Filament is sticking at all OR no filament is coming out.

[fingerpuk 0]

Hello.

So I've arrived home with my UM2 :-) I've done the set up, levelled the build plate as best I can (I used a micrometer) and applied the glue. I've loaded the PLA and low and behold the filament isn't sticking to the build plate OR there is not enough filament coming out, I can't really tell which.

Initially filament came out but it didn't stick, I aborted the print, re-levelled and tried again. This time it looks like not enough filament is coming out. I've unlocked the feeder and that is ok, I've tried heating the he'd, that seems ok. Any thoughts?

Cheers.

 

[fingerpuk 0]

I've heated the nozzle to 260 to let it clear itself up and am about to re-try. The feeder at the back was turning but tiny tiny amounts, and slowly. The speed of the head didn't seem to match the speed of the feeder, no clicking or anything though.

 

[fingerpuk 0]

That did it, seems to be working now. The fans aren't running though.

 

[gr5 2,071]

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.

 

[fingerpuk 0]

Hello. I'm not printing at 260, just turned it to clean the thing out

Printing the test robot now, it's printing really fast I'm amazed. I'm going to test printing it much slower with smaller layers. I wonder if anywhere we have a list of printing properties next to an image of the same model? If not, I'd be prepared to build a site to host that.

 

[gr5 2,071]

I wonder if anywhere we have a list of printing properties next to an image

 

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/

 

[gr5 2,071]

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.