After successfully using Cura for a while, I recently took the jump and bought Simplify3D to improve my prints. Unfortunately, my first real print is rather disappointing.
As you can see in this image: http://imgur.com/a/l6spT, the print has a lot of gaps in the infill and in the walls. I'm using the default Lulzbot Mini settings Simplify 3D came with (aside from some changes to the temperature to accommodate the XT-Copolyester filament). But, there are a few settings that seem odd to me, and might cause the issue ... I just wanted to check these with you ...
The extrusion multiplier was set to 0,90. Shouldn't this be 1,00?
The filament diameter was set to 3,00. I think this should be 2,85?
Additionally I notice some oozing. Any suggestions on the Retraction settings? I also notice the hotend scrapes over previously printed parts (or maybe oozed material). This doesn't really improve the quality.
Thanks!
Re: Disappointing results with the Lulzbot Mini
Well that's noting a few minor settings changes can't fix! Personally, I would increase the outline overlap for starters (see Infill tab). Maybe add 10% to that value (so if it was previously 15%, make it 25%). It is also very possible that you are under-extruding a tiny bit, but it's hard to be sure from your pictures. Can you do something simple like print a 20mm cube on stock Medium quality and then take a pic of the top layers? Should be a lot easier to see then.
It's pretty common that the extrusion multiplier needs to change by 5-10% depending on what type of plastic you are using. So if you end up needing to bump it up from 0.9 to 1.0 to help fill in those gaps, I wouldn't be surprised.
It's pretty common that the extrusion multiplier needs to change by 5-10% depending on what type of plastic you are using. So if you end up needing to bump it up from 0.9 to 1.0 to help fill in those gaps, I wouldn't be surprised.
Re: Disappointing results with the Lulzbot Mini
Looks to me like you need to try reducing the extrusion width. What I usually do in preview mode is check off "Layer" in the "Preview By" section and check off "Single Layer Only" and then move the "End" slider through all the layers looking for big gaps in the infill. If you have gaps in thin areas you can try reducing the Extrusion Width (which will also increase print time). And sometimes for thin or angled areas look at the infill angles, for 45 degree angled areas try changing the infill angles to 45 and -45, deleting all other angles (either that or rotate the model's Z axis by 45 degrees and keep the infill angles at 0 and 90).
Also try setting some outline overlap, I usually go with around 30% but this can change based on extrusion width and multiplier.
There are some good guides out there on S3D's plethora of settings, one good one I found that shows example prints of the different print settings is here: https://0x7d.com/2015/01/a-guide-to-hig ... 3d-prints/ (it's based on the older version of S3D but most of it is still relevant)
Hope this helps! Good luck!
Also try setting some outline overlap, I usually go with around 30% but this can change based on extrusion width and multiplier.
There are some good guides out there on S3D's plethora of settings, one good one I found that shows example prints of the different print settings is here: https://0x7d.com/2015/01/a-guide-to-hig ... 3d-prints/ (it's based on the older version of S3D but most of it is still relevant)
Hope this helps! Good luck!
Re: Disappointing results with the Lulzbot Mini
Do you need active cooling for XT-Copolyester? It appears Lulzbot actually has the fans turned on in CURA for their ABS profiles. This might sound strange but turning on the fan pretty much fixed my mini's gap problems with ABS (also fixed raft separation).
