1 Topic by xtaticlyme (edited by xtaticlyme 2013-07-23 23:00:27)

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Topic: SD 3 - Hot end dragging through print - bed is level

So up until a few days ago my solidoodle 3 was printing pretty well. I aspired to achieve perfection, and printed an attachment for the extruder head to attach a caliper gauge...to perfectly level the bed. In the process, the gauge jammed momentarily against the right side of the frame. I finished leveling the bed. The printer creates nice layers, consistent with what you would want to see as far as layer thickness and width. It does that on the first set. Then, it starts dragging against them if it crosses them (for instance, when printing a raft). It shakes the bed as it prints. It damages the layers underneath.

I just followed instructions in the video for true circle realignment. That seemed to help some, but the problem still exists.

Anyone have any advice? It's really bumming me out that I can't figure out the issue, but I'm still very much a novice to the 3D printing world. I appreciate any help.

-T.J.

2 Reply by rjp350z

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Re: SD 3 - Hot end dragging through print - bed is level

Have you tried adjusting the Z height?

3 Reply by HairuDoli

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Re: SD 3 - Hot end dragging through print - bed is level

rjp350z wrote:

Have you tried adjusting the Z height?

Agree

4 Reply by ronsii

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Re: SD 3 - Hot end dragging through print - bed is level

Since you made a caliper holder have you checked to see that the z axis moves down when commanded to... ie manually tell it to move .1mm down and watch the indicator to see if it does then repeat this step 10 -20 times.

5 Reply by xtaticlyme

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Re: SD 3 - Hot end dragging through print - bed is level

I am sure the Z axis moves. It will home and move up and down. I re-leveled the bed, and adjusted the Z screw until I got nice layers. It still drags through them when it crosses over. I've added some video to youtube so you can see/hear. youtu.be/c1HXt1gTUwk

6 Reply by solijohn

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Re: SD 3 - Hot end dragging through print - bed is level

xtaticlyme wrote:

So up until a few days ago my solidoodle 3 was printing pretty well. I aspired to achieve perfection, and printed an attachment for the extruder head to attach a caliper gauge...to perfectly level the bed. In the process, the gauge jammed momentarily against the right side of the frame. I finished leveling the bed. The printer creates nice layers, consistent with what you would want to see as far as layer thickness and width. It does that on the first set. Then, it starts dragging against them if it crosses them (for instance, when printing a raft). It shakes the bed as it prints. It damages the layers underneath.

I just followed instructions in the video for true circle realignment. That seemed to help some, but the problem still exists.

Anyone have any advice? It's really bumming me out that I can't figure out the issue, but I'm still very much a novice to the 3D printing world. I appreciate any help.

-T.J.

This post should go in the help/repair section. If it's not the Z-tab (which I am still suspicious that it is) I would nominate as a second possibility the extrusion multiplier: it may be set too high.

Former Solidoodle employee, no longer associated with the company.

7 Reply by saymo606

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Re: SD 3 - Hot end dragging through print - bed is level

out of curiosity....Have you done a z-axis mod?

If so, check to see that your stepper motor to threaded rod connection is tight.... If it binds at any point you would expect the symptoms that you are seeing.. ie the rod may turn with the motor or it may skip...

8 Reply by ronsii

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Re: SD 3 - Hot end dragging through print - bed is level

xtaticlyme wrote:

I am sure the Z axis moves. It will home and move up and down. I re-leveled the bed, and adjusted the Z screw until I got nice layers. It still drags through them when it crosses over. I've added some video to youtube so you can see/hear. youtu.be/c1HXt1gTUwk

Yeah I see, but I did not mean the Z was not moving, is it moving as far as it is supposed to... computer tells it to move .3mm and it only moves .25... or something like that. It looks like you have the height set right so it should stick pretty good unless the bed isn't really clean.

9 Reply by xtaticlyme

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Re: SD 3 - Hot end dragging through print - bed is level

I have not done any modifications. I've only made adjustments to the leveling screws and the z axis screw. I added an enclosure, but it worked fine after adding that, until the incident with the leveling gauge.

