CIrcles Eliptcal, with fla segments on the X direction

mrjoneskod

![Hi, I don't now how to address the issue. I have a Ultimaker style custom printer.
I have used it for some time with a normal ramps board.

Since I moved to a Duet, I got used to the web interface and the other things, but I cant quite configure the printer correctly. Recently I noticed that the circles aren't printed as they should(Not Round), not even close.

I tried to change the jerk acceleration, tried a whole lot of things, stepper motor current, jerk, printing speeds acceleration, etc.

The consistent behavior I get is a very jerky printing. That printer used to be very silent.
I did check all the mechanics, belts, pulleys, etc and everything looks the same.

I used to get normal round circles with the Duet before and no jerks, but since I updated to 1.21 I am getting this.

Any ideas?

This is what the circles look like.

the flat spot is symmetrical along the Y axis and printing a cube the dimensions are accurate.

1 more thing, If i print a circle with infill, the infill is perfectly round, to the point where the infill in some areas overlap the outer walls or don't even touch them.
Thanks for the help.

Phaedrux

Which duet board?
What firmware version? 1.21 is quite old.
Can you post your config.g and the results of an M122 diagnostics taken after the problem has occured?
Has anything else changed?

dc42

Your Y axis has backlash.

mrjoneskod

@phaedrux
My config is: (The Microsteping is set to 128 because I was experimenting, but same result)

; executed by the firmware on start-up
;
; generated by RepRapFirmware Configuration Tool v2 on Sat Feb 02 2019 11:07:31 GMT-0600 (Central Standard Time)

; General preferences
G90                                                ; Send absolute coordinates...
M83                                                ; ...but relative extruder moves

; Network
M550 P"Custom"                          ; Set machine name
M552 S1                                            ; Enable network
M586 P0 S1                                         ; Enable HTTP
M586 P1 S0                                         ; Disable FTP
M586 P2 S0                                         ; Disable Telnet

; Drives
M569 P0 S1                                         ; Drive 0 goes forwards
M569 P1 S1                                         ; Drive 1 goes forwards
M569 P2 S0                                         ; Drive 2 goes backwards
M569 P3 S0                                         ; Drive 3 goes backwards
M350 X128 Y128 Z128 E64 I0                         ; Configure microstepping without interpolation
M92 X640.00 Y640.00 Z3200.00 E560.00               ; Set steps per mm
M566 X600.00 Y600.00 Z120.00 E120.00                ; Set maximum instantaneous speed changes (mm/min)
M203 X5000.00 Y5000.00 Z5000.00 E1200.00            ; Set maximum speeds (mm/min)
M201 X500.00 Y500.00 Z50.00 E250.00               ; Set accelerations (mm/s^2)
M906 X1200.00 Y1200.00 Z800.00 E1360.00 I30       ; Set motor currents (mA) and motor idle factor in per cent
M84 S30                                            ; Set idle timeout

; Axis Limits
M208 X0 Y0 Z0 S1                                   ; Set axis minima
M208 X240 Y200 Z240 S0                             ; Set axis maxima

; Endstops
M574 X1 Y1 S0                                      ; Set active low and disabled endstops

; Z-Probe
M574 Z1 S2                                         ; Set endstops controlled by probe
M558 P5 H5 I1 F120 T6000                           ; Set Z probe type to modulated and the dive height + speeds
G31 P500 X34 Y3 Z1.156                             ; Set Z probe trigger value, offset and trigger height
M557 X15:200 Y15:185 S20                           ; Define mesh grid

; Heaters
M305 P0 T100000 B4138 R4700                        ; Set thermistor + ADC parameters for heater 0
M143 H0 S120                                       ; Set temperature limit for heater 0 to 120C
M305 P1 T100000 B4138 R4700                        ; Set thermistor + ADC parameters for heater 1
M143 H1 S280                                       ; Set temperature limit for heater 1 to 280C

