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Newbie to 3d printing having trouble

Discussion in '3D printers' started by Steven Hickerson, Feb 9, 2016.

  1. Steven Hickerson

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    Hello everyone,
    I'm posting here today hoping someone might have some advice for me to get my crappy 3d printer working reliably. It really is crappy, it's old... from like 2011 when I bought it as a kit on an indiegogo campaign. It's made by Seemecnc and it was called the H-1 model. It took me forever to finish building it because initially it didn't even have instructions, then I kept running into problems with missing parts in the kit and things not fitting properly that required reworking. Just lots of problems so yes it took me 5 years of working on it and getting frustrated then not working on it again for months.

    It is finally done and I've been trying to get consistent prints from it, but I haven't even been able to print one object all the way through without some kind of problem. I initially was using ABS filament, but the temperatures required for it kept melting the filament tube and causing clogs and feed problems. So I switched to PLA. Since switching to PLA I've been getting much better feed and am able to get a good first layer to stick 3 out of 5 times now. My glass bed is as level as I can get it with respect to the print head, and I put painters tape on it as I've read suggested in some places.

    The biggest problem I'm trying to figure out right now is often while printing an object it will put down a little glob of plastic in a spot and make it so that it is higher than the layer it's printing. Then when the print goes over that spot again, sometimes it will just bounce over it, but sometimes the tip will dig in and bind up the motors. When this happens when it does start moving again it is of course out of position so I have to stop the print. That has happened in 5 of my last 7 attempts. The other two were complete failures due to it overhangs not printing well at all. I tried doing one with support structures and the support structures were so hard to get off that I ruined the object (in this case I was attempting to print a pawn from a chess set).

    Anyone have any idea what could be causing the globs and what I might be able to do to correct it? I'm hoping it might just be some print settings I can change. I've attached two pictures of objects that show these spots I'm talking about.

    Thanks for any advice!
    glob1.jpg glob2.jpg
     
  2. Ramjet

    Ramjet New
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    First thing that popped up: Do you have a setting for retraction in your software?
    When the movement halts, you need to do a small retraction to avoid the blob extruding.
    Then start feeding again as you move to the new start point.
    What Firmware and slicer are you using?
     
  3. Steven Hickerson

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    Lol this is an older thread posted it back in February. The problem wasn't due to movement halting, the 3d printer just sucked. I have since more recently gotten a new 3d printer that is much better quality and I'm able to get consistently nice prints out of it. I don't know what I'm going to do with the old one, probably dismantle it and use the parts for something else.
     
  4. Ramjet

    Ramjet New
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    Seven;
    What control board does it use? is it compatible with a marlin board machine?
    My Solidoodle Press toasted the control board this week and I'm looking for a replacement.
    Perhaps we can make a deal.
     
  5. Steven Hickerson

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    It was a Sanguinololu board that I got off ebay way back. I think I put ramps 1.3 or 1.4 on it. I'm not sure about it's compatibility with marlin, but honestly, I'm not ready to get rid of it yet. I might end up needing it if I want to make another 3 axis system with the parts from that old printer. If I change my mind anytime soon, I'll message you and let you know.
     
  6. Ramjet

    Ramjet New
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    OK, Thanks for being open about it.
    Good Luck on your next Build.
     
  7. MariaJones

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    I think your printer is not compatible with the filament. You should choose the filament that is compatible with your printer as it would be costly if you will change the printer. If you think that everything is fine from your end, then there may be a problem with the printer settings. You should call the printer company to sort out the issue.
     

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