Why am I getting these misaligned layers?

I had a perfectly happy printer, and then I started fiddling with it, and messed everything up.

Does anyone know why I’m getting these really bad misaligned layers? And how to fix it?

In the future is there a good guide for calibrating a Taz 6?



Thanks!

Though to tell from the pictures, but if it’s just on the one axis that the shifting is occurring, first thing I’d check is belt tension. Past that, steppers, and then stepper drivers.

They’ve done away with the Twister pins :rofl:

Yeah, definitely looks like something is sticking on one of the axis

Is there a good way to zero in on the problem? Or just replace all the steppers?

Let’s start with what do you mean by “fiddling with it”? What did you adjust?

Everything?

I started going through this calibration guide a couple months ago, and then let the printer sit for a little while, so not 100% sure which tweak could have been the culprit.

https://teachingtechyt.github.io/calibration.html

Or maybe it’s something completely different. Is it possible for these motors just to miss a step once a full rotation? It seems like maybe that’s my problem? Is there a good way to test this?

I doubt it’s the stepper motors themselves. I think steppers tend to be really reliable and when they fail they fail in a more obvious way. I’m not an expert, though, so take that with a grain of salt. I still think belt tension may be the issue or something being loose elsewhere on the printer. You could try using a belt tension/musical instrument tuner app to check that the belts are vibrating at the proper frequency (indicating that they are properly tensioned). Other than that, it’s possible that the toolhead is loose/not seated properly, the bed is loose somehow, the hotend is loose in the toolhead, the IGUS bushings on the rods are loose, the Z axis is loose…basically grad all the different parts of the print and try to wiggle them (somewhat gently) and see if there is ANY play. I blew a bunch of money on linear rails for my X and Y axes because the bushings were worn and I didn’t want to fiddle with them ever again.

I know your pain. I’ve upgraded and upgraded things always thinking that “now this will work perfectly” only to have something else crop up as an issue. I won’t tell you it’s been worth it, but I will say I’ve learned a bunch. And I’ve thought about selling my printers a lot.

1 Like

How’s your filament path? A binding filament coming off the role can cause something like this too. Can you upload a picture of your setup. Or a video of it printing? Which print head are you using?

Thanks for the replies. I moved the filament spool from the side of the machine to above. So straight path now. I also tightened the belts as well as I could. They seemed to have a decent amount of tension beforehand, but slightly more now. I did these at once, so I don’t have separate test pieces to confirm what specifically was the problem. But I am seeing a noticeable improvement.

I also noticed the the e-steps didn’t match whats listed on the print head, so switched them from 830 to 825, but that didn’t make a difference on a re-print.

With that said, I wouldn’t say it’s perfect now. While the layers no long seem misaligned, there are still noticeable irregularities with some of the layers. At the same place as previous print. But it’s not always at the same layer height from file to file. Seems issue is related to total traveling distance of the bed or print head. So larger models have more messed up layers. I think. Is there any further steps I can take to try and dial this in?

Left is before, Right is after.



If it matters, I am using the Taz6 single extruder head, I believe v2.1 (or one that looks similarly, no markings). I didn’t notice any part that seemed loose when I fiddled with it.

Having the correct e-steps is important, I think the printhead that comes with the TAZ 6 has a sticker on it on the back of it. One thing you can do to dial in the correct e-steps is to mark your filament at the 100 mm mark past where it goes into the print head. Then push 100 mm through the nozzle, it should stop right at where it goes in at that 100mm mark. Actually make 2 marks in case it pushes more then 100mm (cause it’s not calibrated), say a 2nd mark at 150mm. Then if it pulls through past the 100mm, you measure what’s left to the 2nd mark. Say it’s 40mm. Then you over extruded 10mm of filament (110mm). This making sense? Then adjust the e-steps up or down depending on if you need more or less steps.

Another thing I would do is use a built in profile from Cura (high speed since your prints are big you could use the thick layers) and only change the temperature if needed based on the filament’s temperature recommendation. Use a hotter bed temp if needed (they seem to be approx 5C to low to me). Select the option “Print outer walls before inner walls” is for better dimensional accuracy, I set that. Then of course if you need supports or not. I also like to set the Build Plate Adhesion to skirt line count 3, skirt distance 5 and skirt/brim Minimum Length to 25 to 50. This is the primer for your print flow. Default is 250mm, that seems excessive. Validate the diameter setting is correct (2.85mm) and both flow options are set to 100%. Don’t mess with anything else like the speed, fan settings, retractions or line widths. Start with the baseline profile and you can tweak in time to fine tune your prints. Never set your layer height to more than 65% of the nozzle width.