Print quality switched from perfect to not printable
Hello,
thank you to everyone who reads this and tries to help!
I did around 40-50 prints in PLA and PETG and they all were in a perfect quality. Today without any reason a print failed mid print and I ended up with a spaghetti monster. After I tried to rerun the print it failed at the first layer. The PLA was not sticking to the smoot steel bed and started to clog. So I tried the z calibration, but no matter what I always ended with the same result. The problem occurred in the calibration process too. After 6 calibration attempts, I decided to calibrate the hole printer which has not changed anything. The fun thing is the first two horizontal lines are good but when the second vertical line starts the filament always lift from the bed and starts to clog. The bed has no visible damage on this place.
I clean my bed bevor every print with isopropanol and never had an issue with the first layer. Do you have an idea what could be wrong or what I should try to fix that issue?
Best,
Philipp
Best Answer by Loak:
Hello @philipp-l,
Wash your sheet with a basic dish soap (no additive to soften the hands), a dedicated sponge (soft side) and hot water, do a lot of bubbles. Dry it with a fresh paper towel. Hold it by the edges and don't put your fingers on it.
Isopropanol is good for a few prints but it tends to spread the grease left by the fingers rather than eliminate it.
RE: Print quality switched from perfect to not printable
In addition to calibration (rough tuning), you will occasionally need to change your live-z value. Different filaments, different humidity, bed has greasy build-up, lots of reasons
After the wipe, click the wheel, scroll down to adjust live z and click that selection. Watch the edges of the little traces - they need to have a good squish - which means turn counter clockwise and let the value go more negative by ten or twenty at a time (ex -520, -530, -540). At some point while your fist layer is going down you will see it really improve as you adjust the live z value. If you go too far, the nozzle starts dragging in the extruded line and it gets fuzzy and nozzle build-up will start. Back it off (more positive) until it's good again.
RE: Print quality switched from perfect to not printable
Hello @philipp-l,
Wash your sheet with a basic dish soap (no additive to soften the hands), a dedicated sponge (soft side) and hot water, do a lot of bubbles. Dry it with a fresh paper towel. Hold it by the edges and don't put your fingers on it.
Isopropanol is good for a few prints but it tends to spread the grease left by the fingers rather than eliminate it.
MK3s Stock, PS2.3, Fusion360, Debian, Windows 10.
RE: Print quality switched from perfect to not printable
The in-built first layer calibration is okay to get you in the right ballpark for Live Z but then I would follow the method described here: https://forum.prusa3d.com/forum/original-prusa-i3-mk3s-mk3-assembly-and-first-prints-troubleshooting/life-adjust-z-my-way/
Also make sure your nozzle and heat block are clean and don’t have burnt filament stuck to them, or PETG will most certainly find a way to curl up and stick to it.
Formerly known on this forum as @fuchsr -- until all hell broke loose with the forum software...
RE: Print quality switched from perfect to not printable
@loak Thank you! It was the solution!