I have changed to another PLA but a higher quality one. The calibration of the new filament was successful. Afterward, I printed a model, although not very good, all the models I printed afterward had layer losses or intermittent printing problems, no matter which setting I used. No nozzle blockage or clog is visible, the filament feed gears are also clean. I have loaded and unloaded filament several times, and the results are more or less the same or worse each time, output quality is inconsistent. So far I have printed with close to 2 kg of filament and have been able to print many good models, but the problems are new every time. Even if I restored to factory settings, the writing settings did not change. If there is a standard setting for these, I would like to use it. It is quite tiring and time-consuming to fine-tune it every time. Any ideas?
Welcome to the community.
You didn’t mention whether or not you’ve manually calibrated the filament but I can spot some immediate issues that would benefit from manual calibration. If you aren’t already using it, Orca Slicer is the go-to replacement for Bambu Studio and outside of it being cloned from BS, it has many creature comforts the first and foremost, bake-in calibration tools.
This tutorial is probably the most straight-forward but there are many on YouTube. Search under Orca Slicer Calibration.
I’d first run a temperature tower and look for the sweet spot for your filament.
Then I’d run a flow rate test. You really only need the first pass test. A second pass although good, really doesn’t drive big differences.
Next, I would run a pressure advance test.
Then Max Flow rate.
If you want to do a quick test, you can run the print at 50% reduced speed using quiet mode found in the devices section. You will have to wait five minutes for the settings to “Stick”. Just because you click on it does not mean it works until you see the 50% button active. This can also be accessed from the printer’s front control panel and is more responsive than from the slicer.
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And last. Put the notion of “Higher Quality” filament out of your head. All you did was spend more.
Yes, there are crappy filaments out there, no doubt. But if the dimensional accuracy is within 1.75mm and the tolerance stated by the manufacturer, I’ve got news for you: most filament has no secret sauce, just higher costs. This is particularly true for Bambu. You pay a 50-75% premium for their pretty spool and RFID tag so that it will work with the AMS. Not using an AMS? Then you are truly overpaying.
If you can master manual calibration, a whole new world of discounted filament awaits you. How do I know? When I first got my printer, Bambu Basic PLA Black and White were out of stock for weeks, and I was forced onto the open market. And guess what? The world did not end. In fact, I found that I am now averaging between $12-14 per spool on Amazon, and if I get a bad spool, I send it back at their expense, no questions asked, even if I’ve used a portion.
Thanks for the quick and in-depth information. I will apply exactly what you wrote. What you said is probably true, my experience is quite low since it is my 3rd week in the 3d printer community :). I will also try what you said about filaments, and most likely the reason why I deal with a lot of manual calibration and fine-tuning is cheap PLA filaments.
This is what I was referring to. I’ve found that there are very few truly bad filaments, just bad calibration. If you scour these forums, you’ll find a lot of complaints about the uneven quality of Bambu filament, which was supposed to be the gold standard, wasn’t it? We were told that this filament was made to uncompromising standards—until it wasn’t. There have been complaints, particularly from those who unfortunately based their business on the certainty of consistent supply, where white was inconsistent across batches and many more reports of inconsistency in filament performance from one identical spool to another.
Here’s a post I made about two very different manufactures who weren’t so different after all.
I estimate that I return about 10% of first-try filaments that I purchase from Amazon thanks to their no-questions-asked free return policy and I get it the next day with free shipping and no mins or strings attached other than the Prime membership I already have for my routine purchases.
I’ve now compiled a list of a dozen or so PLA profiles alone. It should be noted that even for the same PLA, I often have two profiles: one for aesthetic builds where I want nice smooth lines, and a second one for strong builds. That’s the power of mastering manual calibration. It’s a learning curve as you train your eye on what to look for, but it’s worth it. After you’ve mastered it, it’s empowering to know that you determine what is good or bad, not some marketing hype.