Gaps between infill and wall

[thirty6 3]

Hi All

Couple of questions

1. Why does my machine often print with a gap between the infill and the walls when printing the bases layers. Print settings on the image are .25 layer height, .8 shell and base, 70 mm/s. All belts are tensioned correctly, beds level. The image shows it on the nearest edge to the camera.

2. My machine jams on the x and Y axis occasionally, Print head sticks and stepper motors sound like a clutch mechanism engages. When i turn the machine off movement in either axis is very stiff. I usually cure it by returning the head to the home position manually.

Cheers

Matthew

 

[owen 19]

Have you lubricated all 8 shafts with light machine oil or something similar?

Are your long belts over-tight?

Are your centre axis parallel to you our axis?

 

[thirty6 3]

Cheers Owen

Just read the link on your YouMagine link about aligning your axis, think mine may well be off.

Will print a couple of your axis alignment tools and give it a try.

 

[illuminarti 18]

With no power applied, you should be able to move the axes with quite light finger tip pressure on both of the sliding blocks in a pair.

 

[tommyph1208 55]

What is the upper limit for layer height? 0.25 mm. sounds like a lot to me...? I never printed above 0.1 myself, though I'm aware you can go higher than that for fast low quality prints

 

[owen 19]

What is the upper limit for layer height? 0.25 mm. sounds like a lot to me...? I never printed below 0.1 myself, though I'm aware you can go higher than that for fast low quality prints

 

I think about 3/4 of nozzle width is about the limit, so for 0.4mm nozzle = 0.3mm. Mind you I think it starts getting ugly above 0.2mm. I don't like to go over 0.15mm myself even if no one else is going to see it.

 

[gr5 2,167]

@thirty6 - I think both of your issues are the same issue. We had someone on the forum with both of your issues a few weeks ago and he fixed it by reducing friction - mainly by loosening his belts. Play (also known as backlash) is when the head doesn't quite go all the way to the commanded position (stops short). This can be caused by loose belts or by high friction. With loose belts I think it's obvious - not sure how to describe. With high friction, when the motor stops the belts are still trying to pull the head to a position but it won't move and there is still tension pushing the head in the right direction but it doesn't move.

Anyway - I think Illuminarti exaggerates a bit. You should be able to push the head around with your smallest finger and the printer itself shouldn't slide around on a table. But it's not exactly a light touch.

Another possible culprit (other than tight belts) is your endcaps on the rods. Try loosening one on each end of the 4 rotating rods. Loosen them one axis at a time and see if it helps with the friction before going to the next axis.

 

[illuminarti 18]

No, I don't. On my printer, if you press both sliding blocks at once, so you aren't torquing anything out of line, it takes light pressure to move the head. I just tried it. :-p

 

[gr5 2,167]

Oh! But that requires 2 fingers.

 

[thirty6 3]

Thanks all for the info, if i try to push the head round whilst the printer is off it is really stiff. I am just printing some Owen's

Adjustable Axis Alignment Tools, so will have a go at sorting out after. Hard to say what tension the belts are but definitely not slack.

As far as layer thickness, i often use .25 for quick prints and usually find it pretty good, though it depends a lot of what make of filament. Just had sample of colorfabb to compare with faberdashery (great product but seriously, not on a reel!!)

 

[gr5 2,167]

You can loosen the end caps while you print if you want. That's the easiest of all the things to try. That and a drop of oil on each of the 6 rods. Also can be done while printing.

 

[owen 19]

Just had sample of colorfabb to compare with faberdashery (great product but seriously, not on a reel!!)

 

I prefer not on a reel.

You don't have filament in a tight circle at the end of the reel then.

Just put it on a lazy suzanne.