3D Printing

Punisher · Post by **Punisher** » Tue Apr 16, 2024 12:39 am

Mostly looking for quick impressions on how it does my list, minus the multispool thing.
If you think you'll end up printing things with supports, remember haveing a spool of water dissolveable filament just for supports may help you pass a sanity check while trying to clean them. I STILL have prints with supports on them because I just can't remove them.
Plus if you try printing minis with supports that will make the end result much cleaner and easier for post printing.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Tue Apr 16, 2024 12:47 am

Punisher wrote: ↑Tue Apr 16, 2024 12:39 am Mostly looking for quick impressions on how it does my list, minus the multispool thing.
If you think you'll end up printing things with supports, remember haveing a spool of water dissolveable filament just for supports may help you pass a sanity check while trying to clean them. I STILL have prints with supports on them because I just can't remove them.
Plus if you try printing minis with supports that will make the end result much cleaner and easier for post printing.

Yeah, I'm very interested in hearing your impressions of that water-soluble support fiber. Messy supports on the MP Mini has been the cause of as many prints going in the scrap bag as print failure. And lately I've been having trouble even getting it off of the raft. I was fiddling with that setting (specifically, an air gap between the raft and the first layer) yesterday.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Tue Apr 16, 2024 12:48 am

As an aside, I've been using Cura, and have fiddled with Prusa a little. Has anyone spent time with Bambu Studio?

/edit - apparently it has the ability to send prints wirelessly. That'll be a big plus - not having to fiddle with microSD cards is the main reason I've stuck with Cura. I get that the tiny cards have their advantages in some applications, but ease of use is not one of them. I'd have been much happier to be able to use an easily held, easily inserted, easily removed, and easily found-when-dropped thumb drive.

hentzau · Post by **hentzau** » Tue Apr 16, 2024 12:59 am

Blackhawk wrote:As an aside, I've been using Cura, and have fiddled with Prusa a little. Has anyone spent time with Bambu Studio?

/edit - apparently it has the ability to send prints wirelessly. That'll be a big plus - not having to fiddle with microSD cards is the main reason I've stuck with Cura. I get that the tiny cards have their advantages in some applications, but ease of use is not one of them. I'd have been much happier to be able to use an easily held, easily inserted, easily removed, and easily found-when-dropped thumb drive.

Every printer I’ve had eventually the card slot fails. On some this isn’t a big deal, but on my Prusa it’s built into the control panel so I have to replace the entire board. So I just installed an OctoPrint server and was off and running again. Cardless printing is pretty nice.

Punisher · Post by **Punisher** » Tue Apr 16, 2024 1:03 am

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Tue Apr 16, 2024 12:48 am As an aside, I've been using Cura, and have fiddled with Prusa a little. Has anyone spent time with Bambu Studio?

/edit - apparently it has the ability to send prints wirelessly. That'll be a big plus - not having to fiddle with microSD cards is the main reason I've stuck with Cura. I get that the tiny cards have their advantages in some applications, but ease of use is not one of them. I'd have been much happier to be able to use an easily held, easily inserted, easily removed, and easily found-when-dropped thumb drive.

I used to use Cura for that mini and my Creality but until you posted tjis, I had completely forgotten it. I may see if its compatible with my snapmaker and maybe even the Saturn 2. Tjat would be great since I could drop to kust one slicer.
Both printers use USBs but i tjink my creality and peopoly mught use sd cards.
My snapmaker has a wireless ability.
You can print to the printer directly from your computer. The cath is that it has to be fully stable and on. So a middle of the night suto upgrade could be disaster. It does let you see the progress remotely though.
You can also semd your gcode to the printer and print from there. You still have to get up, go accept the file on the printer, disconnect the connection, and then start the print. You dont need the pc anymore but there is no way to connect to a printer that is printing from the device or the usb. That woukd be great bevause i could at least see time left and where its at.
It also has a resume feature where if it runs out of filament it will pause for you to reliad then continue printing.
I've had very mixed results for this. It succeeds better if it pause during infill but even then ot will sometimes drop a blob on the model and throw off the level its printing or worse get caught on the ptimt head and ripped off the bed.
It does work sometimes though and is at least worth trying and just watching for a few minutes.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Wed Apr 17, 2024 1:48 pm

