GregValiant

Enable "Use Towers" at about 10mm diameter, or try Tree Supports. I think towers would be quicker and use less material. They have to grow for a ways before they get attached to the actual model and that's a failure point You'll need to have sufficient footprint to the towers so they don't fail. That's a tough model because there isn't very much room on those X-members for the "floor" of the supports. "Towers" will come up from the build plate. This model is 3mm thick with 7mm Towers. They act as buttresses and provide stability for the thin support structure.

Please be advised that you are about to have a "DUUH!!!" moment. It's at the top right corner of the Cura workspace. The link is the button that says "Marketplace"

@Dustin I get a "Fatal Error" when attempting to open that project file. It appears that there are files involved for his Longer that I don't have(?)

You can switch to "Normal" support, set the "Support Horizontal Expansion" and then switch back to "Tree" supports and it should work. This is from the "support_offset" setting in fdmprinter.def.json: "enabled": "(support_enable and support_structure == 'normal') or support_meshes_present" and this is from the "support_interface_offset" setting "enabled": "support_interface_enable and (support_enable or support_meshes_present)" The result is some confusion. "Support Horizontal Expansion" is not available when "Tree" support is enabled, but "Support Interface Horizontal Expansion" IS available even though it can't be set if "Support Horizontal Expansion" is set to "0" which can't be changed because it isn't available.

If you are on a Windows system you might have to "share" the folder with yourself. You might also have to alter the "Security" setting to allow yourself access to the folder. Right-click on the main Cura installation folder and select "Properties". On the "Security" tab make sure you have access to alter items in the folder. On the "Share" tab, share the folder.

It's hard to tell from far away but that looks very over-extruded. Have you calibrated the E-steps on the printer? Make sure that the filament size is correct in Cura. In the Machine Settings dialog make sure you have the Gcode Flavor set to Marlin (and not Marlin Volumetric). On the printer control panel go to the Control / Filament menu and make sure "E in mm3" is turned off. Also check (just to make sure) that "Remove All Holes" is turned off in Cura.

I randomly picked Layer:62 to look at. The slices from 5.2 and 5.1 are alike as two peas in a pod. The 5.3 slice is definitely different. I have a macro to read Gcode files into AutoCad. I added a filter for line length and what I see in the 5.3 file is that there are on average 48 extrusions on each layer that are less than .03mm long. They are at an angle of about 45° to the lines that describe the circumference of the model. It is as if they are making a small correction to get back to the shape of the model. Each one is like a quick inside corner. The density is greatest at 12, 3, 6, and 9 0'clock around your cylinder. The screenshot below is up to layer 304 and there are 14830 short extrusions in there. Running the 5.2 gcode through the same filter shows an average of "0" short lines on each layer. It appears that the "Maximum Resolution" is either: not working, or is working differently/incorrectly in 5.3 than it did in previous versions. @nallath do you have any thoughts on this? @3DCloner You could try running the Max Resulution up to 0.40 and see if it makes a difference.

Snippet from the 5.1.1 gcode ;LAYER:44 ... G1 F1800 X158.752 Y154.235 E0.05372 This is from the 5.2.1 gcode at layer 44 ;LAYER:44 ... G1 F1800 X158.752 Y154.235 E0.05372 And from the 5.3.0 file ;LAYER:44 ... G1 F1800 X161.713 Y154.22 E0.05364 So in each file the print speed is 30mm/sec. Within each file the speed never varies from the start of LAYER:0 to the end of LAYER:499. From what I see; all three files have the same Accel and Jerk numbers. I don't see any problem with the gcode. Stuttering like that can be caused because the printer-processor isn't kicking out the data fast enough, or it isn't being fed the data fast enough. That is a problem if you happen to be printing via the USB port (but without something like OctoPrint). Another problem can be the resolution that the model was sliced at. The setting in the Mesh Fixes is "Maximum Resolution". A higher number results in a slightly coarser print as the really short line segments are filtered out. So tell us more about your setup. What printer, and are you printing from the SD card?

I haven't seen that problem before. There are currently a couple of bug reports on GitHub involving the "Machine Settings" dialog box, but they have been in regards to the ComboBoxes for "Build Plate Shape" and "Gcode Flavor". Maybe this is another problem with that particular dialog. I checked using 5.3 and I don't have the problem with the Zheight (but I do have the problem with the comboboxes not actually changing the setting).

This is the UltiMaker forum. Have you looked for help with this on a place like Reddit? There is a large Creality sub-forum there for the Ender 3 line (as well as others).

If you use a program like MS 3D Builder you can put together a "platform" as an STL or as a 3mf. The file will go into the "Meshes" folder in your Cura configuration folder or in the Cura installation folder. You also have to alter a line in the printer definition file. For a "Custom" FFF that can be a challenge as you are working off the main fdmprinter.def.json file which really shouldn't be messed with. This platform is 3mm thick and 230 x 230 which is my printable area as I've set in Cura. The top of the platform is at Z=0. It takes some fooling around to get it located correctly so it shows up in the correct position in Cura. The heated bed is actually 235 x 235 and you can just make out the 2.5mm border around my platform. The line you have to alter in the definition file is in the Metadata section and is "platform": "Stoopid_ender3.stl"

I have a single extruder Ender 3 Pro that's about 4 years old now. Use the Pause At Height post-processor ("Extensions/Post Process/Modify Gcode"). It's dependent on your firmwares ability to actually pay attention to the Gcode pause command though. The default for Marlin is "M0". Some Creality machines don't like that but there are workarounds. What printer are we talking about and what firmware is it running? You really want to get into multi-color prints. It takes a bit of practice to get the restarts down pat but it's worth the effort. It's a whole 'nother thing. With a little thought into the design you can do some nice work. I think there were 4 pauses in the body of the trailer/sleigh and 5 pauses in the drink coasters.