In re-leveling the bed, I followed the solidoodle video. I leveled with a card, by realigning the belts, checking the rod, starting with the bed screws almost all the way down...then came up slow until it was gripping the card just barely. Then I did a test print (the little alignment squares seen in the video) and it was stringy. So, I adjusted the z axis screw until the layers were flat. Upon completing the first layer, however, the hot end drags through them. This is shown in the video.

Did I miss some step? Any ideas?

10 Reply by rjp350z

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Re: SD 3 - Hot end dragging through print - bed is level

You said your 1st layers are flat?  How flat?

If they are too flat the extruder is too close to the bed.  I have mine set to where it is a "LITTLE SQUISHED". The bottom is flat but the top of the extrusion is still rounded.

Might want to try adjusting the Z stop down just a little.

11 Reply by xtaticlyme

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Re: SD 3 - Hot end dragging through print - bed is level

I will test the z for the proper distance of movement and see that it moves the correct distance every time. I'll have to do it after work.

The layers stick really well. They are the same layer thickness as when the printer was printing normally. If I adjust the z down, I believe that they will not be very flat...as I adjusted it up only a little to get it from being stringy to where it is now. I am willing to try it though. I'll try anything.

Aren't the layers supposed to be very thin if the layer height is .1 mm or .3 mm ? Would you want a "rounded top" ?

12 Reply by rjp350z

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Re: SD 3 - Hot end dragging through print - bed is level

I followed the instructions here and have pretty good success so far

http://wiki.solidoodle.com/first-layers … e-z-offset

13 Reply by cckens

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Re: SD 3 - Hot end dragging through print - bed is level

TJ,
Just looking at your video, you seem to have too much coming out of the extruder (this is just my opinion based on what I see when I print.  John (solidoodlesupport) is probably on to something.  Check out your extrusion multiplier.  If you're using RepetierHost go to the manual tab and play with the Flowrate setting by setting it to 90 or so.  Then see if this produces a better line.  If you're feeding too much out of the extruder, it can cause the dragging you see.  Mine was the opposite and I had to adjust my flowrate up to get a thicker line out of it.

14 Reply by xtaticlyme

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Re: SD 3 - Hot end dragging through print - bed is level

UPDATE:

Sorry for the delay - had some projects at work that demanded more time.

Ok, I've adjusted my Z screw - I'm getting a nice bead now, slightly flatted. I also did the true-circle realignment a few times. I also re-measured my current filament (Octave - Black: 1.79 mm) and I backed my flow down to .9 - I am no longer dragging through my prints.

Now, however, I am not getting true circles. At a certain spot on the circle there is a slight "jerk" in the axis and I get a small "corner" in my circle. I don't have any gaps in the circle wall.

Also, I tried to print a different part, which is cylindrical, and after printing the raft the print head started printing in the wrong spot...and seemed to continue to deviate further and further to the "I" quadrant of the print bed (on a 4 quadrant X/Y plot) from the center where it started.

Any ideas?

15 Reply by cckens

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Re: SD 3 - Hot end dragging through print - bed is level

Overheat of the stepper or belt tension (probably the Y).  I'd try the belt tension first as this is usually the case.  In mine, it was the stepper.  I just open the case while printing and it goes away, but it can cause issue with layer de-lamination, so I think I'd better find a heat sink to dump the excess heat from the motor.  Should also help with keeping the enclosure at a decent temp.

16 Reply by xtaticlyme

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Re: SD 3 - Hot end dragging through print - bed is level

I printed thing#: 17991 - it's a single wall test object. Here are pictures of the results. Any idea what type of issue this is?

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17 Reply by Gomisan

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Re: SD 3 - Hot end dragging through print - bed is level

Ahh just what I was looking for, a nice little test cube. Thought I was going to have to model my own wink

Gomisan's Website

18 Reply by xtaticlyme

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Re: SD 3 - Hot end dragging through print - bed is level

you're welcome? lol