Simplify3D User Forum

Hey all,

I added a piece of PEI to my printer bed and adjusted the z offset in the Taz 6 firmware so that it prints at the perfect height. My PEI is .03 inches so I put the z offset to 0.660 and when I print in Cura I get really nice line thickness, and no printing issues. However, when I print in Simplify3D my line is super smashed. I mean the nozzle is damn near pushing itself against the PEI and I have to adjust the z offset to some random number. Each time I print it seems to push itself lower. I don't know what the problem is; I'm using the default ABS single nozzle settings. Any ideas? I feel like this is a bug....

You might want to read this if you haven't already:
https://www.simplify3d.com/support/prin ... t-of-print

I would just increase the first layer height to 200% to get an extra thick first layer. You can also check the Z-values in the gcode file to see what Z position S3D is moving to vs other software

While adjusting the 1st layer height and width used to work, something has changed since the latest firmware update in the Taz 6. You can set the first layer to print wider, but it only spaces the layers further apart, it does not extrude more filament. I saw a post on 3D Hubs saying that this was an issue with S3D identified by Aleph Objects. I have confirmed that changing the layer width no longer extrudes more filament (if you are in manual extrusion width mode in the first tab), it just spaces the paths further apart. It is my understanding that flashing to a prior version of the firmware fixes this. Raising the layer height now just extrudes the same amount of filament, but higher off the print bed. I'm about to test and see if this anomaly occurs when the Automatic extrusion with mode will work properly to extrude the proper amount of filament if you set a first layer width of say 125%/

The first layer thickness works in two ways....varying the parameter above 100% will vary the thickness of the first layer printed on the print bed. The amount of plastic extruded and the height at which the nozzle is placed are both affected by the setting....and every layer after the first is printed in relation to the first layer, If the setting is changed to less than 100%, the layer height is reduced but the amount of plastic is not reduced....resulting in an over-extrusion effect that enhances adhesion, etc.

As far as I am aware, there is no bug....and the model is sliced and the gcode file is generated according to the above description. This subject has been discussed recently and those involved had no issues with the setting not producing the right result. They did have issues with understanding exactly what happens when you change the setting!

If there is something in the printer that does not follow standard gcode commands, then I would suggest you take that up with the printer manufacturer.

dkightley wrote:The first layer thickness works in two ways....varying the parameter above 100% will vary the thickness of the first layer printed on the print bed. The amount of plastic extruded and the height at which the nozzle is placed are both affected by the setting....and every layer after the first is printed in relation to the first layer, If the setting is changed to less than 100%, the layer height is reduced but the amount of plastic is not reduced....resulting in an over-extrusion effect that enhances adhesion, etc.

As far as I am aware, there is no bug....and the model is sliced and the gcode file is generated according to the above description. This subject has been discussed recently and those involved had no issues with the setting not producing the right result. They did have issues with understanding exactly what happens when you change the setting!

If there is something in the printer that does not follow standard gcode commands, then I would suggest you take that up with the printer manufacturer.

Am I incorrect in the assumption that "layer width" on the first layer used to change the amount of extrusion or extrusion multiplier for that layer only??

Am I incorrect in the assumption that "layer width" on the first layer used to change the amount of extrusion or extrusion multiplier for that layer only??

As far as I'm aware...yes and no!

You're incorrect in saying "used to" as that's implying it doesn't now. I'm not aware of the functionality having changed. And you're correct in saying the first layer width ( in fact all first layer settings) only affects the first layer...and to clarify, its the first layer on the bed. If you have a raft, its the first layer of the raft. If no raft, its the first layer of the item being printed.

As you can see.....with the layer height affecting things differently above and below 100% and the first layer being either the raft or the item, there's been a lot of confusion over whether this function works correctly or not. A lack of good documentation has not helped, I might add!

dkightley wrote:

Am I incorrect in the assumption that "layer width" on the first layer used to change the amount of extrusion or extrusion multiplier for that layer only??

As far as I'm aware...yes and no!

You're incorrect in saying "used to" as that's implying it doesn't now. I'm not aware of the functionality having changed. And you're correct in saying the first layer width ( in fact all first layer settings) only affects the first layer...and to clarify, its the first layer on the bed. If you have a raft, its the first layer of the raft. If no raft, its the first layer of the item being printed.

As you can see.....with the layer height affecting things differently above and below 100% and the first layer being either the raft or the item, there's been a lot of confusion over whether this function works correctly or not. A lack of good documentation has not helped, I might add!

I think the latest firmware marlin v1.0.2.20 for the TAZ 6 may have caused an issue with the first layer width setting in S3D. I can change the width and it does not extrude more filament, it just spaces the lines further apart. I saw something similar to this posted in 3D hubs where Aleph Objects said something in S3D was messing with the firmware and the user had to re-flash his firmware. There was mention that you had to roll back a firmware version for S3D to work properly again. So yes... "it used to".

alexmit wrote:I can change the width and it does not extrude more filament, it just spaces the lines further apart. I saw something similar to this posted in 3D hubs where Aleph Objects said something in S3D was messing with the firmware and the user had to re-flash his firmware.

Well before you claim that it isn't extruding more filament, I would strongly suggest opening your gcode file and looking at the E-values in the file. I'm quite confident that when you increase the first layer width, it will also increase the amount of extrusion for each line in the gcode file. I've checked it many times myself.

Of course, if your nozzle is too far away from the bed, then you still may see spacing between the lines, but that is NOT because of anything in the gcode files, that's just due to your nozzle position.

Also, I can't think any reason why running a gcode file would make you need to re-flash your firmware. That sounds pretty unlikely...