2) Like you mentioned, I wouldn't take this apart yet, until we know for sure that it's clogged.

3) Great idea

Not sure what crepe tape is, but I think blue painters tape works best for non-heated beds because it has many little ridges on the top that the plastic can grip onto, but honestly I'm not sure, I print on glass with hairspray because I have a heated bed.

1. I'm not sure, to be honest. I'll check that out shortly. When I did the leveling and homing, I used a standard size sheet of paper, but I stopped when the paper moved freely. Based on this, I'm guessing I should have allowed a bit of resistance...?

2. Yes, I did mean the hotend! Thanks for catching that, and I'm glad you knew what I meant. I opened that article in Chrome for a translation, and that has really helped! I'm not sure if I "really need to" take it apart or not, but I can't get to it very well, and the PLA that was left on it after my last failed print appears to have dried on and clogged the nozzle. I won't bother taking it apart until I first put it all back together (it's still apart a bit from before I recognized the issue with taking it apart completely), heat it and see if I can clear the nozzle that way.

3. Once I have all of that dealt with, I'll start at about 180, as you suggest. I have a few calibration sets that I've pulled off of Thingiverse that I'll try printing. If I run into the same "thin and thready" issue, I'll post back, with pics.

Thanks, again! This has been immensely helpful.

One more thing: I keep reading suggestions that "crepe tape" might help and, if not, glue on top of that. But... and, here's another question that will adequately display my incredible level of ignorance... I'm curious as to why people always seem to suggest "blue" tape... Is there some reason that blue is better to any other color? The fact that it keeps coming up makes it seem more important, to me, than I would have thought it should be...

1) No heated bed, but you have a BuildTak sheet. Shouldn't have any issues with PLA sticking. Is your nozzle close enough to the bed, smooshing in the first layer a bit?

2) Looking at the pics i found on Google image search, the Reprap Neo has a bowden setup. Meaning that motor you feed filament into on the back of the machine is the extruder. Just make sure the teeth on the motors gear are nice and clean. I think you meant how to remove and clean the hotend, which is the part the filament feeds in to, melts, and is then pushed through the nozzle on to the print bed. The hotend on your machine isn't something I'm familiar with, but a quick search found me a german article on the hotend assembly  : http://wiki.germanreprap.com/handbuch/m … nd_montage you could use this to figure out how to take it apart, if you really need to.

3) I run PLA at around 190C-200C, but those will depend on your machine. Anywhere from 180C-210C could be the answer. Try to print a small object, people love calibration pieces/cubes, at a low temp and adjust 5C from there until you see the desired results.

And as always, a picture is worth a thousand words!

I bought a RepRap Neo a little over a year ago, as my first 3D printer. I knew absolutely nothing about 3D printers and I thought, like an idiot, that this one would be a good place to start (mostly because I could afford it!). The very first time I used it, the extruder nozzle melted a hole in the plastic bed plate... I didn't know about leveling and homing and such.

After a couple of months of trying to figure it all out, I gave up on it, and started looking for something else. It sat collecting dust for about 10 months. I bought an XYZprinting Da Vinci AiO and, for the most part, I've been happy with it. I'm having some issues there, too, but I'm able to print, and that's what matters (for now). The best thing about it is that it has been user (idiot) friendly enough that I've been able to learn quite a bit (still barely qualifying as an amateur, though) and it has given me the confidence to break out the RepRap Neo again.

Last night, I set it up (FINALLY got the plate properly homed!!!), cleaned it up and tried a simple print.

Now, my Da Vinci has a heated glass bed, and that's all I've ever been able to work with, given the problems with my RepRap, so I'm a bit lost as to how to deal with an aluminum plate with a BuildTak "cover" (for lack of a better/proper term) on it. My first couple of layers were thin and thready (using PLA, which is also a new experience for me, as I've been using only ABS in my Da Vinci) and did not stick to the bed, at all. Before I knew it, the extruder had lifted all of the PLA from the plate, and it's now melted on, completely.

Here's what I need to know (AKA TL/DR)

1. Aluminum print bed with BuildTak "cover": How do I get my prints to stick to this? Please, be as specific as possible, as A) I know virtually nothing, and B) I'll be shopping in Prague, Czech Republic and will need as much clarity as possible to get things translated into Czech.

2. How do I remove and clean my extruder? I would have thought that simple enough, but some of the wires going to the tip appear to be permanently attached (soldered) to both the extruder and the belt.

3. I'm assuming that the "thin and thready" issue is because my extruder was too hot. If that's the case, what is the proper temp for PLA? If not, what other issue might I be having?

Any and all assistance is appreciated!

Thanks