51 Reply by FatalDischarge

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Re: The first mod?

I treat my tile as if it was a well seasoned cast iron skillet. I don't clean it between each use but yes, after a while it does build up and I do clean it with hot water in the sink and then reapply a light coat of hairspray. I do apply hairspray between each print though.
The thermistor will read higher than the tile, at first. Just wait a bit longer for the heat to reach the surface.
You might want to raise your bed slightly. You want that first layer to be flat and wide as opposed to round and thin. If all else fails you can make a "glue" with ABS scraps and acetone and brush it on your tile but I've never had to do that. The best thing to do would be to upgrade your heated bed, but that is a whole different thread.
Bookmark this site. It helped tremendously when I first started, thanks to Ian Johnson.
http://solidoodletips.wordpress.com/

52 Reply by ITman496

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Re: The first mod?

Okay, when more plastic arrives I'll certainly try those tips. Thank you!

Is there anything I should mess with in Repetier?  I have heard of some people making it go slower / extrude more on the first layer, but I'm not sure how to do that.

53 Reply by FatalDischarge (edited by FatalDischarge 2013-07-24 10:58:51)

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Re: The first mod?

There is something you can do in Slic3r. Under " print setting" look for "skirt and brim". The brim will print a layer surrounding the object to help hold it down. I have mine set at 3mm. In "layers and perimeters" I have my first layer set at .3. You can also set the first layer to print hotter than the rest. That will be in "fillament" settings.

54 Reply by Hazer

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Re: The first mod?

ITman: Do you have an enclosure yet? Number one reason for lifting is rapid cooling of the plastic in the middle layers (the middle shrinks while the bottom stays hot). If you have fans or non-ideal environment (cold or too much airflow) then your fighting the symptom first, not the cause. Hairspray, slurries, and first layer extrusion methods are all mechanical aids to the real cause of the problem which is the plastic cooling down too fast.

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55 Reply by ITman496

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Re: The first mod?

*adds to list of things to try when usps hurries up and gives him his damn plastic*  Thank you for all the help!  Did the brim make a difference?  And the .3, does that slow down the speed?

56 Reply by ITman496

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Re: The first mod?

I do not have an enclosure yet, I just got the printer.   I do have a fan on the tiny motor that moves the print head left and right, but I'll re-orient it so it does not suck in outside air and blow it over the print.  I'll also look around for some material to make an enclosure with.

57 Reply by TheBaron

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Re: The first mod?

Well, the machine is coming in tomorrow so I shall have time to try out these mods. Today I will pick up the ceramic glass I plan to be using along with some hairspray and a couple other things. I have some plexiglass kicking around that I'll use with some magnets as a temporary enclosure. Already have a 40mm fan and a spare 12v power supply to circulate air around the head once I have something that can print a bracket. This is all assuming that it works out of the box, of course. I keep reading horror stories about them coming broken and it worries me a little.

Eventually I'll use the router here at work and make the thing a fancy shiny box with a hinged door and that sort of thing. That can wait, though. Can't put the horse before the cart.

SD3 w/ RUMBA (8825s), merlin hot end (in pieces). Ender3 w/ silent board for PLA printing. Ender5 w/ silent board, e3d v6, new z lead screw, and glass bed. DiY Kossel w/ smoothieboard (in pieces). Vellman Vertex (in pieces)
Shapeoko2 router in process of being converted to laser engraver (in pieces)
Multicam 5000 series CNC Router w/ 11HP spindle, 5x10' table, and auto tool changer (in pieces)

58 Reply by TheBaron

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Re: The first mod?

Update!

My solidoodle3 came in on Thursday, and honestly when I opened the box I was a bit underwhelmed. Bare, greasy steel abound. That said, out of the box it required minimal leveling to get it up and running and I successfully printed a little frog. After that, the modifications began.

I added a fan mount using lawsy's bracket (http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:30828) and the thinner solidoodle fan duct (http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:39462), put on a robax glass bed, and added the spool crutch (http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:62312) so I didn't have to worry about my spool holder drooping. As I type this, I am printing a tension nut filament guide (http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:117621). I put on some magnetized side panels that consist of some leftover plastic lens sheet for overhead florescent lights, some super glue, and a couple dozen flat round magnets from my wargaming hobby.


The filament I am using is the sainsmart stuff off of amazon. No problems with it feeding or printing thus far. I have been running into problems with parts coming loose partway during the print, but I increased the temperatures and things seem to stick a little better. Running the extruder at 210 and the bed at 115.

SD3 w/ RUMBA (8825s), merlin hot end (in pieces). Ender3 w/ silent board for PLA printing. Ender5 w/ silent board, e3d v6, new z lead screw, and glass bed. DiY Kossel w/ smoothieboard (in pieces). Vellman Vertex (in pieces)
Shapeoko2 router in process of being converted to laser engraver (in pieces)
Multicam 5000 series CNC Router w/ 11HP spindle, 5x10' table, and auto tool changer (in pieces)

59 Reply by ITman496

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Re: The first mod?

