New Pulse XE Owner having some quality issues.



  • Hello, new Pulse XE owner here and I have a few questions I could use help with. The Pulse XE I have has the upgraded motherboard, steppers and LCD screen. I have tried several prints via my PC and by the SD card to see if it made a difference or not. I have done the normal troubleshooting stuff so far, like changing the temps up n down 5 degrees, moved the print around on the bed, checked to make sure no screws are loose or to see if anything doesn't look right.

    Adhesion has been great, no issues there at all, though I have only printed with MH Ryno and some Polymaker PLA just to test with so far as I want to get it dialed in first. I have done the calibration setup several times and honestly, the first layer looks pretty solid so I'm wondering what I should be looking at next.

    Phil printed with Ryno @ 240/55 w/ glue from the PC via Print Dry: alt text

    Every benchy has the same issues no matter the size or temp (240/245) printed with Ryno: alt text

    Generic Square I printed to test first layer with Ryno: alt text alt text

    Test cube in PLA, this is the best one I got so far, but there seems to be some shifting going on to the right of the cylinder: alt text

    Possibly something with the X or Y Axis? The calibration has been run 3-4 times now and always comes out good, plus the printer IS level on my work bench. These have all been printed via Mattercontrol, though I do plan on trying Slicer just to see if I get the same results with a print.

    Well, any help would be appreciated.

    Thanks.!


  • MatterHackers

    Ryno is extremely similar to PETG itself so doule checking to make sure the cooling fans are on would be the first thing I would check, with regard to the back of the Phil and his hands. These are stress tests designed to push machines to their limits but do not particularly reflect performance. While we can tune the machine to get these to print, those tunes might not carry over well to models you are looking to print. That all being said, I would start out with printing with the PLA to get a feel for the machine and its quirks. Ryno can be tricky to use at times. I would try to fire up a print using some PLA with the stock PRO Series profile.

    With regard to the first layer you have, this actually looks pretty good. To my eye, though, you may want to baby step your z height down a tiny bit, it still looks a tiny bit far from the plate.

    If I am missing something here, please let me know.

    We can also be reached via phone at 949-613-5838 we would be happy to assist!



  • Hey Erik, thanks again for the help with everything, I really appreciate your time and efforts my friend! Yes, I was going to do the babystepping today as that's kind of what I was thinking about myself. I also figured RYNO was a little tricky to get used to, I struggled with PETG for awhile until recently and have it printing perfectly on my other printer.

    I'll do the PLA runs when I get home later and reply back once I get things done tonight. I figured it was more of dialing it in than any actual problems, but those odd lines on the Benchy / Phil on the back side of the prints kinda threw me off as I haven't seen that before. Other than that though, I love the Printer, very well done and can't wait to get it moving along once I dial it in.

    ** I did notice the part cooling doesn't come on in the Ryno PRO profile, it shows to come on after the first layer but doesn't. It only comes on at the very top of the print just before it's done. I didn't edit anything other than the temp for a few prints, so I'll make sure to get it to come on. I think I read at 50% after layer one?

    I'll be in touch and thanks again!



  • Ok, did the print with PLA and here's what I got.

    alt text
    alt text

    Looks pretty good, though I still can't figure out those little "dimples" on his rear. I have noticed that on the back of some prints, so I need to figure that out. I did print some Prusa MK3s Fan Shrouds with the Nylon X filament and they came out pretty solid.

    I plan on continuing the dialing in process over the weekend. Also, I did sent an email, I for the life of me can't find the live Z adjustment, I saw it in a video on the site so I'm obviously just not seeing it. I really like Mattercontrol, just need to learn my way around.



  • Ok, I think I got the first layer down better. After some more calibration I did finally get an increase in the Z offset that is close to perfect. The only thing I need to figure out is why I'm getting some ringing around screw holes? I have gone over the printer and the belts seem good and I haven't come across any loose screws, not to mention my printer is on a solid flat / level surface so I don't think it's vibration issue (but always possible).

