Print seems to be shifting

As the title says the print seems to be constantly shifting as i print. The table is locked down and Gantry seems to be straight. I printed 4 of these at the same time and everyone was shift at the exact same level and distance (as far as I can tell). Looking for so0me suggestions of what to look for? This thing is driving me nuts lol.

I have also adjusted the 4 bolts on the gantry and read all the items that matched this in the search box for the forums. I thought it would be the table where the prints sits but that thing is rock solid. I dont print fast. Using Marlin RC7 MPCNC w/LCD firmware with nothing changed. The only oddity I have found is that the Z motor gets quite a bit warmer than the X or Y motors. Doesnt seem to be any binding. The Z was very sloppy at the bottom at first until I tightened the 4 tensioner bolts on the outside of the Gantry. Much more stable now. It made a print of one of those fine. So maybe it slinging that heave head around causes it to get off? just done see how it would do it so consistently.

You are missing steps on only one axis, either X or Y.

If you answer the questions in the sticky and put up a pic I might be able to help a bit more.

I think I may have solved it.Basically I tightened the 4 gantry adjustment bolts on the outside edges down pretty tight. Made sure it still traveled fine. Seems to have made a huge improvement. Which sticky are you talking about, just so I can check it out.

Glad it worked out.

First post in the troubleshooting forum.

Maybe this one?

  1. Did you buy everything from here? YES
    a)If you didn’t or changed some things please don’t leave out any details. N/A
    b)What firmware? THE NEWEST

  2. Are you using end stops? NO
    a)If so please disconnect them.

  3. Are you using all my recommended parts? YES
    a) If not please list what parts you used.

  4. Include a picture so obvious errors might be spotted. PIC ABOVE

Yep seems as though it was either that or my wiring from the gantry going up was binding in certain spots. I built this thing as a first ever printer with lofty goals of being able to just hot swap it all for a CNC router, Laser, and 3D printer. I had no idea what I was doing lol. I built it with a work area of 30"X30"X10". I have played hell with stability and to date my largest print was 6"X6". My X and Y pipes are 34" long with my feet being 9.5" tall. I do believe that I will be shortening the X and Y down to 20" while leaving the Z tall this weekend. It is truly locked down and prints quite well even at this size. But I will never use even 50% of its potential. I think a build area of 16"X16"X10" will be just fine and I am betting will vastly improve my stability and allow for faster prints. I will be building a larger and much lower one in the near future to use exclusively as a CNC router for woodworking. I can say this has been a great learning experience and I am totally blown away by the support you have shown in responses and emails. You are a Great dude and your product is amazing!!! Keep up the good work.

This machine is going to cause me to go on a murderous rampage…back to a single layer shift exactly 7 MM up twice in a row…sigh. its obviously a mechanical issue to be that consistent (when it happens). Gonna try some calibration tests. My gut still tells me that its a size issue and its shaking itself off track of where it thinks it is at and then continues like nothing happened. If that makes sense.

It could be your part. Try a new model and see if it happens in the same spot. Gotta start eliminating somewhere. Could be anything though. How fast are you printing, I suggest 30mm/s to start.

I really could help if you gave details.

I’m Printing calibration pieces now to test it. Its so hit and miss that i know it has to be something mechanical. Like something binds. or shakes it off course. I print at a different area of my print bed each time. not always center. Which speed settings are you asking about? there are several ones for infill and perimeters and such. Let me know which details you need and I will get them to you. On this model the first one printer beautifully. The second and third both shifted at 7MM up each. Printing a XY Resonance test first to see if i can get out the echos (or if they show up in it) and next a Z resonance test.

*EDIT It has done this on 3 different models now. So not a bad file.

