Folger Tech 2020 i3 Printer Kit (Official Thread)

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GrouchoDuke
EXCEPT... My BLTouch started doing random reboots of itself again. It also calculated the bed at the wrong height after several G28/G29 attempts. So, I'm back to being frustrated. The regulator I used was very cheap. I may try wiring up my Anker USB charger instead. We'll see.

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dlk4602
Hi, I just finished building my printer over the weekend and have been printing a bunch of stuff. So far I am pretty happy with the results. I do have a problem with melted plastic coming out the top side of the hot end. Eventually the melted plastic will run down the side of the nozzle and drip on my print. This is the stock extruder, I am not sure exactly how these are assembled. Is there a way to get a better seal?

Dave.

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marc2912

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dlk4602
Hi, I just finished building my printer over the weekend and have been printing a bunch of stuff. So far I am pretty happy with the results. I do have a problem with melted plastic coming out the top side of the hot end. Eventually the melted plastic will run down the side of the nozzle and drip on my print. This is the stock extruder, I am not sure exactly how these are assembled. Is there a way to get a better seal?

Dave.

Your hot end isn't tight. I had the same issue with mine. It's good practice to take the whole thing apart. If you don't fix this it will eventually clog. It's basiccally a tube that screws into the block from the top and a nozzle from the other side. I had so much stuff oozing everywhere I had to heat up the extruder (with no filament going into it) and wearing heavy duty oven gloves I dismantled it hot and cleaned all the filament out. The extruder is attached to feed system via a set screw if I remember correctly (as in the top isn't screwed). This means that if you mess up the threads at the top a little when putting it together it won't be too bad because they don't thread into anything.

nJ9ma8j.jpg

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dlk4602
Thanks for the reply. I will take a look at taking it apart and cleaning it up tonight.

Does it help to put some Teflon thread tape on the threads when I reassemble it?

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marc2912

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marc2912

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dlk4602
Hi, I just finished building my printer over the weekend and have been printing a bunch of stuff. So far I am pretty happy with the results. I do have a problem with melted plastic coming out the top side of the hot end. Eventually the melted plastic will run down the side of the nozzle and drip on my print. This is the stock extruder, I am not sure exactly how these are assembled. Is there a way to get a better seal?

Dave.

Your hot end isn't tight. I had the same issue with mine. It's good practice to take the whole thing apart. If you don't fix this it will eventually clog. It's basiccally a tube that screws into the block from the top and a nozzle from the other side. I had so much stuff oozing everywhere I had to heat up the extruder (with no filament going into it) and wearing heavy duty oven gloves I dismantled it hot and cleaned all the filament out. The extruder is attached to feed system via a set screw if I remember correctly (as in the top isn't screwed). This means that if you mess up the threads at the top a little when putting it together it won't be too bad because they don't thread into anything.

Here is a high quality drawing i made for you

nJ9ma8j.jpg

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UltiFix
I had an overnight print, woke up and my extruder had fallen off, looks like it fell of a few huors into the print. there goes 100 feet of plastic...
I also had recently tightened it. -_- Not sure how im going to keep it on.

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marc2912

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UltiFix
I had an overnight print, woke up and my extruder had fallen off, looks like it fell of a few huors into the print. there goes 100 feet of plastic...
I also had recently tightened it. -_- Not sure how im going to keep it on.

Guys I can't stress this enough, be careful. These printers can start a fire. Until you're totally comfortable with everything and have ran hundreds of prints don't leave your printer unattended, even then I probably wouldn't.

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Mach

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marc2912

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UltiFix
I had an overnight print, woke up and my extruder had fallen off, looks like it fell of a few huors into the print. there goes 100 feet of plastic...
I also had recently tightened it. -_- Not sure how im going to keep it on.

Guys I can't stress this enough, be careful. These printers can start a fire. Until you're totally comfortable with everything and have ran hundreds of prints don't leave your printer unattended, even then I probably wouldn't.

I second that. I never leave the house or go to sleep with the printer running, due to the amount of things that can go wrong and cause a fire.

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marc2912

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UltiFix
I had an overnight print, woke up and my extruder had fallen off, looks like it fell of a few huors into the print. there goes 100 feet of plastic...
I also had recently tightened it. -_- Not sure how im going to keep it on.

Guys I can't stress this enough, be careful. These printers can start a fire. Until you're totally comfortable with everything and have ran hundreds of prints don't leave your printer unattended, even then I probably wouldn't.

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UltiFix
Point taken... Will kapton tape be OK to keep the bottom of the extruder attached to the plastic? The screws are just there but slightsly stripped so the exturder can wiggle there way out.

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Mach

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UltiFix
Point taken... Will kapton tape be OK to keep the bottom of the extruder attached to the plastic? The screws are just there but slightsly stripped so the exturder can wiggle there way out.

I think the only way to fix your extruder would be to swap it with your x or one of you z motors. With the amount of weight and sharp acceleration involved, tape will not hold.

