1 Topic by jawhn

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Topic: HALP - Not a newbie, but can't get my S3D to work...

Well, my "out of the box" experience is sucking.  sad

Issue 1. (Main issue, really) Got my S3D Thursday, haven't had a chance to get it up and running until today. (Saturday)

Been working with a Solidoodle 3 at work for a good 6 months. So I'm somewhat familiar with this unit...

Installed the software per website. (setupRepetierHostSolidoodle_0_85.exe) This prompted me to instal .NET Framework (Ugh) which I begrudgingly did, and after a short bit, I had "control" of the printer. In that, I could move the X, Y, Z, heat the printbed, extruder, etc. 

It recognized the printer, all looked well.

Did a .3mm test print. I was surprised that there wasn't a pre-loaded config file to use, maybe that's my issue... I selected "Solidoodle 8x8." It printed fine for a few layers, then just stopped. No pop-up alert, nothing. Figured it was just my computer / copy of Windows, shut everything down, reset the Solidoodle3, started again.

Same result every time, except now I was getting pop-ups. (.jpg attached)

Issue 2. AC adapter connector that goes into the Solidoodle PCB doesn't fit right. It's too loose, or something. It feels snug when pushing it in, but then any slight wiggle to the cord makes the unit stutter, the LEDs go out, then come back on, etc.   sad

Issue 3. The clear plastic acrylic extruder feeder thing that everyone always complains about looks horrible. It's cracked/stressed looking, but hasn't fully split. (At far left, under the capital S of the Solidoodle logo)

Issue 4. When I ordered my S3D, (12/21/13) I put a comment in the notes about hopefully getting one without bad Z-wobble. Guess what? The Z-wobble on this one is so bad I can see it *bending the metal floor of the unit*...

I am super unhappy right now. I guess my next step is to call Solidoodle and arrange an RMA / exchange or some crap, but I was expecting a much better user interface than this. I don't think I've cursed this much in my entire life than I have today.

Anyone else have a bad experience like this? Any suggestions? It's not been the superawesomehappy Saturday I envisioned.

At all.

Two SD3s - One with Sang, One with Printrboard, Fans on control boards!!! Do this!!!, Dual Glass Beds, Blacklight "EZ Bake Oven" - Improves Ambient Temp, Sketchup, Repetier, Slic3r. Graphic Designer & Makeshift Engineer. Drinks Lots and Lots and Lots of Rum.

2 Reply by Hyper_Cube

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Re: HALP - Not a newbie, but can't get my S3D to work...

My Solidoodle interface (I assume you are talking about the open source software, Repetier Host) and connections were just fine out of the box. If there is something you don't like about the software.. Fix it.. It's open source.. Everyone's unit has some z-wobble and there is a simple fix for that. As for your other issues, contact Solidoodle. They are super friendly and will address your issues.

As for your print just stopping.. Did you run your STL through Netfabb? What did it look like on the gcode tab? Did the gcode and slicer tab models look the same or different?

SD3, E3D Hot End,
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3 Reply by soliforum

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Re: HALP - Not a newbie, but can't get my S3D to work...

Jawhn,
  Are you using Windows 8.1?  I can't seem to get the software I downloaded from Solidoodle to talk to my Solidoodle 2nd gen under Windows 8.1.  There is a log file/screen at the bottom of the monitor; I think by default it's shrunk all the way down so you can't really see it.  Or at least it was for me...  Anyway, under windows 8.1 I discovered that eventually I would get tons of errors stating something like "Printer stopped deu to errors.  Fix the error and use M999 to restart!." (spelling errors not mine in this case).  Under windows 7 I saw it once, then had one successful print, so I dug out an old xp machine and have not had problems since.  As for unhelpful comments like "If there is something you don't like about the software.. Fix it.. It's open source.. "  well.... wouldn't it be good to be able to at least _use_ the software first to see what there isn't to like about it?  And the o.p. didn't say there was anything he didn't like about the software, just that he couldn't get it to work long enough for a print.

Oh, just remembered.  After I got that error, I was still able to click the home buttons, but not the jog buttons.  I went through various permutations of re-booting, powering down the printer, etc and what I settled on as a minimum set of things that would restore the connection is to click 'disconnect', unplug the USB cable (I didn't need to remove the 12V power to the solidoodle box), wait a few seconds, re-attach USB cable and click 'connect'.  This only allowed me to print just as unsuccessfully as before, though.  I was never able to complete a print under Windows 8.1.

- Steve

4 Reply by jawhn

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Re: HALP - Not a newbie, but can't get my S3D to work...

Hyper_Cube wrote:

My Solidoodle interface (I assume you are talking about the open source software, Repetier Host) and connections were just fine out of the box. If there is something you don't like about the software.. Fix it.. It's open source..

