gchaconxiix
Posts: 9
Joined: Sun Mar 11, 2018 6:02 pm

Qidi X-Smart poor quality

Hello, I recently purchased a Qidi X-smart printer which seems to be relatively new as there is no simplify 3d profile for it yet. I have spent the past week and a half basically trying to get this thing to print something decent with simplify 3d. Unfortunately I have had absolute no luck with anything. Every print comes out either badly stringy, bubbly or just terrible in one way or another. I have basically messed with every single setting I can think of messing with in simplify 3d with no luck. I was wondering if anybody has experience with this printer, or if they think they can help me in any way. I can provide any pictures, settings or any other details if you need them. I will say I did have a 0.4mm nozzle on it at first and I switched it out to a 0.2mm and it improved some aspects slightly but not completely. Also I am using the Qidi X-one profile in simplify 3d as I figured it would be the closest I can get to it.

Below are some prints I did for retraction test. I've done so many of these I have lost count. The retraction is at 4mm already, anything higher causes it to jam up half way through the print. Retraction speed is 4000 mm/m. XYZ speed was at 9000 mm/m for one of them, 10000 mm/s for the other, and I also did one with a 18000 mm/s but it made no difference anyway. They all come out very stringy and bubly Please advise...
Thank you, I would love to get some awesome prints going :mrgreen:

Image
Image
Image
wirlybird
Posts: 1374
Joined: Sun Jul 17, 2016 1:32 pm

Re: Qidi X-Smart poor quality

For a direct drive the retraction probably shouldn't be more than 2mm I also use between 1800 and 2400 for speed on retraction. The basic settings for the X-one should be fine for the most part.

These prints look hot.

Have you tried using the QIDI print slicer to see how it does?
gchaconxiix
Posts: 9
Joined: Sun Mar 11, 2018 6:02 pm

Re: Qidi X-Smart poor quality

wirlybird wrote: Tue Mar 13, 2018 6:56 am For a direct drive the retraction probably shouldn't be more than 2mm I also use between 1800 and 2400 for speed on retraction. The basic settings for the X-one should be fine for the most part.

These prints look hot.

Have you tried using the QIDI print slicer to see how it does?
Yea I was able to use the Qidi slicer and it didnt help at all. Honest I felt it was a lot worse. I ended up changing back the nozzle to 0.4mm because the 0.2mm was causing too many issues so i switched back and the prints look better but not perfect. I do agree the prints look hot but I had it as low as 160c and they still looked that way. As for retraction, I have it at 11mm right now which I thought was way too high but it ended up getting rid of a ton of stringing and printing a lot better, albeit still not perfect, I am currently running some prints and will get pictures as soon as they are done. I am mainly trying to print out figurines but it is not going exactly the way I hoped it would, they all look relatively poor in quality.
horst.w
Posts: 861
Joined: Fri Oct 17, 2014 5:00 pm

Re: Qidi X-Smart poor quality

It is really difficult to print these needles and would not suggest to do it to a beginner.

Your print suffers
- to hot
- to fast
- poor retract settings
- poor restart distance
-poor lift distance
-poor cooling
also as
- overextrusion

Please try first to print cubes or other simple geometries in a satisfiable quality. When this is going well, than you have just enough pain to print the needles.

It you have any questions, please attache pictures and the actual settings with the factory-file.

It is very helpfull to read all informations of S3Ds homepage.

Regards
horst.w
GER
gchaconxiix
Posts: 9
Joined: Sun Mar 11, 2018 6:02 pm

Re: Qidi X-Smart poor quality

Thanks everybody for the feedback so far! I do agree I have started to print out some 20mm cubes and using that to calibrate my extrusion. However I did want to show a print I just did that I feel came out a lot better than the others. I printed the 4 spike retraction test again and other than some light stringing, it came out much better than before. This was printed at 3mm retraction at 2000 mm/m retraction speed, at 40 mm/s base speed. This was printed at 160c for layer 1, and the rest at 155c with cooling fan enabled after layer 1. This low temp was the only way I could get it to stop stringing up so badly. I wanted to get an opinion on this print. It does show the layers prominently (it was printed at 1mm layer thickness) and the base did lift from the bottom, I assume due to the low temp because the others did not do that. Is this a relatively acceptable print? Are there any other things I can possibly adjust to make this print a bit better?

