ABS now curling, but no problems previously

[redlight]

Hi, I’m new to the forum and 3D printing, but have had an Orion for a few weeks now. After tweaking everything, I was able to get very nice and precise prints, but that changed.

I bought an E3D v6 hot-end and connected it with a mount that I printed. I did add some quick connects for the wiring, something I think should be stock.

So… after recalibrating the Z height and end stops and adjusting the nozzle diameter in the slicer to match the true diameter of the extrusion, I did a test print of a part that I have successfully printed several times.

To my surprise, the ABS curled in the corners. As background info, I use hairspray on the glass plate. In the past, I needed to run everything under hot water for a few minutes before I could even hope to remove my printed parts.

I checked the thermistor and it is the exact same value and brand that the stock hot-end uses, but to be sure, I used my multi-meter which has a thermocouple add-on. No fault found. I checked the diameter of the ABS filament I bought from SeeMe again and it is still 1.85mm. Lastly, I increased the temperature of the hot-end by 5 degrees from what had been working.
I’ve run out of ideas on what to check so I’m hopeful that some of you more experienced people may tell me what I am missing.

I thought the E3D would be an upgrade, but so far it has been quite the opposite.

Any ideas? Thank you in advance.

[Eaglezsoar]

Have you checked your bed temperature with a separate thermocouple with meter?
I realize that it should not have changed but curling is most often a sign of a bed that is
not hot enough.

[redlight]

Thank you for responding. I did actually check the bed also. It reads accurately too.

It's so strange, I used to print perfect ABS prints at 230C with the bed at 90C and using hairspray. There was no chance I could pry them off the glass unless I ran hot water on it for a few minutes.

I have now tested the bed at 100C and the hot-end at 245C. The prints are no longer sticking. I tried glue also, the stuff that SeeMe send with the printer. Previously I found that glue was hit or miss, now it is the same as the hairspray.

It's the same roll of filament that I had been using, but maybe I'll try another flavour.

[redlight]

I was able to resolve my issue and thought I would reply to my own post in case someone else has a similar challenge.

I experimented with print speed and layer height changes, but those didn't help.

What worked was to increase both my extruder and bed temperatures by 10 degrees over what I had used in the past (100/240), but also to print the part with an attached skirt. The part still was still not glued down as well as parts printed with lower temperatures and the stock hot-end, but the changes prevented the corners from curling.

[Eaglezsoar]

I was able to resolve my issue and thought I would reply to my own post in case someone else has a similar challenge.

I experimented with print speed and layer height changes, but those didn't help.

What worked was to increase both my extruder and bed temperatures by 10 degrees over what I had used in the past (100/240), but also to print the part with an attached skirt. The part still was still not glued down as well as parts printed with lower temperatures and the stock hot-end, but the changes prevented the corners from curling.

I always print with the hair spray and a brim with ABS but what is curious in your case is why it all started when you added the E3D.
I guess we are not supposed to understand just do what you did and fix it, good job!

[redlight]

.. but you're a Jedi!!!

I don't understand the results either. The only real change is the extrusion diameter which changed from 0.6 (from the stock 0.5 nozzle) to a 0.45 from the E3D 0.4. I had the correct values in the slicer though and my extruder feed rate is calibrated.

Regardless, it's resolved and I thank you again for your help.

[Hans]

Did you do a PID auto tune for the new hot end as well? Or just a temp change?

[redlight]

It's interesting that you ask Hans. I hadn't done one initially, but since have. The values for both the bed and nozzle were vastly different from what had been set by SeeMe, but the resulting curves looked nearly identical.

I haven't tested the Orion since I changed the PID values and don't expect a change, but if I do observe one, I'll update this post.

[redlight]

Hans,
Because I bought an Orion and the user manual only mentioned end stop calibration, I didn’t even know about PID tuning until I saw it mentioned in another post, after I had resolved my problem with a skirt and temperature increases.

To be thorough and hopefully helpful to someone else, I changed the print settings in my slicer back to what I had been using prior to the upgrade, the exception being the extrusion diameter.

With the new PID values, my test with the original slicer settings resulted in … a print that didn’t stick to the glass.

I really had no idea how much tweaking was required for 3D printing. I’m good with it and am used to that sort of thing, but there’s zero chance that most of the people I know would have the patience to deal with the mechanical and software adjustments required.

There will need to be some serious calibration automation before 3D printers will sit beside inkjets in most people’s homes.