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Mon Apr 15, 2024 10:57 pm And solved. The bowden tube coupler is bad and needs replaced. I also discovered a short section of PTFE tube that's missing between the coupler and the nozzle. And I'm pretty sure that it's a V1 - I thought it was a V2.

Not a problem - the replacement parts aren't expensive, and should arrive in a couple of days.

They arrived, and the fix was fast and easy. It turns out that it was a symptom, though, and not the problem. The problem is either that there is a deeper clog, or that the fan isn't working. The filament is softening in the metal tube attached to the nozzle and is clumping up on top of it, in the middle of the heatsink. Either there's a clog in the nozzle, or else the fan is letting the tube (which runs into the heat sink) get too hot, causing it to partially melt the filament so that it folds up instead of being pushed through. Testing time, and time to try to find documentation on how to deep-clean the nozzle if that's the problem (there is so, so little documentation on this printer.)

hentzau · Post by **hentzau** » Wed Apr 17, 2024 2:09 pm

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Wed Apr 17, 2024 1:48 pm
Blackhawk wrote: ↑Mon Apr 15, 2024 10:57 pm And solved. The bowden tube coupler is bad and needs replaced. I also discovered a short section of PTFE tube that's missing between the coupler and the nozzle. And I'm pretty sure that it's a V1 - I thought it was a V2.

Not a problem - the replacement parts aren't expensive, and should arrive in a couple of days.
They arrived, and the fix was fast and easy. It turns out that it was a symptom, though, and not the problem. The problem is either that there is a deeper clog, or that the fan isn't working. The filament is softening in the metal tube attached to the nozzle and is clumping up on top of it, in the middle of the heatsink. Either there's a clog in the nozzle, or else the fan is letting the tube (which runs into the heat sink) get too hot, causing it to partially melt the filament so that it folds up instead of being pushed through. Testing time, and time to try to find documentation on how to deep-clean the nozzle if that's the problem (there is so, so little documentation on this printer.)

Look at a cold pull. That's typically how to clean out a nozzle.

I don't know how your hot end is set up, but in a typical setup you're going to have a bowden tube that goes all the way through the heatbreak and hot end and butts up against the nozzle. If that bowden tube isn't cut square, or if it isn't tight against the base of the nozzle, that's where you get the molten filament seeping out through that gap.

There was also a procedure I used to run on my enders that you would heat up your hot end, remove the nozzle (carefully!!), pull the bowden tube for replacement, and prior to replacing take a short length of tube and run it all they way through the hot end to pull out any bits of filament that might be in the hot end and heatbreak. That sounds like something you might want to try.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Wed Apr 17, 2024 2:25 pm

It wasn't the nozzle. I've done both push-throughs with cleaning filament and cold pulls before, and I just tried them again. Filament is getting through just fine.

hentzau wrote: ↑Wed Apr 17, 2024 2:09 pm
Blackhawk wrote: ↑Wed Apr 17, 2024 1:48 pm
Blackhawk wrote: ↑Mon Apr 15, 2024 10:57 pm And solved. The bowden tube coupler is bad and needs replaced. I also discovered a short section of PTFE tube that's missing between the coupler and the nozzle. And I'm pretty sure that it's a V1 - I thought it was a V2.

Not a problem - the replacement parts aren't expensive, and should arrive in a couple of days.

