Infill issue

Hello,

I tried printing the case for the stand-alone unit today (VM8201). But after slicing the baseplate:

But something weird happens after slicing it. It only fills the first mm, after that the hexa-pattern stops and it only prints the edges further up. When it reaches the top it starts bridging the complete top of the plate (which ofcourse collapses).

here you can see the hollow middle section:

How can this be fixed? Why does slicer stops filling the plate?

Kind regards,

Kenny

Hi Kenny,

could you update those pictures to show the actual issue in more detail, and perhaps with “Show Travel” (“Toon verplaatsing” in your locale) switched off for better view?

Cheers,
kuraasu

[quote=“kuraasu”]Hi Kenny,

could you update those pictures to show the actual issue in more detail, and perhaps with “Show Travel” (“Toon verplaatsing” in your locale) switched off for better view?

Cheers,
kuraasu[/quote]

hi, Kuraasu

this is layer 11:

and on layer 12 this happens:

I don’t get it why it doesn’t fill the entire plate, in this case the printer has to bridge almost 4cm (impossible)

Hi Kenny,

I wouldn’t say a 4 cm bridge is impossible, it just requires a very fine tuning of the parameters. But more to the point, check your Slic3r settings, Infill settings. This behavior indicates that “Only infill where needed” is activated. If that is the case, try slicing without this option.

Cheers,
kuraasu

[quote=“kuraasu”]Hi Kenny,

I wouldn’t say a 4 cm bridge is impossible, it just requires a very fine tuning of the parameters. But more to the point, check your Slic3r settings, Infill settings. This behavior indicates that “Only infill where needed” is activated. If that is the case, try slicing without this option.

Cheers,
kuraasu[/quote]
Would you really think bridging such a large area could happen completely flawless with this printer? Currently the printer seems to print quite good allready but those bridges collapsed instantly when I tried to print it.

I will check that option in slicer in a minute, I’ll report back if this fixed the issue.

Edit: I checked Slic3r, the option “only infill where needed” is not activated :-/ Is there anything else that can be causing this?

I’m using the standard settings provided by velleman:

The only thing I changed was the first layer height:

First layer 0,35
other layers: 0,30

Standard they were both 0,30

greetings,

Kenny

if you print this cabinet made by Raby http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:170887
there is a a bridge of 40mm and it is printed without any problems, so no problems with 40mm or more just you have made some good settings

Regards
Michael
[size=50]24V 10A 210x210x3mm glass on standart heatbed 3 springs supported
and RepRap MK2a heatbed
GT2-20 belts and pullyes, all endstops changed
VM8201 LED Display,Zaxis flexible coupler
Hotends:
E3D V5, RepRap V2 ,J-Head Mk 5 ,3DMPTECH[/size]

Hi Kenny,

I see one difference to the default settings, which is “Solid infill threshold area”. This should be set to 10 mm² from importing the standard_new.ini.

Standard layer heights should have been 0.30 mm (first) and 0.25 mm (other). It seems there’s some problem with your layer height setting here, both 0.35/0.30 and 0.30/0.30 produce strange results. I don’t know which combination of settings produces this error, but the standard 0.30/0.25 works well, so I suggest you use those settings for now.

Cheers,
kuraasu

[quote=“MicWic”]if you print this cabinet made by Raby http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:170887
there is a a bridge of 40mm and it is printed without any problems, so no problems with 40mm or more just you have made some good settings

Regards
Michael
[size=50]24V 10A 210x210x3mm glass on standart heatbed 3 springs supported
and RepRap MK2a heatbed
GT2-20 belts and pullyes, all endstops changed
VM8201 LED Display,Zaxis flexible coupler
Hotends:
E3D V5, RepRap V2 ,J-Head Mk 5 ,3DMPTECH[/size][/quote]

Ok, I will have to get to that later. But still I think it’s weird that in this case the baseplate isn’t filled to the top. The printer failed to print it

[quote=“kuraasu”]Hi Kenny,

I see one difference to the default settings, which is “Solid infill threshold area”. This should be set to 10 mm² from importing the standard_new.ini.

Standard layer heights should have been 0.30 mm (first) and 0.25 mm (other). It seems there’s some problem with your layer height setting here, both 0.35/0.30 and 0.30/0.30 produce strange results. I don’t know which combination of settings produces this error, but the standard 0.30/0.25 works well, so I suggest you use those settings for now.

Cheers,
kuraasu[/quote]

Very weird since I entered the standard files from velleman… I will use this setting from now on, thank you for your time :wink:

Edit: Damnit, I found the reason for this settings… I was using the old standard file! Now things should get beter with the new config-file :slight_smile:

Edit 2: With this new settings, the plate is still not filled to the top. Do you think I should try it again with this new setting to print this rather large bridge?

