Am i crazy or i have a problem?

[raul1234567890]

Hey there folks.

Printer: P1S
Nozzle: 0.4mm
Filament: BambuLab PLA Basic
Prints with closed door. Part fan 100%, Aux 70%, Chamber 60% (default).

I’m starting this new thread after reading a few others, but i’m a bit confused on what to believe. Hoping that, by opening this separate issue, we can debug/isolate mine and don’t interfere with the others that might be ongoing. Don’t want to hijack any other thread.

I started noting some issues with my layers, so i reverted everything to default (printer, settings, filaments, slicers). I’ll start with this picture, to demonstrate a simple cube with stock settings:

Next, did the flow rate, PA, printer calibration, all that good stuff. Did it with what was left of blue, red and black. Ended up here (sorry, ran out of blue haha):

I ended up with flow rate of 0.9776 and PA 0.022. Temp is 220C (default)
I also changed my retraction settings after a few tests. Here’s the new ones i picked:

So far, i think we can agree these are good. Smooth to the touch, aligned when looked from the front, all that. But, i noticed on my prints (and max volumetric speed test) these Y lines on almost all my prints (if not all). In hindsight, black was the worse to take pictures of, sorry if the pictures are hard to see.

I thought it’s related to the infill/walls, so i tested some prints with:

• walls: 3 and 4
• infill: grid and gyroid
  I should have tested without embossed text (i think), but i added some text too, to know which one is which, and the results are these:
  
  
  
  
  
  
  There’s clearly some ghosting, and not sure if that was the model i found online (wanted the rounded corners to test that too), but clearly there’s ghosting there that i would love to get rid of. However, this test was not for that, and on the back… my Y lines are there again
  
  
  
  
  

This is my first question: do i have a printer problem and i need to tighten my belts? Printer is “new”, barely has 200 hours on it.

Next set of issues is, as seen in the black/grey photo - that for some prints, i have some weird layer issues where even the X layers don’t seem right? They’re smooooooth to the touch though, but when looked at from a slight angle, they don’t look right. Any idea what’s going on there? I did observe the same in some other of my tests too, but again, they are very smooth to the touch, just look weird from slight angles

So my final question: am I crazy and expecting too much from this printer, or do i have some hardware issues and some slicer issues?

I’m ready to get to work - as in more testing - to fix these issues. I’m getting ready to print a lot of models, but i wanted them to be “perfect”. And this last one clearly is not (looks good from a few inches away though and my kids love him)

I’m sure some of this is my fault, would love to learn what i did wrong and where i can improve.

EDIT1: forgot to mention, i think i might need to tweak my speeds a bit, especially for the ghosting issue. My printer is on a concrete slab and foam, and i moved it ON THE FLOOR to make sure i eliminated any source of vibration. Let me know if you think i should remove those and set it on the floor directly to test more…

EDIT2: added more details about printer, filament, settings after calibration

Thank you.

[Sigama_Crafts]

Wow… that’s a really in depth detail of your problem. But, you didn’t specify anything about nozzle size, print settings used (profiles) and what printer is it…
There are some things some might consider disturbing on your prints but i think it all comes down to the settings used.

[raul1234567890]

I did not mentioned the nozzle size, which is 0.4mm - my bad.Regarding settings to rule out any settings that i might have had, i did reset everything to factory: printer settings, filament, etc. I did not mentioned the nozzle size, which is 0.4mm - my bad. That’s the first blue cube - looks horrific Then i did my calibration and you see the black cube, which is 100x better. So right now, everything is kind of stock, except flow rate and PA. Except Olaf and the black and grey image, everything else was done stock.

My main main main concern is the Y lines. Those prints were default settings, and i tried 3/4 walls, grid/gyroid. And i saw them on many of my other prints, which is why i just wanted to reset everything and start from scratch. I’m very well aware that sometimes, “tweaking” the “right” setting can screw up more than fixing more. That’s why i want to see what people think i should do next. I’m ready to test anything. Whatever setting, whatever angle. I just want to make sure i don’t have a printer issue first and foremost.

Once that is confirmed, i can figure out if the other issues are an issue or was just me and my stupid settings. However, i would say, most of the time, all that i changed was profile (usually 0.16) and speed (slower top layer).

