Solved Newbie issue, print head 6" above bed and it starts printing?

Hello. I have been playing with this thing for a couple hours. Nothing good has come of it yet. I was getting squiggly lines instead of straight, then it solved itself. now things keep lifting up during prints but again, thats not the real issue.

This thing has gone nuts! Print head is now near the top and won't come down. I went into the matter control soft and tried to do a manual calibration or whatever it was called and as I bring down the print head, still 5" above my piece or paper, it gives me a warning that it can't go lower? yes it can.

Any ideas?

Im using Mac OS X 10.10

 

mine started doing the same exact thing and noe it will go down and auto level out of the blue without me doing anything to software, but when it starts its print, it is 1/4" above the hotbed. auto level went all the way down so i'm confused. This was after 2 updates, did you do a firmware update?

 

it almost seemed like y and x were doing each others job and what was supposed to go left would actually go up.

 

OK. solved one problem. My print head height issue was the left side sensor that is under the smooth bar going across the front of the machine. Just had to lift it a little and reposition the sensor properly. that was easy.

Now, when I try printing the calibration cube (from the built in library) the bottom prints poorly, then as it builds the lattice work for the interior the extruder seems to rub against the material being printed and wrecks it a bit. Half way through and it gets it right and the lattice work is nice. So it would seem I still have a height issue. but maybe its the extruder? It seems as the extruder heats up it leaks a little bit of filament out of the tip and I'm thinking this is why its wrecking its own layers? I also tried printing business card holder 2 (from the built in library) it starts out fine, I think, then as it starts printing the 2nd sideways fill in it rubs against its on printing and kills it.

Any thoughts?

Thanks for any and all help. PS, I have a printing shop at home with wide format inkjet and laser so I'm not too green just gotta nail down the 3rd dimension, haha.

 

I'll upload a couple pics, you might have the same sensor issue I had. Check the sensors.

 

instead of pics, here is the video that helped me with the sensors. Its easy.

http://help.robo3dprinter.com/Guide/Homing+Your+Extruder/7

 

Got it nailed down now, I dissabled the auto calibration in MatterControl as the printer has it built in, got my heat cabe possitioned proper so the head bed never makes the grinding sound anymore, only did it a couple times, and now im printing like a mainiac. Love it.

Got a lot to learn about the fine tuining of the settings for different prints but its going well

Im not a hairspray kind of guy but having a 7 year old I do have glue sticks, elmers extra strength, and I find it to be great. I raise the print head up with bed pre heat on, spread out a nice coat of glue and im good printing a t rex skull and base, 4 part, and its killer.

Ill be posting lots soon, cant wait to get to a very high level of quality. Next issue is updating firmware, MatterControl on a Mac is almost useless, need to get up and running with Repeteir for Mac it would seem

Chat soon all

Thomas

 

Repetier & Slic3r are the go, very configurable but can be a steep learning curve, and they're free.
Simplify 3D is good, it's support material generation is awesome, nice interface, and works well out of the box, but it's $150.

Glad you figured out your teething problems. It's a great printer but comes with a steep learning curve. My printer keeps wanting to upgrade itself rather than print useless toys, I swear it'll turn into a terminator at some point lol.

 

I thought I had the teething over and done but this AM was a whole new bag of worms.

Went to print, nothing coming out of extruder, bummer. Find after reading a few threads that probably isn't a blog but some filament stuck in the feeding tube to the extruder. So have a look and yup there it is. Fiddle about and get it out (so I thought) and now the feeding wheel is chewing through the filament. So, remove spring screws and have a better look, can't see. heat it up to 210 and using a small paper clip I can feel it goopy in there. Slowly and carefully I push it through with the paper clip till it feels clear then load up and try again. Well it prints but not properly, the filament it prints get thin and stringy and wrecks the print, not all the time but enough. pull filament and its chewed. So a few more threads read and I start loosening off the spring screws, it helps but not enough. So I think, could it be the filament? I remove the low in the dark green (ROBO purchased) and switch to black and boom, its all good.

Did I run into some bad filament? id the glow in the dark not quite as strong so that the feed wheel with the teeth on it will kill it? The glow in the dark was fine last night printed the lower jaw to a T Rex skull I am making for my son.

Any thought? maybe this should be a new thread?

 

Yes, PLA. Should have put that in.

Seasoning? not heard that one yet or the oiler either. OK back to find more threads to read then then.

If an oiler is needed for proper operation and this didn't come with one, I won't be a happy man at all. (HAHAHA I assumed it was some upgrade, to funny. Printing it now, then season as well just to be sure. Funny)

 

Can anyone point me in the right direction to setup Repetier on Mac OS X? Cant seem to find the info I need. Also info on seasoning? I have searched, I found a lot of threads talking about needing it done but not one on how to do it?

 

Also, as an update on filament feed.I switched from the glow in the dark green to black and all was well. Printed the T Rex Skull and jaw in black and its great. Got a slight issue with what I would call spider web like strands here and there but otherwise its great.So this AM I loaded up the glow in the dark and tried the skull again and its fine. I believe it was a temp and humidity issue, although maybe the filament had a slight dimension issue? a bit thick?

 

Nice, thanks.

 

well. here is my second print. first was a card holder, not worth posting, but this one is a proper thing indeed. I say solved and I'm in the game!

I know theres lots still to learn and what not but for a second print, I think I'm on the right track.

Now to season and print oiler. Fun stuff, I must admit I like it very much.

 

Great looking print. Think we can mark this thread resolved?

 

For sure. Is that something I do? Or mods? I looked and couldn't figure out how

 

Yeah we need an easier way. I think you should have permissions to see "Thread Tools" and edit thread, there you can select a new header. a

Lemme know if it works, I can change it otherwise.