Help! Creality Ender 3 printing issues

[kdobson83]

Ok, so, new to 3d printing. Got an Ender 3. Got it set up and running. Printed the test print that came on the SD card, a pre-sliced dog. Worked out good. No issues at all after working out a couple issues with the rollers. I downloaded Cura so that I could start printing, and now the issues begin.
I began by trying to print simple designs that have been printed before with success by other people on Thingyverse, using the recommended settings by Cura. After the prints coming out looking horrible, I then began to research and did some custom settings as per the "experts" online. Setting up nozzle height, shell layers and top/bottom layers, infill, speed, all of the goodies like that. And I am getting the same results as before. Did some more digging, comparing what my prints look like and what other peoples problems look like. Comparing mine to others, I think it's a flow issue. People suggest increasing the flow rate 5% at a time. I printed two more tests with very little difference. The only notible difference was in the brim I added for bed adhesion, it's solid now instead of looking all stringy. Attached are the photos of my last print with the flow increased to 110%.
My questions are why do my sliced prints look like this when pre-sliced tests look perfect? Should I continue to increase the flow? I'm worried if I increase it too much it'll clog the nozzle or create other issues. Does anyone recommend using a different slicer than Cura for begginers? Any help would be appreciated. I'm going on almost a week with the only good print I've gotten wast Creality's test print...

 

[jhitesma]

Do you have the filament site set right in Cura? I'm not a big cura fan (I love slic3r but it's not very beginner friendly) but I do seem to remember that some versions of Cura defaulted to 3mm filament rather than 1.75mm filament - which could explain why you're getting so much under extrusion.

 

[kdobson83]

I did. I changed it to 1.75. I keep finding settings that are a tad off but nothing seems to fix the issue.

 

[tanyoon]

Definitely looks like under-extrusion, though it's weird that the brim came out ok.

If you have calipers I would suggest measuring the filament at a few places to make sure it's within +- ~.07 mm from 1.75. Some filaments have poor quality control and if it's far enough under 1.75 you'll have issues with extrusion.

It's also possible that the nozzle is clogged a little. Try removing it and cleaning it off with a torch and looking for blockages.

Make sure that the settings are right for your nozzle diameter too. I had a similar issue when I forgot that I was using a .5mm nozzle instead of .4.

If none of those fix it try to pull the settings from the provided test gcode, it's possible they're doing something weird. You should be able to get a fair amount of info from this site: http://gcode.ws/.

 

[kdobson83]

Ok, thank you all for the responses. It was Cura, but it was my settings I guess. I watched this video

And copied literally everything he did and now my prints look good. I'll do some more fine tuning one day but it's perfect for now. Hopefully this link will help someone else.
Thanks again all!

 

[burgo855]

Ok, thank you all for the responses. It was Cura, but it was my settings I guess. I watched this video

And copied literally everything he did and now my prints look good. I'll do some more fine tuning one day but it's perfect for now. Hopefully this link will help someone else.
Thanks again all!

I had issues with my Ender3 as well, the very first print with the example dog came out perfect, accept for the fact they only supplied enough filament for 1/4 of the print, but the 1/4 came out perfect, however every other print I have tried with the CURA software failed miserably, i assumed it was the belts needed tightning or incorrect table levelling, I basically pulled my whole Ender3 apart and put it all back togethor. Turns out this whole it was just the wrong settings for the prints put into the machine, changed to the ones in video and my print came out perfect, they need to add the ender3 to CURA or at least supply us with the ender3 settings so we can import for future, would be nice if the video also supplied the link to the ender3 settings file. But i cna confirm after 300+ trials and errors on all kinds of pritns tests and changes to machine parts and adjustments, the software fix above was most definantly the cure. THUMBS UP TO HIM.

I'm starting to think maybe i should open the supplied dog print in ender sand see if i can use its settings and save them as the ender3 and see if that helps? but im assuming it wasnt the same filament?

 

[TheSFReader]

I think the latest releaes of Cura have an Ender 3 profile by default.

 

[kdobson83]

I think the latest releaes of Cura have an Ender 3 profile by default.

Hmm, I'm gonna have to look into this. See if it is any different than the settings I use.

 

[ECURB]

I have an Ender 3 printer. I download a model to print, slice in Cura and load onto mini card. place in printer and start printing. about half way through the printer stops printing. no error etc but I notice in the x,y,z bar are hieroglyphics. What causes this and how do I fix it?? I cannot restart the machine, a lost model.HELP
Thand You
ECURB

 

[prfnimbus58]

Hey guys, I need help. I have a Creality Ender 3 pro. I used for ABS last 5 monts and last time when I used the printer I adjusted the bed 110 Deg F and printed 10 hours strait. I think I burned something. When I start the printer even the bed temp. is 0 deg. F, system want to heat the bed all the way. I shut the printer after the bed get 115 deg F and it was going up. What did I destroyed? It is possible the replace?

 

[JasonK]

if the bed temp is 0, sounds like your bed temp senor went out.

 

[Turbojoe]

I've seen posts on Thingiverse about the yellow XT-60 connectors causing problems including melting. Supposedly they were using some very low quality clone connectors or they had "cold" solder joints causing high amp draw and burned contacts. Just pull the connectors apart for a look to see if anything is cooked. It's worth a shot.

Joe

 

[prfnimbus58]

if the bed temp is 0, sounds like your bed temp senor went out.

You mean that the sensor under the bed in the middle. But if the sensor went bad why does it show me the temperature goes up. It looks like something keep the temperature what it should be, like a thermostat in the car.

 

[JasonK]

You mean that the sensor under the bed in the middle. But if the sensor went bad why does it show me the temperature goes up. It looks like something keep the temperature what it should be, like a thermostat in the car.

the bed temp control is a microprocessor based PID controller using a heating element and tempurature sensor. if the temp sensor is reading 0F when you turn your system on then either your room is really cold (below freezing), your sensor is broken, your sensor is out of calabration, or something is wrong on the controller board software.

 

[prfnimbus58]

the bed temp control is a microprocessor based PID controller using a heating element and tempurature sensor. if the temp sensor is reading 0F when you turn your system on then either your room is really cold (below freezing), your sensor is broken, your sensor is out of calabration, or something is wrong on the controller board software.

Dear Jason,
You miss understood. When you start the printer bed and nozzle temp shows 0 at the upper line on the board and under that shows almost the room temperature for both of them. Idle position temps shouldn't go up. But my bed start to get hot and no ends. I believe I fried a switch work like car thermostat. I'm not electronic guy. I bought a new mother board when I'll receive I will change the wires one in a time not to make a mistake. Thanks everyone.

 

[Pony1023]

Sorry for hijacking the thread, but I feel "WOW" is a fun and interesting word. It's the same both forward and backwards.