Print quality issue

[Phantom329]

I have not been able to get a passable print from my new machine. I recalibrated the E-steps, swapped nozzles, and swapped filaments but still no change. I printed two temperature towers and they are both awful and ended up knocking the print over. I have a suspicion that the feeder is the problem but I'm pretty much out of ideas. I plan to buy an E3D Hemera but I have no idea when it will be in stock. What should I do?

These pictures make it look overextruded but its not. E-steps are set perfectly and CURA correctly shows 1.75mm filament on a 0.4mm nozzle.

; Configuration file for Duet WiFi (firmware version 3)
; executed by the firmware on start-up
;
; generated by RepRapFirmware Configuration Tool v3.1.4 on Thu Sep 24 2020 07:39:49 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time)
 
; General preferences
G90                                                ; send absolute coordinates...
M83                                                ; ...but relative extruder moves
M550 P"Phantom Cube"                               ; set printer name
M669 K1                                            ; select CoreXY mode
 
; Network
M552 S1                                            ; enable network
M586 P0 S1                                         ; enable HTTP
M586 P1 S0                                         ; disable FTP
M586 P2 S0                                         ; disable Telnet
 
; Drives
M569 P0 S1                                         ; physical drive 0 goes forwards
M569 P1 S1                                         ; physical drive 1 goes forwards
M569 P2 S0                                         ; physical drive 2 goes backwards
M569 P3 S0                                         ; physical drive 3 goes backwards
M584 X0 Y1 Z2 E3                                   ; set drive mapping
M350 X16 Y16 Z16 E16 I1                            ; configure microstepping with interpolation
M92 X200.00 Y200.00 Z400.00 E417.00                ; set steps per mm
M566 X720.00 Y720.00 Z12.00 E120.00                ; set maximum instantaneous speed changes (mm/min)
M203 X18000.00 Y18000.00 Z600.00 E1200.00          ; set maximum speeds (mm/min)
M201 X500.00 Y500.00 Z250.00 E1000.00              ; set accelerations (mm/s^2)
M906 X1600 Y1600 Z1600 E1600 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 X350 Y310 Z310 S0                             ; set axis maxima
 
; Endstops
M574 X1 S1 P"xstop"                                ; configure active-high endstop for low end on X via pin xstop
M574 Y2 S1 P"ystop"                                ; configure active-high endstop for high end on Y via pin ystop
M574 Z1 S2                                         ; configure Z-probe endstop for low end on Z
 
; Z-Probe
M558 P1 C"zprobe.in" H20 F240 T6000                ; set Z probe type to unmodulated and the dive height + speeds
G31 P25 X0 Y-15 Z14.95                              ; set Z probe trigger value, offset and trigger height, increase Z to 0 closer
M557 X40:300 Y20:280 S65                           ; define mesh grid
 
; Heaters
M308 S0 P"bedtemp" Y"thermistor" T100000 B3950     ; configure sensor 0 as thermistor on pin bedtemp
M950 H0 C"bedheat" T0                              ; create bed heater output on bedheat and map it to sensor 0
M307 H0 A172.5 C323.7 D7.5 S1.00 B1                ; enable bang-bang mode for the bed heater and set PWM limit 
M140 H0                                            ; map heated bed to heater 0
M143 H0 S100                                       ; set temperature limit for heater 0 to 100C
M308 S1 P"e0temp" Y"thermistor" T100000 B3950      ; configure sensor 1 as thermistor on pin e0temp
M950 H1 C"e0heat" T1                               ; create nozzle heater output on e0heat and map it to sensor 1
M307 H1 A712.3 C215.8 D8.8 S1.00 B0                ; disable bang-bang mode for heater  and set PWM limit
 
; Fans
M950 F0 C"fan0" Q500                               ; create fan 0 on pin fan0 and set its frequency
M106 P0 S0 H-1                                     ; set fan 0 value. Thermostatic control is turned off
M950 F1 C"fan1" Q500                               ; create fan 1 on pin fan1 and set its frequency
M106 P1 S1 H1 T45                                  ; set fan 1 value. Thermostatic control is turned on
 
; Tools
M563 P0 D0 H1 F0                                   ; 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
 
; Custom settings are not defined
 
; Miscellaneous
M575 P1 S1 B57600                                  ; enable support for PanelDue
M501                                               ; load saved parameters from non-volatile memory
M911 S10 R11 P"M913 X0 Y0 G91 M83 G1 Z3 E-5 F1000" ; set voltage thresholds and actions to run on power loss
T0                                                 ; select first tool

[A Former User]

If you are in the market to buy a new direct drive extruder I would suggest the Omnia Extruder

It beats the Hermes/Hermera hands down, I have take x3 Hermes out of service because they are terrible in numerous ways.

