...Your Support Flow and Support Interface Flow at 125% is really high. I generally run them at 90% to make the supports weaker and easier to remove. Putting them down thinner also allows the interface to cool faster and so the "real" model doesn't tend to stick to the interface as well. And now I'm going fishing. Liftedbuild KNIFE.3mf Liftedbuild PULL RING.3mf Liftedbuild CYLINDER.3mf

I see the word "Lattice" in there so I'll assume @GTzxseanxzTG wants all those "window" panels removed. The short answer is no. The reason is that although you can print the model as a hollow object, mathematically it is sold through and through. It would need extensive rework to be an open frame sort of model.

Hi @Domi1958 I think what @obewan saw was this from your gcode file. M82 ;absolute extrusion mode G29 ; auto-level G28 ;Home G1 Z15.0 F6000 You need to switch the G29 so it is below the G28. In Cura select "Settings / Printer / Manage Printer" and in the next dialog select "Machine Settings". On the left is the StartUp Gcode box. You can edit the code in the box so it's like this: G28 ; Home G29 ; auto-level That way the printer will know where the nozzle is before it attempts to level.

I don't have any trouble with the stuttering on my Ender with an 8 bit 1.1.5 board. That might mean that it's just to dumb to notice. If changing the Maximum Resolution didn't make any difference then that sure points to a possible bug. Go back and slice it with 5.2.1 or even 4.13.1 (which I liked a lot). The point is to get good quality prints. If 5.3 isn't getting it done for you then grab another tool out of the box.

I've only been using Cura since v4.4 and no versions since then have had "adjustable layer height" whether with blockers or a setting (other than Adaptive Layers). I've always had to splice gcode files together to get the effect. What version do you think that was enabled in?

Load the model into Cura. Set Cura up to slice and then use the "File | Save Project" command. Post the resulting 3mf file here. A Cura project file contains the model, your printer, and all your settings. Above and to the right of the Slice button is a circle with an "i" in it. Hover the mouse over that during a preview and you will get a report of where all the time is being spent.