    I'll try slowing the print down a little bit to see if that helps I guess. Any ideas anyone? I did notice it shows up more with my Ryno filament and I have tried printing with no fan, fan @ 50% the fan at 100% and it didn't make much of a difference either way. There isn't much ringing in the PLA print I did, but it's "slightly" there. Overall it's printing pretty good, so far as I can tell this is the last little thing I need to get figured out.

    Thanks

    alt text

    alt text



  • The dimples usually are where the layers meet. Imagine you are drawing a circle if you overlap the end you got too much ink if you dont you have a gap. You could play with the overlap but sometimes a little sand paper or a file or exacto knife is easier. You also gor Dimples on retraction sometimes the head has to move from point a to point b without putting down filament it retracts but that just takes the pressure off there is still a little molten filament in the nozzle that will ooze out a bit



  • A filet or campher at the holes and corners can help you get the bulge cause the print head slows to make the turn but there is still pressure in the hotend. This problem also was reduced quite a bit when I went to volumetric E (just you can't do it with MC)



  • @mpirringer Ah ok, thanks so much for the replies. I was looking into setting up my printer in either Slicer or Cura (though it seems Curas latest updates has some issues) to see how things go. Is there any easy way to export from MC and import via one of the other two? Or is it the old manual setup for all profiles still?

    I'm just really used to Prusa Slicer for my other two printers (Prusa MK3s's). I do like MC a lot, but I wanted to try something else out for the slicing to see if that makes any difference or not.

    Thanks again for the replies, I appreciate it.



  • @mpirringer I do have the hardened steel nozzle that I'm getting used to, and they do ooze more than the brass ones for sure 🙂



  • You only need hardened Nozzle when you print abrasives like CF or GF infused filament or some metal or color change or luminescent filaments as they all are base filament with extra stuff - like CF and metal flakes in them. Otherwise brass is better copper best.

    As for other slicer - use SLIC3R or Prusa Slicer which is basically an upgraded version of SLIC3R And go volumetric I made a video on it

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kugqYO-Jang&t=108s

    You can save the Gcode from SLIC3R and then load it into MC and have it apply the bed level and print it. Set up the pulse bed dimensions and you are ready to go. You will have to recreate the different profiles for your filaments and print settings. I cant upload files here otherwise I'd give you my settings file, If you go Volumetric don't forget to check the apropriate field in the printer settings in SLIC3R/Prusa Slicer and add M200 D1.75 to your Startup code after the G28 and remember now that all filament measurements are in mm3 and not in mm. One drawback is it even more confuses MC with its material/time estimations but they are not even close anyway. What you gain are better prints, better layer adhesion, better acuracy. Follow the instructions in the video to dial in your filaments. And don't forget to enter your Max Volumetric E values in the print settings especially if you print with a nozzle bigger than .4. A general rule for good prints Outside perimeter should be 120-125% nozzle diameter inside perimeter 120-200% so yes you can set the outside perimeters on a .4 nozzle to .48 and the inside to .8 and print faster and still have better quality. adjust the # of perimeters accordingly. Also keep the layer height between 25-50% nozzle diameter so with a .4 nozzle between .1 and .2. And make always sure the layer height is a multiple of .04mm as that is how the math translates between the steppers stepping and the lead screw turning. When you design stuff keep in mind that dimensionally you get a multiple of layer heights (unless you start to play with adaptive layers. So if you have a layer height of .2 and an opening at 1.5 it will put the opening at either 1.4 or 1.6 as that is a multiple of your layerheight - so you could get openings that are off.



  • Thanks, I'll check that out! Yah I got this printer mostly for those types of filaments so that way I didn't have to mess with changing things out on my other printers to do it. Just trying to get it dialed in a bit tighter but I suppose I should be using the filament I got it for lol. Using some Ryno and Nylon X so far, as well as testing with some PLA.

    I just need to figure this thing out and get it adjusted accordingly, it's close, but I'm need to do some more work 🙂

    Thanks again for the replies, I'll check it all out.


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