3D Printing thread

[dantimdad]

Well I am trying to get the EZABL installed and I believe the bootloader bricked my printer. I have chatted with them and sent the screen shots they asked for but I am not holding out hope and this point.

 

[GrizFyrFyter]

Agree with everyone else here - the Ender3 is a great choice for an under 500 3D printer. Its easy to setup and easy to upgrade.

We run two of them, and will be adding 4 more soon. However,we will likely convert them all over to V6 hotend for better PETG performance.

Microswiss is a better choice. I did the v6 upgrade and had to get into the firmware. No bootloader so I had to use a raspberry pi to burn in a bootloader and upload marlin. Pain in the butt.

 

[GrizFyrFyter]

Better PETG performance from different hotend? It's already all metal, what difference are you going for? I thought going direct drive would be better than changing the hot-end.

The stock hotend of the ender 3 is junk for anything but pla.the ptfe tube goes all the way to the heat break and at 230 it starts to breakdown and petg sticks to it causing under extrusion and jams.

 

[Vivid Creative Aquatics]

The stock hotend of the ender 3 is junk for anything but pla.the ptfe tube goes all the way to the heat break and at 230 it starts to breakdown and petg sticks to it causing under extrusion and jams.

yep - that's been mostly our experience as well. LOL

 

[dantimdad]

Really? Because I have had the best prints of all with PETG for about 5 days and about 50 hours of printing since I started using it.

 

[MaccaPopEye]

I have a V6 clone but I don't use an all metal hot end and I have had no issues with the PTFE tube in my printer at 230*C. Gone through maybe 5x 1kg rolls of PTEG without changing the heat throat and the PTFE tube is still fine

 

[TheHarold]

yep - that's been mostly our experience as well. LOL

I print PETG 24/7, quality is pretty darn good on a stock ender. Weird haha

 

[TheHarold]

The stock hotend of the ender 3 is junk for anything but pla.the ptfe tube goes all the way to the heat break and at 230 it starts to breakdown and petg sticks to it causing under extrusion and jams.

Wanna bet? I can set up a livestream of my ender for ya :D

 

[GrizFyrFyter]

Wanna bet? I can set up a livestream of my ender for ya :D

I have 4 of them that print petg exclusively, averaging 20hrs a day, 7 days a week for the last 2 months. Short prints are 4 hours, long prints are 18hrs.

Stock hotend is junk for petg. So many jams and failure that upgrading to a reliable hotend has more than paid for itself in the time I'm no longer wasting with poor quality prints and replacing trashed ptfe tubes.

 

[ShadowR55]

Wanna bet? I can set up a livestream of my ender for ya :D

What would be funny is if it was a live stream of you printing a middle finger :D:D

Honestly though, with such small parts and the variations between them, one persons model is not exactly the same as someone else’s, even if they were built on the same day. Too many variables in these printers. Filament brand, temperature settings, actual temperature reading vs what the sensor thinks it is, etc.

 

[TheHarold]

I have 4 of them that print petg exclusively, averaging 20hrs a day, 7 days a week for the last 2 months. Short prints are 4 hours, long prints are 18hrs.

Stock hotend is junk for petg. So many jams and failure that upgrading to a reliable hotend has more than paid for itself in the time I'm no longer wasting with poor quality prints and replacing trashed ptfe tubes.

I don’t know what to tell you; I have a couple going 24/7 as well, PETG, and have never had a clog or damaged PETG tube.

 

[TheHarold]

What would be funny is if it was a live stream of you printing a middle finger :D:D

Honestly though, with such small parts and the variations between them, one persons model is not exactly the same as someone else’s, even if they were built on the same day. Too many variables in these printers. Filament brand, temperature settings, actual temperature reading vs what the sensor thinks it is, etc.

Agreed- they are chinesium. I have another coming tomorrow, maybe I’ll throw on a V6 hotend and see if it makes a difference.

 

[siggy]

Nubi with a Used MK3 (50 hours) new plate and nozzle, fresh Hatchbox PLA
What bed temp do you guys run PLA, mine is set to 55deg . I cant get past 4-5 layers before it breaks free of the bed. tried glue sticks, hair spray and that just gets me farther along before failing.
First layer squish on test run before model looks good but skirt doesn't . this is using glue stick and still no luck

 

[TheHarold]

Nubi with a Used MK3 (50 hours) new plate and nozzle, fresh Hatchbox PLA
What bed temp do you guys run PLA, mine is set to 55deg . I cant get past 4-5 layers before it breaks free of the bed. tried glue sticks, hair spray and that just gets me farther along before failing.
First layer squish on test run before model looks good but skirt doesn't . this is using glue stick and still no luck

I’m not familiar with their bed material (yet), but I would suggest cleaning off all the hairspray, and trying it with the bed at 80. No harm in being a bit warm xD

 

[MaccaPopEye]

I’m not familiar with their bed material (yet), but I would suggest cleaning off all the hairspray, and trying it with the bed at 80. No harm in being a bit warm xD

I agree @siggy should give the bed a good clean and try again. But PLA actually does not need a heat bed. With PETG and ABS I would agree that a bit on the warmer side won't hurt, but PLA has a glass transition temperature of 60*C so if you have a bed at 60 or hotter then you will likely have issues as the layer in contact with the bed will stay soft enough that it may not stick to the bed properly. Maybe having it at 55*C already may be contributing to this issue?

I would try with the heat bed turned off. Double check your bed is level with a nice crisp piece of paper to set the distance (nozzle should be close enough that you can still move the paper back and forth without it bending or tearing but you should be able to feel it dragging between the nozzle and the bed). Print with a 5 wall thick skirt and watch really closely as the skirt goes down. It should look almost flat, but not 100% squished, if it looks like a round bead then it's too high. It can take a bit of practice to really learn the difference between these 3 images as the difference in real life is so minuscule.

I would also set the part cooling fan to 50% for the first 2-3 layers (to help them bond to the bed well) and then have it ramp up to 100% over the next 5 layers or so. Also turn your printing speed right down (probably to 20mm/s or so) until you get better prints and then you can turn it up as you get used to the printer. Also try to print with nothing but a clean heat bed, if that doesn't work then I would also try with blue glue stick but still a cold bed.

There is HEAPS of printers out there that print PLA only with no heat bed, it really isn't needed for PLA.

 

[TheHarold]

Trying to dial in PETG with .8mm nozzle :confused:

 

[reefwreck]

whats a good petg filament brand new to waiting on ender 3 due day or two

 

[dantimdad]

HQA is awesome @reefwreck

 

[dantimdad]

I use pla with bed temp set at 68. This is because on my ender 3 the glass bed is 8 degrees cooler than what the display reads. I use nothing on the glass and 3mm brim and everything lays out nice and smooth.

 

[dantimdad]

@siggy you also need to calibrate your extruder. Those lines higher up are under extrusion.

Just FYI.