Problems with my first test print

Hey guys! I just received my TAZ 3, i set everything up and went through the bed leveling process. However i’m having problems with printing. My first octopus test print came out looking like this


It seems like when I print, the layers come out very thin as if my extruder is jammed, my first layer looks like this:

However when i manually extrude it comes out like this, which seems fine to me (I’m new to 3D printing so not too sure):

I’m printing from the SD card, using Lulzbot PLA filament. I tried temperature ranges of 180-195 with no significant change.

Any advice or help would be greatly appreciated, Thanks :smiley:

Your filament isn’t feeding properly, thats for sure. PLA should be at 185 degrees, it also has a tendancy to expand when overheated and block the filament channel. It also transmits thermal energy way up the filament, which is why people printing with PLA usually have a fan aimed at the top plate of their hot ends.

In this particular case though, I’m guessing it’s the idler spring tension or the extruder motor small gear set screw. If you have the Idler spring tension set too tight or too loose, you can run into a filament feed issue such as the one you are seeing there. If it is too tight, you will see the hobbed bolt carving chunks out of the filament as it feeds, and there will be a bunch of shavings in the filament chamber. If there are no shavings, try tightening the bolts.

The small setscrew on the NEMA 17 extruder gear that turns the larger extruder gear can also work loose. check that it is lined up with the flat spot on the NEMA motor shaft and is down and tight. if it is loose it can kind of turn the extruder wheel but not enough for a good print.

If it’s not either of those things, there may be something else specific to PLA that someone else may have ideas for you to try.