They arrived, and the fix was fast and easy. It turns out that it was a symptom, though, and not the problem. The problem is either that there is a deeper clog, or that the fan isn't working. The filament is softening in the metal tube attached to the nozzle and is clumping up on top of it, in the middle of the heatsink. Either there's a clog in the nozzle, or else the fan is letting the tube (which runs into the heat sink) get too hot, causing it to partially melt the filament so that it folds up instead of being pushed through. Testing time, and time to try to find documentation on how to deep-clean the nozzle if that's the problem (there is so, so little documentation on this printer.)
Look at a cold pull. That's typically how to clean out a nozzle.

I don't know how your hot end is set up, but in a typical setup you're going to have a bowden tube that goes all the way through the heatbreak and hot end and butts up against the nozzle. If that bowden tube isn't cut square, or if it isn't tight against the base of the nozzle, that's where you get the molten filament seeping out through that gap.

Nope. On this one the bowden tube runs to the top of the heatsink and into a coupler. There is a gap of about a quarter inch below that, then it enters a tube that feeds directly into the nozzle. With the fan/shroud off:

I left the fan off of the hot end and ran a quick print with a household fan blowing on it, and it's working fine. And sure enough, the fan isn't actually running (I couldn't get far enough into the print to check before, as the filament would collapse on top of the metal tube and start creating potentially problematic pressure.)

I'm guessing that I need to figure out how to replace the fan. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to use connectors - just wires.

hentzau · Post by **hentzau** » Wed Apr 17, 2024 2:41 pm

So the filament is just loose inside of the heatsink? That seems kind of terrible.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Wed Apr 17, 2024 3:33 pm

And where the problem lies:

Without the fan, the heatsink is getting hot enough to melt the filament too early, causing it to lose too much rigidity to be pushed from above. I tried with a household fan, but it is cooling the print too much, preventing the layers from adhering properly. Or at least that's my interpretation of what I'm seeing - a couple of attempted prints with an outside fan failed. Both had a raft that adhered perfectly, but then the print itself wouldn't adhere to the raft (which is normally a loose adhesion to begin with, to allow the raft to be removed.)

Looks like I'm going to have to order a new fan and finally learn to solder. Since I'll have my other printer in a few days (fingers crossed - just got the 'label created' notification), I'll likely switch from the 30mm to a 40mm and print an alternate shroud. Whoever designed the existing shroud and - especially - the clips to attach it was a sadist.)

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Wed Apr 17, 2024 3:51 pm

Yeah, after some reading I went ahead and ordered a 40mm fan. I'm just going to have to wait until the other printer arrives before I can print the adapter shroud!

For the record, there's apparently supposed to be a short section of PTFE tube between the bottom of the brass coupler and the top of the metal feeder tube. That's the piece I mentioned was missing. I got a length of 6mm/4mm tubing (the correct size) to cut replacements, but it isn't enough to shield the filament from the heat, so it was melting inside the PTFE tube, too. After I ruined three replacements, I stopped making them (I've been printing over a month without one before I found it was supposed to be there - it isn't the deciding factor here.)

Punisher · Post by **Punisher** » Wed Apr 17, 2024 3:59 pm

O think you should be able to just push the ptfe through that coupler so that it buts against the top of the metal tube filling the gap.

Punisher · Post by **Punisher** » Wed Apr 17, 2024 4:06 pm

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Wed Apr 17, 2024 4:51 pm

Not on these couplers. The inside tapers down to about the width of a piece of filament.

Punisher · Post by **Punisher** » Wed Apr 17, 2024 5:57 pm

Due to various things, my laser projects are gonna be put on hold soon. That means that I can try out the dual extruder with PVA.
But for the life of me, I can't find an interesting file that requires supports for testing.
Any ideas?

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Wed Apr 17, 2024 6:19 pm

Pre-supported, or slicer-made supports?

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Wed Apr 17, 2024 7:48 pm

Progress: after removing the nozzle assembly I was able to get that cleaned out of the new clog that had formed from the cooling issue. I was then able to rig up a shield using a piece of card, a phone stand, a clip, and a magnet that let me use a house fan to cool the hotend without affecting the print. It isn't pretty, but it's enough that I was able to print a new 40mm to 30mm fan shroud. That'll let me mount the new fan when it arrives in a couple of days.

