First Impressions

Hi folks,

I thought I would give my first impressions on the printer now that I have three (all unsuccessful) print runs under my belt.

Before I get too deep in this I'll start by saying I'm really excited to have the printer and look forward to using it a lot.

Unpacking:

The printer was packed securely and I only have (and still have) two minors problem with the printer out of the box.

1) The zip ties that hold the cables in place broke during shipping so when I print I need to manually shift the cables to keep them out of the way. Otherwise they usually get stuck between the screws and the stop switches causing grinding noises.

2) The negative Z-axis is REALLY noisy. Positive Z-axis is fine but for some reason coming down the Z-axis makes a really loud squeaking noise. Another user posted about this but no resolution as of yet.

Setup:

Setup was a breeze with only only two problems, one fairly major that I'll have to address at some point.

1) Inserting the filament was a little tricky. At one point I thought it was seating correctly because it hit a resistance point but in fact it had another inch or so to go. So when I was manually testing the extruder nothing was coming out. After reseating the filament it worked fine.

2) The second problem was I over tightened one of the screws that secure the filament in and it broke through the back of the plastic on the other side. It is still secure but at some point I'll have to figure out how to reprint a replacement piece for this...

As a side note, someone on Thingiverse has created some hand screw covers to hand tighten/loosen these with new bolts. I'm for certain going to print these.

Without a doubt watch the two setup videos, they were great and by the end of the two I was printing.

Summary of print failures:

I tried to print a cube three times so far and each failed for different reasons.

1) The first time I failed fast. I printed with PLA directly on the glass print bed (I have the ABS model) and after the first layer the whole object was sliding around the bed as the printhead moved. I solved this by using painters tape (blue tape) on the print bed and it works perfectly now.

2) The second print was going great but my computer went to sleep about half way through... Odd that the computer would do this and frustrating because the print was going great.

3) I have yet to figure out why the third print failed but it looks like after a dozen or so layers the Z-axis just stopped moving. I'm not sure why this is.

I love the printer. It is going to take a while to get it calibrated and printing correctly but I have NO regrets about buying it at this point!!

Comments on design:

I'm sure there is a good reason why it was designed this way but having the filament insert into the back of the printer head is a pain. I will basically leave the printer turned around 100% of the time because of this (and the power switch being in the back). When you guys revise this you might think about flipping the case around so the Robo 3d logo is on the back side because I suspect this is how people will setup the printer.

Dan

 

Regarding the filament loading... While I've still not gotten around to switching out the loading system, I've not switched the printer around backwards. It's easier to load after you've gotten the hang of it, and I now just look through the top slit in the case (gotten it calibrated well enough that I finally leave the top on) to see that the filament is going in properly. It's slightly awkward screwing the silly springy screws in at that angle, but being able to peek through that top slit means you can see when you've got them lined up, and when they've gone through the nuts - just need about 1mm past the nuts for them to hold properly.

 

I do what autopsy does of looking through the top slit. The Greg's Wade extruder is an interesting design but has some flaws.

You should lubricate you Z screw rods with something like superlube (DON'T USE WD-40!!!). Doesn't make that horrible grinding noise after that fix.

 

superlube works good, but its temporary (in my case anyway), a small amount of black grease fixed it.

 

I didn't like the filament loader until I visited the Robo shop and watched them load the filament. I felt stupid because I always took out both springs completely, loaded the filament then carefully lined up the mechanism and then put back the screws. At Robo, all they did was loosen the screws slightly, pull back the mechanism, load the filament and let the mechanism spring back in place. Duh! That's what the springs are for! Just wondering if that's how you are loading it.

 

cosber, from what I can tell, they're using a new mechanism. The older one doesn't allow you to pull it back

I'm hoping they'll put up the stl file for the new one so I can print it can get rid of this old one.

 

I do not undo the screws at all I just heat the end up and wind one out and one in , I straighten the filament a bit and trim the end at a sharp angle and wind it in and have never missed or clogged once

 

I've sadly already used Wd-40 before reading this post, although there doesn't seem to be any positive OR negative side effect. What's wrong with it? Any damages it can cause?

 

What I know is that WD40 flows like water and will eventually go everywhere. Not like grease which stays put only being move along but not being affected by gravity.


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Ah, alright. Thanks for the input, I'll try to find something more suited for the purpose

 

WD-40 is not an oil but rather a concoction of chemicals. Eventually it will gum up and lock. It's not a lubricant and shouldn't be used as one. It's ideal as a rusted bolt remover.

 

When using lithium grease, use those nylon gloves - hospital style. It's hard to get off your fingers if your adjusting your z rods. Much nicer to use the gloves and be clean after.


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