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ROBO arrived... broken

Discussion in 'Off Topic' started by 1d1, Oct 28, 2013.

  1. 1d1

    1d1 Active Member

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    Finally. The Fed-Ex guy brought my ROBO today and upon opening it, the boro/heated bed was in pieces. It is completely split across the rear two mounting studs and renders the printer unusable at the moment. One corner is shattered so I would guess it got some rough treatment along the way. Further, the Z axis rods were free floating out of their sockets. Having replaced them where they apparently belong, the whole z-axis assembly is still remarkably wobbly. Achieving repeatable results would shock me with this sort of play. However, I am a NOOB - should this assembly have a vast amount of play?
    Also, the screw provided for the filament holder dowel is a very nice stainless unit.. a couple of sizes too large for the insert in the dowel.
    I have submitted an e-mail to the ROBO guys and hope to hear back soon. It is exceptionally frustrating to have waited for so long, get it, and still not be able to use it. I shall be disassembling things later today and at least take the opportunity to check, lube, tighten and cry.
     
  2. NickW

    NickW New Member

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    Man that sucks. I am sure your situation will be taken care of quickly concerning the BORO glass. if you don't hear from the ROBO guys within a day or two I would recommend sending a message to Harry, he seems to be well connected with them and as far as I can tell assisted with other matters very quickly. I am also a NOOB with 3d printers like you so I am interested in seeing what seasoned members say about the filament holder screw, I feel like that would have to be done purposefully if it is wrong. Finally I would venture that the z axis assembly would need to be tightened somewhere, however I don't know how to tighten it, if I am even right. Good luck with everything and I hope you can print soon!
     
  3. 1d1

    1d1 Active Member

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    Well, further examination has revealed the reason for all that play on the z axis: the brackets that mount the guide rods to the chassis are both completely broken. My guess would be that the same event that broke the heat bed also broke those brackets. Further, the main wires to the heat bed were not screwed in at the board end. When I was checking them before removing them, they just came right out. Then I found that the belt for the motor that actually moves the bed had been installed backwards - i.e., the smooth side was routed around the stepper pulley instead of the ribbed side.
    My guess is that the China models need some serious QC they aren't yet getting. On the plus side, I am learning a great deal about the printer and finding problems before even turning it on. My hope is that this will significantly reduce the amount of troubleshooting when I finally get to plug it in. Further, the wiring has been completely cleaned up in terms of extra wire. However, the two main wires for the heat bed, in addition to being loose, had been spliced to be long enough to reach the board. Nice splices... but didn't follow the color code and so my brown and black wires become red and green somewhere along the loom.
    This 3D printing experience is awesome!
     
  4. Ben Lindstrom

    Ben Lindstrom Active Member

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    It may.. it may not. =) My experience (as a noob to 3d printing) was more building a set of processes around checking the bed level, how to level, general rituals around what to do when starting a print. Rituals around what I need to look for on the first few layers before I can mostly ignore it while watching TV...

    The construction aspect was only useful when I found the bed needed extra help in being level. =)
     
  5. 1d1

    1d1 Active Member

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    ROBO comes through on customer service! Issues identified and an agreement on how to proceed with parts on the way - all in less than 24 hours. I don't get to print yet, but I feel confident the problems will get taken care of soon. Yay, ROBO.
     
    2 people like this.
  6. Das Wookie

    Das Wookie Active Member

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    They have been VERY responsive to issues with shipping problems and mechanical/electrical user issues.... and yeah, the wire colors change... frequently. The hotend is 3rd party, so that's one of the issues there with wire color change. They are putting the printers together with disparate sub assemblies. It saves us $$$, but there are some issues which when put together by somebody like Makerbot who own and control the whole manufacturing process allows for some extra touches like that. Of course, you'll also pay 2.5 times as much as we are for our printers!!! I'll take the few startup issues and growing pains the robo guys are having and help where I can with finding and fixing issues. My printer died after 18 hours of use. {shrug} It'll get fixed. I'll carry on. We are getting an INCREDIBLE deal with our printers still, and have good support thus far so I'm impressed with what they have managed to accomplish thus far. As time goes on, QC will improve. Every issue we identify will add to the quality for the next batch.
     
  7. 1d1

    1d1 Active Member

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    Update: my parts order arrived yesterday... without the heated bed. Still, I have a screw that threads into the filament holder on even if it is a bit too long and the lucite rod droops, but, hey. It threads. The z-stabilizers are just like the originals and made that whole thing stable as it should be. Jerry @ tech support got right back to me and they shipped a heated bed off on the same day so in another WEEK I shall maybe get to test the printer.
    In the meantime it is a little like a summer romance - getting to know someone more and more intimately until the day finally arrives when it seems you might go the distance for the very first time... and her father catches you, or she trips over the end of the bed and breaks her leg or you suddenly have a psychotic break because she says NO! at the most critical moment possible twice.. a week apart.. I just hope my screams didn't scare the FedEx guy and keep him from returning. Now that would suck.
     
  8. Das Wookie

    Das Wookie Active Member

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    You should still be able to print with PLA without the heated bed... I'm assuming you have the glass, and it's just missing the heating element??? Or is your full build platform missing? If so, you could likely use something else in the interim. RepRaps in the early days initially used even just regular old glass from the hardware store clipped or taped onto plywood.
     
  9. 1d1

    1d1 Active Member

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    I know, Matt. It is a broken boro bed that I could almost use for a template if it wasn't so broken. Or I could measure everything, cut the plywood, drill the holes (knowing me, at least once), mount the bed, calibrate the whole thing, use some tape or glass or garolite and print away. Or I can wait until Wednesday next and mount the bed once, calibrate once, drill and cut nothing. Having already waited since last Feb. when I joined the KS group, I can hold on for a few more days. It is just frustrating. And if there was no hope of ever receiving a bed, I would have already made my own. But hey, at least I know it it will be here before Christmas!
     