Punisher · Post by **Punisher** » Wed Apr 17, 2024 8:09 pm

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Wed Apr 17, 2024 6:19 pm Pre-supported, or slicer-made supports?

I think slicer made supports so that i can tell ot to use the pva for supports.

I did go through my myminifactory library and found something. Couldn't get it to work with the pva supports so bavk to learning.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Wed Apr 17, 2024 8:13 pm

I hadn't caught before that the washable supports were PVA. That's interesting - I had no idea that PVA could be used that way (PVA = polyvinyl acetate, aka white glue.)

Punisher · Post by **Punisher** » Wed Apr 17, 2024 8:15 pm

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Wed Apr 17, 2024 8:13 pm I hadn't caught before that the washable supports were PVA. That's interesting - I had no idea that PVA could be used that way (PVA = polyvinyl acetate, aka white glue.)

Yep. Theres also different kinds that disolve in acetone but i dont want to mess with that yet.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Fri Apr 19, 2024 3:44 pm

Replaced the dead fan, and now it's working fine. I used a printable adapter to use a 40mm instead of the default 30mm (and it's quieter too - although the color is awful.) Another bright spot: I soldered a thing. I've had a soldering iron for years, but I've never touched it. Wanting to figure out the electronics for a few projects has me taking another pass at electronics, though, so I broke it out and... no problems at all.

Several prints have gone through without any issues.

Punisher · Post by **Punisher** » Fri Apr 19, 2024 6:07 pm

Your getting close to having a fan bigger than the printer!

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Fri Apr 19, 2024 6:32 pm

Heh, the half twist the adapter uses makes it look bigger than it really is. It's really only 10mm wider.

My first project was to print a set of fan shroud clips to replace the sadistic metal ones it comes with.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Sat Apr 20, 2024 11:31 pm

My P1S is due to arrive Tuesday, but I'm sure if I check the tracking page every four or five hours it'll get here sooner.

I already received the accessories I ordered, including the extra build plate and both extra hotends (it was strongly recommend that I get an extra .4 in steel as well - the one that comes with it doesn't support higher temp materials that I may end up fiddling with.) Seeing the new build plate next to the old one for the first time was eye-opening, and upped my enthusiasm quite a bit.

It was getting frustrating. Probably 2/3 of all of the files I checked ended up being too big to print on the old one. I found myself sighing and setting things aside more often than I chose projects to start on. Now those other projects will be within reach as well.

And, for the record, the Mini has been fantastic. It was a vehicle for me to learn how the tech works, to learn how to process and work with the prints, to learn troubleshooting, and so on, plus it spit out a lot of handy items and smaller pieces that I'll be continuing to use. It was limiting, but I have nothing but positive thoughts of it (and I'll make sure that if I don't use it for anything that it goes to someone else who can do the same.)

Punisher · Post by **Punisher** » Sun Apr 21, 2024 2:06 am

Don't worry. Now that you have a bigger build plate you'll start looking for things to print and will find some that don't fit!

I'm very glad the mini worked out fir you.
You basically did the same tjing I did. Fiddle around, learn how to use it, be amazed, become addicted, start looking for upgrades. You just did it way faster and better than i did. My upgrade was a Creality CR-10 that I caught on sale for $400. IIRC, it was only about 2-4 months after launch.

I went to Microcenter today to look at the A1 and P1S with my wife. I was gonna wait for the larger A1 but we both agree that the P1S looked much cleaner. Everything was self contained in the enclosure and just fit neater. I used this opportunity to convince her that I needed a new orinter.

