1 Topic by Mr.Factotum (edited by Mr.Factotum 2013-08-30 12:33:29)

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Topic: Puffy Plastic? Help Please!

Okay so here is my story....

I received my solidoodle 3 a week ago. I tried printing with the sample filament and all I needed to adjust was the Z offset. I did a few small prints and everything worked fine. Then I switched to my own filament and printed a squid thing at half scale from thingaverse and it stuck so well it took me 10 minutes to get off. Then for some reason as I tried some larger prints I was having issues with warping and the print sticking to the bed.

I have been Messing around with settings all week, and now after switching to a glass bed with painters tape on it the prints stick wonderfully BUT the first layer is hideous! I either get spaces in between the strands or the plastic "puffs" and makes these rigged lines that are slightly higher than the first layer, so the nozzle will rub on it as it travels.

Any Suggestions?

Settings:
Glass Bed with Painters Tape
Bed Temp 95C
Nozzle Temp 195C 

In the Photo You can See a Double case of my troubles on that certain print (which usually does not happen), on the left is the gap between the strands and the right you can see where the ridges are forming.

http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/995/kygw.jpg

2 Reply by 2n2r5 (edited by 2n2r5 2013-08-30 13:13:05)

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Re: Puffy Plastic? Help Please!

Looks like you need to level the print bed

http://vimeo.com/55450537


Also, make sure you check out the wiki as it has a lot of info on calibrations and adjustments.

http://www.soliwiki.com/

SD3 w/ mods:
Glass bed with QU-BD heat pad upgrade, threadless ballscrew w/ 8mm smooth rod, spectra line belt replacement, lawsy MK5 extruder, Lawsy replacement carriage, E3D hotend, Ramps 1.4 w/ reprap discount controller, DRV8825 drivers, 12v 30A PS, Acrylic case, Overkill Y-idlers, Filament alarm, Extruder fan + more.

2n2r5's Website

3 Reply by Mr.Factotum

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Re: Puffy Plastic? Help Please!

2n2r5 wrote:

Looks like you need to level the print bed

http://vimeo.com/55450537


Also, make sure you check out the wiki as it has a lot of info on calibrations and adjustments.

http://www.soliwiki.com/

That was just that Photo, I adjusted the bed after and now I get that puffiness all across my first layer.

4 Reply by jason_

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Re: Puffy Plastic? Help Please!

You also may want to check your extruder calibrations.... I had a similar look that seemed to go away when I tuned my extruder amounts

5 Reply by IanJohnson

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Re: Puffy Plastic? Help Please!

It's common to get ridges on the first layer, since it is getting squished to make it stick.  You can't really judge the extrusion until the 2nd or 3rd layer.  The first layer isn't at the height the slicer expects, and the 2nd layer might be affected by the ridges on the first.  By the third the layer height is what it is supposed to be, so wait until then to decide if the amount of extrusion is right.

Your first layer shouldn't have gaps at all.  That would be an indication of homing too low, or way underextruding.