I was using the V29 whistle model as a 3D printer test piece on my MPCNC, and with 3 attempts to print it, it had a large shift in layer at one Z level only, @ about 16mm. I was printing at 30mm/s but had my travel speed (non print speed) set to be a lot faster @ 160mm/s. Slowing that down fixed it, I think I used 120mm/s. Took me ages to work it out (well 3 attempts over as many days) because I thought it was thermal overload in the drivers being just one shift… Except when it always happened in the same spot I realised that was quite unlikely. Strange it only happened on exactly 1 layer each complete print though, goes to show the limits of the machine may be affected by a previous move. I am using 4 TMC2100 drivers for the X & Y though (enjoying the silence!) so my machine’s specs. are a fair bit off what’s standard.

I travel at 50 or 60

Im set to move at 50 mm/s in non print moves. Just lowered my infill speed to 30 mm/s to see if that helps. slowly tuning it. But i really think that once i shrink it to a more usable size this weekend it will fix most my problems. the only one that has me scratching my head is the consistency of the mess up spot. and by that I mean that WHEN it messes up its always in the exact same spot (best i can tell) but it doesn’t do it every time. I just printed a 150 mm tall test tower that came out beautiful. and a 50X50X16 X/Y resonance test calibration that also came out beautiful. It has some echos and a little puddling at one corner but that is retraction settings that i will get to later. So i don’t know. Its a head scratcher lol. Vicious, let me know what you would want specifically and I can get it to you.

Im going to try the V29 whistle in the morning. says its about a 3 hour print. Got a bird feeder now going as a test piece. takes about 6 hours.

Yep feeder shifted one layer over…

I’m not sure how to word this.

Print shifting is a common issue and can be many many many things. Telling us it moved doesn’t say much. Pictures with every post help so much. If it slipped leave it attached so we know what direction it slipped in, show the whole machine in the pic. I know this is not your case but yesterday while I was watching the printers having my coffee, there was a quick brown out out. all 6 printers stopped for about 5 seconds and then actually kept printing, one slipped in the y directions by about 2mm the rest were fine. It literally can be anything. I had one slip every time my washing machine turned on in a previous apartment because of the power dip.

Did it move on the same axis every single time?
Did it move at the same exact height every time?
Have you changed the size of your machine yet?
What are all of your speeds in your slicer?
What slicer?
Have you tried another slicer?
What temps?
What materials?
Do you models have overhangs that usually are the culprit? If your test prints printed fine it sounds like a model issue. Some things do not print well. TRy printing some mpcnc parts, we all know they print well.

Did you change any of the drivers voltages at all? Do you have a cooling fan on them?
A 30x30 build isn’t all that big, 2 of mine are that exact size, with 4 and 6" z axis.

Using the wiring harness?
Using the 525 parts or previous?

OK i am going to give this a whirl. I dont have a pic of the last time but i will get one the very next time.

Did it move on the same axis every single time? I believe so

Did it move at the same exact height every time? It seems to be at 7 MM every time. that or very very close according to calipers

Have you changed the size of your machine yet? Not yet. it is still at 31" on the X and Y

What are all of your speeds in your slicer? See bottom pictures

What slicer? Matter Control and Repetier

Have you tried another slicer? Yes Repetier

What temps? 230 for Filament (Matter Geeks) and 40 for the bed. Have tried numerous plus and minuses of 5 degrees.
What materials? PLA

Do you models have overhangs that usually are the culprit? If your test prints printed fine it sounds like a model issue. Some things do not print well. Try printing some mpcnc parts, we all know they print well. The One MPCNC part i printed did well. I will try a few others. I dont think it is a model issue as I have printed them many many times and sometimes they print fine and sometimes not. I printed a Filament spacer (the one pictured above) 22 times. 6 shifted. the rest are perfect.

Did you change any of the drivers voltages at all? Do you have a cooling fan on them? No changes (too scared to try that) and yes I have your ramps box with the fan at constant on. (its in the picture)

Using the wiring harness? Yes from you.

Using the 525 parts or previous? All newest parts

currently printing TopM_CornerC

3 hour print.

Which slicer are both mattercontrol and repetier using? I’m going to assume mattercontrol is using matterslice, but repetier can use several different slicers.