Almost always missing layers / underextruding

[donmilne 2]

Yes, I had noticed that the holes on either side had different sizes, but hadn't really understood the purpose. I had the same problem regarding M3 screw lengths btw.

Actually, my printer is doing quite well at the moment, so perhaps now is the time to print a new yoke. Making sure the small hole is the perfect size. Mind you, I already stabbed myself getting the spring on once, I'm not looking forward to doing it again! :-(

 

[Nicolinux 288]

Would you mind posting a photo of your feeder? It is way easier to help with it in the feature. Also you might want to move the discussion about it here (as Robert actively monitors this thread I guess):

 

• http://umforum.ultimaker.com/index.php?/topic/4393-ultimaker2-feeder-system-improvements-and-ideas/page-37
  

 

[donmilne 2]

Would you mind posting a photo of your feeder? It is way easier to help with it in the feature. Also you might want to move the discussion about it here (as Robert actively monitors this thread I guess):

 

• http://umforum.ultimaker.com/index.php?/topic/4393-ultimaker2-feeder-system-improvements-and-ideas/page-37

 

 

Damn! That was the thread I thought I was already posting into. How did I miss that. Somehow the fact that both are 36 pages or so fooled me into thinking it was the same discussion.

I've moved the most relevant messages to the other discussion, and deleted them from here where it wouldn't disrupt the flow too much. Mods feel free to edit further.

As to posting a picture of my feeder - it's the same as other pictures you've seen. My boxroom has poor lighting, so I expect I can't improve on the previous pictures, nor do I think a picture would have clarified the issue with the yoke anyway, since the important hole is hidden when the feeder is in situ.

 

[smoke2000 0]

I got the ultimaker this week, but aside from a few failed prints and mediocre robots, I haven't been able to print much.

My first own 3d model , was going to be a 3d scan from a bust of a stone statue, but the print failed pretty early on. So I thought i'd do the extrusion test to see if there's already problems with that, but I guess not, it turned out like this :

I printed with PLA gold, but I didn't expect the filament to be so transparant, so it may not be ideal to show the test result.

 

[Nicolinux 288]

I'd say the underextrusion test looks pretty fine. You'd know when it fails

Regarding your printing problems, just open a new thread (and don't forget to post all your printing settings - like layer height, speed, temperature, top/bottom and so on).

 

[lennart-bruggink 3]

Ultimaker blue is probably the worst fillament that we sell. The only reason we sell it because it somewhat resembles our company color.

 

Allright Nallath, regarding this above,

Please tell me ( either by PM, if you dont wat to make a statement which could cost you your job;) ) the "best " filament you sell, property- wise.

as I want to paint it over anyway, but want to use it for long prints, and I would hate to have problems related to material.

Thank you in advance!

Cheerios!

Lennart Bruggink

 

[takei-naodar 0]

Silver metallic Lennart. its quite hard to get through the nozzle in a very fast manner but is generally the best of their materials for high quality prints afaik

 

[micha_el 0]

I am having a problem with underextrusion to....

At 230° celsius it didn't work at all....

240° looks much better. Almost perfect. but I don't understand why it is not working good when printing....

any problem solving ideas welcome! will upload more pictures soon.

 

 

 

[DidierKlein 729]

The two pictures are the same filament? They look different?

Did you try to clean the nozzle with the atomic method?

http://support.3dverkstan.se/article/10-the

Once this is done do the cylinder test again (at 230°c) and tell us how that goes?

 

[micha_el 0]

yes it is the same filament... just different light.

thanks for the recommendation of the atomic method. I did it and a lot of black stuff came out. I also printed the test file again and it looks much better already. still far away from perfect thou.

Do I just have to clean the nozzle better..... or any other ideas. I will just keep trying.

thanks...

here the new picture of the test file. this time white pla.

 

[DidierKlein 729]

Do the atomic method until no black stuff shows on the filament you use to do the cold pull

You can also use a small wire less than 0.4mm to clean the nozzle from the bottom.

And be aware that White PLA is sometimes causing underextrusion so maybe it's better to do the test with the previous PLA you used

 

[mark-hale 1]

Another oddity to watch out for... if you're printing mostly by the light of the built-in LEDS (and especially when the LEDS are not at full power), then you can get a stop-motion strobe effect where the fans appear to be turning slowly, but are actually running at full speed, and are just being lit by the (very fast) flashes of the LEDS in positions where the blades almost line up between flashes. Freaked me out the first time it happened... at night in the middle of a long print... go to check printer, and the side fan looks like its sort of wobbling back and forth... went to poke it with my finger, and it about took my finger tip off, lol!!

