Quotechris33 your M5 isnt the problem Unless they a captive at the top, they should be able to be free to move it allows it to wobble freely if they slightly not straight, your extruding too much material check the width of extrusion on the thin walled box to see if it matches up with your slicer settings Where does this idea come from? I've seen it repeated 1000 times and can't understand howby the_digital_dentist - Reprappers
Axes are programmed in firmware in microsteps/mm. M5 threaded rod has a pitch of 0.8 mm per rev. Your motors are probably run at 16:1 ustepping, so 3200 usteps/rev. (assuming a 200 steps/rev motor). 3200 usteps/rev * 1 rev/0.8mm= 4000 usteps/mm. If you don't use microstepping, then it's 200 steps/rev*1rev/0.8mm= 250 steps/mmby the_digital_dentist - Reprappers
Try slicing with Cura. Slic3r does weird things sometimes. Is the drive gear in the extruder clean?by the_digital_dentist - General Mendel Topics
If the fan is for cooling the hot-end it should be running whenever you are printing, so make sure it's on during PID tuning. If the fan is for cooling prints, it may be blowing on the nozzle a little which could affect PID control, so I suggest running that fan, too.by the_digital_dentist - Reprappers
It looks pretty random to me. Try wiggling the extruder carriage. Any movement? Find the source of any movement- check that the bearings are not sloppy and that the guide rails aren't flexing. What are the actual temperature variations you're getting after the PID autotune? Make sure the Z axis motors have adequate current and make sure there's no binding in the Z axis due to screws/guide raby the_digital_dentist - Reprappers
Quoteadam_tigger04 Good luck sl86. I will stop hijacking your thread and start my own. my rails just arrived. Thought you might like to see my expensive solution to many of the upscaling problems that I could conceive, especially sag in the rods supported only at either end. These rails have that T shaped extrusion attached the full length and are really solid. May be a bit noisy. Bearings haveby the_digital_dentist - General
Very interesting! What was you technique for forming the tip?by the_digital_dentist - Look what I made!
Are you running the PID tuning on the hot-end or the bed?by the_digital_dentist - Reprappers
I've had no problems driving 1.75mm ABS filament with my BullDog XL. I did have a small problem mounting the E3D v6 on it. Here's what you have to do to marry them: 1) fille a couple small flats on the sides of the hot end where it fits into the extruder foot. Total time: about 60 seconds. 2) file a notch in the hot-end heatsink fins to allow access to one of the screw heads that mounts the fby the_digital_dentist - General
A fuse is always essential when powering anything off the AC mains. I have a 10A circuit breaker that I use as the main power switch in my printer. I paid $50 for my transformer, shipped, via ebay. It's old (I think the date code says it was made in the 70s- which attests to the reliability of transformers) and used, but works fine. Here's a similar deal: A quick look at 24V 25A switchersby the_digital_dentist - Developers
QuoteAndrewBCNoff the top of my head: bulk, weight, cost, no regulation, low efficiency, magnetic losses and consequent heat, hum, 24V AC @ 20A is much more dangerous than 24V DC @ 20A which is already dangerous enough as it is... I wouldn't characterize any of those reasons as extreme and some are dead wrong: Size isn't really much different, though transformers tend to be more cubic while swiby the_digital_dentist - Developers
Make sure the motors have adequate current. Are both motors connected to one driver? If so, since both motors run one way but only one runs the other way, you probably have some misalignment in the mechanism that is causing one side to bind which prevents that side's motor from turning. Make sure the screws and guide rails are all parallel to each other.by the_digital_dentist - General Mendel Topics
QuoteAndrewBCNReplacing the 24V DC switching power supply with a 0.5KVA transformer is an extremely bad idea, for many reasons. Mostly for the sake of your back if you move the printer around! The extra weight can help stabilize your printer on the work surface, and from a lot of printers I've seen, a little extra stability wouldn't be a bad thing. A transformer is MUCH more reliable than aby the_digital_dentist - Developers
You can run the heater on 24VAC from a transformer. Transformers are cheaper (I think I paid $50 for mine, shipped.) and more reliable than switching power supplies, but a hot heavier (0.5 KVA transformers weigh about 20 lbs). Here's one: You would use an SSR to switch 117VAC into the primary side of the transformer and wire the 24VAC out directly to the heater. You don't need to run 10 gauby the_digital_dentist - Developers
