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Not managed to print anything on Robo3D so far.

Discussion in 'Troubleshooting' started by John Fretwell, Oct 1, 2013.

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  1. John Fretwell

    John Fretwell New Member

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    Hi

    I have never used one of these before and the user guide i did not find was aimed at people like me with no experience on 3D printing. The Repetier software after 6 hours was still slicing, i tried a few files from http://www.thingiverse.com but some just failed with a 32 bit exception error and the rest just kept on slicing for hours and hours, i de-installed and re-installed but same issue so i gave up on that software.

    I then went onto the Cura software which has a robot you can print out, quite a few times the heat went up to 260 on the printer and then it stopped communicating, a few times it did try to print but it just gathered up on the end of the nozzle into a lump, i tried with PLA and ABS and with the bed heated and also not heated but the same results. I followed the instructions about the height of the nozzle but same issue.

    I assume the glass goes on top of the heated bed and not under that thin heated sheet ?

    If anyone has any ideas how i can just print anything please let me know, at this point i would consider selling this printer but i guess i would have to demo it first which i can't do :)




    Regards
    John
     
    #1 John Fretwell, Oct 1, 2013
  2. Michael DiFilippo

    Michael DiFilippo Active Member

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    Give us a link or two to what you were trying to slice. 6 hours sounds like slic3r was locked up (has happened to me on a few files before). Start with something simple like a calibration cube, should take a minute or less to slice and will be a quick print so you can see what is happening.

    As far as the rest of your problems, first I would suggest starting with PLA turn the heated bed off (to zero) once you get a print going then try out ABS. How did you set your z height? Did you use a piece of paper (or business card) between the glass (which does go ontop of the heated bed) and the nozzle? Lumping up could be either too low or too high of a zstop but I am going to think too high.

    Now for the heating issue, open repetier and go to the printer control panel. Set the temp to 180 for the extruder and turn on the extruder. Watch the temperature rise. Keep it at that temperate for say 10 minutes then shut it off (turn off extruder) and take a look at the temperature chart, did the temp stay steady?

    Sounds like you had a typical first time experience, multiple things went wrong making trouble shooting more difficult. Do not give up! I had an awesome first print and then had almost a week of straight failures, I took a breath, gave a break and was able to get it all dialed back in.
     
    #2 Michael DiFilippo, Oct 1, 2013
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  3. tesseract

    tesseract Moderator
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    yes that is way too long
    It sounds like you are having multiple issues

    FOR one thing NEVER let the extruder get to 260 again it should cut off at the max which I think is 230 it can ruin the printer if it does get that high.

    Mike is correct start with PLA it is easy and has the least issues you have to deal with ABS requires a bit more finesse

    There are many thing to look at at this point but you need to ask for assistance if something is not understood it is better to ask and get it right then try something and cause more issues.

    First thing before even turning the heater one you need to become a bit more familiar with the repetier host software
    It may not even be installed correctly if you are gettings errors like you mentioned
    and only extremely EXTREMELY complex objects take more than a few minutes to slice I think my longest was about 6 min.

    I will be glad to help you along if you want just ask and we can get it working it is a pretty decent little printer that does exactly as described if setup correctly but some of the more precise things will comes with experience.

    I am uploading two files a 15mm cube and a 5 step pyramid these should be your first prints as they are simple and can yield valuable information do not try much else until you can get these to print reliably well.
     

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    #3 tesseract, Oct 1, 2013
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  4. John Fretwell

    John Fretwell New Member

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    Hi Michael
    Thank you for the reply and the advice, i will play around with this today. I did get a reply from Robo3D also, they sent me a file which is already sliced, i will also try that as well but the robot from Cura also does not need slicing.

    The file attached is a robot that comes with the Cura software, this did not need slicing. Do you think the glass could be too smooth ? someone on the web said they used painters tape, i have some and will also try that as well.


    Regards
    John
     

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    #4 John Fretwell, Oct 1, 2013
  5. tesseract

    tesseract Moderator
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    the glass will not be the issue at this point that is a issue that occurs much later in the process there is a lot to do first. make sure repetier is installed correctly
    make sure you have connection
    axis levelling
    z height adjustments
    etc
     
    #5 tesseract, Oct 1, 2013
  6. John Fretwell

    John Fretwell New Member

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    Axis levelling ? is that the same as putting the paper underneath ? i am not 100% sure but when i put the paper underneath so it just fits then move it to the right side i am sure there is a difference in height, not easy to tell as the difference is so small.
     
    #6 John Fretwell, Oct 1, 2013
  7. John Fretwell

    John Fretwell New Member

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    I think i have found the printing problem but i do not know how to fix it. I placed the paper under the nozzle so it was just touching but i could still move the paper, i then moved the nozzle over to the right but as you can see from the picture the gap is then huge. There does not seem to be a way to adjust each corner level but i can see from the Cura software there is an option there to level each corner so with some printers you must be able to do this.

    Does anyone know if there is a way to adjust each corner of a Robo3D bed ? i have looked at the screws but they just seem like normal screws.

    Regards
    John
     

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    #7 John Fretwell, Oct 1, 2013
  8. tesseract

    tesseract Moderator
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    yes that is axis leveling but I would suggest using a business card as that give you a bit more room to work with but that is only one of several steps and learning how to do that one the right way now will lead to much better prints being able to be done much more quickly.

