3DPrinting

15534 readers

48 users here now

3DPrinting is a place where makers of all skill levels and walks of life can learn about and discuss 3D printing and development of 3D printed parts and devices.

The r/functionalprint community is now located at: !functionalprint@kbin.social or !functionalprint@fedia.io

There are CAD communities available at: !cad@lemmy.world or !freecad@lemmy.ml

Rules

No bigotry - including racism, sexism, ableism, homophobia, transphobia, or xenophobia. Code of Conduct.
Be respectful, especially when disagreeing. Everyone should feel welcome here.
No porn (NSFW prints are acceptable but must be marked NSFW)
No Ads / Spamming / Guerrilla Marketing
Do not create links to reddit
If you see an issue please flag it
No guns
No injury gore posts

If you need an easy way to host pictures, https://catbox.moe may be an option. Be ethical about what you post and donate if you are able or use this a lot. It is just an individual hosting content, not a company. The image embedding syntax for Lemmy is ![](URL)

Moderation policy: Light, mostly invisible

founded 1 year ago

MODERATORS

andypiper@lemmy.world

j4k3@lemmy.world

henry_rowengartner@lemmy.world

GrayBackgroundMusic@lemm.ee

Horrible underextrusion (sh.itjust.works)

submitted 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) by DumbAceDragon@sh.itjust.works to c/3dprinting@lemmy.world

9 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Hey. A couple weeks ago I got my old ender 3 pro out of the basement and have been trying to get a decent print with it ever since. I managed to print out one benchy without issue, but ever since then every print I do would be plagued with awful underextrusion.

I've replaced a few parts, including the hot end and the nozzle, and even did this one hack someone suggested where you put a piece of PTFE tubing in the hotend, but no matter what the issue persists. My thought was it might be the creality filament I ordered, so I ordered a spool of hatchbox filament. But the problem ended up being worse on the hatchbox filament. I've put both in a filament dehydrator but it's made no difference. Both spools have tough sections along them that don't seem to melt as easily when I pull them out of the extruder, so I'm thinking that might have something to do with it.

Turning the print speed down and increasing the flow and temperature yielded better results, but it was still underextruding on every other layer.

I want to know if there's something I can or should do before I just give in and buy another roll of filament. I've probably spent enough at this point to buy a better printer, but I guess that's sunk cost for ya.

Edit: SOLVED! I just forgot to tighten the extruder tension arm, now it's working perfectly. Thanks to @brettvitaz@programming.dev

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] DumbAceDragon@sh.itjust.works 2 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Thank you. I recently replaced that gear as well, and the problem has gotten a bit better. I'll be sure to check everything you just mentioned.

I tightened the tension arm and now it's clicking when it reaches a piece of filament that isn't extruding fast enough. So I think that means it's an issue with the hotend not heating the filament fast enough. I'll check the friction of the mod though just to be safe, and I don't think I ever calibrated my E-steps, so I'll have to do that.

Adjusting the tension arm seems to have helped a lot, so I think you're on to something.

[–] Shdwdrgn@mander.xyz 3 points 4 months ago

Yeah you don't want the arm TOO tight or you just create another friction issue. I generally find if you have a very consistent under-extrusion then it's likely the E-steps, but if the issue seems more random (some layers are great, only certain corners are bad, etc) that it comes down to friction somewhere in the line. Good luck!