Hello,
I purchased the Ender 5 plus from you back in November -ish, and from day one It’s been a challenge to stick. (common as that might be).
I’ve narrowed it down to 2 things…
- What I know for sure… is the bed (or the X arm) is not flat at the centre point. (I preheat the bed for at least 15min before level). I can have the 4 outsides perfect paper-slide method, then go back to the centre, and it’s digging into the bed! If I get the centre right, the outsides are floating. I’ve tried adding tape under bed on the front and back to try raising it, but no change. I can get a print if I level the outside as best as I can, and do a raft/spray/ #2…
I read that it could be a bowed x Arm, and that I could take the whole arm a part and rotate to test… but I’m not willing to do that… on a new machine that could cause another problem… (and even if it was bowed… that would just be factored in the leveling the whole thing… so this is not feeling right.
- When I preheat the bed (leaving for 15min), and I use a digital thermomiter “gun”, the temp is 10 deg less then what it’s set to, and it varies all over the bed. (I preheat the room (30min to a nice but not warm temp as it is the basement when needed), I have come to increasing the bed temp in print to 70 just to get 60-65 with the thermometer (and a get a successful print). (I know these aren’t perfect it’s something to consider).
thoughts…?
thanks
With respect to the bed itself not being flat, that is a common problem. I, too, have a high spot in the middle. I’ve taken to adding a few layers of aluminum foil around the outside to get it nearly flat. Some people have worked around the problem with mirrored glass, which is apparently flatter than regular glass, but that has it’s own issues. As someone on Facebook pointed out a couple of months ago; you can buy a $3000 printer or you can buy a $500 printer. If you go the $3000 route you can expect it to be damn near perfect. Not so much with the $500 model. I have the 5Pro, by the way, and it’s been a trooper, bed hump not withstanding, and as I say, there’s an easy-ish work-around.
As for the temperature, What gun are you using? Seriously: my Canadian Tire temperature probe says my bed is off by at least 10 degrees. Think the medical ones are better? True story: During the SARS epidemic of 2003 I was tested at a hospital by 5 different nurses and got 4 different readings. They took the highest 3 out of 5 and threw me in isolation for 14 hours until a blood test proved I was not actually sick. If you want accuracy, my $3000 FLIR i5 says the bed is accurate to within 0.3C.
Moral of the story: do not put any stock in these point-and-click thermometers. They are approximate at best. Also, keep in mind that the heater and thermistor are located on the bottom of the bed. If you take a reading off the top of the bed, it’s going to be different, depending on what the bed is made out of and how thick it is.In my case the bed is quite thin and largely metallic. I understand glass beds have a higher thermal resistance so that may be part of your problem if you’re using one.
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Thanks for the reply Lego.
I had recently seen using aluminum foil, but haven’t tried it. Thanks, Will do.
I hear you on the $3000/ $500. I was hoping that the 5+ at $900 with tax would lean closer to the $3000 
guess not. My first printer was a Wanhoa i3 that I bought 2nd hand, so I have never had the opportunity to see what Warranty was offering on things like this. Do you have any experience with 3DPS on that front and these things? (To be fair, I haven’t called them directly, as I know it’s a right of passage and the ‘norm’ for this crap in 3D printing… but if not covered, what is?? (rhetorical).
You guessed right on the Thermometer. Canadian Tire. I suspected this as well, but when I got better results be cranking the temp beyond what I deem normal, I thought I might be on the right track. On well. To be fair cranking the temp could also be a Winter/Summer thing, so i’ll let that one go.
Thanks again.
My real job I deal with temperatures and the issue of needing accurate consistent temps at a lower cost all the time. IR guns are far more twitchy than most understand. Emissivity is not your friend. Basically the reflectance of an object screws up the measurement. It is easy seen, take aluminum foil scarp hold the gun around 40• to the surface hold the trigger and move your hand over the foil. Sooner tr later you are measuring your hand not the foil.
Most probe type thermometers are accurate to 1-2ºC good enough for this purpose.
Unfortunately that is the case with printers, out of the box printing is expensive upfront or in time and parts later.
I bought a prusa kit and once built it made perfect prints every mod I tried I undid as it is better stock generally. I recommended a fully assembled out of the box it was flawless and made great prints. I agree with the 3000/500 but the gap is smaller 1500/500.
I started with a tiki and I was over my head fast, I got a mono price mini had a grand time tinkering and taking it apart. I bought the prusa learned a lot about it assembling it and the instructions are the best I have ever seen for anything. I then bought an artillery in November and just have it mostly consistently making pints now, New hot bed, new filament sensor, new extruder, bl touch,… Tech support sent one email since November… I bought it with the wrong attitude, it is a project not a tool, I will get it working but I wish I saved the 700$ and all the money and time I poured into it.
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I have to remember to quote that. Summarizes it perfectly.
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