New to 3d printing with smartrap need some help

The non servo one. I can't seem to get it to work when I send G29 with the pc. But still the biggest problem I have is the struder stepper still kicks back when trying to print. I have tried to add a bit of oil to the bowden tube and still not any better.

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duranza
The non servo one. I can't seem to get it to work when I send G29 with the pc. But still the biggest problem I have is the struder stepper still kicks back when trying to print. I have tried to add a bit of oil to the bowden tube and still not any better.

I've had that kickback problem for a long time (even when I changed to a geared extruder). I described it here. What fixed it for me was to dial down your flow rate. Mine was down to about 70% and I don't get the kickback anymore even with a direct drive extruder.

A good sign that you are over extruding is when after a print, your nozzle keeps oozing filament for a long time.

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duranza
The non servo one. I can't seem to get it to work when I send G29 with the pc. But still the biggest problem I have is the struder stepper still kicks back when trying to print. I have tried to add a bit of oil to the bowden tube and still not any better.

OK, I just downloaded it all for you and took just Marlin out to make it quicker for you to download.
This one is very new, the latest no-servo version from github.

Marlin latest no-servo

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[regpye.com.au]
"Experience is the mother of all knowledge." --Leonardo da Vinci

Thanks Regpye. One question.. How in the heck did you download all so fast? My laptop has been downloading for 2 days from github lol.

MeIT is there a place where you set the flow rat on marlin? or do you set it on the lcd?

Not on Marlin itself but it can be adjusted on your slicer software or it can also be adjusted during a print on the LCD controller. I'll get some screen shots.

Slic3r:

Cura:


Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/20/2014 09:04AM by MelT.

In the LCD controller, the menu will change during a print.

When you press the dial when on the main screen, you will see Tune > Flow.

ahh.. Thanks. I'll have to give it a try.

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duranza
Thanks Regpye. One question.. How in the heck did you download all so fast? My laptop has been downloading for 2 days from github lol.

MeIT is there a place where you set the flow rat on marlin? or do you set it on the lcd?

Got a fast connection I guess, it only took a few minutes to download the whole lot here.

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[regpye.com.au]
"Experience is the mother of all knowledge." --Leonardo da Vinci

Got some updates.

Mechanical:

I finally got G29 to work somewhat. It probes the first 2 points and on the last point it says that the end stop hit. When changing the extruder offset in marlin, it seems to not work. The probe doesn't move up enough after G28 and it scrapes the bed. I have tried to set it with repetier host M555 by going up 1.5 mm after homing and saved with M500. Still the same results.

Hot end:

I've been trying to print with the J-head lite V2 and when no fan is used the PLA parts on the axis start to get soft. When I turn the fan on the temperature never reaches the set point.

MeIT:

I tryed the 70% then 50% multiplier, but I'm still getting kick backs. Maybe I need to make a hobbed mk7 with bigger teeth like Regpye says.

After the third probe, add a line in your startup gcode to raise the nozzle using G1 Z10 to avoid it scraping the glass.

What temperature are you printing at? Have you tried printing at higher temperatures? Looks like you need to do a PID auto-tune too.

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duranza
Got some updates.

Mechanical:

I finally got G29 to work somewhat. It probes the first 2 points and on the last point it says that the end stop hit. When changing the extruder offset in marlin, it seems to not work. The probe doesn't move up enough after G28 and it scrapes the bed. I have tried to set it with repetier host M555 by going up 1.5 mm after homing and saved with M500. Still the same results.

Hot end:

I've been trying to print with the J-head lite V2 and when no fan is used the PLA parts on the axis start to get soft. When I turn the fan on the temperature never reaches the set point.

MeIT:

I tryed the 70% then 50% multiplier, but I'm still getting kick backs. Maybe I need to make a hobbed mk7 with bigger teeth like Regpye says.

What have you got set in the bed leveling section of the configuration.h file?
It should be something like this

#define Z_RAISE_BEFORE_PROBING 15 //How much the extruder will be raised before traveling to the first probing point.
#define Z_RAISE_BETWEEN_PROBINGS 5 //How much the extruder will be raised when traveling from between next probing points

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[regpye.com.au]
"Experience is the mother of all knowledge." --Leonardo da Vinci

Yup, definitely check those two lines pointed out by regpye. Although for me, the Z_RAISE_BETWEEN_PROBINGS value only works between probings but not after the third probe.

