<p>I'm trying to print lithophanes and having an issue with the nozzle moving through the previous layer and basically &quot;drawing&quot; through the print.</p>
<p>I've printed 3 lithophanes before with zero issues. Here are the settings for those:
0.4 mm nozzle</p>
<ul>
<li>PLA</li>
<li>Temperatures
<ul>
<li>nozzle temperature 210 °C</li>
<li>bed 70 °C</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>0.12 mm layer height</li>
<li>manual bed leveling</li>
<li>30 mm/s speed</li>
<li>stock Ender 3 mainboard</li>
</ul>
<p>Here's the settings for the prints I'm doing now with the 0.2 mm nozzle:</p>
<ul>
<li>PLA</li>
<li>Temperatures
<ul>
<li>nozzle 210 °C</li>
<li>bed temp 70 ° C</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>0.12mm layer height</li>
<li>BLTouch auto bed leveling</li>
<li>20 mm/s speed</li>
<li>BigTreeTech mainboard</li>
</ul>
<p>Here's what I've done and looked at to fix it:</p>
<ul>
<li>Calibrated extruder</li>
<li>manual bed leveling, then ABL</li>
<li>calibrated Z offset</li>
<li>checked for flat spots on rollers, there are none</li>
<li>tried including a Z hop with little success.</li>
</ul>
<p>I've referenced the following articles without solving the problem.
<a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/4692/nozzle-rubs-on-previous-layers">Nozzle rubs on previous layers</a></p>
<p><a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/13358/ender-3-nozzle-gets-closer-and-closer-to-the-previous-layer-as-the-print-progres">Ender 3 nozzle gets closer and closer to the previous layer as the print progresses</a></p>
<p>Below are the two lithophanes, the first one successful and the second the failure. I have tried going back to the 0.4 mm nozzle and the old settings but I'm getting the same failures. The biggest difference is the mainboard switch and adding the BLTouch. I don't have any issues with my other prints (more traditional 3D models) only lithophanes. Any help and ideas would be appreciated.</p>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/dQUzt.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/dQUzt.jpg" alt="successful lithophane" /></a></p>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/cNsJr.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/cNsJr.jpg" alt="failed lithophane" /></a></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-12-20T03:42:54.103Z
lithoophanes are printed standing, not laying.
Trish
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-12-20T06:05:44.383Z
Wouldn't it tip over from being too thin? Every reference I've seen has it lying flat on bed.  I tried to generate supports in Cura and supports would barely touch it and didn't branch out far enough.
ry_ol
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-12-20T08:37:14.967Z
in any case, the lower print does show a lot of overextrusion. like... wrong steps/mm setting.
Trish
<creality-ender-3><z-axis><nozzle><bigtreetech>
Ender 3 nozzle moves through previous layer on lithophane
ry_ol
# Ender 3 nozzle moves through previous layer on lithophane

(Asked by: username_0 on 2020-12-19)

I'm trying to print lithophanes and having an issue with the nozzle moving through the previous layer and basically "drawing" through the print.

I've printed 3 lithophanes before with zero issues. Here are the settings for those:
0.4 mm nozzle

* PLA
* Temperatures
  + nozzle temperature 210 °C
  + bed 70 °C
* 0.12 mm layer height
* manual bed leveling
* 30 mm/s speed
* stock Ender 3 mainboard

Here's the settings for the prints I'm doing now with the 0.2 mm nozzle:

* PLA
* Temperatures
  + nozzle 210 °C
  + bed temp 70 ° C
* 0.12mm layer height
* BLTouch auto bed leveling
* 20 mm/s speed
* BigTreeTech mainboard

Here's what I've done and looked at to fix it:

* Calibrated extruder
* manual bed leveling, then ABL
* calibrated Z offset
* checked for flat spots on rollers, there are none
* tried including a Z hop with little success.

I've referenced the following articles without solving the problem.
[Nozzle rubs on previous layers](https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/4692/nozzle-rubs-on-previous-layers)

[Ender 3 nozzle gets closer and closer to the previous layer as the print progresses](https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/13358/ender-3-nozzle-gets-closer-and-closer-to-the-previous-layer-as-the-print-progres)

Below are the two lithophanes, the first one successful and the second the failure. I have tried going back to the 0.4 mm nozzle and the old settings but I'm getting the same failures. The biggest difference is the mainboard switch and adding the BLTouch. I don't have any issues with my other prints (more traditional 3D models) only lithophanes. Any help and ideas would be appreciated.

[![successful lithophane](https://i.sstatic.net/dQUzt.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/dQUzt.jpg)

[![failed lithophane](https://i.sstatic.net/cNsJr.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/cNsJr.jpg)

**Tags:** creality-ender-3, z-axis, nozzle, bigtreetech

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: lithoophanes are printed standing, not laying.  
> **username_0**: Wouldn't it tip over from being too thin? Every reference I've seen has it lying flat on bed.  I tried to generate supports in Cura and supports would barely touch it and didn't branch out far enough.  
> **username_1**: in any case, the lower print does show a lot of overextrusion. like... wrong steps/mm setting.  

---

## 0 answers

