Anyone with a Prometheus head please check in!

[ZenOhSix]

I am sorry, but I don't know where to even begin to describe my overall angst at this point.

Can anyone who has a Rostock Max V2 with a Prometheus v2 hot end PLEASE send me your PLA (and ABS if you have those) settings? I don't care if it is in MatterControl or Repetier-Host (Slic3r or ??). I just want to be able to have KNOWN good settings to be able to print.

Feel free to attach them to this thread, or shoot me them in an email: zenohsix AT gmail.com

Thank you.
Mike

[KAS]

I can send what I have when I get back home. Just keep in mind depending how you built your Promethus, those values might yield different results.


Can you take a pic of your hot end and explain what issues you're having?

[ZenOhSix]

KAS,

Everything fails. I cannot get anything to consistently repeat or work at all. I am really tempted to sledgehammer this entire thing. At this point, it has been the worst investment I have ever made. I have had this thing for ~38 days now, in which I have spent about 20 days of actively working on it.

Initially, I had all kinds of issues with the bowden tube and failed prints, due to the fact that the tube continued to come out of the hot-end. It would occur at random times and destroy a print without warning. After multiple discussions with various people, I spent another $80 with Eric @ DTA and he sent me a new collet that holds the bowden tube in place. Come to find out, I had a faulty part out of the box.

After replacing that part, I felt like I was back at ground zero. Yet, deja vu is kicking in again. I am having complete random failures. This time though, I don't have an obvious fault (like a tube popping out) to point the problem at. Lets see if this summarizes it:

- I can print a cube perfectly.
- I cannot print a cube at all, as the base layer won't stick.
- I can print a cube, and it has warped corners on the rear (Z axis).
- I can print a cube, and it has no warped Z corner, but a warped X corner.
- I can print a cube, have it fail 1/2 way through and throw spaghetti everywhere (imagine the nozzle not touching anything, just spewing out filament).
- I can print a cube, in the middle of the print, the cube pops off MID-LAYER.
- I can print a cube, in the middle of the print, the cube pops off at the bed adhesion.
- I can print a cube, after the print, I cannot remove the part unless I put the glass in the freezer

Each of these things above can occur if I were to attempt to print 10 times, without changing a single setting in Matter Control. No exaggeration.

On a personal note, I am getting emotionally vested here. I am ill. Very ill (terminal). I take a lot of meds and I am losing the ability to have patience here. I have a lot of money invested in this (not just the 3D printer, but a lot of things after this as well that I have wanted to do from a bucket list perspective; I wanted to do some lost-pla casting and metal pouring.); I have purchased a kiln, vacuum pump and equipment, home foundry, etc. etc. etc. I am just at the point of being ready to give up, which is the worst thing I can possibly do.

I am just at a complete loss.

Hell.. I just tried to print another cube, and it failed out of the gate this time:

[img]https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5777/217 ... a30c_b.jpg[/img]

I have never seen it do that. I did make two changes though: lowered the bed temperature (to 62c), and lowered the nozzle temperature (to 190c). I did this because I was so far outside of the boundaries in the previous settings, causing other issues (previously I have had the bed temp at 73c, and 210c nozzle). The issues I had there were cobwebs like none other (stringing), ruining a part that FINALLY printed (lower jaw of the TREX - got to the teeth and with all of the cobwebs, it basically became a solid between all of the teeth and inbetween the left/right of the jaw!).

When I look at the last failed attempt (picture above), here is what I notice:

1) Poor adhesion to the bed.
-- Looks like I should increase temp from 62c
2) Large gap in filament between left/right swipes.
-- ???

In regards to pictures of the hot-end:

[img]https://farm1.staticflickr.com/619/2195 ... 425e_b.jpg[/img]
[img]https://farm1.staticflickr.com/726/2196 ... b066_b.jpg[/img]
[img]https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5817/211 ... 689b_b.jpg[/img]

...

I have also sent out emails to the local 3D printer groups and such, without response. I was hoping I could get a reliable set of parameters from someone here, that has had 100% success with them. I know there could be some mechanical issues, but the simple g-code calibration setup seems to be spot on. I don't understand how to use the Delta Automatic Calibration tool - so that is a NOGO unless someone can walk me step by step through it. I DID read the thread, but I cannot get my brain to understand. Frustration is getting in the way.

