GregValiant

The top layer (without ironing) is pretty good for checking. Use a magnifying glass and look at it. If you can see a checkerboard and the layer below the top layer is visible through gaps (in the top layer) then it's under-extruding. Each extrusion should be nicely welded to the adjacent extrusion. If the extrusions show ridges between them then it is likely over-extruding. A lot of printers need the E-Steps calibrated. It isn't a difficult process and I'm sure CHEP has a video on YouTube on his Filament Fridays channel. When the gcode asks for "X" amount of filament then exactly X amount needs to be delivered. If it is more than X then there is over-extrusion and when there is less than X then it is under-extrusion.

After slicing, when you "Save to Removeable Drive" or "Save to Disk" the file should have a ".gcode" extension. If it doesn't, then the printer won't display the name as an option for printing. Gcode files are simple text files and can be opened (and edited) in any text editor. Create a folder on your hard drive and copy all the stock Creality files from the SD to the new folder. Then you can delete all the files from the SD card. That way you will know that the only files on the SD are gcodes that you created and put there.

In the "rough" part I'm seeing some checkerboard pattern. You didn't mention the printer but if it's a non-Ultimaker printer did you happen to calibrate the E-steps? If the top layer is under-extruded you could try turning UP the "Ironing Flow" to compensate at least a little. I'm guessing that this is the problem so try turning the Ironing Flow up to 13%. If the top layer is over-extruding, you could try turning DOWN the "Ironing Flow" to compensate. For a reference I run "Ironing Flow" at 7%. When the combination is an over-extruded top layer coupled with too much extrusion during ironing ridges develop as the nozzle starts to bulldoze material and make a mess.

It is a function of the ZigZag pattern. Changing to "Lines" will eliminate the shuffle movement. The end extrusions of ZigZag will maintain a tangency to the hole feature. There are no circles in FDM and so you have a number of short line segments (the number of which is likely dependent on your "Maximum Resolution" setting) and those short line segments approximate a circle. In addition, those short line segments pass back over the last long extrusion before the inner walls of the hole. The setting "Compensate Wall Overlaps" might be involved. I don't have 4.11 installed but in 4.12 the "Monotonic Top/Bottom" setting would be involved as well as Cura tries to keep everything moving in the same direction. At any rate, the nozzle is going back and forth putting in those short line segments. The alternating magenta and white colors are the segments of the tangent end extrusion. In this particular slice the length of each segment is about 1.06mm. If your travel settings are set for retractions at 1.00mm of travel then there will/might/possibly be retractions between line segments when the nozzle changes directions. It appears that you have "Extra Skin Wall Count" set to 0. The effect of that will be that the end of the zigzags along the straight edges of the area will be over voids in the infill and will sag into the voids because they aren't supported and there is no "Extra Skin Wall" to bond to. Eventually that would fix itself as some support is gained when the sagging previous layers firm up and provide some support for the latter layers. At a micro-level that could effect the strength of the feature that will be built above that flat area. That's what it looks like to me. I've been known to be wrong.

Try saving the file to the hard drive then manually copy and paste the file to the SD card.

Hello @john3m. It's about time somebody older than me showed up here. I also have an Ender 3 Pro that is now about 2 1/2 years old. It has the 8 bit 1.1.5 mainboard. Not a bad machine at all. There are a couple of things that can keep the printer from reading the file. You can try re-formatting the SD card (FAT32). That typically needs to be done every so often. If Cura/Windows writes the gcode file to a bad memory sector on the card the printer is too dumb to know there is something wrong and will try to read it although chunks of the code might be missing. Trying another SD card is also an option. The second thing is that long file names can keep the printer from displaying the names on the LCD so keep the file names shorter that "16 characters.gcode". The printer itself uses DOS 8.3 filename structure and I think that is still true of the 4.2.X mainboards. Since we should never trust anyone under 70 I took it upon myself to write a little app for 3D printing. It communicates with the printer over the USB (it does not print over the USB). You can query the printer and see what files are on the SD card, then select one, and tell the printer to print it. There is a basic installation readme file but the app is pretty simple. If you decide to install it I'm sure you'll figure it out. It is also an unsigned app so you would need to fool your anti-virus into allowing it to install. This is the "Cliff's Notes" version. I have a full featured version but I'm re-doing a bit of it right now. Greg's SD Print Tool

Under the "Help" menu you will see "Show Configuration Folder". The "Cura.log" file is in there. Post the log file here and one of the developers will take a look. ( @rburema ?).

