# My Printing Journey. **URL:** \ **Category:** LulzBot TAZ\ **Created:** [June 16, 2016, 8:32am UTC](https://forum.lulzbot.com/t/my-printing-journey/3606 "2016-06-16T08:32:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Swarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de053/32.png) [@Swarm](https://forum.lulzbot.com/u/Swarm)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2016, 8:32am UTC](https://forum.lulzbot.com/t/my-printing-journey/3606/1 "2016-06-16T08:32:20Z")
Hi Guys, I have a TAZ 5 and have been printing for a couple of months and was wondering if its possible to dial my settings in any more than what I currently have. I have started with a Benchy in white ABS for your viewing pleasure and would appreciate some assistance with dialling this in. See attached files for those in the know. I use Simplify 3d, have done since I got the printer; Research I did prior to my TAZ purchase said not to bother with Cura. _Edit: forgot filament type._ ![IMG_5947.jpg](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/uploads/lulzbot/original/2X/3/31a232f424a82537a7003f06be1b52627d2a50ef.jpeg) ![IMG_5946.jpg](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/uploads/lulzbot/original/2X/9/97d976029fe6b0073ba0e3a497190742f92c045d.jpeg) ![IMG_5949.jpg](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/uploads/lulzbot/original/2X/8/8fdf9a55fac1ac6f5b6eabd9fb01a7c1a751a6fb.jpeg) ![IMG_5948.jpg](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/uploads/lulzbot/original/2X/c/cc6e6d5620dd87a993ec25f7d225539e08ab8fe4.jpeg) [3DBenchy.gcode](https://forum.lulzbot.com/uploads/short-url/n9yzQCspO826er54mUdBTFv1kag.gcode) (2.81 MB) [TAZ5-N5\_20151219\_00(2).txt](https://forum.lulzbot.com/uploads/short-url/oMs49EJDyNGkrp3TXY2jQzDI1jW.txt) (43.4 KB) ---
**Author:** ![piercet](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/forum.lulzbot.com/piercet/32/12_2.png) [@piercet](https://forum.lulzbot.com/u/piercet)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2016, 4:13pm UTC](https://forum.lulzbot.com/t/my-printing-journey/3606/2 "2016-06-16T16:13:07Z")
What kind of filament is that? I’m assuming PLA. If that’s the case, you may want to adjust your fans a little bit, possibly to add additional cooling. It would also be useful to see a calibration cube print to be able to tell if you have Z wobble, or the banding is due to extruder pulsing (extruder extrudes strong, overextrudes a bit, grinds out a little but doesn’t stop, then works its way back up to strong extrusion, repeats on a fairly regular cycle. It’s really hard to tell on Benchy. ---
**Author:** ![kmanley57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/13edae/32.png) [@kmanley57](https://forum.lulzbot.com/u/kmanley57)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2016, 5:01pm UTC](https://forum.lulzbot.com/t/my-printing-journey/3606/3 "2016-06-16T17:01:08Z")
> [@piercet](#): > > What kind of filament is that? I’m assuming PLA. If that’s the case, you may want to adjust your fans a little bit, possibly to add additional cooling. gcode file shows it is white ABS. 🤓 ---
**Author:** ![Swarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de053/32.png) [@Swarm](https://forum.lulzbot.com/u/Swarm)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2016, 10:34pm UTC](https://forum.lulzbot.com/t/my-printing-journey/3606/4 "2016-06-16T22:34:21Z")
> [@piercet](#): > > What kind of filament is that? I’m assuming PLA. If that’s the case, you may want to adjust your fans a little bit, possibly to add additional cooling. It would also be useful to see a calibration cube print to be able to tell if you have Z wobble, or the banding is due to extruder pulsing (extruder extrudes strong, overextrudes a bit, grinds out a little but doesn’t stop, then works its way back up to strong extrusion, repeats on a fairly regular cycle. It’s really hard to tell on Benchy. My Apologies, yes its white ABS. I’ll print a couple of test cubes tonight and get back to you, thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Swarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de053/32.png) [@Swarm](https://forum.lulzbot.com/u/Swarm)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2016, 11:50pm UTC](https://forum.lulzbot.com/t/my-printing-journey/3606/5 "2016-06-16T23:50:08Z")
Does everyone leave the heat bed on during the print? I was just thinking that if my skirt helps adhesion then am I reducing the heat-beds life by leaving it at 110c for the duration of my prints? I have seen some people mention that they turn it off after the second layer. ---
