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Hi All,

Have a weird layer issue going on with my new Rostock Max V3. I've attached pics of what it looks like and pics of my Simplify3d settings. I didn't notice it in my first set of prints which were all calibrations and benchy's, but it is showing up in anything larger than a calibration cube.

The box in the pic is 3.25" all around for reference. I can troubleshoot the heck out of some Cartesian printers, but this is my first Delta rodeo so I'm head scratching st what could be the cause of this.

Thanks in advance for any help!

Given how it changes frequency as the perimeter changes, but otherwise is regular, I'm wondering if it might be flex in the bed due to oscillations in temperature or power delivery. Do you think you could graph the bed temperature, or use a gauge on the printhead to watch for the flex? In extreme cases, this has been visible without magnification as a sorta breathing effect, but it doesn't look that bad here.

Test print a simple cube - say 50mm or so - with a face parallel to the y axis. Then rotate it 45 and print. I wouldn't rule out a mechanical issue like a loose pulley, loose belt, or other issue with part of the drive train. The test above will help isolate if it is correlated to a specific tower.

Thanks gentlemen, I will try both out just as soon as I fix my hot end. I broke PLA off in this heat sink doodad and can't figure out how to get it out. Attached a pic, smack dab in the middle is a nice chunk of broken PLA.

I forgot to mention earlier that the layer lines are uniform on all four faces. Not sure if that helps troubleshoot. Thanks!!!

Scratch that filament issue, I took the hot end apart to get to the heat sink, clog gone. Of no fault of SeeMeCNC, but this build has taught me tons of things I never knew or had to deal with, mostly due to my own stupidity.

Soooo, on this layer issue, the fact that I had no Hot End fans or Layer fans might have led to the weird rings? I didn't solder down the two little white connector on the PCB. I since have done that, but I only have the hot end fan working, not the layer fans. I've tried all the standard suspects, now I'm going to check my solder/splice work to see if I messed something up. Other than that, any idea what could cause the layer fans to not work?

Got the layer fans working...somehow the orange wire popped itself out of the hot end of the wire mesh grouping. Also, since I didn't have any extra shrink tubing after taking it apart, I figured out that electrical tape makes great shrink wrap. Now printing with actual hot end and layer fans, a big planter, and so far everything is looking good.

Just to follow up and embarrass myself even more, the layer issue was ultimately because I didn't tighten the top portion of the Z tower down. The bolts and t connectors were all loose and flopping around. Another reason why I'll never pull an all nighter to build a printer again.

On the plus side, as of 4:17 AM EST I have all my self induced issues fixed, and it's humming along. I feel weird printing at these speeds and seeing perfect layers, I'm used to a whole lot of ringing and vibration echoes at 60mm a sec and above.

I learned a long time ago that you can learn more by making mistakes than you can by getting it right the first time. Congrats on your build!

g.

Called it...

This is my first post to the forum and I am humbled and thrilled by the capability and enthusiasm of the participants! I am very happy to be here!

I ran into a similar z banding issue, as well, with my new Max v3 build, however it was caused by a different issue. I thought it would be of interest and, perhaps, helpful to post about the issue and its resolution.

In my case, the issue had to do with the bed. The z banding was only present when the bed was heated and it was absent when the bed wasn't. As an aside, during the process of diagnosing the issue, I also discovered that my stock 12v bed heater could not maintain 60 c once the layer fans turned on. Instead, the bed temperature would steadily drop to about 54 c and stay there. I do not think this was responsible for the regular z banding, however it was unexpected and concerning.

My theory for the cause of the z banding is that the stock power supply fan, which points upward and directly at the underside of the plastic bed support, was cooling off the bed support when it turned on periodically. This cooling caused the bed support to contract, increasing the z height and the layer thickness. Then, when the fan turned off, the reverse occurred. This periodic increasing and decreasing of the layer height manifested itself as the regular z banding I was seeing.

Hoping to resolve the problem, I upgraded the bed heater to 24v and insulated the bottom of the bed support. Also, happily, the new 24v PSU fans blow horizontally through the PSU from back to front and so does not blow directly on the bed support as did the stock 12v PSU. All of this goodness has resulted in the complete resolution of the z banding issue. And, it is a joy to watch the bed effortlessly maintain the target temperature, with only a 1 degree swing, even with the layer fans at 100% and low to the bed.

From my searching through this forum, it seems that I am alone in having run into this issue. This makes me think there must have been something unique and incorrect about my build. I checked all the electrical connections to the bed and they were sound. I also measure the resistance at the bed and at the Rambo controller and found them to be within spec at 0.9 and 1.0 ohms. I haven't yet closed in the base with the panels and the acrylic, however I don't see how that would be the cause.

Edit: Right after I wrote that I could not see how not enclosing the base could cause, or at least, exacerbate the issue, I began to suspect that it, in fact, did. So, I am running some tests with the base enclosed.

I'd love to hear others' thoughts on all this.

Thanks!

It's unique in a V3, but not entirely novel. The V2 had a similar problem, as an error in the lasercut parts left a center hole that caused exactly the same problem. I would attempt to tune the PID for the bed to reduce this, as I believe it's more due to the bed flexing when power is applied. With the thinner substrate of the V3, I suspect it is less resilient than the V2 beds to this, but also less prone to picking up a permanent warp.

I would lower the P parameter of the heated bed, especially with the 24V power, and see if reducing P also reduces your symptoms. You may also want to play with the damping parameter see if it can reduce or eliminate the oscillations through that route. PID systems are supposed to be tuned to a power level and environment. You can also using some of the host programs that track the PWM history of the bed to see if it lines up like I think it does (I personally would use a scope or a meter with PWM/PDM analysis, but those are expensive tools)

Xenocrates, my apologies for the slow reply. I did reduce the P part of the PID and it did help significantly.

I also, along the way and with the new 24v power supply, replaced the stock plastic bed support with a FSR bed plate from Trick Laser, which is a better insulator. All of it did the trick. The z banding is vanquished!