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beginner issues, how to identify cause?
(sopuli.xyz)
I just assembled my new Anycubic Kobra 2, performed an auto level and tried to print the 30min benchy file they include on the micro SD card that it ships with. No other modifications of adjustments made. It printed in pretty much exactly the 30min the advertised.
It's think it did OK, but with obvious issues. Since I'm new to the hobby I don't know exactly what to expect and how to identify print quality issues.
My benchy looks like this:
That looks pretty good, but I think your initial layer is starting too close to the print bed, so you have too much "squish" or elephant foot going on down there. I presume your printer has a textured bed, or if it's reversible you did that textured side up. I certainly hope so.
You may also want to turn up your retraction a little bit to see if you can get rid of those blobs on what I assume are the Z seam. Before panicking, though -- dry out your filament. You may find that this eliminates a lot of mystery print quality issues. You can buy a dedicated filament dryer, or if you have a dehydrator or oven that can go to a low temperature, like 45 or 50 degrees C, that will also work.
I will second the drying filament statement. It's genuinely shocking the difference it can make. Pretty much every metric is improved by using properly dried filament.
There are also food dehydrator mods out there on thingiverse/printables to convert a cylindrical dehydrator to work for filament without butchering the stands that come with it. Plus side is you can also make beef jerky with it :P