You can: 1. Press the tape down past the sides and to the bottom. 2. You said "Standard Masking Tape", if this is the white kind it doesn't stick very well. Try BLUE painters tape. Most of them have a better tack. 3. If you are using a heatbed, turn it down or off. the tack on the tape softens and releases when heated too much. 4. Cover your printer to prevent any room drafts from cooling the coby KingRahl - Printing
I'm sure that 2.1mm is for the PTFE tubing. It needs to be a considerably tighter fit down the nozzle to create the pressure you need. Without building up pressure inside the hot end, you won't be able to force the plastic through a 0.5mm or 0.3mm hole.by KingRahl - Printing
1/4 inch sounds about right. The inside diameter might just be a tight fit for the filament you have. I hear lubricating with veg. oil helps keep PLA flowing. Depending on the ability of your thermistor to read temperature and the firmware you are using, when your PLA starts flowing it will start cooling the hot end. The faster you extrude the colder your heater gets. Your firmware is trying toby KingRahl - Printing
Yes. Using stepper motors we have to program how many steps it takes to reach a certain distance. That is the "calibrate" stage in building a printer.by KingRahl - General
The G code only creates coordinates. It's in the firmware on your board that calculates how much movement equals the distance between coordinates.by KingRahl - General
Metric is a base 10 system. Easy to calculate. Most of the time you read inches as a fraction. While you can reinvent the wheel just to suit your needs it won't be practical. You'll have to remember we are using a low level computer that has to do a lot of calculations on the fly as it is (changing coordinates into steps per cm) If you throw fractions into the mix, that's just something else to gby KingRahl - General
Quotetutu7931 > Sometimes the "wave" starts on 1st layer already, and sometimes it starts to happen on 2nd (which is when it starts doing the horizontal infill). It's all a volume issue then. Too much is being laid down for each layer. Remove the hot end from the extruder and extrude 100mm using your software. Measure with calipers. If it comes out as 100mm, your firmware is properly calibratby KingRahl - Printing
The "plastic" tube inside was probably PTFE. It's not just a guide. It acts as a heat barrier and also creates pressure inside to keep the melted filament from flowing backwards. Check the temp of the "cold end" with the IR gun with your fan on and while off. The PTFE tube should not have burned up under normal operating temperatures. To check if your hot end is clogged. Remove filament (you mby KingRahl - Printing
The reason the FF engineer had you change those settings may have been to fix an over extruding issue. Does this issue continue further up on taller prints? Is it with 100% infill? Does it go away with less than 100% infill? Have you tried a different slicing program? Have you measured your filament for consistent diameter? Are you using a different roll of filament since your last successful prby KingRahl - Printing
I thought I had fried my Melzi board from RepRapPro a few years ago when my chair became caught on the USB cable and yanked. Last night I removed the micro (mini?) USB from the board and soldered the wires directly. That didn't help any, it still wasn't registering on my computer. I went to their website and downloaded the Marlin firmware and uploaded it to the board. It didn't work the first timby KingRahl - General
According to my logs, my last successful flash was: USB connected, jumper installed (make sure you are getting power to board ONLY from USB. LED light should be on.) Arduino 1.0.5-r2 Sprinter firmware (Make sure the latest Sanguino folder is in Arduino hardware folder) In TOOLS tab: Board - Sanguino W/ ATmega 644P Serial port - check mark next to appropriate. Programmer - AVRISP mkII If that dby KingRahl - General
No. Your computer is already communicating with your board through the Arduino software. The Baudrate in the firmware is for the communication through Pronterface or whatever host software you're using.by KingRahl - General
The Melzi is based on the Sanguinololu 1.3a. I haven't come across anyone successfully using Marlin on either board. I've always used Sprinter.by KingRahl - General
Ok lets go back to the beginning. Your first problem is the x and y axis are going in the wrong directions. Usually it's only one axis in the wrong direction. If both are "wrong", are you sure the printer isn't just facing backwards? As far as uploading new firmware: That error message is common while trying to upload Marlin. I've only ever had success uploading Sprinter. I haven't had any luckby KingRahl - General
I haven't checked your files. My first thought is that the power to your steppers is not turned up high enough. If you are getting 10mm in z movement outside of printing, I'd have to think your z movement in your Configuration.h file or slicing program (or non print moves) is too fast.by KingRahl - Printing
