Qidi Tech 1 - Replicator 1 clone

[DarkAlchemist]

Here one that printed fine using the school's makerbot printer. But nothing but blobs and ooze here on the QiDi.Attachment 9506

Remember the settings for this printer that I used is for a Replicator 1 dual so did you use that for your .x3g?

Please say you are the one that sliced it and that you didn't just grab the .x3g from your school and used that to try and print with this printer because you never know what they have in the background for settings.

[vbx]

Remember the settings for this printer that I used is for a Replicator 1 dual so did you use that for your .x3g?

Please say you are the one that sliced it and that you didn't just grab the .x3g from your school and used that to try and print with this printer because you never know what they have in the background for settings.

Yes, I created it in maya and sliced it in Makerbot.

What setting should I use to rid the blobs?

[DarkAlchemist]

Yes, I created it in maya and sliced it in Makerbot.

What setting should I use to rid the blobs?

I do not know as I use Simplify 3D and straight out of the box everything printed fine. In the Makerbot software does it have a drop down (or anyway to set up) for which printer you are slicing for? I know I looked at several settings in S3D for the various Replicators and they were different.

For instance if you are slicing for a Rep 2 instead of a Rep 1 dual then forget it as the numbers were pretty different.

[vbx]

I do not know as I use Simplify 3D and straight out of the box everything printed fine. In the Makerbot software does it have a drop down (or anyway to set up) for which printer you are slicing for? I know I looked at several settings in S3D for the various Replicators and they were different.

For instance if you are slicing for a Rep 2 instead of a Rep 1 dual then forget it as the numbers were pretty different.

Yes. I was told to select "replicator dual". I was contacted by the seller and he said the object is "too complicated" for the printer and demanded that I send him a photo of the one I printed at school.

I replied back with a photo and a photo of the simple robot that the QiDi printer couldn't even pull off w/o having gaps and holes.

[beano_2278]

Guys, i'm so hoping someone can help me here, i'm at my wits end.

Very new to 3d printing, had a Da Vinci Jr which i actually got to print out some very nice prints, however it clearly doesn't have the versatility the Qidi does and therefore i bit the bullet and bought one, having read through this forum i decided that the first thing i was going to do was to upgrade the bed to a glass plate, so i purchased three 9" x 6" pieces of heat proof glass at 4mm thick and printed a 4mmm shim for the back of the print bed and 4 glass clips (in PLA unfortunately till i get printing in ABS), so far all went well.

Subsequently i levelled the bed via the menu and moving the head around the print bed testing with a folded piece of copy paper (the back right is actually slightly higher but i got it as close as i can), now the issues begin, when i start to print in either ABS or PLA (PLA - bed=50, extruder=205 / ABS - bed=110, extruder = 220) i get the same two issues. The first issue is that it starts printing over the right side of the print bed (i.e. in thin air, way to far right see video) and i does this from either SD card or from Makerbot software, the second and worst of the problems is that it starts to print and plastic oozes out of the nozzle and as the nozzle moves back and forth it just gets buried in plastic which it then pulls off the bed. It's like it's extruding to much plastic or the Z offset is wrong but i have no idea how to change it or re-calibrate it, i'm still confused as to why i would need to as all i've done is move the z high by 4mm.

20160514_135207.jpg

[DarkAlchemist]

Yes. I was told to select "replicator dual". I was contacted by the seller and he said the object is "too complicated" for the printer and demanded that I send him a photo of the one I printed at school.

I replied back with a photo and a photo of the simple robot that the QiDi printer couldn't even pull off w/o having gaps and holes.

This sounds exactly like Qidi to me as they aren't the brightest bulb in the pack. I wish I could help you more but I don't use that software.

[cncartist]

Yes, I created it in maya and sliced it in Makerbot.

What setting should I use to rid the blobs?

Yes. I was told to select "replicator dual". I was contacted by the seller and he said the object is "too complicated" for the printer and demanded that I send him a photo of the one I printed at school.

I replied back with a photo and a photo of the simple robot that the QiDi printer couldn't even pull off w/o having gaps and holes.

I have printed "complex" robots without any problems.

There is no way to assist and recommend what settings to change when we don't have the model to test print and you are neglecting to share your full print settings. Here is a post showing print settings (http://3dprintboard.com/showthread.p...ll=1#post86692) minus temperature and cooling settings.

It sounds like the problem is at school you have a printer technician that has properly calibrated the printer/environment. I find that different prints have different optimal settings so I can only suspect something needs to be tweaked in the software.

Do you care to share the STL model or exported x3g file which you're using?

[vbx]

Here is the makerbot file. (.thing) If you guys can adjust the settings and upload it for me to download and look at, that would be freaking amazing. Thanks!

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0Bw...VVGakJNbjNvZUk

[cncartist]

Alright I have checked out both STL files you are trying to print, I have good news and bad news.

The good news is that the print can be fixed and printed properly in my eyes. This isn't a complex assembly, but the bad news is that your part is more of a final snapshot of the assembly instead of actual components optimized for printing.

The first model looks like a jointed item, but it does not have space between the joint locations meaning when it prints it will be completely fused together (one solid model with no moving pieces). It is not optimized for 3D printing since it would require a lot of support structure to print perfectly in any position you put it on the print bed. You could optimize it by breaking it into the components and printing them separately, then assembling afterwards. You would even have the option to make it jointed and moveable in certain locations depending on your assembly procedure.

The second model is a spring with 4 gears (2 on each side) floating in space. The gears should be separate prints and the spring should be its own special print.

In order to do this successfully and be repeatable, I would recommend doing this:

1. Break the models down into their components for printing, a different STL file for each component - Main cap, Main rod, small rods, Main top cap, Main top poker piece, spring, gears, etc. depending on how granular you want to get.

2. The settings for each component may be different, as they may be printed optimally with different infills and resolutions. Usually small rods, I'd print at 100% infill, but the Main cap I would print at 15-30% infill depending on how much strength is needed for the model. The gears I would print at a better resolution to keep their fine details.

3. Arrange the items on the printbed with the flat surfaces down so you will need minimal support for each component. The spring will need to be standing up and the Main cap/Main top poker piece will most likely be the tallest items being printed. Some of the items you will need to print with cooling, you'll have to utilize 3D printing experience to make this judgement and group similar process items together. Experiment with printing the items separately so you aren't putting all your eggs in one basket.

The above suggestions do rely on the fact that you have created the model and you are capable to break the model down into components to optimize it for 3D printing. Please keep in mind I am sure it could be printed with a lot of supports, but it wouldn't look anywhere near as good as printing the pieces separately and a ton of finishing/post processing would be required in order to make the model look really clean.

[JSensebe]

Well, I've had my printer for a couple of days now. There were no bent rods or anything bad other than loose side handles (looks like maybe the holes weren't drilled deep enough) a minor defect in the corner one of the acrylic hood sections. Not really noticeable unless you examine it closely. Mechanically, everything looks good. The few PLA test prints I've done have all been successful. It looks like it's underextruding slightly, but I haven't really started playing with the settings yet. I couldn't find my digital calipers (I moved recently) but a quick measurement of a calibration cube indicates that PLA comes out pretty damn close to perfect dimensions. I know ABS shrinks more, so it'll be interesting to run the same test with that.

I've been printing stuff off the Web, but soon I'll start printing my own designs, in ABS because of the snap fit components.