re: The Official 3D Printing Thread

Youtube video

Sorry for the delay. I really need to learn how to edit videos faster and shoot them better. I'm just getting started with this video thing so please forgive my noob skills. If you have video tips I'm all ears!

Parts from video

Circling back to this thread to say, damn this is one of the best purchases as a DIYer that I have made in a while. I don't remember who started the thread last year that got me and CarRamrod to take the plunge, but thanks to you and thanks to CarRamrod for helping me justify taking the plunge and starting the journey with me! For those not keeping track, I have the basic Ender 3, one of the cheapest 3D printers out there, and it has been invaluable in my arsenal for various projects that I've done over the past 6+ months. Need a special tool, fitting, housing, or other widget, and don't want to wait for delivery, or it doesn't exist? 3D print it! I had somewhat of a background in 3D modeling for CNC mills, but for whatever reason, I was hesitant of the cheap 3D printers, because I wasn't sure about how well the cheap machines performed, the learning curve, getting the machine "right", messing with the ROM, etc. I have a whole bucket of parts I printed to make the machine "better" when I got it. They are still sitting in the bucket because I don't want to mess with how well the machine has worked once I got it setup. So, if you have been debating buying one and you are a tinker I say take the plunge. I've gotten way more value than the ~$200 I spent on the machine. Number 1 piece of advice, get a BLtouch.

I am not disappointed in this machine. I only made one upgrade and that is the hot end tube video I posted some time ago. Other than that I am greatly pleased with this machine. I am currently building a full size wearable iron man helmet. It was supposed to be for my kid but then I realized........it was adult size. So sorry kiddo. Dad's first. hahaha

i have made a few. From all my research is that some beds come flat and some do not..... mine did not. I did the tape trick that worked to an extent but adding a BLTouch solved everything.

the other issue i had which is rather common and has different causes is under extrusion. I did the PTFE tube fix in the extruder, and didnt work. I replaced with an all metal hot end, didnt work. I had an order for a new extruder (EZR) and found a post on facebook about how some springs in the stock ender extruder are too strong and bind the filament.

This was my exact problem. The print would be fine for a while then i would get under extrusion simialr to a clogged hot end...the filament would be bit into and the extruder would jump, similar to what happens when the hot end clogs. but i fixed all that. Well I clipped off 2 rings of the extruder and i have been printing great since. I havent even put the EZR on yet and this was a 6 months ago. What was happening in my case was the heavy spring was deforming the filament just enough to cause friction in the PTFE tube. and as more and more friction was building up it would deform the filament more and more to the point of the extruder jumping and causing under extrusion.

It took me endless days trying to figure all of that out. So seems my ender was one with both major QC issues. but they are simple fixs IF you know how to do it.

is your filiment coming out of the extruder bit into from the extruder gear causing friction in the ptfe? I would first just loosen the spring knob a loos as you can to see before cutting the spring. and cut just 1/4 or 1/2 rings off at a time.

To be honest I am not 100% sure what the issue is. Filament does come out of the nozzle somewhat smooth but with a lot of tension. If I push by hand at the extruder there is serious tension there. It should not be that much tension to push filament through the nozzle.
What is weird is that I am used to hearing the filament back feed at the extruder when there is too much pressure (at least from my custom extruder builds). It has to be somewhere in that dang tube.
Now I do notice this a lot more when I am doing prints with supports and it retracts a lot. So you are probably correct.
The extra PFTE tube that I put in the nozzle has not worn out yet. Which is strange to me. Normally when that goes out the filament is jammed and I have to replace the entire extra tube piece.
I also did notice that on a 17 hour print that about 15 hours in the print it failed. The next morning I came back and somehow the tube connector detached from the top of the hot end heat sink. So there was a ton of filament unwound between the extruder and hot end.

I've had the capricorn tube and fittings since day one and haven't had any issues with the tubing or the fittings letting the tubing move. The stock ones are supposed to be not great.

I got sidetracked with a media server build but tried installing the BLTouch on my Ender 3 and can't get it to work for anything. I won't be able to get back to in at least a week but I've tried various wirings and firmware and have gotten nowhere.

I'll be hitting up this thread for help when I get a chance.

Cam, TLDR of BLTouch...Is it just that it takes measurements at different points on the bed and if there are any unlevel spots the BLTouch just compensates for that in the gcode? I may have a totally wrong idea of what BLTouch is TBH.

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.Is it just that it takes measurements at different points on the bed and if there are any unlevel spots the BLTouch just compensates for that in the gcode?

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That's kind of accurate, the original gcode itself is not changed, it remains exactly as it was sliced.

More accurately and more detail, there are many types of "auto-leveling", while each does things a bit differently, compensating for the entire bed, or uneven spots on the build plate, etc... those differences are then compensated for by compensating for the out of level locations in X/Y by adjusting Z as the gcode is executed.

Same process regardless of the sensor used, a BLtouch, inductive, other proximity, etc...they all just measure the distance between the sensor and the bed.

Edit: For those truly sadistic people (yeah like me) you can through the Marlin code and get a much more detailed explanation of how all this works. Configuring and compiling the Marlin software for RAMPS/MEGA boards from source can be a VERY challenging experience. Though it's well documented.