**Author:** ![piercet](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/forum.lulzbot.com/piercet/32/12_2.png) [@piercet](https://forum.lulzbot.com/u/piercet)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2016, 1:10am UTC](https://forum.lulzbot.com/t/my-printing-journey/3606/6 "2016-06-17T01:10:22Z")
> [@Swarm](#): > > Does everyone leave the heat bed on during the print? I was just thinking that if my skirt helps adhesion then am I reducing the heat-beds life by leaving it at 110c for the duration of my prints? I have seen some people mention that they turn it off after the second layer… I do keep it on, and I’ve never killed a heat bed. ---
**Author:** ![Swarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de053/32.png) [@Swarm](https://forum.lulzbot.com/u/Swarm)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2016, 1:33am UTC](https://forum.lulzbot.com/t/my-printing-journey/3606/7 "2016-06-17T01:33:32Z")
Does anyone know the Link so I can upgrade my TAZ 5 extruder assembly with this TAZ 6 setup? Mainly cause I would like the left fan/duct and the better hot end fan. ![TAZ_Standard_Tool_Head_v2C_angle.JPG](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/uploads/lulzbot/original/2X/2/27c1d20f1780a2d6431c63b41f5a33b87600ccf6.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![piercet](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/forum.lulzbot.com/piercet/32/12_2.png) [@piercet](https://forum.lulzbot.com/u/piercet)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2016, 6:02am UTC](https://forum.lulzbot.com/t/my-printing-journey/3606/8 "2016-06-17T06:02:17Z")
Its in [download.lulzbot.com](http://download.lulzbot.com) under the taz 6 section. That being said, the taz 6 one is designed to work only with auto leveling. It will hit the taz 5 without modification. There is a thingiverse alternative however. ---
**Author:** ![jballard86](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f19dbf/32.png) [@jballard86](https://forum.lulzbot.com/u/jballard86)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2016, 10:27am UTC](https://forum.lulzbot.com/t/my-printing-journey/3606/9 "2016-06-17T10:27:06Z")
> [@piercet](#): > > Its in [download.lulzbot.com](http://download.lulzbot.com) under the taz 6 section. That being said, the taz 6 one is designed to work only with auto leveling. It will hit the taz 5 without modification. There is a thingiverse alternative however. Im using it, however the left fan would hit the z height screw. but a file taken to that part of the fan fixed everything. ---
**Author:** ![Swarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de053/32.png) [@Swarm](https://forum.lulzbot.com/u/Swarm)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2016, 10:37am UTC](https://forum.lulzbot.com/t/my-printing-journey/3606/10 "2016-06-17T10:37:13Z")
Here is the test cube with the same profile and filament. ![IMG_5958.jpg](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/uploads/lulzbot/original/2X/2/2c2f2dda65738fb66e87dffcd0e6ac129a830091.jpeg) ![IMG_5957.jpg](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/uploads/lulzbot/original/2X/e/e8b6eaac51736f8ddaf2f1921e8c4fbdf7286682.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![piercet](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/forum.lulzbot.com/piercet/32/12_2.png) [@piercet](https://forum.lulzbot.com/u/piercet)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2016, 6:25pm UTC](https://forum.lulzbot.com/t/my-printing-journey/3606/11 "2016-06-17T18:25:34Z")
> [@Swarm](#): > > Here is the test cube with the same profile and filament. Ok, I see a couple of things to work on in that one. First off, I don’t see signs of Z wobble there, so you won’t have to worry about that until you get things dialed in more. Overall you are pretty well alligned, but there are a few things we can probably improve on. Starting from the bottom of the print up, you have the phenomenon known as “elephant’s foot”. this is caused by two factors, being too close to the bed at start, and the built in by design first layer overextrusion that is built into the default printing profiles. The theory is that by overextruding the first layer, you get a better bed contact pattern (especially for newer printer users) which makes the parts stick to the bed easier, but has the side effect of making the starting layers mushroom out like that. You can experement with