Slowly? I'd hate to see what happened if you were going fast!Originally Posted by Jonj1611
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What started off a little while ago as a passing interest is slowly getting out of hand :-
Mind you, at £40, it's hard to see how you can go wrong. Either you got a hell of a bargain, or you got a pretty cheap way to find out that that isn't for you, and should get that back, or even more, by selling it on. Win-win.
A lesson learned from PeterB about dignity in adversity, so Peter, In Memorium, "Onwards and Upwards".
It's one of those things I didn't want to spend a lot on in case it wasn't for me. As it turns out I am enjoying the 3d printing. Find resin is far far better for detail but its a small build space where as the opposite is true of filament.
The Anycubic was a good price but the power wire for the heated bed is temperamental so I need to change that at some point. Just bought some new pla filament as the stuff it came with I can't tell if its ok or not, the printing is fine for the most part but then goes a bit odd.
Have already bought a replacement set of nozzles, they were cheap. Upgraded the firmware to a non official version and looking now at changing the hot end. Thankfully resin printers aren't so customizable!
Only thing I have really found a hassle is the levelling as its manual but apparently the firmware I put on it has a 25 point levelling thing and some G codes you send to the printer before printing to use your levelling map.
Jon
Well the new filament I got has been rubbish. Printing that boat thing and it just rips off half way or its not sticking to the bed at all
Jon
When I have had trouble I use a combo of having the nozzle a bit closer to the build plate, upping the temperature and using a brim. First layer or two I do hotter and slower. One time the nozzle was getting blocked slightly and poking with the needle it came with up the nozzle while it was on helped.
I have a replacement nozzle coming as think the one on it has been there a while, I was printing clear filament and black was coming out! Going to try the new filament and see how that performs when it arrives.
Jon
I have used Cura and Prusaslicer and both seems to apply different settings to the printer.
Jon
From what I can make out, this is an area where 3D printing is still pretty 'young' .... tweaking settings.
With normal printers, stick to manufactruers inks and the manufacturer's drivers are usually optimised for them. As soon as you start using 3rd party inks, you open up a variable. In the very early days, 3rd party inks were most definitely the wild west of colour printing - anything goes. A friend of mine ran quite a large ink company that started by bringing home bulk ink bottles from the US in his luggage and, literally, knocking up a kitchen manufacturing facility.
Over a bit of time, many ink 'manufcturers' started 'tuning' their inks to printers, and even to papers. At least, allegedly, they did. To what extent it was true, I don't know.
However, I think we're still somewhat in that same game now, with 3D.
A benefit of Prusa, IF it's what you want, is their "own" software, tuned for their printers and their filament, is about as well-matched as it gets right now. And it is (I'm told) pretty good.
But you pay for it.
The other end of the market is the 'cheap' Chinese-manufactured printers.
Don't get me wrong, at least some, on hardware at least, are pretty good, using solid hardware etc BUT .... with what level of support? How often is slicer software updated? How well are settings 'tuned' to a given machine? And so on.
It seems to me that machine choice comes down to two .... routes. One is Prusa, with a pretty well polished offering, minimum fuss, and close to 'open the box, start printing'.
The other route is the 'hobbyist' route, with a learning curve, like how to tune/tweak your machine, settings, etc. Without a doubt, you'll learn a lot more that way and IF that's the objective, then it's probably better, and certainly quite a bit cheaper, than the Prusa route.
If, though, you really are wanting the hardware/settings to 'just work', and spend your time learning the design side, how to create onjects in software etc, and/or actually getting prints printed, then Prusa offers a considerable shortcut .... at a premium. But you also won't have as solid a gut-level understanding of how everything works together.
That, at least, is how I see it.
A lesson learned from PeterB about dignity in adversity, so Peter, In Memorium, "Onwards and Upwards".
I am putting it down to the filament, with the filament that came with it it printed fine, it wasn't perfect but it was a 100% better than what it is doing now. Not sure if its because the filament is clear. I have heard problems with clear filament.
Prusaslicer has different profiles for different printers and filaments, as does Cura saying that, however both seem to approach the printing from different angles both from movement of the head to the actual print itself.
The firmware I am using is from 2020. This particular printer the firmware stopped being released in 2019 I think. But like most things a version was produced which added more features and other bits and pieces.
So certainly with the cheaper end of the market its a learning curve but from that I have learned an awful lot in a short amount of time regarding printing, software, sending G codes to the printer etc. I don't know much about the other end of the market as I rarely am in that space. I would have to say if I had the money I would prefer a plug and play printer but I am not sure even with the top end stuff its truly plug and play, certainly as I have read not all filaments even from the same manufacturer are created equally.
