[Solved] Cubic and Grid infill print failures  

Cubic and Grid infill print failures

Hello All,

I've recently encountered an issue with print quality that has resulted in 9 large print failures, incredibly poor print quality on the completed prints, and am at a loss for how to address the issue. I'm currently printing on my MK4S and it seems that my issues started with switching over to cubic infill and changing the perimeter quantity for some strength gains on the 3D prints. Before I changed the infill parameters, I printed a full set of tools using standard grid infill with no issues, and all of the models I am printing have been sucessfuly printed on this machine about 1 month ago. I switched over to the cubic infill and immediately had the following failures. The numbers correspond to the failed print in each photo, and the photos should be in chronological order.

1. The layer lines stopped adhering on one of the outer perimeters, causing a filament jam. I restarted the print, and it failed in the same spot on a second attempt, so I cancelled the print. This print used cubic infill, variable layer height, .4mm high flow nozzle, and 4 perimeters.

2. Infill layers stopped adhering, causing small strands of filament to stick up and contact the nozzle. Once enough strands popped up, I had another filament jam, and I gave up on the print. This print had the same gcode as print #1 with cubic infill, variable layer height, .4mm high flow nozzle, and 3 perimeters.

3. I printed the following model and had a nearly flawless part. The texture of the print is strange, as it feels significantly more chalky and has a more matte finish than other Prusament rolls that I've used. Upon closer inspection, I saw that prints 1 & 2 had the same texture. The print used cubic infill, variable layer height, .4mm high flow nozzle, and 4 perimeters.

4. I printed the following model, which did complete, but there was very clear visual artifacting on one side of the print with consistent gaps. The surface finish is nearly flawless on the other side.The print had the same chalky texture and used cubic infill, variable layer height, .4mm high flow nozzle, and 4 perimeters.

5, 6 & 7. I assumed that the texture could potentially come from older filament and switched to another PETG Roll. While I later found that the roll was about 5 months old, it was kept in a zipolock bag with desiccant indoors for most of its shelf life, and it was at least 5 months newer than the previous grey roll. I printed the part with the same gcode as print #4, and had even worse results. I had numerous layer adhesion issues, the nozzle was depositing excess filament on all the external perimeters, and the prints were consistently failing. The best of the prints had 3 nozzle clogs before I cancelled the print, but all 3 were entirely unusable. The print had the same chalky texture as previous prints. All 3 used the same gcode with and used cubic infill, variable layer height, .4mm high flow nozzle, and 4 perimeters, as I thought that slightly modifying the gcode would have different results.

8. After a week away from the printer, I decided to retry with a newly ordered .6mm nozzle and a brand new roll of jet black filament. I attempted the same model as prints #1 & #2 with similar parameters. The print failed in a similar manner to the first two failures, with poor layer adhesion on the infill and a filament clog, but it happened immediately at the first infill layer. This print used cubic infill, variable layer height, .6mm nozzle, and 4 perimeters.

9. I thought that the cubic infill could potentially be causing issues, and changed the print parameters to return to grid infill. The print failed on the second layer with a filament clog, and I cancelled the print. This print used cubic infill, variable layer height, .6mm nozzle, and 4 perimeters.

10. I attempted the grid infill again and had another failure on the first infill layer. This print used cubic infill, variable layer height, .6mm nozzle, and 4 perimeters.

Considering I've tried different models, 3 different rolls of filament, different gcode on the same model, different nozzles, and different infill patterns, I'm currently at a loss for what the issue might be. The only consistent failure is that all the failures were clogged nozzle failures, but all were at different parts of the print. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated!