Shifted layers usually happen due to the hotend hitting the printed object while it is traveling from one point to another over the print.
- If you’re printing really thin layers (under 0.15 mm), try turning on z-hop by going to Expert > Open expert settings > Z shop when retracting. Set the z-hop setting to 1-2mm. This will have the hotend move up 1-2mm before traveling to a new point on the print. Note that you may now have extra stringing on your print because the hotend will hop from one point to another and won’t be wiping itself on the print.
- Make sure your part is sticking to the bed. If it begins to warp, it will cause the hotend to hit the printed object.
- Finally, a somewhat unknown fact, is that sometimes it’s not the printer or the slicing settings that are at fault. It’s possible that the model itself has issues that need to be fixed. You won’t be able to see this by looking at the model and it’s rarely possible to notice it when checking the sliced layers. The way to fix this is to clean up the model using Netfabb’s online model repair tool. You can also download the free version of Netfabb and fix it from within the program using the repair feature. It’s good practice to run models through Netfabb’s online repair engine before attempting a print as it can help clean up the model and as a result generate cleaner gcode instructions for your 3D printer. Even if your model prints without issues, this can help reduce print time and make it print nicer.
