Advice Regarding Huge Z-Seam

[Buckyballs 2]

Hi all,

I am having an issue where my prints have a massive outer wall misalignment at or around the z-seam. The outer wall where a new layer begins is laid down about one layer further back than it should lie. The issue is best seen in the following images:

(Here I stick a full hair clip into the misalignment!)

I am getting this issue persistently regardless of my infill percentage and other settings. I thought this was related to coasting but I have since disabled the feature with no change. I am using the default Cura settings to slice my model.

This seems to me to be a software issue because it is very consistent. I have had full build plates of 5 different models all showing the same artifact only on the backmost face regardless of the geometry.

Thanks for your help!

[SandervG 1,518]

Have you checked if your short belts are tight enough? If there is slack in them they could allow for some misallignment.

[Buckyballs 2]

Oops, I actually have solved the issue. When I first got the printer I found that one of my 8mm Y shafts had about half a mm of play axially which I had fixed using an endcap with a nylon screw. This nylon screw wore down from friction without me realizing and the play came back. Interestingly, the inertia from print moves was not enough to shift the rod, however travel moves did hence the consistency (always start of a new layer, right after a large travel move).

Thanks!