Best Practices (Gen-5)

[Jeff Davis]

Maybe someone can pin this so Gen-5 users can get help faster.  After reading around this group and others I have found a few things that help keep me printing.  We can use this at least until JetGuy convinces MBI to fix the smart extruder.

Below is what keeps my printer working.

1) Make sure you have a level build plate.  This is one major reason for clogging the smart extruder.  If the nozzle touches the build plate the small hole in the nozzle will be blocked and hot plastic can't flow out, so where does it go when the nozzle is blocked?  It follows the filament up into the area where the cooling fins are.  This causes extra friction on the filament and at some point, the feed gears can't push hard enough on the plastic to feed and you get the clicking issue.
 I go one step further, and manually level the plate.  First run the built-in auto leveler, this will get you close.  Next I use a simple piece of computer paper (1/2" wide X about 6 " long) as a shim gauge.  I start in the middle of the plate and manually raise the Z axis plate up (use your fingers and turn the screw in the back) to the smart extruder, then I put the piece of paper between the nozzle and the build plate (make sure the nozzle is clean).  Move up the build plate just enough to get a slight friction feel on the paper as you push/pull the paper between the nozzle and plate.  This friction feel is what you will be looking for when you move the extruder all around the build plate.  Now work with one axis at a time by moving the extruder over to the edge of the build plate and check again for the friction feel of the paper.  This is where you may need to move the knobs under the build plate in very small increments.  Move the extruder to the far other side and see how the friction feels there.  You will need to go back to center plate and raise or lower the stage every time you move the wheel. Once you get the same friction in one axis then do the same thing with the other axis on the plate.  To help keep the plate level, don't be hard on the stage when you put the glass in or take it out of the system.  This stage is built with plastic and can flex a huge amount.  BE GENTLE!

2) I have learned a system to clean the plastic out of the nozzle if you get a jam.  This does not require you to take apart the smart extruder.  I have two different size wires.  A) a 1/16" dia X 8" to 10" long straight wire for cleaning the major plastic.  I kept one end of the wire cut flat but ground the sharp edge off to keep from scratching the taper in the nozzle.  The other end I ground to a full 60 Deg point to match the drill point in the nozzle.
 B) a music wire .015 Dia for pushing clean the tip of the nozzle.  I had to scrap the tip of the wire to get it a little smaller so it would go into hole. 
I do a cleaning when and if it starts to jam.  As soon as the unload process is finished and while the extruder is still hot, I use the 1/16" rod with the flat end and while holding the spring lever down on the extruder, I gently push the rod down until you feel where the plastic is, then I push a stead rate down.  You will see the plastic flow out the nozzle.  Stop when you touch the nozzle. (DON'T PUSH HARD ON THE NOZZLE WITH THE WIRE).  Remove the wire and clean off any stuck plastic around the end of the wire.  Repeat this process again and this time try moving the wire from side to side above the nozzle area to get any plastic against the walls in the area of the cooling fins.  This is why I use a smaller diameter wire than the filament, so the plastic can stick around the wire when you pull it out.  Finish the clean with the point end and gently push up against the nozzle.
For the very last optional cleaning you can use the music wire.  You will not need to hold the spring release for this, just push the wire down and out the end of the nozzle.

3) Use a PLA Oiler!  This has been the most useful item I have done!  Someone here said they posted the oiler on Thingaverse but I could not find it!  So I drew one up myself and printed it.  I filled it with cotton and put it on top of the smart extruder.  The filament goes through it first before going into the extruder.  I spray the cotton with a thin oil, I used WD-40 spray can with the small tube attached that I use in my metal working shop.  Some use baby oil, or cooking oil.  Put in enough oil to get the amount of cotton you used to be covered but not saturated.  You don't want oil dripping out of the oiler.  I will post my oiler in Thingiverse tonight as well, with the name of "Gen-5 PLA Oiler"
I just can't believe how well this works!  I have been able to print many 5 hour parts again and again with out even cleaning the extruder!
ADDITION:  I did try canola oil but it plugged real bad, so I went back to WD-40.  I have had no issues at all using this and I like that the hot end evaporates the oil off.

4) make sure your smart extruder nozzle is set to the correct height!  I finally got my two new extruders I ordered about 2 months ago and they were both not set correctly right out of the box.  My nozzle was set about 1/16" high.  I thought that the process of when the Z axis plate comes up and checks where the tip is would auto correct for this but NO.  On my first print where the system runs a starting line of plastic at the front of the stage, it was 1/16" high and the plastic squirted out like a spaghetti noodle sitting on the plate!

