3D Printers

[saac]

Louise we will be on the same learning curve, I've just taken delivery of an Ender 5, so we can compare notes, frustrations and successes  .  I can't fault the build quality of  Creality; assembly was without any fuss meaning it was up and running within 30 minutes out of the box.  At the moment it is  busy printing off a set of bearing supports for my laser engraver/cutter (adjustable bed). A machine making parts for another machine - Skynet indeed   So far the print quality that I'm getting is excellent and this is with the supplied  half spool of PLA;  I'll post some photographs later. From what I can see the Ender 3 and 5 are very similar sharing much in common so I don't think you will be disappointed Lousie.  Oh, I used Cura to do slicing, it's pretty intuitive and seems to offer a lot of control over the various parameters.   

 

Jim  

[Thalestris24]

27 minutes ago, saac said:

Louise we will be on the same learning curve, I've just taken delivery of an Ender 5, so we can compare notes, frustrations and successes  .  I can't fault the build quality of  Creality; assembly was without any fuss meaning it was up and running within 30 minutes out of the box.  At the moment it is  busy printing off a set of bearing supports for my laser engraver/cutter (adjustable bed). A machine making parts for another machine - Skynet indeed   So far the print quality that I'm getting is excellent and this is with the supplied  half spool of PLA;  I'll post some photographs later. From what I can see the Ender 3 and 5 are very similar sharing much in common so I don't think you will be disappointed Lousie.  Oh, I used Cura to do slicing, it's pretty intuitive and seems to offer a lot of control over the various parameters.   

 

Jim  

I'm just assembling mine - on and off. Cup of tea time

Louise

[saac]

Yes, frequent tea refills was in my instructions too.  Good luck with putting it together. 

Jim 

[Dr_Ju_ju]

You may well be an eager beaver, but don't rush anything, slow & sure is the best way......

[saac]

Sorry , double post !

Jim

Edited October 18, 2019 by saac

[saac]

1 hour ago, Dr_Ju_ju said:

You may well be an eager beaver, but don't rush anything, slow & sure is the best way......

No need to be over cautious it simply works and works well - Creality get's my thumbs up. If problems arise as surely they will they will be investigated and overcome; but so far, it's on its 8th print and storming through with excellent results.  I'm quite pleased now that I have the combination of the laser cutter and 3 D printer they  complement each other very well. 

 

* Manual adjustable bed for Co2 Laser (K40) by dgferrete, Published on April 2019, www.thingiverse.com/thing:3595259

Jim 

Edited October 18, 2019 by saac

[Thalestris24]

I've not powered mine up yet. I'll wait until the morning when I can see better. Still, pretty much ready to go, I think. I've no doubt it will need a few mechanical tweaks. If not, I'll be very happy! Time to cook some grub!  

Louise

[saac]

3d printed pizza  

Jim 

[Thalestris24]

Just now, saac said:

3d printed pizza  

Jim 

Lentils and veg probably I need something to cover the printer - it will get dusty, otherwise.

Louise

[PeterW]

Putting a clip with some tissue on is useful to wipe crud off the filament prior to it getting fed in... reckon some random layer fails may have occurred before I did this

 

peter

[Thalestris24]

First print! Not very interesting. I think it's just some sort of tool used with the Lowspec:

I'm trying a T2 connector now. I'm not sure if it's been printing level but I'll see how the T2 turns out. 

Um, is there anything special I have to do when I've finished (for the moment)? Should I remove the filament?

After a few problems I think the printer is working ok. I'm not sure about the rotary controller/knob. It doesn't always do anything when I rotate it - is that a common problem? Fixable? It's not stopped me printing but the lack of response doesn't seem right.

Louise

[PeterW]

Leave the material in, it should turn off all the heating when it finishes a print. I have come across several machines with less than responsive controllers, just need to be patient with them. Looks like things are working as they should. I’d caution against making fine threads as they are not likely to work too well and light strip easily. 
 

peter

[Thalestris24]

39 minutes ago, PeterW said:

Leave the material in, it should turn off all the heating when it finishes a print. I have come across several machines with less than responsive controllers, just need to be patient with them. Looks like things are working as they should. I’d caution against making fine threads as they are not likely to work too well and light strip easily. 
 

peter

I did a google search and causes/solutions to rotary encoder problems have varied, but included a firmware update. That'll be a last resort!
Ok - but I thought the pla had to be stored in a sealed container? Not that I'm too worried about the included short bit
Yeah, I wasn't sure about printing threaded items but it's not my design. If there are any problems with it, I'll have to make some modifications - maybe use a metal insert or something. It's nearly dark so I won't do anymore tonight after this T2 has finished. I think it's mostly done now - should finish in about half an hour.

Thanks

Louise

[Gina]

The only filament that really suffers from damp is Nylon but that is extremely difficult to print anyway and few printers are capable.  Normal indoor conditions shouldn't give you any problems with PLA.  A damp shed may be different.

Edited October 19, 2019 by Gina

[Thalestris24]

Oh well, the T2 connector came out ok It fits nice and tight, and feels solid, but it's hard to tell how durable it might be. I suppose the good thing is that one can just print out another one! 