I think we have the same case where the probe stays on the glass after the third probe.

Can you post your startup gcode settings? Don't worry, there are very helpful people here to help you sort those issues out.

From the official smartrap website FAQ, here's what the startup gcode looks like to

M109 S[first_layer_temperature_0];set extruder temp and start heating
G28 X0 Y0 ;home X and Y
G29 ;probe bed
G90; set absolute coordinates
G92 E0; reset extruder distance
G1 X10 Y10 F3000 ; move to back right corner

If your probe stays on the bed, just add G1 Z10 after G29. Maybe like this:

M109 S[first_layer_temperature_0];set extruder temp and start heating
G28 X0 Y0 ;home X and Y
G29 ;probe bed
G1 Z10 ; move nozzle up
G90; set absolute coordinates
G92 E0; reset extruder distance
G1 X10 Y10 F3000 ; move to back right corner

the slicer start g code is the standard one. I will add this and report back.

i'm printing at 205 with pla

You might have those PLA that needs higher temperature. Mine only flows well at 230 and above but try increasing your temperature 5 degrees at a time and check the result.

Your fan might also be cooling off your hot end. You have to insulate your hot end so that the fan won't cool it down too much.

Good luck!

And when you get a chance, print a geared extruder. You won't regret it.

I printed regpye's extruder and it worked wonders in terms of print quality and print speed. But you have to sort out your temperature first. I shared my experience here and hopefully it can help you out a bit.

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MelT
And when you get a chance, print a geared extruder. You won't regret it.

I printed regpye's extruder and it worked wonders in terms of print quality and print speed. But you have to sort out your temperature first. I shared my experience here and hopefully it can help you out a bit.

Here are the URLs for the extruder, one right hand version and the other left hand version.
They are designed for 40mm motors and if you are using a 48mm motor just print this foot and both will fit.

[regpye.com.au] Foot for 48mm motor

[regpye.com.au] Left hand

[regpye.com.au] Right hand

If you want to use either mounted the same way as MeIT has done only not using a block of wood, this foot will do the trick.
[regpye.com.au] Motor foot

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/21/2014 03:47AM by regpye.

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[regpye.com.au]
"Experience is the mother of all knowledge." --Leonardo da Vinci

Thanks Repye, as soon as I can get a good print out I will sure print it out no matter how slow I have to print it.

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regpye

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MelT
And when you get a chance, print a geared extruder. You won't regret it.

I printed regpye's extruder and it worked wonders in terms of print quality and print speed. But you have to sort out your temperature first. I shared my experience here and hopefully it can help you out a bit.

Here are the URLs for the extruder, one right hand version and the other left hand version.
They are designed for 40mm motors and if you are using a 48mm motor just print this foot and both will fit.

[regpye.com.au] Foot for 48mm motor

[regpye.com.au] Left hand

[regpye.com.au] Right hand

If you want to use either mounted the same way as MeIT has done only not using a block of wood, this foot will do the trick.
[regpye.com.au] Motor foot

UPDATE:
I have now replaced these files with improved versions and separated the parts to make it easier for everyone to print.
The Guidler has been improved so that it will use 50mm bolts instead of 55mm that are hard to find.
Photos of each part at different angles so that you can identify the part that you want instead of guessing.

All these parts are now on my website under Free Stuff

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[regpye.com.au]
"Experience is the mother of all knowledge." --Leonardo da Vinci

Well after 5 hours of slow printing this is what I have so far. I hope this will help me speed things up if it doesn't fail when I'm sleeping..

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duranza
Well after 5 hours of slow printing this is what I have so far. I hope this will help me speed things up if it doesn't fail when I'm sleeping..

Wow that is sure slow, I print the whole extruder, gears and all in less that 3 hours

I see you have a lot of stringing between the parts. This is often caused through moving too slow and another reason is the temperature is too high, but I see your temp is not really that high at all.
I am sure that with a few tweaks you will get it all doing nicely. Doing a retract between parts can also help a lot.
Good luck with your big print.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/22/2014 12:17AM by regpye.

