Just got the printer, I’ve got everything on default settings, using the filament it came with, but it just won’t print right. The filament curls (not consistently; sometimes it falls straight) and won’t stick to the plate. I’ve tried restarting, cleaning the nozzle and messing with temperature settings. Any ideas?
Hi @comcom Welcome to the forum, Glad you found us here in our corner of the internet.
I generally start with the question “Has it ever worked?” Based on it being a new build I will assume at this point no. That is just fine you have come to the right place. Unfortunately, although the printers are solid once going, Getting them to that place can sometimes be a little bit of a bear.
Let’s get going step by step and check off the list below.
This is a little cheat sheet I am working on to send out with any new printer we sell. I would love to see anyone’s feedback on it once we have @comcom up and running. I don’t want to sidetrack his thread but I wanted you all to see the preliminary work.
Please let us know your results after working down through this cheat sheet and we will move onto next steps if required.
Instructional Cheat Sheet
First I would like to say to you thank you for your purchase. The purpose of this cheat sheet is to try to get you up and printing with as little frustration as possible. Please read through this sheet in its entirety first then when you go through it the second time, Follow along and check off the boxes as you complete each step.
To begin this cheat sheet you will have to already completed the assembly video of your particular printer. Please refer to our YouTube channel to locate the video appropriate to your printer. 3D Printing Canada - YouTube
Electrical Preparedness - Please ensure your printer is Electrically ready to be powered on for the first time.[image]
- Before you go any further please check to ensure your printer has been changed to the correct input voltage. DAMAGE CAN OCCUR IF YOU DO NOT FOLLOW THIS STEP
- For North America you will need to locate the selector switch It will look like the picture on the right. This switch must be set to 115V
- Ensure you have located the power cord that came with your printer
- Ensure you have selected an available outlet to plug your printer into. It is not a good idea to use a printer through a power bar or extension cord unless you can verify it is CSA or ETL-certified device. If in doubt plug directly into a wall socket.
- Plug the cord into the back of your printer, and following this plug the other end into your wall outlet. Turn on the power switch and at this point, the fans should start turning and the screen should light up after a few seconds. Once the printer has completed booting you will be looking at the home screen.
Mechanical Preparedness - Ensure your printer will home smoothly and identify which axis will not home if there is an issue. Once you have been able to power up the printer each home screen may be a little different and the wording from different manufacturers may differ slightly. In this document, we will speak generally about what you are looking for and you may have to search a little in the menu systems to find exactly the option.[image]
- Look for a menu option labelled “move” or “home”. You should be able to see 4 options, 1st, Home X, 2nd Home Y, 3rd, Home Z, and last you will see Home ALL.
- Select the first option of “HomeX” You should see the print head move all the way smoothly to the Left and hit the end-stop switch and stop silently at the end-stop switch.
- Next Select the item that states “HomeY”. This option will move the bed or the gantry all the way to the rear of the printer and smoothly touch the end stop and stop idle in that position.
- For the next option, you will need to know if your printer is equipped with a BLtouch or a regular end-stop switch. Please refer to your specific printer documentation to see if your printer is equipped with a BLtouch(or similar).
- If your printer is equipped with an end stop switch please select the option of “home” and allow your printer to either move the bed all the way to the top or the gantry all the way to the bottom, Again the movement should be smooth and controlled and stop at the appropriate location with little to no motor noise.
- If your Printer is equipped with a BLtouch or similar I always recommend testing the sensor Visually locate the BLtouch next to the nozzle on the gantry. (it usually had a red light glowing and a very small blue light next to it) Now when you select HomeZ what will happen is the nozzle will move to the middle of the bed, The pin from the BLtouch will deploy and the nozzle will start moving toward the Print surface. As soon as this starts to move use a fingernail and hold it directly below the BLtouch probe so the probe will touch your fingernail as soon as it starts to move. It May pause and move up slightly, deploy the probe again and attempt to move down again, This is normal. Touch the probe the second time and the gantry should stop moving. IF IT DOES NOT STOP MOVING POWER OFF THE PRINTER IMMEDIATELY. You will damage the print surface and possibly the nozzle and gantry if the BLtouch does not function properly after assembly. Recheck connections and test again for functionality. If it still does not function you can always reach out on our Forum: www.3dprintingspace.com for free technical support.
Bed Tramming
Commonly called Bed Leveling which is a misleading reference. You do not actually need a level bed, You need a correctly Trammed bed to be able to print properly. I would recommend before you start that if equipped you tighten all 4-bed knobs and release them ½ Turn in preparation for this process.
Back to YouTube, you will want to look up a person called CHEP. A very experienced 3D printer user and he has a very good explanation of how to properly tram a 3D printer bed. In the YouTube search or the following “Leveling or Tramming your Bed Using a Feeler Gauge on Ender 3 V2, “ The model of the printer is not important, the process of getting the bed parallel to the gantry is the same on any 3D printer.
Setting Your Z-offset.
You will do this step after you start your first print, You will have to move the nozzle closer or further away from the bed to allow for proper print adhesion. There is such a thing as printing too close or too far. Please refer to the pictures below to know what you are looking for Visually.
If you would like further information Matter Hackers has an article on just this subject. You can find it here; 3D Printing 101: How to Succeed with a Perfect First Layer for Every 3D Print | MatterHackers
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