Under Extrusion on Parts, possible Extruder Maintenance needed?

[Kyle_fer 2]

I've been running into this issue for about 2 days now.  I have had my ultimaker for 3 weeks, and have printed quite a few things, and a few failures that required troubleshooting, I cleared my bowden tube, did the Atomic Method, cleaned my build plate and nozzle relentlessly, all I can think of to do now is to take apart the extruder and get the bolt out, cleaning it off.  I just don't understand why the skirt prints fine every time, while the part itself seems to become a dotted line and then all extrusion stops.  I have tried this on multiple parts, each part seems to do the same thing now.:(

Anyone have any suggestions for me?

Model:  Ultimaker 2 Extended +

Nozzle: .4mm

Material: Stock PLA Spool that comes with the Printer.

Thanks for the help anyone!

Edited July 30, 2016 by Guest

[gr5 2,178]

You are over extruding a bit. The extra filament pressure builds up in the nozzle and occasionally a little extra spurts out and makes a little bumpy thing.

This is the bottom layer and usually you *want* it to over extrude a bit. If you just ignore this and let it print the next layer up things should be fine.

The bottom layer is affected by leveling - if you level slightly too far from the bed then you will get what looks like underextrusion plus your part won't stick well (if it all). If you level too close (this is good) you can get these bumps. Much better to be too close like this. On the next layer all should be good. If layer 2 is also a problem then maybe your shell width isn't an even multiple of your nozzle width - check that first in cura (which version of cura is it?).

[Kevparang 10]

Might want to increase the temperature a bit, and play with the retraction. Leveling close is sometimes not good, because then the nozzle may scrap the part. Please let us know your temperature on the heated bed, and hotend. I think it should be fairly okay, but under extrusion or low temperature printing can also lead to clogs. In addition a good upgrade you can do is use an oiler, I have it on the Robo 3D and when I did not I would have issues, now I do not. It will help with less clogs too, if you mostly print in PLA.

[Kyle_fer 2]

You are over extruding a bit.  The extra filament pressure builds up in the nozzle and occasionally a little extra spurts out and makes a little bumpy thing.

This is the bottom layer and usually you *want* it to over extrude a bit.  If you just ignore this and let it print the next layer up things should be fine.

The bottom layer is affected by leveling - if you level slightly too far from the bed then you will get what looks like underextrusion plus your part won't stick well (if it all).  If you level too close (this is good) you can get these bumps.  Much better to be too close like this.  On the next layer all should be good.  If layer 2 is also a problem then maybe your shell width isn't an even multiple of your nozzle width - check that first in cura (which version of cura is it?).

 

I greatly appreciate the reply,

I'll watch it again and see if you are correct, though when I watch the part I can see the nozzle with clearance above the part, failing to extrude.  Allow me to run another test though and see where it gets me.

[Kevparang 10]

It also might be the level. Make sure you level correctly. Here is a guide to how your first layer should look like. https://ultimaker.com/en/resources/21330-what-does-a-successful-first-layer-look-like

[Kyle_fer 2]

Might want to increase the temperature a bit, and play with the retraction. Leveling close is sometimes not good, because then the nozzle may scrap the part. Please let us know your temperature on the heated bed, and hotend. I think it should be fairly okay, but under extrusion or low temperature printing can also lead to clogs. In addition a good upgrade you can do is use an oiler, I have it on the Robo 3D and when I did not I would have issues, now I do not. It will help with less clogs too, if you mostly print in PLA. I have tried re-leveling the bed on 4 separate occasions and re-tests. The level it is at now I have had the most success with thus far.

I'll update on how it prints after I perform this atomic method again and light oiling.

 

I have the print bed settings at its highest, the adhesion is fine, the nozzle temp at 210 is as high as I'm comfortable with for PLA.  I actually just went to the store to buy some oil for the filament, and am going to do the atomic method again, and air-brush my spool off to ensure there is no dust.  I will look into an oiler, I did not know those existed for 3d printers.   Thank you everyone for your enlightenment, it has truly been helpful and re-assuring to know there is a community of people out there willing to give their advice to newbs like me.

