Haven't seen this before..
The last part of the model 'rotated' itself and then continued to print fine while rotated..
It also dragged on the last couple of layers creating a mess and damaging the fan vent.. a complete f*** up.
Any ideas what caused this?
The shift may just be a loose set screw on the stepper pulley
In regards to the mess… Could it be that you ran out of z travel? How much travel
is left with the model on it?
I can't say why it shifted part way up, but by looking at how little of the bed posts are sticking up ( or not sticking up) I think you ran out of Z height. Try tightening the adjustment screws fully and run another bed level.
I ran into the same strange thing…
The part printed good, then the hole model looks like it has been moved and the printer continued printing the last part just fine…
Again, check your pulley grub screws. I think there is even a manual on the Zortrax support website.
These shifts were pretty common in the “early days” and almost always caused by loose grub screws.
I just had the same thing happen on a tall print and it jammed the print hard enough between the extruder nozzle and the platform that it actually pulled the platform off its mount and tilted it at 5-10 ° angle. It also pinched the smaller platform cable between one of the Z guide bushing and the guide clamp. The jam was tight enough that Z could not be moved under program control or manually by hand with the power off. I could only get it free by clamping the Z-screw with locking pliers with a copper sheet wrapped around the screw to protect the threads.
Once the Z-screw was freed up I re-mounted the print platform and ran a calibration, which passed first time through. I was a bit impressed by that.
So the build volume cube in Zsuite is wrong! How tall was the model?
This needs to be fixed in the software!!!
So the build volume cube in Zsuite is wrong! How tall was the model?
This needs to be fixed in the software!!!
Wonder if the wrong version was selected in Z-Suite..... That will make a HUGE difference...
My model was 179.26 mm high (as reported by ZSuite) and the raft was about 2 mm thick so the total is still less than the official build height of 185 mm, as claimed on Zortrax's web site. Still, I'm guessing that the printer ran out of Z clearance on my print, though I can't be certain. Wish I'd been there at the end to see what happened.
Does anyone know if the printer takes into account the raft height when it calculates whether or not the object exceeds the available print volume?
It also looks to me like there is no limit switch for Z. That's understandable, but it would still have been nice to have switches for the min & max travel on all axes, or at least soft limits. if they aren't already there.
Mike
My model was 179.26 mm high (as reported by ZSuite) and the raft was about 2 mm thick so the total is still less than the official build height of 185 mm, as claimed on Zortrax's web site. Still, I'm guessing that the printer ran out of Z clearance on my print, though I can't be certain. Wish I'd been there at the end to see what happened.
Does anyone know if the printer takes into account the raft height when it calculates whether or not the object exceeds the available print volume?
It also looks to me like there is no limit switch for Z. That's understandable, but it would still have been nice to have switches for the min & max travel on all axes, or at least soft limits. if they aren't already there.
Mike
And you selected correct version in Z-Suite I assume..
I've had both problems before. As others said, check all the set screws and be cautious about the height. It seems as though the actual printable height is not as high as the software allows.
Check this video for info on printer maintenance: http://support.zortrax.com/hc/en-us/articles/201002262-XYZ-Axis-Maintenance
Kyle has a good point. There are a couple “transition” printers out there that say V1 in the menu but have the V2 lead screw.
Both printers here in this topic are V2 lead screws.
Did you guys set the z suite to V2?
If you run the V1/3 setting with the V2 screw then you end up with a too tall print… If I remember correctly the V2 screw has a higher pitch.
I have printed 173.60mm height models with no issues. V2 hardware. The pitch issue makes sense.
And you selected correct version in Z-Suite I assume..
Kyle - yes, my printer is version 2 (trapezoidal Z screw) and that's what I used in Z-Suite. In my case, the problem could also have been caused by the pinched cable in my second picture. That would have restricted Z movement (stopped it probably) though it looks like by less than 2 mm.
Mike
It says v2 on the menu and I used v2.
Yes, I believe I ran out of Z height, not the first time either. The software is misleading, also doesnt take into account the possible shifts with the platform not being all the way through. I have readjusted / recalibrated the platform so it sits lower in the screws but im having trouble getting it all the way down.. I now as a matter of course always leave at least 1 cm of Z height on Zsuite.
In any case my real issue was not the Z height which explains the mess at the top, but with the curious 'rotation shift' in the part 90% through, and the continuing to print fine while rotated. I have tightened all screws and will report back if it happens again.. also something strange, this is the only part it has happened with.. I have printed other very tall parts before with various problems but its the first time I encounter this rotation shift. How can a loose screw cause this rotation all of a sudden, and then the next part prints fine?? Its all very strange to me.
This happened again in another printer.
The model prints fine until it reaches a certain point (around 3 hours in) and all of a sudden there appears to be an 'axis shift'. The printer tries to print the model as if it had shifted about 5 inches to the right. So it starts depositing plastic in thin air (in the shape of the layer below it that is 5 inches to the left), and worse of all, it attempts to travel 5 inches further than it is capable of.. so it runs against its tubes and tries to push further making a nasty sound in the process.
I have tried re-calculating the z-code with no success. The same thing happens around the same time in the print - that is the strange thing, for the third time in a row it happens almost exactly at the same Z height, even with a different Z code (same part). I am now re-orienting the part and trying again.
This is bizzare to say the least. One layer its printing fine, and the next layer the whole thing shifts 5 inches to the right with disastrous consequences (and maybe damage to the printer from the motors ramming the extruder box against its limits hundreds of times).
To me it looks like a software issue - if it was hardware / loose screws or grubs it would happen from the beginning or at random intervals (I think..), the fact that its happening around the same height, and the fact that its happening at all, indicates something gone awry with the software IMO.
Any ideas?
Had my first issue with layer shift yesterday. I was printing 2 identical parts next to each other. The part to the right shifted, while the left part remained perfect. Each part has several start and stop points and every point was shifted perfectly on the right part. This would make me think the issue is in the software, not a hardware issue.
Edit: FYI my parts aren't very tall. Shifted probably around 3" from the bed of a 5" tall part.
This happened once more..
Andre, could you please specify which one is the ' pulley grub screws'?
Thanks!
It’s the little screws that hold the pulleys on the stepper motor shafts. There are two in each pulley. The manual on the support site describes how to tighten them
k thx