So that part is done but while talking to the sales rep he mentioned that Creality is coming out with a new printer that also has 4 spools to work with. Its the K2 Plus I tjink. Trying to find estimated pricing but no luck so far. Like if its 2k im out but i really don't tjink ot will be since Creality tends to be in the lower price range. Besides the spools I want it's also much bigger. They had a K1 something that they were able to print a full size helmet in one shot. Its 300mm cubed. The K2 will be 350mm cubed.
So now it's get the P1S or wait until July/August for the K2. Well unless pricing is leaked and they are charging more than i wsnt to pay. Same/similar features as the P1s or A1 series but much larger build plate. I may only do it a few times but I really want to try printing a full size helmet. Side note, there's took around 36 hours. Not sure how long my Snapmaker would take. It's definitely big enough.
Other factors.
1. Microcenter lets you return opened or used 3d printers up to 15 days later so no real harm in trying it out.
2. They have refurbished ones that are anout 150 to 200 less. I might just go and find out what the cost is after my poluce discount so that could be a factor also.

My gut feeling is to clean our kitchen table and test it out starting next weekend and go from there. It will be nice to have a printer where i dont have as much to worry about and can just print.

Also I found a video about how PVA works. I figured you'd be interested.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Tue Apr 23, 2024 10:00 pm

Benchy the Benchmark Boat, old printer. 2 hours, 39 minutes (I did solve the stringing problem eventually, fwiw):

Spoiler:

Bench the Benchmark Boat, new printer, 26 minutes:

Spoiler:

And that's the first print, prior to beginning the dialing-in process.

That'll start tomorrow, along with learning the Bambu Studio software and making the various accessories this thing needs (like a poop chute catcher.)

hentzau · Post by **hentzau** » Tue Apr 23, 2024 10:06 pm

Awesome! Can’t wait to see what you churn out.

Punisher · Post by **Punisher** » Wed Apr 24, 2024 1:39 am

Questions.

1. Was it really unpack, plug in, and print benchy or was there more to it?

2. Does it come with any syarter filament?

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Wed Apr 24, 2024 12:15 pm

Punisher wrote: ↑Wed Apr 24, 2024 1:39 am Questions.

1. Was it really unpack, plug in, and print benchy or was there more to it?

2. Does it come with any syarter filament?

1. More or less. There was some foam and cardboard to remove, and then there was a setup process (install app, sign in, pair with phone, connect to network.) That last bit is optional, but is what allows for network printing instead of having to mess with MicroSD cards. Then there was an initial calibration. Altogether? 15 minutes from clearing the packaging to printing.

2. Maybe a quarter spool.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Wed Apr 24, 2024 12:26 pm

P1S lessons learned, day one:

The Bambu wiki is invaluable.

Order a few extra parts when you place your initial order. At least get a set of nozzle wipers, a couple of carbon filters, and a set of filament cutters.

If you get the hardened steel front end (a separate purchase), you also want to get the hardened steel extruder gear assembly. Anything too tough for the stainless steel nozzle will quickly destroy your stainless gear, too.

It's better to order it all at once to save on shipping.

Bonus: The P1S ships with a wind-up outboard motor for Benchy.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Wed Apr 24, 2024 3:41 pm

And now for my biggest project yet: A new poop chute!

Punisher · Post by **Punisher** » Thu Apr 25, 2024 12:08 am

Curious if you can just install the hardened steel extruder gear assembly and leave it or if it will wreck regular pla and such.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Thu Apr 25, 2024 12:23 am

Nope, it works fine for PLA (I checked that before I switched them.) I'm guessing that Bambu is trying to keep the price down by including some cheaper parts when most people won't need the more expensive version.

The switch took me about five minutes, but it was my first go. I could probably swap out hotends in three minutes now that I've learned the process.

Punisher · Post by **Punisher** » Thu Apr 25, 2024 2:48 am

Are you doing the full one pice hotend or the one where you need to remove the fan and everything?

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Thu Apr 25, 2024 3:51 pm

Punisher wrote: ↑Thu Apr 25, 2024 2:48 am Are you doing the full one pice hotend or the one where you need to remove the fan and everything?

