Super thin first layer

[igniparra 0]

Hi Guys! I recently purchased an Ender 3 Pro, and I love Cura for a Slicer. But my first layer is super thin, and even though it sticks on the bed, it gets really hard to take out, and sometimes it does weird things on the first layer.

It looks like it isn't enough plastic.

 

I've adjusted the bed with the paper pinching technique, and I think I got it right.

 

In all your expertize, who's fault it might be (in the end my fault of course), my slicer settings, my printer assembly, the rubbish plastic we can buy in Argentina, the e-steps?

I don't know what else to change. I'm now testing PET-G for the first time, and it behaves the same as PLA.

 

Thanks!

[igniparra 0]

To illustrate... I want to be able to diagnose a print by looking at the artifacts, I'm not there yet, clearly 😛

 

[burtoogle 513]

1 hour ago, igniparra said:

I've adjusted the bed with the paper pinching technique, and I think I got it right.

 

 

Not terribly reliable using paper. Far better is to get a set of feeler gauges and then set the nozzle to, say, 0.5mm above the build plate and then drive the nozzle around manually and use the feeler gauge to check the height in various places and adjust the height screws as appropriate. Very quick to do. I always print on blue tape so I just add 0.1mm to the height to account for the thickness of the tape.

[Mari 36]

... Check this website, download the Gcode files and re-do you bed leveling...

 

https://www.chepclub.com/bed-level.html

 

After leveling the bed, calibrate your printer by printing Calibration-cube and also calibrate Extruder so it extrudes the right amount of material (you can find tutorials on YouTube).

 

First make sure you can make descent prints with PLA before you start with PET-G...

 

CHEP has also good profiles for Cura for your printer, download and Import them...

Edited August 13, 2020 by Mari

[GregValiant 1,246]

I think "it looks like there isn't enough plastic" might be a bit of an understatement.

I agree with Mari that you need to calibrate all four axis.  I like Chep's videos too.

Also regarding calibration - remember that the machine axis must be square and the uprights must be parallel.  It's hard to get good parts if the machine is skewed.  When I received my 3 Pro the beam that the Y table rides on was crooked and the left and right uprights weren't parallel.  When you get caught up in learning the software and firmware it's easy to forget that there is real actual hardware to keep in tune as well.

[igniparra 0]

Hi guys!

I figured it out... Turns out I had misclicked when disabling the steppers to calibrate, and saved an offset in the Z axis. When I leveled it was ok, because I had it placed at the 0 of the machine (with Auto Home), but then when it started printing, that Z offset was sticking it too close to the bed.

Sorry it wasn't software related, I'm super new in this, and it's a lot harder than I initially thought it was going to be.
And I'm loving having to learn so much about how to print, even more than actually printing.

 

Thanks a lot for your comments!

Edited August 14, 2020 by igniparra