21
votes
Accepted
Mushy small top layers?
Layer Times
See my answer to this question and pay particular attention to my suggestion about a minimum layer print time. I'm not sure if all slicing engines provide this option, but I know ...
- 6,284
19
votes
Accepted
How should I clean my extruder when changing materials?
If you feel you need to clean the nozzle the best approach is a cold pull. You can perform this procedure with many printers, however, you should seek advice from your printer manufacturer before ...
- 470
15
votes
Accepted
How to identify nozzle wear
I believe the little experiment made by E3D - the same link you provide - answers your question very well. Several points about wear can be found in this article. After printing only 250 grams of ...
- 3,977
14
votes
Accepted
Do stepper motors require any maintenance?
The stepper motor itself does not. You may want to inspect the motors for debris or dust.
Depending on your configuration you may want to check on parts of your printer that connect to your stepper ...
- 470
10
votes
Do stepper motors require any maintenance?
No, stepper motors do not require maintenance. They are a brushless kind of motor, so they do not have brushes that need to be replaced.
- 14.7k
10
votes
Accepted
How do I keep my extruder head from getting clogged?
Different types of hotends and extruders can lead to different problems associated with clogging. Based on my personal experience the leading causes of clogs and jams are the following
Foreign ...
- 403
10
votes
How can I best clean the print bed after a print?
If you are printing with ABS (or PLA), acetone will dissolve it. Simply pour
some on the bed and wipe it off (beware, acetone can damage beds that have a coating or a plastic sheet over them, be sure ...
- 2,258
9
votes
Accepted
Cons to UV printing
Taken in order your questions:
Maintenance for a resin printer means keeping the vat or tray clean, using appropriate methods to remove the unused resin (or leaving it in the vat per manufacturer's ...
- 11.2k
9
votes
Ender 3 print bed damage
Your print surface is destroyed
So, you managed to rip off your print surface in the center. Happened to me too. the corners of my scraper were too sharp, cutting the surface. Another time I did ...
- 21k
8
votes
How to identify nozzle wear
One of the things I look for is if you pull the print head a good ways off the bed and have it extrude. It should just squirt plastic straight down. If it bends sharply in one direction, or even ...
8
votes
How should I clean my extruder when changing materials?
In most cases, removing the old filament from the printer, inserting the new filament in, and running the new filament through the printer for a short period of time will clean the nozzle. The skirt ...
- 2,258
8
votes
How can I best clean the print bed after a print?
My usual solution for cleaning the glass bed on my printer is a glass scraper (basically just a razor blade with a handle on it):
Regardless of what kind of filament (abs/pla/nylon) or surface ...
- 501
8
votes
Polyurethane-and-steel timing belts?
It's a question of what you want to use the belt for.
All Belts are subject to stress as they run around the motor and idlers and gears and bend. They will get eaten as they are subject to friction ...
- 21k
7
votes
Accepted
How to get consistent and accurate readings from thermocouples?
Thermocouples work by passively generating VERY small voltages via the Seebeck effect -- usually a few tens of millivolts. They're literally just a pair of wires made from two different special alloys,...
- 6,526
7
votes
Accepted
Filament extrudes at an angle
I've personally had this happen when I had a minor clog in my nozzle.
My first steps to fix this would be:
Make sure the exterior of your nozzle is clean. I've had bits of plastic pull at the ...
- 1,328
6
votes
Filament extrudes at an angle
If you're extruding into the air, it's actually quite normal for the filament to come out in seemingly random directions. This shouldn't cause problems because the filament should always be getting ...
- 14.7k
6
votes
How do I keep my extruder head from getting clogged?
Lubricating the filament is the most common solution I've heard of to stop filament jams and clogs. Lubricating makes for a smoother ride through the print head. While you're at it, make sure that the ...
- 1,336
6
votes
Accepted
Replacing bearings with Drylin bushings
According to igus commercial documentation, these bushings:
do not need any kind of lubrication,
are not susceptible to humidity (but your steel rods might)
work seamlessly in presence of dust (it ...
- 178
5
votes
Accepted
How can I stop my print bed tape from sticking to the filament?
This can highly depend on the slicer you are using. Some software such as Makerware and Slic3r allow you to adjust the settings for the first raft/part layers. I might suggest adjusting this "Z0" ...
- 6,284
5
votes
How do I keep my extruder head from getting clogged?
As general advice, regardless of your printer, extruders tend to clog if:
[Some of them might not apply to every printer, but they should be as general as possible]
you let the filament run out mid ...
- 185
5
votes
z-axis hard to move in some areas - what could be faults, how to improve?
X stage binding like this is almost always caused by parallelism issues with the rods and/or screw. The two-rod-plus-screw arrangement is quite over-constrained and thus requires good alignment to ...
- 6,526
5
votes
Polyurethane-and-steel timing belts?
Belts come in several formulations. This page from McMaster-Carr lists several types of belts. The main materials (rubbers) are Neoprene and urethane, with fiberglass, Kevlar, and steel ...
- 4,471
4
votes
Cons to UV printing
Despite how many vendors make it appear, resin-curing SLA/DLP printers are industrial or commercial tools that are really not suitable for home desktop use. Here are the major downsides:
...
- 6,526
4
votes
Accepted
What is the lifespan of a SLA Resin Tray?
It depends on tray and resin type you are using.
PDMS
If you are using PDMS (eg. sylgard 184) coating for your tray. (B9 and similar printers using this type of tray).
Life of tray PDMS coating ...
- 479
4
votes
E3D V6 nozzle seized into heater block
Try to,
First, remove the heat block from the extruder/heat sink. Heat the hot end to ~ 230 'C. Then try to unscrew the nozzle while holding the heat block with a wrench or plier. Be extra careful ...
4
votes
What should I use to clean buildtak(knock off)?
Isopropyl alcohol (IPA) is the general recommendation I've heard and it works well for me.
3
votes
Accepted
z-axis hard to move in some areas - what could be faults, how to improve?
There could be a few issues at play.
The smooth rods are not parallel which is causing the bearings to bind the further you go up.
Part of the thread is damaged not allowing it to pass through the ...
- 2,090
3
votes
How should I clean my extruder when changing materials?
Some people use a nylon "cleaning" filament when switching types of filaments. It heats well to a variety of temperatures and seems to stick well to whatever is in there when pulling it back out. Be ...
- 650
3
votes
Would appreciate advice on unclogging hot end [Makerbot Replicator v2]
For molten filament to jam at the inlet to the thermal barrier tube like shown here, there must be something wrong with the cooling in your setup. The cold zone needs to be cool for the extruder to ...
- 6,526
3
votes
Advance extrusion, extruder code help?
The extruder advance feature is probably not enabled on your printer, so this code effectively does nothing (and you don't need to mess with it). Extruder advance is a feature that tries to compensate ...
- 14.7k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible