G+_Rud Dog Posted July 9, 2018 Share Posted July 9, 2018 Bit of an update on the purchase of my Prusa I3 Mk3. It does print very well and if I was to use one descriptive word concerning the use of this 3D printer it would have to be "adhesion". I have had one peel off and spew filament creating what is referred to as string monster. Second is the curling or warping of one corner of a print. It appears the tuning of the filament as it lays down on the print bed is the holy grail and have found a couple of users which have documented how they arrived at the finally tuned laydown of filament. The contact with support has been the normal responses; did you clean the print bed before each print, did you calibrate as per manual, etc? As I continue on will report back as to the final review on the Prusa printer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_David Peach Posted July 10, 2018 Share Posted July 10, 2018 It seems that was something that I struggled with early on. There can be many factors that affect the adhesion. Can be mechanical, can be slicer, can be environment. It's not just a Prusa issue. It is any printer. I don't know what filament you are starting with, but PLA has been the easiest for me to get right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Joe Valasko Posted July 10, 2018 Share Posted July 10, 2018 Congratulations on getting your machine up and running. Welcome to the adventure of 3D printing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Jeff Gros Posted July 10, 2018 Share Posted July 10, 2018 Rud Dog You can try a few things. Lowering the Z-Offset. Increasing the bed temperature. Slowing down print speed. Turn off skirt in favor of brim (4 - 6 layers should be enough). PLA shouldn't have issues sticking to PEI. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Jeff Gros Posted July 10, 2018 Share Posted July 10, 2018 Although, to be fair, any filament will have trouble sticking if the surface area is small (this is where brim can help). That analinda hand you showed in a different post is a pretty good example of small surface area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Rud Dog Posted July 10, 2018 Author Share Posted July 10, 2018 David Peach working on all the videos and articles for dialing in this setting. As I mentioned found a couple of people with their approach and just can't wait to reset and start from scratch on the adjustment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Rud Dog Posted July 10, 2018 Author Share Posted July 10, 2018 Jeff Gros Yes tried the brim on one print but it was a test on a smaller project will have to go back and attempt that setting on the larger prints. I find it interesting because I am printing these print shelves and every one of them has curl or warpage in the exact same location. This might be a good test for the brim. I am still learning how to set the per layer settings so I will have to search around and see where you can set to the number of layers to use brim on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Rud Dog Posted July 10, 2018 Author Share Posted July 10, 2018 I am using PLA for all my prints and getting parts printed but with a few imperfections (warping) but I can still use them so much so my first role of PLA is about used up. I wanted to purchase my PLA products from Prusa but the shipping costs were almost as much as a roll of PLA so now I am looking for another vendor. I tried Amazon but so many to choose from don't want to purchase filament that is unusable and contributes to my problems. SUggestions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Jeff Gros Posted July 11, 2018 Share Posted July 11, 2018 I hate to admit it, because I would rather support my local US economy, but my current favorite is eSun (Shenzhen China). Their filament of excellent quality. It's never dirty, and a very consistent diameter. They have an excellent selection of colors and the price is really good. Available on amazon. They also have a lot of different materials and hybrids. Hatchbox has a terrible color selection on amazon. I'm currently using a lot of PLA+. Once I work through my HatchBox PETG and ABS, I'll try eSun's. They have a clear spool so you can see how much filament is left (unlike Hatchbox, with a black spool, ugh). Their box also has a slot so you can see the color of the filament. This works really well in my filament storage setup to keep the filament safe from moisture. I keep the spool in a ziplock bag, with a moisture detecting tag and some dessicant baggies. This ziplock bag, with spool, is kept in the box, which slides onto my shelf. I can see the moisture tag through the window for eSun. You can see in the picture that I had to carve a hole in the box for hatchbox and polymaker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Rud Dog Posted July 11, 2018 Author Share Posted July 11, 2018 Jeff Gros thank you. I was wondering about keeping the filament in some sort of storage similar to the vacuum packed method when purchased. Now to order some ziplock bags. Where do you get the detecting tag and desiccant bags? Oh and will have to try spool of the eSun product. