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3D Printing Breaks My ****** Heart! Ep 8
September 27, 2017 by warzan
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@warzan apart from all the frustration with what sounds like a supplier we should all avoid I think you are doing a great job and really showing us the good times and the bad with 3d Printing.
If it helps I think you should be confident in your ability, you have already gone way further than most would take it apart, customising the build and replacing parts. So I would say keep going, don’t give up and I am confident you will get the results you are after.
Much like Van Damme, No Retreat, No Surrender.
Martin
Just going to have to stick at it mate!
@warzan
Welcome to the joys of hobby 3d printing…
Must get around to writing the “why i abandoned 3d printing” thread, bottom line is nothing is a black box, be prepared to dismantle everything, and dont be afraid to tinker, bodge and graft parts to make it work 😀
While i commend you for trying to learn by doing, i fear the meta hobby of printer tinkering will take over, for me the realisation that the 3d printer wasnt helping with any of my hobbies, just diverting time, effort and money from them kind of rendered my enthusiasm for it null.
That said im plotting my next “printer” build to be based off this stuff…
https://photocentric3d.com/daylightresins/?v=79cba1185463
Just need to skip dive an old flatscreen monitor and uprate its LED’s….
I think you have to accept the fact that unless you drop over a grand on a 3D printer, ownership of the device *requires* that it becomes a hobby unto itself. I don’t suppose you are still within a period where you can take your money back, get a refund? Perhaps buying a different and better known model will mean that you start a fair bit closer to the finish line in terms of getting it to a usable state.
At least with a Creality CR-10 or TEVO Tarantula you’d have a much bigger pool of experience to draw from when it come to problems (just check youtube!) when clearly your local suppliers have little interest in learning how to support the product they are trying to sell.
“I think you have to accept the fact that unless you drop over a grand on a 3D printer, ownership of the device *requires* that it becomes a hobby unto itself.”
Yup, I feel that is what is going to have to happen.
Prusa MK3 ships in November 🙂
@warzan, may I suggest a replacement 3d printer that will make your life a little easier and won’t fail you. http://shop.prusa3d.com/en/3d-printers/59-original-prusa-i3-mk2-kit.html.
Do some research and you will see that the prusa punches way above its belt line!
I think I say pretty much this at the end of the video mate 🙂 Great Minds lol
Although I would like the New Mk3 if I could get one!
get the kit Version and made emm some one that the studio assemble it ?
Our budget is spent on the one we have mate it will be a while before we look to a new one, so I guess I’m going to have to learn how to tinker!
looks like you really need to more the motor on to the top and the filliment too , i have yet to get myself a 3dprinter but i did have some stuff printed to help me sculpt stuff faster 😀
perhaps time for another round of ‘centurions’ like when you did to get those extra cameras ?
Except now the money is for a 3D printer ?
😉
i just compare the Original Prusa i3 with the one you got , on the Original Prusa i3 the moto that pull in the filliment is mounted on the print head and the filliment roll is mounted on top of the printer so if you are comfortable with the idea of modding it you better configer it like the Original Prusa
oh and Pursa is coming out with the mrk 3 if you do want to get a new one better look in to the new one
oh man, i do feel for you @warzan. i would have to admit, if i was in you’re situation i would of probably given up by now. the company that you are dealing with seem less than useless. there really isn’t anything i can help you on with this as i’m a complete nood myself. i’m lucky with my printer as there is a large facebook group for the wanhao i3 plus that are extremely active and very helpful with any questions.
if you do feel the need to change printer i can only recommend the wanhao i3 plus, being the only printer i have ever owned. comes in at roughly the same price as your one but slightly different as the spool holder sits on top on the printer. it’s very well built and there are plenty of video’s on youtube of people with one. sorry this isn’t of much help, but i though it would be worth sharing.
I have no experience in 3d modelling. But is it possible to break the print down into smaller parts and print them separately, might take some of the strain off of printing a larger piece.
Yes that will be the way I go Ultimately, but as it stand the print was failing at less than half of its published z range 🙂
Just get a refund under warranty if you can. Get a better printer now you know this is something you want to go further into. As you say in the video, perhaps get a genuine Prusa i3 kit.
3d printer companies, particularly those producing these i3 clones, seem to take the piss quite a lot in terms of quality control from what I’ve seen, often passing on their own QC issues to the consumer. If customers started returning the faulty pieces of crap rather than fixing issues themselves, manufacturers would be forced to produce better quality products.
Dismantle, rebuild and true it your self, nothing too complicated in any of the non pro printers on the market. An engineering square, spirit level and accurate ruler are all you need.
Problem is that apart from questionable bearing quality most of the clones are not to bad mechanically its the assembly in the factory which sucks. Personally i dont see that as a problem as even pro kit needs commissioning in-situ which comes down to tweaking bearing pretension and truing the axis’s. That said this is a wider issue with the over selling of the possibility of 3d printing, people expect it to be like buying a printer, i.e. plugin and go, and that will never be the case with a machine with 4+ directions of travel, plus heat, precision parts (extruder nozzle) and variable quality plastic to print with, simple fix though stop calling it “printing” and start calling it “extruding” at least it sounds as technical as it is.