I'll try to print out a few other components tomorrow, and using the black Sunlu filament I bought.

Louise

[PeterW]

A few PLA materials I have do seem to develop “cracky” regions along their length, so they’ll break in the Bowden tube or by the feeder and fail the print. Bending the filament is fine apart from occasionally when it snaps. I’ve seen this on a block, red and blue, but others of the same colour are fine, so maybe a supplier/batch issue. Again I’ve only seen this rarely and the spare material ends up in the bin! If you’re using your machine enough the filament is unlikely to get affected. A colleague did have some ?7yr old material that he’d used in almost condensing humidity in Singapore... now very fragile. There are lots of PLA derived materials that claim better printing or better properties.... we are spoilt for choice.

Peter

[saac]

1 hour ago, Thalestris24 said:

Oh well, the T2 connector came out ok It fits nice and tight, and feels solid, but it's hard to tell how durable it might be. I suppose the good thing is that one can just print out another one! 

 

I'll try to print out a few other components tomorrow, and using the black Sunlu filament I bought.

Louise

That's looking really good Lousie you will be pleased with that. It's very satisfying especially when its something that you are going to make use of. I haven't noticed the problem you reported with the encoder not responding. Having said that if I am at the top of the menu and turn it the wrong direction (anti clockwise) it does nothing  - I half expected that it would scroll from the end of the menu upward if you know what I mean.  When Im in a mid part of the menu it will operate fine in either direction.  Happy printing  

Jim 

[Thalestris24]

1 hour ago, saac said:

That's looking really good Lousie you will be pleased with that. It's very satisfying especially when its something that you are going to make use of. I haven't noticed the problem you reported with the encoder not responding. Having said that if I am at the top of the menu and turn it the wrong direction (anti clockwise) it does nothing  - I half expected that it would scroll from the end of the menu upward if you know what I mean.  When Im in a mid part of the menu it will operate fine in either direction.  Happy printing  

Jim 

I'll try reseating the ribbon cable connectors tomorrow. I don't want to have to send it back... I noticed when I was doing the assembly that moving the gantry up and down caused the screen to flash!  That suggests that it was generating inductive voltages which could have caused some damage You'd think they would have incorporated measures to prevent that... 

Louise

[saac]

55 minutes ago, Thalestris24 said:

I'll try reseating the ribbon cable connectors tomorrow. I don't want to have to send it back... I noticed when I was doing the assembly that moving the gantry up and down caused the screen to flash!  That suggests that it was generating inductive voltages which could have caused some damage You'd think they would have incorporated measures to prevent that... 

Louise

I noticed the same thing on mine Louise, I m guessing a strategically placed diode would have sorted that out.  That said, I don't think it's causing any problems mine has worked flawlessly, I really can't fault it.  I can upload a video showing how the encoder and screen on mine behaves if that would be of any use for comparison. 

 

Jim 

Edited October 19, 2019 by saac

[Thalestris24]

17 minutes ago, saac said:

I noticed the same thing on mine Louise, I m guessing a strategically placed diode would have sorted that out.  That said, I don't think it's causing any problems mine has worked flawlessly, I really can't fault it.  I can upload a video showing how the encoder and screen on mine behaves if that would be of any use for comparison. 

 

Jim 

Thanks, Jim, but no need to video it! I can tell mine isn't behaving as I'd expect. I'll check out the connections tomorrow. If I can't seem to fix it I'll get in touch with Creality EU - maybe they can help. There's a post on Reddit  reporting similar problems.

Louise 

[saac]

The Reddit forum looks like a good source of info Lousie , it's not something I've used much. It looks like as you say a known problem then. I hope you can get it sorted. 

Jim 

Edited October 19, 2019 by saac

[upahill]

I tend to leave my filament in situ all the time, but if im not likely to print again for a while (few days) ill wrap a strip of cling film around the roll in place with a few desicant packs trapped in there. Helps keep dust off too.

[RolandKol]

9 hours ago, Thalestris24 said:

I'll try reseating the ribbon cable connectors tomorrow. I don't want to have to send it back... I noticed when I was doing the assembly that moving the gantry up and down caused the screen to flash!  That suggests that it was generating inductive voltages which could have caused some damage You'd think they would have incorporated measures to prevent that... 

Louise

It is normal for Screen to flash once you move the bed  on the cheep printers while they are off.

Stepper mottors are generators also, - so avoid moving bed very fast as there is a small chance to burn the mother board.

Edited October 20, 2019 by RolandKol

[Thalestris24]

3 hours ago, RolandKol said:

Stepper mottors are generators also

I know that! I was surprised they hadn't incorporated measures to prevent it though they might have a simple Zener diode circuit.

Louise

[Thalestris24]

I've had no luck with improving the rotary encoder operation I've dropped their Amazon storefront a line but I'm not optimistic. I wouldn't want to send the whole thing back. I checked the version number via the screen - says 1.1.6.2 which is higher than the 1.1.6.1 Creality have to download. So it's probably not a firmware issue. I've no idea how to update it anyway. Looks like I'll have to live with the problem or see if I can buy a replacement screen or motherboard. Hard to say where the fault lies.

Louise