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Thread: Ender 3 misery

  1. #1

    Ender 3 misery

    I'm a 100% complete noob so my apologies for any dumb or obvious questions up front. I have the Ender 3 pro. The bed seemed to be warped so I got the glass plate and I think it's better. 1.75mm the PLA that came with the printer. I use CuraHere are the problems; (bed adhesion, leveling, model coming loose; details below) The thin line goes down but then it doesn't stay and often gets caught by the nozzle. Usually happens on the skirt too- in 3 days I have only managed to print 2 20mm cubes. After those limited successes, I tried printing the cali cat immed. but the skirt got jammed in the nozzle as it wouldn't stick. I tried glue stick, hair spray and with using nothing and failed with all. After I let the cat continue anyway despite the skirt issue sometimes it would actually start the cat but halfway through the model would come loose.Now I can't get it to lay any plastic down except for the test line at the edge which mostly just curls off immediately most of the time.questions: I see conflicting info on bed temps for glass- some say 60 others say 70- is there a consensus? Some suggest doing the first layer at 210 but that didn't seem to help either- advice? I don't know what I am doing vis-a-vis bed leveling. I put a business card under the nozzle and tighten the bed it so I feel the slightest bump when I pull the card out. I can't tell if I'm too close or too far way. The sites that say put paper under to check aren't very specific about how much friction there should be. Advice? What are the symptoms of being too close or too far way?- I have tried going closer and further away but everything fails How do you know when your nozzle needs to be replaced?I got this for my daughter who was so thrilled by the cube but she is even more frustrated than me over not being able to print the cat.Thanks in advance

  2. #2
    Super Moderator curious aardvark's Avatar
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    sounds like the printhead is actually too close to the bed.
    Unfortunately the ender 3 does seem to have an awful lot of issues, nobody comes here and says: 'I have an ender 3 and it works.'

    ALso cura is a real pita to sort the simple things out.

    None of that helps you.

    On the bed levelling I use 90gsm paper and level to the point that the paper slides easily under the nozzle but still has friction with it.
    What you don't want is the 'Bump'.
    The bump means that the paper/card is forcing the head off the bed, so the head will be way too close.

    A glass plate needs something on it for the plastic to stick to.
    Blue painters tape works well, as does pva gluestick.

    If I were you I'd go with cheap gluesticks from the pound/buck store.
    Heat the bed to about 60c.
    And then rub a layer of gluestick evenly all over it. let it dry for a few minutes - fairly easy to see when it's dry - and repeat a couple of times.
    Level AFTER applying the glue.

    Have printbed at 65c, hotend 200.

    speed about 60mms.
    Oh yes and have a look at your keyboard - see the button labelled return/enter/'picture of an up arrow'.
    Use it occasionally to break up your text.
    Just makes it easier to read :-)

    Also when you level the bed make sure the print nozzle is heated - remove filament first.
    So remove filament, heat nozzle to 200c and THEN level the bed.
    You don't need to heat the bed, it won't hurt if you do - but it's not strictly necessary.

    reason being the brass expands more than the aluminium bed. also it's heated higher which makes it expand more.

    3d printing is as much an art as a science. Don't expect things to work straightaway, you need to figure out the particular quirks of your machine and then work out how to work with them.

    I don't think I got a decent print for the first 2 weeks of owning my first printer.

    The best thing I ever did was install sheets of printbite on 2 of my machines.
    Takes all the hassle out of the: 'will it stick, won't it' - debate.
    Yes it will stick and when the bed has cooled it'll come off without any hassle.

    There are a lot of different surfaces you can install on your printer (glass is there purely to get a flat bed) I've tried most of them.
    printbite is my favourite.
    glue wise - dimafix is the best I've used.
    PVA is the cheapest and a really good one to start with as it's effective and dirt cheap :-)
    Last edited by curious aardvark; 02-08-2019 at 02:45 PM.

  3. #3
    Thanks a lot for the advice- I will try it all. FWIW, I had this post all formatted neatly but when I posted it it made it a giant run-on paragraph. Noob, as I mentioned.- sorry you had to suffer through that- I'll figure it out in future.
    Thanks again!

  4. #4
    I have an Ender 3 Pro, and really have not had any issues aside from the setting the nozzle to the bed. That is critical to get it just right, as you see you are having trouble setting.

    A business card, depending on the card stock, may be too thick.

    Remember, when you are adjusting your bed to turn the nozzle and the bed temperature to your setting and then adjust. Follow this video off youtube: ENDER 3- Easy Way To Level Your Bed

    and download his gcode from the links below the video...THIS IS A LIFESAVER. Sorry dont have enough post count to link the video.

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