Elephant`s foot on MK3 i3 (latest firmware)
Hi,
I have been printing for few months, but now found my models has the elephant`s foot. Attached picture.
I have standard setting of printer and it occurs even while standard Prusa PLA filament and its setting.
I found the problem at https://all3dp.com/1/common-3d-printing-problems-troubleshooting-3d-printer-issues/ (search for "elephant"), but I can`t find the solution because my model is not heavy (in fact it has something around 3mm and it is small).
Balance print platform temperature and fan speed - (I have tried lowering BED temp by 5°but it started to non-stick perfectly, is fan speer really so important for elephant foot? Standard temp set to 60°)
Level the print platform - (it does auto leveling before each print, so I would not expect that could be a problem - moreover, the rest of printing is fine
Check the nozzle height - (first layer is ok, Z level is -0.660 and it does not make any problems visible)
Chamfer the model base - (can`t do that on most models)
Re: Elephant`s foot on MK3 i3 (latest firmware)
just tried decreasing bed temp from 60° to 50° but the effect is still there.
Trying on 20mm test cube.
It seems (or maybe not) it has really something in common with first layer height. (So the first layers (but not the only one) are squished....
Any good advise?
Thank you
Regards
Jakub
Re: Elephant`s foot on MK3 i3 (latest firmware)
Check your printer settings in Slic3r Custom G code and look for the line M221 S{if layer_height==0.05}100{else}95{endif}
If you slice a test cube (Straight sides), and check each layer in the preview, you will see that due to this, the first layer is slightly wider than the rest, so initially try by commenting this out (Put a ; in front of the M221 then reslice and do a preview again. (You may get some overextrusion if you continue to print with this off, but you can always reduce the Extrusion multiplier in filament settings from 1 to 0.95).
If it is still showing as wider, then your extrusion widths in Print Settings Advanced may be wrong, I find 1st layer prints best if slightly lower than the rest ie if your default extrusion width, Perimeters etc are say 0.45, then first layer would be 0.42 or even 0.4, but this may require you to adjust your live-z a little lower. Have a play with these and slice, save the g-code and preview layer by layer, it is best to start with a default profile and make a modification and save it as a different profile so that you don't accidentally ruin you existing profiles.
This first layer takes a bit of tweaking to get the balance right of good adhesion, good first layer and no elephants foot.
I really don't understand why PRUSA even put this line into the custom G code and I am going through my profiles one by one and commenting this out and adjusting extrusions and live-z's for each filament and extrusion height, it's taking a long time, but once done it's done.
Normal people believe that if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Engineers believe that if it ain’t broke, it doesn’t have enough features yet.
Re: Elephant`s foot on MK3 i3 (latest firmware)
If all else fails you can adjust the settings called Elephant Foot Compensation in the Filament tab. Mine comes from the squish into the textured sheet.