Adventurer 5M Enclosure kit

[wintry sundial]

I purchased the AD5M enclosure kit and am using OrcaSlicer to print the parts. I have spent over 2 hours trying to get the spool holder in a position where it can generate the g-code. When I get it so it doesn't throw g-code errors it tells me I need supports. When I add supports it throws the g-code errors again. How do I fix this???
This is SO FRUSTRATING! I had to move the objects on EVERY plate to be able to generate the g-code for the printer. Are there different .stl files available somewhere? I saw posting to go to other sites but I haven't been able to find them. I wish FlasForge had offered a COMPLETE KIT, with all the parts printed.......

[mental turret]

Did you start by loading up the premade OrcaSlicer project that FlashForge made/provided? That was all I did and I didn't have any issues just printing the parts.

[narrow osprey]

Btw your probably best using flashprint 5 to setup that stls

[mental turret]

OrcaSlicer worked just fine for me. That is pretty much all I've ever used as it's hands down better than FlashPrint IMO.

[wintry sundial]

Yes, I tried that. But during the 6 hour print of the upper guard plates, I had to go to the doctor and when I returned I had a big ball of filament on the plate. The extruder wouldn't move and I had to shut the printer off to clear the mess and try to clean the stuck filament out of the print head which I was unable to do after 6 hours of watching videos and trying everything. I finally just went out and bought a new prinhead which appeared to work fine until I was 3/4 of the way printing the upper plates again when I noticed some buildup of loose filaments and paused the print to remove the little clump. when I restarted the print the head was now 1/4 0f an inch above the print!!
The other HUGE ISSUE I have is that I am on a Mac and can't get to the Device tab on Orca Slicer. I have asked and been told, tough luck; you're on a Mac. Had I known tha there would be so little support fot the Mac I migt have considered another printer. So now I am just out of the return window and have a huge non-functioning paperweight on my desk.
Yes, I have done a factory reset. I was very happy with the printer but wanted to go a little quieter and print a little higher temperature print. But trying to get the Enclosure kit working has smehow cost me the functionality of my printer.

[mental turret]

Are you using Orca-FlashForge or real OrcaSlicer? The OrcaSlicer here doesn't have Device control of the AD5M/Pro for any platform not just macOS.

[mental turret]

Are you full calibrating your filament or just choosing a generic profile and printing? You haven't really stated what filament you are using. What brand & type are you using?

I printed the enclosure with my only issue being crappy eSUN PETG that I will never buy again. I've got somewhere between 3000-4000 hours on my AD5M with almost all of those hours using OrcaSlicer.

[wintry sundial]

FIRST! Thanks for the response. I am literally a babe in the woods. I bought a 3D prnter to printer an enclosure for a device I designed. Cussing and gluing lexan just didn't work and looked like shit;
Yes I am using Orca Slicer 2.3.0. I really think my printing issues are with the filament. Until now I've been using just PLA, mostly FlashForge, but I've gotten pretty good results with Molen. I wanted to get a spool of filament strictly for the enclosure and picked up a spool of Ryone silk dual color black and gold. That seems to be when the issues started.
As far as setting temperatures, filament, etc. I really am clueless. So thanks for the info. What PETG would you suggest and even with 3d adhesive I still find my prints sliding around. With FlashPrint I could set the size of the raft but can't figure out how to do the same in Orca.
BTW, THANKS again

One other thing; I am in Arizona so my air temp inside my office is about 76°. Is that an issue?

You have a link to the "right" enclosure 3mf.doc? thx

[mental turret]

Ah, yeah, I see so many people having problem with Silk PLA, it's one of the most problematic filaments out there I feel.

I printed my enclosure with PETG to to make sure it holds up to higher temps in the even that I decide to print ABS or ASA.

[mental turret]

It's sort of hard to find with some of their website changes. You'll find it all here: https://wiki.flashforge.com/en/knowledge_corner/printer-mod-and-diy

[mental turret]

Scroll down to the "Enclosure for Adventurer 5M" section I downloaded the "Whole Poject" zip archive. There is just the 3mf file for OrcaSlicer that you can download on that page as well.