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john-i

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Mach

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UltiFix
Point taken... Will kapton tape be OK to keep the bottom of the extruder attached to the plastic? The screws are just there but slightsly stripped so the exturder can wiggle there way out.

I think the only way to fix your extruder would be to swap it with your x or one of you z motors. With the amount of weight and sharp acceleration involved, tape will not hold.

I was thinking the same thing.. probably Z would be better since it just rest on the bracket then you may be able to use a cable tie to help secure it.

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UltiFix
Now my printer wont accept ANY commands, does nothing when I try manual control after than "shindig" overnight. Tried rebooting it etc etc.]
EDIT: When I came in and saw my printer was messed up I flipped off the power strip it was on, forgot I turned it off. Sigh

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UltiFix
Now my printer wont accept ANY commands, does nothing when I try manual control after than "shindig" overnight. Tried rebooting it etc etc.]
EDIT: When I came in and saw my printer was messed up I flipped off the power strip it was on, forgot I turned it off. Sigh

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marc2912

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UltiFix
Now my printer wont accept ANY commands, does nothing when I try manual control after than "shindig" overnight. Tried rebooting it etc etc.]
EDIT: When I came in and saw my printer was messed up I flipped off the power strip it was on, forgot I turned it off. Sigh

Flipping off the power switch shouldn't have killed it. I wonder if the baking extruder baked anything else. Check one thing at a time. Connect the arduino alone. Can you see, it, can you upload to it. next connect arduino and ramps, what now... and go on from there.

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marc2912

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UltiFix
Now my printer wont accept ANY commands, does nothing when I try manual control after than "shindig" overnight. Tried rebooting it etc etc.]
EDIT: When I came in and saw my printer was messed up I flipped off the power strip it was on, forgot I turned it off. Sigh

Flipping off the power switch shouldn't have killed it. I wonder if the baking extruder baked anything else. Check one thing at a time. Connect the arduino alone. Can you see, it, can you upload to it. next connect arduino and ramps, what now... and go on from there.

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john-i

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marc2912

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UltiFix
Now my printer wont accept ANY commands, does nothing when I try manual control after than "shindig" overnight. Tried rebooting it etc etc.]
EDIT: When I came in and saw my printer was messed up I flipped off the power strip it was on, forgot I turned it off. Sigh

Flipping off the power switch shouldn't have killed it. I wonder if the baking extruder baked anything else. Check one thing at a time. Connect the arduino alone. Can you see, it, can you upload to it. next connect arduino and ramps, what now... and go on from there.

I'm wondering if he busted his thermistor and getting a mintemp error, which I believe will keep it from responding.

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UltiFix

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marc2912

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UltiFix
Now my printer wont accept ANY commands, does nothing when I try manual control after than "shindig" overnight. Tried rebooting it etc etc.]
EDIT: When I came in and saw my printer was messed up I flipped off the power strip it was on, forgot I turned it off. Sigh

Flipping off the power switch shouldn't have killed it. I wonder if the baking extruder baked anything else. Check one thing at a time. Connect the arduino alone. Can you see, it, can you upload to it. next connect arduino and ramps, what now... and go on from there.

See my edit, im just retarded LOL
I think ill take the one of the z motors and swap it with the extruder one, good point they are attached on the other side so they should be fine. I have no idea how to extruder motor is attached to the extruder inside, and how to take it apart, is it fairly easy?
I looked on youtube and google and only found how to unclog the extruder. Ill fix the printer later today... Thanks guys!

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Mach

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UltiFix

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marc2912

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UltiFix
Now my printer wont accept ANY commands, does nothing when I try manual control after than "shindig" overnight. Tried rebooting it etc etc.]
EDIT: When I came in and saw my printer was messed up I flipped off the power strip it was on, forgot I turned it off. Sigh

Flipping off the power switch shouldn't have killed it. I wonder if the baking extruder baked anything else. Check one thing at a time. Connect the arduino alone. Can you see, it, can you upload to it. next connect arduino and ramps, what now... and go on from there.

See my edit, im just retarded LOL
I think ill take the one of the z motors and swap it with the extruder one, good point they are attached on the other side so they should be fine. I have no idea how to extruder motor is attached to the extruder inside, and how to take it apart, is it fairly easy?
I looked on youtube and google and only found how to unclog the extruder. Ill fix the printer later today... Thanks guys!

It is pretty easy to take apart. Cut any filament going into the extruder and take the two screws for the heatsink and fan off. Once those are off, there will be a screw on the top right holding the lever arm on, unscrew that. Be careful not to lose the small brass tube. Then take off the screw on the left, and it should all be off of the motor.

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UltiFix

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Mach

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UltiFix

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marc2912

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UltiFix
Now my printer wont accept ANY commands, does nothing when I try manual control after than "shindig" overnight. Tried rebooting it etc etc.]
EDIT: When I came in and saw my printer was messed up I flipped off the power strip it was on, forgot I turned it off. Sigh

Flipping off the power switch shouldn't have killed it. I wonder if the baking extruder baked anything else. Check one thing at a time. Connect the arduino alone. Can you see, it, can you upload to it. next connect arduino and ramps, what now... and go on from there.

