I’ve been trying to optimize my machine’s prints and the last two things I’ve printed, the left side of the prints are smooth and near perfect, but the right side of the prints have visible layer lines, stringing and I believe ringing as well. I thought it was a retraction and/or traveling issue. Since I’ve downloaded the CURA profile, things have been better, but these lines only on one side
Thank you for getting back to me! Here’s some answers for you and hopefully they clear things up more. My answers are in bold:
Have you touched / changed anything with the extruder lately? No I have not. It is the same extruder the printer came with.
is the fan duck bent or curved? That would result in a slight touch on the print. The fan duct/shroud is curved as it has always been. It used to knock into prints, dislodging them, until I adjusted the z-hops in CURA. That has subsequently stopped. In another 3D Print forum, it’s been suggested that I print out a radial fan duct to replace the stock one and that my prints are seemingly not cooling evenly. Not sure if that’s the solution as to why those lines are showing up on just the one side.
What is your flow rate setup and temperature that you are printing at? My flow rate is at 100%. I haven’t adjusted that. I am printing at a temperature of 200c. Both settings are the default ones that came in the CURA profile your company provided for download.
Why do you use a Raft on this print? It shouldn’t need it, so I’m wondering if you have another issue. This has been my biggest issue so far with this machine. I have to print using a raft with every object no matter the scale because nothing else has allowed a print to stick to the bed. The raft gives me the necessary height difference I need because I cannot adjust the Z-height at all. It’s seemingly baked into the software that it can only go so far on the bed. Every time I have tried to adjust it using the method of using a sheet of paper, it will not go past 0.00. Even trying to adjust it at the start of a print wasn’t moving it. I have upgraded from the springs to the silicon columns to consistently keep the bed level, which has been great, but I’ve still needed a raft to print normally. I wipe down the bed after every print, but they usually just slide right off as the first two layers are printing. Even with the bed temperature set by your CURA profile.
Have your tried to adjust your esteps? No, I have not. That process is a bit out of reach for me because I don’t have a pair of calipers to measure filament, etc. Outside programs like Simply3D, which I have, seems to work well with adjusting e-steps, as well as Pronterface, but Pronterface won’t load on my MAC unfortunately. I’ve researched the ability to adjust baby e-steps, which is no longer an available option on this machine as it was in previous models.
Is the temperature at which you are printing swinging? So let’s say you want to print pla at 200c. Does it move to 195 then up to 210? No, the printer temperature is not swinging. It’s been steadily at 200c while printing PLA.
Thank you for your quick reply
To clarify, I’m not part of the sovol team. I’m just a nice guy trying to help and got promoted to admin in this forum by the sovol team as a result.
Your answer to the Raft, makes me think that the z offset was not setup properly. Please check this other post in the forum where I linked a video done by the sovol team on how it should be done
Let me know if this works or not.
After this is first layer issue is fixed, then let’s see if your print line issue remains.
It’s best to move by fixing one issue at a time and having a good first layer is key.
So let me know if this helped or not.
As far as the Z-Offset is concerned, that was one of the first things I did in my knowledge of setting up the printer. As well as following the instruction booklet provided with the machine and when that did not work, I turned to the internet and YouTube videos and found the one you linked above. It’s in that same video where nearly every single commenter stated that they also cannot affect or change the Z-Offset because the firmware doesn’t allow them to even while the video is showing that they can. In fact there’s a video that was suggested below it where I got why you can’t change the Z-offset. Screenshot attached. I found another video of an unboxing that also confirmed the same issue.
I initially thought I wasn’t leveling the bed properly, since the back right of the plate would never level to the point where the knob was so loose it would fall off from vibrations. It was not that. As stated in my comment prior, I purchased the silicone columns for the bed and haven’t had a problem with bed leveling anymore, but that again hasn’t solved the issue with the Z-Offset.
Even more so, in the video it states that you can store/save the setting of the Z-offset/height, but when I try to, I get an error noise or beep and the g-code window does not come up. This has been an incredibly frustrating process. I can’t even get a calibration cube to stick to the bed unless I use a raft because the z-offset will not change.
Flashing the firmware definitely appears to have fixed those problems. I failed to realize that I had never upgraded to the LCD screen when I purchased the printer originally. That was the missing link. I installed the screen, flashed the firmware on it and the motherboard and I was able to affect the z-offset and did a test print without a raft finally! So thank you so much! You were the only solid answer I’ve received in weeks!
Now that all of this is done, printing from the SD card doesn’t seem to be working anymore. I can select a print, the machine initializes the print, says that it is printing, but the extruder hangs about 10mm and never comes down. It will only print via USB through CURA. Any idea on why that’s happening?
For the SD Card, since you are able to print through USB cable with Cura, this makes me think that you have an issue with the SD Card connection in your motherboard (like me)
I have a similar issue on my Sovol SV04 and I went around it by installing Octoprint (So I didn’t fix it it either since it would require to replace the motherboard).
For this, it’s best to contact the Sovol team directly at info@sovol3d.com to get their point of view.
