Ultimaker 1+ print quality is getting worse, what can I do?

[polle 0]

Good afternoon,
I was wondering if anyone knows what I'm up against. I got the Ultimaker 1+ in 2014 and since then it has been just printing, which is really nice and impressive!
But the quality is obviously getting worse. What I tried with the Superslicer test prints:

• get the filament temperature right
• calibrate the flow
• Readjust the print head
• Oiling the metal slide bearings (the head still moves too hard for my taste)

I have been printing with a 0.6mm nozzle since the beginning. Everything on the printer are still the first parts. These Testprints are made with a new roll of the colorfabb pla, sliced with cura.

 

My issues:

• I still have flow problems (see photos)
• The layers aren't exactly on top of each other, I thought the belts got play, but it doesn't seem to be the case.
• Even with extreme retraction settings (8 mm / 35 m/s I still get some stringing. (but not in this case)

Any ideas?

Regards, Michael

 

 

Edited December 17, 2023 by polle

[Slashee_the_Cow 409]

I don't think the layers not quite lining up is a problem with the bed (although it's always a good place to start, so nice to see you already thought of that). Looking at the outside corners in those prints, they basically line up, so I don't think there's any layer shifting going on.

 

I think it's entirely a flow problem, everything looks overextruded:

• The walls look uneven because they're being printed at different thicknesses.
• Is the corner with the blobs the Z seam? That would definitely explain the blobs
• Even without the Z-seam, since it has to slow down to do a corner, that can leave a blob. Most of your other corners look pretty chunky, but the one with the blobs is concave, whereas all the others are convex, so it's going to take a route that slightly cuts the corner in the visible direction, whereas a convex corner will slightly cut into the direction of the corner.
• The extra blobs on the wall in the last picture could be a few times when it's had a short burst even more than usual.
• The printing on the inside looks sort of mushy and like it's all melded together, not like it's printed even lines.

If you've done everything you can on your end (and by the sounds of it, you have) it's probably a hardware problem, my guess would be either the extruder or hot end. As you said, it's had a good long life, I've had a 3D printer kill itself in under six weeks.

 

You should reach out to UltiMaker support and see if they can help.