The productivity and creativity of 3D printers are amazing, but behind their brilliant success, there are inevitably countless failures. Watching others smoothly produce beautiful 3D printed products, one is still dissatisfied: the color is not good, the shape is not satisfactory, the surface is not smooth, and even there is thread drawing... where exactly is the problem? How to self check these conditions? How can we solve these problems on our own?

Don't worry, iBOSS has listed 13 common problems that occur during the 3D printing process and provided you with an exclusive troubleshooting guide.

1. Edge warping

The bottom of the 3D printed model is curved upwards and not level with the printing platform, which can cause horizontal cracks in the upper part. Warping "- caused by the natural properties of plastic materials, is common in the 3D printing process. When ABS or PLA filaments cool, they begin to shrink very slightly, and if the plastic cools too quickly, a "warping" phenomenon may occur.

How to solve:

Use a heated printing platform;

Add adhesive on the printing platform;

Use adhesive printing bed;

Calibrate the printing bed.

2. Thread drawing

There are unsightly plastic lines between the components of the model. When the print head moves on the open area, some filaments drip from the nozzle and cool, causing this situation.

How to solve:

Enable the 'recall' function;

Adjust the nozzle operation amplitude to the minimum before starting the "withdrawal" process;

Use a surgical knife to cleanly hang it off.

3. Insufficient extrusion of 3D printing materials

Underextrusion refers to the inability of the printer to provide the required materials (or printing speed too fast to follow up). This situation can result in thin layers, unnecessary gap layers, and complete loss of layers (see 3D printing issue 5: missing layers).

There are several possible reasons: firstly, the diameter of the filament used does not match the diameter set in the slicing software. Secondly, there are defects in the software settings of the slicer, and the amount of extruded material is too low. Finally, the material is limited by dirt in the nozzle during extrusion.

How to solve:

Check the diameter of the filament;

Measure the diameter of the filament using a caliper;

Check if the hot end is clean;

Adjust the extrusion ratio at 5% intervals.

4. Shift layer

There are various reasons for the displacement layer, which can be attributed to bending or misalignment of the nozzle, or slight movement of the printing platform caused by the nozzle during the movement process.

How to solve:

Check if the printer base is stable;

Check if the printing base is secure;

Pay attention to the warped upper layer;

The printing speed is too fast;

Check the belt;

Check the drive pulley;

Add lubricating oil.

5. nozzle blockage

At the beginning of 3D printing, the nozzle was unable to extrude the material properly, and rearranging the material was also ineffective. Perhaps it is because, after replacing the spool, there is a small piece of filament left in the nozzle, which is usually due to the filament being broken at the end. When loading new filaments, an old filament left in the nozzle will hinder the passage of the new filament. Alternatively, the accumulated molten plastic at the nozzle end has hardened and needs to be manually removed.

How to solve:

Heat the nozzle and clean it with a needle and brass brush;

Remove the feeding tube and try pushing the old material wire inside with another piece of material wire;

Open the hot end and see if the blocked material can be removed.

6. Materials are prone to breakage

The material scroll looks abundant, but there are filaments in the feeding tube that cannot be squeezed out from the nozzle. This is only due to the use of old or inexpensive printing materials. Although most long filaments such as PLA and ABS can indeed last for a long time, they can become very brittle if they are continuously exposed to direct sunlight, which can cause the aforementioned problems once placed in a 3D printer.

How to solve:

Check if the materials have expired;

Check the diameter of the material;

Adjust the tension of the idler gear;

Check if the hot end is clean and has reached the correct temperature;

Set the traffic to 100%.