Quality and troubleshooting

Start here

A print came out wrong and you need to know why. Work from the symptom: match what you can see on the part — ripples beside sharp corners, a step where the walls jump sideways, corners lifting off the plate — to the cause, then change one setting at a time and reprint the same test.

• 3D prints not sticking to the bedFirst layer problems: levelling, Z-offset, surface prep and temperature.
• Ringing and ghostingEchoes beside corners and text — belts, acceleration and frame stiffness.
• Layer shifts from loose beltsHow to check belt tension and what else pushes a print sideways mid-job.
• How to unclog a nozzlePartial and full clogs, and how to tell them apart before you strip the hotend.
• Diagnosing over-extrusionBlobs, bulging walls and dimensions that come out oversized.