Prints not as good as samples

[YeaJrRules]

I just got a Makergear M2. The sample gorilla head and helix print great in pronterface. However when i'm using slic3r and import things i've made from tinkercad the PLA filament doesn't adhere to the bed. Bed temp 70 extruder temp 215. It seems like the same drills in the first few layers and my prints do not. I got the settings from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1x7FRm_HSY . Any help would be appreciated.

[jimc]

bed adhesion can be a tricky thing. i assume you are printing directly on glass with pla? #1 if you printing on bare glass with no adhesive then your glass MUST be perfectly clean. wiped with alcohol and clean towels. once you have that then #2 is the bed gap. the z-height adjustment which is done with the z-stop bolt that hits the micro switch. this gap is critical. just .001" too far away and you have lost some adhesion. home the z axis and check the gap with a feeler gauge. .005" is a good starting point. i know they say paper or a business card but really there is too much variation in those. i would suggest you start using some hairspray on the glass or many people have good luck with glue stick. here is a link to a youtube video that the hyrel guys did. obviously not our printer but basics are the same. pay attention to the part when they get into the z-height calibration and how the filament is shaped and looks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fg9omXlYR-Q

[YeaJrRules]

The puzzling thing is that the sample prints that came with the makergear m2 have no issue with adhesion to the glass. I've cleaned the surface and printed one of my creations it doesn't adhere well, then I printed first few layers of sample and it adheres really well, tried my print again weak adhesion. The factory calibrated the Z axis and since the sample prints work great would it still need recalibrating?

[jimc]

Yes however you dont know what the factory settings were for the samples. Maybe they have the firat layer set to 80 or 90% layer height which would make it tighter to the bed. While the lactiry z height is probably really close you will need to set it again. Things can mive when you transport a printer.

[YeaJrRules]

Thank you for the responses, I'm going to try this out after work. I appreciate the help.

[jimc]

Your z is orobably pretty clise if the samples print ok. Just go into slicer and set the first layer height to maybe 85% or so. Your going to save yourself alit of grief over tine though if you just grab a can of aquanet from the store.

[insta]

Woah guys you have the behavior of slic3r wrong here. Setting the first layer smaller does the same thing as setting any layer smaller -- it extrudes less plastic. It has a separate option for "first layer width/thickness ratio" in the Advanced settings that controls how much plastic comes out. That should be 200% or so.

[jimc]

yeah ive never used it. just s3d so im not sure of the details on how that slicer works.

[Tim]

Could it just be that you don't have the purge cycle in slic3r? That's something that won't happen in slic3r unless you specifically copy the gcode there. The lack of a purge cycle could cause serious problems with the first layer if the filament isn't coming out of the nozzle for the first few inches. Especially if in addition you didn't add an outline for that extra bit of purge. I think all the samples do both.