3D printers, you got to love them
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Or not, in my case. A while ago I tried another brand of filament and the quality of the prints quickly degraded to a point where the printer only produced garbage. The problem was layer cohesion. The objects that were printed became weak and brittle because the layers would separate if you applied only a small force to them. Sometimes entire layers were so weak that the object would already break apart during printing. That happened to a 15 cm x 15 cm x 10 cm case for some circuit boards and not a tiny antenna for one of my models. Last sunday it took apart the printing head, cleaned everything and replaced the nozzle with a new one. The result is a little better, but still far from good. The object is still too brittle, layers are still too shoddy and messy because of the plastic that comes off right after printing. Now everything points to the extruder. It looks like it's not able to push the filament ahead constantly and strongly enough anymore. It looked good when I cleaned it. There was not much dirt in there and the parts looked like new. Nothing looked damaged or worn out. There was an incident when the filament had sprung off the spool, wrapped itself firmly around the spool holder and the extruder tried to pull it in anyway. Maybe the motor was damaged by that. Let's see if I can get it as a replacement part, otherwise I will have to replace the entire printing head. At least I already know where to get that. Any ideas how I could learn more about what's going on? The motor seems to be working, but that does not mean that it really is ok, as the bad prints show.
I have lived with several Zen masters - all of them were cats. His last invention was an evil Lasagna. It didn't kill anyone, and it actually tasted pretty good.
What material do you use? For me personally, putting printer to enclosure was game changer, I have much better prints since then. I used to have layers separation and prints not sticking to the bed sometimes. This doesn't apply to PLA though. PLA doesn't like the heat that much.
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Or not, in my case. A while ago I tried another brand of filament and the quality of the prints quickly degraded to a point where the printer only produced garbage. The problem was layer cohesion. The objects that were printed became weak and brittle because the layers would separate if you applied only a small force to them. Sometimes entire layers were so weak that the object would already break apart during printing. That happened to a 15 cm x 15 cm x 10 cm case for some circuit boards and not a tiny antenna for one of my models. Last sunday it took apart the printing head, cleaned everything and replaced the nozzle with a new one. The result is a little better, but still far from good. The object is still too brittle, layers are still too shoddy and messy because of the plastic that comes off right after printing. Now everything points to the extruder. It looks like it's not able to push the filament ahead constantly and strongly enough anymore. It looked good when I cleaned it. There was not much dirt in there and the parts looked like new. Nothing looked damaged or worn out. There was an incident when the filament had sprung off the spool, wrapped itself firmly around the spool holder and the extruder tried to pull it in anyway. Maybe the motor was damaged by that. Let's see if I can get it as a replacement part, otherwise I will have to replace the entire printing head. At least I already know where to get that. Any ideas how I could learn more about what's going on? The motor seems to be working, but that does not mean that it really is ok, as the bad prints show.
I have lived with several Zen masters - all of them were cats. His last invention was an evil Lasagna. It didn't kill anyone, and it actually tasted pretty good.
I had a similar problem and got a hardened extruder gear[^] and it cured the problem. Plus they last forever!
They call me different but the truth is they're all the same! JaxCoder.com
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What material do you use? For me personally, putting printer to enclosure was game changer, I have much better prints since then. I used to have layers separation and prints not sticking to the bed sometimes. This doesn't apply to PLA though. PLA doesn't like the heat that much.
I always use PLA and the printer already is enclosed. It got a metal case with plexyglass windows all around. And everything was fine until things went south after changing the filament. There is no question that the nozzle had to be replaced, but now I think that it did not get clogged up directly by the new filament. That probably only was a side effect of the malfunctioning extruder motor and the mess it creates.
I have lived with several Zen masters - all of them were cats. His last invention was an evil Lasagna. It didn't kill anyone, and it actually tasted pretty good.
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I had a similar problem and got a hardened extruder gear[^] and it cured the problem. Plus they last forever!
