After a few hundred print jobs you start seeing the same problems on repeat. Most are easy fixes once you know what's going on. Here are the five we see most.
1. A weak first layer
Your first layer is a part's foundation. If it isn't flat against the plate, every layer above it is doomed. The fix:
- Clean the build plate with isopropyl alcohol before every print.
- Re-level the bed if you haven't in a few weeks.
- Slow the first layer to 30 mm/s and turn the squish up a notch.
2. Warping at the corners
Corners lift because plastic shrinks as it cools, and the corners cool fastest. PLA does this less than PETG, but both can. The fix:
- Turn on a brim in your slicer — gives the corners more contact area.
- Close the printer's enclosure or block any direct draft.
- For PETG specifically, drop part-cooling fan to 30% for the first few layers.
3. Stringing between features
Thin little hairs strung between two parts of your print. Almost always a retraction or temperature issue:
- Increase retraction distance by 0.5 mm increments and re-test.
- Drop nozzle temp 5°C.
- Make sure your filament is dry — wet filament strings badly.
4. Layer shifts
The whole print suddenly offsets sideways halfway through. Always mechanical:
- Check belts — they should be taut, not loose.
- Make sure the printer isn't being bumped (kids, cats, that dryer next to it).
- Slow down: most layer shifts happen above 200 mm/s on entry-level hardware.
5. Walls that crumble
If your part snaps along the layer lines, the layers aren't bonding. Common causes:
- Nozzle temp too low — bump it 5°C at a time.
- Part-cooling fan too aggressive — drop to 50%.
- Filament that's been sitting in humid air for months. Dry it in a food dehydrator at 50°C for 6 hours.
Most "bad prints" aren't bad printers — they're inputs that need a small tweak. Once you fix the underlying cause once, you usually don't see that problem again.
And if your part keeps misbehaving no matter what you try, send it to us. Sometimes the geometry just doesn't print well on the orientation you've chosen, and we'll re-orient + slice it for you.