Printed Part Quality

Poor jetting

Part crumbling - sections are crumbly or separate completely.

1. Clean the jets by soaking the printhead.
2. If this does not fix the issue, perform the Wet Binder System procedure.
3. If this does not fix the issue, contact your service provider.

Crumbling parts are those that “turn to dust” as they are being removed from the build bin. This is usually due to very poor printhead jetting and is most likely to occur on jobs having lots of thick parts. If part is crumbling:

1. Powder density was not high enough - see section below about short spreading.
2. Binder saturation not high enough to bind the powder.
3. A prolonged pause in printing can cause this. To prevent this, ensure that the printer has enough powder and binder before builds begin; and be sure not to purposefully pause a job for a long period.
4. Check the fault history on the touch screen to see if error 93-401 has occurred, or if there are other "degas vacuum faults." If either has occurred, or if steps 1-3 have not fixed the issue, contact your service provider.

Other information about poor jetting:

If the printer has been mistakenly powered off for too long, has recently completed an in-place cleaning, or has generally been sitting for an extended period of time, some recovery steps and time will be needed to restore jetting:

1. Run the jet printhead routine from the UI to move binder through the system.
2. Check the fault history for signs of degas vacuum faults. If faults are present, contact your service provider.
3. If the printer has been idle an extended period of time, or if there is evidence that the tethered caps have not been engaged the user should replace that binder with new binder.
4. Expect that after a dry-out or in-place cleaning, there is a time period with potentially lower jet quality. use the following tips for better printing:
   
   1. Reduce the number of layers that have many flat parts. Space these parts vertically instead (below, left). This is not necessary on most parts that are repeated in “tiers.”  Just those that are very flat or planar (below, right).
      
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   2. Due to geometries in the printhead, there may be cases where colored parts, when concentrated on certain areas across the width of each lane in 3D Sprint, can be prone to jetting issues. The image below shows the ideal locations for parts featuring the different colors.
      
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   3. If there are multiple parts with varying colors, it is generally better to repeat the common color across the lanes rather than putting them in a single lane.
      
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Severely warped/distorted parts

1. This is usually caused by insufficient drying time after the build completes. Allowing the full drying time, as seen on the printer's touch screen, is essential for creating the proper printed-part characteristics. For more-delicate parts, allow them to dry in the printer overnight before post-processing, especially if your facility is above 40% relative humidity. Green parts are too fragile to be handled.
2. Ensure that your operating environment matches the requirements of the Facility Requirements Guide.
3. Keep parts as flat as possible during handling and storage.
   
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Rough surface finish, voids, and jagged edges

Part of build bin caves in.

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This is usually caused by "short spreading," which occurs when not enough powder spreads to an individual layer in the Build Bin. This can happen with a full-height build of either one large part, or densely packed smaller parts. A build like this will use large amounts of binder, which can absorb enough powder that the volume of the ingredients in the build bin goes down. This can in turn cause a layer of fed powder not to spread evenly, causing the issues in the description at the left. These effects will only be seen in the top layers of the build. To troubleshoot this:

Orient your parts in 3D Sprint so that the longest part is perpendicular to the direction of powder spreading. Consider the following example:

Poor orientation - this orientation maximizes the potential for short spreading, as the powder might not spread completely over each part along the top layers.	Best orientation - the row of parts is now oriented such that powder does not have to spread along such a long way. Short spreading is not as likely here.

If filling the build plate, ensure that your parts are spread at least 5 mm apart.

Parts too close in x/y	Parts too close in y	Parts properly spaced
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Parts show wrinkling on one side

Layer shifting

This results from oversaturating the part and shows up on downward-facing surfaces, especially curved surfaces.

1. Reorient the part so that the down-facing surfaces are non-cosmetic.
   
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2. Try lowering the saturation by using Standard mode in 3D Sprint, or by creating a new build style with the saturation decreased by 2% or 3%.

This results from oversaturating the part and can result in some elongation in the Z direction.

1. Reorient the part in a way that makes the elongation less noticeable.
2. If more than one of the same part is being printed, orient all parts in the same direction so that they will all have the same shape.
   
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3. Try lowering the saturation by using Standard mode in 3D Sprint, or by creating a new build style with the saturation decreased by 2% or 3%.

Parts have mottled color appearance with rough surface finish. Some areas are much darker with higher binder concentration.

This is usually caused when the Saturation setting in 3D Sprint is set too high. To troubleshoot:

1. Lower Saturation by 3%.
2. Use Standard Print Mode, which already has lower Saturation settings.
3. Reused powder powder absorbs moisture from the air. New powder is best. For used powder, lowering outer saturation 3-4% can be effective.

Parts having banding or visible layers lines through one direction of the build.

Part is cracked, with a defined split occurring evenly at a single layer

This is usually caused by pausing a print for too long. Pausing a print is not recommended.

1. Do not intentionally pause a print if it can be avoided.
2. If you did not pause the job or are unsure, check binder levels and inspect the following printer areas for binder leaks: Binder Receiver and Non-Food Zones.
3. If still experiencing issues, contact your service provider.

Parts feature unintended coloring. Typically observed on white parts

Bad color mixing

This can be caused by different-colored parts being too close to each other in the Build Bin, or by the Printhead Station transferring binder to the Printhead.

1. In 3D Sprint, ensure that white, or lighter-colored parts are adequately spaced from colored parts.
2. Clean the Printhead Station. This issue is usually caused by cross contamination of colors on the printhead jet faceplate, which can be caused by the printhead station not cleaning the printhead well enough.

If colors within the build are mixing together:

1. Flush the printhead using binder.
2. If this does not fix the issue, perform an In-Place Cleaning Procedure.
3. If this does not fix the issue, contact your service provider.

Parts have been dragged within the build area, or display evidence of a sheared edge/break.

This can be caused by a dirty Roller/Roller Blade, or by the powder being unsifted or clumpy.

1. Clean the Roller, Roller Blade, and Printhead Station.
2. See the section Loading Powder in Feed Bin for information on sifting your powder properly.