If the settings from a few people do not work, I guess my next step would be to buy a plane ticket and put someone up for a day or two that could work on this thing?

Thanks,
Mike

[geneb]

Just looking at the failed cube print, I can tell that the problem isn't the hot end, your z zero point is too high!

Print some PLA at about 190C with a 55C bed. Print at 30mm/sec. Use glue stick on the bed.

Reset your z zero point first.

g.

[ZenOhSix]

Gene,

Thank you. I will reset it again.

A quick note - I tried doing it once more, but increased the bed temperature. This time, the filament just stopped coming out (no other change than bed temp):

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fD22Vqt1bU[/youtube]
(why doesn't the youtube brackets work? I have tried both the ID and the full url?)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fD22Vqt1bU


With the Z zero point lower, this shouldn't occur - should it?

Last question:

When I do the Z-Zero calibration, I place a piece of paper under the nozzle/on the bed. I lower it all the way down until there is decent resistance in pushing the paper (towards the Z axis). I then stop lowering the nozzle and set that height. That's what I have (currently) set for my nozzle height. Am I doing this incorrectly?

[KAS]

Use the full youtube URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fD22Vqt1bU" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

but take out the "s" in the https.

[ZenOhSix]

I did the Z calibration height again. To your point, it dropped another .06mm from the last time I did it. Now, at 00.00, there is a VERY SMALL motor hum sound where there is pressure being pushed against the paper contently. The thing I don't understand, is I did the exact same process last time (motor hum, scratches in the paper, etc.) - and it still dropped further when I did it this next time.

[img]https://farm1.staticflickr.com/697/2134 ... 3f7c_b.jpg[/img]

[KAS]

Almost looks like nothing is coming out. I'm wonder if the double nut after the block is cooling it off.

Can you extrude filament in the air?

[KAS]

this is how I have mine setup, with one nut under the block and a very small portion of the nozzle sticking out beyond that.

I'll get clearer picture when I get home.

Edit: this might be a better example. https://youtu.be/2uvrr7wb9jI?t=8829" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[ZenOhSix]

Almost looks like nothing is coming out. I'm wonder if the double nut after the block is cooling it off.

Can you extrude filament in the air?

Yes - I can.

I just tried again, and it failed again with that same issue.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EghYZ2heUMs[/youtube]

In comparison to manually feeding it:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3VxiiUZIZY[/youtube]

??

[KAS]

hmm, crank that heat another 20c. See if that does anything different.


When it's printing does the nozzle temp drop at all?


Also, by chance is that SeeMeCNC midnight black PLA? I've had nothing but trouble with it. Just curious.

[ZenOhSix]

this is how I have mine setup, with one nut under the block and a very small portion of the nozzle sticking out beyond that.

I'll get clearer picture when I get home.

Edit: this might be a better example. https://youtu.be/2uvrr7wb9jI?t=8829" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

20150730_195001.jpg

Interesting!

I set it up the "DEFAULT" way per what Dave @ TrickLazer told me to do so, along with the instructions for the Prometheus @ Eric's DTA instructions. This is with the two nuts at the bottom:

[img]http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0426/9 ... grande.JPG[/img]

With your setup, you are using three nuts it looks like.

I assume that is a 2mm gap between the top two nuts where you can see thread?

I can try changing it to that type of setup to see if it works better. The only thing that I don't understand though, is why when I manually extrude it out (10mm at a time) it flows freely, or if I manually crank the knob? Yet, when printing it just stops? To me - if it was getting too cold or something, it would fail on those?

What about retraction?

In the Prometheus manual, it says to not set the retraction greater than that cooling distance of 2mm as a MAX. I have tried mine at both 2mm and 1.9mm. What is yours set to?

Any other thoughts before I go through surgery, changing this?

Thanks,
Mike

[ZenOhSix]

hmm, crank that heat another 20c. See if that does anything different.


When it's printing does the nozzle temp drop at all?


Also, by chance is that SeeMeCNC midnight black PLA? I've had nothing but trouble with it. Just curious.

