Troubleshooting this average print

[david-lawson 0]

Hey everyone!

I tried printing the following design, quickprint 'high quality print':

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:157057/#files

And what came out was this:

Intermediate shots:

I'm guessing it's over extruding (perhaps too hot) but I'm not sure where to start to improve the print quality. Any suggestions?

 

[david-lawson 0]

No modifications to the setup, normal quality print of the ultimaker robot:

 

[IRobertI 520]

That's a tricky print. Just looking at it quick with my 3AM eyes that _really_ want to go to sleep it looks to me like retraction isn't happening due to the very small distances between the leafs (or simply not working all that well). You could try decreasing the minimum distance for retractions if that's the case but i wonder if the filament will hold up to that many retractions.

I'll take another look tomorrow when my brain is functioning, unless the Americans can tear themselves away from the turkeys before then

 

[david-lawson 0]

More diagnostic prints: here's the first layer of a box, printed 'high quality' (http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:120179/#files):

And a close up not too long after:

Perhaps there is some inaccuracy on the x-axis?

EDIT: it's part of the design, false alarm!

 

[illuminarti 18]

The main issue with the leaf thing is that the quickprint setting doesn't turn on retraction, so you're trailing a mess of filament everywhere you go.

Frankly, just don't use quickprint. There aren't many settings you need to master in full mode, and the simple truth is that until you do learn what they all do, you won't get very good prints. So, just switch to the full settings. And then the first thing to do is to turn on retraction! (As a short cut, you can take the gcode that you sliced in quickprint, and then use File -> Load Profile from gcode to load back the settings that quickprint chose, Then you can look at them and adjust them.

Regarding the box, I think you z=0 level is jsut a touch off, so that the first layer isn't quite squished enough into the tape. Give all four screws a quarter turn anti-clockwise to raise the bed a fraction. Then it looks like you have a little bit of backlash, causing the postion to be slightly off. Make sure that the belts are nice and tight - especially the short belts. Looks like X has more backlash than Y, but there might be a touch in Y, too.

 

[david-lawson 0]

Thanks illuminarti, I'll switch to full mode and start fiddling around with the configuration options. I'll tighten the belts as well and see if that helps... thanks for the advice!