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[regpye.com.au]
"Experience is the mother of all knowledge." --Leonardo da Vinci

Thanks for the files Regpye. I have increased the temp to 220C and now i'm printing at 60% instead of 20%. It seems the J-head light is finally broken in the only bad is that the J-head mount is bending a little due to the Teflon getting hot. I can't turn on the fan of the temperature never reaches setting.

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duranza
Thanks for the files Regpye. I have increased the temp to 220C and now i'm printing at 60% instead of 20%. It seems the J-head light is finally broken in the only bad is that the J-head mount is bending a little due to the Teflon getting hot. I can't turn on the fan of the temperature never reaches setting.

Yes a very common problem with the ultra cheap hotends, you only get what you pay for don't you?
Some PLAs need pretty high temperatures, they seem to change from brand to brand and also from colour to colour as well.
I currently have a roll of black that I am trying from a new supplier, and it is terrible to print with, very brittle too, the filament can break on its way to the extruder.
Most filaments I use are quite soft compared and have a soapy feeling after being printed, nicely welded together on the layers and a fairly smooth finish too, but not this black.
I am using it up to make some vacuum forming patterns, I wouldn't use it for any structural job like printer parts.

Some experiments with your settings will definitely pay off, but keep in mind what I have just said about the black I am using, you will find the same with some PLA that you purchase, may be a different colour or different brand.

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[regpye.com.au]
"Experience is the mother of all knowledge." --Leonardo da Vinci

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regpye
Yes a very common problem with the ultra cheap hotends, you only get what you pay for don't you?

You say cheap like it's a bad thing. Everyone loves cheap. You can use a voltage regulator to control the fan speed [www.ebay.com] or just use a smaller fan.

Honestly haven't had a problem with Jhead-Lite V2. I don't use a fan on it. I have it on a Ordbot Hadron and prints really well at 50mm/s.

I'm definitely not saying anything bad about the J-head Lite. Cheap, simple and works. <----- Love this... I'm just having noob problems and once I figure all that out it will be awesome. I do know where Regpye is coming from though. There's things we can't cheap out on to avoid headaches. Being on a really tight budget is what has made me who I am. It has made me resourceful. I don't let the lack of funds hold me back. Besides, I learn better by hands on.

I'm very happy that I'm printing after getting a replacement J-head from Ohio plastics. The first one the Teflon liner couldn't get down all the way even when heated to 250c. You should have seen my face when I saw filament coming out with the second one. Now I see why the wood mount too.. The plastic mound gets a little soft after an hour of printing.

The parts that I tryed from Regpye last night failed. Although I did learn alot from this. There is a lot more in the programing/slicing to get it right than everything else combined.

Looks like I needed more turns around the stepper shafts with the fishing line to get more friction. It slipped a little on the X and Y and the print was slanted. Also, I need to eliminate the strings between the parts.

Glad you sorted it out.

I too, had the slant on X before and just needed to tighten the fishing line. 5 turns on the shaft works for me.

What's your nozzle diameter? And at what speeds can you print now?

.4 on the nozzle and I'm now printing at 25mm/sec. I'm going to give the extruder another try. Do you use slic3r or cura? I'm trying to get the settings right on slic3r. I also had to level the bed by shimming the plate as I still can't get it to auto level yet.

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goldenmongoose

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regpye
Yes a very common problem with the ultra cheap hotends, you only get what you pay for don't you?

You say cheap like it's a bad thing. Everyone loves cheap. You can use a voltage regulator to control the fan speed [www.ebay.com] or just use a smaller fan.

I have to disagree with what you say Kyle, Not everybody loves cheap, but everybody loves reliable.
People buy "cheap" because they may have too, but they don't really love it, they want and love reliable.
With "cheap" comes other things, like lost time, lost material, lost parts and even lost machines all making cheap very very expensive.
Paying a little more for reliable pays off and then becomes really the cheap one because of no lost material, time, parts or damage.
In the end you get what you can afford, and if you can't afford to get something good to start with and have problems, you end up paying for the results that it gives.

Now I expect that there will be a flow of dialogue about this, but let me say Kyle, "Don't open a can of worms"

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[regpye.com.au]
"Experience is the mother of all knowledge." --Leonardo da Vinci

Haha, I understand Reg. No can of worms shall be opened. Maybe I shouldn't say everyone. Maybe just America loves cheap. I guess there's no Walmarts in the Outback to corrupt your socio-economic world view. Yet...