A picture is worth 1000 words and a project file is worth 1000 pictures.

There always seems to be a couple of letters that don't want to join. Caps in particular seem to want to stay separate (like your "H" and "B"). I've taken to keeping all the connectors lower than the height of the letters and then printing in two colors. The actual words tend to draw peoples eyes and so the connectors aren't near as noticeable. I build these "strike indicators" for fishing. You can see the horizontal connectors between the letters but as they are the same color as the body they sort of disappear and people focus on the words. (The wording is then glued to the body.)

One of @ahoeben's handy-dandy plugins in the MarketPlace is called "Z Offset Setting". I don't use it myself so I can't advise but it sounds like it would be what you are looking for.

I must have as our previews were different.

It must have something to do with the Z-Offset as this snippet from the posted Gcode file indicates that the first extrusions of the skirt goes down at 0.20mm ;LAYER:0 M107 M204 S500 M205 X10 Y10 G0 F6000 X96.367 Y95.396 Z0.2 M204 S490 ;TYPE:SKIRT G1 F2700 E0 G1 F900 X97.017 Y94.769 E0.03082 The next "Z" command is just before the second layer starts and it is to "Z0.32" which is indeed "Initial Layer Height + Layer Height" so the Gcode is correct.

Those supports look like they are round. How about "Use Towers" in the Support Section? No there is no minimum size. I've seen some really skinny supports that were attempting to go up high on a model. There was no way they were going to survive during the print. There is a minimum size for support blockers though. I think it's 5mm in the X and Y. There is no minimum Z.

Bug reports go on this page on GitHub. Make sure you include a Project File and a Cura.log file. They will need to be zipped and the zip folder posted there. Since I am the "vicious gatekeeper" over there I'll tell you now I can't reproduce this. Changing the Horizontal expansion may make some difference to thin wall areas of a particular model, but for the most part it should not matter and with the couple of models I checked, it did not matter. There was a poster here who was complaining about errors in the print time. Looking at his/her setup they were using a retraction setting of 7mm at 1mm/sec. That's 14 seconds for each retraction/prime move. But they were also using firmware retraction. The Cura estimate was off by hours. It was a clear cut case of garbage in and garbage out. Speeds in Cura are calculated by the length of an extrusion, the speed of that extrusion, and the Accel Setting. You cannot easily disable the Accel and Jerk in the printer. If you do not enable Acceleration Control in Cura then they aren't part of the calculation, BUT, the printer is using it's default Accel and Jerk. That always skews the print time. If your printer has Max Accel at 500 and you enter 3000 in Cura, the print time will be skewed. I have found over time that Cura over-estimates the print time by about 10%. I have a post-processor that I can add a fudge factor to. That adjusts the Cura estimated time to something close to reality. An M117 line sends it to the LCD.

Hold on now...Do you have Tree Supports enabled there? Tree supports will always try to reach into any area they can get to. I sliced with "Normal" supports and they don't try to get to places that aren't directly above.

I've never seen that before where a Project File slices differently like that. You can see that I'm not getting any overhang on either side of the slot. I've been thinking about putting in a feature request for "Everywhere except Build Plate" which might help in your case but the setting doesn't exist. I suppose you could try setting the "Support Horizontal Expansion" to a small negative number. Maybe that would tuck in that overhanging support you have there. You might try rotating the model 90°. Maybe it wouldn't overhang when aligned with the other axis. I'm attaching a Gcode of my slice. It won't solve the problem but you can print it. CE3E3V2_DriveHolder (1).gcode

Did you open the 3mf as a Project File? I used your printer with my settings. This is your latest project file. I don't see any extra supports. It looks like I think you want it.

20mm is huge. Use the LCD and Auto-Home the printer. What is the Z value on the LCD when Auto-Home finishes? Post one of the "bad" gcode files as well.

If you slice a 25 x 25 x 25 cube at 0.4 line width you will find that the toolpath in the gcode is 24.6 x 24.6 x 25. Adding 1/2 line width all around gives a final dimension of 25 x 25 and the height will also be 25 as that is the height of the bottom of the nozzle off the build plate (provided leveling went well). (Just for reference - my prints are typically +/- .04mm.) That can be changed with the setting "Horizontal Expansion" and also (I think) with the Experimental "Slicing Tolerance" ("Middle" is the default). The "Flow%" will also have an effect. There may be some difference in "Quality" definitions between your printer and mine, but for my Ender 3 Pro there is no difference (regarding tolerancing) between "Fine" and "Draft". The Layer Height changes but the line width is the same for both and so the toolpath (24.6 x 24.6) would be the same for both. If the "Flow%" is different then the outer dimensions will be different. There is no change in layer height or extrusion length so any difference in the volume of plastic only affects the line width and consequently the dimensions. So the comment "Cura software centres the printer on the edge" would be incorrect. With no Horizontal Expansion and with the Slicing Tolerance as Middle - Cura puts the path 1/2 line width from the part wall. The "Variable" line width capability means it might be 1/2 the Calculated Line Width rather than the Line Width you entered into the setting box, but it's going to be 1/2 line width.

I generated a "Imp_-_Looming.g3drem" file. After renaming it to "Imp_-_Looming.g3drem.gcode" I was able to open it with NotePad. Everything is in there. The preview shows layer 1 to layer 277 and the gcode shows layer 0 to layer 276 just as it should. The file closes out with the Ending Gcode and the Cura "Settings" section. I don't see any problems with the gcode. If you are printing via an SD card they can become corrupt and cause the problem you are seeing. Formatting the card will usually solve the problem. Beyond that I don't know as I don't know anything about that printer.