Looking for 3D Printer Kit

[Ranayna]

I experimented more yesterday with the Z adjustment.
And by now i am sure that the textured sheet does indeed not really work with PLA. I am a bit miffed... If i had known that, i would not have ordered the textured sheet. While i want to print PETG, PLA will remain my main filament for the foreseeable future, if only to use up all the spools i have lying around

With a live-z of -1.400 after initial calibration, the Prusa Logo print detached during the print. At live-z of -1.500, the first layer curls up, so that is apparently too close to the bed. A live-z of -1.450 works for me at the moment, but the edges of the print still curled up a bit. I will give the sheet a wash this evening and try again, but this is not satisfying.
Since i can't just rub fingerprints off the sheet, like i could with the mirror bed of the A8, i need to get used to using a paper towel to pick up prints from the bed

What is the best practice to change materials?
I have not tried doing so yet, but due to the different temps i suspect that when changing from PETG to PLA, any PETG residues remaining in the nozzle will create issues.

[beanflying]

Look up 'cold pull' on youtube works fine with the Bowden/Creality setups but it should work ok on the Prusa to get most of the old filament out. Changing back to PLA just crank some through manually at PETG temps before you go back to PLA Prints as normal the PLA will be ok at this Temp for a short swap.

With all surfaces I go a Detergent wash, Hot Water Rinse or two, then a really good wipe over with IPA. 99-100% don't whatever you do use 'medical grade or sanitizer the 70% has nice smelly oils and water among other things so it no fit for purpose.  This allows my to run problem free on Glass without anything or Creality Textured beds for PLA and a wipe of Bostik Glue Stick for PETG.

[Ranayna]

So, i gave the sheet a good rub, and it seems to work better now. The raft still brushes off easily, but the print holds firm, with only very minor liftoff at the very corners. But that also happened on the glass bed of the A8, and with the rough surface of the textured sheet this effect is a lot less noticable.
I have printed the Prusa logo with all PLA filaments i have available (some of them quite old now), and all but one came out great. I have slight underextrusion for the one that does not work properly.
I noticed that the gray filament that was included with the kit makes the structures of the first layer very visible. On the other colors (black, blue, orange and transparent) the first layer looks really good.
Also i was sure i needed to write off my spool of black filament that was in open air for several months. But i could load it without issues, not even the tip broke off, and the print came out fine. I'm starting to get the feeling, that, at least for my location, the dangers of air moisture are maybe a bit overstated, at least for PLA.

This evening i will finally have time to slice some models and see how they work. I will see if i can find an old stl that i have also printed with the A8, to compare.
I will post pictures and a more detailed writeup about my experiences so far on saturday or sunday.

[hli]

The "Live Z my way" linked above really helps with getting the first layer right. The 75mm square is big enough to test e.g. 4 different Live-Z values (e.g. 0.025mm apart) and then decide which one is the best (for PLA: the top-side feels not rough, and the single threads do not separate but form a full first layer).
When changing between PLA and PETG I usually do no cold pull - the temperature difference between them is not big enough to cause problems. But I do print a first layer calibration after the change, each material, even when using the same sheet, needs a different first layer. PLA likes to be squished onto the bed, whereas PETG can be printed more loosely (it sticky very well by itself, and when squished too much it curls up onto the nozzle). That print also helpd in cleaning out the nozzle.

[Pineapple Dan]

Which printers use only cloud-based slicers? Where is the rationale in making such a printer? That would seem like a horrible design flaw to me

[PlainName]

Where is the rationale in making such a printer?

* Down the line the potential for SAAS (recouping costs)

* Ensuring everyone is using a single version (ease of support)

* Knowing what the product is being used for (for improvements and/or stats and/or info selling)

* Single-platform development (browser)

[Ranayna]

So, i have not forgotten this thread. Really :p

I have now printed quite a bit, both PLA and PETG, and just now received a small roll of TPU, which i want to experiment with.

A lot of things where mentioned in this thread, that by now i had the opportunity to learn myself :p

One thing i found especially interesting, i do not know why that happens. The printhead of the Prusa seems to draw crud like a magnet. It's already really dirty, with barely more than 55 hours of printing. Sometimes, when extruding after filament change, the extrusion curls up so much that the end sticks to the nozzle and a loop is formed. That drops off, but always leaves some residue. One time this happened when printing though, and i got a big blob of PLA stuck to the printhead.
I especially had issues printing white PETG after PLA of other colors. Many prints got small ugly pieces of crud in them. I assume that these are remnants of PLA stuck to the head that dropped off on the higher PETG temperatures. I think a silicion sock, as was mentioned here, might be a good investment, at least it would make cleaning easier.

But in general, how does one go ahead to clean the printhead? I got a brass wirebrush, but everything around the actual printhead is plastic, and the heaterblock is recessed, so i dont think i can really go ham on the head with the brush...
Also i noticed, after using the brush, sometimes the filament extrudes wierd. It comes out wider than the nozzle, as if it puffs up. But actual prints still work fine so far. 

I printed quite a bit of PETG, and that sticks really nice to the textured sheet, i had barely any issues. After switching back to PLA though, i had massivie issues getting that to stick again, even though it worked fine at first, with the same settings.
The solution to that? Giving the bed a thorough clean with soap and washcloth. 
I will still order a smooth sheet at some point for PLA. The adhesion is just too borderline on the textured sheet.

No pictures at the moment, i will post some this evening though, with a description of an additional problem i am facing at the moment.

[Ranayna]

Ok, here are a couple of pictures, finally :p

Crud that fell onto the heatbed during the first layer:


Then the issue i mentioned in the previous post:


The wall should be straight, but there is a noticable shift at the layer where the bottom of the bracket ends. This is an outward shift on all sides, so this is, as far as i have understood, not caused by skipping belts.
Similiar shifts can be seen on any wall with changing thickness.

EDIT: Huh, inline images still do not work properly?
Also: i forgot to mention my print settings. I use Prusa Slicer, on 0.2 Quality, with Prusament PETG preset, nothing changed from default.

[PlainName]

EDIT: Huh, inline images still do not work properly?

No, but your post is fine. There is a marker where you refer to a photo and if we're interested we can pop it up dead easy, otherwise just glance at the thumbnail and move on.

[MarkF]

EDIT: Huh, inline images still do not work properly?

No, but your post is fine. There is a marker where you refer to a photo and if we're interested we can pop it up dead easy, otherwise just glance at the thumbnail and move on.

Yes.  But, there is a work-around.
 1)  After you submit your post, click on each thumbnail to see the full-size picture.
 2)  Right click and copy the image address.
 3)  Go back and edit your post.
 4)  Insert the "img" tag and paste the image address where you want it in your post.
     (Note:  You can add width= to set the size)
     (img width=400) image_address_here (/img)  'Replace parenthesis with square brackets '
     I recommend putting the "img" tag on it own line.
 5)  Post your edit.

[PlainName]

Problem with that is you get the full size image embedded, which defeats the point of having a thumbnail. A thread of such full-size embedded images can be really tedious to read because the page keeps jumping around as each image is slowly loaded. There are several threads which I might be kind of interested in but just CBA to wait for the juddering to stop each time I view them.

[beanflying]

And when you upload 2000kB+ images best they stay thumbnails .... 

Much over 1000x800 unless needed is just bogging the world down.