<p><strong>Filament type should have nothing to do with the issues you are facing</strong>. This is a mechanical issue or a slicing/scaling issue. The hotend should, if instructed to go to 20 mm height actually go to 20 mm (it did do that before!), it cannot "lose" 2 mm on the way up unless you have a lot of lost steps (e.g. too much load on the carriage pressing it down, but that seems pretty unlikely). Typical variations for Z are in the order of a few tenths of a mm for a properly dialed in printer.</p>

<p>Please note that the Z axis is usually controlled by a leadscrew (<em>your printer type and brand is not known, but if you have a Prusa style printer or some sort of a cube you'll have a leadscrew, Delta's have belts</em>), so once you dialed this in, the head will go to the instructed height. </p>

<p>Reasoning to your observations: If it was under-extrusion because of lower diameter filament, the last few layers should have been falling out of the hotend (considering the head goes to 20 mm and the print is 18 mm high). This is not the case; you have not described that kind of behavior. </p>

<p>The most likely problem is a <strong>slicing or scaling problem</strong>.</p>

<p>The answer to your question is therefore: <strong><em>"No you do not need to calibrate the Z height."</em></strong>. But when changing to another filament you <em>could</em> calibrate the extruder for this new filament; if the diameter is not far off you do not need to do that, but you could if you are into details.</p>

<hr>

<p><sub>Preferably questions like these need to <strong><em>include a picture of the print</em></strong> and the <strong><em>printer type</em></strong>!</sub></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-09-27T18:34:35.810Z
2018-09-28T12:31:17.820Z
2018-09-28T12:31:17.820Z
0scar
<p>I used to print with PLA and everything in my printer was calibrated. But I got a new type of filament called Poly Hybrid from a friend of mine. When I print a 20 mm cube, the x and y axes are fine but z axis in cube is about 18 mm. </p>

<p>Should I calibrate my printer z axis again for this new filament type? Because I couldn't find any option in Slic3r in filament tab to set layer height.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-09-27T16:16:21.013Z
Have you measured your filament, with calipers, at several locations, and compared this to readings from the other filament?
Davo
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-09-27T16:34:44.143Z
@Davo Yes I measured new filament diameter in first 1 meter and it was exactly 1.75 mm. But i didn't do it for my previous filament. OMG I calibrated my printer with previous one
hamidfzm
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-09-27T17:50:29.007Z
could you tell what kind of printer do you have?
profesor79
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-09-27T18:35:09.290Z
@profesor79 Good call, maybe the OP can add an image of the print as well!
0scar
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-09-28T11:41:26.167Z
Either your drivers miss a step, your axis connectors are loose or your steps/mm config is faulty.
dgrat
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-09-28T13:02:42.150Z
Go back and re-try with the old filament to verify that does -- or doesn't -- move correctly in Z.  But Oscar's answer pretty much proves it can't be a problem with the filament itself.
Carl Witthoft
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-10-01T08:37:17.147Z
@HamidFzM Please add your printer brand/type and an image of the test print to your question.
0scar
<filament><slic3r><calibration>
20x20x20 calibration cube size change after switching filament
hamidfzm
# 20x20x20 calibration cube size change after switching filament

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-09-27)

I used to print with PLA and everything in my printer was calibrated. But I got a new type of filament called Poly Hybrid from a friend of mine. When I print a 20 mm cube, the x and y axes are fine but z axis in cube is about 18 mm.

Should I calibrate my printer z axis again for this new filament type? Because I couldn't find any option in Slic3r in filament tab to set layer height.

**Tags:** filament, slic3r, calibration

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Have you measured your filament, with calipers, at several locations, and compared this to readings from the other filament?  
> **username_0**: @username_1 Yes I measured new filament diameter in first 1 meter and it was exactly 1.75 mm. But i didn't do it for my previous filament. OMG I calibrated my printer with previous one  
> **username_2**: could you tell what kind of printer do you have?  
> **username_3**: @username_2 Good call, maybe the OP can add an image of the print as well!  
> **username_4**: Either your drivers miss a step, your axis connectors are loose or your steps/mm config is faulty.  
> **username_5**: Go back and re-try with the old filament to verify that does -- or doesn't -- move correctly in Z.  But Oscar's answer pretty much proves it can't be a problem with the filament itself.  
> **username_3**: @HamidFzM Please add your printer brand/type and an image of the test print to your question.  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2018-09-27. Score: 6

**Filament type should have nothing to do with the issues you are facing**. This is a mechanical issue or a slicing/scaling issue. The hotend should, if instructed to go to 20 mm height actually go to 20 mm (it did do that before!), it cannot "lose" 2 mm on the way up unless you have a lot of lost steps (e.g. too much load on the carriage pressing it down, but that seems pretty unlikely). Typical variations for Z are in the order of a few tenths of a mm for a properly dialed in printer.

Please note that the Z axis is usually controlled by a leadscrew (*your printer type and brand is not known, but if you have a Prusa style printer or some sort of a cube you'll have a leadscrew, Delta's have belts*), so once you dialed this in, the head will go to the instructed height.

Reasoning to your observations: If it was under-extrusion because of lower diameter filament, the last few layers should have been falling out of the hotend (considering the head goes to 20 mm and the print is 18 mm high). This is not the case; you have not described that kind of behavior.

The most likely problem is a **slicing or scaling problem**.

The answer to your question is therefore: ***"No you do not need to calibrate the Z height."***. But when changing to another filament you *could* calibrate the extruder for this new filament; if the diameter is not far off you do not need to do that, but you could if you are into details.

---

Preferably questions like these need to ***include a picture of the print*** and the ***printer type***!


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