HELP!!!!

[Kristinaya]

Soooo many issues going on! Earlier today, I was waiting for my print to begin, and the extruder wasn't moving. Finally, I gave up and I turned off Repetier. To my horror, I found that the hot end had MELTED a concave little DIVET into my printer bed!!

Just now, I attempted to print again. The print began, and the printer made the left X-axis move up like three inches, while the right X-axis remained where it was. Therefore, all the work that I'd done to level the X-axis was done for nothing! Is the left X-axis supposed to move independently fromthe right X-axis??

Then, I realized that the bottoms of the two acme rods are BORING HOLES into my wooden table when they spin!!! Are they supposed to be so long? There's no possible way that I could have inserted them higher than I did.

WHAT am I doing wrong?? I don't know anything about 3D printing, but I'm also not an idiot!

And HOW do I get Gordon to send me a new print bed?

I still have yet to make one successful print with this printer.

Someone please help me?

 

[Levitate]

Welcome to the forum!
Rods too long id try to adjust the foot pads
Other problem sounds like maybe some stepper motor cables arn't connected
Your divit is a learning moment it sucks but youll remember it. Your print bed has two sides!
x is left right
y is front back
z is up down

 

[GORDON.LAPLANTE]

Soooo many issues going on! Earlier today, I was waiting for my print to begin, and the extruder wasn't moving. Finally, I gave up and I turned off Repetier. To my horror, I found that the hot end had MELTED a concave little DIVET into my printer bed!!

Just now, I attempted to print again. The print began, and the printer made the left X-axis move up like three inches, while the right X-axis remained where it was. Therefore, all the work that I'd done to level the X-axis was done for nothing! Is the left X-axis supposed to move independently fromthe right X-axis??

Then, I realized that the bottoms of the two acme rods are BORING HOLES into my wooden table when they spin!!! Are they supposed to be so long? There's no possible way that I could have inserted them higher than I did.

WHAT am I doing wrong?? I don't know anything about 3D printing, but I'm also not an idiot!

And HOW do I get Gordon to send me a new print bed?

I still have yet to make one successful print with this printer.

Someone please help me?

Hi Kristina,

We are sorry for the troubles. We recommend running the printer from the LCD panel instead of from a PC since each 3d printer control software interacts with the printer in different ways. If anything we suggest printrun (as mentioned in page #3 of the manual) since it's a pretty straightforward software to use. Also for the threaded rods, they should extend only about 1" past the top of the lower bracket so its possible the frame is a little off. If you can email us images of the build maybe we can help sort out the issues.

 

[raykholo]

The bolt feet need to have 2 nuts inside each of them, not 1. The bolt will screw into the lower nut and jam against the upper nut.

I've got a handful of those divots from trying to get my printer setup. As Levitate said, it's a learning experience.

 

[Kristinaya]

Thank you all for your replies.

Levitate - I did adjust the foot pads to their maximum height. It doesn't seem to make a difference. I've resolved to just go out today and buy some 2 x 4s to raise the printer, so I think that issue is resolved in a digfferent way. Here is the picture of the rod being too long and touching my wooden table:

I don't know what you mean by "maybe some stepper motor cables aren't connected." I don't know what a stepper motor cable is. Please dumb this down for me to the level of "3D printing for idiots." I really have no idea what I'm doing.

Here is a photo of the top of the rod connected to the little turny silver cylinder. As you can see, it couldn't be inserted any more than it already is:

My print bed has two sides... ok, cool. Now I have to sand the other side, attach it again, level everything out, ARGH!! Is the print bed made of acrylic? If so, can't I instead just fill the divet with some nail acrylic and then sand it all to a smooth finish?

Yes, X is left-right. That's what I'm talking about. The left side moved up and the right side did not.

Gordon - running the printer from the LCD panel? So that means that I need to save my .gcode file to the sd card and then insert the DS card where?? I don't see anywhere on the printer where I can insert it. As far as the rods extending too low because of the frame possibly being a little off, I understand what you're saying, except for the fact that the only modification that could be made to the frame to raise the rods would be to modify the angle of the two 17" aluminum frame pieces. The angle would need to be more obtuse. So, since that angle is ENTIRELY dictated by the two brackets that attach to the back of the printer (these things here), I really don't see how such a modification can be made.

I have a picture of my entire printer, but I can only add three attachments with my post, so I will submit this one now, and then I'll start a new one.

 

[Kristinaya]

OK, so here's the photo of my entire printer:

 

[raykholo]

Don't flip the acrylic yet, until you've gotten everything sorted out.
So does each foot have 2 nuts in it where the bolt screws in?

 

[GORDON.LAPLANTE]

Kristina,

Gordon - running the printer from the LCD panel? So that means that I need to save my .gcode file to the sd card and then insert the DS card where?? I don't see anywhere on the printer where I can insert it.

