New Orion issues. Help!

[derwoodvw]

I have had my orion for almost two weeks now and problems keep compiling. Lately the tip will not reach the target temp. It gets close and then drops down to about three degrees below and the print won't start unless I manually raise the target temp about three degrees higher so it will get to the target temp. If I turn off the bed heat, it has no problem reaching the target temp. Now that I am doing larger diameter prints, I have found that the gap between the tip and the bed increases as it moves outward. Prints that extend beyond a 4inch diameter have gaps between each pass because the tip is not close enough to the bed. At 5inches I have plastic strings that hardly adhere at all. If I lower the z height to compensate for it , then the tip is touching the bed in the center and the plastic won't extrude properly in the area near the center. I flipped the glass plate over because I thought it might have a crown in it but it did not make any difference. I have performed several tower calibrations and have adjusted the gap perfect at each tower. When the tower calibration is complete and the tip returns to center, I cannot slip the gauge under the tip. Tired of trouble shooting and ready to just do some printing.

[Eaglezsoar]

I have had my orion for almost two weeks now and problems keep compiling. Lately the tip will not reach the target temp. It gets close and then drops down to about three degrees below and the print won't start unless I manually raise the target temp about three degrees higher so it will get to the target temp. If I turn off the bed heat, it has no problem reaching the target temp. Now that I am doing larger diameter prints, I have found that the gap between the tip and the bed increases as it moves outward. Prints that extend beyond a 4inch diameter have gaps between each pass because the tip is not close enough to the bed. At 5inches I have plastic strings that hardly adhere at all. If I lower the z height to compensate for it , then the tip is touching the bed in the center and the plastic won't extrude properly in the area near the center. I flipped the glass plate over because I thought it might have a crown in it but it did not make any difference. I have performed several tower calibrations and have adjusted the gap perfect at each tower. When the tower calibration is complete and the tip returns to center, I cannot slip the gauge under the tip. Tired of trouble shooting and ready to just do some printing.

From what you have written you have done everything you can do to try to alleviate your problems. Normally we try to solve problems via the forum but you have done everything
that we would ask you to do with little results. My recommendation would be to send what you wrote above to [email protected] and see what they have to say. I hate
sending users to support because I know how busy they are but there are times that it needs to be done. Geneb, if you are reading this and can think of something he may have
missed please step in.

[sandy]

Please don't give up. Believe me, I've been where you are. I had a problem, where I couldn't print out the Onyx leveling guide even for 1/2 of my heated bed. The instructions for adjusting the print radius fixed this for me.


You said this:
"I have found that the gap between the tip and the bed increases as it moves outward. Prints that extend beyond a 4inch diameter have gaps between each pass because the tip is not close enough to the bed. At 5inches I have plastic strings that hardly adhere at all. If I lower the z height to compensate for it , then the tip is touching the bed in the center and the plastic won't extrude properly in the area near the center. I flipped the glass plate over because I thought it might have a crown in it but it did not make any difference. I have performed several tower calibrations and have adjusted the gap perfect at each tower. When the tower calibration is complete and the tip returns to center, I cannot slip the gauge under the tip. "

This sounds a lot like a print-radius issue. In Geneb's RostockMax instructions is a flowchart to fix this. Here's the paragraph:

The concave/convex shape of the bed is controlled by the EEPROM table entry labeled
“Horizontal radius [mm]”.
What you're going to do is bump that figure by 0.5 until the nozzle is touching the paper just the
same as it was when you calibrated at the base of each tower.
In order to lower the nozzle, you'll need to
increase
the Horizontal Radius value.
In order to raise the nozzle, you'll need to
decrease
the Horizontal Radius value.
Each time you change the Horizontal Radius, you must re-calibrate the base of each tower again. Just like you did before you have to go back to scripts 1-4 again. It takes time, but the results are worth it.

[Eaglezsoar]

Sandy, I agree with everything you said but he is also having problems with getting his hotend up to temperature.
An Orion that is only two weeks old should not be experiencing any of these problems.

[sandy]

Yeah the temp could mean Rambo or wiring issues. The thermistor could also be an issue. Do the Orions come already calibrated?

