Help with my new printer

hello to you all.

I recently bought a prusa explorer from 3dstuffmaker (heard not a good choice).

after fully assembled it was time to print...
but i cant get a good print like i see here on the forums.

attached picture with 3 configs, first 215C, default settings(attached), second at 210C fast and third at 240C slower than default settings.
tested layer height 2 and 2.8(default)

i think i still have high temperature since the objects come out warped but any other temperature below 210C the extruder has to do a tremendous ammount of force (even pushing PLA with my hand is difficult)

also is there a way to upgrade my extruder(ezyprint)? cause its easier to remove pla and clean the hot end but i dont trust that guidance tube.

thank you all for your support

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/02/2013 07:49PM by nuno12345.

Welcome to reprap!

Looks like you and EvilS0B are at about the same place with the same machine - you should get in touch with each other as it will help to bounce ideas off someone with the exact same machine as you get up and running.

So, looking at your settings first thing I notice is that the filament diameter is probably not 3mm. Do you have a pair of digital calipers? If not I'd highly suggest you get a pair. You're going to need them to measure filament diameters and they will be necessary for calibration. MUST HAVE ITEM.

Speeds seem fine to start. Check richrap's blog for an excellent 3-part slic3r tutorial. And while you're there read everything you can get your hands on - it'll be worth it.

Also, try printing on blue painters tape - it's a godsend for printing PLA without a heated bed.

Since you're running a Gen6 board a known working version of Sprinter can be found here, unless you already have it.

Have you calibrated the X, Y, Z and E steps? You must do this before printing anything. spacexula/repraplogphase has an excellent tutorial video.

Once you have that housekeeping out of the way you'll be ready to start printing (it's a bummer - all you want to do is lay down some plastic!).

SUGGESTIONS

1.) Secure that wire loom to the frame - it looks like it could impede the movement of the build platform.
2.) First real object you print should be a filament holder - it will make your life easier.
3.) Don't mount a heated bed to that acrylic plate - it will just melt
4.) Be patient! Rome wasn't built in a day, and perfect prints will take some time to achieve but hang in there!
5.) Keep asking questions! Everyone here is willing to help.

---

- akhlut

Just remember - Iterate, Iterate, Iterate!

[myhomelessmind.blogspot.com]

First of all thank you for your fast response.

Actually most of my prints use 2.8mm has fillament diameter, either way ill measure it with the calipers.

I think my axis are right exept for the Z axis, it needs tuning every 10 prints or so, either way ill double check it.

Is it normal the highly ammount of force needed to push trough the hot end?

Also the original kapton tape is gone (scratched) and i used tape eich seems to work fine.
Ill get in contact with the user...

About the firmware upgrade, what improvements can it do? My motos do some high freq sounds wich i think its high amps but i dont want to touch that since i cant even get a good pla flow.

Thank you so much

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/03/2013 04:19AM by nuno12345.

I just got one TOO!

--> your chess peice looks like my one! (sh#*ouse)

....It took me a good couple of days to get some decent prints.... here is what I did.


Got the "cube file" loaded and created the gcode file.
Then deleted the line for wating for the heater to get to the right temperature (m109 s something or other)

Then manually set the temperature.

-My nozzle came with a little note attached to use it at about 200-220 - I found after a few runs that 220 was best. - the actual real temperature at the nozzle I have no idea about.

I found that even when everything is flowing smoothly - that if the cube starts to come out bad that I can blame it on the extruder. - I do the cube print nice and slow at 20mm/s - so far I haven't been able to beat this speed - I have set everything to that speed.

Pull the extruder apart - my one had a big nick on the mid plate that would "hook" the filament while being driven. I presume its where the laser cutting starts and stops when mass manufacturing the plate - it leaves a hook there which is really bad.
Test the extruder again - it should be able to lift 12kg! - I think this is an over estimate, I wreckon mine could lift about 5kg now that I have cleaned up the midplate and tightened everything up. Rememmeber that grub srew has to really bite onto the fillament and push it really hard up against the drive gear. (NOTE: don't oil anything whatever you do - like my dad suggested - its his solution to every problem - just oil it! -wrong!!!)