Another workaround is to "Share" the folder with yourself. (This is for Windows 10.) Right click on the main Cura folder in Windows Explorer. Select "Give Access To" and then "Specific People". Another dialog will come up. You don't have to select any names, just select "Share" in the bottom right corner. It usually takes a few seconds to run but you will have access to make adjustments to the files in the Cura folder. I keep a folder with Cura files I've customized for my own use. When installing a new version of Cura I de-select the "Run Cura" option, change the sharing, then copy my files into the new Cura install. If you don't copy your files in first then you might get the dreaded "Cura has to remove all your printers" warning.

If you move your Home Offset (M206) you can move the gcode on the build plate. The Cura preview will not understand M206 so the preview will still look like your images. That looks like you need to move the gcode about (-15)mm in the X. Auto-Home your printer. The LCD will display the X Y Z and those are your Home Offset numbers. For an example lets say the LCD displays X-3 Y-4 Z0. Note your X value. Add 15 to the X value. For this example it would be: -3 + 15 = 12 Open the Gcode file in a text editor. Go to the line ";LAYER:0" Right above that line add M206 X12 Then go all the way to the very end of the gcode and the line that says ";TIME ELAPSED:xxxx.yyyy" Right below that line add: M206 X-3 That will reset your Home Offset the way it was. (Use your numbers and not the example numbers.) You need to make the first change after your startup gcode, but before the print actually starts. You need to do the reset after the print ends but before your End gcode runs. The Home Offset numbers look like they work backwards because they do. The Home Offset location actually becomes 0,0,0 on the build plate and the Auto-Home position is measured from the Home Offset position. If you wanted to move the gcode to the center of your build plate in the Y you would subtract the amount you want to move it from the Y home offset. So if you want to move a gcode in a negative direction you add the distance you want to move. If you want to move a gcode in a positive direction you subtract the amount. Just more fun with 3D printing.

MS 3D Builder is bundled with Windows. It's actually pretty good but it is not intuitive. I usually have to try out 10 things before I get something the way I want it. It also comes with a repair utility that is pretty good as well. Other software like Mesh Mixer and Blender claim to be good at modifying STL's but they are even more of a learning curve. Mostly I print my own designs and so I have the CAD model to alter. It's a lot easier working with the parametric model than with an STL.

The broken "gibberish" file looks like it was copied from a bad SD card. Try formatting that SD card to FAT32. It might have bad sectors on it and the printer can't read it. That could be the whole reasons that things went south on you. From the "Works" file, the start and end gcodes are simple and work. You should take out the "M140 S0" line from the end gcode. It can cause the printer to lock up at the end of a print because there is no bed heater to turn off. I bought my Ender 3 Pro from Creality. It's 2 1/2 years old now and has gone through 50 to 60 rolls of PLA and PETG. When they are put together with due care to insure all the axes are at 90° to each other, trolley wheels adjusted, bowden properly installed, etc. they print quite well. The downside like any Creality printer is that the fans and hot end are very poor. In addition, the newer 4.2.x mainboards don't communicate well with the TFT style LCD displays and some commands (notably the pause commands) don't work. I would suggest an aluminum extruder (if it doesn't come with one) as the plastic ones are extremely prone to breaking. A couple of Xvico owners have posted here. All in all they were not happy people. The lack of a heated bed limits users to PLA and the lack of a Cura definition file meant that owners were randomly trying things to get Cura to work with their printers. They were not often successful. A more experienced owner would do better but a more experienced person wouldn't have bought an Xvico in the first place. I rate my Ender 3 Pro as "acceptable". I replaced the hot end, all four fans, it has an aluminum extruder and glass build surface. I threw away the layer cooling blower and installed a ball bearing 5015 with a duct that I designed myself. It's small and works very well. I just don't understand some of the monstrosities that people put on. My prints come out dimensionally correct and look good. I rarely print statuettes or "minis" but rather more industrial sorts of things.

