Randomized print results (E3V2)

[mellow wasp]

I've been 3d printing on and off for 3 years now and I've had it. I came here to ask for help before I quit forever. I've had two ender 3v2 printers and every single time I use them, it's seemingly random whether it works or not.

Yes my bed is level. The firmware I have loaded plus the BLTouch says it's level to 0.00MM.

Things I have tried:

• BL Touch
• not BL Touch
• Unified Bed Leveling
• Klipper
• Professional Firmware
• Stock Hotend
• Petsfang
• Satsana
• OctoPrint
• SD Card gcode printing
• PLA, PETG, PLA+, PETG+
• Changing Retraction settings
• Bed Temps 20-90C
• Hotend temps as low as the temp range goes and as high as 260C
• Capricorn PTFE
• All metal extruder
• Glass, PEI and flexible printbeds
• Cleaning printbeds
• Manufacturer exchange of printer
• Tightening / loosening belt tention and eccentric nuts
• Filament drying
• Different spool holders and positions
• Many more...

It's not that I don't want a printer I have to tinker with. I just am so frustrated that after 2 years I have made no progress in my hobby.

Thank you for whatever help you can provide.

[lucid acorn]

AI Help

I understand your frustration, and I'm here to help. It seems like you've already tried a wide range of troubleshooting steps. Here are a few more things you can consider:

1. Check the power supply: Ensure that the voltage going into your printer is stable and meets the required specifications.

2. Check the wiring: Inspect your printer's wiring for any loose connections or damaged cables.

3. Calibrate your extruder: Use a calibration cube or similar print to check if your printer is extruding the correct amount of filament. Adjust the steps per millimeter (e-steps) in your printer's firmware if necessary.

4. Check for loose parts: Make sure all the screws, belts, and pulleys on your printer are properly tightened and secured.

5. Update firmware: Ensure that you have the latest firmware installed for your printer and that it is properly configured.

6. Print cooling: Experiment with different cooling setups to optimize temperature distribution and reduce warping.

7. Consider en...

WARNING: This response is AI generated and may contain errors.

[mellow wasp]

https://www.reddit.com/r/3Dprinting/comments/15ku5uv/help_needed_seemingly_random_results_e3v2/

[vital lance]

The picture on your reddit post looks like your nozzle is clogged. Do you have any more pictures?

I don't understand what you mean with "random rsults"...

[mellow wasp]

Every single time I use it to print the failure mode changes.

Whether it's a clog, filament snapping, not sticking to the bed, etc...

That's a gallery, 5 photos in there.

[vital lance]

I mean photo 5

4

[mellow wasp]

What kind of photo do you want, top-down, etc?

[vital lance]

another failed print maybe

[mellow wasp]

okay one sec

I'd print more to show you but it now won't even stick to the bed, with any settings.

That's what I mean by random, it changes on its own

Now its not level again and I didn't touch it

Didn't touch it between these two measurements

Just touched the extruder arm and this happened

And then tried to align back with CD cases, nothing

[vital lance]

Maybe you are unlucky with your machines

where are you from?

you could get someone else to try the printers

or get a new other one

[mellow wasp]

I got mine from Micro Center and am close enough I could take it there

[vital lance]

I would try to find someone with experience nearby so they can come over.

[mellow wasp]

I think its another eccentric nut issue

One half of the arm is lifting faster than the other side when its doing z moves

[vital lance]

but it's just only one issue and won't fix the others, right?

[mellow wasp]

Probably not, but let's see if it helps with adhesion.

[vital lance]

sorry for my late reply, playing valorant :3

[mellow wasp]

Priorities

[vital lance]

imo PEI is the best you can have

[mellow wasp]

Pei build sheet?

I've got one I just don't use it, once again issues with adhesion

[vital lance]

what is your first layer height?

[mellow wasp]

Depending on the print, 0.2

[vital lance]

try 0.3

are you using brim/skirt?

[mellow wasp]

Yeah the one that doesn't touch the part

I just slammed on a pei and am re tramming / levelling

[vital lance]

the probe and hotend isn't lose?

whats your first layer speed?

[mellow wasp]

Probe is zip tied on it as tight as it goes, I could probably do with re printing the hotend assembly and a new probe holder

But I can't do that until it prints lol

Making a new bed mesh, let me check settings

[vital lance]

it's hard to give any advices without seeing the printer. Thats why I recommend to get someone in person

did you try a standard z-endstop?

you could also get a inductive probe. I'm using them on every printer

[mellow wasp]

yeah I've got one on there as a backup so it doesn't ram down into the printbed, the printer listens to both the probe and the z-endstop

but I started out with the z-endstop and it was wildly worse than this

[vital lance]

i didn't know this was possible lol

[vital lance]

hm okay.

[mellow wasp]

very, very special firmware

[vital lance]

So my inductive probes replace a standard z-probe and use the same z-endstop probes

[mellow wasp]

15mm/s

My mobo from the factory had both a z-endstop port and an unpopulated bltouch/probe port

[vital lance]

thats already slow

[mellow wasp]

too slow or good?

(this is petg+ I'm printing with (currently))

[vital lance]

i print with 20-30 but i think 15 is fine

extrusion width?

[mellow wasp]

0.4

should I run it with these?

[vital lance]

try 0.6

and +10° first layer temperature

[mellow wasp]

Ohhh this looks significantly better, I'm willing to bet the nuts was most of the issue

0.6 first layer or total

the thing i've been trying to print is a temperature tower so I can't really change temp lol

[vital lance]

thats fine

[mellow wasp]

let's see what happens

Beautiful line immediately

One whole layer down and it looks beautiful

[vital lance]

:))

[mellow wasp]

I think it was a combo of the nuts as well as the 0.3mm first layer height

also, thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!!!!