  10. Das Wookie

    Das Wookie Active Member

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    :) Calibrate once... that's so... CUTE! :)

    I get what yer saying tho. Wasn't sure what the timeline for replacement parts would be. I expected my replacement printhead would take days. Took 2.5 weeks. Got here eventually. Looking at my dead printer strewn about my studio nearly killed me... quite a few of us know your pain! :)
     
  11. 1d1

    1d1 Active Member

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    Golly. I never thought I'd be CUTE! Thanks, Matt!:)
    But, uh, yeah. Once and done on the ol' calibration. Once I have it, I'm setting everything in place with CA - belts, gears, etc.
    Painless.
     
  12. Das Wookie

    Das Wookie Active Member

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    Won't work. Nice thought, but that's not how it'll pan out. Change filament, you will have to adjust one thing... change layer height / detail level... you'll have to adjust layer height. Throw the nuts, and you'll have to recalibrate again. You'll see. Don't worry. We'll be here to listen to your nightmare screams and help ya' get your issues sorted.

    I'm on day 7 of printing, and I'm still learning a LOT each day... but one thing I've learned for certain is "lock the calibration" isn't possible.
     
  13. Das Wookie

    Das Wookie Active Member

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    Heck, I recalibrate WHILE PRINTING sometimes by adjusting the Z axis if I don't like the way the first layer is laying down...
     
  14. tesseract

    tesseract Moderator
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    if you are adjusting the the screw mounted on the x axis chasis then you are not doing anything to the current print unless you re home and restart. If you are adjusting the threaded rods know that you are simply making adjusts to one side and for that location on the bed you would be far better of leveling teh bed
     
  15. Das Wookie

    Das Wookie Active Member

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    Yes it's the threaded rods I'm adjusting for the Z axis. My problem is getting the two sides adjusted to one another. I might have the right side working great, but the left side could be off just enough that I don't like the way the skirt is laying down so I adjust it a minor amount... then during the first layer I might end up having to adjust it a little more because I'm getting extra material pile up either due to too much being extruded or because my Z height isn't right for that layer height. Still learning. Still adjusting. My bed is pretty level... my back left corner is lower than the front right by about .008" and that throws off just enough that a large flat print typically has to be printed in the front right corner-ish area of the print bed. Yeah, I can shim it and level it. For now, I'm just avoiding using that part of the bed. I'm still having the Left/Right issues there tho, regardless of the Front/Back level. {shrug}
     
  16. tesseract

    tesseract Moderator
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    I wouldn't touch those rods during a printas all it will really do is screw things up and anyway aren't they under motor control during aprint????hmmmmm

    to get printing I do this check in the missle of the y length or the middle of the board where you do mos tof the prints anyway.
    I adjust the left side then then right side now one thing you may or may not know is that when you adjust one it can move the other so as I turn one for th adjustment I hold teh other one and make sure it does not spin even a little bit then I do the right side and hold the left rod still. I repeat a couple times just to make sure something didn;t move and I am done I usually do no thave to touch them again unless I throw my nuts
     
  17. Das Wookie

    Das Wookie Active Member

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    I'm having a very difficult time getting my first layer to lay down correctly such that I get a good wide amount of the skirt but don't ALSO end up with too large amount of material during the first layer solid laydown of material. If I'm too low, I clog. If I'm too high, I get an uneven laydown on the solid infill with ridges of extra material. If it's just right, I'm golden, and the first layer goes down great, and I'm off to the races. I typically throw my nuts on the start of the next print. I'm about --><-- close to throwing that contact switch as far as I can and installing a hall effect sensor.

    I can print something smaller like the tornado vase or a 20cm test cube. The problem I'm having is that my parts are large enough that that infill is just killing me. I'm trying something new now... adjusting with the credit card and then using Z offset to get my layer height. That way I'm (hopefully) going to be less prone to being RIGHT on that edge of throwing my nuts when I home Z.

    Of course, I'm also using a heated bed at 60c rather than hairspray for printing with PLA... so I'm already outside the bellcurve for The Proven Jeff Way of doing things. ;)
     
  18. Printed Solid

    Printed Solid Volunteer Admin
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    If you're going for the perfect dialed in z-height for first layer, you want to set it to half the first layer height.
     
  19. Das Wookie

    Das Wookie Active Member

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    ...and there's the rub. I'm doing my prints at .2mm layers but if I try and set my Z endstop to 0.0039" (0.1mm) I will CERTAINLY throw my nuts if I accidentally home Z when the bed is cold. 100% guaranteed.

    Lately what I'm trying to do is set my Z height with my business card, and use the Z offset settings in Repetier/Slic3r in the Printer Settings tab to get me to my actual Z offset. It's been frustrating. I'll spend have the day trying to get a print to put that first layer down correctly some days. Right now I can get the skirt and boundary layers down correctly every time, but am fighting "extra material" on the solid infill. As I adjust settings to try and get that to go away, I'm then causing some other problem... so I go back to my baseline and try something else.

    Even more frustrating... the settings that worked for me (finally) yesterday, aren't working for me TODAY! so I'm having to start all anew. At least my 2 parts I printed overnight worked. I had a small axis slip, but this is a structural part and occurred in the bit that just bolts it down, so I don't care. It'll work. It's just fugly.
     
  20. tesseract

    tesseract Moderator
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    Hey

    Have you seen my latest thread it may help you get the z height set so you don't throw the nuts
    http://forums.robo3dprinter.com/index.php?threads/stop-throwing-your-nuts.1210/
     

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