Thank you all very much for your help so far, I feel like I am getting much closer to figuring all of this out! :D

Image
horst.w
Posts: 861
Joined: Fri Oct 17, 2014 5:00 pm

Re: Qidi X-Smart poor quality

If you are searching for this problem, it is a "classic" WARPING.

I don't know a material to print with such a low temperature. The only one with 170 - 230°C and at the same time 120°C glazing temperature is Extrudr's Green Tec, coming out of Austria.


H.
gchaconxiix
Posts: 9
Joined: Sun Mar 11, 2018 6:02 pm

Re: Qidi X-Smart poor quality

I was able to fix the warping pretty easily. However now I am basically getting failed prints where they don't stay together during the print, especially with more complex prints like figurines. I am using Hatchbox gray PLA which I assumed would need a much higher temperature. I will keep experimenting as this temperature is definitely too low. It's just it strings up very badly when I get any higher than 160. I am unsure if it is the filament itself that is stringing up so bad, or if it is an issue with the printer. I have the standard red PLA that came with the printer, I will try that and see how it works compared to the Hatchbox.
horst.w
Posts: 861
Joined: Fri Oct 17, 2014 5:00 pm

Re: Qidi X-Smart poor quality

To test the optimal temperature, heat up the heating bloc, then

- the material must be coming out when pushing by hand (open the extruders screw)

- when stoped pushing and shut down temperature, material must penetrate out of the nozzle ca 3 - 5 cm, max 10 cm.

H.
wirlybird
Posts: 1374
Joined: Sun Jul 17, 2016 1:32 pm

Re: Qidi X-Smart poor quality

gchaconxiix wrote: Thu Mar 15, 2018 12:43 am Thanks everybody for the feedback so far! I do agree I have started to print out some 20mm cubes and using that to calibrate my extrusion. However I did want to show a print I just did that I feel came out a lot better than the others. I printed the 4 spike retraction test again and other than some light stringing, it came out much better than before. This was printed at 3mm retraction at 2000 mm/m retraction speed, at 40 mm/s base speed. This was printed at 160c for layer 1, and the rest at 155c with cooling fan enabled after layer 1. This low temp was the only way I could get it to stop stringing up so badly. I wanted to get an opinion on this print. It does show the layers prominently (it was printed at 1mm layer thickness) and the base did lift from the bottom, I assume due to the low temp because the others did not do that. Is this a relatively acceptable print? Are there any other things I can possibly adjust to make this print a bit better?

Thank you all very much for your help so far, I feel like I am getting much closer to figuring all of this out! :D

Image
Looks much better! Retraction distance is still a bit excessive for direct drive. Really want to be 2mm or less.
I would say on a smaller print like this to drop the speed some also. 30mm/s may be good.

Keep at it!
User avatar
youngObi-Wan
Posts: 13
Joined: Thu Mar 15, 2018 1:34 pm
Location: The High Ground, Mustafar
Contact: Website

Re: Qidi X-Smart poor quality

Some things to consider for this pillars test:
  • Try turning on print islands sequentially without optimization in the layer tab. This will print each island with the same amount of cooling between each pillar and should help with consistency of the test
  • Try increasing the minimum layer time before speeds are lowered for cooling purposes in the cooling tab. I don't know the default for the x-one of the top of my head but for small prints, this setting can usually be adjusted to help stop overheating
  • Enable coasting even if for a very small amount in the extruder tab. This can help with blobbing and stringing. It'll stop extruding just before needing to make the travel between the pillars.
“I have the high ground.” - my printer when auto-leveling decides the bed is 10mm above where it actually sits

Return to “General Discussion and Tips”