Layers collapsing onto each other after E3Dv6 upgrade (Page 1 of 2)

Rotate the tab 90 degrees. I think you are getting that because it is a small area and the heater is hovering over it for too long.

I've finally got that to print -- it took a few tries to get it to stick to the bed, but after readjusting the Z-axis, it finally stuck. 0.2963 doesn't look much different to me, I was printing at 0.1 before. It actually looks like some of the layers haven't quite stuck -- this is with the extruder at 210C, running black ABS:

Full album: http://imgur.com/a/5nobt

It's certainly a usable part, and better than the last one, but the melting/warping on the bottom isn't ideal.

Unfortunately the bed (first-gen with resistors) won't heat up properly any more -- the warmest I can get it to is about 82 Celsius, it'll get to 84 with a struggle. Last night it was doing 92. I'm not sure what's going on there.

This Solidoodle 2 Pro has a Z-azis anti-backlash nut (an extra nut, a spring and a 3D printed cover which keeps the two nuts moving together) and prior to the E3Dv6 being fitted also had a PWM-driven extruder fan. I'm toying with the idea of printing and installing the Lawsy carriage and fitting a fan underneath that (I have an STL for one somewhere) -- I had better prints from the stock extruder when I fitted an extruder fan and was wondering if that'd do the same for the E3D.

It's also got an E3D Hobbgoblin extruder hob - I swapped that in instead of the stock one because I had problems loading filament (and with filament jams) after installing the E3D extruder.

Thanks,
Phil.

I just had this thought:

A few months ago, I upgraded my stock SD4 hotend for a E3Dv6 and was having print quality issues.  I found that I had to adjust my extrusion temperatures .  I was using 195°C with the stock hotend; I've ended up using 225°C with the E3Dv6. 

If memory serves, I've read elsewhere on this forum that the stock SD hotends are actually 30° hotter than indicated.

Hmm, I might try going up a little further then. I'd heard about the 30C difference, so I added 30C to my original temps and used those. Maybe they're still a little low.

I did. I used the "extrude 10cm of filament and calculate" method. I was within 1mm if I remember correctly. Here are my settings, copied straight out of Pronterface:

echo:Marlin 1.0.0
echo: Last Updated: Oct 21 2015 23:04:57 | Author: Lawsy/Rincewind/Tealvince/Adrian
Compiled: Oct 21 2015
echo: Free Memory: 908  PlannerBufferBytes: 1232
echo:Stored settings retrieved
echo:Steps per unit:
echo:  M92 X88.00 Y88.00 Z2268.00 E166.67
echo:Maximum feedrates (mm/s):
echo:  M203 X500.00 Y500.00 Z5.00 E45.00
echo:Maximum Acceleration (mm/s2):
echo:  M201 X9000 Y9000 Z100 E10000
echo:Acceleration: S=acceleration, T=retract acceleration
echo:  M204 S3000.00 T3000.00
echo:Advanced variables: S=Min feedrate (mm/s), T=Min travel feedrate (mm/s), B=minimum segment time (ms), X=maximum XY jerk (mm/s),  Z=maximum Z jerk (mm/s),  E=maximum E jerk (mm/s)
echo:  M205 S0.00 T0.00 B20000 X20.00 Z0.40 E5.00
echo:Home offset (mm):
echo:  M206 X0.00 Y0.00 Z0.00
echo:PID settings:
echo:   M301 P37.55 I4.15 D84.89

Thanks,
Phil.

30 degrees or more difference - mine was nearly 50 degrees different. 0.0

but yeah, ABS on an E3D should be in the 230-240C range - most of my ABS runs well around 235c

and fwiw - i struggled a little with print quality when i first installed my E3D v6 - it takes a bit of adjustment (both mental and mechanical) and tinkering with settings to find what works well, but once there the difference is amazing.

I am going to be honest man. That does not look good at all. Even the latest looks bad. I see a lot of over extrusion in there and the layers are not laying uniformly. Looks to me like your temp may be too low as well. There is a lot of vertical offsets in there as well. It looks like something in your Z axis is loose or wobbling. i would make sure your bed is not moving side to side or front to back and make sure the hotend is also secure and has no wobbles.

it also appears there is quite a bit of moire happening, which indicates voltage is too high on the stepper driver.

the latest print is somewhat better, but can be made better yet with a bit more tweaking as suggested.

+1 I would also add to check your nozzle settings. If you are using a .4mm nozzle, bump your settings up to .48mm.

What he means is your e3d has a .4 nozzle and you need to set extrusion widths to 120% of that or .48
Layer height can be .1 or .2 or .3 without any changes to extrusion width.

voltages on data sheets are a good starting point, but may require a little tweaking to perfect - every machine is going to be just a little different.

If nozzle size is 0.4, then yes, your default extrusion width should be 0.48 (this is not layer height)

also, have you calibrated extrusion feed rate? if you ask it to feed 100mms are you getting 100mms - more? less?
how about your filament settings? - filament diameter, extrusion multiplier, etc - every roll is going to be different.

It is unlikely your filament is 1.75. Even the best does not have that precision. You should measure it over a three foot section about every six inches then average the results. Most of the time you will get values like 1.7735 or 1.735. It is critical that this value be accurate as it affects your flow volume.

Nozzle diameter should be set to .4. The .48 is your layer width which the slicer controls based on a .3mm layer. The walls if you have the machine calibrated correctly will be 120% wider than extrusion height.

As for the temp. It is imperative that you get a contact type thermometer so you can confirm that your nozzle temp is 210 when set at 210. That temp is also low unless you are printing PLA and then it might be a little high. But judging by how round your layers look your temp is too low.

Here are a couple of pics of a cube I did the other day. They are not the best as the filament was old and had a lot of moisture. That is what is causing the rough and void looking areas in each layer. But that was my purpose for printing it in the first place to confirm if the filament was good or not.

Notice the layers are all parallel and actually look bonded to each other rather than just stacked on each other.