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SoliForum - 3D Printing Community → Solidoodle Discussion → Filament not sticking
So the only down-side to 100 is the delay in heating up? I should probably use 100 all of the time, then!
Heat up time, cool down time, and it keeps the plastic hotter, which can result in melted layers when the layer area is small/fast.
But, for most purposes, 100C is fine, and stickier.
Tim:
I did raise the bed by 1/4 turn of the Z axis stop screw. Your settings are producing a nicer print than the other one, and it's sticking to the bed, even at 80. I centered it on the bed (closer to the central heating resistor) this time. I tend to cheat towards the front left, because the far right is about 0.010" low, and I worry about adhesion.
What a great community we have: I ask a question, and get so much help. It warms the heart on a cold Vermont night!
Jon
Nice! I always print in the center of the bed - forgot to include that.
So the only down-side to 100 is the delay in heating up? I should probably use 100 all of the time, then!
Good luck waiting... I bet you press print at 92 or so when it's a minute in between degrees. 
Actually, I try not to start things up until the bed is right at 100. I don't want the hot end to cook the filament. I find I can be patient if I am doing other things too (like working!)
I wait for my bed to heat up before I even start the hot end heating. Hot end heats up so quick and I don't worry about burning filament and getting jams.
Jon,
At higher temps, your bottom layers might be a bit wider then the rest of your model as well since they stay warmer and have the added pressure of the layers above. This might not be an issue for alot of prints, but if you are printing things in parts to assemble this could be an issue. I use glass bed + hairspray, bed 90-95, extruder 195 with a case on. If your print is coming loose and you have an open printer, close it off with cardboard or something until you can get some acrylic.
Increasing your brim to 4 or 6mm on that print and I doubt you will have any issues.
I run my 3mm profile with:
Perimeters: 60mm
Small Perim: 30mm
External: 35mm
Infill: 70mm
Solid Infill: 60mm
Top Solid: 50mm
Travel: 75mm
I have recently started to really love the 'Speed Multiplier' in slic3r. Some prints I jack up to 150% with no issues. I am constantly moving it up to 105, 110, 120, 125. I am shaving off so much print time by just adjusting that slider when I know it is safe to do.
However, I would do this in reverse in your situation. As you get to those top layer where you are having issues, lowering the speed multiplier down to 60, 75% or so could help.
Nicky:
I also use glass plus hairspray and was using 100 and 195 and with a case on (three 12x12 plexi sheets, in my case, attached with magnets). I am increasing the brims.
Nicky:
I also use glass plus hairspray and was using 100 and 195 and with a case on (three 12x12 plexi sheets, in my case, attached with magnets). I am increasing the brims.
Can you put a fourth on top?
Sorry. Metal back, Plexi left, right, and top, Solidoodle plexi front door. All sides accounted for!
Good luck waiting... I bet you press print at 92 or so when it's a minute in between degrees.
Frigging extruder/hot end clogged about an hour ago.
I'm going to go order an Ultimaker. These Solidoodles are real crap
Jon
Here are the four attempts that went beyond a few minutes. Extruder just dug a divot into the filament, again, for no obvious reason. Trying for number five. Grump
How tight is the extruder idler arm spring? Mine has a gap equal to two sheets of paper between spring coils.
I tighten it up until it is very tight and then back it off about 1 to 2 turns.
I generally only tighten it until the bolt just begins to stick out from the thumbwheel.
John, were your replacements entirely new hot ends including PEEK? Have you tried filaments from other sources? Nobody else seems to be having as much trouble with hot ends as you, but your setup can't be all that unique.
The replacements were with PEEK. I have used three different reels of filament on two different printers. My sense is that none of my problems are directly related to the filament. In one case, filament that worked fine on one printer failed to work on the other.
The two recently failed new Solidoodle hot ends were clearly failures, and Solidoodle is sending me new ones. We will see how that works out.
Hard to know what might be different between my printers and everyone else's. If you have questions, I'll try to answer them. For example, I wondered whether a "hot" 12 V power supply might make the hot ends on the problem printer burn out. Turns out that printer's 12 V is in fact 0.3 volts above the other.
Nobody else seems to be having as much trouble with hot ends as you.
Interesting. I saw you and Tim and Lawsy and others replacing their jigsaws and their hot ends, and figured that most folks fairly quickly realized that the hot end (and the Z axis and the warped bed and the filament feed) was a weak point in the Solidoodle design. I figured that this was just how Solidoodles are. Why are all of you replacing the hot ends, unless they were giving you trouble? Is your trouble different than mine?
Not as extreme. I haven't had much trouble with clogging, mostly with the wire connectors. Handling it to deal with the connector eventually crumbled the cement, and moving the wires around weakened the nichrome. I also tried out a .5mm nozzle to see if it would extrude faster for high speed printing, so there was extra handling there.