Problem is that most of the companies out there make out as if it is just like buying an inkjet. If they are selling you a kit that you need to be able to strip and repair on your own with little or no assistance from them, they should make damn sure that the customer knows that up front.
The way I see it is that people accepting shoddily made products are enabling these shady companies to ship sub-standard goods and expect the consumer to deal with it. The less the customer stands for it, the less these unscrupulous folks who are simply out to make a quick buck without supporting their product will benefit and the more companies that actually provide a good product and service will prosper.
It is companies like this that pretend to cater to the casual user at a low price point that end up putting folk off getting into 3d printing in the first place. For many people this machine would very swiftly end up as a few hundred pounds worth of paperweight.
@lunchbox I do agree, problem is machines are made to a price. To make it consumer friendly price wise unless you are prepared to rebuild and modify it and get the most out of the cheap parts its made of its always going to frustrate more often than not. The shame is that its portrayed or perceived like an inkjet. Call it a hobby 3 axis cnc thermo extruder and at least your some what close to making it sound less user friendly plug and play than 3d printer does.
It sounds like the only problem with your original set up was the print height. So, why not change your gun barrel design to be printed in two parts? Perhaps make the second part a muzzle brake that fits over the barrels. Just a thought.
@warzan – I don’t have a 3D printer so I don’t know *exactly* or *directly* what you’re going through – but man … My first airbrush, certain computers, certain software, automation data tools at work … they promise this $hit will change you life, but when you ask for help afterwards, they suddenly don’t know you.
With all this American Revolution writing I’m doing lately, I’m reminded of what Thomas Paine wrote in The American Crisis: 1776
These are the times that try men’s souls.
The summer hobbyist and sunshine 3D printmaster …
Will shrink from the service of his hobby.
But he that stands it now, deserves the thanks and praise of man and woman.
3D printing, like Hell, is not easily conquered.
But we have this consolation with us.
The more difficult the trail, the more glorious the triumph!
I may be paraphrasing there a little … 😀
lol lovely mate
Argh … that’s supposed to be “trial” – not “trail” – sounds like you got the idea, though. 😀 😀
@oriskany
Re your first paragraph Jim. I completely agree but to your list (airbrush, computer, etc) I would like to add the word MARRIAGE, as it applies also under your flawless logic.
Severe and constant confusion – no manual, no tech support, no sympathy, no hope.
Boy….does it apply!
I know nothing about 3D printing, but I’m finding your series eye opening mate. I know if it was me no doubt the printer would have my boot as a nozzle by now, so I commend your composure!
Given how the supplier responds to your questions I don’t think you need to worry about the warranty It’s not like they offer much constructive support anyway.
Just gather all the knowledge from the guys on here and the wider internet and tinker away until the &^%$@# thing works or goes down in a blaze of glory.
@warzan I feel you pain, I have a wanhao i3 which worked well for about a year and then would randomly stop extruding. I replaced most of the extruder parts but still I cant work out what is wrong, my next option is to replace the extruder motor if that doesn’t fix it I am out of idea’s and unless a 3d printer repair shop (if such a thing exists) I don’t know if I will ever getting working again.
Have you tried changing the filament to new one to see if that cures the problem? PLA does absorb water and that can cause the filament to swell and jam the head.
https://reprage.com/post/3D-Printer-PLA-moisture-problems-and-storage-solutions
@warzan – some advice from a 2+ year 3D printer user. Send the unit back and save yourself some pain if you want printing to be your hobby instead of 3D printer building being your hobby. The first printer I bought I had trouble with and sent it back. I now use a Lulzbot Taz5 with little to no issues.
My next printer will be the PRUSA MK3. There is a large community of users, lots of positive reviews and a really responsive customer service team.
If you keep the one you have, voiding the warranty is the least of your problems!
@warzan Like you said, you are still very new to the whole 3d printing game. once you know what to do, what to look for, how to make adjustment etc, you will probably re-watch these videos, screaming at the screen tto yourself saying “Not that screw you moron! The one next to it!! Come on!!!”
Fingers crossed this start picking up for you. For the viewers…. well, for me… a really interesting series. Heard all the success stories of 3d printing, but this is a more down-and-dirty look and showing the pit-falls as well as the successes.
Good luck buddy. Keep at it. 🙂
you are getting there a bit at a time love the gun part that you part made @warzan
3D printing is a lesson in frustration I brought a printer new from Amazon for £300 the wanhoa I3 which had excellent reviews which has never printed successfully any print of over 4 hours like you I tried a micro Swiss head and ended up returning it for a refund the stringing is a retraction issue as I discovered you have to find and tweak multiple settings to make it work and I just didn’t have the patience to spend hours and hours on forums and boards.
The printer spends more time being disassembled than printing…I can disassemble the print head in my sleep as it is forever blocking up.
Conversely I brought an up mini off eBay for £90 and it works every time flawlesslessly the only issue being it has a very small print bed. It is effectively just load up print and leave it too it.
