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Tyler's printer

Discussion in 'Show and Tell' started by TylerJones4292, Dec 20, 2013.

  1. TylerJones4292

    TylerJones4292 New Member

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    I ran into some snags installing the E3D and ceased all work on the printer for quite a long time, but I finally got back to it and now it's successfully installed. I printed a fan holder and cable holder and am constantly amazed when I come back to check on my prints in progress that they haven't failed. It's... refreshing.
     
  2. tesseract

    tesseract Moderator
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    The other more critical factor is setting the max extruder temp to be higher than the default approx 235C degree the major benefit from teh E3d is that it can reach much higher temps and in order to utilize this you need to adjust that setting

    #define HEATER_0_MAXTEMP 330

    is what mine is set to

    not sure what the original one is as it has been a long time since I changed it
     
  3. TylerJones4292

    TylerJones4292 New Member

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    All of my prints except one have been going smoothly since getting my E3D going. I occasionally have sloppy first layers, but that may just be a leveling issue. I've got a depth gauge that I still need to use to sort that out. Aside from that, I occasionally get sloppy bridges and corners that curl up on certain types of structures.
    [​IMG]
    I'm printing at 200/190, so maybe the temperature is a bit high?
     
  4. SteveC

    SteveC Well-Known Member

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    Tyler, Messing around with your filament cooling settings. They may help a lot with the curling issues. In the Z support print above the top layers have a low surface area so they take very little time before going over a just printed layer. If that layer has not had time to cool it will start to curl. If it is PLA you can keep the fan settings pretty high. ABS takes some experimenting to get it right. There are a lot of tradeoffs between fan speed, print speed, curling, warping and delamination.
     
  5. TylerJones4292

    TylerJones4292 New Member

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    Since getting my E3D on I've been loving my 3D printer again, but a few little things haven't been going right. Overhangs and bridges get pretty droopy, and I hadn't made a calibration object since installing the new hotend, so I went ahead and did the 5mm stairs. Here's what I got: (click to enlarge)
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    I'm printing at 0.2mm layer height, 0.3 infill, 200 degrees first layer, 190 for the rest. Just about all the rest of the complicated stuff (speed, cooling, etc.) is default as far as I recall.

    Not sure what the curl on the front corner is. That hasn't happened before. Otherwise everything looks neat from this side. It looks much more harsh in the photo due to the lighting than it does in real life. From the back you can see more of the filament droop in the small bridged areas.

    I have these fan mounts on my machine. The thin wall on the fan attached to the heat sink broke partway, and I'm worried that the other fan might be picking up some of the warm air from the heat sink. Not sure if that's a real thing worth worrying about, though.
     
  6. tesseract

    tesseract Moderator
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    To me that appears to be just slightly too warm of aprint temp I would try F190 and O185 or F195 and O190 and see how it looks then I believe you sill see an improvement.

    I would also print these objects at 100%infill
     
  7. SteveC

    SteveC Well-Known Member

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    Is your print fan mount printed in ABS or PLA? I would not worry if it is ABS. Mine was PLA/PHA and I had no problem. The area around that heat sink really does not get all that hot. Tonycstech's modified E3D fan shroud has some really thin sections so I modified it to add some reinforcement ribs and it is plenty strong now. I used ABS for the E3D fan.

    Follow Tesseract's advice and play with the temperature. I have no idea what the default cooling settings are so can't comment there. If you get it set right you should be able to make perfect 30mm+ bridges no problem.
     
  8. TylerJones4292

    TylerJones4292 New Member

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    I printed it again at five degrees and then ten degrees lower. Both looked pretty much the same. Here's the one at 190/180:
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
     
  9. TylerJones4292

    TylerJones4292 New Member

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    Is it possible that the orientation of my E3D is blocking some of the cool air?
    [​IMG]
     
  10. Mike Kelly

    Mike Kelly Volunteer

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    Not really. A little, but airflow is airflow
     
  11. TylerJones4292

    TylerJones4292 New Member

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    I printed some bridge testing models and turned the bridging speed down to 15mm/sec, and bridges are much better now.

