Simplify3D User Forum

I'm using a Makerfarm 10" Pegasus printer, just completed a few upgrades such as ACME lead screws and mounting hardware, and this weekend changed from using slic3r and Cura to S3D.

Since I've been using S3D I've been getting layer shifts starting after 12.5mm Z, and then the printer stops mid-print around 15mm Z. Anything less than that seems to print fine. I haven't been able to watch the printer yet during a layer shift, so I don't know if it's the slicer or something mechanical. It looks like it's shifting on the Y axis only, but the stopping mid-print is throwing me off and makes me think it's a slicer issue not mechanical. I've sliced the part two separate times, and so far the 12.5mm and 15mm have been consistent.

I haven't tried switching back to Cura for this particular print, I thought at first that it was a fluke. I've been successfully printing 40+ hour prints until now. In the preview for the print it shows the printer completing the parts fine. I'm writing to a memory card, I've always printed from a memory card. Is S3D having an issue writing to the memory card, or possibly the memory card is going bad?

If the prints are randomly stopping when printing from the SD card, then it probably means the card is going bad or there's a problem with the SD card reader. I've had this happen before on other printers, so it's unfortunately quite common since everyone seems to use the cheapest cards and readers you can buy.

So I tried a few things out yesterday. For sure this is a S3D issue, possibly having trouble writing to the card. Both Cura and slic3r did not have any issues slicing the same file, and writing them in full to the memory card, and I was able to finish the print this morning.

The Slic3r gcode for this model was 52mb, the Cura gcode about 51mb, and S3D was only 26mb. I'll try saving the gcode to my hard disk to rule out S3D writing to the memory card, but if that doesn't work then not sure what could possibly be causing the issue.

Well you can always open the gcode file that S3D creates in a text editor and check it yourself. I've seen this several times before, and it was always a mechanical or electrical issue, but you're welcome to check the file yourself if you think there's something wrong with it.