What material are you using? And if you could upload the Cura project file (.3mf, in Cura make it like you're ready to print, then go to File > Save Project) that would help since we could see if there's anything in the settings that might be causing something like this.
Just off the top of my head (a few pictures doesn't always help me too much - long story) how fast are you printing, and what are your acceleration and jerk values? It looks you could be trying to print too fast.
It's hard to tell in the photos but the goosebumps look like underextrusion and almost certainly completely unrelated to the larger waves.
I was going to ask if this is a bedslinger but I see it is an ender 3 v2 which is certainly a bedslinger. I think the issue is very likely related to the bed moving. Because the waves change as you move up the part (vibration frequencies change as it gets longer, amount of vibration increases as you get higher as well. So make sure the long axis of the elliptical cross section is aligned with the bed movement - that will make it more stable. Adding some support would help as well but then the outside would be even more ugly after removing support.
That's all I have for theories - these changes, although very visible to the eye, are almost impossible to measure with a micrometer or a laser scanner as they are extremely tiny. Which means very subtle, tiny affects can create these patterns. Such as the stepper motor steps per revolution, also substepping issues of the extruder can create patterns like this. Typically there are 8 or 16 substeps and the way the stepper driver chips work (especially the cheaper ones used on cheap printers) the last step has less power and tends to not move at all so every 8 or 16 substeps the stepper does not move and then on the next substep it moves doubly far. There are hardware solutions for this. This is one of hundreds of very subtle things that can make ever so tiny imperfections like this.
Basically I think this is kind of typical tiny tiny errors (but often very clearly visible) that you see with FDM printing in general. For more practical/functional parts like say a soap dish, these shapes are fine.
Just like the grain in wood can be beautiful to some people, this pattern caused by the printer along with the layer lines can be just as beautiful to people who truly appreciate the beauty of 3d printing. What you may consider tacky or ugly (like say distressed wood) may be fashionable some day in the future.
Sorry to brush your issue aside like that - just giving you another perspective.
I think these issues will be extremely difficult to fix.
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I agree it's a problem at the printer. Here are a couple of things you can check.
Some of the trolley wheels will have a hex shaped spacer. That is the adjuster. Slightly loosen the retaining nut and rotate the hex, and a cam on the end will move the wheel into the slot, or away from the slot. When you can just turn every wheel with two fingers they are correctly adjusted. Hold the hex adjuster with a wrench so it doesn't rotate when you re-tighten the retaining nuts.
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@Slashee_the_Cow, i am using ESUN PLA + in black and attached is my project file. i can also confirm that there is no play in the hotend and my bed is not wobbly. i'll try using my printer on a different surface later today and keep you updated.
I tried printing on my hard floor, but the same results occurred. 🫤
I also just experimented with speed, flow and hotend temp, but nothing worked 😞
2 hours ago, Schmordan said:I also just experimented with speed, flow and hotend temp, but nothing worked 😞
Have you tried setting the acceleration and jerk (they're both at the bottom of the Travel section) really low to see if one of them is causing a problem? If I was testing to see if they'd cause a problem I'd set acceleration to 250mm/s² (my printer can go up to 4000mm/s², but I limit it 1000, tops, even for my normal prints) and the jerk to 2mm (I think the default is 4).
i just tried using the same jerk and acceleration settings that you recommended, and it didn't work, with the same results as the other tests.
This is your project on my Ender 3 Pro. It is PETG because that is the scrap I had to play with so the temperatures are different. My other change was that all your "flows" are at 95% so I tuned that to 110% (I typically run PETG at 105%).
If I adjust the flash and turn the model just right I can see some ringing. I'm not sure what to make of that. The model must be turned exactly right for it to be noticeable.
You have already checked the mechanicals so let's go back to @gr5's comment regarding the "under-extrusion".
Have you calibrated the E-steps on the printer?
Did you stop there (perfect!) or did you use some sort of single wall "calibration cube" to make further adjustments?
Edited by GregValiant
I have calibrated my e-steps a while ago, but i'll try to redo it later today. i didn't use a calibration cube, and instead, after calibrating my e-steps, i think i just went on to regularly printing again. I'll update you later today, and thank you for your support!
Double check the E-steps. My opinion is that the single wall calibration cubes are completely misleading and cause more problems than they are worth.
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Sorry for the really late response, as i had some things go on during last week, but i recalibrated my E-steps, which is now 86.7. I reprinted the model and was happy at first ... but then after a few minutes it just got worse.
2 hours ago, Schmordan said:Sorry for the really late response, as i had some things go on during last week
Don't worry about it! We all have stuff to do which keeps us away from our precious internet, and gadgets.
