10 mo. ago • 94%

Stuttering when printing PETG [SOLVED]

I tried printing with PETG yesterday, and I noticed that it intermittently stops moving during the print for a few seconds. It doesn't throw an error or anything, just stops and then after a few seconds resumes as if nothing happened. But this creates huge blobs where it stops. It only happens when printing PETG, not PLA. Could this be caused by a filament setting in my slicer? I'm using prusa slicer. I inspected the gcode and there are no stops, pauses or color changes etc. in it. The behaviour happens both when printing from octoprint and directly from SD card.

Edit: these random intermittent stops are 10-20 seconds long, causing massive blobs from oozing filament.

Edit 2: so it seems to not actually be a PETG specific issue, but rather a model size/speed issue. I can get it running without stops if I just reduce print speed. When I crank speed to 100% I start getting these weird 10-20 second long stops.

So I'm overloading the controller with a lot of gcode commands in rapid succession? I'm running at slightly lower than manufacturer default Max.

SOLVED: the gcode resolution was set too fine, I increased it from 0.0125mm to 0.5mm as described here and the stuttering disappeared.

19 comments

I got a farfetched theory ... Maybe your printer is underpowered. Printing PETG requieres a higher temperature and thus more power. This is absolute guesswork, but you could try to disconnect your printer from the power outlet and tighten the screws for the power connections going from the power supply unit and going into your printers main board

3
- It still happens with low temps that are in PLA range. I tried a temp tower starting from 220°C, so the upper end of PLA temps, and it still happens. I can print PLA with 220°C without stuttering, so I don't think it's a power issue. But I'll check nonetheless.
  
  It happens randomly, it may do several layers without stopping at all, but then it suddenly stops. It happens often, but not at the same spot, and not with fixed layer offsets.
  
  1
  
  Did printing with PETG ever work with your printer?
  
  You could create two gcode files for the same model, one for PLA and one for PETG and see if something stands out in their difference.
  
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  I dont use pruca slicer, but had simmilar issues with ArcWelder plugin in Cura. Disable plugins if you use any and maybe try another slicer for testing
  
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What printer do you have? https://youtu.be/Hvw3DrVAeTA?si=Pfy8z7OdlsybvbMN It could be this issue but that wouldn't be material dependent but might show up more with petg since it's more runny than pla.

1
- It's an anycubic Kobra 2.
  
  It's not small blobs like here, it's huge blobs because the printhead doesn't move for 10-20 seconds, so filament from the chamber keeps oozing while it just sits there.
  
  1
  
  Thinking about this again, could it be you have something like "wait for layer time" on and a very high minimum layer time set for your petg profile?
  
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  If its stopping 10 to 20 seconds there's definitely something in the gcode making the printer hang. I'd try slicing the file again with a different slicer to be sure.
  
  1
- Here is an alternative Piped link(s):
  
  https://piped.video/Hvw3DrVAeTA?si=Pfy8z7OdlsybvbMN
  
  Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
  
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  0
Do you have some kind of timelapse plugin enabled?

1
- Nope
  
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If it’s fine with PLA then my money is on profile issue. Use your PLA profile, and just change the temperature. If that works okay, start tuning for PETG from that point. And delete the old PETG settings.

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- I did some more testing, also with different slicers, and it seems to not actually be a PETG specific issue, but rather a model/speed issue. I can get it running without stops if I just reduce print speed. When I set speed to 100% I start getting these weird 10-20 second long stops.
  
  So now in thinking it's the controller locking up because it's overloaded by too many small movmeent gcode commands in rapid succession?
  
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  Yeah I had an issue with this trying to print some ornaments in vase mode. I adjusted the cura profile as detailed HERE and it seemed to take care of it.
  
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New Lemmy Post: Stuttering when printing PETG (https://lemmy.world/post/10817485)
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