Qidi Tech 1 - Replicator 1 clone

[Syd_Khaos]

The Makergeeks website refers to the High Performance PLA as having both of those characteristics. They state that the dishwasher safe aspect is due to that material's high temperature performance (post anealing). What is it like? Does it behave more like PLA or ABS?

Just loaded some ABS on the QIDI for the first time. Did my first print and... Holy guacamole Batman, it prints like butter!!! My inital impression is Wow!

It prints like PLA...but you need to run it ALOT hotter than ya would normal PLA.

I got a roll of the FDA/dishwasher safe PLA when it first came on MG. Haven't been able to use it yet. Needs to be run at 265c+ on the nozzle. Not really capable of doing that on these machines with stock setup.

[DaveB]

It prints like PLA...but you need to run it ALOT hotter than ya would normal PLA. I got a roll of the FDA/dishwasher safe PLA when it first came on MG. Haven't been able to use it yet. Needs to be run at 265c+ on the nozzle. Not really capable of doing that on these machines with stock setup.

I wonder if that's the same stuff they are currently selling? They are advertising it as appropriate for use at an extruder temp of 225C-230C in their sales product description. I could not locate even an informal "specification" sheet for that product on their website.

[Syd_Khaos]

I wonder if that's the same stuff they are currently selling? They are advertising it as appropriate for use at an extruder temp of 225C-230C in their sales product description. I could not locate even an informal "specification" sheet for that product on their website.

Yea..that's rubbish.

The spool I have says 230c on it, but anything under 250c or so will gum up and jam the nozzle within a few mins of printing. Managed to get a small print done with it at 258c, and it was still globbing bad...gaps in the material. Can look at the print and see plain as day its still to cold.

Also I would NOT suggest trying to run this with the feed gears that come with the Qidi. They are rather aggressivly toothed. You need a small toothed feed gear or it will tear up the filament trying to feed it. This stuff is soft...its liek printing with ninja/semi-flex type material, though no where near as server as rubberized materials.

[rcleav]

Your right that is a lot of material to heat up. Why not use the glass plate with ABS slurry or Hairspray?

[DaveB]

Yea..that's rubbish.

The spool I have says 230c on it, but anything under 250c or so will gum up and jam the nozzle within a few mins of printing. Managed to get a small print done with it at 258c, and it was still globbing bad...gaps in the material. Can look at the print and see plain as day its still to cold.

Also I would NOT suggest trying to run this with the feed gears that come with the Qidi. They are rather aggressivly toothed. You need a small toothed feed gear or it will tear up the filament trying to feed it. This stuff is soft...its liek printing with ninja/semi-flex type material, though no where near as server as rubberized materials.

Hmm, maybe I will save trying that stuff out for a day when I want to totally dissassemble and rebuild the extruder...

[DaveB]

Your right that is a lot of material to heat up. Why not use the glass plate with ABS slurry or Hairspray?

For PLA I have not been putting anything on the glass. For ABS so far I've been using glue stick on the glass. My observations were borne from surprise at the heating behavior at a 110C target temperature. I really like the convenience of the Maghold when I have used it at 60C, but have only just stepped off of PLA, and the behavior at 110C was rather different. I suspect that the Kapton layer and the 3M adhesive layer may be contributing factors in heat flow through the stackup. The mass of the 1/4 glass vs a 1/8 inch thick piece could also be having an effect.

[suds]

As long as you disable the cooling fan, ABS prints great on the QIDI. Turn on that fan, and it prints more like oatmeal.

Curious about this because I've been printing nearly everything in abs and the only way I get a good print (in other words no warping) is to use the cooling fan. I noticed I can print smaller things in abs without, but there doesn't seem to be any reason to.

I've read strong opinions for and against cooling an abs print so perhaps there's a strategy with both methods. As it turns out so far I can only prevent warping with the fan on. Trying to remember what's in my abs profile, but the bed is 100c or maybe 105c, nozzle is 220 or 225c. Everything is 10c hotter on the 1st layer and steps down 5c on 2nd and 3rd. Fan turns on on layer 2 and takes 5 steps up to 100% by the 6th; I do this because the fan can overpower the pid control of the nozzle and drop its temp if the cooling fan isn't powered up gradually. All the doors remain shut and the whole thing gets dang warm on an overnight print.

This jive with how anyone else prints abs?

Oh, and certainly no oatmeal effect. Not really seeing any difference in quality from pla other than less surface sheen on the abs.

[DaveB]

Fan turns on on layer 2 and takes 5 steps up to 100% by the 6th; I do this because the fan can overpower the pid control of the nozzle and drop its temp if the cooling fan isn't powered up gradually.

I may have a HW problem here. The ducted blower that's mounted on the left outside of the left extruder does not seem to have any speed except full on. No matter what speed I request it to run at: 5%, 10%, 50%, 100% it always seems to go at the same 100% rate. Is that just how that fan works on a QIDI, or am I ignoring something obvious?

[Syd_Khaos]

Hmm, maybe I will save trying that stuff out for a day when I want to totally dissassemble and rebuild the extruder...

What ya really need to run it is all metal hot-ends.

And really you should be breaking down the extruder block(s) at least every couple of weeks...once a month at the absolute least. Personally I break down the extruder blocks every 2 weeks....the whole machine once a month.

edit:
Just realized something that totally bums me out.....
Never got a chance to pull the bot stats from the old control board before it went kerput. =(

[bluemeane]

Has anyone relaxed a stepper motor yet on these? Looking for a cheaper (and more local) option.

Do do you think these would work?

LEORX Nema 17 2 Phase 4-Wire 1.5A 40mm 1.8° Stepper Motor for 3D Printer https://www.amazon.com/dp/B015SS3Y7O..._4nxzxbCRZC999

i have gone through 2 extruder motors recently
they get really hot and then they stop turning, until I push a little on the filament, then they work for a few seconds, then stop again, etc etc. so very frustrating. I have replaced the stepper driver and that didn't help at all.