Either your belt is slipping or your gear attached to the motor is slipping. My money is on a slipping gear. Make sure if you have a flat spot on the stepper motor shaft, your set screw is aligned to it and tightened down.by KingRahl - Printing
Are your pulleys printed or metal? A printed pulley, if not "round", can cause too much and too little movement. If you are using metal pulleys, make sure there's not too much space inside where the motor's shaft goes. When tightening the grub screw, if the motor shaft is too far to one side this will cause the pulley to be off center and cause the same problem as a deformed plastic pulley. Areby KingRahl - Printing
Since you don't want to replace the part, and have already tried glue. I would suggest printing some "c washers" to go on either side of the nut. Either glue, melt, or bolt them in place. You can also just melt some plastic to go over the tops. But keep it away from your Z rod.by KingRahl - Reprappers
You wouldn't want to risk messing with that power supply. The wire in it is a little small. To try and increase the amps will risk overheating the wires. To get the ABS to stick better, make sure you are cleaning the surface with acetone. Kapton tape will hold finger oils the same as glass. If you're using things like hairspray, glue stick, or ABS juice, Just printing on clean glass will sufficeby KingRahl - Printing
I would suspect it would cost as much to do it yourself as it would to hire someone.by KingRahl - General
240 may be a bit much. Try dropping your temp. to 220-230. Each filament manufacturer and each color has their sweet spot. You just have to play around with it to find it. You can print an arbitrary object and change temps every XX many layers and compare them within that object. Does is make a popping noise when printing? If so that could be moisture build up.by KingRahl - Printing
There is supposed to be a spring under the top nut. Assembling: top nut, spring, x-end, nut. When you push the x-end up against the spring you are putting tension against it. Tighten the bottom nut against the bottom of the x-end. Allow the x-end to slide over the bottom nut. The spring tension inside the top will keep the x-end in relative position and the nuts will stay inside their housings.by KingRahl - Reprappers
Some people believe it's the teeth on the belt when it touches the bearing on that axis. They have turned the belt 180 degrees in the idler bearing.by KingRahl - Printing
It's a volume issue. First, have you calibrated your Extruder steps properly? This is done with the hot end removed. Second, make sure in your slicing software, you choose the right size filament. If it's thinks you are using 1.75mm and you are using 3mm, you will be extruding the same "length" of plastic but more "volume" Last, measure your filament diameter. Take at least three measurements froby KingRahl - Printing
First let's address the SD card. Make sure it's not full and you are saving the entire gcode file. Now the more common problem. You said you left it alone overnight. Can you confirm it "stopped" printing? I mean, when you came back to it, was the print head still touching the print? Or was it higher up in the Z axis? like it had finished the print. You said you used a "new" roll of PLA and a hiby KingRahl - Reprappers
Only when they are working properly. You mentioned you activated the end stop during the print and nothing happened. What happens when you unplug it completely? It should only move in that axis in one direction. Try unplugging it during a print for a second. Is it shifting in the same direction? When the board doesn't sense the end stop, that axis stops working properly. An intermittent connectioby KingRahl - Reprappers
The last thing that's possible it to check out your end stops again. Whether they are wired in the "always on" or "always off" positions, if the signal becomes disconnected, the axis will only move in one direction. Check all the wiring on the end stop, switch with another axis, check the solder joints, and check the plug to make sure it is tight and coming in contact with all the pins on your boby KingRahl - Reprappers
This is a wiring issue. You said you switched the "plugs". Did you switch the motor plugs or the end stop plugs? Check and make sure all your wires are making contact inside the connections.by KingRahl - General
In your slicing software, adjust 2 settings. Check your speed for "Non Print Moves", try lowering this number. They are usually set a higher number then print moves to help fight "ooze bane". But if your motors can't keep up with that speed, it will "skip" steps. Second, if you have the option, try turning off random starts for each layer. This setting was to prevent a "seam from forming up the sby KingRahl - Reprappers
I don't know of an "expert" mode in Pronterface. There is, however, an expert mode in Slic3r that is packaged with Pronterface. If you do not know how to open Slic3r. In the Pronterface panel, choose "settings" tab and click "slicing settings". In the Slic3r console, choose "file", in the drop down menu click "Preferences...". Here you'll be able to change the "mode" from Simple to Expert.by KingRahl - General