[wintry sundial]

Getting the FlashForge PETG Red Metallic. I already got some of the loose pieces; handle, bar, hinges, etc printed in burnt titanium PLA. If I don't have any issues I'm hoping the 1kg spool will be enough.

[wintry sundial]

Last questions; Should I heat my room ~82° to help with adhesion and printing? What printing temperature would you suggest? You obviously have a lot more experience than I do. BIG thanks!!!

[mental turret]

So, my printer has been in my basement the whole time, it's usually always pretty cool. For PETG my recommendation, and what I did, was run my filament directly out of a dryer. You want to setup no cooling probably for like the first 5 layers. I'd also highly recommend using the adhesive that came with the printer or pickup some Layneer Bed Weld. Then on top of that I'd go through the Calibration menu in Orca and calibrate your filament starting with a Temp Tower, then Flow Rate, followed by Pressure Advance. There is a link to the tutorial/wiki in that Calibration menu that should help you do all of that calibration. Also, the dryer is highly recommended for PETG since it is way more hydroscopic than PLA, so it will ensure that it's dry otherwise you'll also have a lot of problems.

[wintry sundial]

What dryer? Temp Tower? It seems more and more like I am just going to stick with PLA. A lot of problems with PETG??
As far as the enclosure kit, what's up with step 11? It shows the filament sensor with no tubes going in or out. There are no directions on how to get the filament sensor detached. I quote
"Secure the previously removed filament sensor...." When and how was I supposed to remove it?? How do I get the tube out? Why is there a whole new tube with the chain? At this point I wish I'd NEVER bought this kit!

[wintry sundial]

Seriously frustrated by this. The filament sensor tubes were very broad on the inside of the sensor. I wound up breaking the sensor. I also damaged the tube (crushed it) from pulling so hard to get it out. Now I have to wait for another sensor before I can even print. I do appreciate the help though. I'm just going to go back to doing simple PLA printing (non-silk). I did get a majoe device case printed before I went back to trying to get the enclosure kit working using metallic filament.

[mental turret]

There are clips you take off and then you push in the pressure fit piece around the tube and it slides right out. There is also a YouTube video they put together that walks through the entire process.

[mental turret]

I didn't follow a printed guide as I just followed the YouTube video mostly.

In regards to PETG, it is more challenging than PLA often but even PLA all needs to be calibrated.

[mental turret]

I have a cheaper eSUN eBox Lite dryer and then I also just picked up a Sovol SH02 dual roll dryer. You want one with a humidity sensor like the Sovol has and you want one with a fan. For a single spool I usually recommend the Sunlu S2 filament dryer.

[mental turret]

This is their installation video. It is pretty quick but if you do a search on YouTube there are a number of other videos that are helpful as well. https://youtu.be/6-RHAFNZ6jk?si=gyW3E0cQ6MU1K2_b

[wintry sundial]

Well after destroying their sensor I did a VERY DEEP dive on the installation and found the following:

Had the orientation of the sensor been rotated by 180°, the sensor jack
would have been aligned with the hole, but the sensor would be backwards
to the flow of the filament. I found a supplier that had the sensor in stock
so I rush ordered it ($15 + 8$ shipping) and verified all of this.
So now I will have to extend the channel, because the cable is not long enough
to go up thru the hole, around the sensor and plug into the obstructed jack.
I will also have to modify the edge to allow the cable to be plugged in, IF IT IS
LONG ENOUGH!!
No wonder why in all the videos they don’t show the details here. Right now I am very tired after spending considerable time documenting all of this. But above all I'd REALLY like to see an installation of this actually working.

[mental turret]

So, I know there have been reports for a long time on that whole sensor issue, it's on the many Facebook Groups for FlashForge printers. I'm pretty sure mine is considered "backwards" however if you clip the end to a point then it doesn't really cause an issue and the fillament will go in just fine. Others have gone the route of more DIY/custom solutions to make the sensor be the "right direction" but I honestly feel like it's more of a convenience item than it is a critical one. 🤷‍♂️