Author Topic: Ender 3 - General discussion  (Read 17969 times)

Offline Peter Cordell

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Re: Ender 3 - General discussion
« Reply #25 on: January 22, 2020, 08:51:34 AM »
Second pic bottom right looks like a bulldog clip to me, as the nozzle sits back on the printhead i still feel its very likely the printer head has struck one or more of these clips working so closely to the bed edge

don't give up these are brilliant little machines when you have cracked it

ps the bed should not be touched by human hand if the prints are to stick to it, my prints for today
how i remove them
hoping these are correct tumbler gears for south bend L10 (downloaed from Thingiverse) if they are correct i will print some solid ones later



Offline spuddevans

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Re: Ender 3 - General discussion
« Reply #26 on: January 22, 2020, 09:04:35 AM »
One similar problem (mine was with the X-axis) that I had that got my scratching my head for a good while turned out to be caused by the cabling getting snagged and causing the stepper motor to skip several steps. It was cured by providing a cable-support which kept the cables away from anything that they could snag on.

Might be worth checking that there are no hanging cables that can catch on anything.

Tim
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Offline Jonfb64

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Re: Ender 3 - General discussion
« Reply #27 on: January 23, 2020, 09:08:56 AM »
I've had my Ender 3 for a year now but only just started using it; still on my first roll of Filament.

A couple of problems I've had is the factory supplied build plate had a warp in the "fibreglass" backing which made levelling a PITA.
I fixed it by rotating by 90 degrees until i found the spot whereby the bulldog clip would hold it flat to the heat bed.
The other is the settings in Cura having the bed as 220 x 220mm this caused to nozzle to crash the front bulldog clips on some larger prints. Corrected the settings to 235 x 235mm an not had a problem since.
Currently learning Fusion 360 which is the reason I didn't use for a year as I hit the wall! I can recommend Paul McWhorter on youtube (
) this has really helped me past the wall. It's called Learn fusion 360 or die trying!

Having fun learning

Jon

Offline ddmckee54

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Re: Ender 3 - General discussion
« Reply #28 on: January 23, 2020, 02:35:54 PM »
Will_D:

I don't have an Ender 3, but my I3 clone would do the same thing periodically.  If you haven't done it yet, try re-slicing the part.  Every once in a while something would glitch when the part was being sliced and the g-code got a little scrambled.  I always figured that there's gotta be a lot of 1's and 0's flying around when the part is being sliced, and that somebody just got lost.  I've switched slicing software since then and the issue hasn't reoccurred.

Don
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Offline tom osselton

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Re: Ender 3 - General discussion
« Reply #29 on: January 23, 2020, 05:29:12 PM »

Currently learning Fusion 360 which is the reason I didn't use for a year as I hit the wall! I can recommend Paul McWhorter on youtube  this has really helped me past the wall. It's called Learn fusion 360 or die trying!

Thanks for the link there’s lots of Arduino there too! I had to google him as the link didn’t work.

Offline Jonfb64

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Re: Ender 3 - General discussion
« Reply #30 on: January 24, 2020, 04:19:38 AM »
Sorry the link didn't work. Try this one.



Jon

Offline Will_D

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Re: Ender 3 - General discussion
« Reply #31 on: January 24, 2020, 04:59:22 AM »
What slicer are you using? Whilst it seems unlikely it'd suddenly introduce a Y-axis shift, it's the only thing other than a hardware glitch that could explain it.
With the machine switched off (or with the steppers disengaged), can you easily push the bed backwards and forwards through its entire travel? Are there any stiff spots? Is the belt nice and tight (but not murder tight)?

Hi AdeV,
Thanks for the reply.

I use Cura 4.4.0 and not sure if I am staying with it as recently its started doing weird things which even show up in thre preview.

Both axes move nice a smoothly. In a previous post[#18] I mentioned how I realised the belts had stretch a bit (like 0.1mm) and that I had adjusted them
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Offline Will_D

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Re: Ender 3 - General discussion
« Reply #32 on: January 24, 2020, 05:05:11 AM »
Second pic bottom right looks like a bulldog clip to me, as the nozzle sits back on the printhead i still feel its very likely the printer head has struck one or more of these clips working so closely to the bed edge

Hi Ben,
Thanks for the reply. The bed clips will pass under the print head even at Z = 0. This "SHIFT" in Y happened at about Z = 6mm

No way am I giving up. I will mod it to the end of the earth if necessary!
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Offline ddmckee54

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Re: Ender 3 - General discussion
« Reply #33 on: January 24, 2020, 03:27:58 PM »
Will_D:

Did you try re-slicing the part?  Did you try printing a different part?  And if you did - did it make any difference?  If it didn't make any difference, then look at your machine for problems.  Otherwise look at the slicing software.