    Just an FYI
    here are things you need to get setup correctly
    in the correct order

    familiarization of the repetier-host software
    getting the x axis level to the bed surface (primary nozzle height adjustments)
    checking the bed levelness itself just for informational purposes at this point fixing it comes later
    setting and using the z adjustment to get a better z height(secondary nozzle height adjustment)
    loading the proper filament and knowing why it is the proper one
    setting you prints to have skirts set to 2 and then being able to look at the skirts when printing so you can make the third and and best nozzle height adjustment
    and then making some test prints and knowing what to look for and make adjustments as necessary


    I just spent the last couple days walking to different people through the whole thing with great results checkout these links

    http://forums.robo3dprinter.com/index.php?threads/keraynopoylosprinter-chris.1035/

    and

    http://forums.robo3dprinter.com/index.php?threads/topsys-printer.1038/

    both these people got their printers a few days ago and now they both are getting great results and more importantly know what they are doing and can already make correct adjustments when they see issues.
     
    #8 tesseract, Oct 1, 2013
  9. tesseract

    tesseract Moderator
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    You are not adjusting the screws but the threaded rods themselves for each side but that is only the beginning it is a longer process
     
    #9 tesseract, Oct 1, 2013
  10. John Fretwell

    John Fretwell New Member

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    I just noticed that when one rod is moved the other one also moves unless you hold it, that would be why it was never level. I have done this now on both sides and used the paper on both sides, i would image doing this for all 4 corners would be better but i don't see any option to do this. I will attempt to print what you sent me and see how it goes.
     
    #10 John Fretwell, Oct 1, 2013
  11. tesseract

    tesseract Moderator
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    I wouldn't yet they will mostlikely fail there is a mthod to doing each individually
     
    #11 tesseract, Oct 1, 2013
  12. John Fretwell

    John Fretwell New Member

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    Thanks Micheal. I did what you said with the temperature and it was steady at around 179/181, when i turned it off it decreased but slowly which is what i would expect as it was turned off.
     
    #12 John Fretwell, Oct 1, 2013
  13. John Fretwell

    John Fretwell New Member

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    My print just failed but it was the closest i have got so far. It was looking good at first but the PLA would not stick to the surface as you can see from the picture and then it just followed the nozzle around.

    Do you guys just use the glass without anything on it at all ?
     

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    #13 John Fretwell, Oct 1, 2013
  14. tesseract

    tesseract Moderator
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    In order to adjust each of the rods seperately you need to disengage the motors by hitting the stop motors button this will allow you to move the bed freely and the x axis and the threaded rods first do the left side at the middle of the bed and then do the right and then repeat as it will change a bit as each is adjusted once both are set then your x axis is level to the bed at it center. Doing the corners is related more to the bed levelness itself rather than the x axis being level so as most of your prints will be done toward the center and the only fix is something you will most like have to print you probably won;t bea ble to do much to fix this at this point in time but it is information you need so I would check ONLY the corners and just remember what they were but dont' adjust anything to them right now
     
    #14 tesseract, Oct 1, 2013
  15. tesseract

    tesseract Moderator
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    the reason it is not sticking is not the bed but your nozzle height is still way too high
    If we are going to go through all of this it would be better in the shoutbox as it is more real time
     
    #15 tesseract, Oct 1, 2013
  16. tesseract

    tesseract Moderator
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    I personally do not use blue tape at all any more I simply use hairspray on the glass and I find when things are set correctly it sticks absolutely wondefully
     
    #16 tesseract, Oct 1, 2013
  17. tesseract

    tesseract Moderator
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    Once you get the bed axis level then you need to set your print to use at least 2 skirts these will help guide you into determining if you z height is off
    the normal printing process for all your prints should be this

    1. Start print
    2. Check if skirts look good
    2A. If they do let the print run
    2B. If they don't stop the print, adjust the z height and go back to step 1



    You adjust the z height via the z asjusting screw and your goal is to make the skirt appear flattened but completely solid
     
    #17 tesseract, Oct 1, 2013
  18. John Fretwell

    John Fretwell New Member

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    What is setting the (z adjustment to get a better z height(secondary nozzle height adjustment) ?

    Regards
    John
     
    #18 John Fretwell, Oct 1, 2013
  19. tesseract

    tesseract Moderator
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    once the bed is level you can start adjusting both at the same time using the z adjustment screw.
    IT is best to do this after adjusting each threaded rod seperately using the z adjustment screw
     
    #19 tesseract, Oct 1, 2013
  20. John Fretwell

    John Fretwell New Member

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    I have tried many many times to print today. I have managed to get one layer on the bed twice but then it seems to stop pulling out the filament, i had the temperature at 230 degrees but i am not sure it was that temperature, i was using Cura and it said it was 230 but on Repetier it said it was 210, maybe it was not hot enough to pull it out ?

    That cube STL file you gave me, how can i use that with Repetier because it won't let me print it unless i slice it and that takes hours, actually i have never sliced anything yet successfully and i have re-installed that software so many times.

    Is there perhaps an issue because my computer is 64 bit ?
     
    #20 John Fretwell, Oct 2, 2013
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