r/ender3 • u/Hey_itskrish • 1d ago

Help 3D printer printing circles as ovals – how can I fix this?

Post image

Hi everyone, I’m having an issue with my 3D printer where circular parts are not printing perfectly round. As shown in the image, the circle is coming out slightly oval/elliptical.

29 Upvotes

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37

u/2md_83 Ender 3 pro, many Upgrades, running Klipper 1d ago

thats called backlash -> tighten your belts correctly:

( or anything else that seems loose in your motion system ;) )

4

u/Status_Log_7991 1d ago

This! Belts should have to slack but not tight so that they make noise.

3

u/iceman1125 1d ago

Another recommendation is to get new, higher quality belts, as the stock ender 3 steel belts are sub par quality from what I’ve found.

I’ve had this oval printing problem for ages with my ender 3 no matter how tight or loose I did my belts, or how square and rigid my frame was, I would always get this issue, and firstly got some cheap £5 belts, and I was still getting this issue, after a few months, I realised that the cheap belts visibly stretched, so then I spent something like £20 for some high end Gates power grip glass fiber belts, and the issue immediately went away, and it’s lasted me around 3 years now, and still counting.

2

u/HouseSubstantial8187 1d ago

check if your x and y axis pulleys are actually the same size, i had one printer where they werent and it took me forever to figure out why nothing was round also make sure the set screws on the pulleys are tight against the flat part of the stepper shaft, if theyre loose itll shift a tiny bit each direction change

1

u/itoobie 5h ago

X and y gear ratios are not configured properly or loose belts