I wouldn't want windows anywhere near my printer. 3D printing is unreliable enough without depending on windows to control the machine! Boards that run OSes always have housekeeping tasks to do that might interfere with the precise timing required in a 3D printer. That's why they've so far been relegated to sending gcode, line by line, to the printer controller board.by the_digital_dentist - General
Here's a recent picture of the machine where you can see the ribbon cable. I don't think I have any closer shots showing the circuit boards at either end of the flex ribbon, but you can zoom into the picture and get an idea of what I did. There's two screws in the foot of the extruder that release it and the hot-end from the carriage. Here's the carriage:by the_digital_dentist - General
Look at smoothieboard!by the_digital_dentist - General
I have an E3D v6, never used the others. The E3D has been very reliable for printing ABS with my BullDog XL extruder. The only issue I had with the E3D v6 was the cheesy fan they supplied with it was extremely fragile and the screws they supplied to mount it on the shroud so large and difficult to turn into the plastic, that I broke two of the fan's 3 motor supports. Plan on spending a few morby the_digital_dentist - General
I've had wiring failures to the extruder carriage due to all the flexing so I used a flex ribbon this time to see if it is more reliable- it should be. I installed a flex ribbon cable to connect between the controller and the extruder carriage. There's a small circuit board on the printer's frame and another on the extruder carriage where the ribbon plugs in. The board on the carriage has headby the_digital_dentist - General
I have found there are usually other problems that accompany long slice times with Slic3r. It won't save changes I've made to settings, etc. When I see that behavior I reinstall slic3r and it seems to fix things until the next time slic3r pukes. Slic3r has been doing this under windows and linux for me for a couple years and I've never found an explanation anywhere. Maybe some obscure dll getby the_digital_dentist - Slic3r
I just printed some dental scans with 50 um layer height using ABS. The biggest problem is over extrusion. If you over extrude at all it produces little boogers of plastic that the nozzle keeps pushing around until they eventually end up stuck to the part and have to be cleaned off. The print I did was done with a 0.4mm nozzle- probably too wide for the detail I was trying to duplicate. I havby the_digital_dentist - Reprappers
Over extrusion. Reduce it and the overlap a little in slicing software and see if that fixes it.by the_digital_dentist - Reprappers
Great question to ask before you build! Something as fundamental as the orthogonality of the axes should not be something that has to be adjusted. The machines frame should be rigid and the axes held in alignment, always. If the axes get out of alignment you won't be able to print gears that mesh well, or boxes with tightly fitting lids, or any other precision assembly. OTOH, if all you wantby the_digital_dentist - General
There is no spec as it applies to the printers. Variation in filament diameter translates to variation in the width of the line laid down by the printer and that translates to print quality and accuracy. There's no spec for any of those other than what you consider acceptable. Most printers have a lot of other factors that affect print quality as much as filament diameter so isolating effectsby the_digital_dentist - General
Was the bed clean before you stuck the tape to it? Are you printing on the tape while it is still wet? When there's water under the tape it won't stick well. I let it cook on the bed for a couple hours after I replace tape to drive out the moisture. I push the bubbles that form away from the center to the edges of the tape, and hopefully, out, though it can be tricky to get them all out. 75-by the_digital_dentist - Printing
What nozzle temperature are you using and how fast are you printing the first layer?by the_digital_dentist - General
Check the actual temperature with a thermocouple. Also make sure you are leveling/zeroing the bed properly. Wipe the tape down with acetone on a clean rag before printing.by the_digital_dentist - General
Did you slice with Slic3r?by the_digital_dentist - Reprappers
Quotedc42 Quoteskynetprinter do stepper motors just work backwards when they are wired backwards? Reversing one pair of phase wires on a stepper motor, or swapping over the phases, will reverse the direction of rotation. Reversing the stepper motor connector swaps the phases over and also reverses both of them; so yes it does make the stepper motor go the opposite way. Reversing one winding onby the_digital_dentist - Reprappers