libertyhouseplans

@MariMakes Has this bug been addressed? I'm experiencing print issues that might be related. If not, how do I go back to version 4.13? (CURA-10143)

There's a regularly-spaced, repeating wobble in the print surface of my prints. I thought it might be related to the movement of the lead screw and/or build plate, but I've downvoted that theory after uncovering this clue: The Z-distance of the repeat varies with the model's dimensions. The attached photo shows a test cube that's 1"x1" in the bottom half. In the top half, the model narrows to 1/3 of an inch. If you can get a good view of the "rings," you'll see there are ten cycles of the wobble in the bottom half and five in the top half. You can't really tell in the photo, but the layers' horizontal dimensions appear to wax and wane ever so slightly, in sync with the ring cycle. The effect runs all around the outside - not just one or two sides of the model. (In the photo, you're looking at the rear face of the model, FWIW.) If it were a lead screw or build plate movement issue, the repeat of the wobble would be a consistent amount, regardless of the model's shape, right? Instead, the repeat seems pegged to a given amount of time, or a certain distance travelled by the print head. What do you think is going on here? Potentially pertinent details: * Ultimaker S5 R1, firmware 8.1.0 (latest stable). * Print core has about 23 hours on it and has been cleaned regularly. * Filament = ColorFabb PLA, Semi-Matte White 2.85, opened within the past week, low humidity environment. * Spool weight: 750g. Currently about 600g into the spool; had the same problem when the spool was full. * Feeder is clean inside. Bowden tube pre-dates my ownership, but the rear collet is new, and there's no play at either end when you tug on the tube. * For the past few tests, I've tried @gr5's suggestion (in another post) to add a drop of machine oil to the filament every yard / hour or so. Can't say much about the results yet, since I've only printed these bitty test cubes, but it hasn't hurt! * Layer height: 0.2 mm. * Print (total): 23 min / 4 grams / 0.52 meters. * Bottom half: 15 min / 3 grams / 0.36 meters. * Top half: 8 min / 1 gram / 0.16 meters.

@gr5 Your pirate logic has won me over. I'll try the oil. 🙂

I get similar Z banding on my models. It improved a lot after I tightened the pulleys (short and long), but it's still visible, though — on par with your photo. There's a little forward-backward play in the right-side axle, and I aim to try that next. Is there any play in your axles? https://support.makerbot.com/s/article/1667417951326

In the maintenance schedule for the S-line printers, one of the items is to check for play in the axles. There is a little bit of play in my Y axle, and tightening the pulleys didn't clear it. I'd like to try (re)aligning the axles, but I'm having difficulty comprehending the written instructions. Does anyone know of a video that covers this? Search engines aren't turning one up for me.

Hi, @Lodden. I work on architectural models, too. PLA as my main filament. I favor ColorFabb Semi-Matte White for my primary filament. It has a similar luminance to foam core and isn't finicky. You can order directly from ColorFabb's website, and if you order enough, delivery is free and fast. (Netherlands to NYC in 3 business days.) Their Vibers White filament is also nice for a wood look. When I first started, I worked with ColorFabb's Woodfill PLA and got a lot of stringing. Reducing the Printing Temperature made the biggest difference. You might try that if the suggestions above don't work. You can test whether Printing Temperature is part of the problem by making a small model of just the problem area and printing it repeatedly — reducing the Printing Temperature by 5 degrees each time in your Cura settings. (There are other ways to do this, but you get the idea.) Once I got a printing temperature that worked well, the Speed settings made the biggest difference for me. I get no stringing between outer walls with the slower print speeds I use, but I do see some stringing in the infill area where there are fast travel moves. I don't worry about it b/c it's not visible; I just take it as a clue that Travel Speed can be implicated in stringing. Here are my speed settings, in case it helps. I'm using a 0.4 nozzle and 0.2mm layer height. At that point, the layer lines are invisible when viewing a model at arm's length. Hope this helps.

That really is a head-scratcher. I'd imagine a clogged nozzle if it weren't for the fact that the printer is telling you the print is complete. I examined the model, itself, in Preview mode in Cura, and there are no clues there. Then I examined your GCode in SimpleText, and the End command is after the final layer (249). So that's as it should be. I've read about firmware updates messing with the end point of a print. This seems too early in the print for that to be the case, but if you have time and no other options to investigate, you could update your printer's firmware.

Hi, @Curtismech. It looks like you're getting some ringing - those wavy lines in the flat area of the print. Notice how they happen consistently after the print path turns a corner? This visual guide to troubleshooting has some good suggtion for how to combat that. I've tried a variety of things, but the one that made the biggest difference was slowing the print speed down. https://support.3dverkstan.se/article/23-a-visual-ultimaker-troubleshooting-guide#ringing

I agree with @geert_2 that more details would be helpful. Among other things, did the problem start to happen with the same models you were printing successfully, or did it happen when you switched to a new model? If so, could you supply an image of the model?

The fan was the first thing I thought of, too. I experienced a similar issue in which prints would fail partway through the first layer, because the nozzle temps weren't triggering the front fan. First thing I'd do is this cleaning routine: https://support.makerbot.com/s/article/1667411590139 Then I would run a cleaning routine on the nozzle (hot pull) and start a new print to see if/when the front fan kicks in before the print begins to underextrude.

@cheuschober It's tricky to spot what you mean. Would you mind posting another photo and labelling it with an arrow?

@MariMakes Yes - there was no option to slice. It looked like that. Struck me as a bug. I didn't have adaptive layerheights enabled, though. The only way I could get it to slice was to Slice Automatically.

FWIW, I found other users with the same problem (but no solution) in non-UM forums. The common thread seems to be that they were slicing STL files.

Hi, @MariMakes: I saw that error message, but it didn't help. I *knew* the object needed to be sliced, but the Slice button was greyed out. There was no apparent way to slice. Only when I enabled automatic slicing did the button become active.

@ahoeben Actually, this was with a fresh download of the latest Cura. So... what I was using was the default. Pressing the "Slice" button would have been the obvious move, but it was greyed out.