I have assembled the printer and it works in manual control. I have clicked print and nothing is printing. The table moves in to position but nothing prints.
HELP

Thanks arpurchase
that seemed to do the trick. The printer is missing the first part of the print. I have upped the number of loops before the model prints but it is still not sticking to the mat.

Thanks arpurchase
I will try this and see if it resolves the issue. Have you build the Idbox

arpurchase

Thanks for your reply. the print doesn't stick at all. The bed is nearly touching the head.

this is getting really frustrating and I am thinking of returning the printer as it isn't working correctly.
I have tried adjusting the bed from 3mm to 2mm and 1mm and now nearly touching. the filament is coming out of the head but not sticking to the bed, it is just dragging and sticking to the head. this is causing a lot of wasted filament. This is a big outlay and I feel I have not got sufficient support. on a previous email you stated you were unable to come out and see me, due to insurance issues. Would I be able to bring the machine to you and show you what is happening myself, would this bypass insurance issues.

Hi

Double check your build and make sure it is truely Square on its base as any movement or rocking means that it needs adjusting.

Make sure the Buildtac sheet is placed on the table with the black side with logo facing up toward the print head.

You could also try raising the printer head temperature by 10 degree's or so to improve filament flow.

Andy

The filament is the one supplied

https://youtu.be/1ufp5_xY0os
Video of the problem.

One thing you can try which is my preferred method of calibration now is to pick a model and place it centrally on the table (something with a fair size so the loops are bigger). Set the loops to something high like 10.

Drop the first layer speed 10% or so from the default.

Now start the print and as it is making the loops evenly and slowly start adjusting the screws to bring the board closer to the nozzle. At some point it should start sticking to the board. Once this happens watch it go round and ensure this is the case on all corners of the loop. If not adjust the relevant screws.

Once you have a complete loop sticking it is just the case of making small adjustments until it's laying evenly.

As I said before I always print the first later slower. I tend to use about 3 loops for big models that fill up most of the table and 6 for smaller ones.

One other thing do not expect to see the filament coming out smoothly as soon as it moves and starts printing it may loop around a bit before the flow becomes consistent.

I can see from the video that the nozzle is way too far from the bed, the gap should be so small that you struggle to see it.

For a more accurate way of measuring the gap you could get something known as a feeler gauge which has different lengths of metal used to measure thicknesses.

I still prefer the test print and live calibration option though and you will find this is the popular method when looking up 3D printer calibration.

Did you check the g code to see if it is waiting for the bed to heat up.I had the same problem and discovered there was a command at the start of the g code that told the printer to waiting until the bed had heated up before starting the print so repetier host wont print because the bed is not heated.This happens even if you turn off the bed in the manual control screen.

If you look at the g code in the g code editor screen you will see a command to wait for the pritner bed to heat up;

The command is M190 S50

M190 refers to the bed and the S50 tells repetier host to wait until the bed is heated to 50 degrees to start printing.

All you need to do is change the code to M190 S0 and the printer should start printing.



Here is how I do my prints;

1.Load the object file into repetier host. Scale it to the size I want, center it and then slice it with curaengine.

2.Once the slicing has finished I check the g code to look for the M190 command and make sure the s is set to 0.

3.I always use a raft because often the first part of the print doesnt stick well to the bed (common to all 3d printers).The raft makes sure that once you actualy start printing the object the filament is sticking down really well.

4.I then go to the manual control screen and turn the extruder on.

5.For PLA I set the extruder temp to 210 degrees.

6.Once the extruder is at working temp I press on the extruder button (set to 10) in the manual control to extrude so filament to see if it is melting OK.I find it is easier to do this now before the print table is really close to the print head.

7.I then go to the print menu and start the print. The printer will home the x and y axis and then the print bed will lower all the way down to it home position for the z axis and then move back up to the print head.As it gets close to the print head (within 20mm) the print head should start moving to the center of the print bed.The filament will start extruding.

8. The raft prints first.Then it will print your object.There is a timer telling you how long the print will take.

Carl