Learn from my experiences, MikeThinks Robo3d

OK, so here we are a little less than a month into my Robo ownership, and there have certainly been a few issues, theres no denying that for the price, this machine makes some amazing prints.


Things I've learned (mostly the hard way):

1) DO NOT use the matter control calibration, DO NOT go and turn it on and walk through the steps. The thing will calibrate itself automatically before your print starts if you use matter control.

2) Make sure the Z-axis sensors are flush with the threaded rod brackets. If you go too low, or if you lift up on the hotend assembly, one or both may go off kilter and you will be printing 5 inches in the air. I like spaghetti as much as the next Italian, but not a $35 for 2 lbs.

3) PLA likes hairspray...LOTS and LOTS of hairspray. There are many different brands, but just be sure it has Crotonates and/or some Copolymer (pref both). I use Salon Selective all day hold cause its at the dollar store, but find one that works for you and dont be stingy on the spraying! FYI, I find window cleaner is good for removing the stuff, just remember to let the bed cool off 1st.

4) PLA likes 3M Blue tape. a nice layer of blue tape can hold very well. The issue is that you often have to reapply almost every print.

5) ABS loves slurry. I have found nothing that holds ABS down anywhere near as well as ABS slurry, a combination of acetone and pieces of ABS 'melted' into a liquid with a consistency between Whole milk and Eggnog. Just wipe a layer on your bed, and the ABS sticks like glue. When the print is done, and the bed cools off, the print will pop off pretty easily.

6) Z-ribbing is often caused by poor quality filament, not an error in the machine of software. I use the rounding calculator http://calculator.josefprusa.cz/ for the Robo3d 5/16th 18 rods to avoid any rounding errors caused by the imperial from metric conversion. But I only get Z-ribbing using crappy filament (ya know like the cheap blue stuff the machine came with). Using quality filament, my prints look amazing, even at only .2 mm.

7) No matter how much you read and research, getting good quality prints is a matter of pulling a multitude of things together and then trial and error as you get your machine dialed in for the Filament, Environment and particular model. Sometimes I make or download a model, and it prints 1st try. Other times, it takes multiple tries to get an acceptable result. Just keep tweaking, and analyze the issues, and make changes ONE PARAMETER AT A TIME. Small changes in extruder or bed temperature, speeds, or even infill percentages can be the difference between a stringy messy print and one that looks awesome.

8) Get the free version of NETFABB. Run every model through it to fix the errors. 99% of the models I download have a small issue or two, and its easier to spend 2 minutes just to be sure its ok by running the heal option on Netfabb, than to find out 5 hours into a print that the slicer did something funky due to a bad model.

9) Look at the slicer Preview. You have 3 installed slicers by default, each has its benefits and drawbacks, including what options are easily modified. More importantly, some models will not slice correctly with all of the different slicers. Look at the layer previews, if it looks like its missing pieces...it probably is.

10) Matter control doesnt care if you rotate a model...until you SAVE IT. More than a few times I rotate a model and forget to save (cause it shows rotated on the preview...so you'd think all was well....right....right?) Nope, as soon as you hit print it loads the dang file form the harddrive and your previous rotation, scaling, whatever is gone, bye bye, thanks for playing.


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THE ISSUES I HAVE HAD TO RESOLVE (aka, why you dont see these things in Target and WalMart):

1) Random print fails:: Main 4 power wires while attached very firmly, were not attached correctly. I believe that one or more were tightened down on mostly the wires insulation, leading to random (frustrating) print fails when the heated bed or hotend would lose power and cool off. Easy fix, cost $0.00 Time a few hour to diagnose due to the intermittent nature and that the circuits all tested ok multiple times.

2) Threaded rod slipping:: After a few days of ownership, I started to get some very strange issues with the bed leveling and print randomly going very wonky. I soon saw that the right side threaded rod was not turning consistently with the motor. I attempted to tighten the coupler between the motor and the rod, but discovered that even as tight as it would go, I could still pull the rod out if I lifted up. Jerry said he will send me a replacement coupler (still waiting Jerry), but in the meantime I just used some very thin tape to "shim up" the threaded rod so the coupler could be tightened around it. Its been printing well for several weeks since, but I will be much happier once I can get it fixed properly. Fix cost $3 for the cellulose based tape (aka paper), and about 45 minutes.

3)Heated Bed short:: I'd read a few post about people having issues with the heated bead, and then got an email telling me that a new wiring harness was needed. Unfortunately, the way this is being handled is by shipping the entire heated bed back and waiting for it to be sent back fixed. After 8 weeks of waiting for my printer, I was in no mood to have a $700 paperweight for a few weeks, so I just removed the molex connector, and hardwired the bed wires. Glad I looked too, because my molex connector (looks like an old harddrive power connector) was brown, and brittle...I was probably only a few days (or less) away from a serious short. Total cost $2 for basic high temp wire joiners and about 30 minutes.

 

Poetry! Great points. Thanks for sharing.


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