Fail

[theverant]

First (and second) attempt at the hollow cube thing:

This is after fixing a problem with the extruder and spending an hour calibrating the height.
Bah!

[Polygonhell]

First (and second) attempt at the hollow cube thing:

_DSC0125.JPG

_DSC0122.JPG

This is after fixing a problem with the extruder and spending an hour calibrating the height.
Bah!

You're filament is skipping in the extruder, probably not the only issue, but the first one to address.

[mhackney]

I'd recommend taking a look at my calibration posts in my build thread. Start with the simple single wall object and print that and adjust until you get it. It saves time, filament and aggravation!

[theverant]

I suspected the extruder still wasn't working properly. I'll see if I can track that down first, thanks.

[theverant]

So here is test 3 and 4 - an attempt at the thin wall object. #4 is seeing big improvements. I did monkey with the calibration more today. I haven't done anything new to the extruder at this point.

It's almost a real print!

[Polygonhell]

So here is test 3 and 4 - an attempt at the thin wall object. #4 is seeing big improvements. I did monkey with the calibration more today. I haven't done anything new to the extruder at this point.

20130218_0001.JPG

20130218_0004.JPG

It's almost a real print!

You're still losing filament somewhere, as evidenced by the holes.
If you have any retraction set turn it off, turn it back on when you can get a decent print with strings, then at least you'll know what the cause is.

[theverant]

Okay so good progress here, I think.

I fixed the e steps of my extruder- they were waaaaayyyyyy off. So thanks for sending me in the right direction on the filament problem polygonhell!

Weird offset of the layers, most noticable on the corner facing the front of the machine (facing the viewer).

I'm going to do another at a lower hot end temp to see if part of the layer weirdness is too hot filament.

[theverant]

Okay, whipped off another thin wall thing. 10oC lower temp - 230 instead of 240. Definitely a step backward, but the layer weirdness remained. Is this a mechanical issue?

Same layer weirdness. Lower temp definitely not getting enough filament through:

[Polygonhell]

It's probably not an estep problem, in fact I'd say looking at the latest prints that you are over extruding when it isn't losing filament. I think all you've done is masked some of the issue.
I would guess the filament is either slipping (most likely) or the extruder stepper is skipping.

Slipping filament is really hard to tell on a Steve's start it printing, watch the gear and feel the filament feed through, you should be able to feel if the filament stops feeding and the gear is moving. It can be caused by a lot of things, commonly people don't tighten the bolt on the idler assembly enough and the white gears turn but the pinch roller doesn't, it can be too little tension on the adjust ment and it can also be too much.

[theverant]

It's probably not an estep problem, in fact I'd say looking at the latest prints that you are over extruding when it isn't losing filament. I think all you've done is masked some of the issue.
I would guess the filament is either slipping (most likely) or the extruder stepper is skipping.

Well I did the whole mark the filament and run it forward and check the distance and it was clocking in at less than half before I adjusted the e steps. Now the cold movement (disconnected from the hot end entirely) is accurate - 50mm in Repetier Host moves the filament in the Bowden tube 50mm. Is this not correct?

[Polygonhell]

It's probably not an estep problem, in fact I'd say looking at the latest prints that you are over extruding when it isn't losing filament. I think all you've done is masked some of the issue.
I would guess the filament is either slipping (most likely) or the extruder stepper is skipping.

Well I did the whole mark the filament and run it forward and check the distance and it was clocking in at less than half before I adjusted the e steps. Now the cold movement (disconnected from the hot end entirely) is accurate - 50mm in Repetier Host moves the filament in the Bowden tube 50mm. Is this not correct?

Ahh OK you probably have a later RAMBO board that supports 16x micro stepping, the early boards which the firmwares are calibrated for only support 8, so it's quite likely off by a factor of 2.

[theverant]

Ahh OK you probably have a later RAMBO board that supports 16x micro stepping, the early boards which the firmwares are calibrated for only support 8, so it's quite likely off by a factor of 2.

Yeah, I have the rev1.1 board e steps appeared to be half. But now you think too much is coming out? E distance seems correct. Any ideas what I should be checking for now? I did turn retraction off, by the way. So I actually made two changes since the last prints- retraction off and correct (i think!) e steps.

[Polygonhell]

Well the first thing to address is probably the leaning, it implies a loose belt/pulley or a skipping stepper, it will be. Leaning towards or away from the offending tower when it's printing.

[theverant]

You got it. I restrung the belts and now it's all good. Well, mostly good. Somewhat okay. Whatever it is, progress is being made.

Behold my latest square!

First layer 220oC, other layers 115oC. Bed 85oC constant.

Doing one @ 115/110 right now

Retraction still @ 0.

Any theories on the layer wobble?

PS. the black spot is dirt on my sensor, not a hole in the print.

[Polygonhell]

It could be a couple of things
Assuming the print is single walled.
Extrusion width set too large, makes extrusion inconsistent.
Printing too hot.
Insufficient cooling both these cause layers to sag.
Hotend loose, or platform having a lot of play, try moving it around by the nozzle.

BTW you're first layer is too low.

[mycroft]

I think I'm having similar issues. Here is a link to what should be a solid bar and a screen of the settings I used: http://imgur.com/a/fXExz
Is there something I'm missing?

[theverant]

I think I'm having similar issues. Here is a link to what should be a solid bar and a screen of the settings I used: http://imgur.com/a/fXExz
Is there something I'm missing?

Wow, looks like something my cat yakked up. I can't say for sure what is up with your rig, but first thing, check that your extruder is moving filament okay. That was a big issue for me early on. Make sure the pinch rollers are nice and snug (but don't over tighten).

Also, have you calibrated your e steps for the extruder?

[mycroft]

I think I'm having similar issues. Here is a link to what should be a solid bar and a screen of the settings I used: http://imgur.com/a/fXExz
Is there something I'm missing?

Wow, looks like something my cat yakked up. I can't say for sure what is up with your rig, but first thing, check that your extruder is moving filament okay. That was a big issue for me early on. Make sure the pinch rollers are nice and snug (but don't over tighten).

Also, have you calibrated your e steps for the extruder?

I'm confident that there is no slipping at the extruder. I have not calibrated the e steps though, is there a good guide on how to do so?

Thanks

[mycroft]

I think I'm having similar issues. Here is a link to what should be a solid bar and a screen of the settings I used: http://imgur.com/a/fXExz
Is there something I'm missing?

Wow, looks like something my cat yakked up. I can't say for sure what is up with your rig, but first thing, check that your extruder is moving filament okay. That was a big issue for me early on. Make sure the pinch rollers are nice and snug (but don't over tighten).

Also, have you calibrated your e steps for the extruder?

I'm confident that there is no slipping at the extruder. I have not calibrated the e steps though, is there a good guide on how to do so?

Thanks

JK, I'm an ass...the extruder was slipping

[theverant]

JK, I'm an ass...the extruder was slipping

Well, at least we figured it out.

As for calibrating e steps, I used

http://richrap.blogspot.ca/2012/01/slic ... s-and.html

and for other calibration (which I haven't gotten around to yet)

http://reprap.org/wiki/Triffid_Hunter's ... e#Z_height

Also Polygonhell has started a nice calibration thread which I am on the verge of following as well (I've been having mechanical issues which I need to sort out before doing his guide)

If you are using Polygonhell's Repetier firmware I can tell you right now things are not set correctly for a RAMBo V1.1 board. I had to change microstepping and e steps, both were half of what they needed to be (he's using 8x microstepping on a V1 board, V1.1 has x16)