Hi all! I’ve had issues printing with my P1S since the day I bought it. I think I finally figured out what’s happening but I can’t quite figure out the solution, or how everyone else avoids the issue. Although, a Reddit post helped validate my suspicions. And, I did post here before, and I kinda figured some of this out then. But I got a little burnt out with troubleshooting and put printing on the back burner.
ANYWAY.
I have z-banding with prints. I basically always print with the “.2mm Strength” profile. I think the print z-banding issues are primarily evident when printing with higher wall counts. If I print with the “.16 Optimal” profile, instead of the “.2 Strength” profile, the z-banding is essentially non-existent (at least on my recent test prints so far). Also, it’s a higher wall count at any layer height. I could print as small as .08mm layer height with 4-5 walls, and the banding occurs.
The z-banding seems to occur on layers with a higher “layer time”. I can’t quite determine what’s affecting the printing though because there are multiple things happening on each layer.
The only “solution” I found, other than reducing wall count to 2, is to print outer/inner/infill.
It’s not filament-related, because this has happened across Sunlu PLA, Bambu Basic PLA, and eSun PLA+. It’s happened on all spools right out of the boxes, and still happens even after drying all filament and performing all manual flow calibration via Studio. My k-flows after calibration, on all filament, tend to come out to .025-.030. Filament profiles don’t make a big difference but I’ve tried everything from the default baked-in PLA Studio profiles to manufacturer specified settings.
I’ve confirmed z-belt tension is great multiple times, the z-screws are lubed perfectly and clean, the P1S is sitting on my kitchen island countertop (real or faux marble, built into the apartment floor, aka solid as a huge slab of concrete), printing with the lid open or closed and the door open or closed in any combination doesn’t affect banding.
Can anyone tell me what might be the issue with these prints?
And/or does anyone have any settings they could share that allow them to print at a 4-5 wall count without z-banding?
I have a tendency to type way too much and give too much info, so I want to refrain from doing that. But I can provide any info that may help someone help me.
I’ll share some details from two layers from a print that experiences z-banding. Between these two layers, banding will occur in the print. The speed, flow, fan speed (100%), line width, and temp, are identical between these two layers, and consistent across the print. There’s support interface (PETG) and PLA on both fast and slow layers. The only big difference I can see from the slicer is the purge tower has a layer of PETG on the slower layer, vs PLA on the faster layer. But even if I change support interface to PLA, so it’s all PLA, the layer still prints slower (but not as slow due to no purging needed).
Layer 44, a slow layer (~155s):
Layer time
Line type
Flow
Filament
Layer 45, a faster layer (~54s):
Layer time
Line type
Flow
Filament
I can’t connect the pieces of the puzzle.
Questions I find myself wondering are:
- Do other people have consistent layer times on their entire prints?
- How does layer time correlate to z-banding? Is one layer cooling too much vs another? Is one layer under-extruding and another over-extruding? Is this related to volumetric flow and/or max/min layer time?
- Do other people print with 4-5 walls and not have issues with z-banding?
- If people answer “yes, without any problems” to thought # 3… why can’t I print higher wall counts with default settings?? What’s different?
- Will I continue making edits? How many edits will I make? When is enough? When will my brain be satisfied with editing?
I have a lot more on my mind, and I probably left important details out above, but I’ve already typed a lot and don’t want to ask y’all to read too much.
If you read all the above, and have any suggestions to share, I’d love to hear any thoughts/comments/tips/feedback. I’m new to printing, this is my first printer, and would love to print successfully with 4-5 walls. Thanks so much!!