reducing that value “110” to 100 or lower to eliminate that effect, but it may cause your parts to fall off the bed easier. That can be compensated for with higher bed temperatures. Next, I see signs of variance in your extrusion. Part of that is due to the first layer issues, it takes a few layers for the printer to recover from the overextrusion, but part of it may be your fillament feed. I would check and clean the hobbed bolt teeth, make sure the bearings all turn easily (especially the idler arm one), make sure the fillament spool and path feeds fillament easily with no drag or pinch points, and make sure the idler arm tension screws have 8mm or less between the washers on either side of the tension springs. wherever they are at right now, I would try tightening them up a couple of turns. You may also want to increase the nozzle temperature slightly for better flow. You may want to calibrate your extruder e-steps next, here is a decent guide for that [How To Calibrate Your 3D Printer's Extruder | MatterHackers](https://www.matterhackers.com/articles/how-to-calibrate-your-extruder). If you are using a fan at all with ABS, I would reccommend turning it off entirely except for bridging or very small layers. You are getting some part contraction the further away you get from the base, so i’m assuming something is cooling it. If it isn’t the fan, you may want to consider building an enclosure or moving the printer away from any Air conditioner registries. Hope that helps! ---
**Author:** ![gapdev](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/forum.lulzbot.com/gapdev/32/9174_2.png) [@gapdev](https://forum.lulzbot.com/u/gapdev)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2016, 6:55pm UTC](https://forum.lulzbot.com/t/my-printing-journey/3606/12 "2016-06-17T18:55:21Z")
> [@piercet](#): > > Its in [download.lulzbot.com](http://download.lulzbot.com) under the taz 6 section. That being said, the taz 6 one is designed to work only with auto leveling. It will hit the taz 5 without modification. There is a thingiverse alternative however. I’m using the TAZ 6 Extruder assembly on my TAZ 4 without issues. I only had to glue a 5mm block to the side of the Mounting Plate to move the X Axis over a bit and then modified Marlin to reduce my bed size. I’m going to reprint your Back Plate for the Linear Rail mod to include the extra 5 mm extension. Kenny ---
**Author:** ![Swarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de053/32.png) [@Swarm](https://forum.lulzbot.com/u/Swarm)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2016, 2:35am UTC](https://forum.lulzbot.com/t/my-printing-journey/3606/13 "2016-06-18T02:35:02Z")
[quote=“piercet”][/quote] Thanks man - Very detailed, appreciated. Ok, I have checked/ changed. 1. First layer extrusion set back to 100% from 110% 2. Hobbed teeth seem clean and fine. 3. I have tensioned the idler arm by 2mm 4. E-steps are exact @ 100mm extrusion as factory. See attached picture for proceeding prints. Left: No active cooling, ambient temp 20’c - cancelled due to obvious overheating. Middle: active cooling, ambient temp 20’c - clear layer separation issues. Right: No active cooling, ambient temp 30’c - massive overheating. Is it possible the layer speed isn’t allowing passive cooling so its overheating majorly? ![IMG_5964.jpg](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/uploads/lulzbot/original/2X/4/49e223fefa1b40854813f71bff1d7ffb5ed29ae5.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![piercet](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/forum.lulzbot.com/piercet/32/12_2.png) [@piercet](https://forum.lulzbot.com/u/piercet)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2016, 2:52am UTC](https://forum.lulzbot.com/t/my-printing-journey/3606/14 "2016-06-18T02:52:45Z")
Ok, that’s officially weird. Its behaving more like pla than abs. What temperature are you printing at, and what infil percentage? Is try one with no cooling, 240c with 85% infil and see how it looks. ---
**Author:** ![Swarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de053/32.png) [@Swarm](https://forum.lulzbot.com/u/Swarm)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2016, 2:55am UTC](https://forum.lulzbot.com/t/my-printing-journey/3606/15 "2016-06-18T02:55:45Z")
> [@piercet](#): > > Ok, that’s officially weird. Its behaving more like pla than abs. What temperature are you printing at, and what infil percentage? Is try one with no cooling, 240c with 85% infill and see how it looks. oh great, why meeeeee? lol. I bought this printer cause I was told its the best out of the box, so far I’ve been screwing with it more than printing. I’ll give that a try and get back to you, thanks for the quick reply. ---
