Firstly I would like to apologise , we were not deliberately keeping secrets , I don’t know what kind of tips and help is required so instead I’ll tell my experiences and fixes
i run run ctc makerbot replicator dual extruder ----------- makerbot desktop software
I’ve had every problem under the sun , but these printers are fantastic so I bought more more of them , if you sell the things you make then your printers are constantly getting battered around , I have mine running 18 hours a day , so turn print speeds right down , travel speed right down , you will find a lot of vibration will go away , they will run smoother , unfortunately your prints take longer but you have less down time , if you have got a factory printer , first thing is to look for upgrades , I myself sell a lot of these upgrades , including the spooler I have put pictures up of , this is my prototype so couldn’t be bothered tidying it up , I wanted to fit the real bearing and see how it worked , the ones I sell are immaculate and well , awesome , the pla rolls smooth because of the filament guide tubes , no jerking no printer jerking all over , I sell these spoilers for £45 free delivery , that includes the tubing and metal bearings , most of the parts on these printers are cheap , I mean like the pulleys are plastic and certain other parts need upgrading as well , I change all my plastic stuff to metal , get new pulleys , eventually these will crack and you will get shifting patterns , nozzles , if they are original run them until they block then chuck them and buy better nozzles , I run mk9 nozzles they are thin and work ten million times better , I’ve not had a blockage for ages ,
if you get a blockage , don’t mess about , take nozzle off and Ptfe out , chuck away , put new in and get printer back working ,
cause of blockage , OK main ones , don’t pull the filament out quickly when changing it , do this really slow and actually notice how much pla comes out , it’s unbelievable how much you leave in when you pull it out quickly
after you finish a print , don’t just turn off the machine , always wait for the fans to stop first ,
never let the filament run out and go through , I always do a change wen I have a inch left , this can be difficult to time right but I always have small things I can print when the reel is coming to an end
set up a maintenance plan on your printer , cleaning of rods , drop of oil on them , that sort of thing , these machines won’t run forever unless you look after them , listen to your machines sounds , when something goes wrong most of the time you hear a change or see more vibration , then you know something is wrong ,
spend time I me levelling your build plate , I do it three times in a row to make sure it is level , and the paper teqhnique I make sure I can feel the paper dragging , the closer you can get without scratching the plate the better , keep checking this , don’t think that now it is level it is staying that way , again set a plan , I check my plates every second day , but I run mine a lot
ok what else , supports are great but see how they hold your model if they are leaving marks that’s no good , debt into settings and make adjustments to your support density , same with the raft , I use raft every now and then on certain things and if you set the settings right , the raft will just peel off in your hands , look at raft density , get into your settings and learn as much as you can , that is where it all happens , if this has bored anyone I apologise again , just thought it couldn’t hurt
3D printing is amazing !!!
