MK3 printing partial layers
I'm having an issue with my MK3 where it seems to be printing only a partial layer before moving on to the the next layer. First I'll admit I'm a complete newbie and the MK3 is my first printer. I received the kit back in March and I've made dozens of great prints over the past couple months until the last week or so things started heading down hill.
The first layer of the part looks great and the adhesion seems good as always, its just that the following layers aren't printing fully and there is a whole lot of stringing. I'm using Hatchbox PLA which I had been using for many other successful prints. I tried printing at 215 degrees and also turned it down to 200 and 190 and that doesn't seem to help any.
Here is a picture of the first layer.
Here is a picture of the top. This was supposed to be a solid top layer but the rectilinear support layers have big missing sections and the concentric top layer is almost completely missing.
I assume there's a name for this and a simple fix but haven't been able to find it yet in my searching. Thanks in advance for any help!
- Will
Re: MK3 printing partial layers
It looks like your extruder has trouble to lay down plastic. It could be mechanical issue or it could be related to your slicer settings. You need to eliminate one of them.
Start with default slicer settings for filament, printer and extruder. Use slic3r.
Check your printer. Is anything obstructing filament feed ? Your spool is turning freely ?
Print the object. It Observe extruder when printing . Does extruder make noise ? Is it clicking ? Put your finger on extruder. It should be not too warm. ( 50-60 °C).
Re: MK3 printing partial layers
The extruder motor is hot enough that I can keep a finger on it for >10 seconds but its not comfortable. I'll assume that's normal. I also tried grabbing the filament with two fingers as hard as I could while loading filament and I wasn't able to cause the filament to slip or motor to stall.
I went back and tried printing an original file that came on the SD card, the little [PRUSA] plaque which was the first thing I ever printed. It came out just fine. After that I downgraded the Prusa Edition Slic3r from 1.40.0 back to 1.38.5 which is what I had been using when I first got the printer. Now my prints are coming out OK again. Seems like some kind of bug in the slic3r software.
I like the features in the newer version of Prusa slic3r but I guess I'll stick with an older version until the bugs get worked out. Thanks a bunch for helping me think through the problem!
-Will
Re: MK3 printing partial layers
Which firmware version were you using when you were using Slic3r 1.40 beta? I've been printing many things with Slic3r 1.40 beta and Firmware 3.2.1 and did not run into issues so far.
If you were running the latest firmware version (3.2.1) and still run into issues, it would help developers to report them here: https://github.com/prusa3d/Slic3r
Thanks,
Gaston
Re: MK3 printing partial layers
FW is 3.1.1-201
Re: MK3 printing partial layers
could you update to 3.2.1, it may resolve some of your issues!
regards Joan
I try to make safe suggestions,You should understand the context and ensure you are happy that they are safe before attempting to apply my suggestions, what you do, is YOUR responsibility. Location Halifax UK