[quote=“kuraasu”]Hi Kenny,

I see one difference to the default settings, which is “Solid infill threshold area”. This should be set to 10 mm² from importing the standard_new.ini.

Standard layer heights should have been 0.30 mm (first) and 0.25 mm (other). It seems there’s some problem with your layer height setting here, both 0.35/0.30 and 0.30/0.30 produce strange results. I don’t know which combination of settings produces this error, but the standard 0.30/0.25 works well, so I suggest you use those settings for now.

Cheers,
kuraasu[/quote]

If it’s not too much trouble, could you run this file through slicer with your settings? I just can’t make Slic3r fill up the entire plate:
k8200.eu/downloads/files/dow … _files.zip

In the zip file, it’s the file “vm8201_bottom_enclosure”

Does slic3er do the same on your computer or not?

Thank you,

Kenny

Hi Kenny,

no, don’t try until you have G-code that looks ok.

Try to reload the config, starting with a clean setting, for example by deleting all old config profiles.

Meanwhile, I found at least the actual setting causing the error - it’s my most beloved part of Slic3r, responsible for quite a number of posts here: the extrusion width set in percent. With the default settings, keep away from layer height 0.30 mm (it’s ok for first layer, though).

Cheers,
kuraasu

Hi Kenny,

yes, I can reproduce the behavior you described. As said before, this happens with a certain combination of parameters. Could you post the settings section at the top of your G-code (should be lines 3 to 18)?

Cheers,
kuraasu

[quote=“kuraasu”]Hi Kenny,

yes, I can reproduce the behavior you described. As said before, this happens with a certain combination of parameters. Could you post the settings section at the top of your G-code (should be lines 3 to 18)?

Cheers,
kuraasu[/quote]

Hello kuraasu,

I just deleted al config files in Slic3er and loaded them again. Now it looks like the baseplate is filled completely! I’ll try to print it again today. Here you have my config log:

[b]; generated by Slic3r 1.0.0RC2 on 2014-02-16 at 09:12:08

; layer_height = 0.25
; perimeters = 3
; top_solid_layers = 3
; bottom_solid_layers = 3
; fill_density = 0.25
; perimeter_speed = 30
; infill_speed = 50
; travel_speed = 200
; nozzle_diameter = 0.5
; filament_diameter = 3
; extrusion_multiplier = 1.1
; perimeters extrusion width = 0.42mm
; infill extrusion width = 0.42mm
; solid infill extrusion width = 0.28mm
; top infill extrusion width = 0.28mm
; first layer extrusion width = 0.33mm
[/b]

Can you see some other wrong settings I should not be using?

Edit: For some reason, printing for the first time with this setting my print came loose mid-print. It started warping and then came loose…

Edit2: I found on the velleman website this comment about the K8200-PLA-STANDARD_NEW.INI:This file is only compatible with Repetier 0.90 and Slic3r 0.9.10b.

So I checked my versions:
Repetier Host: V0.95F
Slic3r: 1.0.0RC2

So these versions do not match, is this a problem or is a newer version than given by velleman not a problem?

I really don’t get it, I’ve tried printing it 4 times already at about 70% print one of the corners comes loose and starts warping untill the complete object comes of the table… With al my other prints no problem and this simple plate gives me nothing but problems (I don’t know if it’s the object or the new settings that causes these problems). Also the edges are not printed straight up but curved. (I print with a mirror and the blue tape)

I have taken some pictures:

Here you can see the warping (picture is upside-down for some reason) as you can see now the plate is filled completly with the honeycomb structure:

Also the first layer is printed not that straight, the first line is ok but then it’s printed a bit “in the air” if you know what I mean. This caused skipping some lines (but that’s another problem):

I have no clue what I’m doing wrong

Hi Kenny,

[quote=“KLucky13”]Here you have my config log:

; generated by Slic3r 1.0.0RC2 on 2014-02-16 at 09:12:08

; layer_height = 0.25
[…][/quote]
yes, those values are the ones from the standard_new.ini.

That was the current Slic3r version at the time. All versions from then on - at least for now - are compatible, so basically the standard_new.ini is for Slic3r >= 0.9.9.

This could be related to your issue with the print coming off the surface. The first layer needs to have good contact with the heated bed surface, otherwise it won’t stick well enough. Try the following: adjust the height of the Z axis while the first layer is printed, and observe the effect it has on the printed lines. They should be flat, but with straight edges. Wobbly edges on very broad lines means the nozzle is too low, straight lines with round top (like when the cross-section is more a circle than a rectangle) means it’s too high. If you find that the height was too high before, adjust the Z endstop screw a bit after the print. Keep in mind one full turn advances the screw by 0.7 mm, so for adjusting it in the range below 0.1 mm, you don’t need to turn it very far.
This manual adjustment at the beginning of a print can be done during printing of the skirt lines (you can also increase their number to have a bit more time for the adjustment). Additionally (or alternatively), you can also add a brim to your object, which will at the same time increase the contact area between your object and the surface. This is a good way to improve adhesion for tricky prints.

