Ok so I have been dealing with shifted layers for the last few weeks, it started out of no where. It is occurring on the y axis, I have taken others suggestions to help figure this out, but nothing has helped. So far I have made sure to lube the bearings and rods, all is good there. Checked the pulley on the y axis motor, it is tight. I did have a flakey connection on the y axis limit switch, replaced it. Swapped the y axis motor with one of my z axis motors, problem still occurs. Swapped the wires from y axis with x axis still shifting layers in the y axis. I am guessing the only thing left is a problem on the board, or in the software. Using Slic3r, both a new version, and an older, doesn’t seem to make a difference. Also using Pronterface, have been using this combo since I got the printer about 8 months ago and have never had an issue. Someone please help, nothing worse than having things to print and not being able too. This is a Migbot prusa i3, board is mks v1.3
I’ve had this issue on a mendelmax 2 (similar mechanics to i3). In my case the Y motor was being overworked, leading to overheating and losing steps. It was especially prominent when trying to print fast (>80mm/s).
If you can, feel or measure how hot the motor gets during printing. If it feels really hot that’s probably the issue and you can either replace the Y motor with a bigger one (i.e. 60mm nema17) or add a heat sink to it, or both.
Another option is to play with the acceleration/jerk settings in the firmware to reduce the forces when the Y motor changes direction.
I am currently trying to print a 40x40x40mm cube to see if the layers shift. This will naturally print slower since the print area is larger. If they do not then I know it is speed related
Use a multimeter, touch one probe to the ground pin on the driver, and the other probe to the screw. But don’t slip, you can easily short out a driver doing this. Also, you can try touching the chips on the driver while printing. If they get too hot, turn down the voltage or put heatsinks and a fan on them. Lastly, the simplest. The part you’re printing, does it have overhang? It is extremely common for PLA to warp up on the sides and when your extruder hits it, the whole print will shift.
Might be a short. Leave it unplugged for about an hour or two, then plug it back it. Usually when power supplies die, they will stay on for about an hour or so, then randomly shut off.
I will have to check the old one, I have not touched the printer since i orderded the new supply. Finally got it yesterday, hooked it up plugged it in, set my extruder temp, and bed temp and notice the temps are not going anywhere. Look at the supply and see the LED flashing, i immediately unplug it, say a few choice words, and begin looking for the short. I disconnect all wires from the main board, clean them up ensuring there are no “hairs” from any of the wires creating a short. Plug it back in, all is good, set the extruder temp, check. Set the bed temp, led starts flashing, unplug again, check the bed wires with Ohm meter and have continuity, wanted to check and see if the wires were bad, or the bed itself so i de-soldered the wires from the board, and found it to have a short. So i start a print, no shifted layers, but the damn part broke loose because i have always printed with a heated bed, and now have to figure out how to make the parts stick, i have always used the heated bed and hair spray.
On a side note, i now have a flaky connection at my extruder motor, i do not have a spare wire for it, and i am thinking i may just solder the wires directly to the motor. Has anyone done this? Any problems with doing so other than the obvious not being able to unplug the motor for whatever reason. This printer has seemed to go down hill quickly here lately.
A photo would be great to see what you are experiencing but I have just, finally, completed building a I3 Prusa and I found that the coupler that I have between the motor and threaded rod was not positioned right. I had placed the motor rod and the threaded rod in the middle of the coupler but when I inspected the inside of the coupler I saw that there seemed to be a shorter distance for the motor end than the threaded rod end. I place the couple about a 1/3 of the way into the coupler, you can see in the middle of the coupler where the motor rod should finish, and I now have much cleaner prints. I also have a wobbley extruder mount which I’m sure is not helping in this manner.
What values constitute as being ‘high’? I’m having the same problem. Turned down the speed from the (default in Slic3r) from 80 to 60. Still have that issue. Turned down acceleration from 9000 (Marlin default?) to 7500. Problem persists. Is that low enough? I had a problem with slight drift when I first built it and turning up the current helped. Suddenly the problem returns worse and I returned the current to 0.8. I’ve read Nema 17s can take up to 1.3 but it’s already getting pretty hot.
It’s usually either warp, motor is too hot or driver is too hot. I think you’d know right away if acceleration was the problem. Belts can be too tight, that causes the motors to work harder.