See my edit, im just retarded LOL
I think ill take the one of the z motors and swap it with the extruder one, good point they are attached on the other side so they should be fine. I have no idea how to extruder motor is attached to the extruder inside, and how to take it apart, is it fairly easy?
I looked on youtube and google and only found how to unclog the extruder. Ill fix the printer later today... Thanks guys!

It is pretty easy to take apart. Cut any filament going into the extruder and take the two screws for the heatsink and fan off. Once those are off, there will be a screw on the top right holding the lever arm on, unscrew that. Be careful not to lose the small brass tube. Then take off the screw on the left, and it should all be off of the motor.

I got the fan and heatsink off and am not sure which screw im supposed to do next, is the one circled in a red square the one I need to take off? I took it off but then the whole assembly was loose so I put it back.
[prntscr.com]

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Mach

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UltiFix

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Mach

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UltiFix

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marc2912

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UltiFix
Now my printer wont accept ANY commands, does nothing when I try manual control after than "shindig" overnight. Tried rebooting it etc etc.]
EDIT: When I came in and saw my printer was messed up I flipped off the power strip it was on, forgot I turned it off. Sigh

Flipping off the power switch shouldn't have killed it. I wonder if the baking extruder baked anything else. Check one thing at a time. Connect the arduino alone. Can you see, it, can you upload to it. next connect arduino and ramps, what now... and go on from there.

See my edit, im just retarded LOL
I think ill take the one of the z motors and swap it with the extruder one, good point they are attached on the other side so they should be fine. I have no idea how to extruder motor is attached to the extruder inside, and how to take it apart, is it fairly easy?
I looked on youtube and google and only found how to unclog the extruder. Ill fix the printer later today... Thanks guys!

It is pretty easy to take apart. Cut any filament going into the extruder and take the two screws for the heatsink and fan off. Once those are off, there will be a screw on the top right holding the lever arm on, unscrew that. Be careful not to lose the small brass tube. Then take off the screw on the left, and it should all be off of the motor.

I got the fan and heatsink off and am not sure which screw im supposed to do next, is the one circled in a red square the one I need to take off? I took it off but then the whole assembly was loose so I put it back.
[prntscr.com]

Thats the one. Unscrew that and then pull the lever away from the motor. Be careful not to lose the brass tube that is holding the lever on. Then unscrew the screw on the other side

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marc2912

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Mach

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UltiFix

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Mach

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UltiFix

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marc2912

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UltiFix
Now my printer wont accept ANY commands, does nothing when I try manual control after than "shindig" overnight. Tried rebooting it etc etc.]
EDIT: When I came in and saw my printer was messed up I flipped off the power strip it was on, forgot I turned it off. Sigh

Flipping off the power switch shouldn't have killed it. I wonder if the baking extruder baked anything else. Check one thing at a time. Connect the arduino alone. Can you see, it, can you upload to it. next connect arduino and ramps, what now... and go on from there.

See my edit, im just retarded LOL
I think ill take the one of the z motors and swap it with the extruder one, good point they are attached on the other side so they should be fine. I have no idea how to extruder motor is attached to the extruder inside, and how to take it apart, is it fairly easy?
I looked on youtube and google and only found how to unclog the extruder. Ill fix the printer later today... Thanks guys!

It is pretty easy to take apart. Cut any filament going into the extruder and take the two screws for the heatsink and fan off. Once those are off, there will be a screw on the top right holding the lever arm on, unscrew that. Be careful not to lose the small brass tube. Then take off the screw on the left, and it should all be off of the motor.

I got the fan and heatsink off and am not sure which screw im supposed to do next, is the one circled in a red square the one I need to take off? I took it off but then the whole assembly was loose so I put it back.
[prntscr.com]

Thats the one. Unscrew that and then pull the lever away from the motor. Be careful not to lose the brass tube that is holding the lever on. Then unscrew the screw on the other side

Why are you taking apart the feed system? Losen the set screw in the heatsink and remove the extruder assembly.

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UltiFix

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Mach

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marc2912

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UltiFix
I had an overnight print, woke up and my extruder had fallen off, looks like it fell of a few huors into the print. there goes 100 feet of plastic...
I also had recently tightened it. -_- Not sure how im going to keep it on.

Guys I can't stress this enough, be careful. These printers can start a fire. Until you're totally comfortable with everything and have ran hundreds of prints don't leave your printer unattended, even then I probably wouldn't.

I second that. I never leave the house or go to sleep with the printer running, due to the amount of things that can go wrong and cause a fire.

I had a feeling it wasn't a great idea. Im going to set a smoke alarm right next to it.

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UltiFix
Have any of you used cura over slicer? from some posts on the interwebs it looks like it does a finer job. I can obviously believe everything I read lol