Hello everybody, I have a lulzbot Taz 5, and lately I have been seeing some print quality issues that I am not able to diagnose. Not sure if it’s a slicer issue or a machine issue, hopefully I can get some insight from your own experience. While I have good dimensional accuracy I am seeing the outer shell quality being more bumpy than before. I am using Cura lulzbot edition, and for this basic print used the default standard quality settings with pla. Any advice for locating the culprit of the bumpy surface would be appreciated.
Looks like overextrusion. Did you calibrate extrusion rate for this Filament ?
No fluye bien el filamento. 1 defecto de temperatura. 2 mal arrastre del filamento en el extrusor. 3 mala calibración. Suerte!!
I did not do any extra calibrations for this print, the filament I used has previously produced a very nice surface, and only when there are special considerations do I tweak the slicer settings, for basic projects the defaults in Cura work just fine. The surface issues are more recent. I think I should do some maintenance, take out the print head and clean out or replace the nozzle, check the PTFE is still looking good, and adjust the idler tension and try again.
If the same roll it may have gotten some
Moisture in or if another roll may be a little different.
We’re the other things that you printer all curved perimeters like this piece? My experience has been that the plastic “bunches up” on the inside of curved lines and holes. How does it print on straight sided models? Maybe dial the extrusion back just a bit.
The only issues on the sides were because I forget to randomize the start points on each layer, creating a little vertical knot throughout, but that was my fault. It’s the top outer shell that looks off. I will try a couple of iterations of this print, play with the temperatures and give the machine a good cleaning over the weekend
Has it been humid lately? Did you try some old gcode to see if that prints okay? Are you sure the roll of filament is being consistent in diameter? Did you hear your extruder motor kick back any? Did it get dusty in your 3D printer area? These are just generic questions. I have no opinion yet.
Humidity could be a factor if the roll absorbed ambient moisture. Normally I can hear the little pops as the filament is extruded as a giveaway to change the roll, and put the affected one in a large ziplock with a desiccant for a week or so. I didn’t hear any pops like that during the print, but once in a while when the print head moves from one end of the bed to another, a sound like the nozzle might be grazing the topmost layers, though I don’t see any deformation of the prints to prove that’s the case.