In most cases this refers to the STL file content produced from the CAD model. The STL file provides a surface model of the object. That is it defines a surface which is called a shell. It has no thickness or other properties. And is made from a set of points in space connected by surfaces called facets. A solid cube would be a single shell (exterior) made from the corner points joined by at leasby MCcarman - Printing
Quotecan print with a 3 mm filament, 2 mm high on each layer. Did you actually mean 3mm diameter as bought or a printed wall width of 3mm? just checking. Printing may be slow. The hot end has a hot metal block so it will heat the filament from the outside. It will take more energy or more time to heat the middle of the filament with a larger diameter. There is likely to be an issue if you don't gby MCcarman - General
Im with MKSA. The heat break is the important aspect. I guess some sort of ceramic tube would be best. Don't forget that energy transfer is proportional to the temperature delta. So the more you cool above the heat beak the more energy you try and draw from the hot end. So having the best cooling is not ideal. What we need is to keep the tube and components above the heat break bellow a temperatuby MCcarman - General
Its definitely worth asking the question. The problem is there are very few people who have all 3 machines. And lots of us are not prepared to look them up and check specs. So don't be put off by the lack of responses. I found a review of them here "https://www.gearbest.com/community/jPi9iT" Though i know little about them and don't trust the specs, on that basis you could go for the Tronxy as iby MCcarman - General
Does seem that your TPU is shrinking. Is this an enclosed printer? I noticed some have doors at the front that don't go the full height. That may mean the front of the bed is cooler in a cold environment. More significantly the back is hotter and more likely to shrink. As the bed lowers this becomes less of an effect as it drops inside the doors.. The airflow from the hot end fans can be causingby MCcarman - Printing
Makes more sense now as i can see you have characters in the bottom layer. Left one is best. Shows more squish on 1st layer. However the perimeters don't look joined so i think you may be under extruding. Check extruder calibration and extrusion width settings. Set 1st layer extrusion multiplier to about 130% to get good squish and compensate for nozzle height variability. Looks like you have dby MCcarman - Printing
Can you watch what happens when it prints the 1st layer and let us know. There is no defined perimeter. Theres some diagonal fill around the edges but no complete solid layer. The next layer seems to be at 60 degrees to the 1st and almost vertical in the picture. It then looks like the next layer is at 60 degrees again. That doesn't make sense for infill. One guess is that the nozzle is to closeby MCcarman - Printing
Do whatever DD says. 1st layer is bad. Actually looks very strange with no complete infill. Check you haven't got a model that's positioned below the bed so the slicer misses a solid base. Not actually sure how you get this issue. Do you have different infill settings for different layers? What layer height are you using? Bad corners and overhangs can be caused by excessive layer height.by MCcarman - Printing
Is the new arm metal or plastic? Is it Bowden or direct? Plastic will deflect more. Plastic will soften with heat. Im surprised it makes much difference. Since you had to disassemble and rebuild you may have changed something on the heat transfer path that could have an effect. Just thinking that if the extruder is heating the filament it would be softer and easier to deflect in a Bowden.by MCcarman - Prusa i3 and variants
Whats a bubble? Looking from the side:- 1 layer with a gap is a cylinder. 2 layers could be cylinder or truncated cone. 3 layers starts to look like a truncated cone and an inverted truncated cone. 4 layers exhibits some curvature. Don't know what nozzle you are using but if we said the min layer height was 0.12mm then vertically you could get 4 x 0.12 = 0.48mm. But only if you positioned it forby MCcarman - Printing
I would try increasing the 1st layer flow. You can go as much as 150% on a 1st layer. Then if it works start ramping it back but I find its better to over extrude on the 1st layer for a good bond and account for errors in the z offset, bowing etc.by MCcarman - Printing
I haven't used a proximity sensor in ages and I don't use a core X-Y often so don't believe all I say. Im just trying to help - as no one else has offered. So If the gap from nozzle to bed is 1mm then the z offset should be -1. I think that's right, although its the bed moving, bed down is positive. Sounds like you may have the 4mm entered somewhere with a + sign.by MCcarman - Printing
I can't remember the details. Must be old age. Im sure others will help. The paper calibration system that you used is for a fixed switch system. If you are using an inductive sensor you have to specify the sensor offset to the nozzle. This is a different parameter and is the distance from the nozzle to the point in space the inductive sensor detect at - not the end of the physical sensor. I suspby MCcarman - Printing