I didn't see a bug report on GitHub and I don't know that this is a bug. Because of the shape of the model, when Cura changes the mesh to add the chamfers to the overhanging feature, the new feature comes to a point that is over air. That point starts by itself in space and so still requires support. I get the same results in 4.13.1 as I get with 5.1.0. I think if you want that feature to print without supports you will need to design a gusset into the model. "Make Overhangs Printable" can adjust a model for some situations but this would appear to not be one of them and the solution is a change to the CAD model.

I think we were typing past each other. "why does the end detach from the square and the rest fits?" Sometimes language is a barrier and the translation software does not do good job. If I understand correctly, it is because shrinkage on the top pulls the end and that results in pulling the part off the build plate, or in this case, off the support structure. Screw joints... There is always "cold flow deformation". The screw joint will get loose over time as the pressure of the joint causes the plastic to change shape. The "Cylindrical Shapes" add-on can be used to add walls to holes and give them a better chance of maintaining the pressure of a screw joint. The "default" wall count wants to collapse fairly easily.

Yes, they are much like the add-on in Cura. When I design the elephant ears into a part I put a "V" where it meets the part. I can bend it off there or more often get the nippers in there. This was a large important part (shark fins for the roof of my SUV so the wife could find it in a mall parking lot) and so the "ears" were 2mm thick. They don't always need to be so thick. The parts are always stronger when printed horizontally. One of the things you cannot see in this photo is that besides the nuts (9.5mm nut in a 10mm hex pocket) there is a 4mm x 225mm long steel rod that is also inserted. I am in Florida and the sun is tough. The reinforcement keeps the model from warping (mostly) due to outdoor temperature. It is not bonded into the plastic and so would not add strength to the layer adhesion which is typically the weak point in vertically printed parts. Dropping nuts in during a pause works well for "blind" nuts. Push nuts work well for accessible areas. McMaster Carr carries THESE here in the US. They work quite well. I install them with my fine-point circuit board soldering iron.

That all looks normal. You should probably take out the "M140 S0" line from the Ending Gcode. It shuts off the bed heater and since you don't have one it can cause problems but at the end which isn't THE problem. Post two gocde files here. One that works and one that doesn't. Make sure you name the files so folks can tell which is broken and which works.

I print a log of PETG on a Creality textured glass build surface. 1. Some adhesion promoter is required. I use extra-hold hair spray. 2. PETG will warp. Certain geometries (like long thin pieces) are more prone to warping than others. When that is the case then "elephant ears" are necessary to help hold the model down. This model is long, thin, and tall. Not good. I designed the elephant ears into the part because I knew it was going to lift. The print came out very well. Here is the bottom of the elephant ear. The picture makes it look like it pulled more than it actually did. It was about 1mm maximum. The elephant ears held. I have cooled down my hot end over time. I now print PETG at 225° with the bed at 80°. Although I print PLA at up to 100mm/sec, I print PETG at 35mm/sec with the outer walls at 30mm/sec for a shinier finish. This brings us to your first image. It warped. There was not enough bond between the long skinny arm, and the support below it. It's exactly the type of shape I was talking about. You might be able to print that with that leg vertical. I'd try something like this. The 2mm holes by the pivot receive pieces of filament to locate the cap at assy. Super Glue works very well. GV Pins_Klammerfr22mm-Rohrauen.3mf

