gr5

.3mm is better first layer as you don't have to be quite as precise when levelling. .15mm is for experts (or patient people who spend hours leveling maybe). Level it one more time. It should just barely bite the paper - you should feel a small increase in resistance at each of the 3 spots on the paper. The paper should be average paper used for ink jet printers, photocopiers. Not thick cardboard stock. Typical paper is .1mm thick and after you "level" Cura moves the bed *closer* by .1mm to be the Z=0 point. Then when printing the first layer it moves to Z=layer height so for .3mm layer it would move to Z=0.3. It subtracts the 0.1mm.

Some thoughts: 1) look at the gcode in cura layer view - did you do that? Pay especial attention where it fails. 2) look at the gcdoe in repetier host. It's free software: http://www.repetier.com/download/ 3) Marlin has a temp cutoff - if the temp is below 170C (or some other cutoff temp) the extruder stops turning. Could you be below that cutoff? 4) USB printing is pretty unreliable. Typically Marlin gets tons of checksum errors and the data is resent many times. That is what those errors are I think. Try changing cables, try turning off fluorescent lights, or things with motors. Don't touch any light switches in the room while printing. Try a different machine which might have a better USB port. Try a USB hub which might have a higher boost voltage for USB.

These guys are similarly small:

You should be able to print it. I've printed things of similar size. But this isn't easy. I would try first printing it nose down. You need the first layer to stick very well. In nose down you don't need any support. I would print 4 at once so they all have plenty of time to cool. 30mm/sec is plenty slow enough. 100% fan. If they fall over conisder it a problem of getting first layer to stick better. UM1 or UM2? For UM1 it's importnat to clean the blue tape with alcohol first and for both machines make sure the first layer is squished well into the surface. If you get stringing like in this picture then lower the temp of the PLA until it stops and tweak around with your retraction settings: http://umforum.ultimaker.com/index.php?/topic/1872-some-calibration-photographs/

You can also see Q4 slightly above and to the left of the PWM connector.

2 days later he says... Ok. Most likely q4. Relatively easy to replace if you have a soldering iron. I would test it first. On ulticontroller set fan speed to 100% and it should come on right away. Measure the voltage at the fan connector on the PCB. It should be 19V. If not, then replace Q4. If it *is* 19V then something wrong with either the fan or wiring. In this picture below the fan is the bottom edge "middle" connector where it says "pwm" and there is a blue/purple wire. Disconnect that - make sure it's 19V. If it is then nothing wrong with PCB and connect the connector back on and see if that lowers the 19V to 0V or something. Again, this will only be 19V if you set the fans to "255" on ulticontroller.

A picture of your fan shroud would help - look at the gap between the left and right shroud to the center part of the head. Are the gaps symmetrical? If so adjust the limit switch. If not bend it tighter.

Your starting to annoy me that you still can't post a picture. It just occurred to me maybe you meant the *sides* of the layers and not the bottom surface. That is usually caused by build plate too hot - 75C is too hot. 70C is okay. 60C probably better depending.

Search for RTD and then make sure they are surface mount, and 100 ohms. I'm not sure what size you want but here are 3 different surface mount sizes: http://www.digikey.com/product-search/en?pv1=103&FV=fff4001e%2Cfff802da%2C400005%2C400006%2C400007&k=rtd&mnonly=0&newproducts=0&ColumnSort=0&page=1&quantity=0&ptm=0&fid=0&pageSize=25 Available sizes: 0603 0805 1206 These are in inches so 0603 is .06 by .03 inches. 0805 is .08 inches by .05 inches. I don't know what size the old one is but very likely one of these 3 sizes.

Sorry we don't do printrbot's here. I hear it's a decent printer and priced nice. But we discuss Cura or Ultimakers, not printrbots.

In the video everything sounds good until you move extra fast. Is that the "scratch"? It sounds like some kind of vibration maybe in the linear bearings inside the head - or maybe something else. But is that what you mean?

bottom/top are the solid *diagonal* infill layers. For this grip the "top" doesn't really occur because you have shell all the way except maybe the last layer where there might be some diagonal fill. You can see what all these do for your particular part by slicing it in cura and looking at the results in layer view.

Also make sure your bed is no hotter than 70C (the default is 75C which is too hot), and for the robot I would do 60C. Make sure your fans are really working (the left one must be if the left ear came out okay). Lower temp a little bit maybe to say 210C. And print slower - 30mm/sec. This will all make the robot come out better but also it will take longer so everything is a tradeoff. If you are happy with how it is now...

I would also get rid of the single support between her legs - you don't need it there. And increase the diameter of the supports because these are a bit thin and week. And add some cross beams to connect the supports together a little more so they are less likely to fall over. Look at the model in XRAY mode - any area that is red is a potential problem. Then look in LAYER mode and check each layer - go up and down many times looking at any possible problem areas. Make sure the printer is doing what you expected. Also like Roberts said, make sure brim is turned on. It's important for this particular model.

