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3D Printer Essentials? (Or maybe better named as "Adventures in Newb 3D Printing" )

lowfat

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How did you recalibrate your z axis? IMO you shouldn't ever touch the steps per mm. 0.03 is easily within the margin of error.
 

sswilson

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I'm already into the steps / mm zone and have my X/Y dialed in via that method. I'm assuming that the X/Y steps should be fixed and won't change from filament to filament now that I've got it dialed in, but I don't have the Z axis completely dialed in.

Maybe once I get it dialed in for this roll of filament via step method I'll try your method of changing flow rate percentage.

That said... I don't see how changing the flow rate would be able to adjust for calibration of X/Y steppers.....

I'm thinking that your method only works once you've got the steppers calibrated.
 

danmitch1

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Just need to butt in for a sec.
Last night I tried doing the 20mm cube test method suggested and couldnt get my first layer to stick still.
I havent tried adjusting the extruder yet because when trying to print a file that worked a few days ago ( the maze that came with the printer)
I noticed on the home page that when printing the z axis was at 0.3 when I can remember it being at 0.1 when it worked. I didnt reslice the file with a higher layer height either.
I have a feeling I messed something up during calibration.

Am I doing the calibration correctly ?
1- Press auto home
2- Dissable steppers
3- Move the bed to each adjustment point and slide a piece of regular paper so that there is a little bit of friction.
4- Move to the center and check it, re adjust again if needed.

After this, is there anything I need to do? Sometimes the xyz are flashing 0 as if it doesn't know where the positions are
Do I need to press auto home again or set home offsets?

Sorry for butting in !
 

lowfat

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I'd never ever touch steps per mm on X / Y / Z / or even E. It really isn't possible for them to be out. They are all calculated values based on the properties of the stepper and pulley / lead screw size. 3D printing is never going to be exact due to the fact that melting plastic isn't instantaneous, if you turn off the hotend, its goign to continue to melt for probably 30s and due to pressure it will continue to extrude.
 

Entz

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That said... I don't see how changing the flow rate would be able to adjust for calibration of X/Y steppers.....
That setting is really only for the extruder to compensate for slight variances in material diameter or material (assuming your temp is spot on).

I guess if you want to be technical, too much flow can cause the filament to squish out and make your lines thicker then requested which may move the part in a dimension or two.

Personally I would do a bigger cube (or wall set) if your worried and see how the errors add up. 0.03 is starting to hit up against the error margin on the cheaper calipers though and were not building an aircraft engine.
 

Entz

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Just need to butt in for a sec.
Last night I tried doing the 20mm cube test method suggested and couldnt get my first layer to stick still.
I havent tried adjusting the extruder yet because when trying to print a file that worked a few days ago ( the maze that came with the printer)
I noticed on the home page that when printing the z axis was at 0.3 when I can remember it being at 0.1 when it worked. I didnt reslice the file with a higher layer height either.
I have a feeling I messed something up during calibration.

Am I doing the calibration correctly ?
1- Press auto home
2- Dissable steppers
3- Move the bed to each adjustment point and slide a piece of regular paper so that there is a little bit of friction.
4- Move to the center and check it, re adjust again if needed.

After this, is there anything I need to do? Sometimes the xyz are flashing 0 as if it doesn't know where the positions are
Do I need to press auto home again or set home offsets?

Sorry for butting in !
I would grab the Ender 3 calibration gcode file and use that. You may be running into a bed level issue or your Z-Stop moved a bit (mine was loose when I got my printer) or maybe not set quite right.

You don't want to disable the steppers IMO.

Not sure what flashing means, other than maybe it hit the end stops. I will defer to the OG Ender 3 people :D
 

danmitch1

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I would grab the Ender 3 calibration gcode file and use that. You may be running into a bed level issue or your Z-Stop moved a bit (mine was loose when I got my printer) or maybe not set quite right.

You don't want to disable the steppers IMO.

Not sure what flashing means, other than maybe it hit the end stops. I will defer to the OG Ender 3 people :D
Ahha, Ill look to see if that was included on the flash disk that came with the printer. Ill also have to check that z switch too, didnt think of that. I only adjusted it once when I installed the glass.

Yeah all the calibration guides Ive seen tell you to disable the steppers so you can manually move the bed around by had instead of using the slow move axis functions.
 

sswilson

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That's the print I use when leveling. It will move the head to the 4 corners and pauses at each corner until you hit the printer's control button to resume. (It's a dry print... it doesn't extrude any filament).

I had started out with Chep's code, but it's got some kind of bug that causes it to move extremely slowly from time to time.

I've copied the gcode to the root of my printer's SD card and run it from there once I've let the bed heat up for a minimum of 10 minutes.

edit: I have a sneaking suspicion that I'm going to be paying close attention to these settings once I get the new board in and need to set it up. :)
 

sswilson

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Hrmmmm.... so let's print that bloody part a third time.... :(

This time however, I practiced getting the bloody nuts into the body(s) of the previous 2 so I think I've got it down using a heat gun.

Heat up the nut, insert it closely, then center it with a scriber through the screw hole seems to have worked....
 
Last edited:

danmitch1

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Dec 15, 2007
Messages
2,318

That's the print I use when leveling. It will move the head to the 4 corners and pauses at each corner until you hit the printer's control button to resume. (It's a dry print... it doesn't extrude any filament).

I had started out with Chep's code, but it's got some kind of bug that causes it to move extremely slowly from time to time.

I've copied the gcode to the root of my printer's SD card and run it from there once I've let the bed heat up for a minimum of 10 minutes.

edit: I have a sneaking suspicion that I'm going to be paying close attention to these settings once I get the new board in and need to set it up. :)
Sooo , i tried the gcode you linked to and had this baby dialed in perfectly and still no go. As soon as it starts printing its too high. I even resliced a the test file to .05 layer thickness and same problem.
I started the return process with Amazon... I think I might order the one from the creality storefront or even look for one with auto leveling.
 

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