Kind of reminds me of the early days of USB. On one hand I have the resin printer which is pretty much plug and play and the other I have the filament which at the moment is quite literally plug and pray.
Jon
Yeah, I don't think even Prusa is as well sorted, as 'plug and play' as lser/inkjet, etc. Just a bit further along the curve. The impression I get is that there's less faffing, fewer variables, not none at all. And of course, you can still twiddle and tweak, just like you can with inkjets. But with inkjets, most people will get 'good enough', most (maybe all) of the time. It depends, among other things, on how particular a given user is.
A lesson learned from PeterB about dignity in adversity, so Peter, In Memorium, "Onwards and Upwards".
Have you checked if the printer gantry is square?
Use some calipers and measure the top and bottom horizontally, vertically and diagonally. Also check the printer head assembly is level. I found using cassette tape cases were useful for that.
If it isn't level or square you need to loosen things up and then re-tighten.
Also check the roller wheels are not too tight they should slip when you turn by hand and the print head shouldn't got up and down the gantry.
Last edited by Kumagoro; 30-05-2022 at 12:27 AM.
I will double check all that but it printed ok with the other filament. This new stuff is awful
Jon
Have you cleaned the heatbed? Filament won't stick to a greasy surface. This is one of the tricky bits with printing, you want the print to stick to the printer during printing, but then you want it to come off afterwards.
This is one of the wins on the Prusa models, the heat beds have removable spring steel plates with a choice of coatings, but I still have to wash the plates down with dish soap occasionally (and a quick wipe with isopropyl alcohol or Windowlene more often) to get the fingerprint grease off.
I would dig out the instructions for the printer and have a read of what they recommend for their built plate. Some people print on top of masking tape. Glass cleaner like Windolene is quite popular, it de-greases but leaves a slight layer that can help un-bond the print once the printer has cooled down. Similarly for TPU I always put a layer of pritt-stick on the heat bed because that stuff *really* sticks to the printer and you can't get the damned print off on a bad day
The one thing I found was no brand of PLA behaved the same. You have to tune for all. My eSun PLA+ white I have to print at 170 not the 210+ they suggest! (That may be related to my MK10 print heads and silicone socks). Its worth trying temperature towers and other calibrations with new filament (It could just be rubbish though!). Supposedly even colour can impact the temperature required - white uses titanium to get the colour and is the most affected supposedly!
Also be aware cheap nozzles can impact printing too - easier to block, less smooth and less likely to be accurately sized.
With the benefit of my vast range of utter inexperience, I have to wonder .... maybe it is indeed awful, or maybe it's that learning curve we talked about biting you in the ass?
It's always part of the 'fun' of any new field, in learning the "101" mistakes, and their symptoms. Been there, done that with so many things, from cars, to developing photographic film, to building/fixing PCs, etc.
After a while, you get to instantly recognise many things and adjust without thunking about it. Or, you see the potential coming and fix it before it even happens. And we take it for granted. But in the early days, those things that seem obvious were annoying and frustrating as hell, and could take ages to identify.
Just try to concentrate on how satisfying it'll be when you sort it .... whatever 'sorting' requires, whether it's nozzle temp up a bit or down a bit, hotbed up or down in temp, whatever. Or, writing that filament off (for now) and trying something else.
Having fun, yet?
Now, now, Jonj, I was only kidding. I don't know where your'e planning on sticking that soldering iron but, erm .... I have an appointment. Byeee ....
A lesson learned from PeterB about dignity in adversity, so Peter, In Memorium, "Onwards and Upwards".
Speaking of build plate cleaning. I found that cleaning it would result in things not adhering properly, be it with isopropyl or a bit of soap and water etc.
What has worked for me is printing close to the build plate on a very hot setting so the plastic would stick really well.
I print a one layer big square over the area you typically print. When I peel it off it gives it a good clean and me filament adheres really well. The nice thing is your can set it to go really quick so it doesn't take long.
This was especially useful on textured build plates. This is with using pla.
Sorry for the late reply, have been away.
Actually now I think about it there was masking tape on the bed when I got it. I took it off as the bed looked so much nicer without it, now I am wondering if it was there for a reason lol.
Will replace the tape and put the unit back to stock and go again.
Funnily enough I actually enjoy the trial and error, makes it more fun I guess
Jon
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