Really "bumpy" can describe at least 3 different problems so a picture would be best. It's likely either too close or too far levelling issue. Perfect. Levelling is very critical but once you get it you shouldn't have to touch it for weeks. If you are too close then the extruder buildes up pressure and the feeder skips and you get under (no) extrusion for a few seconds and that looks kind of bumpy. If you are too far the lines that you lay down initially are wavy and not properly squared off and it looks like the printer is drunk. And it doesn't stick well. And there are other possible issues.

um1 or um2? If it's a UM1 then, yes, you probably blew Q4. The darlington. If it's a UM2 then this is very unlikely. If UM2, then much more likely is wiring issues near the head -- slide up the black plastic sheathing and check the wiring under there. Note that for both printers the fans don't normally come on until several layers have finished but you can start the fans on the UM2 by clicking PRINT, selecting anything to print, then TUNE and then setting fan speed to 100%. As long as you stay in TUNE menu it will not start printing.

Please update your profile on the forum to say what country you live in, thanks. That way if you ever ask a question about, say what oil to use, the reply might by country relevant.

Okay - I like you already. I have a topic that tries to do something similar (show problem's and their causes/solutions). Feel free to start a similar topic. Please only post in the gallery because if you post pics in imgur or something they will be gone 2 years from now and we want helpful stuff to last. Anyway here's my attempt: http://umforum.ultimaker.com/index.php?/topic/1872-some-calibration-photographs/

Oh - and the drop box link doesn't work for me. I get error 404

Not sure. Go to "gallery" in top left of this page, click that, then click blue "upload" button. Does it let you now? You can't upload until you verify your email but I think you already did that.

You want to print a thicker first layer if it is slipping - in other words your bed is a little too close to the nozzle if the first layer is causing the feeder to slip. Slipping isn't bad for the stepper. There is absolutely no harm. Steppers have electromagnetic coils which create magnetic fields. There are no gears or anything that are skipping teeth - it's just like if you have two fixed magnets and one moving magnet that likes being near the 2 fixed magnets. When you push the moving magnet to the second fixed magnet it doesn't want to go but then suddenly slips/jumps. That's all it is inside the motor. Skipping on the first layer is not a big deal if you are printing, say a UM robot where people don't look at the bottom much but if it is say a cell phone cover it is critical. I haven't had *any* skips for several weeks. They shouldn't be hard to avoid. Especially first layer skips you just lower the bed a tiny tiny bit. Give that plastic more space to seep out. Skips on upper layers are more of an indication that there is either something wrong with your printer or you are doing something wrong. What temperature/layer height and print speed are you going for? At 230C, PLA you should be able to safely print at 5mm^3/second. At lower temps, lower speeds. For example .1mm layer, .4mm nozzle, 100mm/sec is (can you multiply 1X4?) 4mm^3/sec. Should be doable without any skips at 230C. But not at 210C.

90% of filament that claims it is 3mm is actually 2.85mm or 2.9mm. The remaining 10% that are truly at 3.00mm are a problem for the UM and can't be used. Don't even try it. Most of these manufacturers get enough feedback that within a few years they figure out that they should be making slightly smaller filament. Just because an employee doesn't know about this, doesn't mean the company itself is also ignorant about this.

I'm glad it's working. 1) 260C is too hot for PLA. It's dangerously hot - it can convert your nice PLA into a gunk that won't easily come out of the nozzle and cause clogs or partial clogs. You only want to print at 260C when you are printing very fast like say 200mm/sec with .1mm layers. 240C is much safer max temp for PLA. As long as the PLA is moving quickly 250 or 260 is okay but once you stop printing you need to cool to 240C asap. 2) The stepper does rotate incredibly slow. This is normal for bottom layer. 3) I don't know what the problem was for you but it sounds like leveling - if you print a tiny tiny bit too high it won't stick to the glass - you need to squish it in. If you print too low the pla will be so thin it will be almost invisible.

Don't worry about the warranty. UM would rather you fix this quickly but if you give up of course you can ship it back even if you took a cover off or tightened some screws. They don't mind.

Good news. X and Z axis seem fine. It is the Y axis. There could be a few things. 1) With power off, push head back and forth in X and Y axes. Is there a difference (thinking very high friction). 2) Look at the Y stepper and the Y belt. I think maybe the motor is turning but not the belt. The stepper motor is in the left rear corner. There are 6 pulleys that could be the problem. Each pulley has a belt around the pulley. There are 3 belts used in the Y axis - the short belt that goes to the motor and the 2 long belts. One of the set screws in the 6 pulleys is probably loose. Probably the one on the motor. You might want to remove the cover on the back left corner. The white metal cover is easy to remove and comes off with a single screw. Then you need to locate an allen wrench or torx screwdriver that fits these 6 pulleys. Push the head around and see which pulley(s) are loose and tighten the hell out of them. You want it so tight the screwdriver or allen wrench twists quite a bit but not so tight you break the screwdriver/wrench. 3) The Y limit switch might be tripping but I really doubt it because it woudn't make any sound. I hear a stepper moving but I don't see the head moving - I think it's problem #1 or #2.