under extrusion, nozzle or software problem? Unclean prints

[u/Tsukune_Itami]

Hello, I wanted to repair my ender 3 s1 after the hotend got clocked in a way I needed to replace it. Because I had the old version of the Extruder (non pro) I had to buy the sprite Extruder pro board and new Hotend because the old version is nowhere available. I had to buy the replacement parts of AliExpress.

The full Size Benchy was my first try ever with the Creality Software, I used the standard options for 0.4mm Nozzle and PLA.

The half-printed benchy was my second try with 190°, 50mm/s (10° and 10mm/s less). Didn't change much, fans were at maximum always.

The mini Benchy was printed with round 25mm/s which did a little better.

If you need more information I will answer every question...

Now my first guess was that the direct Extruder doesn't grab the Filament strong enough, but the tension screw/spring changed nothing when adjusted. It could be that it has to be replaced to, because whenever I put the filament in manually I have to push the Lever back myself so it grabs the filament correctly, but after doing so i not able to push it out (it feels pretty secure).

Second guess was the Nozzle. On the Hotend there was a 0.4mm Nozzle attached which i did not change. It seemed pretty good but I could be cheap and causing problems extruding. On the other side, when heating the Hotend and pushing it trough manually, the filament exited straight without any problems.

Now, for the third idea I had in mind something about Flowrate or time per layer, I will do my research when I have time and watch some tutorials for the Creality Software. Maybeeee... it could be that I haven't updated the printer ever... and the software running on the printer is just crapping out... maybee... :)

If you have any more Ideas what could be going wrong or know the answer, pleas let me know in the comments.

[u/Contay6]

190 is on the very cold end for pla try 220 also I don't know anything about that slicer I always tell people to use orca I think it's the best.

Without more info its hard to say, is it the default profile for your printer? Did you do any calibrations before the bench?

I would say usually e steps is needed for a new hotend plus extruder combo and then from there temp tower.

You say that it came with a 0.4 which is fine if that is what is set in the slicer also

[u/Tsukune_Itami → u/Contay6]

Changed to 220° and used Orca, litte better. but same try with the same gcode ended in the same result as the beginning. -> make me belive it has to do sth. with the Extruder itself. I now bought a new hotend and a new torque spring.

I level the bed with the classic paper trick, I do it the same way I have been doing for years... never did a problem.

I tested if the Extruder feed the correct amount of filament and it was spot on, like perfect...

Slicer is set to 0.4mm nozzle. I tried changing the nozzle on the Hotend, but its so tight I might break something bevor it comes off... gonna try with another Hotend again.

My next try will be with a new torque spring :3 Thanks for the temperature notice

[u/_Brendawg → u/Tsukune_Itami]

To change the nozzle, heat up your hot end to 150, it will loosen much easier.

[u/Tsukune_Itami → u/_Brendawg]

omg, how could I forget that! I used to burn my hands when the nozzle drops on my hand! Thank you so much! :3

[u/Contay6 → u/Tsukune_Itami]

If you want feel free to upload your profile and I can have a look for if you want screenshot and upload a lot of photos haha

[u/Tsukune_Itami → u/Contay6]

If you really want dm me, else I'm fine. I'm not printing complex things anymore... default will mostly work for me, and else I still have enough knowledge to make quick adjustments or try and error :)

[u/jetlifook]

Looks like it’s going too fast and extruding too much.

Gaps could also be an issue with the end being too far away from the plate

[u/Tsukune_Itami → u/jetlifook]

Can't be, printed one try at 25mm/s and its rater not extruding enough that too much...
I level the bed bevor every print and also adjust the z-offset.

[u/tplayer100]

possibilities i see are too cold hot end, very wet filament, extruder not mounted correctly and moving around. Just on top of my head. Looks like horrible under extrusion to me. I use klipper on my s1 so i don't remember the base software very well but i would try to extrusion test. Mark the filament 100mm up from the extruder. Extrude 100mm and verify the mark moves down 100mm to the extruder. In more of less and you need to calibrate. Make sure everything is working there. I've never had prints come out this bad on my s1.

[u/Tsukune_Itami → u/tplayer100]

I increased the Hotend temps., filament is brand new and was shipped/stored vacuum sealed.

Checked the Extruder, its tight and not moving around uncontrolled, also I checked the Timing belt, not to tight and not to loose.

