1. Got a question or need help troubleshooting? Post to the troubleshooting forum or Search the forums!

Things I have learned my first 2 weeks

Discussion in 'Show and Tell' started by Etan15, Mar 12, 2016.

  1. Etan15

    Etan15 Member

    Joined:
    Feb 29, 2016
    Messages:
    37
    Likes Received:
    10
    Hi all,

    As of writing this I have had my Robo 3D R1+ for exactly 2 weeks. When I purchased the printer I also got 3 spools of PLA and 1 spool of ABS. A few days later and after some forum browsing I decided to grab a spool of PETG Black.

    My initial prints were with an untweaked printer and PLA and the prints were just OK. I used a glue stick on the heated bed. It was very stringy and I was not satisfied with the smaller detailed areas of the print. All this, of course, not knowing what I didn't know.

    My PLA prints were the essentials for the printer itself such as the spool holders at the top and a fan cowl.

    I moved on to the ABS Glow in the Dark and started printing the chain for the wires to the hotend. I found out quickly about adhering to the bed and the glue stick was not cutting it. But it was not the glue stick alone I was not heating the bed to a high enough temp and found that 100C worked for most so I made that change. Next, I found that only the the pieces in the middle of the plate were adhering long enough for the print to be worthwhile. Out of the 50 pieces I printed I was able to get the 38 to complete the chain.

    My ABS prints were the chain and some small figures for my kids because I was using a glow in the dark filament. To add, I also use Scotch 3M Clear Glue and the ABS set to 245C at the hotend and 100C on the bed with a skirt sticks through the whole print.

    Continuing on the forums to get a better handle on ABS I stumbled on PETG and decided to get a roll of PETG Black. The forums talked about how much easier it is to print with PETG and I find that to be true with one exception. You really need to calibrate the printer and tweak the settings in the slicer and gcode to get a handle on PETG. For example, I was getting a lot of globs at the tip that would catch on the previous layer and that sometimes destroyed the whole print if it were in the early stages.

    What finally worked for me and the reason for me writing this post is I have finally found the settings that work for me using PETG and my prints are coming out perfect. Essentially, I was having trouble getting all of the settings to come together so I took a step back and decided to go back the basics... Calibrating the printer. I calibrated the hotend, heated bed, the Y axis with the paper, the z offset, and what I think made the biggest impact for me was the filament extrusion calibration. Since completing the filament extrusion calibration my prints are precise, clean, and strong.

    Also, I have moved away from the glue stick and I am now using Scotch 3M Clear Glue. I have put maybe 2 layers on the bed and now with a damp sponge I wipe the bed and the glue regains it tact for the next print.

    My current filament of choice is PETG Blue and I am printing a quad-copter for my son and the printed parts are very clean and strong.

    I am still a noob and continue to read the posts by the forum experts and want to say thanks to all of you that give back to the forums to help us new comers!

    Etan15
     
  2. Bil Forshey

    Bil Forshey Member

    Joined:
    Aug 5, 2015
    Messages:
    37
    Likes Received:
    19
     
  3. Bil Forshey

    Bil Forshey Member

    Joined:
    Aug 5, 2015
    Messages:
    37
    Likes Received:
    19
    I too have suffered with print quality issues since I got my R1+ two years ago, I have endured many upgrades since then, Z axis stabilizers, the Y axis upgrade, the Z axis end stop upgrade, an Smart LCD XXL add on, an E3D V6 hotend, the Z axis leadscrew upgrase, several spool holders, an extruder latch upgrad of my own design, replaced X axis linear bearingss. And several versions of MatterControl software, I have tried glue sticks, Kapton tape, hair spray etc. to try to get ABS to stick. After all of that The print quality is acceptable when i can get the prints to stick to the bed which is rare for bigger items.
    I backed a Kickstarter campaign for FLEKS 3D 3 months ago, and received their product last week and installed it. The FLEKS 3D build plate system is by far the best upgrade for my printer I have ever done. Pet-G, ABS, N-Vent, and PLA now adhere perfectly to the bed every time, No more hairspray, tape, or glue is needed just put the build plate on the bed, (heating the bed is optional even with ABS) and print. To remove the print you remove the build plate from the frame which is attached to your bed, and flex it in both X and Y directions and the printed part will pop off. Put the build plate back in the frame and ad print again, fo fuss no mess.

    I would recomment the 10 X 10 kit for your R1+, you can purchase one at their website: http://www.fleks3d.com

    i think you will be very pleased with your printer once you've experienced FLEKS3D.

    Bill
     
    #3 Bil Forshey, Mar 12, 2016
    Last edited: Mar 12, 2016
    Burncycle likes this.
  4. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
    Staff Member

    Joined:
    Feb 21, 2013
    Messages:
    23,912
    Likes Received:
    7,338
    I think you mean R1 -- the R1+ already has the Z axis upgrades.
     