Cheers,
kuraasu

[quote=“kuraasu”]Hi Kenny,

[quote=“KLucky13”]Here you have my config log:

; generated by Slic3r 1.0.0RC2 on 2014-02-16 at 09:12:08

; layer_height = 0.25
[…][/quote]
yes, those values are the ones from the standard_new.ini.

That was the current Slic3r version at the time. All versions from then on - at least for now - are compatible, so basically the standard_new.ini is for Slic3r >= 0.9.9.

This could be related to your issue with the print coming off the surface. The first layer needs to have good contact with the heated bed surface, otherwise it won’t stick well enough. Try the following: adjust the height of the Z axis while the first layer is printed, and observe the effect it has on the printed lines. They should be flat, but with straight edges. Wobbly edges on very broad lines means the nozzle is too low, straight lines with round top (like when the cross-section is more a circle than a rectangle) means it’s too high. If you find that the height was too high before, adjust the Z endstop screw a bit after the print. Keep in mind one full turn advances the screw by 0.7 mm, so for adjusting it in the range below 0.1 mm, you don’t need to turn it very far.
This manual adjustment at the beginning of a print can be done during printing of the skirt lines (you can also increase their number to have a bit more time for the adjustment). Additionally (or alternatively), you can also add a brim to your object, which will at the same time increase the contact area between your object and the surface. This is a good way to improve adhesion for tricky prints.

Cheers,
kuraasu[/quote]

Thank you for the pointers, I’ll see what I can do. But when the printer is printing, aren’t the motors under current (which means you can’t turn them by hand?)

Hi Kenny,

X, Y and E motors, yes. The Z motor is unpowered when not in use, at least in the default setting. This way, it uses no energy and allows for the manual adjustment, as mentioned.

Cheers,
kuraasu

PS: if possible (i.e. if it’s not necessary for understanding your answer), please do not quote full messages, for better readability.

I tried some things, and I’m sure I have set the bed height correctly (0,25mm in the 4 corners). But still the first layer isn’t that good and that’s a shame since the first layer is the most important layer. I’ve filmed the start of another print (i’m gonna try the plate later again), what do you think?:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVbIFBYBh70

Btw: after this first layer (with some errors) the print continues with no problems, after 2 layers the mistakes are gone but the hazard of warping is bigger because the first layer isn’t that solid fixed to the bed.

But now I have another problem (first one isn’t even solved yet) I was printing this spool holder as seen in the video and suddenly he was printing the next layer shifted from the previous one. I already read somewhere this can be caused by not enough current to the stepper motors? Is this the only thing that can be causing this? The mirror is fixed very well.

I have set the current to the standard value (0,45V)

I have started that base-plate again that failed before about 4 times. This time I have added a brim of 5 mm just to check what happens then. The brim was printed perfectly straight and very well fixed to the bed. Then the printer start the first layer inside the brims (only difference is that this lines are printed diagonal, so both stepper motors x+y are working). Here the printer starts to fail again. The layers are not straight anymore, do not stick and the print looks terrible.

It’s very weird that the brim lines are perfect. I start to think that when both the x and y motors are turning the problems start and I cannot figure out why… I have made another video so you can see the problem:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqLXZbQyzg4

Once again, thank you very much for helping me out this much. It’s very much appreciated!

Greetings,

Kenny

Hi Kenny,

forget that number. Print any object you like, e.g. that spool holder, and stop the print at the end of the first layer. Measure the thickness with a calliper. If you get 0.30 mm, as set in Slic3r, the height is fine. Otherwise, adjust it accordingly.
From your video it seems like the first layer is too high. Some of the perimeters come loose immediately, or rather they don’t get attached to the surface in the first place. If this happens only in some places, replace the tape, there might be something like a fingerprint that reduces adhesion. Or try to print directly on the mirror (degreased and at 50 °C), after a few prints a kind of sticky coating is formed on the surface.

Try to solve this issue first. Lost steps (reason for the displacement during the print) can be a result of the print coming off the surface, hitting the nozzle.

Cheers,
kuraasu

[quote=“kuraasu”]replace the tape, there might be something like a fingerprint that reduces adhesion.
[/quote]

I’ve replaced it the first time it failed, I’ve tried it now for the 5th time today with a brim of 5mm, when filling the top same thing happens, warping and comming of the bed. After a whole day trying different things it keeps failing. I think I give up for today, after 7 failed prints today :slight_smile: The weird thing is, yesterday with less fine tuning and wrong settings i’ve had no failed prints at all.