I’m not sure how long this has been going on but I noticed it yesterday and thought maybe it was the part I was printing, but I’m seeing it again today on a different part. When printing circles, the left side of the circle (when looking at the front of the printer) is fine, but the right side is slightly flattened. This is in the XY axis (so the first layer is showing the flattening). Any ideas of what this could be? I’m thinking something in the X axis (because it almost looks like a straight line going in the Y direction) but I would think it would show on both sides of the print and not just on the right side. Before I go taking my MP3DP apart (again) I was hoping someone would have some advice on where to look.
Something must be hitting or a wire is snagging? Also make sure you have a smooth spool mount that does not pull on the head.
Thanks Ryan, I’ll look into that. The funny thing is, the part I’m trying to print is a revised Prusa Spool holder. Lol. If/when I get it working I’ll share the modified parts that I made to fit our 1/2" MDF.
I also tightened my X Belt a little as it had a little play in it - more then I thought it should have and that seems to have helped as well. Now I’m just having first layer sticking problems (again). I just adjusted my temps a bit and am running another print now. 4th test in the past hour…
If it wasn’t sticking there, it could be pulling it tight across the circle.
Loose pulley?
I checked the pully on the X Axis and it was still tight. It seems that the slightly too loose belt on the X axis caused it because I was able to print out 4 wheels and they all came out as circles.
As for my sticking issue, I solved that by upping my bed temp by 3 degrees and am running at 73c now for my PLA (for the first layer) and I also upped my filament temp to 205c for the first layer. That seems to have really helped with the first layer adhesion problem. Crossing my fingers and it seems to work great for a while and then things go sideways on me… lol.
If it’s possible to watch it, you might see that it’s moving in Y and it’s just not sticking, or something is grinding, or the filament is getting stuck somewhere. It seems weird that it would be there for a filament problem.
Also, that pic looks like a lifesaver https://www.reddit.com/r/forbiddensnacks
Too funny!!
Jeff, If you are still having issues getting the PLA to stick to the PEI you could try some of these tricks.
This next one is pretty sweet. Literally. It uses sugar. I haven’t tried this but it looks cool. I image it would work well in one of those tiny spray water bottles you can get at walmart in the $1 section of the travel shampoo etc. Spray the sugar water on.
Then there is this one with the glue stick. Shows how to keep it level and smooth.
I have also heard people say bare glass works well if you wait to a couple minutes after it says it is warm. This will give it some time to heat the glass up as well as the inner heater where the temperature sensor is. If you can get another piece of glass to test with. Maybe a picture frame or mirror it might be worth trying. If you like it then you could just remove the PEI and go to the bare glass.
I think your bed temperature is up a little high. PLA gets soft at low temperatures. If you get your bed too hot then it will get warm enough to allow the PLA to slowly melt. It could come loose on a long print. Usually you don’t want to go above 65 with PLA but each printer reads temperatures a little different and each brand of filament is a little different so that isn’t a hard rule. Just saying. If you have to get it that hot to stick there may be other issues at play.
Also PLA breaks down and turns into a glue like sludge somewhere around 225 - 235 C. So just be careful about going above 215. Right now you are at 205. You could try kicking that up a little if you want but don’t go crazy. Some brands of PLA like the first layer to be 210 then they drop down to 205 for the rest of the print.
Best of luck.
Thanks for these tips Aaryn! The first video is really great - going to have to go out and get some denatured alcohol (I haven’t cleaned my PEI sheet at all yet). I also think I was fighting with my Z Axis Home a bit since I did some nozzle work this morning and had to spend some time re-zeroing that out. It seems to be sticking better now, but NOTHING like in that vide0 - using a Chisel??? wow…
The sugar method looks interesting. I’ve had good luck using a purple can of Aqua Net hairspray.