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I am pretty new to 3D-printing, and I have just finished assembling my Prusa i3 a few days ago.

I finished up basic calibrations, which went fine, but noticed my prints were coming out with a bunch of rough lines on the sides. I looked online, and saw some things about adjusting flow rate, so I took that down from 95 to 90. I am not really sure what else to try right now. I have messed with layer height, which is at 0.2 mm now.

I have double-checked belt tensions and messed around with it, but the belt status seems to be hovering around 267 pretty consistently. I did try loosening it a lot more, but got the around the same, ~270 at max, even when extremely loose. Not sure what the belt tension should be feeling like, but it seems to check out with the guides.

I would appreciate any help or advice.

Test print of an SD card bear holder, layer lines seem to be sticking out

Calibration cube printed after tensioning the belts: calibration cube

kosteklvp
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notkvnchn
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  • It looks like these are different issues now. It doesn't look like layer shifting anymore. Now, it has signs of under-extrusion and over-heating issues, according to the photo with calibration cube. What calibrations have you already made? – kosteklvp Jan 02 '23 at 20:46
  • I redid xyz, lowered the tension screw for the extruded thing (not sure what the proper term is) and messed with belt tension a bit, but it’s basically where I started. – notkvnchn Jan 02 '23 at 22:05
  • What material are you using? And with what temperature. Do extruder E-steps calibration first if you haven't already. – kosteklvp Jan 03 '23 at 12:07
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    @kosteklvp the weirdest thing happened today. I clicked on some random gcode that was already on the sd card when I got it, and it magically printed out an almost perfect tree frog (minus a weak point on the legs.) I then printed out a benchy from that was also on the sd card, and it also almost went perfect, though it came off the printed in the final 15 minutes. Quality of these prints were completely opposite of what I had experienced before, with much less noticeable irregularities. I also modeled a 20mm cube, sliced it up in prusa again, and it worked perfect. will update original post. – notkvnchn Jan 03 '23 at 13:13
  • Considered adding it as an answer, instead of an update to the question. It can help someone in the future. – kosteklvp Jan 03 '23 at 13:28

2 Answers2

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This is called Layer shifting. You should check belts tension and motor pulleys. It looks like your problem occurs only on the X-axis.

kosteklvp
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    Thanks for the reply. Double checked that and messed around with it, but it seems to be hovering around 267 pretty consistently. I did try loosening it a lot more, but got the around the same, ~270 at max, even when extremely loose. – notkvnchn Jan 01 '23 at 21:12
  • @notkvnchn - Please add any additional information to your question, so that all of the information is in one place. Actually I have just added it for you, this time. – Greenonline Jan 01 '23 at 21:42
  • @notkvnchn Have you checked if the gear on X-axis motor is tightened correctly? Both grub screws need to be tight, one of them has to be tightened against the flat part of the motor shaft. – kosteklvp Jan 02 '23 at 12:49
  • @kosteklvp yeah just checked, both are snug – notkvnchn Jan 02 '23 at 13:37
  • @notkvnchn I would recommend [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7nsjl5U2vs) tutorial, as it helped me with similar issue. Try everything from this video and see if this problem still occurs. – kosteklvp Jan 02 '23 at 13:57
  • I tried following the steps, though most of it (like aligning the screw with the flat part of the shaft) was already done. Calibration cube is still printing out pretty bad though, not sure what else to try. – notkvnchn Jan 02 '23 at 15:08
  • the belt might be shot – Trish Jan 02 '23 at 15:11
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    @notkvnchn Can you add photos of this cube to the question? – kosteklvp Jan 02 '23 at 16:06
  • @kosteklvp Sure thing – notkvnchn Jan 02 '23 at 20:23
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It must have been something with the G-code, or how I was slicing it. I tried printing from the files that were already loaded on the SD card when I got it and it came out much better. I then modeled a cube and sliced it up carefully in PrusaSlicer and it also came out almost perfectly. Thanks to everyone who chimed in, really appreciate it and hope this can help someone else.

agarza
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notkvnchn
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