I’ve used my M3D printer for a little over a year now mostly just for small prints and it worked great. I have a fascination with 3D modeling and it’s awesome to see a small replication of my digital models. But lately I have switched filaments to try something new and my prints have been coming out stringy and not really finishing out the tops of my prints right because of the stringy prints. I’m not sure if it is just the filament change or not but if anyone has any idea that’d be great. thanks!
Switching filaments might really be the cause yes. I strongly believe you should never save on filament by buying cheap filaments (not saying you did by any means). But instead of putting lots of time and effort in tweaking your printer and looking for a solution, I’d recommend trying your old filament again. I’m not really familiar with the M3D, so hopefully someone else knows more from the community. Good luck with it!
If you really want to make a HUGE difference in print quality on the M3D, I strongly suggest to look into running Octoprint from your computer with the M3D Fio plugin. You’ll be amazed at the extra control (and hence quality) that it gives you with the M3D.
Check this link out for more info, and post again if you get stuck.
The Micro seems to have temperature problems; meaning-the temperature in the software isn’t the temperature at the extruder. For instance, I’ve been getting good prints for a full day with my Micro and their “Light Caribbean” PLA filament. Previously, the cheat code set up the print temperature at 215, but this new software version (1.4.2.6-WIN) has set it to 250, which is ridiculously high for PLA, but is giving me good prints. So I’m inferring that the temperature detection at the nozzle is inaccurate; you may very well be extruding at too low a temperature with your new filament.
5 suggestions.
1. I would suggest purchasing an IR thermometer before reaching the conclusion that there is a temp problem.
2. As suggested below, be sure that you are using the correct type of filament (ABS, PLA etc) and their coresponding temperature profiles.
3. It’s worth purchasing the spare nozzle from the M3d website. It is far superior in heat distribution that the one your printer shipped with.
4. If you have a multi-meter, test to make sure your adapter is actually putting out the rated Amperage.
A better example would be of the same print with both filaments instead of 2 different prints. You can use slicer to cut the model ( and export as STL if you are using the official software) and only print the top 20 layers or so. I would probably raise the temperature for your darker filaments to increase flow.
