Company's Kickstarter Robo3D

My boss purchased a Robo3D during the Kickstarter phase. We've had it for several months, but so far I'm the only one that has had any time to put any effort into it. I followed the setup guide from this website to get it up and running. Some of the guide was OK, some of it was lacking. Getting the printer working was more effort than any of us expected, and keeping it running is starting to look like much more effort than any of us is going to be able to do if we want to keep this as a work place tool.

In any case, I've been doing a few prints over the last few months and have had the following experiences:

• Using the guide here as a starting point, when the extruder homes, it sits on the front left printed bracket that holds the glass (borosilicate?) plate. This bracket is now melted and pretty much does nothing. Should I change the homing point so that it home further to the right?
• The glass plate is not sized correctly, or the brackets that hold it are not sized correctly. There is about a quarter inch of Y-axis play in the positioning of the plate. I've wrapped packing tape over the edge to hold it in place. This seems to be working fairly decently and it has improved the Y-axis alignment of the layers significantly. Are there any brackets available I can print that will hold it in place better? I'm an electrical engineer, not so great with 3D CAD tools else I'd draw one up.
• I used up all of the ABS and PLA material that came with the printer and purchased a couple of kilos from what appears to be a good source from eBay. This filament extrudes for about 30 seconds to a minute, then the toothy-gear thing tends to shave a flat spot in it. Would a recessed hobbed bolt be a fix for this, or is it only to keep it centered while printing? Perhaps I just need to clean out the nozzle....
• I've read that using painters tape and wiping it with acetone can help with adhesion. Is the acetone meant to sort of dissolve the bottom of the ABS print by just a tad bit or does it do something to the tape? I don't have acetone, but I have been using denatured alcohol on the tape.

 

I've ditched to painters tape and am using glue stick, UHU, Straight on the glass. Good adhesion with both PLA and abs. Bed heated to 70c or 90c respectively

 

Try using Vinyl, that stickers are made of. Cheap and it lasts, and no mess.

How are you levelling your bed?




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Scotta and Peter, First you will have to pry my beloved can of Aquanet from my cold dead fingers .

OK, OK - I'll finally try some UHU and vinyl. My hairspray can is running low.

 

Thanks for the responses everyone.

I skipped the gym this morning and came in a few hours early to play with the printer. I determined that the reason the filament stops extruding is simply because the print head was too low. It was too close to the glass/tape and couldn't escape. I adjusted the Z-axis home screw by about 1/4 - 1/3 of a turn and that helped.

I continued trying to print. The left side of the printing area appeared to be OK, but the right side of the printing area looked like I was printing bible paper. I lifted up the right hand side of the print head carrier and adjusted the leveling nut by 1/6 of a turn. I started another print, but it failed to stick so I canceled the job.

I 100% fully intended to stop by Walgreens and pick up some Aquanet. Like Steve, I'm a bit partial to that brand, but that's only because my sister used Aquanet when I was a kid and I found that it made an EXCELLENT flame thrower. I don't know how I survived that age...

It is probably my imagination, but it seems that the center of my glass plate is lower than the corners, like it is drooping. I have NO measurements to indicate that this is correct, this is only a minor fear in the back of my head. Someone please reassure me that no one has received a saggy plate!

Yep, I (and the boss-man) completely agree with you. I do work for an engineering design firm and having a 3D printer would be beneficial to us, but only if it is reliable. I've spent probably 10 man-hours on this (billed time cost of roughly $1000) so we could have already paid for a better printer. I've tried to keep my play time on the machine to weekends and before the work day though.

Right now, it is totally trial and error. I print a skirt and examine the thickness of the print. If one side is thicker than the other, then that indicates to me that the X-Axis (left right) isn't level and I adjust the nuts on the upright screws. If the front is thicker than the back, or vice versa, that indicates that the bed isn't level and I don't know how to adjust that yet Since I don't have a way to adjust that yet, I haven't paid much attention to it. I HAVE printed a couple of things, and by couple I do mean 2. And they were both small, so if there is a bed leveling issue, it wouldn't have affected this part much due to its size.

 

Henry,

"I lifted up the right hand side of the print head carrier and adjusted the leveling nut by 1/6 of a turn."​

It's much much easier if you just grap the Z-leadscrew and twist it slighly, say less than 1/16 of a turn at a time. just stare at the threads a bit to determine the right direction. I think clockwise is up. You can even do this while it is printing because the Z stepper are not powered between layer moves. I really suggest you tell your slicer to add a few loops of skirt. I sometimes turn the left or right side while the skirt is printing to make sure it is level and at a good height.