Bad quality at horizontal faces

Question

I'm newbie at this stackexchange and I have a "FlashForge Finder"; lately there are many problems with the horizontal surfaces quality (Bottom and Top at the same time).

As some issue guides suggests, I changed: number of solid layers, % of filling and extrusion multiplier; I use "Flashprint", so some concepts must be translated from Cura in the options menu.

P.S: All filaments are PLA.

Without any change:

After all changes (the "best")

My settings for last black disk:

Are you sure the E steps calibration is correct? it looks like underextrusion. You should edit the question with print speed, temperature, at least. — FarO, Jun 11 '20 at 15:42
"E steps calibration" is not a thing you're supposed to do. OP does seem to have underextrusion, but there are all sorts of possible causes and not enough information in the question to identify one. — R.. GitHub STOP HELPING ICE, Jun 11 '20 at 17:25
Now, all settings are added for more information, and wasn't a clog because the piece is finished, with so bad quality, but with all layers. — AJ MM, Jun 11 '20 at 18:11
I see you have extrusion flow at 125% and still have serious underextrusion. Do you perhaps have the wrong filament diameter set? — R.. GitHub STOP HELPING ICE, Jun 12 '20 at 05:58

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Jun 11 '20 at 19:30

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This could be caused by under extrusion, often caused by the bed being too close to the hot end / extruder nozzle. You could try to relevel the bed, or change the screws so that the bed moves down slightly. Often when levelling, you want to feel slight resistance when sliding a piece of paper between the bed an the nozzle. You should do this for all 4 corners. Be careful though, you dont want the bed too far away from the nozzle, or problems maybe arise with the print not sticking to the bed.

Hope this helps, Luke.

answered Jun 11 '20 at 19:30

LukeDunkley

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Last leveling was with the sensor, but I'll re-level the bed again and with manual check, thanks. – AJ MM Jun 11 '20 at 21:32
I just returned from the global readjustements and seems that it's the extruder distance, I tried with the menu settings, but after set "-0.2" the printer says me that this value is out of the interval [-0.5;5] I'll search the manual option – AJ MM Jun 12 '20 at 15:28
@AJMM This value should not be negative, as the printer believes the nozzle is under the bed. This should be set to 0 as a minimum. Under extrusion is basically when the filament is pushed so hard into the bed, it doesn't come out properly. This is probably what is causing the problems. – LukeDunkley Jun 13 '20 at 14:22
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@AJMM I would also recommend trying another 3D slicer such as Ultimaker Cura (https://ultimaker.com/software/ultimaker-cura). Also, where do you get your models from. If you make them yourself, try another CAD program, such as Fusion 360 (https://www.autodesk.co.uk/products/fusion-360/overview). It is free for hobbyists and non-commercial uses. See (https://www.autodesk.com/campaigns/fusion-360-for-hobbyists) for help. If you get them on the internet, try a 3d-printing specific model site such as Thingiverse (www.thingiverse.com). – LukeDunkley Jun 13 '20 at 14:24
I know all systems that You mentioned, but if I could use Cura, I do it. In the other hand, FlashForge answer me and the extruder calibration interval is between -0.5 and -5 (all negatives, I thought that 5 was positive); after follow their instructions, now the distance between the extruder and the bed is so little (just the opposite), so I'll report the results to the official technicians and continue reading your aportations. Thanks so much. – AJ MM Jun 14 '20 at 19:27
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@AJMM I have found some values for Cura. You can download from the Ultimaker website (a quick google search should bring it up. If not, let me know and I will give you the link.) You need to add a custom FFF printer. Then set the x/y/z width to 140. Make sure that origin at centre is checked, and the GCODE flavor is Marlin. Set the printhead settings to: X Min: 37mm, Y Min: 55mm, X Max: 37mm, Y Max: 55mm. Then set the gantry height to 28mm. Set the number of extruders to 1 and the filament size to 1.75. the nozzle size should be set to how big the nozzle is. Usually it is 0.4mm. – LukeDunkley Jun 14 '20 at 20:53
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@AJMM Apologies for this being in multiple parts. It is due to the character limit. then set the start GCODE to: xgcode 1.0 ;start gcode M140 S0 M104 S{material_print_temperature} T0 M104 S0 T1 M107 G90 G28 M132 X Y Z A B G1 Z50.00 F400 G161 X Y F3300 M6 T0 M907 X100 Y100 Z40 A80 B20 M108 T0 G1 Z.20 F400 – LukeDunkley Jun 14 '20 at 20:55
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@AJMM Then set the end GCODE to M104 S0 T0 G28 X Y M132 X Y Z A B G91 M18. – LukeDunkley Jun 14 '20 at 20:55
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@AJMM In the project settings I enabled the visibility of the temperature setting and changed it to 220°C instead of the default 200°C and set the flow to 110% to smooth out prints. Check this website (https://labs.tomasino.org/flashforge-finder-with-cura/) for all these instructions. Hope this helps. – LukeDunkley Jun 14 '20 at 20:56
Don't worry for the message partitions, I understand You and thanksgive all this information so interesting; when my printer turns to "normal" (curious word actually :p ) I'll try this tutorial. – AJ MM Jun 14 '20 at 21:58
@AJMM I just thought you could try this so you can try another slicer to see if this fixes your problem. – LukeDunkley Jun 15 '20 at 00:36
Ok, yesterday I think that I finish with the extruder & bed troubles, but then appears "filament error" @#$%!, I tried again today and same error, so after search a bit, <<03-26-2018, 08:07 PM#7 tlawrence84 >> has the answer at https://3dprintboard.com/showthread.php?33060-Flashforge-Finder-not-extruding-during-print-fine-during-Load-Filament As some comment says some days ago here. – AJ MM Jun 16 '20 at 10:44
@AJMM Are you sure the filament diameter/size is set correctly. For example, do you use 1.75mm filament, but the software believes you are using 3mm filament. The software may believe the filament is bigger than what you are using, leading to gaps. Also, is the filament sticking to the bed properly. Try printing with a raft. This way, even if the first layer isn't great, it will be fine when you reach the model. – LukeDunkley Jun 17 '20 at 21:23
I'm very sure of the diameter, I didn't change it anytime; but now I'm waiting an upgrade for change the PTFE system to all metal. The bed, I think that now is correct, We will see in some days. Thanks so..o much for all your help and suggestions, I take it in count for my diagnostics reflections. – AJ MM Jun 18 '20 at 14:19
[Terminator]: I'M BACK Today I just received and mounted the hotend all metal upgrade, but it is a very heat day, I'll wait some hours to reach the 220ºC required on the printer. – AJ MM Jun 22 '20 at 14:21

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Jun 24 '20 at 18:10

Finally, I solved all faillures today.

-When the bed is too close from the hotend:

I cheat the machine with a cutter patterns board over the bed at the first extruder calibration; the distance increases several times and then You can do it shorter.

-The another half part of bad quality [low maintenance of the hotend]:

As a good newbie, I didn't know the periods of maintenance and the hotend had much plastic waste the PTFE tube welded and burned at internal, so the only option was to replace it for another same or to upgrade to "All Metal"; I chosen to upgrade with the replacement and I'll more maintenance to this zone.