I can increase the temperature. As I mentioned earlier, I did have some success - before the webbing occurred, ruining the part. When reading through "Stringing" fixes, it talks about two areas of primary adjustment: Retraction + Temperature. With the retraction being so limited (2mm) compared to ~5mm on other nozzles, I wanted to reduce the temp as low as I could go. I was printing at 200-205c before. So a 10c drop isn't that much.

My concern is that raising the temp gives me stringing/webbing again, which ruins parts (as it did on the TREX jaw).

{EDIT} = Yes, that is the Black PLA from SeeMeCNC...

[geneb]

The paper should only lightly drag on the nozzle. I suspect you've gone from one extreme (too high) to another (too low).

g.

[KAS]

I built mine exactly like this : http://forum.seemecnc.com/viewtopic.php ... 2mm#p68141" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


I don't know the settings off hand, I'll get that tonight. I am running a geared extruder and typically run PLA a tad cooler than before.

[ZenOhSix]

The paper should only lightly drag on the nozzle. I suspect you've gone from one extreme (too high) to another (too low).

g.

The paper I am using is photo-gloss paper, wax coating. Any touch on it will cause a mark. More so, when the nozzle is hot. I use this so I can actually see it makes contact. It isn't that low really.

Thanks,
Mike

[ZenOhSix]

I built mine exactly like this : http://forum.seemecnc.com/viewtopic.php ... 2mm#p68141" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


I don't know the settings off hand, I'll get that tonight. I am running a geared extruder and typically run PLA a tad cooler than before.

I am going to bump the the nozzle to 205 and try again. Regardless of the outcome, I will change the Prometheus to your style of design. I want to see if it is a temp issue that is causing the filament to stop coming out..

Give me about 30 minutes to do a quick test and swap it over.

Thanks,
Mike

[KAS]

Worth a shot anyways. Also reading that topic again it looks like ccavanaugh might of been experiencing that sort of issue before switching the layout of the hotend.

That might be why you can extrude in air, but not when printing.

[ZenOhSix]

no bueno!

Temp was up to 205c now.

[img]https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5781/217 ... c55b_b.jpg[/img]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sK-0WTcX1x0[/youtube]

Blah!

[KAS]

I'll be honest in saying that the SeeMeCNC midnight black PLA is by far the worst stuff I've ever used.


Do you have a different color to try?

[ZenOhSix]

Surgery is done...

I didn't snap a pic of it not-installed, but it looks identical to the one KAS has on his thread. Here it is installed:

Notice the 2.00 mm Gap:
[img]https://farm1.staticflickr.com/771/2178 ... 3098_b.jpg[/img]

And the 3rd nut:
[img]https://farm1.staticflickr.com/702/2197 ... 2573_b.jpg[/img]

Ok.. it is warming up. I also set the retractions to 3.5mm. I am trying the same PLA.. I have another spool that I will try if this fails. I need to do a quick Z-Cal height, then off I go.

[ZenOhSix]

This is why I hate life (mine) {EDIT}

Sorry for the RANT, whomever saw it.

I appreciate all the help given here. I am just extremely anxious and tired with the many, many challenges I have had and ill fated luck that has hit me. I was trying to be very careful, yet due to the multiple on/off/on/off throughout the build/troubleshooting/etc. - I broke the Thermister AGAIN.

I am off to solder it back together again.

Mike

[ZenOhSix]

Ok...

Fixed now. Both legs have been officially broke and repaired!

Record time of reinstalling everything.

Just did a new Z-Height calibration and doing a new PID Autotune.

Next comes the moment of truth..

(BTW: This is one of the reasons for my grumpiness - not an excuse - just contributes):
[img]https://farm1.staticflickr.com/595/2178 ... 80e8_b.jpg[/img]

Hopefully things will be on the getting better mode now..

[ZenOhSix]

Nope.

[img]https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5767/217 ... 6d71_b.jpg[/img]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ozy899vhPNc[/youtube]

Ok..

Now I am changing filament from the SeeMeCNC to the local Microcenter brand stuff, and going to give that a try.

Thanks,
Mike

[ZenOhSix]

Close-up of the first layer:

[img]https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5774/217 ... 32ab_b.jpg[/img]