update: for about the same price on ebay as the rep2 extruder upgrade kit, I can get a geared Greg's wade extruder. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/361277431915 It seems I can just swap out the entire extruder assembly on my printer, and fit the stepper to the new one. Has any one tried this? Does anyone know if these geared extruders are any better than the rep2 extruder upgrade I would otherwiseby johngill1971 - Prusa i3 and variants
feels like one step forward two steps back at the moment... After investigating the trim pots, I found some really odd stuff going on. According to the webpage above (thanks for the link) the output voltage from the trimpot should be about 0.5V. It was actually set at 0.82V, so I brought it down to 0.5V and tried another test print. But the misfeed clunking from the extruder stepper motor justby johngill1971 - Prusa i3 and variants
that's brilliant, thanks hoxsiew. At least I know I'm not going completely mad... The ebay thing looks like an ideal replacement, thanks for the link.by johngill1971 - Prusa i3 and variants
Hi, I'm having some problems with my extruder, and after rummaging through a number of how-tos and FAQs, and helpful advice on this forum (thanks audacioustuddle and msaeger!), I've calibrated my extruder; checked the extruder stepper trim-pot (reading a bit high at 0.82V but the stepper is only mildly warm to the touch when running, and has never cut out so I figured it's OK); I've tried variouby johngill1971 - Prusa i3 and variants
msaeger, yes, I'd not checked the bed alignment for a few prints, and it had drifted which is why it wasn't extruding the first layer properly. Thanks for that. audacioustuddle, thanks for the trim-pots advice, I'll go check that out too. Thanks for your patience - this learning curve is a tad steeper than I'd expected!!by johngill1971 - Prusa i3 and variants
I've calibrated my extruder. Marked 100mm and told it to extrude 100mm. And it had, pretty much, bang on extruded 100mm. But I've noticed something else that I think could be the problem, and it's the extruder clunking. Using the on-board lcd control of the printer, I pre-heated the nozzle to the default setting of 185 degrees. And then used the on-board lcd control again to extrude the 100mm,by johngill1971 - Prusa i3 and variants
The controller board came with the firmware pre-installed so I've not uploaded anything. I've been rooting round on the internet to find out how to interrogate the firmware on the board. I think I've found it - buried deep within the onboard lcd menu system, there is an esteps setting. I tried using cura's flow % compensation set to 120% to address the under-extrusion problem. I started printingby johngill1971 - Prusa i3 and variants
Just had a look at that link about the extruder steps per mm calibration, thanks for that. Bit stumped on that. I've found a machine setting in cura called "e steps per 1mm filament" which obviously is what I need to set - it's currently set to 0, which I gather means "use the firmware default value". My printer has the GT2560 control board, but I don't know how to quiz the firmware to get it tby johngill1971 - Prusa i3 and variants
Hmm no I've never calibrated the extruder steps per mm - I'll check out the link, thanks, see if that could be an issue. My nozzle diameter is 0.4mm - the dragon prints fine with the temperature at 210, I don't know if that makes any difference? Sadly on my last print I came back to this mess... my bed adhesion obviously isn't so good on a cold bed (I'm using kapton tape) - gonna try itby johngill1971 - Prusa i3 and variants
Thanks for that - I'll try one at 200 with no bed heater on. I've tried 190 before, but the very thin wings started breaking up badly (see attachment) so I went back up to 210. Is there another way of stopping the thin areas breaking up at lower temperatures? I've set my retraction distance to 5.5mm and upped the retraction speed up to 50mm/s to match per your settings, see what happens. My miby johngill1971 - Prusa i3 and variants
I'm using cura 15.04.4 as my slicing software, and it has an option to tick to raise the extuder head and pause for a while if the previous layer has been completed too quickly to cool. I've left it ticked, but I can try it unticked too. I'm finding more and more ways of how to print badly... hopefully one day soon I'll work out how to print well! This is the dragon printed with retraction bumpby johngill1971 - Prusa i3 and variants
This is the print again, same settings, retraction distance set to 1mm, (retraction speed still at 30mm/s) Seems to have gotten worse. I was watching it this time, and I could see the little tags building up, every time the print head passes, a bit of ooze would catch on the tag and make it longer. I think the extruder on this cheap prusa copy must be particularly bad. I'm going to try goinby johngill1971 - Prusa i3 and variants
Thanks for the tip - I would never have thought of trying that! I'll try dropping it down for the next print. My printer is a Chinese prusa i3 copy, looks quite similar to the geeetec i3, but it's got a different extruder - I'm not sure what kind of extruder it is (the instructions were not very helpful!), but it is direct-feed. I've attached a pic.by johngill1971 - Prusa i3 and variants
Hi all, I've had my printer a couple of weeks, and I've been tinkering around with various settings in cura to try get the best out of it. I've got prints at 0.2 coming out nicely, but when I increase the print quality to 0.1mm layers, I'm having a problem with these unsightly tags on my prints (see attachment Sorry if this is a noob question, but can anyone recommend which settings I shouldby johngill1971 - Prusa i3 and variants
Sorry folks, I've just answered my own question.... hope this info is helpful to someone else with the same printer as me. I've learned that my prusa variant, the "Zhuhai CTC Euroway 3D Printer" comes with a GT2560 control board, and identifies itself as "I3 PRO B" on the home screen. This is the same as the Geeetech I3 PRO B. And on their website, I've found a diagram with the CORRECT layoutby johngill1971 - Prusa i3 and variants
Hi all. This is my first post - I'm hoping someone out there can point me in the right direction. I'm brand new to 3D printing - currently on a very steep learning curve! I finished building my (very cheap!) printer last night. It's a Zhuhai CTC variant (this one off ebay http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/221985481951 ). I'm afraid I've no idea what firmware it's got in it (the supplied "documentatiby johngill1971 - Prusa i3 and variants