[Eaglezsoar]

Yeah the temp could mean Rambo or wiring issues. The thermistor could also be an issue. Do the Orions come already calibrated?

Yes, the Orions come pre-assembled and calibrated.

[JohnStack]

Heat = movement.

If you're up to it:

While you are disconnected from power:

1. Using the thumb screws, remove the front cover (with the LCD).
2. The wires to the hot end are the two at the upper left (black, then red). See if those aren't loose. Use a #2 screwdriver and tighten down the leads.

See if that won't do the trick. If it doesn't:

1. To the right at the edge of the board is the power connector. Gently see if the leads are loose to the plug that goes into the board.
2. If they are, tighten those screws.

If you are not up to it: email support!

[derwoodvw]

I was hoping it would be something I could adjust. I will try to do it now. Thanks for the help. I want too keep this printer because all of the other printers in this price range don't even compare to the orion.

[derwoodvw]

How do I get the changed values to load into the printer?

[derwoodvw]

Never mind I figured it out.

[Eaglezsoar]

How do I get the changed values to load into the printer?

Which values are you changing?

[derwoodvw]

After changing the radius value I found that it had to be lowered not raised. The factory setting was 175.1 and I ended up with 174.5 . Yesterday I designed a test print in freecad. It is a 5 inch diameter ring 5mm wide with a 1 inch diameter disc in the center, the thickness for both is .25mm. I set the first layer of slic3r to .25mm. When I printed it last night the disc printed good but the outer ring had individual strands that would barely adhere to the bed. Now the outer ring looks like a solid sheet of plastic and I have to use a razor blade to remove it from the bed. When I hold it up to the light I can't see any light at all passing through. The disc and the ring are the exact same thickness. I did not think it would ever print this good! When I received the machine It had a large crack in the top. This probably explains why the radius value had to be changed. I have not replaced the top yet because I am not sure how to remove it. Also the plug on the right hand side of the board was not completely pushed in and that fixed the tip heat issue. Thanks for all of the help!

[Eaglezsoar]

After changing the radius value I found that it had to be lowered not raised. The factory setting was 175.1 and I ended up with 174.5 . Yesterday I designed a test print in freecad. It is a 5 inch diameter ring 5mm wide with a 1 inch diameter disc in the center, the thickness for both is .25mm. I set the first layer of slic3r to .25mm. When I printed it last night the disc printed good but the outer ring had individual strands that would barely adhere to the bed. Now the outer ring looks like a solid sheet of plastic and I have to use a razor blade to remove it from the bed. When I hold it up to the light I can't see any light at all passing through. The disc and the ring are the exact same thickness. I did not think it would ever print this good! When I received the machine It had a large crack in the top. This probably explains why the radius value had to be changed. I have not replaced the top yet because I am not sure how to remove it. Also the plug on the right hand side of the board was not completely pushed in and that fixed the tip heat issue. Thanks for all of the help!

Would you be willing to share that print you made for calibration? I also have the Orion and definitely could use it.

[derwoodvw]

Sure! How do I upload the file?

[derwoodvw]

I can zip it and email to you.

[Tinyhead]

When I received the machine It had a large crack in the top. This probably explains why the radius value had to be changed. I have not replaced the top yet because I am not sure how to remove it. Also the plug on the right hand side of the board was not completely pushed in and that fixed the tip heat issue. Thanks for all of the help!

Glad to hear most of your woes were solved!

When you say you have a crack in the top... do you mean the melamine? If so, I would definitely think that's what caused your radius issues and get a replacement piece. With the vibrations of the machine, I would think that might move little bits here and there and might throw out the settings again.

[derwoodvw]

They sent me a new top but I am not sure how to remove the old one without damaging other components.

[derwoodvw]

Test.gco

(108.56 KiB) Downloaded 274 times

Here is the file.

[Eaglezsoar]

They sent me a new top but I am not sure how to remove the old one without damaging other components.

The top should be held down with tnuts that go into the uprights but you will have to remove the endstop switches and reinstall in the same
holes in the new top. Take your time and you should be okay with changing out the tops. There isn't an assembly manual for the Orion
because it is pre-assembled.

[Eaglezsoar]

Test.gco

Here is the file.

Thanks for the file!