Keep persevering because as I have discovered 3D printing is still in the tinkerer stage it hasn’t even reached the dot matrix printer stage as is more the Heath Robinson held together by elastic bands and hope. Think Games Workshops has a few more years before it needs to worry lol
If you replaced the nozzle and messed about with the stepper motor end stops then I’d have thought bed levelling would be essential to get it working smoothly again. You may also be getting worse results due to the stainless nozzle having different thermal properties to the original copper one, so a higher nozzle temp might get smoother flow again, but level the bed first to reduce factors.
If you want some quick wins to keep your enthusiasm levels up- if you can get the printer printing at the original quality again you could try horizontally slicing your model in TinkerCAD to make two shorter parts, print them out one at a time and just glue the slices together for an impressive gun length.
I have a anycubic I3 mega with ultrabase heatbed, know over 400 hours of running, bedlevel 2 times, 99% of print comes out well, only problem i had was with CURA 15.04 software. ( half gcode on sd card ) . i updated to 2.6 , needed to find right setting and is still running like a dream.
i would take the pla cable guide out of the wire loom and let it run freely, so when printing large object the pla wire is not bend into strange positions. it helps a lot.
never change a printhead so no tips for you there.
Given that it is a clone of the open-source 3D printer you might get some help from the prussa support groups that are out there.
However this would make it more of a hobby and less of a tool that does cool stuff.
Wow..
This is the first vlog that encouraged me to NOT make/ try/ buy anything lol!
I think I will wait until the time we just need to say ‘Earl Grey, hot’ and it will simply magically appear. Surely it is only a matter of time now. 🙂
Manhug, Big Manhug, keep your pecker up…
As I write, I have just dropped my 3D printer off for repairs, so I do feel your pain. This is not due to my tinkering, a big disclaimer here. The easiest fix to your problem may have been to split the object you are printing in half in your CAD program. Add more rings around the barrels at the split point to hide it. I know that this solution is only a temporary one but, may take care of the current problem once you reset your machine to the way that it was. As I do not know much about your actual program that controls your printing, did you try to adjust any of the print properties to alleviate what the stainless head was doing? i.e. adjusting temperatures, print speeds, travel speeds, layer heights? I would be tempted to adjust one at a time (after trying one reset it to original before experimenting with another) to see what effect it has on your printing to find the ideal settings. You might find that you can use the stainless nozzle after all.
If it makes you feel better, mine crashed in the 23rd hour of a 24 hour print. The motor that was feeding the filament is no longer able to drive it. I believe somehow that their is an obstruction preventing it.
You can get some good advise and info on the RepRap_Prusa_i3_3d_Printer Yahoo group. Especially the files section for help with settings, mods, and debugging.
So seeing the first episodes of your adventure in 3d-printing, I felt like I could try it myself…again. Three years ago, I dropped $1.5k US (<<This is about the cost of a forgeworld warlord titan, which was in fact the opportunity cost) on a large volume (one foot cubed) 3-d printer from Solidoodle; an experience which ended horribly, when I realized how much of a hobby itself, calibrating and maintaining the printer would be, and when the manufacturer had me performing major repairs and the printer still working very very poorly, I finally gave up…and so did the manufacturer, who went out of business two years ago, and a few months ago, I gave the remains of the printer to a friend who thought he might have time to hobby it back into working order.
After seeing your cool little boat and seeing how much the tech has come along, I decided to jump back in again, but this time, with exactly the hindsight you expressed at the end of the episode. Knowing what I had headaches with, hardware, bad support, etc…I ordered an original PRUSA i3 Mk2s…and the just announced the Mk3, so I cancelled my order and ordered a Mk3 :D. Looks like they solved even more problems with even better tech…looking at delivery in Nov/Dec, so should be here in time for Christmas!
I’m really glad your timing worked out for you mate the MK3 looks very good!
When I win the euro lottery Hrmph! on Fri, I”l buy you an expensive one!
Ouch. Yes, I had similar setbacks, although maybe not quite as bad. The only consolation I can say is that once it works, it’ll keep working.
What material are you printing in @warzan? I get really good results with PLA but PETG is slightly less good and I get a bit of stringing.
@warzan
Said it before, I’ll say it again. I admire your patience and tenacity Big Lad.
If I was faced with the same dilemma the printer would long ago have been introduced to the wall via the medium of rage induced hand flung terminal velocity!
@warzan Honestly us at Hayland Terrain We had these issues in the past with our previous printers, We reccomend you just send it back and get a Flashforge Finder. Its plug in and play, and will have no issues with prints
These are a few examples of our designs printed on the flashforge Finder, It is only £399 on Amazon and honestly can’t go wrong with them,
With the flashforge Finder It has Level Assist that lets you know once your plate is level, prints always stick to the plate as you use a glue stick with it.
Was this really the sad end of your 3D printing journey, cousin @warzan? I binge watched this series a couple of weeks back after ordering a 3d printer for our gaming group. Your tribulations really had me cracking it and terrified I’d made a horrible mistake.
I’m happy to say that so far my experience (with a Wanhao i3Plus plus) had been much smoother.
So come on, cuz! Don’t leave us on a massive downer like this!