Beginner Printing Problems
Hey,
I've recently bought a Mini+ kit, assembled everything and made a couple of prints (the screw and nut, own designs etc.) and everything worked great. While printing a bigger part the filament spool got somehow blocked by overlapping strands and pulled towards the printer resulting in a failed print. Afterwards I did only very small and thin prints, hence I don't know if the issue originates from this event.
Now I've tried to print a bigger and higher part and recognized some clicking and overextrusion? I've tried to figure out myself what causes the error. I've dismantled the extruder, cleaned the cog (very minimal filament remains in a few teeth), checked the tension and tried to perform a cold pull at 80° in case something is stuck in the nozzle. Unfortunately the filament broke tree times while performing the pull. I#ve also used the needle, which went in smootly. The first pictures were taken after this procedure but it seems it hasn't changed anything. The first layer prints quite nicely and in the second one the mess starts 😉 Any help and suggestions are very much appreciated!
Here are also some pictures from before I've tried to figure out what's going on.
Thanks for your help!
RE:
Since cold pulling did not work, I decided to remove the PTFE tube to check for clogs. Without the tube the cold pull worked and removed a junk of plastic. Reassembled everything (old tube), calibrated the first layer height and now everything seems to work again (no clicking, constant extrustion width, etc. - 4 hours in, wish me luck!). I thought I write an update, just in case any other beginner faces something similar!
RE: Beginner Printing Problems
I've avoided this because it's hard to know where to start. Your first layer isn't good, but I don't know if that's a function of under extrusion or not. Some of the artifacts I see look like under extrusion.
Does the extruder click when you print?
Also, when you say extruder, are we talking about the geared device with a servo motor on the Y-Axis carriage or the print head on the X-Axis carriage?
Cheers
-Bob
Prusa I3 Mk2 kit upgraded to Mk2.5s, Ender3 with many mods, Prusa Mini kit with Bondtech heat break, Prusa I3 Mk3s+ kit
RE: Beginner Printing Problems
haha, that's exactly how I felt. Did not know where to start either. The clicking came from the extruder on the Z-axis. The print works out fine now, also the first layer looks great after my intervention. It seems as if all the problems came from the clog. I hope it stays that way 😀 Thanks for your reply though!
RE: Beginner Printing Problems
A clog in the hot end could so what you're seeing, it was the funny X in pic 3 that I couldn't account for. Glad you're back in business.
Cheers
-Bob
Prusa I3 Mk2 kit upgraded to Mk2.5s, Ender3 with many mods, Prusa Mini kit with Bondtech heat break, Prusa I3 Mk3s+ kit
RE:
Your filament is damp. Your first layer is probably OK but the damp filament is stringing and blobbing.
The variable pressure from water boiling off can mess with extruder pressures and damp filament is often brittle...
And you probably left the extruder hot for a while as you sorted things out allowing some filament to overcook causing a partial blockage...
Welcome to the world of 3D printing.
Cheerio,