(Let me know if this isn’t the right place to put this, I’m very new)
Hello all!
Like the title says, I’m having major issues with my new Ender 2 Pro.
I just received this machine as a belated Christmas gift, and set it up a few days ago. I followed a video tutorial and it seems to be set up properly.
When I have attempted to print something, at first it would print halfway and then knock the print over about 1/3rd of the way up. (For example, I tried to print a small standing figure on a brim and it printed the legs, then the nozzle knocked it down at just the start of printing the waist)
It’s not just for that particular print, it’s for every print I have tried.
And now, I’m lucky if I even get half of a print; what I am currently struggling with is that the printer just makes curly, squiggly globs on the print bed and doesn’t actually build a shape. Even trying to print a flat square or brim stand for a print results in a mass of curling plastic strands or the nozzle pushes that first layer around and ruined the base. Absolutely nothing will print correctly and actually become a shape.
I’m at my wits end because I don’t want to disappoint the person who gifted this to me, and I’d really like to make it work because it’s a hobby I’d like to get into.
I feel like I have tried everything, watched every Ender 2 Pro tutorial I can find, and my tabs are full of troubleshooting forums.
I’m also having a bit of a struggle finding Ender 2 Pro specific help guides because everything I see online is for the Ender 3.
Here is what I have tried:
I’ve tried seeing if the issue was in the gcodes for my prints, so I opened Cura and made sure the Z axis settings weren’t too high. Many of the tutorials said I could set the initial layers of the print at a higher temp and slower speed for better adhesion to the bed, to try and prevent slipping/knocking over, but this has not helped the problem.
I unscrewed and then re-tightened the Z-Axis lever switch, so that it would not print too high above the bed. This seemed to of helped with a previous issue of the nozzle being too high, but it’s still not adhering the print to the bed and I’m still struggling with the print being pushed around by the nozzle.
I am wondering if it is still too high or if these changes caused more issues, but I don’t have the eye to tell because I’m so new to the process.
I have tried leveling the bed and have done the paper test several times both on a cold and hot bed to see if the bed level was the issue; I am still facing the problem.
I saw a suggestion to clean the print bed with isopropyl alcohol to remove potential oils from skin contact to help with adhesion. This also did not work, and neither did the trick or putting a few swipes of a glue stick on the bed to help the filament adhere.
Any help is greatly appreciated, as I don’t know what else to look for; I’m very new to 3D printing and while I’ve tried to educate myself and find the means to troubleshoot, it hasn’t been easy and I’m admittedly getting quite frustrated. Since I’m very new to all of this I know I’m not going to get it perfect immediately, but it is a bit disheartening reading how this is apparently a good printer for beginners and so many people seem able to use it right out of the box. Hopefully this is something that can be resolved and I can figure out what I’m overlooking.
Thank you in advance!
I will provide images of the machine and examples of failed prints:
