3D Printing Tech Tips: Single Walled Objects
Holes or missing lines
When printing single/thin walled objects, we often come across this issue of holes or missing lines in the model. Below is a list of print settings that you need to change to fix this.
Print speed and acceleration
Print speed is generally the reason behind this print failure. The missing lines/mis-extrusions are a result of printing or accelerating too fast. To change the acceleration settings on the controller, you need to run the “Print smooth” macro on the Duet controller or change it on the Control menu on the Workbench (RAMPS) controller. The acceleration and speed values can also be set in the slicer.
Retraction settings
If the retraction distance is higher, the print may show missing lines or holes due to mis-extrusion. These holes generally show up right after the retract seam as seen in the above picture.
Blobs
Another common issue is the occurrence of blobs, which are nothing but extra extruded plastic or overextrusions. Blobs can occur either at the beginning of the perimeter or towards the end.
Extra restart
To fix blobs at the start of a perimeter change the ‘extra restart distance’ (Simplify 3D) or ‘Retraction Extra Prime amount’ (Ultimaker CURA) to a negative value. For blobs occurring at the end of a perimeter (not shown in the pictures), enable the coasting feature available in both Simplify3D and Ultimaker CURA.