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Getting started with a Beta

Discussion in 'General Questions' started by The Dark Canuck, May 12, 2020.

  1. The Dark Canuck

    The Dark Canuck New Member

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    Hi all,

    I backed the Kickstarter back in the day, and never really got it set up properly. I've started working with it again, and have been rather impressed with my results-things still aren't working perfectly at all, but I'm getting much better results than I had the last time I experimented with it. That said, I'm still having issues with stringing and difficulties with bridging-things aren't being laid down properly or thickly enough, leaving bridged areas quite thin. My primary use-case is printing RPG miniatures and terrain. I'm also consistently having significant trouble with one side of my models-three walls look solid and good, while the fourth is very rough and poorly fused, with layers commonly separating and holes both horizontally and vertically. Interestingly, there is no such issue along the adjacent sides-it looks pretty good until you go around the corner.

    So:

    Are there any hardware upgrades that are needed or recommended to modernize this printer? I understand that the state of the art has improved dramatically in the last several years. I think I'd like to get a heated bed if nothing else, but where can I get one that's compatible and how do I install it? Likewise for any other bits. I'm reasonably bright and tech-savvy, but have little experience with hardware.

    How should I get started here? Is there a progression that makes sense to isolate issues and address them one at a time rather than just seeing that a print attempt failed or produced a poor quality result, messing with things and trying again? It's taking a long time to iterate, and I'm really not sure how effective any changes that I make really are.

    Any idea what might be going on with my fourth wall, and how to go about fixing it?
     

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  2. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    There are a few threads on upgrades including heated bed ones in the Mods and Upgrades
    subforum.

    For troubleshooting I always point to the visual troubleshooting guides -- start with those and if that does not get you there we can give it a whirl :)

    Visual troubleshooting:
    ----------------------
    https://www.simplify3d.com/support/print-quality-troubleshooting/
    and :
    http://reprap.org/wiki/Print_Troubleshooting_Pictorial_Guide
    and :
    http://support.3dverkstan.se/article/23-a-visual-ultimaker-troubleshooting-guide
     
  3. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    You an easily add autoleveling to that which with a heated bed will effectively make it an R1 (not a beta any longer). If you later do a leadscrew conversion/upgrade it is effectively an R1+
     
  4. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Since I am not there to see your settings or watch the printer do its thing, most of this is a S.W.A.G. (Scientific Wild Assed Guess)
    First it looks like it printed too hot.
    Second the edges are rough and that could be over-extrusion or it could be a loose belt or a flaky bearing. Calibrate the extruder for start.

    https://toms3d.org/2014/04/06/3d-printing-guides-calibrating-your-extruder/
     
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  5. The Dark Canuck

    The Dark Canuck New Member

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    Sorry for taking so long to get back to this. Checking on the extrusion showed that it was definitely poorly calibrated, I've been playing with that, need to get some calipers to test the filament diameter. The z-axis looks like it may be off as well, I think my nozzle is dragging on the printed material, particularly going towards the side that's problematic. I've checked leveling a few times, probably worth doing it again, though I think the direction is just how the print pattern goes.

    For upgrades, I'm afraid I'm still more than a little lost. I've found the bed upgrade stuff, but my bed doesn't match what I've seen-I've still got drawer-style rails. What do I need to get to replace those with the modern standard-or do I really need to? Are there instructions?

    Auto-leveling is looking more and more like the most critical update-I've messed things up several times by needing to clear out dribble before starting a print and messing up the height. I found your post here: http:// community.robo3d.com/index.php?threads/kickstarter-edition-full-rebuild-help.18048/page-5#post-123307 (can't do links yet, hope that still works) which says it's a pretty cheap upgrade, but I can't find the thread you originally made. Any pointers?
     
  6. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    The bed you get with a Beta is usually wood with a heater and glass plate or just a chunk/plate of delrin if it did not have the bed heater.
    You really want to ditch the slide rails and go to the round linear rails/rods.

    This is what I did: http://community.robo3d.com/index.php?threads/bed-replacement-on-r1-beta.23757/

    You will need to get the bed itself from PartsBuilt.com the rails and bearings you can get from Amazon (or from PartsBuilt) and the end-brackets you either print or get from PartsBuilt. The mounts under the bed are the same you either source those from partsbuilt OR print them. I'd suggest getting it printing and print them not because you save money, but you can make sure the printer is working first :)

    Adding the autoleveling is done as @Mike Kelly shows in this thread: http://community.robo3d.com/index.php?threads/robo3d-autolevel-via-mike-kelly.2574/

    Review that and I can answer any questions you have -- I have done this like 3 times myself :)

    Do that before you do the bed replacement.
     
    #6 mark tomlinson, Jun 1, 2020
    Last edited: Jun 1, 2020
  7. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Also, fair warning, the Beta was not consistent in parts or assembly so it is not uncommon for each one to be a bit different in some way. What would be consistent is the slide rails :) My project linked above was to rip out everything above (and including) the slide/drawer rails and replace it with the more modern R1/R1+ style bed and rails.


    If Partsbuilt no longer has the replacement R1+ style bed you can replace it with a thin sheet of aluminum as well. There have been a couple of project documented around that type of conversion as well.
     

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