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Jeff Gros Posted July 11, 2018 Share Posted July 11, 2018 Rud Dog Rushing out the door to work. I'll get you a list of links tonight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Jeff Gros Posted July 11, 2018 Share Posted July 11, 2018 Rud Dog BTW. Since you are about to run out, don't throw away the spool. Keep a spool for each brand you use. You can use the empty to figure out how many grams of filament are left on a new spool by comparing the weight of empty to used. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Jeff Gros Posted July 12, 2018 Share Posted July 12, 2018 Rud Dog Dessicant: https://www.amazon.com/Premium-Silica-Packets-Desiccant-Dehumidifiers/dp/B00DYII98A Tags: https://www.amazon.com/Premium-Humidity-Indicator-Cards-REUSABLE/dp/B01974FX42 Bags: https://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/80339281/ The bag is the tricky part, as most ziplock bags I've tried are JUST a bit too small. The 4.5L bags are a nice fit for most spools, and you can use the 6L for the jumbo spools. You might have seen vacuum pump bags (like for storing clothes that you don't wear much). I tried those, but they leak! Don't bother.... For PLA keeping dry is probably not that much of an issue unless you live somewhere super humid. PETG is a bit more hydroscopic. But Nylon needs to be printed from a drybox! If the filament does get wet, what will happen is that it will get brittle (you can snap it with your fingers), and it will release the water as it prints (it will spit water vapor) which can make for bad prints. You can also "recharge" your spool by sucking the water back out. Either by throwing it in the oven, or putting it in a food dehydrator. Same for desiccant packs. Although they're so cheap, why bother. This cleaning filament from eSun also works well for when you will eventually need to do a cold pull to clear a clog. You could also just use nylon. https://www.amazon.com/eSUN-CLEANING-Filament-Printers-Cleaning/dp/B00MVIYNFW amazon.com - Amazon.com: 100 Gram Pack of 10 "Dry & Dry" Premium Pure & Safe Silica Gel Packets Desiccant Dehumidifiers - Rechargeable Fabric: Home & Kitchen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Rud Dog Posted July 12, 2018 Author Share Posted July 12, 2018 Jeff Gros thanks. Lots of useful information. Unfortunately, right now my focus has been changed from all the wonderful things that can be done with this printer to a nightmare clogging issue. After getting the kinks out of my printer, standard stuff, the filament broke and left me with unfinished print. The filament is the one shipped with the printer. Cleared the clog in the extruder by raising the temperature 250 or so and loading and unloading the filament. With a bit of help was able to get the filament to push out. BTW before this occurred could hear this clicking sound but could not tell where it was coming from turns out it was the pully feeding the filament; skipping. Once cleared loaded filament and all was fine then the clicking sound started again. Checked to make sure the filament was not tangled or misaligned possibly causing undue strain on the pully. The clicking wasn't terrible so I unreeled some filament taking any and all strain off the pully and eventually the clicking went away. Three hours into the print the print head stopped extruding filament. Tried to unload filament but failed it is not coming out and it won't feed so now I have to open up the extruder and see whats wrong. Will need to go back and see if I can find how to open the extruder pully area. Seem to remember the pully area having a hinged access area. Will bookmark your suggested links and get back to them when I get this ironed out. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Hyrum Smith Posted July 12, 2018 Share Posted July 12, 2018 Rud Dog As for filament, stay away from MakerGeeks! They have serious diameter inconsistency issues and non-existent support / return policy. Hatchbox PLA works. Inland & Priline PETG from Amazon have also been reliable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Jeff Gros Posted July 12, 2018 Share Posted July 12, 2018 Rud Dog Sorry to hear about the jams. Unfortunately, they are common with every printer. The nozzle is really small and easily jammed with dust or other particulates. The smaller the nozzle, the easier it is to jam! To try to avoid jams, you should keep the printer out of your garage or any place dirty/dusty, and hopefully the printer is covered. An enclosure helps a lot with this. If you cannot avoid a bad location, you can print a filament filter. Use something like sponge to wipe the filament as it feeds into the extruder to wipe away dirt. Just make sure whatever you use doesn't degrade into particulates itself! https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:492067 To really clean out the nozzle, there are two techniques. 