Anet A8 3D Printer.

[DAPPH]

Just remember to keep all the changes written down in a decent note book along with your observations .......................the neck top computer crashes far too often to rely on it alone .

Air temp near the printer might also be useful wrt cooling fan on & melting point temp .

 

[PhillipM]

You need a lot of pressure compensation when flowing large amounts through a big nozzle too, I run about 8x what I do on a 0.4mm.

 

[carbon]

Would that not require more extrusion?

 

[bigegg]

Just remember to keep all the changes written down in a decent note book along with your observations .......................the neck top computer crashes far too often to rely on it alone .

Air temp near the printer might also be useful wrt cooling fan on & melting point temp .

part of the reason for these posts is as a record.

i'm off out now, but first job tomorrow will be a cooling cowl.

 

[bigegg]

3rd attempt.
50 mm/s
0.3mm layers.
retraction 1mm
nozzle temp 215c

part of the problem is *definitely* lack of cooling for lower layers.
this is especially noticeable in the chimney, as it wobbles around as its being printed.

 

[tflnemesis]

Have you upgraded your slicer recently by any chance? I know there has been an issue with the latest version of cura. Version 4.0 and newer has a tendency to set your filament diameter to 3.0 mm instead of 1.75 mm in printer settings.

 

[bigegg]

You need a lot of pressure compensation when flowing large amounts through a big nozzle too, I run about 8x what I do on a 0.4mm.

how does one achieve this? (in cura?)

 

[tflnemesis]

Here is my latest print:

Video was taken using my Picam on a raspberry Pi running octoprint.

Some pictures of the finished item.



Its some terrain for tabletop gaming for a mate of mine.

Material :PLA
Bed : 60c
Hotend :200c
Support : No
Bed adhesion : Skirt

I also picked up a second Anet A8 last week for £50 from a guy in Northampton who was getting rid as he didn't have the time for messing with it.
Its in pieces atm while I sort out the poor soldering and wire routing the guy had done. So far I have only tested the axis movement I haven't dared power up the bed or hotend till I am satisfied its safe.

 

[bigegg]

Have you upgraded your slicer recently by any chance? I know there has been an issue with the latest version of cura. Version 4.0 and newer has a tendency to set your filament diameter to 3.0 mm instead of 1.75 mm in printer settings.

just checked.
I'm on 3.3.1 and will stay there - unless I have a VERY good reason to change.
the developers do too much messing about with "hidden parameters" between versions

 

[tflnemesis]

how does one achieve this? (in cura?)

Under 'Material' is a setting 'flow' I would advise changing this by no more than 5% at a time though...

 

[bigegg]

Under 'Material' is a setting 'flow' I would advise changing this by no more than 5% at a time though...

thanks.
just got back home, and dying to run a few more experiments.
trouble is, warm night, all neighbours have windows open.
Don't think they'd be happy with the printer buzzing away :-(

 

[tflnemesis]

Don't think they'd be happy with the printer buzzing away :-(

Yeah, the first couple of months I had mine my eldest lad did nothing but complain cos the printer is in my office directly under his room... However when I started experimenting with ABS I built an enclosure for it out of 18mm ply which cuts the noise down immensely.

 

[bigegg]

Yeah, the first couple of months I had mine my eldest lad did nothing but complain cos the printer is in my office directly under his room... However when I started experimenting with ABS I built an enclosure for it out of 18mm ply which cuts the noise down immensely.

it's on the list

 

[bigegg]

I sent off a quote request to have version 2.5 of this:
https://reprap.org/wiki/P3Steel
(basically a metal frame for anet a8 / prusa i3)
lasercut in 3mm m/s

quote came back:

1off set = £111.40 total
5off set = £169.40 total
10off set = £306.30 total

+VAT
Nicely affordable if I can find another 9 people who want one...

 

[tflnemesis]

Most metal frames I see for Anets are self made using Ali 2040 extrusion.

Its something I have thought about but funds are lacking and I have printed out some frame stiffeners I downloaded from Thingiverse. 'Hulk Frame Brace' https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2189694.
They have reduced the 'ringing' in my prints significantly.

 

[DAPPH]

Yeah, the first couple of months I had mine my eldest lad did nothing but complain cos the printer is in my office directly under his room... However when I started experimenting with ABS I built an enclosure for it out of 18mm ply which cuts the noise down immensely.

I've done the same not only for noise but to keep the temp & humidity stable so the filament is not affected by the day to day changes ..I've also put two 7 watt CFL lamps in the enclosure to stabilise the temp at 17 oC much of the time ….seems to work but I'll find out a lot more in October when I resume the printer stuff after summer has been put the bed for another year as I'm making hay whilst the sun shines on other projects of my mind & heart . The base of the enclosure is two x 20 mm thicknesses of balanced construction ply glued & screwed together in a 75 mm grid . " Loadsa carnta sunk screws guv " .

Then its been over laid with a Formica finished cabinet door that's also glued & counter sunk screwed to the other two bases ….. it keeps it easy to clean and of course at 60 mm thick the base is now quite substantial and unlikely to warp .

 

[PhillipM]

Under 'Material' is a setting 'flow' I would advise changing this by no more than 5% at a time though...

That's extrusion rate, not pressure compensation - that will be in your firmware under JKN or Linear Advance.

 

[bigegg]

FFS!

JABBERWOCKY.
BANDERSNATCH.
and even GRENDEL.

complete new hot end (genuine e3d volcano)
new ptfe tube.
new bowden connectors (from e3d, not china!)

put a different colour filament on, and I'm getting the exact same problem as last month:

extrudes about 650mm of filament, then "click. click. click."

no feed!

stripped down.
rebuilt from scratch.
swapped back to original filament.
same stl which was working yesterday.

same £u_+/_)-"84'4) problem!!!!

changed the heat break.
changed the nozzle.
changed the heatsink
changed the bowden connectors.
changed the ptfe tube.

same £u--7:6'+_85"4 problem.



started at 9am to get a new fan nozzle printed and not even printed a full brim around a benchy!!!
i'm just about ready to throw the entire thing in the bin.

 

[bigegg]

this is about 40mm from hot end.
jammed solid with a twisted piece of filament (not melted).
the bowden clamp is holding it too tight?
but i'm not sure if this is a symptom, or a cause.

 

[carbon]

Don’t have an a8 but how stable is the bed on this printer