<p>There are several problems, but lets start with a method for discovering them.</p>

<p>The first thing to do is look for any looseness or slop in the mechanism.  Try wiggling the hot end, looking for any free movement.  Try moving along the axes that move.  You haven't specified the machine, so I can't suggest the specific points to try moving.  If the bed moves, try wiggling the bed.  If the extruder moves, try wiggling the extruder on each movement axis.  Nothing should move at all until the motors skip.  </p>

<p>If the mechanism is fully tight (and from this picture, I expect it to have some "wiggle room"), you could follow by slowing the machine, including reducing the acceleration settings.  If you find something moving, you'll need to investigate why -- what is allowing the movement to happen.  On a belt-driven machine, the belts can be loose, but one can also get movement from loose set screws, motor mounts, hot-ends which are coming apart, or loose thrust bearings or nuts on threaded shafts.  Applying force to the parts that move during printing and watching for movement is the best diagnostic.</p>

<p>In the future, when asking questions it can be helpful to include the type of machine, any modifications you've made, and information about the printing conditions.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-11-11T04:02:06.333Z
2017-11-11T04:02:06.333Z
cmm
<p>I agree with @FernandoBaltazar. You have several things going on. If the problem is recent, you may have loose belts, but you may also need to perform acceleration and jerk tuning. Reducing your print speeds may also help.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-11-11T03:50:43.587Z
Totally agree.  I was about to answer this.  There is severe backlash in the mechanism, likely because of a loose belt of flexible coupling.  The overshoot on all four corners could also be caused by the hot end being loose, and free to wiggle too much.
cmm
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-11-11T03:46:19.287Z
2017-11-11T03:46:19.287Z
Mick
<p>Recently my printer has been creating double images along the X-axis, I just printed a calibration cube after checking all of my rods to make sure nothing was catching and here was my result:
<a href="https://i.sstatic.net/vAqB6.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/vAqB6.jpg" alt="Calibration Cube"></a>
It looks like there is another X to the right of the X that is supposed to be, would this be a retraction problem, or could it be a problem with the filament because I printed a calibration cube with another filament a couple of weeks ago and there was no double X.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-11-11T02:13:49.003Z
Seems to be a several problems with your settings. Temperature too high for the quality filament, speed printing, aceleration printing and coast, due the problems appears also in Y axis.
Fernando Baltazar
<prusa-i3><pla><ramps-1.4><calibration>
Double Image Along X Axis
Loanb222
# Double Image Along X Axis

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-11-11)

Recently my printer has been creating double images along the X-axis, I just printed a calibration cube after checking all of my rods to make sure nothing was catching and here was my result:
[![Calibration Cube](https://i.sstatic.net/vAqB6.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/vAqB6.jpg)
It looks like there is another X to the right of the X that is supposed to be, would this be a retraction problem, or could it be a problem with the filament because I printed a calibration cube with another filament a couple of weeks ago and there was no double X.

**Tags:** prusa-i3, pla, ramps-1.4, calibration
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Seems to be a several problems with your settings. Temperature too high for the quality filament, speed printing, aceleration printing and coast, due the problems appears also in Y axis.  

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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2017-11-11. Score: 3 | Accepted answer

I agree with @FernandoBaltazar. You have several things going on. If the problem is recent, you may have loose belts, but you may also need to perform acceleration and jerk tuning. Reducing your print speeds may also help.

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: Totally agree.  I was about to answer this.  There is severe backlash in the mechanism, likely because of a loose belt of flexible coupling.  The overshoot on all four corners could also be caused by the hot end being loose, and free to wiggle too much.  

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### Answer by username_2 on 2017-11-11. Score: 1

There are several problems, but lets start with a method for discovering them.

The first thing to do is look for any looseness or slop in the mechanism. Try wiggling the hot end, looking for any free movement. Try moving along the axes that move. You haven't specified the machine, so I can't suggest the specific points to try moving. If the bed moves, try wiggling the bed. If the extruder moves, try wiggling the extruder on each movement axis. Nothing should move at all until the motors skip.

If the mechanism is fully tight (and from this picture, I expect it to have some "wiggle room"), you could follow by slowing the machine, including reducing the acceleration settings. If you find something moving, you'll need to investigate why -- what is allowing the movement to happen. On a belt-driven machine, the belts can be loose, but one can also get movement from loose set screws, motor mounts, hot-ends which are coming apart, or loose thrust bearings or nuts on threaded shafts. Applying force to the parts that move during printing and watching for movement is the best diagnostic.

In the future, when asking questions it can be helpful to include the type of machine, any modifications you've made, and information about the printing conditions.


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