1. A cold pull using nylon, or the esun cleaning filament. https://www.amazon.com/eSUN-CLEANING-Filament-Printers-Cleaning/dp/B00MVIYNFW 2. Shove an acupuncture needle (of your nozzle diameter or smaller) up the nozzle while it is hot. Amazon doesn't sell these any more. They must have some sort of stupid policy against "needles". You'll have to go on ebay for these. Just make sure it is an actual needle and NOT those round pin type commonly called "ear seeds". https://www.ebay.com/itm/162050821800 In order to diagnose a jam quicker, I would recommend printing out the little prusa windmill to visualize motor movements. https://www.prusaprinters.org/visualize-extruder-motor-movements/ You also mentioned how to open the extruder pulley door? What you are looking for is the extruder idler door. When looking at the prusa logo on the frame, on the left hand side of the extruder assembly there are two large screws that tighten springs. The springs allow the idler wheel to move and flex as filament passes through. The idler wheel keeps tension on the filment so that the extruder gear's teeth can grab the filament. Unscrew these two screws and the door will swing open, giving you full access to the filament inlet to the hotend. I've made a picture showing the screws. Ignore the green circle. I couldn't find an image in the build instructions without some sort of marking on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Jeff Gros Posted July 12, 2018 Share Posted July 12, 2018 Hyrum Smith I've never used maker geeks. I'll stay away. Thanks for the tip! I'll try an inland next time I see one at microcenter and give it a try. Hatchbox has been so-so for me. It prints for the most part, but it jams more than esun. And as I ranted above, they clearly didn't consider my user experience with the spool and box! :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Rud Dog Posted July 12, 2018 Author Share Posted July 12, 2018 Hyrum Smith thank you. I am in the middle of reading the reviews of the many filaments available on Amazon. Appreciate you posting your experience with filament products and manufacturers. (Hatchbox PLA works. Inland & Priline PETG) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Rud Dog Posted July 12, 2018 Author Share Posted July 12, 2018 Jeff Gros great info placed the links in my browser manager and will review them soon. I like the idea of preventive maintenance using the cleaner filament this "is" a common problem. Lastly, thanks for the instructions on opening the pully access door, did it and cleaned out the pully area. There was a bulb on the end of the filament stopping it from pulling back or more correctly unloading filament. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Jeff Gros Posted July 14, 2018 Share Posted July 14, 2018 Rud Dog Based on what you said about preventative maintenance, it sounded like you might not be familiar with a cold pull or how the "cleaning filament" (nylon or otherwise) works, so I thought I would clarify. When you do a "cold pull", you load your filament, extrude out a little bit (if not completely jammed), then you let the hot end cool down. After it cools down, you heat it back up and apply an upward pressure (trying to pull the filament back up the filament inlet). When the filament gets around 150 C or so, if you are using nylon or esun cleaning filament (any slippery filament really), it will start to pull back up the hot end. What you remove will be the filament in a negative of the nozzle. The idea is that when the filament cools, it will solidify and capture any stuck bits. When you start to heat up the filament, it will get hot enough to start moving again, but not hot enough to become liquid. Then you yank the filament back up and it brings the contaminants with it. These cleaning filaments have a large temperature range so you can use them to clean out pretty much any other filament. It only takes 10 minutes or so, but it is a bit of a hassle and not something that you would normally want, or need, to do as preventative maintenance. You do it when you have a jam, when you think you're going to have a jam (clicking sounds from extruder, extruder skipping steps, etc) or when changing filament types from hot to cold. For example, if moving from PETG at 240 C to PLA at 210 C, you might have PETG left inside that cooks inside the nozzle, becoming a gooey mess and clogging up after a while. Never let filament sit static in the nozzle for extended periods, as it will cook and become difficult to remove. Switching from PETG to PLA would be a situation where you would want to thoroughly clean the nozzle using repeated cold pulls to get the PETG out before using the cooler PLA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Jeff Gros Posted July 15, 2018 Share Posted July 15, 2018 Went to buy more black Hatchbox PETG on amazon so that the pieces for my enclosure all have the same look and feel....none in stock... Hatchbox never has any stock on amazon. Which is why I switched to eSun in the first place. sigh.....I guess I'll try out that eSun PETG after all... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Rud Dog Posted July 17, 2018 Author Share Posted July 17, 2018 Got it dialed in and prints are turning out first time every time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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