Another "Newbie" in need of assistance

Okay, update time. I made some more tweaks and I think I have things down. Per a suggestion I lifted the front left corner of the acrylic using a 1/4" washer and things seem to be sticking better when I do a full-bed print. There is a spot or two (back left corner) that need additional tweaking as the first layer looks a little weak there; but I am going to get some more print time under my belt with this machine first. I may also grab a sheet of BuildTak to apply to the acrylic to help with adhesion, but I am unsure at this time.

Also, my issues with S3D seem to have been corrected. Thanks to an updated S3D profile I can now use S3D to slice and print without any drops into the bed . I am, however, still getting the 2nd extruder grinding a little on the print as it is moving DESPITE having leveled the 2 hot ends to the bed at least once.

I am also seeing some weird "dimpling" the height of the print in 3 different spots. Not sure what that is from.

Pictures of first real print.

First Layer:

Top Layer:

Dimpling:

So, here is where I am at. After switching out the dual extruder set up for a single, I am having some issues with the acrylic bed not being flat. I have dialed in the hot end from the center of the bed, but it seems the left side of the bed is a bit too low and the prints do not stick there.

I have put a washer under 3 of the 4 corners of the acrylic AND lowered the left lead screw a smidgen or two. That has gotten me 90% of the way there when it comes to the first layer. The sticking point is an area of the left side of the bed that just won’t stick.

In doing some further investigation, it would appear the rear left corner of the bed is higher than center while the front left corner is lower. I even tried to add a second washer to the front left corner to raise it more, but to no avail. The acrylic is starting to develop some flex in it as the head travels because there is nothing under it.

I am getting the sense that the acrylic is not completely flat, and I am worried that lowering the lead screw is no good since the X-axis gantry is getting out of level. I did remove the washer from under the rear left corner so that the hot end would not hit/drag on the bed in that location.

Your acrylic problem is the same with me. It's not flat at all, and I have tried a lot of way to make this flat.

The screws to hold the acrylic are only at 8 locations, and they're at the corners only. I found out tightening the screws will make the acrylic bumpy at other places. So, my way to deal with this is to loosen all screws/washers, add binder clips to the center of the acrylic edges (probably add 2 per sides, so total 8x binder clips - yes, due to the aluminum shape, it gets tricky and different size of clips are needed).

After being clamped by the clips, then tighten the screws. This is the only way to get the acrylic stays flat when the corners are being clamped. You can then remove the binder clips.

Hadi

I truthfully dont think you will ever get that acrylic flat. I got it good enough (but not good) . The glass that comes with the heated bed is FLAT.. super high quality and great.... If i had my way that would be the standard, even if it raised the price 25 bucks per printer, its that much better.
Having taken my acrylic off in favor of the heated bed, it is bent and wobbly all over...

Thanks for the advice. I will give it a try.

I agree. I'd love to see the glass plate with buildtak become standard over the acrylic.

I'm still weighing my options with this. Not sure if I can get just a sheet of glass this size locally.

Yes, I'm also new to the gCreate, which has been in my lab for less than a week.

I'm experiences the same problem as davec3275, none of my S3D sliced prints will move beyond probing the bed. After doing so it just hangs there with the LCD saying "Heating Done...". Has anybody figured this problem out?

I'm getting little to no help from gCreate support on this and a multitude of other issues I identified the day the unit arrived. The 10 day return period is fast approaching and yet I have yet to complete even a single print. Their lack to answers and of late silence has me feeling pushed into a corner. It would seem that I'll have not choice but to return the unit.

What is the experience of others who have bought pre-built units from gCreate?

Thanks for any help.

- Bob

Mine had 1 broken part, and a couple loose/completely out screws. Other than that it was good.
its pretty dang hard to ship a printer this size...

Support has been really good for me... Perhaps they are really busy, or missed an email or something, but ive never gone more than 12-15 hours without a response, and for a company of only a few folks, thats fairly good... And if one decides to take a vacation with their family, that can delay stuff.

Id stick with it, its a ROCK solid printer.

Post your S3D script file that you use.

Bob,

which version of the S3D profile do you have? Did you get the most recent one (dated 20 May 2016)? Once I loaded that I had no issues using S3D to slice and print.

SOLVED: Another "Newbie" in need of assistance

Yes, I'm working with the May 20, 16 version of the S3D gMax+ profile.

Eric and I had an email exchange this morning in which he suggested that I change a few settings in the G-Code tab of my S3D print process. I checked the "Firmware Update Configuration" box, which would usually be unchecked. He also suggested that I verify that the Firmware Type be RepRap/Marlin, and the Baud Rate be set to 250000.

While the Firmware Type and Baud Rate values were already set properly, since I'd checking the Firmware Update Configuration box my slices have been progressing beyond the "Heating Done..." step.

- Bob