Issues printing with PLA on Ender 3 Pro

[Rax]

Hi all,
I have an Ender 3-Pro that's giving me increasingly frequent issues printing. Mostly, the prints don't stick to the bed, and some filament seems to be more difficult than others (all PLA for what I'm talking about below, though). I've tried ramping up the printing temperature (from a typical 200/60 to 210/70 now), to no avail.

What should I be looking at? What I assume is going on could be either of the below, or a combination:
 - my filament is turning old and maybe has accumulated moisture, etc. (I haven't purchased any filament in a long time, probably over 2 years). But I live in a very dry weather location and not sure this should be a huge concern;
 - the printer's tip need to be replaced. I dread this, as I assume it'd mean needing to realign the printer and that's not really something I'd have time for;
 - the bed mat needs to be replaced (it does show some permanent streaks and such, so maybe?...).
What else is worth considering here? I'm planning to grab some new filament, maybe some tips, and maybe also a mat this afternoon. I'm hoping it's the age of the filament, but I'm not really sure what's expected from the life of a mat or tip. Maybe they all wanted to replaced long ago.

Thank you for all input in advance!

[Rax]

Here's how my prints look like...

[MarkF]

I've had the same problem recently trying to print HO scale office furniture with a layer height of 0.08mm on a CR-10 Mini.  I finally increased my layer height to 0.16mm with a brim.  Not to say this is your problem.

Things I would check:

• I typically print Hatchbox PLA at 205^oC end and 60^oC bed.
  
  
• Clean your mat on the bed.  I print on glass and wash it with IPA and use hairspray.  You can wash your mat with IPA or soap and water.
  
  
• Check your bed level (this is probably most important).  I suspect you're too far away.  Even if you auto bed level, manually go around and check the height after a home and heating both end and bed.  The auto bed level can only do so much.  I think Marlin allows you to tweak the auto leveling mesh distance.  I can't think what it's called right now and it might not be enabled in the build version of your Marlin.
  
  
• You could increase the first layer height (say to 0.2mm) as a test.  Or, the layer height might be too big if you're trying to print 0.3mm or higher.
  
  
• Check all the rubber rollers are snug and in good shape.
  
  
• Verify your exturder e-steps/mm.  Measure and mark off 120mm of filament where it enters the printer.  Print 100mm of filament.  Measure that you have 20mm leftover to your mark.  Adjust and store new e-steps into the printer.  For dimensional accuracy, you would do similar for the x, y and z axis.
  
  
• I have doubts of it being old filament.
  
  
• I guess if the nozzle is partially clogged, it could reduce the extrusion amount and not flatten hard enough onto the bed.
  

[CatalinaWOW]

I've had similar problems.  Usually cured by a thorough cleaning of the print surface and fresh application of glue stick.  Another thing worth checking is bed leveling.  Go back and do a manual check with a piece of paper or other appropriate shim.  This will also verify that the z offset is correct.

[Shay]

Clean the bed througly and calibrate your bed well, make sure to perform the bed calibration with the stepper enabled and not disabled.
Usually its bad bed calibration, as the nozzle is too far from the bed so it doesnt stick well.

[Rax]

Thank you all.

I think it must be the leveling. I've done the calibration when the machine was new (about 2 years ago), and never since. I am not using it a whole lot, so not sure if using it a lot, or maybe not using it enough, can wear the bed leveling more.

The bed cleanliness it definitely is not. Since I got the machine, every single time without exception, I'd wipe the bed with IPA on a microfiber cloth before any print.

[Rax]

Assuming it's the bed leveling. Would it make sense that, before I go ahead with the adjustment, I'd replace the tip? And/or maybe the mat?

I'm just not sure what other maintenance item is worth doing at the same time. Again, the machine is about two years old, maybe a little more.

[CatalinaWOW]

I wouldn't just automatically change the tip, even though they are cheap.  You should be able to tell by looking at the startup runs along the edge of the bed if there are problems here.

The leveling screws are pretty easy to bump, and in some cases actually get rubbed by the cables under the bed.  If you don't find a leveling issue move on to other things.

[xrunner]

I think Marlin allows you to tweak the auto leveling mesh distance.  I can't think what it's called right now and it might not be enabled in the build version of your Marlin.

