Dream Experience Turned to Nightmare  

Re: Dream Experience Turned to Nightmare

Leaving a print running until you're certain everything is flowing is always a risk. You should try cleaning out the nozzle after using filled filament like woodfill. A cold pull is a good idea. I like cleaning filament to clear things out. If you have filament stuck below the extruder gears but above the hotend, you can push it through. Here are my notes on doing cold pulls and clearing nozzle jams (work in progress).

Re: Dream Experience Turned to Nightmare

I suggest a cold pull also. I did this and it worked,

Re: Dream Experience Turned to Nightmare

Pardon my inexperience, but my thoughts... you indicated woodfill filament, did you use a hardened steel nozzle or the brass one?

I thought woodfill was an abrasive filament and could it have screwed up a brass nozzle is that is what was used? Just something to consider when troubleshooting.

Re: Dream Experience Turned to Nightmare

Thanks for your suggestions. I actually watched the benchy print for about 45 min before leaving it unattended. Took a second look at the spool and my lord was there a really bad tangle. For the record it is the spool that came with the printer. Cold pull seemed to have worked, but I still can't get anything to print. I am going to through the manuals and forums to try and get up and running again. I have done First Layer calibration at least a dozen times. I can get it looking pretty good, but then I try to print the benchy from the SD card and I get air prints.

Re: Dream Experience Turned to Nightmare

I also noticed that one side of the bed calibrates differently than the other side. Im sure that has something do with it being spring steel and getting slightly bent out of shape.

Re: Dream Experience Turned to Nightmare

for awhile I ran pla (when printer was new) then I started printing the proto pasta Iron (its like butter). I had a fight to go back, and to this day I don't know if it was my PTFE tube coming loose OR my print nozzle from the iron, but I think it might take a few weeks to mess with a nozzle with the wood or iron. I just ordered PTFE tubes and a .4 nozzle did them both at the same time. I do suspect it was the PTFE tube, it doesn't come with a clip to hold it in place.

side note: I was running prints with ALLOT of retractions.

Re: Dream Experience Turned to Nightmare

Positive update to my dramatic posting. Im back up an running! I think the cold pull along with just running filament through printing benchies eventually removed the debris left from the woodfill. I will be more careful in the future. Maybe the debris was causing the filament to extrude weirdly and was throwing off my ability to get the first layer calibration correct. I was getting grainy extrusions and oozing, which caused print failures, but that all seems to be fixed now.

Re: Dream Experience Turned to Nightmare

Maybe the debris was causing the filament to extrude weirdly and was throwing off my ability to get the first layer calibration correct.

That sounds very likely. Awesome you got it going again.

I bought a ruby tipped nozzle so I can print anything I like without having issues with the nozzle tip wearing out or having things stick to it. Expensive, but worth it to me.

Re: Dream Experience Turned to Nightmare

Ruby nozzle sounds interesting. Has it helped with clogging? Or is it mainly for peach of mind when printing with more abrasive materials?

Re: Dream Experience Turned to Nightmare

There are plenty threads out there on the Ruby. There are just as many negative posts (perhaps more) as positive ones. Personally I consider the Ruby a waste of money versus other nozzles, even the standard brass ones. I have printed wood, CF and other abrasives with the standard nozzle. The rate of wear is not as bad as some people claim. Plus they are cheap, cheap, cheap!

I don't believe there are any other "advantages" to the Ruby.

Re: Dream Experience Turned to Nightmare

The ruby nozzles were developed for really exotic materials, although they certainly work for consumer-grade materials. As such, they don't gain you much over a hardened steel nozzle if you are printing abrasives. They are also fragile and require some care in handling. That said, if it works for you and you're getting the results you want, use cheap brass or diamonds!

The biggest drawback in my mind is the cost: I have acquired a nice assortment of small nickel-plated nozzles for precision prints (reduced stickiness) and larger hardened steel nozzles for functional prints using abrasive materials, along with a dozen brass nozzles in various sizes for experimentation for the cost of one ruby.

