Absolute beginner help

[MrFex]

Hello,

I am the proud owner of a Wanhao Duplicator, hope that is OK in these forums. I have lots and lots of questions but the first one that is really puzzling me has to do with the makerbot software.

For some reason when I start a print the printer will draw a horizontal line at the front of the printbed. My guess was this line is for calibrating. The problem is that when it is done drawing this line (it ends in the bottom left corner) it will fully lower and raise the printbed. Because it does this, it has to take the nozzle off the bed and cause filament (PLA) to leak. After coming down the platform will not immediately take the filament and a ball will be formed causing lots of errors.

I am printing on glass with PLA and a temp of 230. The bed is heated at 70c wit the glass on top. To fix this I need to put the printer at 10% speed and use a rag to clean the nozzle.

Any tips for this beginner?

[3DPrintedArt]

Hello, I think the reason for this is: PLA prints at about 180, ABS prints at 230 (or less.) This would cause the PLA to become almost liquid- and then it will ooze. Also, normally only ABS uses a heated bed. I think you looked at the temperature sheet for ABS instead of PLA.

Hope that helps!

[MrFex]

Thanks for the reply. I did indeed find that information on the internet and tried all kinds of temps. In fact I have been at it all day. Started at 230 and lowering in steps of 5. In my case it seems that the lower I go, the worse the results. I’ll try again and let you know. I have been changing all kinds of tactics so it might have been a combination of factors.

[Tiago_Ferreira]

i absolutely recomend a look up in this group

https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/wanhao-printer-3d

but, my first advise, is that you lower your temps, 185 for pla and 60 for the bed

[Sjeltur]

don’t understand the ‘fully lower and raise the print bed’.

After the bottom line, my nozzle starts to put a little pile on the bed an then starts; is this what you mean?

But yeah, 230 is a high temperature on PLA, normally I will use 210 and the bed on 65.

Sometimes i also have problems with getting a ball around the nozzle. Lots of times a raft will help.

[PrintME3D]

Good Evening,

We are PrintME 3D, one of UK leading 3D Printing Products and Solutions provider.

In terms of the Wanhao 3D Printers, we know them quite well and still have spare parts for them.

If you need help using the software, firmware updates, printing tips and tricks, we have 3D Gurus who are always on hand to help and give advice.

Feel free to get in touch at hello@printme3d.com and one of our 3D Gurus will reach out to you to help.

Thanks

PrintME 3D

[WaterlooFab]

If the printer does weird movement, it is most likely because it is told to do so by the gcode.

My recommendation is to use a different splicing software and see if it helps. I use the same printer with cura and simplify3d with no issue.

The line at the beginning is most likely to wipe the nozzle. Not to calibrate.

Keep us posted.

[Subspace3]

Hi,

I’m using a Wanhao duplicator 4 and makerbot also. The previous version of makerbot did not do this, seems they have changed quite a few things. It used to print the line and then go to print, now its like you said. So if you like makebot and don’t want the bed to go down then back up, try a previous version.

If you want to keep using the new version as others have said try lowering your temps, if you still have problems try increasing retraction distance (although not sure if that will work when just starting the print but you could try)

[Tiago_Carita]

I have a duplicator, first thing i did was to get a smoother 3D printing software, I got Simplify 3D and that made the difference…

There are others Netfabb looks so cool but its price was or is above simplify.

[Tiago_Carita]

FYI:
I usually print PLA at 190 + 70 in the Bed, 225/235 ABS print bet 90 on layer 1 to 3 and 70 to the rest

[Jodroboxes]

Check your gcode, it should be a loooong piece of code. If its short, the software didnt generate any code (all it does is draw a line like you described). Are you using Skeinforge? I had this problem with skeinforge once, i re-installed and that fixed it.

[RobertPaul]

All makerbot software had a similar start code with the printed line, and yes the Makerbot 3.7 is a bit different, and it’s weird how it drops and raises the platform after the line. However I did find that dropping and raising it like that gets cleans the nozzle of leaking plastic. The reason you are having trouble is because your printbed is too high or too low. Then it doesn’t matter what the printer does before it starts, it will just ball up into a mess. Put your printer in home axis mode and move the print head around with a piece of paper under it. Raise the print bed until it grips the paper but you can still slide it. You want it close enough so that there is some resistance in the paper moving but you can still slide it. Print on a piece of glass with hairspray on it. Give it a light even coat before you begin the print/preheat. Watch the nozzle when it prints, it should be as close as possible to the print bed without it blocking the nozzle. I find that when I’m having trouble it’s easier for me to fine tune the bed height while it’s actually printing during the first layer. This way I can watch if any of the printed lines are not sticking or curling up due to the nozzle not being close enough. Your first layer should smush on the glass and be pretty flat.

Use unscented extra hold hairspray. I use aquanet. Your print bed is too hot at 70c, and that heatt will creep up into the printed part and make it too hot. Hairspray will eliminate your need to even have it on in the first place. Remember heat is PLA’s enemy. It works and if it’s still not sticking it’s only one of two things; print bed is too low, or you didn’t put the hairspray on right.

230c is insanely hot. For PLA it should be around 190-205, with some PLA even lower.

[RobertPaul]

The new Makerbot 3.7 prints a line, drops the bed very fast, then raises it very fast, and then starts printing. The previous versions just print a line then start the print without the extra lowrider hydraulics procedure.

[MrFex]

Thank you very much for sharing your tips and tricks. I’ve been having trouble with leveling and I will try this again tonight. I’ll post back soon.

[MrFex]

Thank you for your reply. I am also curious about Simplify3d. I have found a version online that I test with but the results were poor. At the start of the print the nozzle extruded a great amount of filament on the plate (not even moving the extruder) which resulted in a big blog on the nozzle. I had to stop the print.

Can you share some of your settings for PLA and ABS? Which multiplier and so forth.

[MrFex]

Thanks, I’m happy to see you confirm this ‘feature’. I’ll try to find a previous version as you say. I hope it will help me with my first layer troubles.

[MrFex]

Hello PrimeME 3D, thanks very much for this. I’ll be sure to send an e-mail for some technical expertise. Great company right there!

This printer was bought from 3dPrima but i’ll be more than happy to take my business anywhere else if the service and support is good. I have a lot of plans with my printer and a lot to learn

[MrFex]

Will test this out and see if my adhesion improves. Features like this should in my opinion be controllable, especially when it is a new version feature.

[MrFex]

Great! Thanks … I love this community already. I’ll checkout the Google group. Thanks for all the help everyone!

[MrFex]

Hi, that’s interesting. Can you help me get set up with Cura? Is Cura better than MakerWare? I thought the software wasn’t compatible with ‘sailfish’? So far I have tried: ReplicatorG, MakerWare, Simplify3d.

Thanks again I’ll keep you guys posted.