Turbo_Rev said:You probably already checked this but is that removable rubber insulation on your heating element intact? Mine had maybe 10% missing a while back and it could absolutely not keep the filament hot enough at normal printing temps. I replaced it and hey presto.
Yeah it's fully intact
In reply to ProDarwin :
I run a generic $20 one from Amazon--nothing fancy. But I'd try replacing the nozzle first. Once I've had one clog, I've never managed to clean that nozzle to be reliable again.
With the hot end you mean? I already replaced the nozzle - the pic above is a after another clog on the fresh nozzle.
In reply to ProDarwin :
Yes, search "Ender 3 all metal hot end" and you'll find a million of them.
Tom Suddard said:In reply to ProDarwin :
Yes, search "Ender 3 all metal hot end" and you'll find a million of them.
Yeah, I went down a whole rabbit hole on this one. Lots of the less expensive"all metal" hot ends are not actually all metal, and I'm also not sure what will fit my Ender3 along with the stock fans or if I should upgrade those at the same time as well. Or do I buy a whole hot end assembly with quieter fans? Or a direct drive hot end? I'll resume digging later.
What I did today: Took the nozzle off, took the capricorn tube out, heated the nozzle to 240C and cleaned it with the little pipe cleaner again. Installed a new nozzle, cut off the last 3/4" or so of the capricorn tube (clogged) and reinstalled it.
Fired it all back up, releveled it and... now I have Z offset problems.
I think I have those mostly corrected, and I'm running a longer than a benchy test print right now. I notied on smaller extrusion width layers - basically support, its sometimes inconsistently extruding. The first couple layers of the part the support lines were filled with gaps and bubbles and whatnot. Not exactly sure whats happening there, but it seems to have smoothed out now.
Not feeling overly confident in all this so far, and the more I look at how much an Ender could nickle and dime me, the more I just think I should grab a Bambu and be done with it.
Ok, so my longer test print completed, but looks like E36 M3.
Extrusion is reallyinconsistent.
I checked out the hot end, and its covered in plastic...
Seems like the 2 pieces of the hot end aren't sealing against each other properly?
Whatever it is, its berkeleyed, but I'd like to better understand what is happening while I get a new one shipped to me.
Update:
So the problem was the heatbreak within the hot-end. Its anywhere from a $3 fix from aliexpress to a $70 name-brand all metal hot end replacement.
I decided I've had enough berkeleying around with the Ender and upgraded to a Bambu P1S + AMS during the black friday sale. Its better in pretty much every conceivable way and lets me focus on the fun part (creating) instead of turning "keeping the printer operating" into my hobby.
I actually still have the Ender 3 around. Thinking of doing the cheapest hot-end fix I can to get it up and running then donating it - but not sure I want to give someone else a project.
The Bambu actually takes up less space, is less noisy, and looks a lot cleaner. And it has a charcoal filter. Oh and it will print wayyyyyyyyyy faster. That wasn't my primary goal, but its a nice bonus. What I want is reliability.
I haven't printed much with it so far - a couple more sub-irrigated planter inserts, and I made this puzzle as a stocking-stuffer for my son. I scaled it to fit arcade tokens in the center most tube and filled it with those to give to him.
Random update:
1) Bambu Slicer has dovetails now. They rock. This is a test piece. Pressed this mostly together by hand and hammered it the rest of the way.
Some things I made recently:
Skadis sub-irrigated-planter-in-a-can holder
Accent light for den
Accent light uses "fuzzy skin", here's what my test looked like:
Looks great! After 6 months with a Prusa Mini I jumped into the deep end with 2 P1S. One with the AMS, and the other I installed a 0.6mm nozzle. Blown away by how fast and well these print!
The plan is use the AMS for PLA and have multiple colors able to go, and the 6mm with PETG and ASA for structural items.
I feel a bit bad for Prusa. BambuSlicer is so clearly (and acknowledged officially) ripped from Prusa (which was also from someone else) yet the process is so much better it's hard for me to recommend Prusa to people. I love the Prusa idea of open source and self replicating, but they really dropped the ball on the XL.
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