And personally in this day and age I wouldnt put too much stock into the old method of setting e-steps by the extrude a set length till you get a match, in my opinion it's better to set the extrusion by eye on the fly to what the material you are working with wants.

[janusofdoors]

Looks like you might be printing to hot or to fast. You sure about your temperatures are correct?

[Phaedrux]

What is the current extruder?
Do you know what thermistor it is?

How did you calibrate the esteps? It definitely looks over extruded or printed way way too hot.

When printing those temp towers did you actually edit the gcode to alter the temp at each step? They all look the same.

Can you set the temp to 180c and then try to extrude as you decrease the temp. We'd expect that at 160c or so you wouldn't be able to extrude anymore. (note you may need to allow cold extrudes with M302 P1 before testing)

https://duet3d.dozuki.com/Wiki/Gcode#Section_M302_Allow_cold_extrudes

[A Former User]

Also a temp probe could be used to confirm your hot end is in the same ball park something similar to this might help you. (or cheaper or even one on a multimeter might do)

a bit of kapton tape to attach the probe to the heater block

[Veti]

@Phantom329 said in Print quality issue:

I printed two temperature towers and they are both awful

did you script it so that it changes temperature at the layer?

[Phantom329]

@Phaedrux said in Print quality issue:

Can you set the temp to 180c and then try to extrude as you decrease the temp. We'd expect that at 160c or so you wouldn't be able to extrude anymore. (note you may need to allow cold extrudes with M302 P1 before testing)

I'll try that. I'm pretty sure I have the correct thermistor values since they were specified for me (from the kit I got) but the thermistor model numbers were not listed.

The temperature towers did change temperature and I was able to see it correctly set in the duet web control.

[Veti]

@Phantom329 said in Print quality issue:

I plan to buy an E3D Hemera but I have no idea when it will be in stock. What should I do?

same situation here.
i ordered this
https://de.aliexpress.com/item/4000983379658.html

[Phantom329]

@Phaedrux said in Print quality issue:

Can you set the temp to 180c and then try to extrude as you decrease the temp. We'd expect that at 160c or so you wouldn't be able to extrude anymore. (note you may need to allow cold extrudes with M302 P1 before testing)

I just did this test and it stops extruding at around 160 C. I'm at a loss right now and it is difficult to troubleshoot since I don't have another hot extruder to test with.

@Veti said in Print quality issue:

same situation here.
i ordered this
https://de.aliexpress.com/item/4000983379658.html

Hmm looks decent and I can get it with a Volcano

[Phaedrux]

Is the nozzle size different than you expect it to be?

Is the Z axis moving the commanded amount?

The flow adjustment in Cura set to more than 100%?

Post a sample gcode?

Try a different slicer.

Are you editing the right config.g? Sometimes people will have the folder structure messed up a bit and will be editing files in a different place than the firmware is actually looking at. It happens.

Process of elimination.

[Phantom329]

@Phaedrux I replaced the nozzle with a genuine E3D V6 0.4 mm nozzle, I measured a print 20 mm in Z was exactly 20 mm, CURA is set to 100% flow, I edit the config.g in the duet web control system editor tab.

What slicer would you recommend? I just reinstalled CURA for this new printer and my profiles are as stock as they get. I am most used to CURA but also used ideamaker in the past.

Here is benchy which printed just as badly as those temp towers.
CFFFP_3DBenchy.gcode

[A Former User]

@Phantom329 said in Print quality issue:

@Phaedrux I replaced the nozzle with a genuine E3D V6 0.4 mm nozzle, I measured a print 20 mm in Z was exactly 20 mm, CURA is set to 100% flow, I edit the config.g in the duet web control system editor tab.

What slicer would you recommend? I just reinstalled CURA for this new printer and my profiles are as stock as they get. I am most used to CURA but also used ideamaker in the past.

Here is benchy which printed just as badly as those temp towers.
CFFFP_3DBenchy.gcode

Ideamaker has some very good "out of the box" profiles and their slicer is much better than cura or S3D

[Phaedrux]

I can't see anything obvious in your gcode file.

Ideamaker is fine to try. There's also PrusaSlicer that's pretty easy to get up and going.

I'd also try taking another pass at the calibration. Comment out the M307 commands in your config and start fresh with a PID tuning and then extruder.

https://duet3d.dozuki.com/Guide/Ender+3+Pro+and+Duet+Maestro+Guide+Part+4:+Calibration/40