Anet A8 Printing Problem

[Ausimax]

Hi,

I am new to 3D printing, received Anet A8 printer for Xmas, and after assembling it I have been getting good quality prints until now!

Computer running Windows 10

Part designed in FreeCad 0.16

Sliced in Cura 14.07

I have a later version of Cura but 14.07 seems the most compatible with the printer, I print directly from a SD card the printer is not connected to the computer.

This morning I attempted to print this part:

[img]https://i.imgur.com/SyxI5Ab.jpg\[/img\]

[img]https://i.imgur.com/tcqj8Nz.jpg\[/img\]

This is the resulting print, there was a bit of stringing of filament during travel but the main problem was it occasionally deposited great globs of plastic at random, some I managed to pick off with tweezers before the extruder got back to that position, but not always.

[img]https://i.imgur.com/tcqj8Nz.jpg\[/img\]

I had to pause printing once when it started banging against a lump and dislodged the fan shroud, I ground off the lumps and recommenced printing went Ok for about an hour then it happened again, this time the extruder hit with enough force to shift the carriage out of alignment and I had to abort the print.

[img]https://i.imgur.com/jMeThB0.jpg\[/img\]

[img]https://i.imgur.com/gaq2IEL.jpg\[/img\]

The photos show the Cura settings and the results of the printing, can anyone provide any advice as to the cause of this problem and how to go about curing it.

This is the beginning of the G code File.

[img]https://i.imgur.com/KMooJSM.jpg\[/img\]

Thanks for your help!

Max

[DazDavid]

Hi Ausimax,

congratulations to your Anet A8 Its a great printer if you take care of it.

I´m not an expert but I would check the Retract Settings as well as Extrusion Multiplier First.

For me it looks like a Overextrusion.

Try to lower the Extrusion Multiplier a little bit and check how your Retract Settings are set. Usually Stringing means your retract is to low.

It could be that you have set a low retract followed by an to high extrusion to compensate the retract.

Regards

David

[Lea3DPrint]

In addition, is your nozzle screwed in correctly? You can get this blob if it leaks and eventually deposits the leaking plastic on to the print

[DazDavid]

Very good point. Now since you wrote that I remember I had that one time in the past. The nozzle was a bit loose and the Filament started to come out on the Top side of the Heatblock and from time to time some Filament drops felt down.

You can also see that very good when you change the Color of your Filament and you find some Spots from the previous Color in your Printouts.

In that case I can only recommend you to replace the nozzle + heatbreak + heatblock as it is pretty impossible to clean them from melted PLA.

[Ausimax]

Hi folk thanks for your replies.

Kevin: Yes at the time the nozzle was tight at the time I had just cleaned it after a filament break.

David : This is the first time I have printed using supports and was not too sure what was going on I have not had a problem with stringing in previous prints , the retraction was set to 4.5mm and most I have read seem to suggest 3.5 being sufficient the extrusion settings were the same as I have use before.

I am considering lowering the extruder by about 5 deg and see if that helps, I also found when I came to reseresetting and re leveling the bed that the strike had broken the throat tube.

That presented a few difficulties as it didn’t want to come out of the heat block, tried heating the unit with a heat gun but every time I tried to unscrew the tube collapsed, in the end I had to drill the tube out.

Got all that sorted but in the process of refitting I decided to try and do something about that PIA of the fan and heat sink holding the whole show together, and the struggle of trying to compress the spring and line things up at the same time to refit it, besides it make it a pain if you just want to clean the feed mechanism.

So with all that I have not had another try at printing the part yet, just about set to go now so I will adjust a few settings and see what transpires.

Thanks for your help, will let you know the result in due course.

Regards,

Max

[Ausimax]

Update to previous Post, started another print, settings virtually the same only lowered extruder temp to 205 deg, and had about the same result, only printed the first couple of layers and things started going haywire.

[Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/0VW1dQy.jpg)

[Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/5WdwpAE.jpg)

[Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/ngxfdSF.jpg)

I have started a print of a previously printed item and it is printing perfectly, and all the settings are the same except the temp is 220, must admit it has me foxed, maybe my design files are the problem?

Max

[kbs170]

Hallo David, du hast mir am 27.02.2018 ein paar Spielzeug-Teile gedruckt. Es war laut meinen E-Mails die Order-Nummer 6570721. Bei 3DHubs jat sich ja einiges geändert, so dass ich die Bestellung nicht erneut ausführen kann. Bietest du noch Druck-Dienste an? Wenn ja, auf welcher alternativen Plattform? VG Grüße

[steve3dprinters]

Hi Ausi, Anet A8 is a great 3D printer and seldom offers troubles unless the print settings are not too appropriate.

And in your case, I bet the 3d printer’s nozzle is not at an appropriate position. In other words, the distance between the nozzle and the printed object might be too less, so as to lead to blobbing. And when the distance turns to be more than the required number, the printed object can cause stringing.

You can find about the appropriate distance from the user manual of your 3D printer.