Solved Z axis doesn't seem to work evenly.

What I mean by this is that the higher an object is printed, the closer the head is to the print. This has gotten to the point of even with a 1.2 mm z offset (in cura), if a print is tall enough to reach halfway up the z axis, the head will crash consistently into the print. Example video linked at the bottom. I just started using OctoPrint with the Cura engine but previously used mattercontrol for everything.



As you can see in the video, the top of a print is being smushed. Though it was flexible enough to go back to it's original shape and came out more/less even with the rest, it seems to get worse as it gets taller.

 

Sorry, totally neglected that. I have an r1 +plus. No modifications or major tuning whatsoever and only about 2 months old.

 

Make sure your z smooth rods and lead screws are properly lubed. Not sure if one is a bit sticky from being dry.

 

Reply to all 3 comments up till now:
What exactly do you mean by tuned? It's a stepper, it always performs the same, no? Also, relative to the base, the rods the head rides on are not lopsided, no matter the height. It seems both do not go high enough.

I lubed them up. I will do a little testing to see if anything's different.

 

There are stepper motors and then there are drivers. The drivers plug into the ramps board and controls the current to the motors

 

Sorry, misread the comment. However, isn't what I said even more true now? How do you tune a circuit board? What is there to tune? There is no software on a driver, just a small controller and i/o.

 

I see that in the video from danzca6. I have used steppers and drivers plenty though none of my drivers have such a physical voltage controller. I will watch the whole video and maybe work on my printer a bit before posting another comment.

 

Some more advanced controller boards actually have the driver adjustments controlled in their software, but the Ramps and drivers uses a pots screw to make that adjustment. Make sure if you are going to mess with them that you record their current setting so you know what to go back to. Also a little bit will do. It doesn't take much to change it higher or lower. I use a ceramic screwdriver to make sure I don't accidently damage any circuitry. Good luck and let us know if any of this helps.

 

I found a new problem. One that may explain previous problems with crashing and mushing. I still have a suspicion that the z axis goes up unevenly but I think the previous video could be because the edges of the print were curling up to an extreme level. Seen similarly here
This seems to be happening very extremely. Not sure what to do. Maybe install another fan? Seems like it should be unnecessary. Maybe a slicing settings problem? Pretty tired so maybe I'm not thinking straight.

This print failed because of the mushing 3 times, and printing http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:6513 failed 8 times in a row with many different settings profiles each time because the edge would be crashed into and the islands would be dragged around by the head. What do?

 

Ah yes. I had that prior to installing a second fan. Also may want to lower the hot end temp. PLA needs to cool quick and I normally go 195-200. On small parts I even set the min layer time higher so that it will give the latter a bit more time to cool before going to the next. Just remember slower the better if you are doing a small part without proper cooling

 

I use a 15 sec minimum layer time just for no possible problems, 5-10 once or twice ive done when the part is extra tiny. I will lower the hotend temp. I usually use 210 as it's default in Cura and mattercontrol slicing. Installing a fan though can't be that hard. Also the fan that came with the printer came with shot bearings. Every time I start a print up, the fan GRINDS louder than every other sound the printer makes combined for about 1 minute. It settles afterward however, and as far as I can tell doesn't affect its cooling performance.

 

I will probably just install a dual fan mount. I have an electronics store 10 mins from here that sells those fans for $1 a piece. I will just buy 2 new ones and print the dual fan stuff tomorrow. I don't mean to knock Robo3d or any companies/people that make this stuff, it truly is very cool and complex, I just think its funny how much upgrading and stuff is practically necessary in some cases. I feel like $800+ should guarantee spot on performance with issues like the curling that can't be broken through shipping or something. I will do some more investigation into the z axis problem, maybe post a new post later if I find it to be more than a suspicion. For now I'll just mark this solved as I don't really have any solid proof that there's an issue. Also, if there's any especially good tutorials on the forum for the dual fan mount, I would appreciate a link to them if either of you have it on hand. Otherwise I can just look on thingiverse and youtube. Thanks!

 

That could be your problem then. If you have a parts coupling fan that is on the fritz, then just replacing that could help. I used this mount for my second fan.

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:720018

@Mike Kelly has a lot of great upgrades out there. I just got some connectors from Amazon and made a Y adapter so that I could plug each fan on independently if needed. There are also fan ducts out there you could add. I personally don't use them.

Here's a video to help with wiring. Marcus has some nice fan ducts as well. Always options.



As for printers coming perfect, between cheap electronics, shipping, and general qa you get the luck of the draw sometimes. Good thing is these things print their own upgrades and the electronics are cheap.

Good luck and let us know if you needed any more help.

 

Another great investment is an LCD controller. I use the XXL. It's great for being able to adjust on the fly for things like print speed. It's good if you get printing a part that has a tricky spot that you need to slow things down a bit for. Very useful tool.