[vital lance]

no problem

[mellow wasp]

i'm not certain it's solved yet as the print always, guaranteed failed at a certain z-height so we'll see what happens in an hour

[vital lance]

just text me

[mellow wasp]

but it's much farther than before

[vital lance]

0.6 extrusion width just for the first layer

forgot to say that

[mellow wasp]

Right on cue, same layer, extruder skipping

Any idea why its skipping on exactly the same layer? @vital lance

[vital lance]

friction is to high, could have different reasons.

[mellow wasp]

PTFE tube too long?

Its slightly longer than factory

[vital lance]

temperature to low (i don't think that)
clogged nozzle
PTFE tube not cut straight/not far enough in hotend/tube is moving while printing
bad filament

at what temperature has it stoped?

[mellow wasp]

It didn't even change temps, 250

[vital lance]

okay I would first check the tube and hotend.

heat the hotend and remove the tube and the tube connector

[mellow wasp]

Started doing that before you messaged lol. That was my internal instinct

[vital lance]

that's important. You may need a pliers to push the tube far enough

[mellow wasp]

Pulling it out at the same level it stopped was SIGNIFICANTLY harder than when its near the bed

My tube is about 1/3 longer than factory, should I shorten it?

[vital lance]

you don't have to

should work

what's your overall printing speed?

[mellow wasp]

Gonna sand it down to be perfectly flat, its mostly flat but wanna make sure

50.00mm/s

[vital lance]

Maybe you should try another model than a temp tower. Perhaps the filament gets to hot in the heatbreak and blocks further extrusion

[mellow wasp]

OK sanded down so its perfectly flat, used pliars to force it in

[vital lance]

good

try printing with a standad temperature

Do you have those clips?

might help minimizing tube movement

This kind of gap could cause such blockade

[mellow wasp]

I think that may currently be present, I cannot force through the filament even by hand through the bowden

Yeah its totally blocked

[vital lance]

You can try to remove it with a screwdriver

otherwise you have to disassemble the hotend

Do you have experience setting driver current?

you could increase the current of the extruder stepper, but it might get too hot over time

[mellow wasp]

Cold pull?

[vital lance]

https://teachingtechyt.github.io/calibration.html#steppers

[vital lance]

You can try but I don't think it will do much because it's to far away from the heater

I always heat my hotend up to 250°C and use a flashlight to find filament leftovers, so I can remove it with a screwdriver

[mellow wasp]

So I'm looking down the top and I don't see anything

[vital lance]

Do you have spare nozzles?

[mellow wasp]

Lemme check

Right now I've got a microswiss mk8 0.4mm nozzel on it

Found a bag with tons

[vital lance]

give it a try and change it

[mellow wasp]

Which kind

[vital lance]

and also try to push filament through the hotend while the nozzle is not mounted

[mellow wasp]

Brass, steel or dark steel

[vital lance]

are you printing materials with particles?

[mellow wasp]

I was printing tough pla and cf filament so yeah

I forget how tight it should go

[vital lance]

They say you should use dark steel then but I don't know if they behave somehow different

I have not worked with them yet

[vital lance]

does your nozzle touches the heatblock ?

[mellow wasp]

I'll see

[vital lance]

it is better to have such gap

[mellow wasp]

The old nozzle appears like it was leaking filament

Pushed filament through without a nozzle

[vital lance]

any resistance?

[mellow wasp]

A bit yeah but once I got it past the ledge it was fine

[vital lance]

could you send me a photo of your hotend?

[mellow wasp]

So I can in fact tighten the nozzle up to the hotend

[vital lance]

thats bad

any way to get the heat break some more mm out of the heat sink?

[mellow wasp]

Probably not

[vital lance]

what hotend is this again?

[mellow wasp]

Uhhh stock

[vital lance]

you should actually

[mellow wasp]

Yeah that looks pretty close

[vital lance]

first you have to remove both screws from the bottom and then there is a small hex to remove the heat break

to prevent damages you should do this while it's hot

[mellow wasp]

Okay... May have to do this later, I have something I can't miss coming up pretty fasy

[vital lance]

Check some youtube videos

I have to go to bed

it's 1 am

[mellow wasp]

Okay but slide the heat brake down?

[vital lance]

try to screw it more in so the nozzle isn't tighten up to the heat block

[mellow wasp]

The two screws?

[vital lance]

no, they are just for stabilization

the pipe where the filament goes through

must go further in the heatblock

[vital lance]

be carefull when tighten them again

make them not to tight

g2g now

[mellow wasp]

I wonder how the silicone sock will still fit on it

[lucid acorn]

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[mellow wasp]

Will try this process tomorrow https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bZ_ETKBipQ

[lucid acorn]

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[lucid acorn]

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[mellow wasp]

Hey so I'm following those instructions and I pushed out a massive piece of filament

I'm going to put my micro swiss nozzel back on

He recommends that I replace the stock Bowden coupler because its notorious for failing

Pretty sure this coupler is the one that came with my Capricorn kit so it should be at least good enough to test it

[mellow wasp]

Printing now...

[mellow wasp]

Significantly better first tower layer

[lucid acorn]

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[mellow wasp]

It's still printing so I'm going to say solved! Thank you so much!

As a FYI the stock one does not have a metal heat brake. Its the Bowden tube that touches the nozzle.

?solved