**Author:** ![piercet](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/forum.lulzbot.com/piercet/32/12_2.png) [@piercet](https://forum.lulzbot.com/u/piercet)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2016, 3:11am UTC](https://forum.lulzbot.com/t/my-printing-journey/3606/16 "2016-06-18T03:11:30Z")
> [@Swarm](#): > > > [@piercet](#): > > > > Ok, that’s officially weird. Its behaving more like pla than abs. What temperature are you printing at, and what infil percentage? Is try one with no cooling, 240c with 85% infill and see how it looks. > > oh great, why meeeeee? lol. I bought this printer cause I was told its the best out of the box, so far I’ve been screwing with it more than printing. I’ll give that a try and get back to you, thanks for the quick reply. All printers require a bit of tinkering, and filament quality is key as well. White filament is also more difficult to print than other abs colors, since it has odd thermal properties. ---
**Author:** ![Swarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de053/32.png) [@Swarm](https://forum.lulzbot.com/u/Swarm)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2016, 3:59am UTC](https://forum.lulzbot.com/t/my-printing-journey/3606/17 "2016-06-18T03:59:00Z")
Front/back with settings as suggested. ![IMG_5968.jpg](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/uploads/lulzbot/original/2X/a/acbd0b5254baf4c7efd2d956fbb0b606347dbc60.jpeg) ![IMG_5967.jpg](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/uploads/lulzbot/original/2X/7/792fed44dd7d9bd94ab4059fc35f495fadd63e24.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![piercet](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/forum.lulzbot.com/piercet/32/12_2.png) [@piercet](https://forum.lulzbot.com/u/piercet)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2016, 4:04am UTC](https://forum.lulzbot.com/t/my-printing-journey/3606/18 "2016-06-18T04:04:26Z")
I would take the starting layer width down another 5 in the settings (its almost there, just a small amount left), and turn off the solid layer every 5 layers. That should get rid of that thicker layer every 5 layers. Then try that without and with fan and see if that does the trick. ---
**Author:** ![Swarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de053/32.png) [@Swarm](https://forum.lulzbot.com/u/Swarm)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2016, 4:43am UTC](https://forum.lulzbot.com/t/my-printing-journey/3606/19 "2016-06-18T04:43:36Z")
> [@piercet](#): > > I would take the starting layer width down another 5 in the settings (its almost there, just a small amount left), and turn off the solid layer every 5 layers. That should get rid of that thicker layer every 5 layers. Then try that without and with fan and see if that does the trick. Will do. While that’s printing, The solid diaphragm every \* layers isn’t turned on - however, I did find that the effect coincides with the end of a loop ( seemingly) see attached. ![Screen Shot 2016-06-18 at 2.40.44 PM.jpg](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/uploads/lulzbot/original/2X/7/7dfcbc0cd264b973660764f13063d440b34f6e15.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![moejt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e19b73/32.png) [@moejt](https://forum.lulzbot.com/u/moejt)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2016, 4:50am UTC](https://forum.lulzbot.com/t/my-printing-journey/3606/20 "2016-06-18T04:50:23Z")
What speed are you printing at and are you using “minimum layer time”. I ask because your cubes corners and their “meltiness” look very similar to when I was doing speed trials at over 200 mm/s. You’re getting some mid print shrinkage and delamination because of your fan I assume. But then you look overly melty when the fan is not on. Slow down your print speed, turn the fan off, lower your bed temp to 90 (since they are small parts) and print 2 cubes at once (which will allow one to passively cool whole the other is being printed). This is where I’d start. I also 2nd what Piercet says about filament. I hate white ABS, the stuff just prints differently than the rest and tends to come out looking worse. What supplier are you using? [Next page](https://forum.lulzbot.com/t/my-printing-journey/3606.md?page=2)