"What does PID stand for?" It's either "Pelvic Inflammatory Disease" or "Proportional, Integral, and Derivative". Since we're 3D printing it's probably the latter. The hot end is controlled by PWM (another one) which is Pulse Width Modulation. Tuning the PID is a sort of synchronization between the heater on the hot end and the thermistor that is next to it. It effects how accurately the hot end stays at it's set temperature. If it isn't "right" for your heater/thermistor combination then the temperature can bounce up and down. The bed on your printer is controlled by a regular thermostat and so it is "bang-bang" on-and-off rather than PWM. "What is a cooling profile?" I use both PrusaSlicer and IdeaMaker once in a while. IdeaMaker has a function for adding custom cooling to a print. I took it a bit farther and you can change the cooling at different layers, or by feature type (Walls, Skins, Support, etc.) (NOTE: I was adding a cooling profile to a print yesterday and came across a bug. I replaced the Zip file above with the new version with the bug repaired. You can download the new version with the link in the previous post and re-install.) Cura essentially turns the fan on and it stays on. When I print with PETG I found that some cooling at certain places (like when a large horizontal hole closes up) require cooling, but then I shut it off again. That's what that function does. You can turn the fan on at layer 25 at 100%, then at layer 30, drop it to 50%, layer 40 100%, and then at layer 50 change it to 0% to shut the fan off for the rest of the print. Because my post-processors work after the gcode has been built, they open the original gcode file and write it into a new gcode file while making the changes you asked for. For he Cooling Profile, if there are M106 lines in the original gcode file they all get removed and the new M106 fan lines go in. "Why don't you print over USB?" It works flawlessly from within Cura, and it's so much easier." You are new to this aren't you. Bad things can happen during USB printing. In particular is Microsoft kicking out a midnight update, shutting down your printer, and killing your 15 hour print. Couple that with possible stuttt-ttt-ttt-ering because of buffer under-runs, and missed commands because of buffer-overruns, and M105 being misread as M1 "emergency stop" so no, I don't print over the USB. "If I had a way to edit the stl file..." You are on Windows and MS 3D Builder should be on your computer. It isn't intuitive, but you can alter STL's quite well. It can also repair model files that might have "non watertight" or other errors. "The first layer of the support included a 10mm flat surface around the outside of the support." That was the "brim". You can also opt for Skirt or Raft (raft is very thick and I never use one). There is also a "Support Brim" that can help stabilize tall skinny supports.

NOTE: I found an error in the Ending Gcode of the 3mf file I posted. It's missing a G91 "Relative" command and a G90 "Absolute" command. It should be like this: ; Ending Gcode M104 S0 M140 S0 M106 S0 M83 ;Retract the filament G1 E-5 F1500 M82 G91 G1 X5 Y5 F6000 ;wipeout G1 Z5 F1500 ;move up G90 G1 X0 Y{machine_depth} F6000 ;present print M84 X Y E ;turn off steppers except Z ; End of End Did you open that project file I created? Among the things I changed were the settings "Extruders Share Heater" and "Extruders Share Nozzle". They are not available in the regular Cura settings. You have to load the "Printer Settings" plugin from the MarketPlace to get to them. You need them because right now the way the hot end is configured Cura is dropping the temperature to "Standby Temperature" for the inactive extruder. That won't work because your "extruders share heater" and there is never an Inactive Extruder. Within the Dual Extrusion settings is "Nozzle Switch Retraction Distance" and you have it at 16mm for each extruder. That is playing some havoc as well. There are a couple of problems within your gcode file. #1 is that your tool switch codes "Extruder Start" and "Extruder End" move the filament 70mm, but within "Extruder Start" there is no purge and if T0 ended it's previous extrusions with a retraction, that is not accounted for either. Moving 70mm might leave the filament 6.5mm behind the nozzle. The gcode properly calls for T0 to print the model, but 6.5mm of material is 195mm of extrusion. Add that to the fact there is still PVA within the nozzle (no purge), coupled with the small size of the model spindle, yes, the model appears to be printed with PVA on those lower layers but T0 is doing the extruding. The gcode is correct, but the print is wrong because what is supposed to be 100% PLA is contaminated with PVA until it clears out. When it switches to T1 you have the same problem. The PVA is contaminated with PLA until it clears out. You may not have looked close enough at the support to see that. I would suggest you open that 3mf file I posted, allow it to "Create" a new printer, and slice the file. Go into the Machine Settings and look at what I did in there. You can use a different color PLA instead of the expensive PVA since it's only a test. You can also abort the print after about 5mm in the Z so you can check to see if that tiny spindle is being printed in the correct color.. If the nozzle purges correctly there shouldn't be a problem. It isn't that I think what I did is perfect, but it might be a better starting point than where you are now. Right now, the nozzle isn't purging at all and I think the Dual Extruder settings for both extruders are conflicting with your Extruder Start and Extruder End codes. Couple that with not being able too extrude at all because of the temperature change to Standby and you have trouble. Once the model starts to get larger then the nozzle starts putting down the correct plastic and the problem gets harder to see but it is still there in those first couple of dozen mm of extrusion.

With that model loaded use the "File | Save Project" command and post the 3mf file here.

