Print Quality

I would like to improve the quality of my prints. At present each solid layer is uneven and stripy with thick and thin lines scattered randomly across the surface. Occasionally get what looks like a missed line or a doubled one.

My printer is K8203 and 4 direct extrusion on 1.75 filament ‘upgraded’ from the K8200 original.

X and Y now print in 1/32 steps

The controller is set up

Function	Driver 		Reference voltage  

Extruder	        DRV8825		0.9
Z Axis		A4988		0.56
Y Axis		DRV8825		0.78
X Axis		DRV8825		0.78

Firmware modified accordingly.

Prior to changing to 1/32 step I was on the default 1/16. No discernible difference

Extruder temperatures 195 to 205 seem to have little effect on quality

Does ‘extrusion multiplier’ have any effect on the output?.

The bead laid down is a succession of little blobs (presumably from each step of the motor) rather than a smooth bead which resulted from the original big wheel design (did the gear train have a sort of flywheel effect, smoothing out the motor’s jerkiness? ).

Are the reference voltage values correct – can they have the effect I’ve noticed if incorrect?

Is there any other parameter I have missed which may have contributed to my problem?

Can the step frequency of the extruder motor be increased? In software? New motor?

Go dual leadscrew. I noticed the same until the upgrade.

Link: thingiverse.com/make:185860

Now I’m down to extruder step noise, but it is tolerable for now.