Wonky Honeycomb Infill

[BrayChristopher 36]

Video

Any idea why the honeycomb infill on the left looks so horrible and the infill on the right looks fine?

Do I need to slow things down?

Slicer: Simplify 3D

Quality Level: "Fast"

Printing Speed: 41.67mm/sec (2500mm/min)

Infill Pattern: Full Honeycomb

Infill Percentage: 25%

Material: PLA

Layer Thickness: 0.25mm

Thanks.

[SandervG 1,521]

Have you tried to move the model around? So is it always on the left side of your model, regardless of where it is, or is the irregularity of the infill bound to a certain location on the buildplate?

You could also look into slowing down the infill speed. At what speed is that?

[BrayChristopher 36]

That one was printed at 42mm/sec.

I printed it again at 33mm/sec and got similar results.

My coworker and I then decided it was finally time to level the bed (it has been about 6 months), since the problem areas "seem" to be at the back of the bed.

Leveled the bed and printed a Benchy (with no supports).

.

Looked pretty good to me.

Printed my part again towards the front of the bed with rectilinear infill (gave up on the honeycomb). The first layers look great, but now I am seeing gaps in the layers along the perimeter. ARGH.

Also, I am fiddling with the machine which makes me nervous.

The feeder is skipping as well.

I am now thinking that this all might be my old friend (queue the dramatic music) the PTFE coupler.

[gr5 2,194]

The feeder is skipping as well.

Yes.  You have underextrusion.  That is causing those gaps also on the perimeter.  For now you can print at 1/2 speed and increase temp but order another coupler asap.  The newer couplers both from my store (thegr5store.com) and from fbrc8 are MUCH better and last longer.  They are from a very expensive material only from Dupont.  You can tell they are different as they are not opaque white but instead are somewhat translucent.

You also need to clean your z screw which is probably causing those minor horizontal lines in benchy.  Here is a difference after only a few minutes with a paper towel.  I did not regrease or take it apart or anything but did use my thumbnail (long!) to push paper towel into the threads. White=before black=after

Edited July 22, 2016 by Guest

[gr5 2,194]

Anytime you are printing and hear that skipping, IMMEDIATELY cut the speed in half on the TUNE menu. If it's only the bottom layer don't panic but any other layer and you need to keep the speed slow. If it skips more then go down to 25%. Also consider raising the temp 10C up to 240C max for PLA.

[BrayChristopher 36]

Update (for those that care).

Cleaned off the Z axis screw and reapplied a little of the green grease that came with the printer.

Did a few Atomic Pulls.

When I pulled the fan shroud off to check the PTFE coupler, I found this beauty.

The heater block is encased in a blob of ColorFab XT. A little surprise left over from this failed print several weeks back. I didn't realized it had gotten up inside the fan shroud.

[print=4285][/print]

Heated up the print head and pulled it off with needle nose pliers.

Pulled out the old PTFE coupler.

The PTFE coupler looked pretty good to me. The OD was a little brown, but the ID was pure white. Filament easily passes through the PTFE coupler. I think the PTFE coupler was still good. Since I already had everything opened up, I put a new PTFE coupler in anyway.

Printed a new Benchy.

The layers seem to be much more consistent than last time. Its hard to tell which of the things I fiddled with made it better. Maybe a little of each. What ever the case, I think the Ultimaker2 is back on the straight and narrow.

Thanks all.

[neotko 1,417]

The gap between the ptfe and the steelcoupler seems to big, try to leave just 1mm so it doesn't get too much pressure. Too much pressure cuts down the lifespan of the ptfe. Anyhow nice cthulhu monster 3d print

Also you could print a fixed spacer of the height you prefer (I use one of 10.4mm and others of 9.4-9.8 on my 3 um2 hotends)

Edited August 9, 2016 by Guest

[BrayChristopher 36]

The gap between the ptfe and the steelcoupler seems to big, try to leave just 1mm so it doesn't get too much pressure. Too much pressure cuts down the lifespan of the ptfe. Anyhow nice cthulhu monster 3d print

Also you could print a fixed spacer of the height you prefer (I use one of 10.4mm and others of 9.4-9.8 on my 3 um2 hotends)

 

I've got the I2K insulator in there, so that is why the gap loos too big. I do have the original spring in there and it is TIGHT.

I like the idea of a spring because it adjusts to fit. I should look on McMaster for a shorter or lighter duty sprint.

[neotko 1,417]

No necessarily. Maybe it just died deformed due normal use and on extrude/retracts the filament got a grip of the coupler and pushed it up. That might do the gap that filled with filament later + leak after that. With a fixed spacer that shouldn't happen. Also a tighter spring would deform the coupler due excessive pressure and make its lifespan shorter.

Edited August 9, 2016 by Guest

[gr5 2,194]

Some people cut the TFT smaller by the thickness of the i2k. I don't think it's necessary. If you choose to do this make sure it's very square - otherwise you can get leaking at the base of the TFT which will leak onto the top of the heater block.