I'm going to go ahead and assume you're a programmer...? Open source is awesome, but I know this much (fingers pressed tightly together) about rewriting code for a 3D printer, lol.

Hyper_Cube wrote:

As for your print just stopping.. Did you run your STL through Netfabb? What did it look like on the gcode tab? Did the gcode and slicer tab models look the same or different?

I took a look at Netfabb's site, that's cool looking, but I'm not ready to spend money on software to fix this problem, this problem shouldn't be there.

As an aside, I tried printing .STL files that have successfully run on my work's S3D.

Argh. I'll contact Solidoodle tomorrow.

Two SD3s - One with Sang, One with Printrboard, Fans on control boards!!! Do this!!!, Dual Glass Beds, Blacklight "EZ Bake Oven" - Improves Ambient Temp, Sketchup, Repetier, Slic3r. Graphic Designer & Makeshift Engineer. Drinks Lots and Lots and Lots of Rum.

5 Reply by jawhn

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Re: HALP - Not a newbie, but can't get my S3D to work...

soliforum wrote:

Jawhn,
  Are you using Windows 8.1?

Nope. Oldschool XP SP3. Same as my work machine.

soliforum wrote:

As for unhelpful comments like "If there is something you don't like about the software.. Fix it.. It's open source.. "  well.... wouldn't it be good to be able to at least _use_ the software first to see what there isn't to like about it?  And the o.p. didn't say there was anything he didn't like about the software, just that he couldn't get it to work long enough for a print.

Lol. My first reaction to that post was the exact same. Ah, well, this is the internet. Thicken your skin or die.

soliforum wrote:

Oh, just remembered.  After I got that error, I was still able to click the home buttons, but not the jog buttons.  I went through various permutations of re-booting, powering down the printer, etc and what I settled on as a minimum set of things that would restore the connection is to click 'disconnect', unplug the USB cable (I didn't need to remove the 12V power to the solidoodle box), wait a few seconds, re-attach USB cable and click 'connect'.  This only allowed me to print just as unsuccessfully as before, though.  I was never able to complete a print under Windows 8.1.

- Steve

Thanks for the tip about the USB disconnect, I didn't think of that.

I'm *guessing* I might be having these new, weird problems because I'm used to the Sanguine(sp?) board that is on my work machine, and the S3D I just bought has a completely new Solidoodle PCB. Sooo... Apples and oranges. Sigh.

Two SD3s - One with Sang, One with Printrboard, Fans on control boards!!! Do this!!!, Dual Glass Beds, Blacklight "EZ Bake Oven" - Improves Ambient Temp, Sketchup, Repetier, Slic3r. Graphic Designer & Makeshift Engineer. Drinks Lots and Lots and Lots of Rum.

6 Reply by jawhn (edited by jawhn 2014-01-19 23:14:42)

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Re: HALP - Not a newbie, but can't get my S3D to work...

I also realize that my original post was a bit heated, but I was mad. I'm searching through this site right now trying to find some ideas to make this work properly...


Hmmmm... Maybe what SnakeEyes experienced in this thread:

http://www.soliforum.com/topic/5160/pri … ease-help/

I'll have to take a look at my Temperature Curve graph...

Two SD3s - One with Sang, One with Printrboard, Fans on control boards!!! Do this!!!, Dual Glass Beds, Blacklight "EZ Bake Oven" - Improves Ambient Temp, Sketchup, Repetier, Slic3r. Graphic Designer & Makeshift Engineer. Drinks Lots and Lots and Lots of Rum.

7 Reply by Hyper_Cube

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Re: HALP - Not a newbie, but can't get my S3D to work...

jawhn wrote:

I'm going to go ahead and assume you're a programmer...? Open source is awesome, but I know this much (fingers pressed tightly together) about rewriting code for a 3D printer, lol.

I took a look at Netfabb's site, that's cool looking, but I'm not ready to spend money on software to fix this problem, this problem shouldn't be there.

As an aside, I tried printing .STL files that have successfully run on my work's S3D.

Argh. I'll contact Solidoodle tomorrow.

Nope, not a programmer.. I've done some stuff with Arduino and Grasshopper but that's about it. Most of the information you need to program is available for free on the internet.

You don't have to pay for Netfabb. They have a free service. http://cloud.netfabb.com/
Try running your STL through there before you bring it into Repetier. This will fix any errors with your file and possibly fix your stop prints. Although, we still haven't diagnosed what the problem is. Could you give more details and pictures?

Also, I am running Windows 8.1 and have not had any issues.

SD3, E3D Hot End,
Heated Glass Bed,
Bulldog XL Geared Metal Extruder