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SoliForum - 3D Printing Community → Solidoodle Press → Press - questions from beginner
I noticed with mine a second or third print would have some of these issues.
I closed the app, cycled the printer and restarted the app. Then prints came out fine.
I did notice the glass fits loosely. It can move during a print and cause "drifting" on the print. For the moment I wedged something to hold it, but I will be designing a permanent solution.
I did notice the glass fits loosely. It can move during a print and cause "drifting" on the print.
The glass on my bed is really tight. Perhaps there's adjustments for the metal clips on either side under the build platform?
my glass moves really easily as well, but it's definitely not moving two inches. 
So I think my Y-axis issue may have been calibration related. I went through the very helpful list in this thread http://www.soliforum.com/topic/9236/pre … tructions/ and reset everything, then tried the octopus again, at 0.3mm. It was about 95% successful, two issues.
First, the arms lifted up a bit off the print bed. Is this a temperature issue, or a stickiness issue? I thinned down some Elmer's white glue about 1:1 with water and brushed that on the glass, let it dry, then printed on that. It seemed to work well, but is that why the arms lifted?
Second, at about 95% complete the extruder almost completely stopped working. It started to make that thumping sound and after it finished I backed the filament out, it has rough marks as if the teeth on the gear cut into it, and at the point where it was between the gear and the tensioner it was ground about halfway through, I'm not sure why it would get "stuck" there though. After the print finished and I removed that bad section, I extruded some and it worked just fine.
Anyway, here's the result. Close, but no cigar.
In the RH software, "Speed for non-print moves" is set to 130mm/s. Should I change it?
I googled calibrating the extruder, is this link accurate? http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to- … /?ALLSTEPS Or do you have a better one?
I followed these instructions to calibrate my Press. The default value was 138, the calibrated value was 100. This made a HUGE difference in printing, however it almost made it use too little filament. Possibly because the Slic3r value for Extrusion multiplier is set to .7 in Soliprint.
Changing it to 1.0 resulted in slightly too much material though... I'm not sure how to proceed, but it definitely made a difference. I'll bring up any other comments about it in the calibration thread... I don't want to hijack your thread.
As far as that 2" drift goes, were you watching the whole time? I read another post of a new Press owner where he had the same cable issues you had. I also had them on my sd2 and what happens is the cable gets pressed up against something so when it goes to move in a certain direction, it doesn't make it all the way. I'm pretty sure it causes a little belt slip or something. The result is that the motor reads as moving say, 10mm but it physically only moves let's say 5mm. So from then on the whole print is 5mm off. I ended up adjusting the ties on the cables and it made it a little more flexible and didn't happen too often anymore. I also started to place my objects more to the front and right just to help avoid the cable from being pushed up into the back and left sides.
yep, I'm pretty sure the drift was the cable getting caught. I've tried various fixes - rubberband, printed a clip, but nothing seems to prevent the cable from getting caught in the back left. For now I guess I'll be printing with the top open - just lowered down on top of the door after that's closed.
Well, I sure hope you guys have fun working all the bugs out in advance for when I eventually get my Press. 
I'm learning a ton about 3D printing, that's for sure. I don't mind having to get my hands dirty, I've done lots of hands-on stuff and I have a lot of tools, but it's definitely not plug-and-play as advertised.
Edit - yet.
For the Y axis I did this.
a. slid the covering back from the extruder end to expose the connector for the hot end heater.
b. taped both ends so it wouldn't open up.
c. then sort of twisted the cover so the slit corkscrewed through its length.
This made it spring up instead of down and solved the issue. But the X axis is still a problem.
I have it rubberbanded to the lid hinge which fixes it as long as the top is open. I don't know how the company is going to fix it permanently, and frankly I don't see how they got past the design stage without running into this over and over. if the top were a little higher, maybe an inch, it would be a lot better.
I printed this guy with similar results. I wasn't monitoring the print, so I don't know what happened exactly, but I wonder if something with the model/slicer is causing an issue with the top of the head?
wow, interesting, I didn't expect that at all. Hopefully someone else will try printing it as well, see if it happens again. After all, once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, three times is enemy action, right?
I have it rubberbanded to the lid hinge which fixes it as long as the top is open. I don't know how the company is going to fix it permanently, and frankly I don't see how they got past the design stage without running into this over and over. if the top were a little higher, maybe an inch, it would be a lot better.
This is only my guess: Initially the designe does not have the plastic cable sleeve. As they run into problem, they added the sleeves. As we all know, the weight of the sleeve actually created the "caught behind the rail" problem but they did not test it extensively, and depending on the twist of the sleeve, forcing it upward or downward.
Just a guess.
P.K.