Yes, save the files to the SD card and insert it (upside down) on the left side of the LCD screen. Make sure to install the plastic knob (found in the plastic box) on the LCD screen metal standoff and it will make things easier. You can run the whole printer from the LCD screen and you don't need a computer.

As far as the rods extending too low because of the frame possibly being a little off, I understand what you're saying, except for the fact that the only modification that could be made to the frame to raise the rods would be to modify the angle of the two 17" aluminum frame pieces. The angle would need to be more obtuse. So, since that angle is ENTIRELY dictated by the two brackets that attach to the back of the printer (these things here)

Try sliding the rear diagonal aluminum frame up slightly. This should raise the top frame (with the LCD panel and filament spool brackets etc). What we are trying to do is raise the whole top fame by about 0.75" to get the threaded rod off your table. You can slightly bend the rear printed angle brackets (you sent a picture of) to make sure everything raises up. Here is a picture of the rear of our new printer for comparison.


As for the print bed, several of ours have holes from prototyping. Worst case the hole fills with a little plastic and you have to clean off a little bit (if your print even goes over them) and best case your print misses the holes. As ray suggested in the future you can flip the bed but for now just test with that you have.

 

[Kristinaya]

I think I'm going to shoot myself in the head...

I went to the hardware store and bought these things called "crutch tips." I put one on each corner of the printer, and they successfully raised the printer high enough so that the rods are no longer boring holes into my table. It *seems* that the issue has been addressed.

So ok, I move on to try a print. I load a .gcode file onto my SD card, I put the SD card in the printer, and... now what? I don't know what to do next. How do I tell the printer to actually print the file? I think to myself that maybe the first thing I should do is set it to the "auto home" position. So I do that, and THIS happens:


The left side moved up, and the right side moved down!! In my horror, I promptly unplugged the printer from its power source because I didn't want anything to break. WHAT is happening?? Why is the left side moving up and the right side moving down??

God please help me

 

[raykholo]

Have you successfully had both sides move in the same direction before?

Assuming this is the first time its been run and this happened, just flip the connector from the left motor in the electronics box. It'll be one of the 2 "z axis connectors" and you can find their location in the wiring diagram on page 5 of the manual.

 

[GORDON.LAPLANTE]

One of the motors has the motor wire connected backwards. Check the electronics box and the connection at the motor to make sure they are both correct. I would imagine its the left motor since that one went up.

 

[Kristinaya]

Have you successfully had both sides move in the same direction before?

No. I haven't had anything go successfully thus far.

Assuming this is the first time its been run and this happened, just flip the connector from the left motor in the electronics box. It'll be one of the 2 "z axis connectors" and you can find their location in the wiring diagram on page 5 of the manual.

OK, thank you. I'll try that.

 

[Kristinaya]

OK, I did all of that. But I still don't know what commands to run from the LCD screen in order to tell the printer to print the .gcode file that's on the SD card. Can someone please give me instructions?

Thanks!

 

[Kristinaya]

Someone please answer my last question?

 

[raykholo]

I don't have a screen on mine so I can't be of assistance here.

 

[Kristinaya]

Well seriously, shouldn't that info have been included with the instructions?? I'm waiting for an answer, because until I get the information, I can't move forward. Gordon?

 

[Kristinaya]

OK, I figured it out on my own...

The printer is in the midst of printing right now. It just got started.

But I feel like it actually melted into the bed with its first few passes. I guess I won't know for sure until I scrape the print off.

Seriously, though, is there anyone in the Los Angeles area who's willing to come to my house and get this printer running 100% smoothly? I'll pay you!

 

[Kristinaya]

So after that first print created even more damage to the bed, I raised the level of the hot end. Now my ABS won't stick to the bed at all. I even tried hairspray, as is suggested on some other site, and still, there's no adhesion.

I really don't think that I raised the hot end too much, so I'm thinking that the problem is actually attributed to maybe the ABS not being brought to a high enough temperature. Can someone please tell me:

1) What is the correct temperature for ABS?
2) What is the correct temperature for PLA?
3) How do I specify these settings in Slic3r before I export my .gcode file? Because isn't that info supposed to be contained in the .gcode file so that I can save the .gcode file to my SD card and print from the printer? Or rather, do I specify the temperature settings WITHIN the printer itself, by doing it from the LCD screen? And if so, how?
4) How do I specify the temperature settings in Repetier-Host? I would like the option of printing from Repetier-Host instead of always having to use my SD card.
5) Will I have an easier time with PLA? Does PLA adhere to the bed better than ABS does?

Thank you, and please answer.

 

[justdon]

I see that this thread is a little old but did you get any answers to your last question?