Poor surface finish on round parts suddenly happening

Sovol SV08 MAX
1

HELP!

Our SV08 MAX (with enclosure) was printing perfectly until about 2 weeks ago and suddenly started having issues with round parts already sliced and printed previously (same gcode)…

I have tried different materials (PLA/ASA/PA) and multiple slicer settings including slowing it down etc. I have run lots of Orca calibration parts which all look ok but they are almost all square not round - nothing helped.

Today I checked belts (all ok), check and tightened bolts everywhere, ran input shaping, fitted new 0.4 nozzle, tried fresh install of Orca. Everything seems to move smoothly and nothing appears worn but am obviously missing something?

Any help would be appreciated

20260515_153926
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2

Try to stay with only 1 brand of filament while your trying to fix the issue.
Re-installing Orca of Sovol firmware will not fix the problem.
Check the filament feeder on your MAX for binding, also pull the PTFE tube & blow out any loose filament peices.

3

Thanks, the feeder and PTFE are all good…

I tried a new print with the default settings and was definitely better and am sure it is linked to the seam position when set to random. On default it is better, not perfect but much cleaner but when I printed this 3 weeks ago was on random so not sure what changed.

4

Having the seam on random will always cause the little bumps…it is usually avoid.

5

Is better but I still have some weird results with white PA filament…

Was perfect 3 weeks ago but now the prints look odd and are less dense even with the same filament roll dried. I printed the part on my home Elegoo printer and it was fine so something odd with my Sovol.

All
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See picture - left print was Sovol 3 weeks ago / middle print is Sovol today / right print is from my elagoo CC

All used same roll of filament dried and stored in the drier

6

Hello,
Since you mentioned printing over a long period of time, you may need to thoroughly clean your printer if the print quality is poor.

7

Have only really printed 30 hours max in last 3 weeks so not excessive but is probably related to the filament feeder or extruder gears as others had issues

8

Even if you only print for 30 hours, dust can build up on your printer.

9

Start with your nozzle.

Do cold pulls until you get one that has the “nipple” that is the diameter of tip on the end. It is not impossible that there is a speck of something that won’t melt in the “melt zone” that is effecting the way your printer prints. I recommend a nozzle cleaning filament or TPU as an elastic filament will be easier to get a good pull.

Once you get your “regular” filament reloaded extrude at various speeds with the gantry raised. Plastic should flow smoothly STRAIGHT down. Any curling or wobble means your nozzle is damaged.

Over the years I’ve had 2 instances where I “pulled” small metal chunks from inside a nozzle. I assume they were embedded in the filament at the manufacturer. They could also have been transferred from my workbench.