Digital technologies/3D printing/3D printing- Beginner/Troubleshooting a failing print

From CEED Wiki
< Digital technologies‎ | 3D printing‎ | 3D printing- Beginner
Revision as of 16:00, 13 July 2021 by Strem078 (talk | contribs)
(diff) ← Older revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Many things can go wrong when 3D printing. Thankfully, using recommended settings should always work well, and such, diagnosing a failing print is fairly easy. The following are a set of issues, possible causes, as well as potential fixes.

Troubleshooting Table when FDM 3D Printing
Issue (symptom) Possible Cause (diagnosis) Potential Fix (cure)
Warping Not enough/too much model base surface contact to the print bed Use a brim or a raft (adhesion)*
Bad adhesion Not enough/too much model base surface contact to the print bed Use a brim or a raft (adhesion)
Uneven print bed/Bed too far from nozzle at initial layer Relevel the buildplate
No extrusion No filament Replace filament spool
Filament clog Keep in mind that it is uncommon that this is the actual cause of lack of extrusion. Ask a Makerspace employee to assist with further diagnosis
Underextrusion The forwarding mechanism (gearbox) ground through the filament Move the filament out of the forwarding mechanism. Use the change material feature to speed up the removal. While the mechanism is whirring to remove the material, pull slightly on the filament, at the back of the printer for the mechanism to grab. Break the filament clean off at the section where the filament was ground, clean up the end by cutting it off. Re-forward the material into the printer, making sure the right material is chosen in the menu.
Wet (very brittle) filament Remove wet section of the filament (0.25 to 0.5m length) and re-load
Filament clog Keep in mind that it is uncommon that this is the actual cause of lack of extrusion. Ask a Makerspace employee to assist with further diagnosis
Print not level Model not well seated on bed (in slicer) Use the snap to bed feature in your slicer (when available), add a brim to preview which flat sections are well seated on the bed
Drooling No supports when needed Add supports

*Though it may be counterintuitive to increase part base area with a brim when the issue is that the base surface is too large, using a brim permits leads to reduced warping. If warping does occur, the brim acts as a sacrificial piece (reducing the impact to the part with little to no negative impact on print time or post processing time).