In my experience, the hot end has been mostly ok if you never touch it. If you have to take it off to deal with an occasional clog, the wiring is going to eventually go bad. I finally ditched it because the nichrome and cement just isn't robust enough.
The acrylic performed well enough, but it's a nuisance if you have to get at the hot end. Unlike the video on Vimeo, the fit was tight enough on the PEEK that it wouldn't come out the front. I also like having the nozzle, heater, and thermistor all embedded together in a single piece rather than stacked and taped together. I also wanted to replace the acrylic because I figured a printed extruder would provide a good starting point for built in mods like a standard mounting system for accessories.
The only time I had chronic difficulty with extrusion a new PEEK and nozzle cleared it up.
Not as extreme. I haven't had much trouble with clogging, mostly with the wire connectors. Handling it to deal with the connector eventually crumbled the cement, and moving the wires around weakened the nichrome.
Same here. I had 2-3 clogs that required removing the hot end, and just handling the wires that much crumbled the cement and broke the nichrome.
Ironically, I haven't had a clog since. Ha!
I haven't had any real big issues with my hotend at all. I have never disassembled the hotend or jigsaw or adjusted the idle bar. The only clogging I have had was when I first got the printer and left the hotend on and idle for a bit to long. But just raising the temp resolved that one. I have dont most of my prints on the solidoodle natural, octave white and octave glow white/green. I have 2 spools of octave black and 1 of octave gold. It seems to me that most people were clogging on colored filament, so I wonder if I will encounter more issues when I move to them.
Managed to print the Hopper for the Filastruder last night, but noticed that the top surface was not very uniform. Next print I tried, it turned out that the extruder was not working, which explained the poor top surface: it died just at the very end of the print. Pulled the filament, and it had the usual divot cut out. Cut it clean, reinserted it, and it seemed to work. Worked fine for about 10 minutes, then dug another divot in the filament, ruining another print (albeit, early on).
So, something is causing the filament to stop feeding. I have the pressure spring set up so that there is about 2 mm of the screw visible, so it is fairly tight. Not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing. Too lose, and it will not feed. Too tight, and it might occasionally cut the divot.
Could be due to variations in the filament, but if you want to hypothesize arbitrary variations in the filament, then you might as well sell your printers.
Not sure what to do next. As is almost always the case in my house, the Solidoodle remains stunningly unreliable. I am SOOOOOoooooo frustrated. All I wanna do is print!
Too tight could be a problem if the spring is bottoming out. I see the arm move back and forth a fair amount as filament goes through. Do you ever see the spring run out of space between coils?
Hang in there Jon, we'll get you printing. I am also curious, you said you were using like 3 rolls of filament that sometimes worked in the other printer and sometimes work here... Just as a couple of off the wall checks, what are the three filament spools? Where did they come from and what color are they? Can you take a temperature reading of the hot end nozzle? I think you are using the bushing in the back, is there any grease on that? I still think all of this sounds like partially clogged nozzles. Can you see your tensioner arm moving in and out slightly when it is extruding before you print?
If you increase the temperature while the printer is idle, does a little filament ooze out, or does it still stay in there? For me, that is generally the best indicator of a partial clog. When it is all the way clean, it oozes at 200 or above, when it is partially clogged, no oozing.
Too tight could be a problem if the spring is bottoming out. I see the arm move back and forth a fair amount as filament goes through. Do you ever see the spring run out of space between coils?
I have backed the spring out so that the adjusting knob just allows a hint of the screw threads to show
I am also curious, you said you were using like 3 rolls of filament that sometimes worked in the other printer and sometimes work here... Just as a couple of off the wall checks, what are the three filament spools? Where did they come from and what color are they?
Three came from Solidoodle; one came from an unknown source; three are Octave. I switched from the Black from Solidoodle to a white from Octave to eliminate the "Black problem" (even thought I do not believe that to be the issue).
Can you take a temperature reading of the hot end nozzle?
130C at the tip of the nozzle with a contact thermometer
I think you are using the bushing in the back, is there any grease on that?
No grease on the bushing that I printed to help the filament come through the rear hole
I still think all of this sounds like partially clogged nozzles. Can you see your tensioner arm moving in and out slightly when it is extruding before you print?
No, the tensioner arm does not move. I put my fingers on it to see if it was moving even a little, but no. Note that I have now reduced the tension there, by moving the adjuster so that almost all of the screw is now inside the spring.
If you increase the temperature while the printer is idle, does a little filament ooze out, or does it still stay in there? For me, that is generally the best indicator of a partial clog. When it is all the way clean, it oozes at 200 or above, when it is partially clogged, no oozing.
With the indicated/graphed temperature at 200, if I extrude and then pull the extruded plastic away, the nozzle continues to emit a small amount of filament ooze (perhaps 1/2 inch per minute).
I'll give it another try. Maybe the tensioner spring was too tight.
SoliForum - 3D Printing Community → Solidoodle Discussion → Filament not sticking
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