(Part 2) Best products from r/FixMyPrint

Unless you are printing PETG, or the paper you choose is a different thickness, or if it's swolen from humidity.

Paper isn't the best tool, among other things it varies in thickness, a set of feeler gauges (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000BYGIR4) is a much better tool for this.

But I have completely quit using it. I now print out this link https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2187071 and, as it's printing, manually adjust the bed screws until it's printing with uniform squeeze out and the print looks good. This works great for printers without automatic bed leveling like mine.

ok, since it's pla your solvent choices are limited. Acetone might soften the pla up a bit, making it easier to remove, but since it's only going to work at best partially (it doesn't actually work on pla, only on whatever other additive plastics are present in the brand of pla you have) you really have only a few choices, and they're all nasty chemicals. Tetrahydrofuran, and Ethyl Acetate are the two I know off the top of my head. They're both moderately nasty stuff and possibly cancer causing so take care if you decide to try them. It might be easier and safer to get some of this:

https://www.amazon.com/Acrylic-Plastic-Cement-Applicator-Bottle/dp/B0149IG548/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1470760033&sr=8-1&keywords=ips+weld+on+3

from the reviews it seems that it's a pretty effective pla solvent, so letting some of that sit on the glass for a few minutes might remove the discoloration.

The PTFE tube is tight. It was the first thing to check. The second was the clogging and I even cleaned up the nozzle with the tool just to be sure.

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It might be the moisture. The rolls of filament were vacuum sealed bags and I kept that inside until I needed it. I should invest in some dehumidifiers and containers for my filament rolls.

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Do you recommend the DIY way or is it worth investing into something like this Polymaker Filament Storage Box?

It looks like this hot end setup may work. It's kind of expensive, so you might try looking around to see if there's anything similar.

https://www.amazon.com/Hexagon-100Kohm-Thermistor-Lulzbot-Printer/dp/B07QGN3DS6

If you have a drill and can get a left-hand drill bit of the right size, you may be able to drill out the remains of the old nozzle without damaging the threads. All you really need is a new hot end block and a new nozzle. There are hundreds of these on Amazon and other sites -- look carefully at the existing one and find one that looks like it will fit.

As for what nozzle will fit, you want one that has the same screw thread as your heat block (most do seem to use the same size), accepts 1.75mm filament (if that's what you use now), and has the right nozzle diameter (0.4mm by default, which is a good compromise value and is probably what 90% of people run, including me.) I tend to like the longer, narrower nozzles, since they seem to have a lower likelihood of plastic sticking to them and causing problems.

Replacing the nozzle and heating block is about a $20 or so repair if you can find the right generic parts.

Yes, my printer was working perfectly before, but I think I've found the problem:

I disassembled the lever and and extruder plate to see if there was something else I could clean or assess for damage. There were some globs of burnt plastic under the gear, but that wasn't the problem I found. The idler bearing was not moving. I took a piece of filament and inserted it between the gear and idler and let the lever down and manually pushed the filament through. I saw that the idler was not moving at all. however the extruder gear was gripping the filament well and turning like normal. I've ordered this microswiss drop in replacement for the lever. I also plan on printing this extruder plate to go along with the new lever, but that's besides the point. The new lever arrives tomorrow, so I'll keep you updated if it works or not.

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Edit: You can also purchase a metal version of the extruder plate I linked, in case you're interested in it.

I can't personally attest to this but I imagine this filament cleaner will benefit me as well when I switch between PETG/PLA.

I've got a couple more questions.

First off, I looked your printer up real quick and the images I see online are different from what's shown in your video. So first question would be if you've got any more details about the printer, and where you got it from. Is it an old model, refurbished, bought off e-Bay, etc.? Or did you just take the frame off the printer or something?

Second, would it be possible to get a couple more pictures? I'd be interested in getting a close-up of the printer board, the leadscrews, and both X and Y belts if possible.

You may have some versions of stuff criss-crossed. Since the Robo R1+ on Amazon is sorta different from what you've got, there's a decent chance that it's using different leadscrews with a different pitch which would cause these problems. If you're using firmware meant for one model on a different model then things won't work out right. Also, if it's a refurbished or ancient model then there's a chance there could be other hardware issues at play.

UPDATE:

I swapped both the heat break and nozzle with replacement parts off of amazon. Fixed the issue immediately. It prints pretty well now and I’ve had very few issues (only one of note is my walls seem to get a little disfigured).

Heat Breaks: https://www.amazon.ca/gp/aw/d/B01LYKZD1Y?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

Nozzles: https://www.amazon.ca/gp/aw/d/B07CB7VYB2?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

One of these:


https://www.amazon.com/Zeelo-Extruder-Upgraded-Replacement-Extruders/dp/B07QHBNYD9/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?keywords=ender+3+extruder&qid=1574692677&sprefix=ender+3+&sr=8-4

They’re inexpensive and well worth it. The stock extruder on my Ender 3 kept under extruding and making my prints come out all spongy, as the arm on the extruder wouldn’t grip the filament tight enough. I got one like this and haven’t had the issue since.

