Unresolved ABS plastic "squishes"/sets

Hello,

I'm proud to say that I've never had a problem with warping. However, my prints are always squished down a little, from what I'm assuming is the hot plastic setting a little. I just got some PLA, so I'll be doing a print with that to see if has the same effect.

But the students are printing off Pokeballs they designed in CAD, and they are not spherical because of the squished-ness. Is there a way to prevent this? Is anyone else even having this problem? I haven't found anything online of other people having the same problem.

Thanks

 

Pics please? That will give us a better idea of the issue.

 

Lol... for some reason it doesn't show up well in these pics, but it's squished just enough to be quite noticeable when you're holding it.

It's very noticeable with a die, though. Of which I don't have any here to photograph. It's not a cube, it's quite plainly a squished rectangle.

 

What should the z steps/mm be? I'll look up what mine is set to when I can get back to the printer.

 

your Z steps depend on what threaded rods you have, have you printed a calibration cube and measured it? It does sound as if your Z steps are wrong, if that's the case your going to have to flash your arduino firmware with the right firmware. if you have the 8mm threaded rods your z steps/mm should be 2560.00. If your z steps/mm are 2267.72 and you have the 8mm rods, your prints will come out squished because its flashed for 5/16" rods. Chances are if you recently got this printer your experiencing the same issue I had, I had the 8mm rods but my arduino firmware was flashed for the 5/16"rods and my prints were coming out almost 5mm short per 25mm, I would print a 25mm calibration cube and the z axis on the print would measure roughly 20mm.

 

Where would I find the files I need to re-flash it, and how would I re-flash it? I'll print a calibration cube and measure it to check if it's necessary first. But just in case, and for the reference of those who find this post in the future.

 

Thank you, kindly.

 

Alright, it's been a while but I'm now able to sit down and flash the arduino.

I've downloaded the Arduino software, made a Sketchbook directory where it's supposed to be, and opened the Arduino software, and selected the Mega 2560. However, when I plug in my printer's USB, it now gives me an error that the drivers aren't installed correctly, and I can no longer communicate with the printer. I was on the step to selecting the Port the printer uses, but no port options are listed since it's not communicating with the printer anymore.

 

/panicmode>

I got it working an installed, I just have to print something. I'll set a print and come back tomorrow.

Thanks guys,

 

Okay, I have some good and bad news.

I now can print cubes, instead of squished rectangular prisms, however the print quality has taken a complete dive without me changing other settings.

The die on the left was printed originally, and the die on the right was printed after I re-flashed. The weird damaged look occurs on all sides, and both were printed on low quality.

 

Also try a different filament

 

The size of the left is the original size, but I scaled the other one down to 80% to save some time. I've printed .5 scales as well in the past, and didn't have this kind of look to it.

I'll try a different filament tomorrow.

 

So I switched to a different spool. It was a PLA spool, not even out of the vaccuum package, and I had the same exact results. Very poor quality, especially around any hole/opening, regardless of it's position on the design.

 

Picture? Dimensions of actual vs expected?