3D printing

[MartyS (Gromit)]

Oh, and be extra careful of the tiny wires going to the thermistor next to the heater, those are super easy to break.

[Darth Geek]

I ordered a new heater coil. And I'm using this as a good time as any to convert to an all metal hot end. We'll see how it goes installing that this weekend.

[Darth Geek]

The Micro Swiss all metal hot end and replacement heater coil went well. It is on and running now. Apparently I'm supposed to change something called PIP settings in my machine so it controls the new hot end better since it will heat up and cool down differently than the stock one I had in it. I'm supposed to send a gcode for the printer to test it and find out what values I need. If it's a gcode then it seems like something I should be able to generate with Cura, but the videos I have seen are all using more elaborate setups than I have with Octoprint and stuff like that. I'm not at that level.

[MartyS (Gromit)]

The Micro Swiss all metal hot end and replacement heater coil went well. It is on and running now. Apparently I'm supposed to change something called PIP settings in my machine so it controls the new hot end better since it will heat up and cool down differently than the stock one I had in it. I'm supposed to send a gcode for the printer to test it and find out what values I need. If it's a gcode then it seems like something I should be able to generate with Cura, but the videos I have seen are all using more elaborate setups than I have with Octoprint and stuff like that. I'm not at that level.

A PID tuning adjusts the control parameters so when it heats the hot end it doesn't overshoot and maintains a more even temperature.  You are supposed to do it when ever you make changes to the hot end.

Normally you issue M codes for that, not G codes.  To issue M codes you use something like pronterface to get a text interface going to the printer and enter the commands manually.  But I have done it with a gcode file.

You just open a text editor, enter the line of m code, and save it as something like PID.gcode, then "print" the file on the printer.

An example of a line of m code to start a PID autotune (tuning extruder zero at 200 °C, 8 cycles):
M303 E0 S200 C8

Some printers you have to save the new values into the firmware with an M500 command so they don't get lost when you turn off the printer, so you would create a gcode file called something like save.gcode and it would just have one line that says M500.

If you haven't done it yet open up one of your .gcode files in something like Word, it's kind of cool to look at all the commands in there and how it tells the printer to do stuff.

[Darth Geek]

Well it WAS printing well, and then one of the wires to my X motor broke and the print failed. It worried me because it gave me the error that "homing failed" when I stopped the print. Only after that I found out the wire was broken.
At least it means the failure was unrelated to the new hot end. I was concerned about clogging, which is supposed to be an issue with these all metal ones.

[Darth Geek]

*sigh* I am still getting layer shifting on large parts in my Ender 5.



Interestingly this time it was in the X axis when the other layer shifting has been in the Y axis.

The ghosting is mostly gone in smaller parts and one the bottom of this, but it is noticeably increased as it gets higher. I'm wondering if an almost kilogram of material is too much weight for the cantilever bed on the Ender 5.

[MartyS (Gromit)]

The ghosting is mostly gone in smaller parts and one the bottom of this, but it is noticeably increased as it gets higher. I'm wondering if an almost kilogram of material is too much weight for the cantilever bed on the Ender 5.

Hard to imagine the weight of the print being the issue, but as I said before there is considerable force being applied as the nozzle lays down each layer, so any issues with the bearings or rod/rail holders would be magnified as the bed moves down.  Basic mechanical advantage of a longer lever.

Also any weakness in the bed leveling system would show up, any part of the system relying on spring tension would start to break down.

Is it a magnetic bed?  Maybe the magnets are not strong enough.

It only takes a momentary shift to cause a stepper motor to skip, so unless you were watching it when it happened you wouldn't know the reason for the shift.

That does give me an idea for troubleshooting, don't take the failed print off the bed, use it to do some tests by grabbing the top of it and see if you can move/tip it even a little.  If you can move it figure what part is letting it move.

The Z axis is always the hardest to troubleshoot because of the threaded rod(s), can't easily get them out of the system to feel the movement by hand, best you can usually do is run the motors as fast as possible and watch and listen for binding or wobble.

[Darth Geek]

Well the layer shifting is massively worse now:



It turns out my fan under the board has stopped working so I need to look at it's wiring.

The linear rails are running more rough now and have a residue around them:

It looks like the rails I got on Amazon were not real stainless steel, just coated steel. That may be the issue.

[Darth Geek]

I have the replacement stainless steel rails on order for the Ender 5.

I just got my second printer, an Ender 5 Plus. I'm able to get the bed level with it pretty good, and it is supposed to accommodate any additional imbalance. When I level it the Nozzle is the correct ~0.2mm away by using the Post-It note as a feeler gage. But when it starts to print the nozzle is farther away. My first layer measures about 0.38mm and doesn't stick well at all.

[MartyS (Gromit)]

Ah, adding to the print farm...  At one point I had 3 printers.

Does it have a Z probe on the hot end?  If it does there will be some option somewhere to set the first layer Z offset.  Some call it first layer calibration.  Some do it live where it prints a long line and you adjust it while it goes along until you get the proper "squish", some you just have to put in an offset, do a test, then put in a better offset and test again, rinse and repeat until you get the proper setting.

[Darth Geek]

Ah, adding to the print farm...  At one point I had 3 printers.

Does it have a Z probe on the hot end?  If it does there will be some option somewhere to set the first layer Z offset.  Some call it first layer calibration.  Some do it live where it prints a long line and you adjust it while it goes along until you get the proper "squish", some you just have to put in an offset, do a test, then put in a better offset and test again, rinse and repeat until you get the proper setting.

Yeah, it came with an installed BL Touch. I'm going to try adjusting it while it's printing the first line. I'm just concerned about it being too low and crashing later

[Darth Geek]

Wow, this new Prusa XL looks really cool!

[MartyS (Gromit)]

Wow, this new Prusa XL looks really cool!

I hope they put that extruder into the MK3 design, it would be nice to have all those features in a smaller printer.

I suppose with the easy to swap nozzles going to a larger diameter would be easy, only way large printing works is if you sacrifice resolution and use a larger diameter nozzle.  When I built my larger printer I never used it's full size because the print times were crazy, when the slicer says it's going to take more than 2 days to print something you change your mind about printing it.

[Darth Geek]

Wow, this new Prusa XL looks really cool!

I hope they put that extruder into the MK3 design, it would be nice to have all those features in a smaller printer.

Yeah I'm very curious how that cycloidal extruder ends up doing. Maybe it will become an industry standard. And I love that it comes using linear rails.
The base model is still pretty expensive at $2000.

[davidandrewmiller10]

3D printing uses computer-aided design (CAD) to create three-dimensional objects through a layering method. Sometimes referred to as additive manufacturing, 3D printing involves layering materials, like plastics, composites or bio-materials to create objects that range in shape, size, rigidity and color.