They call me different but the truth is they're all the same! JaxCoder.com
Yes, that little part is very important. It looked like new when I cleaned it last sunday. And I know what worn out gears look like from the helicopters. :-)
I have lived with several Zen masters - all of them were cats. His last invention was an evil Lasagna. It didn't kill anyone, and it actually tasted pretty good.
-
Or not, in my case. A while ago I tried another brand of filament and the quality of the prints quickly degraded to a point where the printer only produced garbage. The problem was layer cohesion. The objects that were printed became weak and brittle because the layers would separate if you applied only a small force to them. Sometimes entire layers were so weak that the object would already break apart during printing. That happened to a 15 cm x 15 cm x 10 cm case for some circuit boards and not a tiny antenna for one of my models. Last sunday it took apart the printing head, cleaned everything and replaced the nozzle with a new one. The result is a little better, but still far from good. The object is still too brittle, layers are still too shoddy and messy because of the plastic that comes off right after printing. Now everything points to the extruder. It looks like it's not able to push the filament ahead constantly and strongly enough anymore. It looked good when I cleaned it. There was not much dirt in there and the parts looked like new. Nothing looked damaged or worn out. There was an incident when the filament had sprung off the spool, wrapped itself firmly around the spool holder and the extruder tried to pull it in anyway. Maybe the motor was damaged by that. Let's see if I can get it as a replacement part, otherwise I will have to replace the entire printing head. At least I already know where to get that. Any ideas how I could learn more about what's going on? The motor seems to be working, but that does not mean that it really is ok, as the bad prints show.
I have lived with several Zen masters - all of them were cats. His last invention was an evil Lasagna. It didn't kill anyone, and it actually tasted pretty good.
Sounds like you may need to increase the hotend temperature a bit. Different filaments need different temperatures to work well, finding the best temperature for a new filament is a bit of a pain. Have a look at temperature towers (prints that change the temperature depending on the height) to help find the best temp. I've had PLA filaments happy at 180C and others that needed 210C. To help stop the filament unspooling add a bit of resistance to the spool mount, so it drags a little, stop it running free.
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Sounds like you may need to increase the hotend temperature a bit. Different filaments need different temperatures to work well, finding the best temperature for a new filament is a bit of a pain. Have a look at temperature towers (prints that change the temperature depending on the height) to help find the best temp. I've had PLA filaments happy at 180C and others that needed 210C. To help stop the filament unspooling add a bit of resistance to the spool mount, so it drags a little, stop it running free.
I tried it with a moderate 200 degrees, but watever has happened, now the old brand of filament with my old temperature setting also does not work anymore. Maybe it's just a coincidence and the new filament had nothing to do with the actual problem.
I have lived with several Zen masters - all of them were cats. His last invention was an evil Lasagna. It didn't kill anyone, and it actually tasted pretty good.
-
Or not, in my case. A while ago I tried another brand of filament and the quality of the prints quickly degraded to a point where the printer only produced garbage. The problem was layer cohesion. The objects that were printed became weak and brittle because the layers would separate if you applied only a small force to them. Sometimes entire layers were so weak that the object would already break apart during printing. That happened to a 15 cm x 15 cm x 10 cm case for some circuit boards and not a tiny antenna for one of my models. Last sunday it took apart the printing head, cleaned everything and replaced the nozzle with a new one. The result is a little better, but still far from good. The object is still too brittle, layers are still too shoddy and messy because of the plastic that comes off right after printing. Now everything points to the extruder. It looks like it's not able to push the filament ahead constantly and strongly enough anymore. It looked good when I cleaned it. There was not much dirt in there and the parts looked like new. Nothing looked damaged or worn out. There was an incident when the filament had sprung off the spool, wrapped itself firmly around the spool holder and the extruder tried to pull it in anyway. Maybe the motor was damaged by that. Let's see if I can get it as a replacement part, otherwise I will have to replace the entire printing head. At least I already know where to get that. Any ideas how I could learn more about what's going on? The motor seems to be working, but that does not mean that it really is ok, as the bad prints show.
