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My 3D print has holes and grooves in the top layer

3D Printing Help Centre

3D PRINTING HELP CENTRE

In the 123-3D help centre, we answer all your questions about 3D software and printer settings, problems you may experience during or after 3D printing and other 3D-related topics.

My 3D print has holes and grooves in the top layer

Is the outer layer of your print marked by grooves? Then it may be that you have set too few 'solid' top layers. When you choose to reduce your infill to save filament and/or printing time, the outer layers have to bridge these hollow spaces. This allows the filament to sink and grooves are created.

How can you prevent the formation of grooves in the outer print layer?

The origin of these grooves has everything to do with the infill percentage and the phenomenon that is also known as bridging. There are several solutions to this problem, which we explain below.

  • Increase the number of solid top layers

    For an even outer layer, it is important that it is at least 0.5mm thick. If you print with a layer height of 0.3mm, this means that you need at least 2 solid top layers for your 3D print. If you print with a thickness of 0.1mm, this must be at least 5. Do you notice that when printing, for example, 2 layers, grooves are formed? Then increase the number of solid top layers to 4 or 5 and see if the result improves.

  • Increase the infill percentage

    The infill forms the foundation of your 3D print. When this percentage is too low, large empty spaces are created that must be bridged by the top layers. If you have chosen an infill percentage of, for example, 30%, increase this value to 50% to reinforce the structure on the inside and thus also the outside.

There are grooves in the outer layer of my print

If you still have grooves in the outer layer after increasing the number of solid top layers and the infill percentage, you may be suffering from under-extrusion. This is the phenomenon where the extruder feeds too little filament to the nozzle. This can lead to holes in your 3D print and even the entirety of layers to be missing. In our article on under extrusion, you can read more about reconising and solving this printing problem.

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