Extremely inconsistent 1st Layer
I'm at a loss. My 1st layer is extremely inconsistent. I have to babystep all 1st layers the whole time. It starts good, then falls off a cliff by being way too close to the bed. On this 50x150mm patch printed in the center I started high, got a good looking layer, then the nozzle goes way too close to the bed.
It doesn't matter what material, bed temp or hotend temp, the 1st layer never is right. Usually let the printer heatsoak for 30mims before evem homing just to get all parts nice and hot.
BEACON Calibration shows a 65um gantry twist, so far the best I achieved. Going lower is extremely hard.
Printer is a stock VC4 500 Hybrid built from the official RR kit including their printed parts, except the hotend which is a brand new Rapido 2F UHF with a 0.5mm hardened steel nozzle. Also has an enclosure and aftermarket PEI sheet. The stock one yielded the same results, extremely inconsistent 1st layer.
Stuff tried so far: hot mounting all linear rails, stock bolt pattern with 0.9Nm torque per screw.
Beacon calibration after 1h heatsoak with chamber closed and bed at 80C
New RatOS install
Prusaslicer downgrade to 2.9.0 (currently newest version with 2.9.2)
Old VC4 500 Hybrid slicer profiles and the newest ones.
Different 1st layer heights from 0.2-0.35mm
Different nozzles, E3D brass 0.4mm, Phaetus nickel plated copper 0.4mm, Phaetus hardened steel in 0.5 and 0.6mm
Checked correct nozzle sizes in both the slicer and RatOS
Nozzle and UHF adapter both torqued to Phaetus specs
Many different filaments and temp settings, PLA, PLA SILK, PETG, PETGCF, TPU, differnet brands, all spools dried for many hours
Currently using Prusaslicer 2.9.2 and the newly released RR profiles.
I hope someone smarter than me knows what's up, I can't print like this at all.
Solution:Jump to solution
Next update after some prints: the Toro3D Ti tube is a MUST HAVE, every 1st layer is a DREAM now! So if anyone has the same issue with very inconsistent 1st layer on the VC4 500 or the VC4 in general, drop in the Ti tube and call it a day.
16 Replies
Same issues here, friend... Got a Toro titanium tube coming Monday. Hopefully that cures it. I did some absurdly long heat soaks which seem to help, but doesn't eliminate it completely. It's a big printer and takes a long time to heat up.
Yeah, >1h long heat soaks help, but only very minimally. Just checked my X 2020 extrusion, totally straight, no bend or distortion. Keep me updated how much the toro ti tube helps. I have to get that huge printer fully operational, loads of huge prints I have to make.
Yeah, in theory if you heat soak long enough and then perform a mesh, the bi metallic thermal effect on the gantry shouldn't be an issue. But I've heat soaked for 2+ hours and still see the condition (though it is less severe). I guess it is possible that the printer still isn't at a thermal equilibrium after 2 hours soaking, but it makes me nervous that there's more than just the gantry bow happening.
Also getting a Toro Ti Tube now. Did another hot mount of the rail after blasting the X axis with a hair dryer to heat it to 60C. it changed the behavior extremely, but only if I start the print right after it, a 45min heatsoak after cooldown still isn't cutting it. Waiting for obscenely long times before printing shouldn't be needed, no matter the printer size. Power is expensive already, and wasting it just to print is bad. Overall the printer is rock solid, just that small detail currently crushes it for me. Lets hope that this is the fix for the 1st layer issue on the VC4 500, at least for us.
The tube just came in today and I managed to pull the old gantry out. Printing new parts now and will hopefully have it back up and running in a couple days.
mine arrives in about 2 days, so curious how it prints after it.
How'd you manage with the first layer? I bought this vc4 500 for work and haven't been able to get solid prints. I ordered some CNC belt clips due to tension being two High and cracking the Printed ones. Also looking into getting a titanium gantry replacement.
I hope your tube fits on the Y blocks, mine is just shy of a mm too long, have to backbuild again to print the modified ones with more space
If you haven't already pulled it down, try loosening the xy joiner fasteners and getting the holes to line up with the y carriages. I didn't have mine seated so great and it looked like it was too long. You can tighten up the xy joiners again after it's attached to the y carriages.
PS: warming up for first layer test now... Results pending
got it installed too now, the printed parts didn't seat fully before. dropped right onto the Y blocks without any issues. rough tensioning already looks GREAT! X and Y both now have only one huge peak with nearly zero other garbage. ZV 8400 on Y and ZV 17400 on X. also runs way smoother, lets hope the 1st layer will now be equally as smooth.
Meshes before and after heating look significantly better. Not nearly as big of a swing. First layer test did something a little weird...first layer height creeped up to a certain point then stopped. That was after a 15 minute heat soak. It may just be that the printer needs to soak a little longer, or it could be a beacon calibration thing. Trying a recalibration now and will redo the first layer test.
My layer already look MILES better! Very consistent and flat. Just my mesh looks crazy weird, for some reason the gantry twist is just 46micron which is excellent but the mesh shows a deviation of nearly a mm with one corner dipping to -0.876mm.
Solution
Next update after some prints: the Toro3D Ti tube is a MUST HAVE, every 1st layer is a DREAM now! So if anyone has the same issue with very inconsistent 1st layer on the VC4 500 or the VC4 in general, drop in the Ti tube and call it a day.
Agreed... After a quick beacon recalibration, it's looking good!
so the Ti tube fixed your printer too now? nice! done 6 prints so far, one with long pieces that cover the entire X axis and the layer jsut keeps on blowing me away, it is PERFECT every time, jut needed a tiny 0.065mm Z offset to dial the thing in. even the prints themself look WAY better now, very consistent layer stacking. Can't wait to truly utilize the beast to its full extend!