I have lived with several Zen masters - all of them were cats. His last invention was an evil Lasagna. It didn't kill anyone, and it actually tasted pretty good.
Have you checked the bed leveling / height? Since you removed the extruder - to change the nozzle if nothing else - it's quite possible that the bed / extruder distance is slightly different.Which would give you less "squashing" of new hot filament onto older colder filament, and less layer adhesion, I think.
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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Have you checked the bed leveling / height? Since you removed the extruder - to change the nozzle if nothing else - it's quite possible that the bed / extruder distance is slightly different.Which would give you less "squashing" of new hot filament onto older colder filament, and less layer adhesion, I think.
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
Certainly. We are talking about a distance between the nozzle and the bed that is as little as the thickness of a folded sheet of paper. No more and no less.
I have lived with several Zen masters - all of them were cats. His last invention was an evil Lasagna. It didn't kill anyone, and it actually tasted pretty good.
-
Or not, in my case. A while ago I tried another brand of filament and the quality of the prints quickly degraded to a point where the printer only produced garbage. The problem was layer cohesion. The objects that were printed became weak and brittle because the layers would separate if you applied only a small force to them. Sometimes entire layers were so weak that the object would already break apart during printing. That happened to a 15 cm x 15 cm x 10 cm case for some circuit boards and not a tiny antenna for one of my models. Last sunday it took apart the printing head, cleaned everything and replaced the nozzle with a new one. The result is a little better, but still far from good. The object is still too brittle, layers are still too shoddy and messy because of the plastic that comes off right after printing. Now everything points to the extruder. It looks like it's not able to push the filament ahead constantly and strongly enough anymore. It looked good when I cleaned it. There was not much dirt in there and the parts looked like new. Nothing looked damaged or worn out. There was an incident when the filament had sprung off the spool, wrapped itself firmly around the spool holder and the extruder tried to pull it in anyway. Maybe the motor was damaged by that. Let's see if I can get it as a replacement part, otherwise I will have to replace the entire printing head. At least I already know where to get that. Any ideas how I could learn more about what's going on? The motor seems to be working, but that does not mean that it really is ok, as the bad prints show.
I have lived with several Zen masters - all of them were cats. His last invention was an evil Lasagna. It didn't kill anyone, and it actually tasted pretty good.
Quote:
3D printers Early adopters, you got to love them
FTFY Or is it too late by now to still refer to them as "early" adopters? In any case...I'm still holding out for all the kinks to be worked out. I probably won't be getting a 3D printer until the process has been shown to be foolproof, and we've gone through a few more generations of fools. (no offense) :-O
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Quote:
3D printers Early adopters, you got to love them
FTFY Or is it too late by now to still refer to them as "early" adopters? In any case...I'm still holding out for all the kinks to be worked out. I probably won't be getting a 3D printer until the process has been shown to be foolproof, and we've gone through a few more generations of fools. (no offense) :-O
3D printing is absolutely foolproof, but only when you are willing to pay the price.
I have lived with several Zen masters - all of them were cats. His last invention was an evil Lasagna. It didn't kill anyone, and it actually tasted pretty good.
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3D printing is absolutely foolproof, but only when you are willing to pay the price.
I have lived with several Zen masters - all of them were cats. His last invention was an evil Lasagna. It didn't kill anyone, and it actually tasted pretty good.
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So... If you want it foolproof, you've gotta spend the money. But the more money you spend, the more foolish the whole thing starts to look. :-)
The only foolish thing would be to buy just any printer without actually knowing what you want to do with it or what you are getting yourself into. After that it's your decision how much that purpose, whatever it may be, is worth for you.
I have lived with several Zen masters - all of them were cats. His last invention was an evil Lasagna. It didn't kill anyone, and it actually tasted pretty good.
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I tried it with a moderate 200 degrees, but watever has happened, now the old brand of filament with my old temperature setting also does not work anymore. Maybe it's just a coincidence and the new filament had nothing to do with the actual problem.