Baby steps.

Also make sure the bed is heating to operating temp before leveling. It does make a difference.

[Rax]

Y'all nailed it. It was the levelling. I guess expecting this adjustment to hold so long was unrealistic.
Here's what came out.

[Rax]

The black version is v1, where for v2 (pink) I adjusted the geometry. It does need a bit of trimming to look good.
The yellow is what I am trying to replicate. Brittle PCB holders/spacers for the Fluke 5440 series calibrators.

[Ian.M]

I'm glad you've got it sorted for now.  However here are some maintenance tips

IPA may not be removing all residue from the bed, as it struggles to dissolve longer chain oils waxes and greases.   Since your bed surface is a removable build plate, I'd suggest occasionally removing it and washing with really hot water + detergent, gently scrubbing with a fresh green pan-scourer, then a thorough hot water rinse, wipe dry with paper towel then thoroughly clean with IPA to remove any detergent residue.   

When you *know* its clean, inspect the surface carefully under oblique lighting to see if its damaged anywhere, and if any marks are noticeably rough when you run your thumbnail across them and are of significant size and inconveniently located (i.e. too near the bed center), it may be worth replacing it. 

Also check for flatness with the build plate in place, using a good quality straightedge or good quality steel rule, held on edge, across it corner to corner each way, with a bright light behind it.  You are looking for negligible and even light leakage along the line of contact.  Any bright sections indicate a low spot, thus a warped bed, which (if you aren't using an auto-levelling sensor doing multi-point height correction) is likely to cause adhesion issues.

The nozzle is unlikely to be a problem unless its badly worn due to many many rolls of filament (or a roll or two of abrasive filament) passing through it or unless you've had a mishap where the print head tried to 'dig to Australia' really hard, which dinged its tip.  Make sure its exterior tip is clean (wipe when hot with a wad of paper towel), and run the head up to near Z max and do an extrusion test.  Once started, the extrusion should come out pretty straight, hanging down, and be round.  If its flattened, grooved, or persistently curls up to one side, even after wiping the nozzle repeatedly, the nozzle should be replaced.

If you follow MarkF's advice and use hairspray as a bed adhesion aid, spray it on the build plate well away from the machine as you *don't* want the overspray drifting onto the leadscrews or guide rollers or their running surfaces.  Also it tends to build up on the build plate as IPA doesn't dissolve it easily.    I use it printing on glass, and find that household ammonia solution goes a good job of stripping it off followed by an IPA wipe to remove the last traces, so I can re-coat the build area evenly.   *DON'T* get ammonia solution anywhere near the electronics, motors, bearings etc. or near any connectors as it is notorious for corroding copper.

[MarkF]

As a follow up, I don't think I would put hairspray on those flexible magnetic bed mats as they have their own texture.

I only mentioned it for use on glass. 
Not only to aid bed adhesion but for print release from the bed when using PETG. 
The hairspray sort-of works both ways.

Also, I don't re-apply hairspray for each print.
Just rare spot touch-ups every 10 to 20 prints.
And then completely remove and clean after 50 prints.

[Rax]

As a follow up, I don't think I would put hairspray on those flexible magnetic bed mats as they have their own texture.

I agree. I think, especially with PLA, 99% of non-stick cases can be sorted out like this - troubleshoot wear, readjustment, maybe temperature setpoints, etc. - and all those cases won't need any chemical addition to provide for the adhesion.

[mikerj]

IPA may not be removing all residue from the bed, as it struggles to dissolve longer chain oils waxes and greases.   Since your bed surface is a removable build plate, I'd suggest occasionally removing it and washing with really hot water + detergent, gently scrubbing with a fresh green pan-scourer, then a thorough hot water rinse, wipe dry with paper towel then thoroughly clean with IPA to remove any detergent residue.   

I concur, this can be extremely important to get any useful level of adhesion after switching materials.  Years ago I found that when switching from PLA to PETG no amount of alcohol cleaning would get prints to stick, they would constancy peel off after a few layers.  Scrubbing with dish soap and a green pan scrubber fixed this immediately, and is something I now do whenever I change materials or haven't used the printer for a while. This is on a textured PEI build plate, possibly other build surfaces are less fussy.