 

LOL - I spotted that the other night and thought the right fan was stopping. Good job I spotted this post as was toying with the idea of checking all the connections later today.

 

[mark-hale 1]

fantastic thread everyone. Currently trying to diagnose a possible under extrusion myself.

Seems to vary when this happens but always after approx 8mm. Have stripped down the head but having read the various points I am wondering if the white teflon plug needs a check. as that was the one thing I only took a very cursory glance at, as was focusing on the nozzle and cleaning that out.

 

 

Also noticed this at the start of the print - is that a heat / cooling issue

 

[micha_el 0]

Thanks for the help... very useful...

Just a question. why do we print the extrusion test with 230° usually printing temperature is more around 210° for pla. Or do I get something completely wrong now?

 

[micha_el 0]

my latest test with 210° not very good!

 

[DidierKlein 729]

This test is intended to be printed at 230°c because of the volume extruded, but you should have a decent cylinder up to 2 or 3mm3/s at 210°c the 230°c are needed to go up to 10.

As i said, clean the nozzle until no more residues are shown on the cold pulls and try it again (but with another color as white gives some strange underextrusions for some users)

[Edit]

@Mark Hale: do you have the same problem with other colors?

 

[donmilne 2]

In fact I did the test with Ultimaker White at 210°C (by accident - I didn't read the instructions properly), and I got a perfect result all the way to the top, though that was with Robert's feeder.

IMHO underextrusion that bad means that something fundamental is wrong. I would check that the nozzle is reaching temperature - I guess that the Atomic cleaning method tells you that too. I'd also look for a problem inside the feeder, if it isn't Robert's one. I.e. open up the stock feeder and make sure it's clean and tensioned properly.

Another possibility is a deformed teflon spacer, or the filament itself binding on the spool (tidy it up) or in the tube (add wiper attachment with a dab of sewing machine oil?).

 

[gr5 2,167]

@mark hale - regarding your post #740 (5 posts ago) that lower picture looks like underextrusion. It's the pattern one sees (broken strands all around) when you print very thin layer heights (< .08) and/or underextrusion.

 

[micha_el 0]

yes it's the same with different material.

 

[mark-hale 1]

@mark hale - regarding your post #740 (5 posts ago) that lower picture looks like underextrusion. It's the pattern one sees (broken strands all around) when you print very thin layer heights (< .08) and/or underextrusion.

 

Have just removed the filament, ready to do a complete strip down of the heating unit. Not sure if this is the main issue but in quite a few places it looks like the filament has got stuck see below. I'm wondering if this means something in the feed unit is failing. Has anyone else with underextrusion problems experienced this? Would imagine that if any of this tries to enter the nozzle, it might cause poor flow of material.

 

[Nicolinux 288]

This looks like grinding where the feeder at the back of the machine pushes too hard and eventually the filament gives in and the knurled bolt on the stepper motor eats away the filament. This will certainly lead to underextrusion (less filament than expected) and also the teflon piece will have a hard(er) time when buldges like that pass through it.

 

[mark-hale 1]

This looks like grinding where the feeder at the back of the machine pushes too hard and eventually the filament gives in and the knurled bolt on the stepper motor eats away the filament. This will certainly lead to underextrusion (less filament than expected) and also the teflon piece will have a hard(er) time when buldges like that pass through it.

 

have stripped the feeder apart and cleaned things out, although there was very minimal material. Is there a way to check the correct tension?

I have once again taken apart the nozzle and given it a good clean, all looks good but still having problems. So far have tried with White Faberdashery, and Red and Clear Color Fab all with similar results. Have ordered some filament from UM today but this is perhaps a long shot as have used Fabs White before with fantastic results so unless the material has changed im stumped

 

[yellowshark 153]

Hi Mark, I use Faberdashery's Mercury Red and Arctic white a lot and never have problems with them. I do find that Arctic white seems to flow thicker, if that makes any sense, and run that a lower temperature to avoid any blobs appearing when turning corners.

 

[mark-hale 1]

Hi Mark, I use Faberdashery's Mercury Red and Arctic white a lot and never have problems with them. I do find that Arctic white seems to flow thicker, if that makes any sense, and run that a lower temperature to avoid any blobs appearing when turning corners.

 

thanks for that - out of interest what temp are you running for the Artic White

 

[SandervG 1,521]

Hi Mark, long time no see! How are you doing?

@Micha, are you using Ultimaker filament or third party?

Not all PLA has the exact same temperature indications, so possibly if it is from a different manufacturer 240º would be better then 230º. Maybe.

If you do have regular Ultimaker filament (I just didn't recognize the color), you may want to check the teflon/PTFE part.

After excessive printing it can happen that this shows some signs of wear.