Like I said in my post on the 23rd, this would periodically happen to me when I was using Slic3r, or the Prusa version of Slic3r.  The first time it happened I was also wondering WTF happened to this piece of crap now?  When I couldn't find anything wrong with my printer, I tried re-slicing the part - printed with no problems.  After that, when a part started screwing up the first thing I did was re-slice the part.  If that didn't fix the problem, THEN I started looking at the printer.

I don't remember now which axis was shifted on my machine, and that's not just a "Senior Moment" type of thing, I haven't used Slic3r for close to 2 years.  Don't get me wrong, Slic3r and Cura are both good slicing packages.  But until something better comes along though, I'm going to stick with using Simplify3D.

Don
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Offline Will_D

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Re: Ender 3 - General discussion
« Reply #34 on: January 25, 2020, 04:22:36 AM »
Did you try re-slicing the part?  Did you try printing a different part?  And if you did - did it make any difference?  If it didn't make any difference, then look at your machine for problems.  Otherwise look at the slicing software.

I went back to Cura where the 8 models were. Removed all but two (the coolling towers and the big dome).

Moved them to a more frontal position on the bed and re-sliced.

Result:
Perfect Prints.

Latest with Cura is that it managed to put 2, 1 mm support structures ie very skinny thin lattice, across the middle of a Panda bear that certainly didn't need

Re-sliced and no problem!!

See attached photo:

Thanks for every ones help.

Now I know why people say" Buy a simple printer and learn!!, 3d printing at our level is a hobby and not a production tool"

Back to school via Parcel Motel to pick up latest upgrades and filaments!

Cheers

Will
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Offline AdeV

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Re: Ender 3 - General discussion
« Reply #35 on: January 25, 2020, 06:48:20 AM »
I've found Cura putting odd scaffolding in sometimes; usually one can fix that by tweaking the overhang angle setting. Then again, there's about 5000 settings in Cura that I haven't even looked at, beyond spotting that they're there!

I did try Slic3r, but I'm currently preferring the GUI on Cura, even if it's a bit more simplistic (or, perhaps, because it's a bit more simplistic).

So far, touch wood, no weird slicing errors. Main problem I've had is bed adhesion, and so far the glue stick approach has completely fixed that. I mainly print PLA, and have done a couple of PETG prints. Not tried ABS or any of those squishy plastics yet.
Cheers!
Ade.
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Offline Will_D

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Re: Ender 3 - General discussion
« Reply #36 on: January 26, 2020, 10:27:45 AM »
More lessons leatned and to be!!

Was having trouble with initial start up. Set the bed to 70 and the nozzle to 210. Waited for bed to come up (nozzle gets there very quickly) then find it will not extrude. Display shows Set and actual to be bang on 210. Wait a bit longer, no extrusion.

So decide to strip down the hot end following this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BniN-EdTNww&t=1298s

Found a major mistake: when changing a nozzle I had not adjusted the bowden tube to but-up against the nozzle so that the heat break tube got a plug of pla in it. Followed the guide and took it apart a cleaned out the heat break tube. Also removed the 2 long bolts that are not needed.

Lesson learned: always adjust the bowden tube when changing nozzles.

Can any one else point a i/r thermometer at their nozzles (which should be say 210) as mine says its about 80C. And yes I know about emissivity error when using i/r on shinny things

One final question:
Why is it considered a major upgrade to fit a "Swiss all metal hot end" for 70£ or so when the one supplied is all metal (ok aluminium as against titanium)

Answers on the back of a twenty pound note please!!

Cheers

Will
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Offline PekkaNF

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Re: Ender 3 - General discussion
« Reply #37 on: January 26, 2020, 02:05:53 PM »
Wonder if aftermarket hot end has better thermal insulation between hot and cold sections?

I printted some bed leveling wheels and put there nylock nuts as sggested several places. It does not work. The screw braks free from the bed.

Offline philf

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Re: Ender 3 - General discussion
« Reply #38 on: January 26, 2020, 02:47:35 PM »
I printted some bed leveling wheels and put there nylock nuts as sggested several places. It does not work. The screw braks free from the bed.

Pekka,

What do you mean when you say that screw breaks free from the bed?