I made changes to the project file and saved it under a different name. I don't know how this would work with a purge tower but it looks good using the park position to purge at. In the "Extruder Start" gcodes you will see a line "G1 F600 E30 ;Purge". That 30mm is the amount of purge. You may want to increase or decrease that after you see how it goes with a print. When you open this project file and are asked if you want to "Update" your printer - select "Create New" instead. That will allow you to keep your current printer with your current Start/End gcodes. GV_Wanhao Start and End.3mf

Since it's a custom job, what firmware are you running on it? Have you tried both the M25 and M0 pause commands? Here is a LINK to another discussion. We got that Ender to pause correctly and the fix is described in that post.

We would need to see a project file that uses both extruders. After loading a couple of calibration cubes (one set to each extruder) use the "File| Save Project" command and post the 3mf file here. I think your "Extruder Start" and "Extruder End" gcodes are keeping Cura from using it's own "Nozzle Switch Extra Prime Amount" (which might be helpful). You might also get by changing the line in both "Extruder Start" from G1 F2100 E70 to G1 F2100 E85. That will push an additional 15mm of filament on changeover. There are errors in both your machine StartUp and Ending Gcodes. You have the temperature lines commented out. If you wanted to use them the Keywords would need to be changed. {material_bed_temperature_layer_0} {material_print_temperature_layer_0} The keyword {travel_speed} is in mm/sec and gcode uses mm/minute. The first instance should be something like G1 Z10 F1500 and the second should be G1 F7200. What you have now would translate to G1 F120 which is 2mm/sec. In the Ending Gcodes remove the M84v line. M84 is "Disable Stepper Motors" which you wouldn't want to do. M84v is an illegal command as it contains a lowercase letter that is not a Parameter of M84 and so the command is ignored by the printer.

What version of Cura? 5.1beta has settings for scaling a model. They are in the Material section under "Scaling Factor Shrinkage Compensation". There is a horizontal setting for XY and a vertical setting for Z. Typically they are both set to 100%. Under "Walls" the Horizontal Expansion setting can also have an effect. On the left side toolbar, the second button down is the scale tool. You can enter percentages, or the size. Normally Cura assumes millimeters and if a model is very small (like one designed in inches) it will scale up by 1000%.. When that happens you must make an adjustment. Within the printer the X, Y, and Z steps/mm can scale a model but they almost never need to be adjusted. The defaults are "M92 X80.00 Y80.00 Z400.00 E93.00". If the Cura settings look OK you could slice a calibration cube, open the gcode in a text editor, and put M92 Z80 Y80 Z400 at the start of a gcode right before the G28 line and then print the file. If that works and the model turns out the correct size then add an M500 line after the G92 and start the print again. The M500 will save the settings and you can abort the print when the skirt/brim starts. Leaving the "E" value out means you would not overwrite your E steps/mm if you happen to have calibrated them.

This is my short answer. I have a full featured app as well. It's for Windows only, and it isn't a "signed" app so if you install it you will probably have to fool your anti-virus into allowing it to install. The only instructions are a readme file. The main window looks like this. You can see the computer responses in the text box and there is a box for sending commands. There is a post-processor for adding cooling profiles, and utilities to run Auto-Tune for PID and to help calibrate E-steps. I wrote the app for my Ender 3 Pro and it should work with any printer but Creality machines for sure. Greg's SD Print Tool.zip

Ha. I've got you beat by 4 years. The startup gcode for any printer comes from the Printer Definition file. A project file will over-write the StartUp Gcode of an installed printer if you select "UpDate Creality Ender 3" when opening a 3mf project file. So what you can do is open that original CE3_hf_small.3mf file you posted and let it update your installed printer. You will get your old Start and End gcode back. An alternative is to install another Ender 3. You can always change the printer name. I originally wrote this for an analog computer (just kidding). It moves most of the LCD menus and controls to a connected Windows computer. No more clicking that damn button. It includes Auto-Tune to adjust your hot end PID, a function for calibrating the E-steps, and a post-processor to add a cooling profile to a gcode file. It doesn't print over the USB but rather controls SD card printing through the USB. There is a readme file, it will install an icon on the desktop, and there is an un-install utility. It is unsigned because I'm cheap. Greg's Toolbox