; Fans
M106 P0 S0.3 I0 F500 H-1                           ; Set fan 0 value, PWM signal inversion and frequency. Thermostatic control is turned off
M106 P1 S1 I0 F500 H1 T45                          ; Set fan 1 value, PWM signal inversion and frequency. Thermostatic control is turned on

; Tools
M563 P0 D0 H1                                      ; Define tool 0
G10 P0 X0 Y0 Z0                                    ; Set tool 0 axis offsets
G10 P0 R0 S0                                       ; Set initial tool 0 active and standby temperatures to 0C

; Automatic power saving
M911 S10 R11 P"M913 X0 Y0 G91 M83 G1 Z3 E-5 F1000" ; Set voltage thresholds and actions to run on power loss

;Filament sensor
M591 D0 P1 C3 S1; Filament Sensor (Extruder0)
; Custom settings are not configured~~~~




M122
=== Diagnostics ===
RepRapFirmware for Duet 2 WiFi/Ethernet version 2.02RC3(RTOS) running on Duet WiFi 1.02 or later
Board ID: 08DGM-956GU-DJMSN-6JKDJ-3SJ6T-K9N7D
Used output buffers: 3 of 20 (9 max)
=== RTOS ===
Static ram: 28532
Dynamic ram: 98576 of which 0 recycled
Exception stack ram used: 368
Never used ram: 3596
Tasks: NETWORK(ready,328) HEAT(blocked,1232) MAIN(running,3564)
Owned mutexes: WiFi(NETWORK)
=== Platform ===
Last reset 13:54:46 ago, cause: software
Last software reset at 2019-02-25 22:19, reason: User, spinning module GCodes, available RAM 3612 bytes (slot 3)
Software reset code 0x0003 HFSR 0x00000000 CFSR 0x00000000 ICSR 0x0041f000 BFAR 0xe000ed38 SP 0xffffffff Task 0x4e49414d
Error status: 0
Free file entries: 10
SD card 0 detected, interface speed: 20.0MBytes/sec
SD card longest block write time: 0.0ms, max retries 0
MCU temperature: min 28.4, current 29.8, max 34.6
Supply voltage: min 0.4, current 12.2, max 12.3, under voltage events: 1, over voltage events: 0
Driver 0: standstill, SG min/max 0/23
Driver 1: standstill, SG min/max 0/247
Driver 2: standstill, SG min/max 129/304
Driver 3: standstill, SG min/max not available
Driver 4: standstill, SG min/max not available
Date/time: 2019-02-26 12:14:21
Cache data hit count 4294967295
Slowest loop: 2.79ms; fastest: 0.06ms
=== Move ===
Hiccups: 0, StepErrors: 0, LaErrors: 0, FreeDm: 240, MinFreeDm: 236, MaxWait: 11132ms, Underruns: 0, 0
Scheduled moves: 7, completed moves: 7
Bed compensation in use: none
Bed probe heights: 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
=== Heat ===
Bed heaters = 0 -1 -1 -1, chamberHeaters = -1 -1
=== GCodes ===
Segments left: 0
Stack records: 1 allocated, 0 in use
Movement lock held by null
http is idle in state(s) 0
telnet is idle in state(s) 0
file is idle in state(s) 0
serial is idle in state(s) 0
aux is idle in state(s) 0
daemon is idle in state(s) 0
queue is idle in state(s) 0
autopause is idle in state(s) 0
Code queue is empty.
=== Network ===
Slowest loop: 14.08ms; fastest: 0.00ms
Responder states: HTTP(0) HTTP(0) HTTP(0) HTTP(0) FTP(0) Telnet(0) Telnet(0)
HTTP sessions: 1 of 8
- WiFi -
Network state is running
WiFi module is connected to access point
Failed messages: pending 0, notready 0, noresp 0
WiFi firmware version 1.21
WiFi MAC address 5c:cf:7f:76:6e:6d
WiFi Vcc 3.35, reset reason Turned on by main processor
WiFi flash size 4194304, free heap 13200
WiFi IP address 192.168.0.13
WiFi signal strength -48dBm, reconnections 0, sleep mode modem
Socket states: 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
=== Filament sensors ===
Extruder 0 sensor: ok
=== Expansion ===

mrjoneskod

@dc42

How to I check this?
Everything looks fine, Should I replace the belts? They look tight enough.

