Newbie with Da Vinci Mini print errors

[cneeners]

Merry Christmas everyone!

I got my 14 year old son the da Vinci Mini for Christmas. Neither of us know anything about 3D printing, this one is supposed to be pretty much plug and play? Before we even finished setting up the machine, the little black cap on the coupler that holds the fillament feeder tub in place popped off. I spent half the day looking for it, gave up considering it lost, wrote an email to XYZ, and found it 5 minutes later.

I am 0/5 in successful prints. I calibrated the machine, had what looked like a good extrusion stream, I applied the sheet of tape to the print bed, and covered that in glue stick. I used one of the sample files provided, a relatively flat piece that says XYZ. The first several layers went great, then something happened and the last half of the print is shifted away from the bottom. (Picture 1).

Next I tried something flatter, a free download from the XYZ site. Again the first several layers were solid, and then I am not sure what happened. (Picture 2).

Then I tried another file from the free downloads figuring that maybe something was wrong with the previous file. The first several layers went great, then I caught it going haywire and aborted the mission. (Picture 3).

I decided for my fourth try that I would return to the sample. It was going great. It got a “print complete” message just before I was going in to check on it (should have been about the half-way mark). The black cap on the coupler came off, the guide tube was no longer connected and the fillament was unable to feed. This one was looking great (picture 4), so I decided to give it another go.

I tried the XYZ sample again. I sat nearby occasionally pushing the black coupler with the feed guide back in before it could dislodge, also monitoring my print progress. I had noticed on all of my prints that they were curling up at the edges. This was was as well. Once I saw I had an issue again, I stopped printing, again. (Picture 5). (Picture 6 shows the curling).

Please advise, your wisdom is very much appreciated

[Garyg]

Hi

I noticed that no one has replied to your question.

I’ll start by saying that I have a different printer from yours, But I’ve seen some things happen.

The 1st thing you would need to resolve is finding out why things are falling apart.

Then

By the warping shown in your last photo, you are really not attempting to print on an unheated bed with ABS material, are you?

…

Sometimes, if models are not solid, you get very strange results.

However, if you got your models directly from XYZ, I would think they are solid and should print.

…

So

Info that would be needed for others to chime in are

What slicing software are you using?

What material are you attempting to print with?

What are your temperature settings for extruder and bed, if your bed is heated?

How fast are you attempting to print at?

…

With that said,

I’ve had birdnest troubles if my filament diameter is out of spec.

I’ve had Warping troubles and bed adhesion troubles if my bed temperature is not correct or

if I’m running ABS with the cooling fan turned on.

…

It sounds like you are trying to do things correctly.

Sometimes the learning curve for 3D printing is quite steep.

Please don’t give up

It might be that you have a bad machine, but more than likely there are a few things that you just don’t understand yet.

When you are able to start printing good parts and you see your son smiling, it will all be worth it.

…

I hope my ramblings have helped you in some manner

[RianL77]

I also got the DaVinci Mini for Xmas and having the exact same issues as OP. Being a Newbie also I came here to ask the exact same question.

The filament is PLA (not ABS) the slicing software is the XYZware v. 2.2.12

The temperature and diameter are not settings you can change on the DaVinci mini. (mine heated up to 212 F and the diameter is 0.4 mm) and the bed is not heated. Basically everything is out of the box and I haven’t tweaked any settings at all.

I used an Elmer’s white glue stick on my first print attempt and my print was stuck so firmly that I had to destroy my tape sheet just to remove it. I’ve read on another post that when you print smaller flat objects (like the XYZ test file) that its best to print 2 at a time. I guess it allows the first object to cool a bit while the print head is working on the second object and vice versa. I’m going to apply my second tape sheet and give it try again tonight and see how it goes. Definitely a learning curve for the beginner.

[cneeners]

Thanks for your reply The DaVinci mini is pretty basic with not many options to change settings. It is a non-heated bed, and only uses proprietary filament. That said, it was under $300… We gave it a go the next day with one of the samples that was “less flat”. It’seems like a spiral-star vase. It came out perfect. We’ve done several other pieces with great success as well. I used the clear Elmer’s glue stick. I tried the flat bookmark again today and it didn’t work. I could actually see it moving on the bed, so at least I know what caused the issue. For now maybe we’ll just avoid things that are long and flat. I was wondering though if it might work better if I printed more than one and used a raft? Either way, we are having fun and my son is tinkering with designing his own models and that was really my goal.

[cneeners]

Hi Rian! I had success with the clear Elmer’s glue stick. I think it was even better the next day after it dried a bit. The bed is tacky to the touch. I’ve reapplied a bit with each print. As I said below, we’ve had luck with several pieces. I am a total novice, but based on what I have had success with thus far, I’d say try something that has a small base. The swirling star thing turned out great. Good luck!

[Johnleslie]

I have the xyz mini and found the stepper for the filament needs adjusting slightly. As for making prints stick the solution I found is cheap pound shop 2" masking tape and extra hold women’s hairspray . I know it sounds daft but it works. Make sure you use a bit of A4 paper to put at the back of the print bed when using the hair spay and allow it to dry on the tape Before printing. Hope this helps.