Normal practice is to set the top of the glass below the home position. This prevents the nozzle hitting the surface. The gap between the glass and the nozzle is the Z offset you put in your slicer. Search for bed leveling. Many use the paper method.by MCcarman - Printing
MKSA. - Yes power and gnd are only to power electronics. Such as NON separately powered USB hubs, Inline data converters or even micro computers. Power and gnd are the 2 outside pins. Note that phone CHARGER cables some times ONLY have +V and earth. Data cables don't have the +V.by MCcarman - Prusa i3 and variants
QuoteI had written a large post, then decided not to post as it sounded - "How should I say this - Oh! It just sounded like it should not be posted no matter what was done to fix it" Ive done that. As usual you share wise words.by MCcarman - Prusa i3 and variants
First thing would be to look on the computer to see what com port the printer is using. Check that is what Repetier has in its settings and save the configuration. Obviously you need the printer powered for this. If the computer can't see the printer then one of them is busted. You can try a different socket on the computer if you have one.by MCcarman - Printing
Quote??? And that took 3 edits!. Time for a beer I think. Or maybe you already had one. Stay well folks.by MCcarman - Prusa i3 and variants
Try a USB data cable = no power connections. The laptop and the printer are supplying power to their sockets. If you have a cable with the power wires inverted you short the sockets out and the laptop gives up first. Also there are different voltages for USB 1, 2, and 3. So the best option is to use data only. I can't remember which pins but there is only 2 that it needs. Chinese USB cables are oby MCcarman - Prusa i3 and variants
I have no experience of this so feel free to ignore. Don't forget your perimeter settings. These may increase the area reserved for each item. Don't know what the homing strategy is but the slicer may want to home between items and may detect it can't get from home to the item in a clear path. If that is true you may just need to be clear on the sequence of printing. I.E. print the part furthestby MCcarman - Printing
Sometimes they come with a file on a micro SD card. The card also has the firmware etc. The firmware should already be flashed its just a backup.by MCcarman - General
Thanks for posting the solution. Glad you got it sorted.by MCcarman - Prusa i3 and variants
OK. Im thinking this is an issue of binding/over constraining. Since you have a spiral coupler the resistance may cause the spiral to wind up/down instead of the platform moving the complete distance. Is the thrust bearing just resting on the mounting? Whats holding the motor in place? In theory you only need to stop it rotating not constrain its position. I would make one guide rod the positionby MCcarman - Printing
Since no one else responded:- Given the height variation is repeatable and I believe you have it on different models. I also suspect a mechanical issue affecting Z height. A picture of the lead screw system would be helpful. I can't make the numbers add up to something relevant to the lead screw but if you only have one im wondering if its due to the loading being transferred between the threads.by MCcarman - Printing
Could simply be the extruder min temperature safety. To avoid damage the firmware wont allow extrusion until the Hot end is above minimum temperature (set in firmware). The min temperature should be stated in the config H file. If you don't know what it is a good bet is to heat to 200C and then try the extruder.by MCcarman - Printing
Fascinating pictures. It looks like it is layer spacing. The bright areas seem to be 2 close layers that blend into one, followed by a larger gap that throws a shadow. The darker areas seem to be more evenly spaced layers with each layer causing a shadow. I assume its a shadow anyway. The more shadows the darker it seems. I doubt that's a z movement issue but changes in extrusion rate and temperaby MCcarman - Printing
Glad you got it sorted.by MCcarman - Prusa i3 and variants
The printer has no way of knowing what line width it is outputting. If you set the width to 0.5 you are asking it to scale its model of the flow to get that width. One possibility is your Z steps are wrong. The model calculates based on the dimension you have for layer height. If your Z steps per mm is to large, the layer height will be larger than the model and you can get under extrusion. Theby MCcarman - Printing
Seems your driving this through Repetier Host not Gcode. Sorry if this seems obvious. I can't remember all the options so check your settings in Repetier. Also the arrows can be reversed on the interface so the direction depends on your settings. If some of the moves are not working it could be driver current settings. I am wondering if you have the speeds set correctly though. I think the unitsby MCcarman - Printing
It looks like the top cylinder is OK its just on the taper and larger diameter. Sorry, i can't go through your Gcode. Have you checked layer by layer to see if its due to slicing. Is the larger diameter actually tapered ? If its repeatable it does point to something in the code.by MCcarman - Printing