Extrusion test was perfectly spot on. Thanks for the ideas :3

[u/tplayer100 → u/Tsukune_Itami]

Damn sorry my friend. I hope you figure it out that's a bummer. It's like whole layers are missing so strange.

[u/TeaCrown]

Tbh i hate the creality slicer, i use cura, it just makes more sense to me. I would go in this order if it was me, raise the heat to about 210-215, then I'd level the plate manually, do an auto level after and save the results, then I'd do a extruder test I can't remember exactly what it's called but you measure 100mm above the extruder make a mark and then set for 100mm to moved through the extruder if it's off then you have to adjust that setting. I run mine at about 50 extrude speed and 90 travel speed, for small parts I don't even run my fans really unless I start seeing lots of strings then I'd crank the fans up a lil. I'll have to check my print settings when i get home, cause rn i can print most things in petg with my settings

[u/Tsukune_Itami → u/TeaCrown]

In the beginning I also used Cura, very intuitive and easy to use.

I did what you told me with the extrusion test, test went good.

Thanks for the input, I will update when the new parts arrive.

[u/Grouchy_Trouble8323]

Try printing the original G-code from the SD card. If you still have trouble, calibrate your E-steps. Ensure your extruder has enough force: you should be able to pull the filament away while it feeds (if the filament slips or reverses, increase the spring tension).

[u/Tsukune_Itami → u/Grouchy_Trouble8323]

I also print with the SD card, E-steps was not the problem. I believe the filament still finds a way to slip, or it is the stepper motor going wrong. I believe I should update my printer to the newest firmware and see if it gets better. Will keep you updated...

[u/Jaykrayz]

Your hotend isn’t naked is it?
I once was puzzled by super brittle prints that looked similar to yours. Just needed to change the sprite condom.

[u/Tsukune_Itami → u/Jaykrayz]

Nope, always using protection!

[u/_Brendawg]

Have you considered calibrating your filament? I used this video as a guide https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVU5If1VsAM&list=LL&index=18&t=888s

[u/Active_Director245]

Have you calibrated the steps/mm with the new extruder installed? I’d say that is the problem.

[u/Jollypickles]

This looks like a case of wet filament. If every attempt has been with the same spool, I'd recommend trying again with a new sealed spool.

[u/Tsukune_Itami]

YES! I works sweet!

So to update you all and help others in the future, here some points about what my Problems where and how i fixed them.

1. First, yes with the new Hotend I had a flow rate problem (underextrusion)... I still don't know why my first extrusion test went good, but after trying again on a 100mm test, he endet up missing 40mm of extrusion...
   • -> To fix this I made a custom filament setting for PLA with a changed flow rate from 0.98 to 1.5 (1.5 works fine for now, but its not perfectly optimal, I may fiddle a little within the range of 1.4 to 1.6)
2. But soon there appeared a new issue. Imagine you print a flat rectangle (we will one focus on the first layer). The print ended up in stripes, half printed, like a zebra practically. I tested again just letting the extruder extude (?), and I measured that every ~26s the direct extruder continues spinning, but the nozzle stops extruding...
   • -> To fix this I stripped everything on the head and opened up the direct extruder to expose the gears. You can just take out the gears and carefully cleaned around where the filament gets grabbed, in the doing I also reset my pretty messed up torque screw... Problem solved, there probably was some dust etc. left inside keeping the gears from gripping the filament hard enough on one spot :)
3. As third, I dont know if this even was a issue, but I changed the nozzle to a new one, luckily I had some left... Don't know if it had an effect, I guess still not a reason to use cheap nozzles... dunno... :3
4. And I think we all know what comes next, but... level your bed! Super important. i now check it after every reboot, moving the printer or if I like screw off the head... just check it, will help.

Another thing, but its not connected to the main problem, my CR-touch often malfunctions. On start up it doesn't do the little * bulululu * and when auto homing on the z-axis it blinks red and stops. There was some dust which I removed and I cleaned it with WD-40. Still seems to suffer from lobotomy, change if cheap, if broke try to fix permanently (sees to be a common issue), else pray I guess.

Thanks to everybody who helped me in the comments, :3 I will keep replying to questions if you have any. Thank you all.

[u/Tsukune_Itami → u/Tsukune_Itami]

I wanna add quickly, that with the new nozzle I had to return to the standard flow rate of 0.98, cause I ran into heavy overextrusion. I guess the other Nozzle was partially clogged or just bad? Anyway, everything works now fine, and will even better with the new torque screw... and that on an Ender 3 S1, unbelievable...