Ripples on corners after changing Nozzle

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draracos
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Ripples on corners after changing Nozzle

Post by draracos »

Hello,
I have been working with a Dremel Digilab 3D45 printer from brand new for the past 8 months, and it has been handling just about anything I have thrown at it. It had gotten up to around 900 hours when I noticed the print quality had kinda started dropping, I had a lot more stringing than before, and there were some inconsistencies that were messing with the prints, to the point I had to throw out a couple prints. I figured it was due for a nozzle change, as I had heard that you should change the nozzle every 500 hours or so. My workplace went and ordered some 0.4mm A2 Hardened Tool Steel Nozzles to replace the stock brass 0.4mm nozzle in the hopes that the steel nozzles would last longer and produce higher quality prints.
Left is the old Brass Nozzle, right is the A2 Tool Steel
Left is the old Brass Nozzle, right is the A2 Tool Steel
However, after installing the new Nozzle, every single print has had a severe drop in quality. Each print shows some bad ripples, most notably at the corners.
Left is a print right before the nozzle change, right is after the change, note the ripples near the corners.
Left is a print right before the nozzle change, right is after the change, note the ripples near the corners.
Another example of the ripples on another print, this was after lubricating the rails, still a failure.
Another example of the ripples on another print, this was after lubricating the rails, still a failure.
I have tried to resolve this issue, I have lubricated the guide rails, Ensured the drive belts for x and y axis are properly tight, and made certain that the nozzle is properly and fully screwed in. I have come to find out through online research that Steel nozzles have worse heat conductivity than the brass, and I have tried modifying the temperature settings and fan settings to try and resolve this. The recommended temperature for the ECO-ABS is 230C.
Test prints. Left is printed at 240C, right is at 240C with fan at 85% speed, still have some visible rippling.
Test prints. Left is printed at 240C, right is at 240C with fan at 85% speed, still have some visible rippling.
Still cant seem to make it print smooth like it used to. The Steel Nozzle is slightly longer than the stock nozzle, so I did have to adjust the nozzle gap on the printer to ensure the first layer adhered to the bed properly.
Side view of the nozzles, you can see the Steel one is slightly longer.
Side view of the nozzles, you can see the Steel one is slightly longer.
My question is, does anyone have an idea as to what I can do to resolve this quality issue? I would like to avoid having to get another Purchase Req for brass nozzles after just getting $125 spent on these steel ones. What can I do to make these a viable replacement? As it currently sits, since I am unable to figure out the solution for the steel nozzles, I have switched back to the old brass nozzle in order to finish the projects that should have been finished 2 days ago.
Last edited by draracos on February 24th, 2022, 12:12 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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draracos
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Re: New Steel Nozzle Quality Drop

Post by draracos »

I ran another print with the same Temp settings and the fan at 50% speed. Still seem to be having the same issue, so it doesn't look like it'll be the fan that will fix this...
IMG_20220223_154948478[1].jpg
I also ran another one using the printer over-ride default settings just to see what it does. It printed at 230C and the bed was heated to 55C instead of the 60C default in the slicer. No visible improvements at all...
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draracos
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Re: New Steel Nozzle Quality Drop

Post by draracos »

After switching it back to the old nozzle and running another print, it turns out it is NOT the nozzle that was the issue, despite it starting to happen when I switched the nozzle in the first place, this print on the old nozzle turned out exactly the same.
IMG_20220224_120134944[1].jpg
I am at a loss here. It almost looks like its slipping on the x and y axis, or maybe theres some sort of wobble on the hotend itself? Not really sure... Any advice would be helpful.
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Roberts_Clif
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Re: Ripples on corners after changing Nozzle

Post by Roberts_Clif »

It would be interesting watching a video while this happening. Maybe we could see something you are missing.
We would need to see a wide angle showing lead screws and a close view showing print at the same instance.

Believe me this will not be an easy task though in order to troubleshoot sometimes requires seeing the entire 3D Printer.
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draracos
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Re: Ripples on corners after changing Nozzle

Post by draracos »

Roberts_Clif wrote: February 24th, 2022, 1:53 pm It would be interesting watching a video while this happening. Maybe we could see something you are missing.
We would need to see a wide angle showing lead screws and a close view showing print at the same instance.

Believe me this will not be an easy task though in order to troubleshoot sometimes requires seeing the entire 3D Printer.
Hmm, Well the printer has a built in camera that records every print, and saves it on the cloud that I control the printer from, maybe this could help?That is a timelapse though...
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draracos
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Re: Ripples on corners after changing Nozzle

Post by draracos »

Update, it turns out the entire print head assembly needs to be replaced. The device lost control of it's temperature, and thinks that it is sitting at 1025°C, on top of the other issues, I decided to call Customer support, and they instantly resorted to replacing the entire assembly. I look at this as one of the downsides of the Dremel Digilab 3D45, in that while it is easy to get started printing right out of the box, and it usually delivers high quality prints, if something goes bad with the printhead, there isn't much you can do to troubleshoot it. Dremel really likes their proprietary products, and try their best to lock you down and prevent you from having much control. If I were looking for a new printer for personal use, I would think twice before going with this one.
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Roberts_Clif
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Re: Ripples on corners after changing Nozzle

Post by Roberts_Clif »

Thank You for this information.
Myself I decided to purchase a 3D Printer simply because of Videos found on YouTube.
And the fact that the seller only wanted a fraction of the cost because they could not get it to print.

Having much knowledge of Electronics, Computer Programming and mechanical repair could not pass up this deal.
Just purchased my 3rd obsolete Hictop 3DP12 3D Printer for yet again the cheapest price I have ever paid.

An Updated the Firmware to the Newest Marlin 2.0.9.3 making my 3D Printers even better an now almost idiot proof.
After installing this newest version of Marlin it has never been so easy to ready the printers for the next print.
An tripling my ability to Print 3D models.
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draracos
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Re: Ripples on corners after changing Nozzle

Post by draracos »

Just a final follow-up on this issue. After getting the Nozzle assembly ordered, which turned out to only be $65, and installing it on the printer, I had a bit of tuning and calibration to do, but it is now printing with high quality again. I did tweak some slicer settings, specifically turning on jerk control, and changing print jerk from 20mm/s to 10mm/s, travel jerk from 30mm/s to 20mm/s, and retraction minimum travel from 5mm to .8mm. This will slightly increase the time it takes to print, but the increase is negligible for the quality I get now. Hopefully this Nozzle Assembly lasts 1k hours again, would hate to have to replace the printer. Thank you for you time, and hopefully this helps other people with similar issues on their Dremel Digilab 3D45, or maybe even on other printers.
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