Spent a bit of time (especially trying to get the right photos - blah), but i do want to fix and learn where i messed up. I love this printer so far, and i know it can do much better. My kids love those prints, they’re just not perfect for what i plan to print next for me And i want them to be perfect.

[Sigama_Crafts]

I see. For Olaf i would try Adaptive layers - prone to quality - An increase of “Top area threshold” from 100 to 250-500. It will adjust the top layers so you have less visible lines on Z. Definitely would lower the temp. Im printing PLA with 215/210 and Silk PLA with 200.
Speed is a factor so i set the max flow rate to 21mm^3 (im printing with Sunlu Filaments)
Im thinking Olaf is PLA… because if he is not, then definitely dry your PETG. I have a pain in my behind when printing with my 5Kg spool of PETG.
The banding and ghosting might come from vibration. Maybe belts?! but then again, you said the printer is relatively new so, i dont think that would be an issue…
For the lines though, i have no clue why they are so visible… especially when you did the PA calibration.

[raul1234567890]

Ah, that’s what i forgot to also mention: filament. It’s all BL PLA. Will update my original post.

For Olaf, yeah, i can’t remember if i used adaptive or not. Being round and whatnot, i believe i might have, but… i forgot.

You mentioned an increase in Top area threshold, can you pls be more specific on what setting that is? I can’t find that in Orca/Bambu Studio - just want to make sure i’m looking at the right one

Regarding temperature, so far i did not have any HUGE issues with oozing, and printing at 220 (default, ofc), but i’m down to try at 210.

Regarding max flow rate, that blue image is exactly that. And the top is actually 25. However, i still kept, for now, my setting at 21 (default), while i mitigate the Y lines.

Banding and ghosting is weird to me too. I was thinking vibrations, so i moved the printer on the floor, on top of a foam pad + concrete slab. Rerun calibration after. Belts - that’s what i was reading and thinking, is it possible that it might cause those Y lines as well? But then, i was like - it’s less than 200 hrs, this soon? I’m down to try to tighten them, i just don’t want to make my prints even worse haha.

Let me know if you want me to try any model, any setting, anything that you would change - i’m game.

I appreciate your replies btw.

[lkraus]

Different colors are made with different ingredients. Stick with one filament until you get the results you want. I have found that even when using filaments of the same type from the same manufacturer, a change in color can require different settings for the best results.

[raul1234567890]

Hey

while that’s true, for my issue all 3 colors seem to be fine with the same settings.

My biggest concern being the Y lines shows in many colors though.

I plan do a calibration with every batch that i get or if i see big differences between colors. Luckily, did not had to do that yet!

[Wsquared58]

I know this is going to come across as a smart** comment but the goal is to print things, not test the thing to death. The actual model you printed looks pretty good to me.

[raul1234567890]

Hey

You’re fine! It’s not about a smart comment or not - i’m here to learn and fix.

As you said, for most people it looks fine. Hence my topic title - i might be crazy expecting things to be more and more perfect. However, i’m sure there’s way to make it better - and that’s what i’m trying to do.

But also, the Y lines on the black pieces are what let’s say worry me, as i want to make sure i don’t have a belt issue or whatever it might be. I’m sure i have more settings to play with to make these rounds objects better, ghosting, etc. That’s what i was hoping from this thread, to get some to tell me that i’m crazy or go print this and that, let’s see results. I want to debug, i’m sure my printer can do better than that, even though it’s good at first sight.

[simon14]

From your pictures, I can say some of them are good print, some of them are below average.

I suggest taking a look at extruder if you exhaust of options.

[Supa_Koopa]

The Y lines, as you call them, are VFA’s (verticle fine artifacts). Be warned, I advise you don’t go down that rabbit hole and just accept them if you are happy with everything else, as it will not end well if you do. You can see my thread if you really want to see how bad they can be here New X1C acceptable banding? But again I wouldn’t go down that road.

The other things you can probably improve with settings and a bit of fiddling. However, your Cali cube looks pretty good to me.

[raul1234567890]

Hmmm hmmm hmmm - thanks for sharing that thread. I think i saw it at some point, but did not follow up on the latest.

