Anet A8 with Cura. First time use. The extruder temp is set at 190 °C for PLA but the temp never quite gets that hot, e.g. 189.2 °C. So the printer never prints.
The bed temperature is fine.
Any suggestions on how to fix?
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$\begingroup$ Have you run a PID tune since you got it? $\endgroup$– GrannyFeb 5 '18 at 14:30
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2$\begingroup$ Did you manage to solve your problem since you posted the question? If yes consider upvoting any question that helped (and select as "accepted" the one that solved the problem if any), or alternatively, consider writing your own answer explaining what the problem was and how you fixed. This is so that other users can benefit from your your question and the answers too. :) $\endgroup$– macFeb 15 '18 at 23:05
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Two common problems to look out for in this situation:
- Make sure that your part fan (the fan that is supposed to cool the filament you just extruded, and that does not start spinning until the print starts) do not blow air on the hot end of your extruder.
- Make sure that your hot end is well insulated. If available for your printer, silicone sleeves are the best:
otherwise the most common, universal and low-cost solution are cotton pads:
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$\begingroup$ Neither of those is capable of limiting a hotend this drastically, when typically a hotend can be driven to over 240 degrees C. $\endgroup$ Feb 5 '18 at 13:47
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$\begingroup$ @CarlWitthoft - The fact you haven't experienced it does not mean that it can't happen. That was a common problem one some batches of the Trinus, solved exactly with the sleeve (iirc that was actually the reason why they start selling them) $\endgroup$– macFeb 5 '18 at 16:53
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$\begingroup$ ...although, to be fair, I don't remember what was the temperature it failed to reach (may have been 200°C rather than 190°C) $\endgroup$– macFeb 5 '18 at 16:59
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$\begingroup$ I am up-voting this because it turns out that it was because my extruder was not insulated. I purchased some cotton based insulation and wrapped it around just like the picture above and my temperature became stable again. $\endgroup$– RazorFeb 17 '20 at 9:39
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$\begingroup$ My hotend was touching extured motor metal holder. After giving distance between them it started to reach correct temperature. I also supported the situation with silicone cap and cotton insulator. $\endgroup$ Apr 10 at 11:44
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It could be as Carl Witthoft said, that the thermistor is broken. But it looks like the PID is not calibrated correctly. It probably can reach higher T's but stops, because the P portion is not high enough. Anyways, before printing use a software of your choice (Repetier, Pronterface...) and perform a PID tuning specified here:
http://reprap.org/wiki/PID_Tuning
After that everything should work out fine.
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Take a careful look at the thermistor in the hotend. If it's defective it might well not be providing correct temperature information back to the control board. As a very quick check, try swapping the thermistor from the bed (if possible), or buy a replacement thermistor and drop it in.
I'm not familiar with the Anet controller but possibly there's a calibration pot on the board; if so it may be causing the digital hardware to mis-read the actual sensed temperature.
answered Feb 5 '18 at 13:51
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Please check that the power supply's (SMPS) output voltage is 12 V (while loaded).
Note: Be careful while measuring, as there is a hazard of shock.
In my case, the voltage was 10 V with one supply and 8 V with another supply. I bought a new one with 12 V and the printer is now running fine.
My printer Tronoxy i3 (Prusa i3 Mk-II).
Hope it helps you too.