Any recommendations?

Phaedrux

I see you're running a release candidate of 2.02rc3, which is no longer supported now that the full version of 2.02 is out. Please update to 2.02 and see if anything changes.

You config looks out I think. Can you confirm that the problem still is present when using x16 microsteps with interpolation?

mrjoneskod

I will try it and post the results, I had x16 microsteping before and had the same behavior.
Thanks for the help

Phaedrux

It definitely seems mechanical in nature. There are lots of pulleys and belts and rods and bearings in the ultimaker style gantry. Lots of things to go astray. Give it a really close visual inspection while it's running.

mrjoneskod

Well I checked all the pulleys and replaced the belts, adjusted the tension on the small bets that go from the X / Y motor to the 8mm shafts.

Updated the firmware, and reverted the config to 169microsteps interpolated. Got the exact same result.
Printing id very jerky, the slicer does a fast perimeter and them a couple of slow ones, the fast one is very smooth and noiseless but the slow ones are jerky and very noisy.

My Steppers are 1.8º rated for 1.7A, but the one on the Z axis is rated for 1.2A.

This printer used to be very very quite after I installed the duet board and gave me many beautiful prints with no problems at all and a very smooth surface finish.

I don't know if I changed a config that did all this, but I cant find the source cause of the issue.
I have new bearings for the sliders and Extruder cariage. Will replace those and see what happens.

mrjoneskod

Replaced the bearings, Even tough the problem, is not solved, I think the mechanical part of it is. The motion system moves so smooth now, I dont think it has ever been that smooth. The printing results are 50% better. But there is still the jittering. I don't understand.

Well I will keep on investigating. Just FYI the printer has no printed parts other than the fan duct.
I swapped the extruder carriage for a printed part in hopes the softer material would align the rods better, but same result. The previous one was a aluminum milled one.

I will post any changes.

Wyvern

Try printing circles in multiple spots on the bed just to see if it is consistent.

There are no moving Stepper motors are there?

There are two times I had jittering, once was a broken stepper wire, once was when I had stepper amps too low on accident.

If you can see if it is related to one or all axes that would be great (the jittering).

Another thought, make certain that all your stepper pulley grub screws are tight and in the flats of the shafts.

Phaedrux

Could you post a video of it in action?

Are the rods themselves bent or grooved at all?

mrjoneskod

@wyvern I did a very thorough mechanical check and found one belt that was tighten on the slider side and a bit loose on the "free" side (Where it runs parallel to the slider block), As I had a new set of belts and the ones on it a very old give or take 5 years, I ended up replacing them all and adjusted tension on every component.
The rods are straight and I think that the real mechanical problem I had where the brass bushings, that I replaced by actual ball bearings.
That gave me a much better result.
Another thing I did was upgrade the firmware and the config changes suggested above.
The printer runs a bit louder, but reasonably quieter than my older printer. Probably the ball bearings.

I will keep testing and calibrating it. Will post the results.

mrjoneskod

@phaedrux The Rods have no groves and aren't bent (At least to my ability to check it, I am no professional).

The bearings slide free, and if I remove the carriage and belts, gravity alone moves the sliding blocks and the bearings.

I will try to make a video and post it.

Thanks for the help so far!

mrjoneskod

Well I was printing to make a video, but I don't know how yet the problem is gone. I assume so far that the previous 6mm bearings (Brass bushings) where the problem. Printed 6h no problem.

Thanks for everyone that helped! Also if you have a similar printer this link will help you a lot!

https://support.3dverkstan.se/article/23-a-visual-ultimaker-troubleshooting-guide