Man, that sucks, sorry for your case. But i feel my situation is a bit different. I’m going to also open a ticket soon, but wanted to see if it was just me messing with some settings or not. My lines are def way less visible than yours. And also, as you said, the calibration cube does look pretty decent, so i’m not sure what to say about the other prints. That’s why i’m puzzled: if the cube is near perfect and no artifacts and so on, why does it happen on other models with the exact same settings? That part is what makes me think i’m crazy or i’m missing something soooo simple and obvious.

[Lenyo]

Maybe this was mentioned already: wall order - you could try outer wall first on models / areas that do not have steep overhangs, that generally gets a better surface finish.

Also didn’t see mention of starting with dried then calibrated filament which would also help reach the goal of perfection.

[MZip]

Well-dried filament makes such a difference in print quality. It’s hard to overemphasize that. Nice walls, fine detail, low stringing.

[raul1234567890]

@MZip those prints do look nice.
Here’s what i want to do, just for fun. Can you pass me the second model there (black looks PLA, white is ASA?) so i can try to print it and see what i get?

And can you share whatever settings you had for that project? A 3mf with that model would be ideal so i can just hit print and compare apples with apples. Btw, was filament was that - i almost wanna go get the exact one just to test all this

RE drying - yes, i know. I am planning to get a dryer this week. Until then, what i did was the recommended bambu article and used my printer. God that sucked Not even sure it worked, as when i weighted the spool before and after i only lost 1g. So i’m not sure about that haha.

However, those, as you pointed out, are just settings and it’s all about making sure filament is dried and has the right settings (PA, flow rate, retraction, temperature). What i am very concerned is those walls - do yours have, from an angle, marks and almost like perpendicular Y lines? That is my main worry here - those damn lines. All others later

[raul1234567890]

@Lenyo

you could try outer wall first on models / areas that do not have steep overhangs,

Thanks for the advice - not sure where i saw that mentioned before, i might try it.

Regarding perfection - i know it’ll take some time to play with the settings. But those Y lines … meh, i hope it’s just settings and not so dry filament. They seem to me so symmetric and spaced out evenly, which is why i started thinking it’s something else. Could be wrong.

[Wsquared58]

One thing about dryers and drying. Unless you have very deep pockets, you will have more filaments and more varieties than you will have dryer space for.
Some of these filaments (Bambu PLA) I turn out excellent prints right out of the box and at some point I may need to throw Bambu PLA in my dryer but not as of today. I keep a spool of PA6-GF and spools of ABS in the dryer but will be ejecting some of the ABS for PETG
This is 4 stacked STL files treated as one object which allowed for the colors changed by part. ALL PLA
Going in a doctors office.
None of those colors have seen the inside of a dryer.

[raul1234567890]

Sick - thanks for sharing.

And yes, in general, i found that the Bambu PLA looks good out of the box, but i’ll get a dryer as i do plan to print some parts with PETG. Even though, the PETG-HF that i got from Bambu was also prettttty darn good out of the box and in the AMS But i’ve read sooooo many stories, especially about PETG, that i will invest in a dryer. Which one, that’s still up in the air

That being said, your print looks amazing. Share a 3mf and your settings? Would love to maybe check them out and even attempt a print with my colors and see what i get? Going to be a bit busy this week with family in town, but would love to test different things until i get my stuff in order.

Thank you!

[Wsquared58]

Here is a PA6-GF Benchy I printed to test a new nylon specific build plate.
Out of dryer—>AMS—>In to dryer. Texture is the GF

[MZip]

Hey Raul, those prints are all Bambu Basic PLA using the plain vanilla PLA settings. That black and white print is an image combiner that I’ll be posting soon for dioramas and such that is made to do its thing with neopixel LEDs that let you control brightness and color. That’s an early version but I’ll package up a 3mf and dm it but it will be a later today.

The thing that had the biggest effect on my print quality was drying. I had all the typical symptoms - stringing, doughy looking surfaces, scarring on top layers, etc. My drying isn’t typical though. I purge my Sunlu S2 filament dryer with dry air. Ambient humidity limits how low moisture you can dry to and how fast it gets there. The dry air purge takes ambient humidity out of the equation and storage in poly cereal boxes so far keeps them dry. But that’s how I get those kinds of prints. It makes a big difference.