First print issues: bulges and wavy walls
Hello everybody,
this is my first post here in the forum so I would like to introduce myself very shortly:
Robert, electrical engineer by profession, 3D printer by hobby 🙂
I successfully completed assembly and setup of my new Core One about a week ago and immediately started printing a few simple things which had be in my growing list of things to be printed.
Before I had an Anycubic i3 Mega which served me well for more than seven years. But as my models (mostly technical stuff) grew in complexity and this cheap printer was not really useful for anything but PLA it was time to get something serious. The Core One seemed to be a match for my needs. I opted for the kit because I wanted to understand how the printer is build and how it works. It was pretty tedious but rewarding and I can confirm: I much better understand how these printers work 😉 . The old printer, btw. gets a second life a a worthy place.
Ok, now back to the topic. Some of the prints came out sufficiently well, some others showed strange artefacts. The following picture of a rather simple part shows some of the problems:
- First thing which I noticed are tiny streaks on the bottom side. In this print there is only one but others show quite a few. Looks like there were some obstacles like hair or fibres but I am pretty sure the print sheet was absolutely clean. With the first three prints a considerable amount of dust settled on the print sheet while printing. I looks like this was dust left over from assembly. I did not notice this anymore after about 15h printing time, though, so I think we can rule out this a the cause.
- Second thing are the wave like structures on the walls. Not too bad (the Anycubic was much worse here) but still a little bit surprising. I do have some idea what could be the reason here: the printer sits on a rather sturdy workbench (thick wooden plate, steel frame) but still the whole setup seems to vibrate and wobble somehow, especially at times the nextruder moves very fast (sounding a little bit like a kookaburra then 😀). I plan to add considerable weight and structural stiffness to the table soon with a drawer box, however, so this problem may soon be solved.
- Third, and this one really surprises and bugs me: there is some kind of bulge visible on walls with cutouts underneath. In this case this is a opening for a USB C connector, in other cases it was a round hole for heat insert threads. I printed a rather large object (200x200mm) with many holes in it (it's actually a battery holder for batteries from AAA to D) and there these bulges or dents show up as well. Not all in the same direction but pretty repeatable.
I printed this specific part several times with slightly different setups but if anything did not change it was this bulge 😤 .
For simple parts without high aesthetic expectations this may not be an issue. The parts work as intended, these bulges don't interfere with anything.
But, as this example shows it's a visible imperfection and in this case not really acceptable. This part will be the cover of a device (printed in ASA in the final version) well visible and I would not be pleased with this result.
To keep things simple I used standard print settings (in this case 0.10mm FAST DETAIL) and black ESUN PLA (as I still had a new unopened spool).
I have added the project file (zipped 3mf: P108) if anybody wants to see details. I used the smooth PEI print sheet.
Some final words: the belts are perfectly tightened (92/92Hz, tested with a stroboscope), the gantry perpendicular.
I am pretty sure there are some settings which help mitigate these problems. Before I waste too much time (and filament), however, I would highly appreciate hints and/or links to possible solutions.
Thanks in advance an best regards Robert