Okay, I'll definitely try bumping the bed temp up a bit.

60 Reply by TheBaron

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Re: The first mod?

One thing I did notice is that I pretty much have to run with my new fancy fan mod turned off if I want the bed to stick. I have breathing problems in humid environments, so my house is about 68F and very dry at all times. With no top on my enclosure yet, it was just sucking cool air and blowing it onto the extruder.

SD3 w/ RUMBA (8825s), merlin hot end (in pieces). Ender3 w/ silent board for PLA printing. Ender5 w/ silent board, e3d v6, new z lead screw, and glass bed. DiY Kossel w/ smoothieboard (in pieces). Vellman Vertex (in pieces)
Shapeoko2 router in process of being converted to laser engraver (in pieces)
Multicam 5000 series CNC Router w/ 11HP spindle, 5x10' table, and auto tool changer (in pieces)

61 Reply by ITman496

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Re: The first mod?

Why not hook the fan to the fan header of your board?  If you just got it you should have a new board.  Then you have gcode control over it (I think) and can turn it in on and off depending on layer size and such.

62 Reply by TheBaron

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Re: The first mod?

I have everything set up so it will be easy to swap it over to the board control eventually. I still have a bit of new product silliness where I don't want to start making any permanent changes to it yet. Right now it's rigged to a separate switch and 12v power supply. Switch is magnetized to the back of the case so it can be easily removed or repositioned.

SD3 w/ RUMBA (8825s), merlin hot end (in pieces). Ender3 w/ silent board for PLA printing. Ender5 w/ silent board, e3d v6, new z lead screw, and glass bed. DiY Kossel w/ smoothieboard (in pieces). Vellman Vertex (in pieces)
Shapeoko2 router in process of being converted to laser engraver (in pieces)
Multicam 5000 series CNC Router w/ 11HP spindle, 5x10' table, and auto tool changer (in pieces)

63 Reply by adrian (edited by adrian 2013-07-29 08:36:53)

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Re: The first mod?

Yes, the general principle is that you leave the fan switched off for the first 3-4, or even more if you can, layers (its an option in Slic3r for this reason) as it will cause exactly the issues people try so hard to avoid: It will cool your bed, and cause your filament to rapidly cool and thus contract, and thus, warp/lift off the bed...

You also want to try and focus the airflow to just below the extruder nozzle and no more.. and it doesn't actually need to be that powerful - a 30mm fan at 70% still achieves the results you are looking for in running a fan for printing... going up to 40mm or 50mm fans @ 100% is basically overkill, and introduces more hassles than it otherwise solves...

This is the biggest reason to use the G-Code controlled fan - you can PWM run it... and not just have 100% all the time and you can autoconfigure it to not turn on for the first X-layers...

64 Reply by TheBaron

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Re: The first mod?

Very good point, adrian. Truth be told, I didn't even think I needed the fan thus far. I just added it because it looks cool. When I get back home from the godless north I will option off the header and use my existing on/off setup for a cooling fan on the x axis stepper. Thing gets blisteringly hot. Eventually I'll add a couple relays and a terminal strip so I can get proper power distribution and actually have a power switch for the damn thing.

SD3 w/ RUMBA (8825s), merlin hot end (in pieces). Ender3 w/ silent board for PLA printing. Ender5 w/ silent board, e3d v6, new z lead screw, and glass bed. DiY Kossel w/ smoothieboard (in pieces). Vellman Vertex (in pieces)
Shapeoko2 router in process of being converted to laser engraver (in pieces)
Multicam 5000 series CNC Router w/ 11HP spindle, 5x10' table, and auto tool changer (in pieces)

65 Reply by MolecularConcept

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Re: The first mod?

my first mod was an enclosure and when I got tired of stuff not sticking glass/hairspray... ill be looking for some ceramic tile within the next few days

66 Reply by nlancaster

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Re: The first mod?

Welcome to the family TheBaron

67 Reply by coleke

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Re: The first mod?

TheBaron wrote:

I put on some magnetized side panels that consist of some leftover plastic lens sheet for overhead florescent lights, some super glue, and a couple dozen flat round magnets from my wargaming hobby.

Ha! That's awesome! I used the same setup and it work great (had a nice diffusion effect on the inside lights), but stuck my SD2 eventually into an Expedit from Ikea, which helped to hide the filament and wires and such.

Grand Rapids, Michigan
SD2 with Sanguinololu board, glass bed mod, E3d_v5 bowden version hotend (currently direct drive), Lawsy Mk5 jigsaw replacement, octopi printserver, drv8825(tiny troubles)