This one, which I used many times with the old head and nozzle to great results. I may have used 300-400 grams of it at this point.

3DRAX 3D FILAMENT PURPLE HAZE PLA(PLUS)-1KG (2.2 LBS) - NEXT GEN FILAMENT PROFESSIONAL 1.75 +/- 0.05 mm Accuracy-Color- Purple Haze PLA
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0755ZXK3B/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_q3iJBb37Z3X4B

This is an extrusion problem. It’s hard to tell for sure if you’re under or over extruding, but i’m inclined to go with the former based on what i can see. If you havent done a single-wall cube test to calibrate your extruder, you should. Here’s a guide I made on thingiverse:

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3144345

I now recommend getting a proper micrometer for this test, rather than calipers as I recommend in the writeup. Here’s the micrometer I recently began using for calibration:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DNNX9Y3/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_k8rDDb0F06VXH

If you dont want to spend the money on a micrometer (worth every penny if you’re going to keep printing for a while) then you may also tune with your naked eye by printing small calibration prints (i recommend a benchy or 12) and adjusting the extrusion multiplier based on the surface quality you see. This is obviously less precise and can be quite frustrating for inexperienced users.

• Printer: Ender 3 Pro w/ glass print bed
  
• Print material: PLA
  
• Temps: nozzle 220, bed 70
  
• Firmware: whatever came on the printer by default, using Ultimaker Cura for the slicer
  
  I recently turned up the temps a bit because I was having first layer going down badly, but I think I over did it a bit and it's giving me a bit of stringing. Other slicer settings tried changing:
  
  
• jerk: 8 mm/s
  
• acceleration: 250 mm/s^2
  
• feed rate: 60 mm/s
  
• layer height: .2 mm
  
  The thing that's been driving me a bit crazy is getting the front of the boat there to have a nice smooth surface. The surface didn't really seem to change that much with the reduced jerk / acceleration. What are some things I can try changing to help improve the print?

Can we a get a closeup of the first layer only? It will help if we can get a really good look at the size/shape/texture of the first layer extrusions.

Tape and glue and everything can work, but it's always been a huge hassle for me. https://smile.amazon.com/BuildTak-Printing-Build-Surface-Square/dp/B00MN5X304 might be worth a little money. In my experience that printer does just fine with buildtak and a hot bed, as long as you have your nozzle height dialed in and the bed leveled. It might be worth $20 just to remove the surface material from the equation.


As for the nozzle wiping bit, that's a huge pain in the ass. If you're up for learning a little g-code (it's not hard), I recommend changing your pre-print g-code to move the nozzle directly onto the bed during the heatup phase, this keeps the goo in and makes your life a lot easier.

Also, you should change your skirt distance to about 15mm. The point of the skirt is to prime the nozzle. Moving the skirt away from the part will increase the skirt path length, which means more priming, which means you won't have to restart prints after a bad start as often.

Print off a Z-Spacer (like this one: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1808029)Pull off the black mat, clean well with adhesive remover, and install glass. I use this one, which fits perfectly: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B075XJ5ZP1/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I've never had great luck getting adhesion straight on glass, but the glass will give you a flat bed. If you have adhesion issues, go with blue tape.

I have very good results from esun PLA+ I get incredible layer adhesion. I have been printing it at 230c. I had accidentally used a petg profile in cura and it gave me good results. I have printed all the parts for another 3d printer with it. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07846LFNB/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_FBtzDbS31R3Z3

This happens for me when the air temperature in my printing room goes below ~22C.

I thought I was going to need a heated enclosure, but I ended up putting a small heater in the room, and it raised the temperature by a couple of degrees and fixed the issue for me.

I hear printing a brim can also help, but I've never tried it.

Not that I recall, but I bought a pretty early version of the Monoprice Maker Select when they dropped the price a few years ago, and the glass bed was one of my first additions.

The mod isn't difficult. I had a 16"x24" piece of window glass cut into four 8" squares. They did it at the hardware store (Lowe's iirc) for no extra charge.

The squares lay on the bed using four 1" (or so) thermal pads. I bought a sheet of the stuff from Amazon and just cut what I needed. It occasionally tears, so I replace it a couple of times per year. Using the thermal pad eliminates the need for binder clips or something more elaborate to hold the glass on the printer's bed.

The Z-Stop adjuster I used is so old that I probably wouldn't use it today. Just search Thingiverse and pick one you like. There are some nice designs out there.

Here's the process I would follow:

1. Install the z-stop adjuster and raise it all the way up.
   
2. Adjust the bed so that you are at the mid-point of the adjustment screws
   
3. Put the thermal pad on the corners of the bed
   
4. Put the glass on the thermal pad
   
5. Adjust the Z-Stop so that it activates just before your nozzle hits the bed
   
6. Level the bed like you normally would - by adjusting the four screws at the corners
   
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So this was PLA printed at 198c (amazon.com/dp/B00J0GO8I0). The print was a "success" in that the catapult works. It loses its springiness after a bit though.

I also used the increased tolerance version

3drax purple haze pla

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0755ZXK3B/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1