  5. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
    Staff Member

    Joined:
    Feb 21, 2013
    Messages:
    23,912
    Likes Received:
    7,338
    Granted, you effectively have an R1+ at this point :)
    I did the R1 bed and Z axis upgrade on a Beta as well as adding autoleveling to end up in the same spot.
     
  6. Bil Forshey

    Bil Forshey Member

    Joined:
    Aug 5, 2015
    Messages:
    37
    Likes Received:
    19
    There have been so many upgrades I am not quite sure what model to call it at this point,
    I is unique now with custimized firmware as well. it's been a fun ride, good thing I like to tinker and build and repair things. Would do it again in a heartbeat.
     
    mark tomlinson likes this.
  7. Etan15

    Etan15 Member

    Joined:
    Feb 29, 2016
    Messages:
    37
    Likes Received:
    10
    So another week has gone by and I had an idea to put my printer up on 3D Hubs. I figured I would see if it would be worth it and cost effective. I have gotten really good at printing my parts for my quadcopter at 150 and 200 Microns with PETG and Micro Fiber PLA. 3D Hubs sends you a small keychain Marvin to print out and they say it needs to be 100Microns. I am having a heck of a time fine tuning my settings to accomplish a quality print. I have tried to play with the minimum layer time settings so the print will adjust the speed accordingly. When I get to the bridge just above the legs is where it all starts to go south.

    Has any one else attempted to put their printer on 3D Hubs or have any suggestions on printing at 100Microns. I am using PETG for this Marvin. Maybe you could send me a sample gcode that you have printing at 100Microns so I could look at the settings you used?

    Thanks in advance!
     
  8. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
    Staff Member

    Joined:
    Feb 21, 2013
    Messages:
    23,912
    Likes Received:
    7,338
    You want to cut your speeds in half (generally speaking) to double the resolution.
     
  9. Etan15

    Etan15 Member

    Joined:
    Feb 29, 2016
    Messages:
    37
    Likes Received:
    10
    Here are my settings in MC. They are set to more than half what I normally print my quadcopter parts at. Are these still to fast?

    upload_2016-3-20_11-8-16.png
     
  10. Burncycle

    Burncycle New Member

    Joined:
    Mar 18, 2016
    Messages:
    13
    Likes Received:
    0
    Thanks for this post! I just ordered my 10 x 10 kit. Did you do any trimming to it since the bed isn't 10 x 10? I'm curious about how the frame will fit on there
     
  11. Etan15

    Etan15 Member

    Joined:
    Feb 29, 2016
    Messages:
    37
    Likes Received:
    10
    After a failed overnight print with PET+ because the corner curled up I just placed my order for the 10"x10" Fleks3D build plate.

    @Bil Forshey - Did you have to modify the frame to fit?
     
  12. GAmbrosio

    GAmbrosio Active Member

    Joined:
    Feb 22, 2016
    Messages:
    238
    Likes Received:
    79
    Thanks Bill for the lead on the Fleks. According to site, with a self leveling bed, like we have. We should order a puck. I look in their shop and no puck is listed. Did you get a puck? How do we order a puck. I want to get the 10 X 10 system for 55.00, but I will need the puck right? Also with a 10mm thick plate over, in order to keep the heat with ABS, how much should we raise the temp? You said it is optional, but I thought the reason we heat for ABS is also to keep it from cooling to fast and splitting on higher z axis builds.

    OP, thanks for sharing. I'm glad you braved the glow ABS and PET-G for me as I was under the impression that PET-G caused jams in the nozzle without the V6 hotend. Having my printer about a month longer than you did, only thing I'd add would be to include buying Simplify 3D. I wrote an early review on it here, but the three weeks after using it exclusively, I should revise it. It is my only slicer at this point, because of the consistency. Albeit, there is a considerable amount of time studying to learn the settings, once that is dialed in, even in a high level, it is vastly superior to the free software offered.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     
  13. Etan15

    Etan15 Member

    Joined:
    Feb 29, 2016
    Messages:
    37
    Likes Received:
    10
    @GAmbrosio

    Based on this:

    Using the levelling puck:
    Use if the nozzle is hot while performing the self-leveling procedure. If the nozzle is cold or doesn't touch the bed, then you don't need it.

    1. Use the puck WITHOUT the plate. The puck is same thickness as plate.
    2. Run self levelling, place the puck where the levelling nozzle goes.
    3. Once, procedure is done, place plate on bed and print happy.

    It looks like there is Puck that must be shipped with it. I believe that if you setup your gcode so that the auto level happens prior to the hotend being heated then you do not need the puck. If you heat the hotend before auto level then you do.

    Best regards,

    Etan15
     
    Scifideity likes this.

Share This Page