Anyone else having this problem with Makerbot 5th gens?
The filament isn’t sticking to the build plate and its rapidly clumping up around the extruder. Its PLA, we have painters tape laid down on the build plate, and build plate has been recently leveled. Happens also when printing with rafts.
Usually we catch it before it gets this bad, but we’re in a community lab so many people are coming in and out doing the printing. Consistency is an issue sometimes.
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Hi. When printing PLA on my Mankati (although i don’t think the make of printer matters with this problem) I used a bed temperature of 60 and spray the bed with cheap hair spray. This pretty much works every time. Also try dropping the gap between the nozzle and bed so that the first layer is squeezed on to the bed for really good adhesion. Hope this helps
Thank you, but the Makerbot 5th gens don’t have the option to heat the build plate.
maybe we can try the hair spray thing though, thanks!
Hello!
1. It depends on the tape you’re using. Not every painting tape works - even if it is a blue one 
.
2. The same with hairspray. Most of them don’t work. So use another tape (or makerbots blue tape) or e.g. “Garnier fructis style ultra strong” hairspray.
3. After such a “mess” clean your smartextruder as good as possible. The nozzle needs to be easily movable.
If you’re sure your tape/spray will work, your smartextruder is clean and works and your soft- and firmware are up to date, check the distance between plate and nozzle. Probably you need to make a manual z-axis offset.
If all of this won’t work - exchange your smartextruder.
Best regards,
Claudio
www.3d-edu.ch
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I don’t know Replicator 5th generation BUT it is definitively a first layer adhesion problem. As it has been said: the only bluetape which will work is the 3M 2090 (any size). Do not use other blue tapes like Tesa. It is too smooth to handle prints.
I remain at your disposal for more information.
Hi. And just another tip to prevent filament jam using the “old” smart extruder: Use this dust filter…
try the BuildTak bedding: www.buildtak.com. We have no issues at all with sticking and you don’t necessarily need heated bedding. The only moments we have issues, is when we have to print flat items (approx 3-5mm thick), then there is the curling of corners happening, for which I still am looking for a solution
puli999
9
Try ramping up the extruder temp to 260C
Buildtak, bigger raft (try 8 or 10 mm) and Z-axis manual offset - take the build plate closer! Printing without raft is always troublesome. Printing on blue tape should not be a problem at all unless you are printing things that are as big as build plate.
No need to ramp up the temp at all. It wont help in this case. Is this a rep5, mini or Z18? It looks like the extruder homed a little too far from the build plate. If so, it can be adjusted in MakerBot desktop. You need a nice squish on the first layer. Just to note…each extruder may home to a slightly different height. If you are swapping extruders youll have to do a test print to be sure your z-offset is correct if your want to print raftless.
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Adjust the Z-probe offset. Or do this.This is what I do. It was from another post, intended for another person. But it is a quick and dirty way to fix your issue.
Don’t ramp up the extruder temp!!!
You’ll destroy your extruder… if temp goes over 245° you risk to damage the PTFE Tube inside…
It wont let you go past like 244-243. Trust me, I have tried. Makerbot stupid proofed their PTFE hot end. I really wish they would have just made an all metal hot end…
Increase the extruder temp.
add a bit of glue stick.
When this happens to me in my studio, we have 3 of the 5th generations, a swap of the filament is usually the first attempt to problem solve, and it usually does the trick. Filament is temperamental, and has a shelf life. If exposed to a too dry or too humid environment, or variations in temp, we tend to see this affect it pretty consistently. If it’s not the filament, after switching 1 to 2 spools, we adjust the temp settings in makerbots desktop software, or our other slicing software.if the initial extrude temp is not hot enough this can be the issue. The final check would be if the extruder itself Is having heat issues, or perhaps is not making correct contact with the print bed. A simple recalibration/level here won’t hurt, but if it’s the extruder failing, you may want to swap that extruder with a new one, or different one, and see if it prints with this new one.
I think the build plate is too far from the nozzle.
Sometimes the levelling is not enough and you have to calibrate it a little more.
Here are the instructions how to do it:
https://support.makerbot.com/learn/applications/mobile/manually-adjusting-your-printers-z-axis-offset-through-makerbot-mobile_12372
It’s true that having a higher temperature for first layers will impact a lot adhesion. I do not know Makerbot softwares but, in Simplify 3D, you can select different settings for different heights of the print.
I always set higher temps for 5 first layers (around 220°C for colorFabb PLA/PHA) and then lower the temp for next layers (195°C for colorFabb PLA/PHA).
It will make the first layer to make a very good adhesion.
In Simplify 3D, you can also change settings for the very first layer (height, width, speed). This will also impact a lot the quality of your print.
https://www.simplify3d.com/support/tutorials/perfecting-the-first-layer/
and this very good guide:
https://www.simplify3d.com/support/print-quality-troubleshooting/
This is not true: Polytétrafluoroéthylène — Wikipédia
PTFE tubing will resist 250°C and in fact, the temperature at this point of the hotend is much lower.
One more time, I do not know Makerbot 5th generation but, for example, with e3D hotends, even if you set 270°C for the thermistor point, the temperature will never reach a high temp where the PTFE is inserted.
Have you verified that the filament diameter matches what the software thinks it is? For example, if the filament actually measures at 1.69 and the software thinks it is 1.75, you can end up with some strange extrusion issues. There absolutely is an issue with the extruder not being close enough to the build plate (as others have all been saying), but those strands at the top of the picture don’t quite look right. They should be closer together and thicker if that’s not a raft, and farther apart and much thicker if that is a raft.
Also, filament doesn’t just end up on the extruder mysteriously. The way it typically happens is from a small piece of filament that sticks around after the purge of the nozzle. This extra material can cause a snag if the print isn’t sticking to the build plate well. A less common reason for filament to end up on the nozzle is a result of the nozzle not being properly tightened in the extruder. I have seen filament ooze out of the threaded area of the nozzle and get all over the nozzle that way. A third way that this can happen is a result of a partial filament jam in the nozzle you can tell this during the loading of filament… if the filament flows straight down while loading, you are good. If the filament bends and sort of curls as soon as it exits the extruder, that indicates a partial jam. That can actually cause all of the symptoms you are seeing.
The good news is that you should be able to determine any of this in the first 30 seconds of the print. Hope this touches on some things not already discussed, and helps you out.
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