I have lived with several Zen masters - all of them were cats. His last invention was an evil Lasagna. It didn't kill anyone, and it actually tasted pretty good.
-
Or not, in my case. A while ago I tried another brand of filament and the quality of the prints quickly degraded to a point where the printer only produced garbage. The problem was layer cohesion. The objects that were printed became weak and brittle because the layers would separate if you applied only a small force to them. Sometimes entire layers were so weak that the object would already break apart during printing. That happened to a 15 cm x 15 cm x 10 cm case for some circuit boards and not a tiny antenna for one of my models. Last sunday it took apart the printing head, cleaned everything and replaced the nozzle with a new one. The result is a little better, but still far from good. The object is still too brittle, layers are still too shoddy and messy because of the plastic that comes off right after printing. Now everything points to the extruder. It looks like it's not able to push the filament ahead constantly and strongly enough anymore. It looked good when I cleaned it. There was not much dirt in there and the parts looked like new. Nothing looked damaged or worn out. There was an incident when the filament had sprung off the spool, wrapped itself firmly around the spool holder and the extruder tried to pull it in anyway. Maybe the motor was damaged by that. Let's see if I can get it as a replacement part, otherwise I will have to replace the entire printing head. At least I already know where to get that. Any ideas how I could learn more about what's going on? The motor seems to be working, but that does not mean that it really is ok, as the bad prints show.
I have lived with several Zen masters - all of them were cats. His last invention was an evil Lasagna. It didn't kill anyone, and it actually tasted pretty good.
Couple points to add: 1) - Don't assume that a certain brand and type of material will not change properties over time and or different lots. 2) Make sure, when troubleshooting, that you are using models that will help with specific problems, ie: temp towers for temp issues, single layer discs for first layer issues, 10mm cubes for layer adhesion, dimensional issues and extruding issues, etc. Usually these test prints are quick, and allow you to focus (and eliminate) fewer issues at a time.
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Or not, in my case. A while ago I tried another brand of filament and the quality of the prints quickly degraded to a point where the printer only produced garbage. The problem was layer cohesion. The objects that were printed became weak and brittle because the layers would separate if you applied only a small force to them. Sometimes entire layers were so weak that the object would already break apart during printing. That happened to a 15 cm x 15 cm x 10 cm case for some circuit boards and not a tiny antenna for one of my models. Last sunday it took apart the printing head, cleaned everything and replaced the nozzle with a new one. The result is a little better, but still far from good. The object is still too brittle, layers are still too shoddy and messy because of the plastic that comes off right after printing. Now everything points to the extruder. It looks like it's not able to push the filament ahead constantly and strongly enough anymore. It looked good when I cleaned it. There was not much dirt in there and the parts looked like new. Nothing looked damaged or worn out. There was an incident when the filament had sprung off the spool, wrapped itself firmly around the spool holder and the extruder tried to pull it in anyway. Maybe the motor was damaged by that. Let's see if I can get it as a replacement part, otherwise I will have to replace the entire printing head. At least I already know where to get that. Any ideas how I could learn more about what's going on? The motor seems to be working, but that does not mean that it really is ok, as the bad prints show.
I have lived with several Zen masters - all of them were cats. His last invention was an evil Lasagna. It didn't kill anyone, and it actually tasted pretty good.
If this is PLA, you may have gotten some filament that wasn't stored properly. PLA is really bad about absorbing moisture, which makes it swell and not feed properly. It also makes it generate steam bubbles when extruded, which absorbs a bunch of the heat and messes up layer adhesion. You also might see a rougher texture from all the little bubbles. I've heard people bake their PLA to try to dry it out, might be worth a try, 40C for 6 hours or so. Here's a link: How to Dry Filament: PLA, ABS and Nylon | All3DP[^] HTH! -- prr
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I had a similar problem and got a hardened extruder gear[^] and it cured the problem. Plus they last forever!
They call me different but the truth is they're all the same! JaxCoder.com
