I’ve had my p1s a couple months and been using sunlu pla very successfully. I calibrated the flow dynamics and the flow ratio using the bambu studio built in tools and also by printing a calibration cube and measuring wall thickness and measuring and adjusting accordingly.
I’ve tweaked my xy hole compensation and couple other things and got it printing very dimensionally accutaly. I can print a 9.95mm hole and a 10mm drill bit (actually 9.95mm) fits perfectly. I can print parts in place with a tolerance of 0.1mm and they remain seperate. So as I said pretty chuffed so far.
Picture shows surface quality I was getting.
So thought I calibrate for the filament again but now there’s quite a few rough areas to the print and it has a kind of diagonal cris cross pattern as if the infill is showing through.
You can see on these last 2 photos that you can see the diagonal lines in a couple of places as if the 1st layer was too thin.
Any advice on how I can improve this? Is it just a case of tweaking the K value and flow ratio or is there something else I can adjust to make this smoother?
I’ve also done a max volumetric flow test for this filament which is set at 17m3 and I have limited speeds to 200mm/s.
As with any troubleshooting technique, always go back to square one and change only and one and only variable at a time. I’ve come to use that now in opening posts because so many folks overlook it and change more than one thing at a time and then wonder why they can’t nail down the root cause.
You seem to take a methodical approach so use that in going back to basics. What you’ll want to do is to do a first layer test. That test is very unforgiving and will readily show flaws in the print environment. No need to bother with downloading a model, it’s very easy to create. Create a cube primitive and scale it to your desired area of the build plate you want to test. 150x150x0.20mm is plenty of real estate to verify if you have calibration, flow or filament issues.
If you want to test the entire range of your head movement and build plate, you can scale it to 240x240 but 150 or even 100mm should be enough for a quick test.
I can already tell from this photo that your plate has fingerprints on it so cleaning the plate is paramount.
The next thing you will want to do is ditch Bambu Studio for calibration. It is a pity that Bambu promotes their slicer as having calibration capabilities because there’s far more to calibration than line tests and K values. In fact, they are useless for all intents and purposes in diagnosing filament issues and lead the user to “believe” they are using a calibrated filament profile. You also can’t trust the Bambu default filament profiles either.
Instead, load Orca Slicer and use the baked-in calibration utilities there. No downside to having both slicers on your machine as they are ported from the same based code so if you are comfortable with Bambu Studio, you will be right at home with Orca. View this tutorial for how to calibrate the filament.
Don’t be afraid to experiment either. Here is an example of two side by side first layer tests I did with varying pressure advance.
I would print temperature towers at different speeds. This costs some filament and is only worthwhile if you stay with the same filament for a long time. But then you can recognise where the filament delivers the best results. It might just surprise you to realise that fast printing gives less good results. The other thing is the diameter of the filament. You can determine it over the entire roll by measuring every few centimetres. Then calculate the average and enter it in the filament profile. It is possible that it will not show 1.75 but 1.74 or 1.76. Drying is of course important to ensure that you do not process filament with a moisture content that is too different. You carry out the calibration on the dried filament (K factor, flow).
Finally, you should also pay attention to the ambient conditions when printing. Humidity and temperature in the printer. And before printing, you can have the printer calibrated after you have cleaned and re-greased the threaded rods and re-tensioned the belts (carbon bars only wipe off as described in the wiki). Here and there there are still plain bearings running on metal rods, check whether they are dry and grease them a little.
How much is moisture content of filanet affected my having your filament left out on back of printer in a room in a house in the UK? Do you need to always store it in an air tight container or put it in a drier alot? I don’t have a dryer, is it critical to have one?
I terms of numbers, what room humity levels are ideal?
The humidity in your living space can significantly affect the moisture content of your 3D printing filament. If the filament is stored in a humid environment for an extended period, it can absorb moisture. This can lead to various printing problems such as:
Layer adhesion: Poor adhesion between layers
Bubbling: Small holes in the printed object
Warping: Distortion or bending of the printed part
Underextrusion: Insufficient material extrusion
Storage and Drying
Therefore, it is important to store the filament in a dry environment and dry it regularly. An airtight container with desiccant is ideal.
Is a dryer absolutely necessary?
While a dryer is not strictly necessary, it can significantly speed up the drying process of the filament. If you do not have a dryer, you can also dry the filament in your closed Printer or in the oven at a low temperature.
Ideal Room Humidity
The ideal room humidity for storing 3D printing filament is between 30% and 40%. Higher humidity increases the risk of the filament absorbing moisture.
Is there a way of measuring the moisture content of filament to know whether it needs drying or not? Or do people just dry filament if they start to have problems they know are associated with damp filament?
Im assuming that if room humidity is ideally 30/40% that this is the ideal moisture level for filament too?
There is no homebrew method of measuring moisture content other than measuring before and after weight. Others have been looking for such a method but the only way to actually know is to remove the moisture first so it’s an academic exercise at that point.
