It happens on every layer but most notably the top layer, not walls that I can tell only horizontal surfaces. I’ve tried for about ten days now to figure it out and fix it, I’ve tried everything and nothing has helped. I really just want to get back to printing. I’ve contacted support but they’ve been strangely less responsive then normal, but when they have responded it was just suggesting I try generic things which I’ve already tried. I can’t find anything online that’s exactly like what I’m dealing with here. I’ve asked on r/sovol for advice Reddit - The heart of the internet , please read that discussion for more info and where I detailed everything I have tried. I’m at a loss, I’ll try anything at this point.
The middle piece is when it was printing normally. All test prints since have come out with these wavy lines on horizontal surfaces like somethings loose, the one before this had the faintly visible lines but they were straight and uniform. The wavy lines are also paired with under extrusion, I’ve mostly fixed that by increasing top surface flow but that’s just a bandaid fix, I’d like to solve the root problem. Thanks in advance for any help.
It’s a little hard to tell with the pic you uploaded…white filament with w light glare on it.
Anyway, from what I can see, I’d say that your Z-Offfset is off..it’s a little too close.
Try the print again, but back the offset off by .05.
I actually feel that the white filament shows it better. The wavy/not straight lines are very clear especially compared to the normal one in the middle. I’ve tried that, I’ve tried all the basic things one can first think of and some. In the reddit link I posted with it I detailed everything I’ve tried, that was a couple days ago, I’ve since tried even more, please check that out for more context. Most recently I tried a whole different extruder just to rule that out, before that I tried different nozzles. I’ve scoured the entire machine for anything loose. My z offset has been fine the last 400 hours, this issue is a specific repeating pattern in every print, regardless of where on the plate, or what orientation, and the wavy lines are always running along the x axis. I wish it was something as simple as a z offset, this would’ve been fixed over a week ago. I’ve gotten to know this machine pretty well, I’ve been able to fix most other issues myself with relative ease. I’m lost. It’s been almost 10 days of this. I have things to print. I’ve tried seemingly everything. I’m trying to figure out what I haven’t tried. I have a couple theories, like maybe some strange resonance issue with the y stepper, to experiment on that I’ve tried several different speeds with no luck, however at different speed the frequency of the pattern increases or decreases. Faster and there’s more lines, closer together, slower and they are further apart and thicker. I’ve also wondered if I have a bad y bearing, but the bed moves as smoothly as it ever has so I don’t know. I’ve also since this noticed that the bed is slightly off square relative to the frame, though nothing has happened that’d cause that, so I can only assume it’s always been that way, and it wasn’t an issue the first 400 hours of printing. I’ll attach images of this below. Every once in awhile i hear a strange noise when the y is moving, but I believe that’s just coming from the belt tensioner, cause when i touch it the noise stops, like it’s just vibrating against the frame. I’ve also wondered if its some kind of z axis problem, though I’ve checked screw/rails, bearings and don’t see any blatantly obvious problems, but it’s like the z or y is going off course periodically throughout prints.
Thanks for the response, the misalignment is too small that I cant see it by watching the nozzle closely unfortunately. I’ve done what you suggested and will attach an image of it below. It does still have them same issue, and still along the x axis. There is some incredibly small misalign somewhere in one of the axis. I don’t know what else it could be. I haven’t changed anything either, it just started doing this out of nowhere.
Red is where Y stops then reverses
Green is where Y is traveling fast.
I’d almost blame a stretched truing to climb the drive sprocket but you said earlier the spacing changes with speed. To my mind that eliminates the belt.
Completely remove the Y belt and pile 5 pounds of stuff on it then move it slowly end to end. Any roughness or noise? Remove the weights and press down front center then rear center. Any rocking action?
Also review your bed mesh. the patterns could be related to the Z axis moves to compensate for a tilted bed.
I adjusted the bed and the results are actually as close to normal as I’ve gotten but still not there. I’m pretty certain that it is some kind of vibration in the bed, adjusting the bed for mesh calibration helped dampen the vibration, but I can still see and feel it during prints when I watch the back edge of the bed. Now there’s more issues and things I’m noticing. I’ll attach image and video below. With the printer turned off, sliding the bed back and forth makes the PSU fan spin. Now, after loosening the belt all the way to check the pulleys and test it’s movement, again, after putting it back on the y belt looks askew, like maybe the stepper pulley isn’t straight. And lastly, when I went to turn the printer off last night, it shocked the F out of me, it wasn’t just static, the plug is grounded, no power strips or extension cords, as I pressed the button with my index and middle finger, an arc jumped off of the PSU case onto my pinky and shocked the crap out of me. My forearm is sore this morning from the electricity traveling up it and seizing up the muscle. I’m all around pretty damn concerned at this point. It’s like turning the stepper pulley is making electricity backflow to the PSU.
For what it’s worth, moving stepper motors manually when the printer is powered off does indeed generate electricity; this is normal and applies to other printers too. (See random post from a few years back about the same thing on an Ender.) If done quickly, it can indeed be enough to cause fan spin, or display backlight to come on, etc.
As for the PSU shocking you, I can’t say much there. It’s winter here (so quite dry inside), and I do often get a good shock touching the grounded PSU on the printer (which I try to do before touching other, more delicate components that might not take static so well), but if you think it’s more than just static, I’d suggest contacting Sovol to see if they’ll replace the PSU. (I don’t love that they use “no name” ones; I switched my ACE to a Meanwell and feel a bit better about it, and it’s significantly quieter as well.)
This is a very common thing. Your stepper motor contains magnets in the armature. When they spin they generate electricity. The power stages of your stepper drivers typically have one of the coils in the “on state”. The PS fan is wired “always on”. SO when you cause the motor to spin electricity flows back into the PS charging a filter capacitor. That then flows into the fan motor.
Make sure your PS case is connected to the safety ground of your power cord.
Also consider your body may have been the source of the spark. A belt rubbing against a plastic part on your printer is essentially a VanDerGraph generator.
Just a quick update, I’ve taken off and disassembled the entire y axis, readjusted everything there is to adjust, loosened and retightened every screw to varying extents depending on what screw, among other things. Still the same issue, no better or worse from trying everything I have tried. Maybe there’s something off about the y motors current causing strange resonance, though it seemed just fine. There was no glaringly obvious issues with it when I pulled it completely off the y axis and felt it turn, checked that it wasn’t crooked etc. No visible issues with wiring in the PSU, nor the motherboard. Sovol is sending me a new motherboard, y axis motor and cable. We’ll see if that fixes it and I’ll update.