2 hours ago, Schmordan said:I reprinted the model and was happy at first ... but then after a few minutes it just got worse.
That's actually some good data right there. What changes as you get higher?
Conclusion: 😕
FWIW, I print my eSun PLA+ at 210°, can't hurt to try. And I know Z seams are ugly, but have you tried printing it in regular mode (not spiralised) to see if that makes a difference?
42 minutes ago, Slashee_the_Cow said:but have you tried printing it in regular mode (not spiralised) to see if that makes a difference?
i'll try to do that, but it might be a bit annoying, as i'm trying to print a collapsing katana for my friend, and seams can get in the way of smooth operation. i'll update you soon about my results.
same effect as all the last results except with a seam. 😕
i found a partial solution. I tried some other filaments i had lying around and discovered it was actually the filament that made the wavy pattern. i don't even know how, because i bought the filament at the same time and opened the filaments at the same time as each other, but only the white one has the waves.
what is also annoying is that i think both the grey and black filaments have what look to be bubbles from moisture (i think??) that made imperfections on the surface of the prints. I'm in a particularly dry country, but i guess it's time to buy a filament dehydrator.
I won't mark this as the answer, as i think there is something else at play here that's affecting the quality, as knowing the proper answer could maybe help me or others in the future.
14 minutes ago, Schmordan said:what is also annoying is that i think both the grey and black filaments have what look to be bubbles from moisture (i think??) that made imperfections on the surface of the prints. I'm in a particularly dry country, but i guess it's time to buy a filament dehydrator.
If you're printing PLA, you don't need a filament dryer. I live in a country where the humidity regularly gets over 90% (sometimes even up to 100%) and I've pulled six year old PLA out of a drawer and it's worked fine.
I assume you're referring to the lumps in the middle of the black one, the far side of the grey one and the near side of the white one? Are they at the print start/end points? They're far too consistent to be moisture. Almost certainly an overabundance of filament for some reason.
the bumps are in fact not start/end points, as the line across the middle of the prints are the seams. if the bubbles aren't moisture, what could it be? It might be an extrusion issue to do with flow, nozzle temp or something else.
also with the apparent cause of the wave problem coming from the filament being used, what property of the filament could cause the waves to be produced on the white filament print? the filaments are all made form the same brand and type of plastic (ESUN PLA+).
I know i'm straying from the original topic, but I just dehydrated my filament (using a DIY method by Ricky Impey) only for a short time and my results are quite good. I think it is clear that the bubbles were caused b y the moisture in the filament, because the bubbles in the new test are minuscule and unnoticeable, and i think i can eliminate them entirely by dehydrating them for another hour or two.
The issue of the mysterious white filament is still ongoing.
DIY Filament Dehydrator Tutorial:
5 hours ago, Schmordan said:also with the apparent cause of the wave problem coming from the filament being used, what property of the filament could cause the waves to be produced on the white filament print? the filaments are all made form the same brand and type of plastic (ESUN PLA+).
I mean it's possible one spool could just be a bad batch. I buy the same brand (one of about 2.5 brands available on Amazon AU with prime shipping that I still trust) and I've never had problems with moisture. And the humidity has hit over 90% every day in the past week (Australian summer: not over just 'cause it's officially autumn).
But if it is a bad batch wavy lines wouldn't be enough to make it onto my blacklist. My blacklist largely consists of "literally killed my printer" and partially "wound so terribly the extruder had to pull so hard it induced a layer shift of several centimetres" - I ended up, using that one, put it on a freestanding spool holder I made, fed it into my printer's tent through a tube so I could have it sitting next to my desk and manually unspooled it as it printed. Which didn't help at the part where it had a knot in it. How the Frakta do you get a knot in a spool of filament you buy?
(You don't need to follow the link, I'm just proving I'm not swearing)
21 minutes ago, Slashee_the_Cow said:I'm just proving I'm not swearing
Aussies swearing is like Aussie wildlife attempting to terminate you… can’t be helped, it’s what makes them Aussie. Don’t hurt yourself trying to to change you nature.
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We don't want her to get in trouble with the moderators, lol!
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21 hours ago, Slashee_the_Cow said:it's possible one spool could just be a bad batch
I don't think it was though, because I've done multiple great-looking prints that look nothing like the results I'm getting now. I did, however, not use the filament for about a week and a half, but I don't see how the very dry conditions of SA can cause this effect.
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it also gets way worse with smaller nozzles, as i was using a 0.8 mm nozzle (sorry for not specifying) and in the following photos i used a 0.6 mm nozzle. it now looks like my print has goosebumps 🥲
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