The full hotend. I asked around, and the advice was unanimous: Get the full assembly. It's the difference between dealing with heatsinks, thermal paste, and time-consuming assembly, or pulling three small plugs, loosening two screws, then swapping.

I do wish I'd sprung for the smooth plate. The printer comes with a textured PEI plate, which works great, but I'm not loving the guaranteed texture on the bottom surface.

Punisher · Post by **Punisher** » Thu Apr 25, 2024 7:45 pm

Picked up the P1S.
I have 15 days to test and return.
Had lots of trouble with setup but i think thays more of a me issue.
Benchy printed perfectly. Best Benchy I've ever printed so thats good.
Running a new print for a piece I need for my Saturn 2.

Questions.
1. Does yoyrs make loud grinding noises when printing? It almost sounds like gearscate stripping.

2. Is your video monitoring very laggy? It's laggy on both my phone and my laptop.

Had a power mishap during my current print so it will be good to see how it recovers.
Currently printing with pla and pva for supports. If i used the same pla for supports ot would have been a 4 hour print. Now its 12 due to all the changes. Still going ahead because I really want to test the pva.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Thu Apr 25, 2024 8:59 pm

Punisher wrote: ↑Thu Apr 25, 2024 7:45 pm Picked up the P1S.
I have 15 days to test and return.
Had lots of trouble with setup but i think thays more of a me issue.
Benchy printed perfectly. Best Benchy I've ever printed so thats good.
Running a new print for a piece I need for my Saturn 2.

Questions.
1. Does yoyrs make loud grinding noises when printing? It almost sounds like gearscate stripping.

2. Is your video monitoring very laggy? It's laggy on both my phone and my laptop.

Had a power mishap during my current print so it will be good to see how it recovers.
Currently printing with pla and pva for supports. If i used the same pla for supports ot would have been a 4 hour print. Now its 12 due to all the changes. Still going ahead because I really want to test the pva.

1. Yes. The lid being closed quiets it a lot.

2. Yes. It's intended for checking on the status of the print (checking for failures, etc.) and for recording timelapses. They make no attempt to make it smooth - it's like .5 FPS.

Some pieces I found to upgrade mine: Link I found the tray to be superior to the plug for the top hole (of course, I don't know if you have the AMS, or if that affects it.)

Punisher · Post by **Punisher** » Thu Apr 25, 2024 9:15 pm

Yep.
Have AMS.
Still haven't decided on keeping it or not. Way too early to tell.
I'm focusing on parts I need for my other printers right now.
My resin printer is acting up and my Snapmaker is in laser mode while I try to learn how to use laser mode with Lightburn which is apparently very superior to Snapmaker Luban.
I got REAL lucky online and found someone who is being SUPER patient with me and my issues and have come pretty far.
Even though the SM can swap out between modes decently easy, swapping back and forth will wreck my learning curve.
I do like how clean the P1S looks. Right now it's in our kitchen on our dining table and doesn't look horrible. It's one of the reasons my wife prefers this vs the A1 series. No idea why they couldn't do the same thing with tgat AMS system to make it look clean.
I'll report back when my print finishes and I remove tge supporrs sometimes tomorrow.

Punisher · Post by **Punisher** » Thu Apr 25, 2024 11:16 pm

And it failed.
Completely lost bed adhesion.
Is this supposed to have that AI thing that detects failures because mine didn't?
If I hadn't had to go pee I would have woken up to a huge mess.
It did finish a few layers so I'm still gonna test the pva tomorrow to see how it works.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Thu Apr 25, 2024 11:22 pm

I honestly haven't had a single failed adhesion so far. I did wash the bed when it arrived, and I had to tune the bed temperature a bit (it was way too low by default.) I have only printed with PLA so far, though. I want to get the bugs worked out before I start trying more complex options (by which I mean that I want to learn the sofware and all of the tips and tricks - the bugs so far have mostly been caused by holes in my knowledge.)