Uninstall the R.H. software as even though you 'can' control some functions of the Press, it has configuration settings for the printer that cause all of these quirky errors that several posts are speaking of. For instance, it messes with the x-y-z home limits and it will send your extruder jamming into the walls (that thumping noise is the belt slipping as the stepper motor tries to track the head further than it can go. R.H. also does not automatically lower the Z-axis probe and will jam your bed up into the nozzle. Even if your config settings seem correct for the Press, the R.H. software just doesn't play well at all and interferes with SoliPrint.
Completely uninstall R.H. all together from your machine. Install only SoliPrint v1.1.0 and you should not see any of the aforementioned issues.
To move the bed 'down' just click the button on top of your Press 1-time, it will incrementally lower the bed. Repeat as desired.
Within SoliPrint you first need to select your printer (COM port) each time you launch it. There's a drop-down button to the left of the "Status:" box and usually will say either, "Looking for printers..." -or- "Printers are available/found!" ...you need to click this and select your printer + port from the list. Once you do that the program will populate the Temp° and status. If your printer isn't found or doesn't show up relatively right away then unplug your USB from the computer and plug it back in, close then re-launch the program, it should be found immediately. (You'll want to always use the same USB port for this as serial a emulators/COM ports are each assigned a unique port number when the driver is initially installed.)
In the top menu there's an option called something like "Tools" or "Options" or "Settings" -- I can't recall -- but there are 2 submenu items: "Slic3r Options" and "Printer Config."
• Slic3r Options: allows you to define values such as fill %, nozzle speed, line height, etc..
• Printer Config: allows you to adjust your extruder and bed temperatures and set some axis-offsets. You'll notice a checkbox next to the Temps° labelled "Heat" ...checkmarking these mimics the same task that the"Heat Printer" button does on the main screen, so you can try this and see if you get the results you're looking for.
I've found all of this out on my own through trial and error -- hope this helps some folks.
Uninstall the R.H. software as even though you 'can' control some functions of the Press, it has configuration settings for the printer that cause all of these quirky errors that several posts are speaking of. ...
I disagree with this as I've not had any luck making good prints with the solipress software at all, but am getting reasonable results now from RH.
My suggestion is to learn all the settings under RH, make sure that you add the correct settings to the Start G-code and set the extrusion multiplier correctly.
Maybe it's just my printer, but even the test piece that came rattling round inside my printer when I got it, you can see that the temperature is too low, and the extrusion multiplier too high.
IMO the solipress software isn't in a usable state yet. With luck it will be in the future, but it's not there yet. Actually... the printer as a whole isn't in an acceptable state with all of the hardware issues, they would have been better sending all the bits unassembled as a kit since you basically have to tear it apart completely and put it back together to fix all of the issues like screws not being tightened, misrouted wires, jamming parts, unlubricated moving parts, etc. After many hours of fixing, I think I've almost got mine in working order... but it's unacceptable given all of the talk about this being more consumer friendly, etc.
kellenr wrote:Uninstall the R.H. software as even though you 'can' control some functions of the Press, it has configuration settings for the printer that cause all of these quirky errors that several posts are speaking of. ...
I disagree with this as I've not had any luck making good prints with the solipress software at all, but am getting reasonable results now from RH.
I agree with android78. I tried very hard to love Soliprint both 1.0 and 1.1. Now using RH and gettong much better results. I also have much more control over slicer settings that Soliprint gives, and a choice of slicers. (Want vase mode? can't get there in SP, even though SP uses slic3r and slic3r can do it.)
Adding G28 & G29 to the prefix gcode in RH allows the bed to properly home & autolevel. (properly deploying and retracting the probe, BTW. Dunno what kellenr is experiencing).
One trick to getting good results with RH is to properly set zoffset to give accurate z position. The Soliprint calibration tool is trying to use zoffset the for bed adhesion. If you need more stick, play with the first layer width, height, and temps, and bed prep.
I'm getting good results slicing in RH with a flow multiplier of 1.0. From what I read, using a multiplier much away from 1 usually is symptomatic of other problems. Soliprint is using .7.
Press extruder stalling on long ABS prints is most likely due to the extruder over heating. Try propping open the lid. The extruder is fighting heat from the stepper and the hot end. As the meager supply of cooling air gets warmer, the filament gets soft i n the extruder and the cold end of the heat break gets too warm.
Currently, I'm using 240C/90C for the first layer for good adhesion, then dropping to 220C/85C thereafter to avoid overheating of the extruder. (Soliprint doesn't give access to first layer temp settings. +1 for RH.) For .3mm layers, I'm using a layer width of .5 and a first layer of .4. I don't know that these are optimal, but they seem to work better for me in RH than I've gotten in SP. Love to hear what others are using.
I'm running the RH from repetier.com, not the older version SD has on their web site. Takes a little more setting up, but the UI is better. I especially like the visualization of the slice, which has saved me from wasting a few prints.
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