MakerGear Forum

Forum,

We just got a MakerGear M2 (with the V3b extruder).

We adjusted the table to be at 70 deg, and the extruder to be at 215 deg, but when we print we get this terrible mess: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UP4mQNS ... e=youtu.be

Any ideas? thank you.

Ben

Looks to me like your Z-stop is adjusted to set the bed waaaaay too low for the first layer - you're basically printing in air, and the filament is folding back up and globbing all over the hot nozzle.

Use the tweezers to remove as much of that goo from the outside of the nozzle as you can while it's hot. (Be careful, obviously.)

Then calibrate your Z-stop to be around .006 inches (0.15mm) from the nozzle. You should have received instructions on how to calibrate the Z-stop with the machine, but just in case you didn't, here's a link to a video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0Cz6jPPECM

(They use a business card, I prefer to use a feeler gauge - they are a lot more accurate.)

You generally only have to do this once, then it pays to run calibration squares to fine tune your machine before each roll of filament. Instructions for that are here:

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1964

Last, give the bed a light spritz of hairspray or Elmer's purple gluestick and let it dry before printing, it helps that first layer to stick.

(And mine looked exactly like that the first time I tried to print....it doesn't hurt the nozzle. Just makes a heck of a mess to clean up.)

You definitely need to adjust your z height like Jules said but if your using PLA you can try printing on blue painters tape also,It's a lot less mess to worry about when starting out.

-Steve