Bad Print

This PLA print starts off fine but then goes bad. See image below. I am using this profile (http://download.lulzbot.com/Mini/1.0/software/cura/profiles/PLA_fine_mini.ini). I have been doing the following which was working for a couple of weeks but now doesn’t seem to be able to fix this current issue. Any ideas?

  1. Clean platform with alcohol and sandpaper, typically 2000-2500.
  2. Cold pole nozzle at 65 degrees (Up to 8 times).
  3. Clean hobbed bolt with dental pick and wire brush.
  4. Calibrate springs with latch jib (http://devel.lulzbot.com/mini/daffodil/jigs/extruder_latch_jig_0.3.stl).
  5. Clean cooled nozzle with acetone.

I’m no expert, but the skirt looks really flattened out. At the bottom of this page ( https://www.lulzbot.com/support/taz-bed-leveling ) is a picture showing Z-heights from too low to too high, with perfect in the middle. The thing is, it isn’t immediately clear to me how the Z height can be adjusted because of the auto leveling. Figuring that out may help us both because my problem is just getting PLA to stick at all, so you’re ahead of me there at least! :wink:

EDIT: PLA sticks fine effortlessly. I only thought I was printing with PLA I’d ordered off Amazon when in fact, I received ABS which of course, did not like PLA temp settings and failed a lot.

That first layer is waaaay too squished for the mini. You should be seeing a nice bead of plastic laid down. The only time I have seen this on my Mini is when the nozzle is dirty and doesn’t make electrical contact with the corner washer during the bed leveling routine. When it levels with a dirty nozzle, you will see the nozzle push the corner washer down. When everything is working correctly, the nozzle will just tap the corner washer with very little or no deflection.

Acetone does not cut PLA. Bring your hot end up to 180C and wipe it vigorously with a folded up dry cotton washcloth. If your wiper pad has any build up of plastic, flip it or replace it. Make sure the corner washers are free of plastic.

Try your print again with the medium quality profile from Lulzbot and let us know how it goes. Once you get the medium quality sorted, then move to the fine.

Thanks nopick! That did the trick. :slight_smile:

Woo hoo! Back in business!