Re: Dream Experience Turned to Nightmare

Great perspectives, thanks! I would probably consider cheaper option. I did have a P3D Apollo nozzle on my makerbot, not sure it helped since that printer was unreliable! (which is why i upgraded to a Prusa).

https://www.p3-d.com/collections/popular/products/e3d-style-v6

Side note! Now that I can actually print again, I am still having issues with my print getting knocked off the plate by extra plastic from the extruder. I have been testing a Prusament sample I picked up at this years Makerfaire in NYC. I have tried lowering the temps, but maybe its just because this particular model is small. Printing with a brimm helped secure it, but id rather avoid doing that. I also noticed I am not getting perfect circles from my MK3. Anyone have issues with that?

Thanks,

B

Re: Dream Experience Turned to Nightmare

[...] Side note! Now that I can actually print again, [...]Glad you're back in business!

I am still having issues with my print getting knocked off the plate by extra plastic from the extruder. Slice your part in Slic3rPE, save the gcode and take a look at the Preview mode at the bottom. Move the slider to show the layer where things get knocked off (if it's consistent). Set the view option to Feature type. Is there a specific feature that's a problem? Set the view option to Speed. Does it get knocked off at high speeds (e.g. infill)?

It could be several things. It's always worth dialing speeds way down using the front knob as a quick test. If the print succeeds then, it's something you can fix in slicer settings. Prusa's default infill speeds are very aggressive (200mm/s -- faster than they specify for print moves of 180mm/s) and the filament may not be cooling adequately or laying down smoothly, thus snagging the nozzle on the next pass. You may be able to hear this happening, usually a rumbling sound at speed.

I'm curious about the P3D nozzles. E3D's nozzles are great, but a couple of other vendors claim to have coatings that will reduce filament stickiness.

Re: Dream Experience Turned to Nightmare

You mentioned a tangle on your spool.... this is an item that got me with my first printer 3 years ago... it is incredibly easy to get a snarl almost like a backlash on an old fashioned fishing reel. if the filament is not feeding the extruder it needs to be in the filament locks on the edge of the spool or in your hans moving between those two spots. letting it dangle even for a moment when you change color for example is an invitation to a tangle.

just one item in the list of things I learned from experience to watch when I run a 3D printer. 🙂

Re: Dream Experience Turned to Nightmare

I may have spoken too soon. Difficult to get anything to print again. First layer calibration works fine, but then I can't print an actual model. I am trying to just get to the same quality I had the first day I received the printer. Also for the record, trying to print models from the SD card that came from Prusa. I am really starting to not enjoy this printer.

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I would like to note that I just want to love this printer. First 32 hrs were amazing, like I mentioned in my first post. Maybe I set my expectations too high. It's just frustrating that so soon after purchasing I am having these issues. I am determined though. Helps that I cant return it. 😉

Re: Dream Experience Turned to Nightmare

[...] I am trying to just get to the same quality I had the first day I received the printer. Also for the record, trying to print models from the SD card that came from Prusa.
In that case, it's almost certainly an issue with either:

If adhesion starts to weaken, try these things in this order:

I am really starting to not enjoy this printer.While I can understand your frustration, this is really a demotivator for anyone trying to help. This is a community support forum, not paid technical support. Nobody here wants to waste their time trying to help somebody who really doesn't care anymore.

Re: Dream Experience Turned to Nightmare

You mentioned that your printer wasn't producing perfect circles? That makes me think that you might have one or more grub screws coming loose?

Re: Dream Experience Turned to Nightmare

Finally had some time to implement everyone's suggestions. I also did a factory reset at the recommendation of Support. Glad to report I got it working again. I will temper my excitement until I get several successful prints, had a false positive alarm before. I will say, that whenever there is filament loaded, either during the first layer calibration, a print or what have you, I feel like too much filament oozes out. This has nothing to do with my settings (since we can't control that during first layer calibration) and I am using Prusa filament with Prusa settings. Filament sticks to the nozzle way too easily on this printer. Is there any type of treatment that can be done to the nozzle so it doesnt stick so badly to the outside of the nozzle?

Thanks for all the help.