If for some reason you think your nozzle is set to low (More of a problem than set to high), you can move this nozzle just a bit up to help prevent the blockage of the tip at the start of a print.  Just clean the extruder as in step 2 above.  Once clean you don't have to do this adjustment hot, you can wait till it's cold and then you can remove the extruder from the printer.
Make sure you holed the location of the cooling fins (Don't let it rotate when you break free the nozzle) Get a socket that fits the nozzle, hold the cooling fins and with a quick 'POP" of the wrench CCW direction it will break free.  If you are moving UP the tip, just do this in small amounts, Turn the cooling fins (unscrew) just a small turn and then tighten the nozzle back up against it.  It only takes a small force to tighten.
Try this setting on a print and adjust again if necessary.

[Ryan Carlyle]

Thank you for posting your experiences, but this is a really depressing read. You should not have to do stuff like #2 and #4 to get the printer to work.

I do not recommend using WD-40 for filament lubrication. It boils at ~180C and is way too flammable to use inside a device containing heaters and mechanical switches (eg ignition sources). Consumer-grade 3d printers are dangerous enough without adding to the flammability with light petroleum distillates.

(Also, WD-40 is a really terrible lubricant. It's too volatile to last very long, and it actually damages many types of anti-friction coatings. It was formulated as a water-displacing penetrating solvent -- not a lubricant. Millions of homeowners use it out of ignorance and marketing, but WD-40 an absurdly overrated product.)

[Jeff Davis]

Then use baby oil.

And no we should not have to do this but........ we do!

[TobyCWood]

+1...Very strange. Even stranger that people are actually BUYING their defective designs.

Back to the OP... please note that we have an excessive amount of pinned items. I suggest adding your post to the Lessons Learned thread... unless there are a large number of others who REALLY want a separate Gen5 thread.

On Tuesday, September 16, 2014 11:24:05 AM UTC-7, Carl wrote:

And no we should not have to do this but........ we do!

I find it insane that a large company, with all the funding and resources under the sun, can produce junk and get away with it. What makes it even worse... is that their marketing is so good that the list of new 'victims' grows daily... Strange World...

[Brandon Andrzejewski]

Good tangent, I had this conversation with a friend the other day and he didn't want to believe me.  Spread the awareness. ;)

[Jeff Davis]

 They have good sales people!  I was waiting for the Cube Pro but was talked onto the gen-5.  I knew the Makerbot 2 was good and I thought the 5th gen would be better.  After reading some very early response from the Cube-Pro I'm glad I didn't get it.  I wanted a larger company instead of getting some printer that was made in the basement.  I have built home CNC machines before, I should have built my own printer in the first place.

Oh well, I can live with the fixes I have applied.  I'm getting good prints and even if I have to do a little extra, that's OK.  I'm not giving up on my 3K investment.  I now have 3 extruders at home and I'm thinking of doing a mod to one of them like JetGuy did.

[Phil H]

I'd like to add that before every printing session I make sure that the extruder nozzle is not stuck tight to the retaining plate. As bits of PLA build up around the nozzle I've found that once cooled the nozzle is stuck tight and may not be hot enough to free itself during the pre-printing warm-up routine. So I gently apply force to release it and then run a brief load filament to ensure the nozzle isn't gummed up. Then I print.

I've not found it necessary to lubricate my filament so far.

Yes, we shouldn't have to do these things but if it keeps printing issues to a minimum, I'm happy.

[TobyCWood]

I would have stayed away from the CubePRo as well. Closed sourced (from "large" companies) 3DPs for hobby/prosumer are simply not there. Any value a consumer would assume they get (such as support, etc) is way outweighed by a lack of reliability and maintainability.... along with exceedingly low quality. All the 3DPs you'll read about (IN GGs... NOT MAKE) which are good value come from smaller companies; Ultimaker, PrintrBot, Makergear, Fusion and Airwolf3D, etc... "Large" corporate entities (such as my previous employers) will not take this market segment on. I suspect 3DP is all hyperbole and true market potential is no where near what the hype says it is.

[Jeff Davis]

Toby -

What printer would you get if you had $3000?

[TobyCWood]

Oy! I get the question ALOT! Well... I just slammed down the plastic for a beta version of Carl's CloneR1. Not for a newbee though. $3K? UM2 or TAM. Some here do not like the TAM because it does not have a HBP and it uses an older style motion control and a cantilevered Z axis... My impressions of it first hand were good and I'd buy.

OTOH... Makerbot is selling off refurbs of the Rep2 for what??? $1500?? IMO that's a good buy! Add a couple hundred more for upgrades and it's a workhorse machine.

On Thursday, September 18, 2014 9:23:24 AM UTC-7, Jeff Davis wrote:

[Jeff Davis]

Bump