Print stops extruding at exactly the same layer every time (Layer height 0.1)
Hello everyone,
first post, first question, I guess 🙂
I've been using my Prusa i3 MK3 for about two month now and so far everything printed perfectly fine- even with 0.1 layer height (You'll see in a moment why I stretch this point).
Unfortunately, lately the printer shows some curious behavior when I try to print lager objects with 0.1 mm layer height. I was trying to print the Fillenium Malcon from Thingiverse at 150% scale with the silver Prusament filament at the standard filament and printer settings when the problem first occurred: The printer stops extruding at always the same layer (I tried 4 times now). The extruder motor gets hot while the rest of the print continues as if nothing happened. Every time I have to stop the print and clean the mugged nozzle. I attached some photos for you to see the problem.
I already tried to export the code from different slicers (Slicer PE, PrusaSlicer, PrusaControl), switch up the position of the front and back half of the model and repair it with the according function of PrusaSlicer. My last try was to print only the front half with supports, but still the failure occurred at exactly the same layer...
The other layers and the first layer look perfectly fine.
Nothing worked. So then, I tried to print four low poly Pokemon at 175% scale with the same layer height of 0.1 and also this time the extruding stopped at a certain layer. Although this time, the extrusion stop happened later, at another layer. I have printed these Pokemon before and had no problem when I printed them alone or at a thicker layer height.
At last, I tried to get some clues from the gcode, but with my (kind of untrained) eyes, I didn't see anything remarkable... I uploaded the gcode as well.
Did anything like this happen to you before? Do you have any clue what could have happened?
Thank you very much for your help and your support!
Best,
Chris 
RE: Print stops extruding at exactly the same layer every time (Layer height 0.1)
I had the exact same thing happen to me, so I reloaded the model into the slicer, changed the print resolution and re-sliced. Printed perfectly.
Assuming there is some buggy code in there somewhere.
RE: Print stops extruding at exactly the same layer every time (Layer height 0.1)
I've also seen underextrusion + clogging a few times. Especially with low layer heights and in areas where there's not much filament flowing out (lots of details + retractions).
Sometimes raising the temperature helped, and sometimes I just switched back to 0.2 layer height.
On one special occurrence I had to fix/tighten my extruder gear.
Maybe check this out:
RE: Print stops extruding at exactly the same layer every time (Layer height 0.1)
I had the exact same thing happen to me, so I reloaded the model into the slicer, changed the print resolution and re-sliced. Printed perfectly.
Assuming there is some buggy code in there somewhere.
Hey, thanks for your answer! Yes, it's correct that changing the layer height works. Here are the same 4 Pokemon with a layer height of 0.2:
However, I think that a printer as close to perfect as the i3 MK3 is, should be able to print larger objects with high detail. So, I am still wondering what I could do to make that possible...
I've also seen underextrusion + clogging a few times. Especially with low layer heights and in areas where there's not much filament flowing out (lots of details + retractions).
Sometimes raising the temperature helped, and sometimes I just switched back to 0.2 layer height.
On one special occurrence I had to fix/tighten my extruder gear.
@andreas-d10: Thanks for your answer, as well! In my case, there is not much detail in that specific area, it should print the outer layer in one turn, so I don't think my problem is caused by that. But I checked the extruder gear and loosened it a bit because it felt a bit too strong- lets see if that helps!
RE: Print stops extruding at exactly the same layer every time (Layer height 0.1)
Okay, I adjusted the extruder gear, repaired the upper half of the model again and then printed at 0.15 layer height. This time I got around 8 hours of print and 3 cm of model until the same mistake happened. So, this time I got a bit further but still not to the end...
Right now, I am quite unhappy with the results. I’m going to try again at 0.2 layer height, but initially I wanted to display the Falcon as some kind of example of what the printer can do and how amazing it is. On the contrary, now I am starting to see the limits of the i3 MK3... Isn’t there anything else I could try?
Thanks again for your help, it is much appreciated!
Best
Chris
RE: Print stops extruding at exactly the same layer every time (Layer height 0.1)
Are you printing from the SD card? I have the same issue but it occurs only when I print from the the computer. Very frustrating!!! It does not make sense. I upgraded my computer USB card to a 3 and still it stops mid print when the connection is lost.
ANYONE HELP!!! My OCD is not going to let me accept defeat. Is it the transfer rate or some other setting? Does the rambo need ram so it can buffer? Short cord?
I would love to hear from anyone with consistent success at printing directly from their computer, without the use of a SD card.
Thanks, David
RE: Print stops extruding at exactly the same layer every time (Layer height 0.1)
ANYONE HELP!!! My OCD is not going to let me accept defeat.
Hey,
yes I am printing from SD Card. I'm still using the one which came with the printer, I just never bothered to look for another one. I'm working on getting Octoprint to run but I'm still waiting for a couple of parts and a camera to really set things up. The quote above was exactly what kept me going :D:D
Now, I finally managed to get the Falcon printed at 0.2 layer height! Still looks good (even though I wasted so much filament on the failed prints that on the last 20% of the print my gray filament ran out and I had to change to white 🤪 )
Anyway, now I know that it is possible to print that model- just not with a finer layer height... I still have no idea though why