Is it ok to print this many objects at once?

[metrons]

I tried printing this last night using Black PLA. print seemed fine so i went to bed. i woke up to find the pieces had gone to hell. lots of shifting, some objects are just giant thread like balls. the only pieces it seemed to print were the flattest pieces. i dont understand whats going on. my friend suggested maybe the printer cant handle going from so many parts at once? to me, this doesn't make sense though, shouldn't this print fine as its just going up one layer at a time? so...i'm getting terrible results and it was printing JUST fine last time i printed. i can only think...maybe the bed isn't level? i used the auto leveling wizard in S3D. seems to be level...

my girlfriend said she came home as the print was going and heard a harsh noise, she came in to find the printer spool seemed to not be letting out material, like it got a kink in it? i'm not sure if i should...unwind a lot of material ahead of time or leave the spool as is? what the HELL is going on with this print. been a gd nightmare!

this is the first time i've chopped up a model so i can assemble it later.



here are some examples of the parts its printing...again...WTF!? so frustrating...

[benavery]

My guess would be that whatever bed adhesion method you use, failed to work properly, perhaps at the edges of the bed where you aren't used to printing very often (ie, you didn't spray enough hairspray, or put down enough glue at the edge).
Mid-print something became detached, got gooped up onto the nozzle, which then proceeded to drag it over everything else.
It only take one minor issue to then just cause everything to go to hell for every other piece for the rest of the print.

Printing that many objects is fine, if you are confident nothing will go wrong. Otherwise perhaps it makes more sense to print as few as will keep you sane (ie, don't do 1-at-a-time, and have to attend to the printer every 15mins, maybe print 1-2hrs worth at a time), so that a failed run doesn't ruin everything.

[jimc]

actually alot of those parts are small so printing a bunch of pieces together is probably better. it allows cooling time. what probably is happening is some of the parts are slender and tall. some probably got knocked over. once one does that then its all downhill and strings go everywhere causing buildup on everything and knocking over even more pieces. 1st thing i would do is be sure you have z lift turned on so the bed drops a layer or two between jumps. #2 be sure you have the bed coated in an adhesive of some sort. hairspray or glue stick. whatever works for you. i would not hesitate to print that many pieces myself but if your having trouble break that up into 2 prints. this way of it fails its only 1/2 the time lost and 1/2 the filament.

[jimc]

haha ben beat me to it

[metrons]

after spending an hour tonight trying to problem solve WTF is happening...

i noticed my X motor when using the jog controls didn't seem to catch the rubber ribbon running through it. the X motor would spin and sometimes it wouldn't pull as it should. so i took the motor off and where that little hold is for a tiny screw, that wasn't perpendicular to the flat part of the motor head where you tighten the screw to.

Seems like the X motor has had that tiny screw come loose slightly and its not pulling 100%? i'm retightening the screw (this has happened MULTIPLE times btw) the instructions for the makergear mentioned NOTHING about that part so i guessed by placing that tiny screw in the hold and screwing it perpendicular to the motor top...i'm pretty sure this is all correct now?

EDIT: just saw the Y motor is not perpendicular to the screw hole as well...WTF!!! how is this stuff coming lose? i'm guessing all my problems are right there with the motor not catching...



can someone explain why this is happening, did i install this incorrectly or something? i'm so gd confused...

[metrons]

@jimC

zlift turned on? sorry jim. is that a S3d feature? i'm looking for it and i cant find anything. i'm adjusting the Y motor at the moment but i'd love to try this as well.

[jimc]

yes you have a machine that vibrates and has mechanical motion going back and forth. set screws do come loose. this is why they make loctite. get some of the blue threadlocker and use it on the setscrews. be sure they are nice and tight.

[jimc]

yes s3d calls it "retraction vertical lift". usually 1 or 2 layers is fine.

[metrons]

checked my settings and Retraction is checked . the Vertical Lift is set at 0.25. that sound ok jimc?

http://www.loctiteproducts.com/p/t_lkr_ ... ue-242.htm

grab some of that stuff and...squirt down that small hole i'm guessing?

again. jim...you always know everything. you've saved my butt so many times now. cheers!

[jimc]

yes and yes! that is the right stuff. they will have it at your local auto parts store. remove the set screw from the hole, apply a little to the threads of the screw and reinstall it. make sure its lined up with the flat spot on the shaft and also make sure its nice and tight.