This modification made a huge difference to my printer.

Phil.
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Offline PekkaNF

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Re: Ender 3 - General discussion
« Reply #39 on: January 26, 2020, 04:31:28 PM »
I turns free withe the nut. To amke anything usefull, I need to imobilize the screw with a needle nose pliers and then I turn the adjustment wheel (and nylock), not that practical.

Offline philf

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Re: Ender 3 - General discussion
« Reply #40 on: January 27, 2020, 04:25:20 AM »
Pekka, is there room for a lock nut?
Phil Fern
Location: Marple, Cheshire

Offline PekkaNF

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Re: Ender 3 - General discussion
« Reply #41 on: January 27, 2020, 05:31:18 AM »
Next to heat plate? I need to check how it is build. They all are pretty loose. I noticed that when I mounted all the the parts. I assumed that the plate screws were held there pretty much by friction only. The screws were somewhat "loose", I though that it was a design feature to allow larger tolerances on heat plate screw location and mount plate hole location.

Offline philf

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Re: Ender 3 - General discussion
« Reply #42 on: January 27, 2020, 05:58:53 AM »
I made a new mount plate with one tight location hole, one slotted hole and two clearance holes to allow for expansion whilst stopping the heated plate randomly moving about. The screws through the heated plate are tight and don't turn when I adjust the level.
Phil Fern
Location: Marple, Cheshire

Offline Will_D

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Re: Ender 3 - General discussion
« Reply #43 on: January 28, 2020, 07:06:04 PM »
I am still having periodical problems with starting a print!

Manually set bed and extruder to 210 and 75.

Manually try to feed filament - no go
Try the move axis/extrude several mm or more and no the extruder just pushes and then filament springs back with a click.

Switch off, switch on, reset bed and extruder and guess what filaments flows no problem!
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Offline Brass_Machine

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Re: Ender 3 - General discussion
« Reply #44 on: January 28, 2020, 09:43:27 PM »
....
One final question:
Why is it considered a major upgrade to fit a "Swiss all metal hot end" for 70£ or so when the one supplied is all metal (ok aluminium as against titanium)
...

As I understand it... An all metal hotend allows you to print in more than just PLA & ABS. I know the stock one can handle PETG as well.

The reasoning... the Bowden tube butts against the hotend and can only handle so much heat before it deforms and melts. With an all metal hot end, the bowden tube butts against the cold side and not the hot.

I have an all metal hotend in my Ender3 and it works very well.

Eric
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Offline WeldingRod

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Re: Ender 3 - General discussion
« Reply #45 on: January 28, 2020, 10:06:11 PM »
In some bowden/hot end chains there is a ledge.  If the filament gets hung up on it you get thy he behaviour described.  Pulling back and re-stabbing can fix it.  Pulling all the way out, cutting at and angle, and trying again is another good tactic!

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Offline AdeV

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Re: Ender 3 - General discussion
« Reply #46 on: January 29, 2020, 08:12:32 AM »
...
Try the move axis/extrude several mm or more and no the extruder just pushes and then filament springs back with a click.

Switch off, switch on, reset bed and extruder and guess what filaments flows no problem!

First, have you put on those little clips which hold the "push fit" mechanism solid on the bowden tube? They look exactly like the clips you put on push-fit plumbing to make sure any accidental pipe movement doesn't trigger the release. I'll find a picture tonight, I'm on a train right now and it's enough of an effort just to type...

The other thing I wonder - was your extruder actually up to temperature, or was it just lying about it?

One way to check is to release the extruder drive with the lever, then try to push the filament yourself. It should be possible, with relatively little effort, to extrude a string of plastic. If that isn't happening, you've got a mechanical cloggage somewhere.
Cheers!
Ade.
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Offline Brass_Machine

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Re: Ender 3 - General discussion
« Reply #47 on: January 29, 2020, 08:45:04 AM »
You can print bowden tube clips

Bowden tube clips

Eric
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Offline Brass_Machine

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Re: Ender 3 - General discussion
« Reply #48 on: January 29, 2020, 02:53:23 PM »
Pretty happy with how the PEI is holding prints...
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Offline Will_D

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Re: Ender 3 - General discussion
« Reply #49 on: February 02, 2020, 07:06:10 AM »
First, have you put on those little clips which hold the "push fit" mechanism solid on the bowden tube?

Thanks AdeV, yes I had the little clips in place. However, recently things have been working much better.

Its a great teacher is the 3D lark!
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