Mastodawn

Hey can someone help with print quality this looks really stingy and sloppy

https://lemmy.world/post/20715945

Hey can someone help with print quality this looks really stingy and sloppy - Lemmy.World

I’m using an ender 3 with a 0.4mm nozzle [https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/7321b661-9f70-4da1-81c9-cf71b882922d.jpeg][https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/0ea2f0cb-9ad8-4779-9aa3-bc6e6cbd5b8c.jpeg][https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/247c81ce-667c-4c5d-a7e2-f4354d5d1012.jpeg][https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/39450aaf-0d72-4aa2-bba4-d4f1367e618b.jpeg][https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/00545ecc-da92-42c9-9010-17cf40f52b2b.jpeg]

javasux Oct 10, 2024

Looks to me like your temperature is too high and you need to increase your retraction distance.

kryptonianCodeMonkey Oct 10, 2024

Also may need improved blower (fan replacement/more focused outlet)

paf Oct 10, 2024

While turning down temperature might help as it will be less fluid, i tend to think that increasing retraction might give him other problems (unless is settings are really low). On pictures we only see stringing at the top where printing areas are very small which means much more retraction are needed. His issue could be related to maximum retraction count and/or minimum extrusion distance, when those numbers are reached, printer will not retract filament to protect grinding too much filament. Others parameters to look out are retraction speed and prime speed but since OP didn’t share settings, no way to tell what he could try.

To OP, please share your printing settings.

EvolvedTurtle Oct 10, 2024

I am absolutely gonna do some test for this

𞋴𝛂𝛋𝛆 Oct 10, 2024

Wet filament can do that. Even new filament can be wet some times, especially with rarer colors that sit around in storage for much longer.

half_built_pyramids Oct 10, 2024

+1

Dry that shit always, super easy to eliminate that variable

EvolvedTurtle Oct 10, 2024

Oh I didn’t even consider this I’ma try this first

This filament has been sitting out for a while so this seems very possible

SkyezOpen Oct 11, 2024

Toss it in a box with dessicant packs for a few days. If it’s not flexible and breaks easily, it’s too moist.

🇦🇺𝕄𝕦𝕟𝕥𝕖𝕕𝕔𝕣𝕠𝕔𝕠𝕕𝕚𝕝𝕖 Oct 11, 2024

Put it in the oven on a really low heat (like really low) should dry it out in like an hour or so.

HootinNHollerin Oct 11, 2024

Can look up tables of temperatures and times for using an oven to dry various filaments. Putting in sealed container with desiccant could work but will take much longer

MissJinx Oct 10, 2024

Well my fdm wont print anything this size so yours is a lot better

Grass Oct 10, 2024

make sure everything is as square as you can make it, tension and eccentric wheel not too much or too little, no broken parts, get some filament you dont care about and dry it then go through this:

ellis3dp.com/Print-Tuning-Guide/

skip any voron or klipper specific stuff and follow the marlin instructions for each section that has them.

Its a huge pain in the ass to do the whole thing, but you will be able to rule out everything that can be ruled out.

Welcome!

Ellis’ Print Tuning Guide

Ellis’ Print Tuning Guide

itsnicodegallo Oct 11, 2024

No suggestions. I just wanna know what the answer ends up being that fixes it for you.

Dkarma Oct 11, 2024

Throw your ender away and buy a good printer.

Every single thread like this is an ender.

They’re shit.

EvolvedTurtle Oct 11, 2024

Man I’m broke and I’ve had this thing for years Fuckin love it

FuglyDuck Oct 11, 2024

You know that’s generally not helpful, right?

Like, okay. Enders are not the best printers. It’s what they have. Most of us can’t just go out and get a printer just because it doesn’t meet your standards.

People should have realistic expectations, but Enders aren’t incapable of okay-prints, and with a lot of love, some awesome prints.

This is especially not helpful since it’s probably the filament needing to be dried and temp adjustments for the plastic.

FrederikNJS Oct 11, 2024

This is a useless comment… This issue has nothing to do with the brand of printer you bought, and everything to do with the settings of your printer and whether the filament is wet. A well tuned Ender will print better than a much more expensive printer will still print like shit if it’s not configured correctly and the filament is wet. Of course there are printers now that are much easier to get good results with, especially because they come with build in filament dryers, and automatic tuning.

Nightsoul Oct 11, 2024

Check for clogs in the nozzle And check your extrusion motor, that might need a clean

Filament also might need to be dried, if you hear crackling as it comes out of the nozzle it’s most likely too moist

fluxx Oct 11, 2024

As others have mentioned:

Dry your filament. Stick it in the oven for 2+ hours on minimal settings. If you have a fan in the oven, even better.
Tune your printer. Do a temperature tower with your dried filament. Lower temperatures might improve quality at the expense of lower layer adhesion. Do a flow calibration routine. Overextrusion can also have effects like this.
Slow down the printing. Increase minimal layer time, which might have an effect. If it’s original E3, it has relatively poor part cooling, which can be compensated by slowing things down.

Nothing wrong with Ender 3, if you thinker enough, you can get results as good as any other printer. But it may require tinkering. The model that you’re printing is difficult with FDM printers of any kind. It has thin, delicate parts with steep overhangs. It can look better, but it’s gonna be hard to achieve. Resin printers are definitely a better choice for this, but you use what you have.

FuglyDuck Oct 11, 2024

Gotta be careful with ovens.

First they have a huge gradient and it may not be 60c in there even if the oven says it is. If you must use an oven, the best is to set it to bread “proof”- this setting is used to let dough rise and usually isn’t all that hot. (Though…. It could be. It’s inconsistent sometime,)

Remember, glass transition is usually about half the melting temp, and you want to be about 2/3s that at the highest. If you go past it, you might get sintering- the filament sticks to itself.

Personally, a cheap food dehydrator is going to do the trick. Alternatively, a tub with moisture absorbing beads bulked up in the bottom and few days or a week or two should do the trick gently. (You can buy big ass jugs of the beads at big box hardware stores or Amazon. Hell you can get 55 gallon drums of them if you really wanted to…)

fluxx Oct 11, 2024

True, I’ve seen many molten rolls of filament because of overly warm ovens. Make sure it doesn’t go over 60C and you’re good. Mine is good, has a little overshoot when heating up, but if you let it warm up first and then put the filament, it generally stays very close to 60C. I havent had problems. Other ovens - be careful. Food dehydrator is better, but if you don’t have it, you may as well buy an actual filament dryer. Desicant beads didn’t work for me. They do the trick of maintaining the dryness, but if you have ANY built up moisture in your filament, the beads won’t do much.

Sigilos Oct 11, 2024

Also expect some stringing, a little bit during printing is ok. Use a heat gun if you have one, or a blow dryer can work well as a replacement. The heat causes the thin strings to contact and they practically disappear as you watch. It’s pretty fun to do, and satisfying.

fluxx Oct 11, 2024

A little mini torch, similar to a regular gas lighter also can work wonderfully.

itsmect Oct 12, 2024

Don’t dry filament in the oven. Simply put the filament spool on the print bed, set it to 60°C (PLA) or 70°C (PETG) and cover it with a cardboard box to trap the heat. Poke 3 holes in the box to lead damp air escape. Let it cook for 2-4h, then flip the spool and wait for another 2-4h. Store in air tight container with some silica gel to keep it dry.

fluxx Oct 13, 2024

You’re completely right, I forgot about that method. I’ve used it in the past, it works great and is far more controllable and safe.