Density changes midprint?

[linyongzheng 0]

Hi all,

First time user of Ultimaker 2. My first custom printjob I tried to make an electrical enclosure. All was going fine when I started but after printing the first 1.6cm thickness (out of ~5cm), the print density completely changed and printed at a much lower quality. Was there something in the Cura settings that could have done this?

Edited June 17, 2015 by Guest

[gr5 2,094]

This is typical severe underextrusion. There are hundreds of causes but usually you are simply printing too high a volume of plastic and/or the temperature is too cold (it's too viscous).

Here are top recommended speeds for .2mm layers (twice as fast for .1mm layers):

20mm/sec at 200C

30mm/sec at 210C

40mm/sec at 225C

50mm/sec at 240C

The printer can do double these speeds but with huge difficulty and usually with a loss in part quality due to underextrusion.

Temperatures vary by color of material (and manufacturer) but these are good starting values. Also I recommend you print all portions at the same speed (e.g. by default cura prints infill at a faster speed).

[gr5 2,094]

By the way - your problem seemed to come on suddenly.  The most likely cause of that is tangled filament but there are many other possibilities.  Check your filament for tangles and consider putting the spool on the floor (that's how I always print).  There are hundreds of other causes of underextrusion though so give us some feedback and if what I've told you doesn't fix it you can goolge ultimaker2 underextrusion or let us know you aren't sure what to do next and I can give you more ideas.

Edited June 17, 2015 by Guest