1 Topic by ch355ma5t3r

  • ch355ma5t3r
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Topic: Lessons learned

So far I've learned some important lessons of what not to do. 

  1.  Don't touch the resistor pots on the motherboard unless you have checked the voltage readings with a digital multimeter and need to get back to the default values.  I mistakenly assumed that this was how to adjust the printer calibration and it took a fair amount of time and sweaty palms to get it back where it belonged.

  2.  Don't retract the filament all the way out to change to a different color.  I did this and it pulled molten plastic into the part of the extruder that doesn't get hot, this is a nightmare to clean up.  I had to use a long thin drill bit and a torch to heat it.

  3.  Always save any changes you make to your slicing program under a different name until you're sure that it's doing what you want.  I was working on my bridging and kept saving my changes to the point where I had to start over because I had no good profiles to go back to.

2 Reply by jooshs

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Re: Lessons learned

The first thing I did when going to adjust the trumpets was mark where they were originally with a sharpie since you should never have to move them far from the original position. How do you change your color if you'd don't retract the filament out?

3 Reply by ch355ma5t3r

  • ch355ma5t3r
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Re: Lessons learned

I cut it and as I'm extruding I feed the new filament behind it.  Sometimes it doesn't go straight down so I have to push the old filament with a short piece of stiff wire.  Retracting hot abs into the extruder can cool in places you don't want it to be and it will get stuck.  I had to tear my extruder apart, remove the hot end and heat a thin drill bit with a torch to clean up my mess.

4 Reply by IanJohnson

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Re: Lessons learned

Did the plastic smear on the acrylic or something?  Usually if I get a bit of filament stuck below the gear, I can take off the idler (the part with the bearing) and pull the plastic out with some tweezers.   If melted plastic is actually smearing on the acrylic, it is too hot.  By the time it comes out of the insulator barrel (the black part) it might be stringy, but it shouldn't smear.

If I am pulling it out and it begins to stretch, I pull very gently.  A blob may come out on the end of the string, and I want that blob to stay attached long enough for it to get grabbed by the gear (which I keep running the whole time) and ejected.

5 Reply by jooshs

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Re: Lessons learned

That is how I remove also... Additionally, it will often grab any dust or foreign particulates on its way out and actually help with cleaning out the nozzle.

6 Reply by ch355ma5t3r

  • ch355ma5t3r
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Re: Lessons learned

When mine got stuck, it was below the acrylic and above the hot end.  It had pulled molten plastic up and stuck then the drive gear ground the filament weakening it so that when i pulled to assist it it snapped.  I tried getting hold of the short end with needle nose pliers but it wouldn't come loose even when I cranked it up to 210c.  This was black abs btw, not that it should make a difference.  I can't see myself doing that again, I was afraid I might break the wires when I unscrewed the hotend after dismantling the extruder.  Even with everything tore apart, it was still a pain as I had to heat a drill bit with a torch and screw it into the offending plastic so I could remove small amounts at a time.

7 Reply by kevin13 (edited by kevin13 2012-10-01 23:31:44)

  • kevin13
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Re: Lessons learned

im going to add to the lessons learned or add a solution. a piece of my filament melted and broke off ATER the motor, i used a set of sewing needles to pull it loose and a vacuum cleaner to help suck it out. i didnt want to take it all the way apart becuase i am a beginner.  pain in the butt...

kevin13's Website

8 Reply by Stoney

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Re: Lessons learned

goody .. and now i find this out smile
a design that could provide access to the section above the hot end would be nice.

lesson learned .. tomorrow is a hot end removal i guess..

9 Reply by solijohn

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Re: Lessons learned

Stoney wrote:

goody .. and now i find this out smile
a design that could provide access to the section above the hot end would be nice.

lesson learned .. tomorrow is a hot end removal i guess..

We are redesigning the hot end as you speak. Perhaps we can incorporate this.

Former Solidoodle employee, no longer associated with the company.

10 Reply by jon_bondy

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Re: Lessons learned

Will you be offering kits of replacement parts for those of us who might want the newer hot end, or newer filament holders?  Not for free, of course.  I might want my Solidoodle to, eventually, be "up to" the ones that you are shipping in, say, the Spring.

11 Reply by solijohn

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Re: Lessons learned

jon_bondy wrote:

Will you be offering kits of replacement parts for those of us who might want the newer hot end, or newer filament holders?  Not for free, of course.  I might want my Solidoodle to, eventually, be "up to" the ones that you are shipping in, say, the Spring.

We shall be offering something if the solution ends up being "user friendly"

Former Solidoodle employee, no longer associated with the company.