    With that mostly solved I feel like I have all the basics of PLA printing down. I am printing very reliably in PLA at 190/180 degrees with 0.3 infill and otherwise default settings. I have a few small issues with bed leveling that I should be able to clear up as soon. I printed Tesseract's bed leveler and am waiting on some springs to arrive. That's only a problem on very large prints, though.

    I haven't used support materials yet. Slic3r's always look really ugly, but I want to test out Meshmixers supports some time soon.

    When that stuff is all figured out I want to make some large pieces like the VEND printable vending machine, or complex multi part pieces like the open-source action figure and other articulated stuff.

    If I want to make finer resolution prints, is there anything I should be aware of before setting the layer height down and going for it?
     
  12. SteveC

    SteveC Well-Known Member

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    Tyler, FYI I have bridging at 85mm/s for various ABS and Colorfab PLA/PHA reels and can get 40mm bridges (E3D). Is the filament snapping at the faster default bridge speeds for you?

    Setting the layer height lower just takes more time! At 0.1mm you might need to play with the cooling on some filaments and structures.
     
  13. TylerJones4292

    TylerJones4292 New Member

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    My faster bridges were drooping a lot, maybe because the hot print head went back over/near the recently deposited areas so soon after laying them down?
     
  14. SteveC

    SteveC Well-Known Member

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    Yeah, that's strange. I thought that faster/cooling fan/lower extrude temp all should correlate with less bridge drooping and that too much of any can cause snapping not drooping. It's always hard to predict how all the variables interact.
     
  15. TylerJones4292

    TylerJones4292 New Member

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    My most recent project has been making all of the parts for a VEND open source vending machine. I got them all done except for the body, which says it's going to take 30+ hours. My printer is in my room and I can't run it all night.

    Dang.
     
  16. TylerJones4292

    TylerJones4292 New Member

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    I'm getting a slight leftward drift on my prints. It seems to happen some time during the first layer, as it becomes apparent when the second layer perimeter is being drawn (first pic, I also got a feed error/clogged nozzle but I don't think that's related). But I think it happens during the first layer and not between them because on larger prints, some edges of the infill don't meet the perimeter and curl up on the right side (second pic, taken from behind so it appears on the left side). This seems to have been happening for a while now. Sometimes it isn't a problem, sometimes it is, but I wish I could make it go away. Again, after the first layer, everything is usually fine.

    My x-belt is pretty tight and I fastened down the print head wobble I was experiencing earlier. Anyone know what might be causing this? I'm using an XXL LCD screen now instead of tethering to my PC, but it was happening even back then. I'm still printing in PLA only, generally at 200/190, and slicing my prints in Repetier.

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
     
  17. 1d1

    1d1 Active Member

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    It still appears to be an x shift if those pics are oriented square to the front of the printer. Do you have any kind of belt tensioner on the x belt? Have you made sure the set screw on the drive pulley is tight and set with locktite? If those things are in place, you want to get your belt to have a mild, low twang when plucked like a guitar string. If it thuds, too loose. And if it is too tight, the same symptoms can appear, but your stepper motor will get hot from the strain while printing and/or get loud. You are very close to correct!
     
  18. TylerJones4292

    TylerJones4292 New Member

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    I have a belt tensioner on the x belt, but I don't think it's too tight. It twangs, but not a very high twang. I haven't messed with the set screw yet. I was looking at it earlier when I was trying to figure out another problem but it turned out to be something else, so I didn't change anything. Also I'm not sure if I had the right tools to adjust it with.
     
  19. 1d1

    1d1 Active Member

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    If your tensioner is adjustable, just start experimenting. You get your answers early in the print, at least, so it may take a little time and effort, but there will be an answer for you.On mine, I have only a hint of "twang" and am closer to thud than most recommend.
     
  20. Mike Kelly

    Mike Kelly Volunteer

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    If you have spare zip ties, I would just try replacing the stock ones, tightening the belt up as best as you can (with no mechanical tensioner on it), zip it back down, then put the tensioner back on. Should get it to the proper tightness that way.
     

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