Machine Maintenance:
Filament does not extrude when I am giving the extrude command?Check a few things:
1. Does the extruder pull the filament? If yes, then extrude at least 15cm of filament until the hot-end chamber fills up. If no,
then try to insert the filament again, reverse the extruder so that the filament comes out of the extruder. If the reverse does not push the filament
out, try to help by
pulling it out manually.
2. Sometimes because of filament diameter variation, the pressure bolt
on the side of the extruder needs to be adjusted – if it’s too tight then it will “eat” the
filament and the drive gear will slip. Loosen the bolt and then extrude filament while
slowly tightening
the bolt to the required pressure.
3. If the nozzle is blocked, first clean it from the
outside with a delicate metal brush. Using a 0.3mm needle, try to insert it in
the hole of the nozzle. Try to extrude filament again, sometimes the motor will
“click” a few times
until the blockage is released.
4. When changing filament from PLA to ABS or vice
versa, it is important to use the right temperature for the new filament. If
going from PLA to ABS, heat
the extruder to 225 and extrude the ABS until the extruded filament is PLA-free and clean (about 30cm of filament
needs to be extruded). The same
if going from ABS to PLA.
5. The drive gear, located on the extruder motor shaft, after a
while generates chips of plastic from previous prints. Unscrew the 4 bolts holding the
motor and gently pull the motor out of the extruder. With a delicate metal
brush clean the chips off the drive gear. Then return the motor and screw the 4 bolts back into
place.
The extruder motor “ticks” – why?Usually when the extruder motor ticks it means
either the filament is not inserted correctly or the nozzle is blocked. Sometimes when a print starts, if the
height of the build plate is not right, meaning the nozzle is too close, the pushed filament
cannot come out of the nozzle resulting in motor ticks. Adjusting the height
should fix the problem. If all is right and the motor still ticks, it can also mean that the motor
driver is faulty. In
this case you should call technical support.
Heat platform won’t heat.The power for the heat platform flows through a fuse, and the fuse is
cooled by the fans on the side. If the fans fail to work the fuse will heat up
and cut the power, meaning the heat platform
will not heat. In
this case call technical support.
When I print a circle, it comes out as an ellipse – why?If the timing belts are not tight or the timing
pulleys are loose,
this can result in shape distortion. To fix this, check to see if the pulleys and the timing belts are tight.
Printing Issues:
Why does my object warp inwards?Because of thermal stress the plastic will warp
inwards in some cases. To prevent that, use the brim function with at least
10 mm outwards, or you can add “ears” to the place where the warping occurs. By “ears” we mean
adding a circle of at
least 10 mm radius and 0.4 mm height.
My print won’t stick to the build platform.The build platform should be cleaned right before
starting a new print. The cleaning should be done with a paper towel soaked
with a bit of acetone.
Another issue is the leveling of the build plate: check to see if the build plate is level and adjust if
needed. If the object you are trying to print has a small touching surface, you
should consider using the raft function to 10-15 cm bigger than the object.
Small objects (less than 15mm in diameter) come out with bad surface.When printing small objects, it is best to print 2 or 3
of them to let them cool while the extruder prints another.
Why do my printed models have cracks and/or my layers separate?The settings in the slicer software are crucial to
the resulting printed object. You should go through the settings manual to
better understand every parameter you set.