Once you can get the cube to make lines one ontop of the other fairly efficiently then you can figure out how much "reverse" on the extruder fillament feed you need in order to slow down flow. - Mine comes out to about 5mm @ 30mm/s -I'm still trying to fine tune that - still have to get my temperature perfect first though.


-Has your table bent like nothing else - mine is bowed already, not sure what to replace it with, I wouldn't mind a heated bed but I don't see anything on the electronics.

Hope this helps.

thank you that really helped but,

refering to the extruder this midplate your talking about..cant understand were it is(pics)? mine does some crazy sounds once in a while(grinding?)

if you notice my extruder on the pic its broken but i emailed them about it and they sended 2 new extruders(erything exept the motor).

my card says: OUT PUT:0.4 PLA AIZE 3mm tTARGET TEMP 210-230 CURRENT TEMP 205-225, wich one are you refering to?
here are like 10C does that affect the temperature, anything to have in mind?

also can you please post pictures or your config file of the sl1cer settings..when people refer to speed i dont know if its travel speed bridges speed infill etc

again thank you all so much, really nice forums for a really nice product

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/03/2013 01:50PM by nuno12345.

If you want my advice, replace your extruder and hot end ASAP. Bowden extruders like yours were designed to reduce the mass of the printhead, in order to allow faster printing. This would be fine, except that there are MANY more variables to adjust before you can get decent prints at high speed. The bottom line in most cases is that the best quality prints are the slow ones.

You being new to all of this, I would say that your needs (to learn, and get decent prints quickly), would be best met by using a more conventional hot end and extruder design.

Wade's extruders and the variants based on Greg Frost's work are all good choices when coupled with a J-Head. I would only recommend the J-Heads from Brian Reifsnyder at hotends.com. He's the designer of that one, and there are clones out there with varying quality.

Of the Greg variants, my current favorite is from Chri the uniX-Wade Universal Extruder. If you don't have someone near you that can print one for you, PM me, or post to the Buy/Sell section of the forum.

The spacing of the X-Axis smooth bars is standard on almost all repraps, so you should be able to replace the carriage if need be.

So spend another 50€ in a new extruder and hot end is the best solution? :/
wich hotend would be te best for that unix-wade extruder? looks simple and functional.

I dont care for the speed I just want some medium quality printed parts, whats driving me crazy is realizing that the same temperature or speeds can make good or bad printed parts, not a fixed configuration for each printer, for a good print, always.

thanks

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/03/2013 05:47PM by nuno12345.

The J-Head from hotends.com. Don't get it from anywhere else, because I cannot be certain of the quality of clones. Some are reporting problems.

Don't go for the smaller diameter. Stick to the 0.5mm nozzle. Keep the temperature reasonable around 230°C with ABS.

jcabrer can you build the plastic parts please? im willing to pay for it.
Also what will I need more? hotends sells the full hotend for 54$ but I think i still have to buy the hotend holder and pray for it to fit unix-wade extruder

The extruder does not need a holder. The J-Head slips into the hole, and is held in place with either a pair of screws, or one of my clips [www.thingiverse.com].

PM me your mailing address.

Hey guys, i have one of these printers working very well, i have the evolution version


I must say +1 on change your extruder and hotend, Stick with Bowden setup, But the hotends they use could be better and also the entire extruder,


I personally have used the same gears on other bowden extruders, the ones with the bearing to apply pressure to the filament is the way to go. does not slip


I use the Budaschnozzle on mine, i went through like 5 of the original hotends, all needed alot more pressure to extrude compared to my buda...
Also the aluhotend looks like a great drop in replacement

The buda can be mounted at the bottom of the existing x carriage but need to extend the Z axis length on the optical sensor so there is more clearance.
Better to print a new carriage tho


With the next extruder and hotend, my prints looks 100% better, much much faster speeds, like 100mm's on the infill

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/05/2013 10:40PM by nechaus.