Edited July 31, 2016 by Guest

[IRobertI 520]

Don't use oil for PLA, it is not needed. Or I should say, if you do need it, something is seriously wrong. The only time I might recommend using a _tiny_ amount of oil is if you're printing something like NinjaFlex. For rigid filaments it should not be used.

Could you share your print settings as well?

If you try printing one of the files that came with the card, does it work then? Have you tried printing a file that has worked previously?

If you look at the filament at the feeder when your print has failed, has the feeder dug a hole into it?

Have you tried a different spool of filament?

[Kyle_fer 2]

Don't use oil for PLA, it is not needed. Or I should say, if you do need it, something is seriously wrong. The only time I might recommend using a _tiny_ amount of oil is if you're printing something like NinjaFlex. For rigid filaments it should not be used.

Could you share your print settings as well?

If you try printing one of the files that came with the card, does it work then? Have you tried printing a file that has worked previously?

If you look at the filament at the feeder when your print has failed, has the feeder dug a hole into it?

Have you tried a different spool of filament?

 

Allow me to gather my data, I have just had another print fail about 7 minutes in, I took video of what was happening.

I am going to do the atomic method again, cut off about 4 feet of PLA from my spool, re-level my bed, and try one more time. If it fails again, I will repeat the above steps and change the spool with a new spool that is still sealed.

I have tried printing other objects to no avail.

[Kevparang 10]

Oilers help make the hotend more coated to protect the metal, It is easier to pass though and their will be less, issues, It eliminated all my issues with clogging.

[neotko 1,417]

 

@kevparang all Ultimaker standard hotends (from umo to um2+) use PTFE/TFM. So there's absolutely no need of oil (except for the cases explained by @IRobertI

[Kevparang 10]

Okay.

[Kyle_fer 2]

I did everything I said I would do, and I tried to print the Heart Necklace that came with the printer, and it came out fine 8)

Now instead of trying to re-print the same code that kept failing, incase it was the code itself causing me to have to repeat the atomic method, I'm going to change slicer software and see if it was a bug within the code that caused the issue.  

I will keep you updated on the progress, again thank you to everyone for your support.

The piece I am trying to print is the 1st half, center section left side part 2 cut of the Hawkmoon Pistol model, it is one of 18 parts needed to make the whole piece, I scaled it down to 75%

I already successfully printed the barrel.

When I download new Slicer software and gather all the specs, if I run into issues I will post all of the specs here.

Edited July 31, 2016 by Guest

[Kyle_fer 2]

Success!

I snipped off about 4 feet of PLA from the spool, instead of changing splicers, I rotated the part 90 degrees to see if printing it in a different area would give me any results.

Worked like a charm. The PLA did have grinded areas, I believe I may have been hitting a patch on my spool that was just weaker than the rest perhaps?

Thanks again everyone for your support, it means a lot, good printing to you all!

[Kevparang 10]

Your welcome!

[gr5 2,178]

Okay - now I'm thinking you have one of those spools of PLA from a bad batch from the summer of 2015. Even if you just got your spool this week it may have been in a warehouse for a while. The problem with that filament is that when you straighten it out (like leading up to the feeder) for several hours (like over night) it gets very brittle and cracks. The cracks slowly move up the bowden when you next print and when they get to the end of the bowden often get hung up. The fix is to either send the PLA back to the manufacturer or NEVER leave the filament in the printer when it is not printing (just pull it out and let it auto coil around the spool until the next print).

More details here:

https://ultimaker.com/en/community/17102-why-did-the-filament-break#reply-120629

[Kevparang 10]

Make sure you store your PLA in a air tight container so it will not gather moister, yes, agreed, I think it is the spool or the filament.