layer shifts

[Reina 0]

I have recently had problems with my prints on my Ultimaker S3. I got it about a year ago and haven't had this problem since recently. My prints have this wavy pattern on one side, and on the other there was an indent (the long pieces in white). The indent was identical on multiple prints. I also did a small XYZ cube in both Pro Series White PLA and Ultimaker Black Tough PLA. The white material had some squished bottom section and the black didn't, but i'm not as concerned with that as the layer shift/indents on both sides. The layer shift/indents on the Y side are in the same positions on both prints. Also I tried printing this small cylinder disk for one of my projects and it was slanted on the Y-axis too. 

 

I've used sewing machine oil on the medal rods, and I checked the belts. The belts seem pretty tight still, and it's the x-axis belts that as actually slightly looser than the y-axis belts, but all the belts are still pretty tight. I've updated my printer and Cura a couple times since I first noticed the shifts. I'm not very experienced with trouble shooting prints much so I'm not sure what the problem is or how to fix it. 

[geert_2 557]

To me this doesn't look like layer shifts, but rather like a combination of changing of direction of printing (e.g. from clockwise to anti-clockwise), combined with mechanical play in the system? Because the ringing-effect also changed. Maybe try printing a small testmodel where this occurs: print one test quite fast, and next time quite slow? And see if that gives any difference? Printing slower should give better results.

 

But apart from that, I am not familiar enough to give info on how to solve it.

 

[Hops 3]

Ive had this same problem on my S5 since i got it, all be it not as bad as yours. Mine seems to happen when the geometry of the print changes abruptly. Ive tightened everything down and still have the same issue. I still have a a month or so on a S3D subscription and will try to print the same model with as close to same settings as possible and use that to see if this is mechanical or software. 

 

This is printing using latest Cura, Engineering  preset with 0.15 changed to 0.2 and thats it. 

 

what you have looks was more severe, check that your shafts are sticking to the pullys. you can do this by taking a black market and marking both at the point where they meet, reprint and see if they are no longer aligned. red lines on uploaded pictures show what i mean.

Edited September 21, 2021 by Hops

[Reina 0]

I printed another cube slower this time, with the same rest of the settings. I also marked the shafts. After the print, the shaft and pulleys were still aligned. There still is an indent on the bottom side of the x-face and the opposite face, although the indents and wavy patterns are different on the cubes. The cube on the left is the one printed at the normal speed recommended on Cura, and the cube on the right is printed at a slower speed. I don't know if this is a significant improvement, is there anything else I could adjust other than the speed?