Trials and Tribulations with my Da Vinci 1.0 3D Printer

[Risu]

One of the engineers at work that's been using stepper motors for decades told me the click sound is actually the stepper motor taking a step backwards, which explains the filament not coming out any more, but I still have no idea what caused it. We're starting to look into building our own 3D printer now. We've had a giant 4 foot cube box sitting around with a CNC machine inside that probably cost $50,000 to build back in the 80s. We're going to gut all the extraneous stuff for it's original purpose and add all the necessary parts to turn it into a printer.

 

[Saber Concepts]

Have you cleaned the gears that feed the filament with acetone and a qtip? You have to take the extruder head completely off to access the gears. Also, it sounds like when you reattached the extruder head it may have been misaligned. Mine was like that for about 3 print jobs before I realized I needed to realign it. You have to look very close when putting the extruder back on and align it up with both the gears and there is a slot at the top that it has to slid inside of. If it is above or below the slot is when it causes the problem you described. Now with that said, my DaVinici DIED and I had to send it back to the factory. I was calibrating the print bed when it just started beeping, the inside light started flashing and the front display was showing all bars with no lights. I tried resetting it, cycling the power and it still had the problem. I called xyzprinting and they told me to send it back to them and they would repair it. In the mean time (with all of the print jobs I am having to do) I purchased another DaVinici 1.0 printer. This one actually seems a little quieter and it seems to perform a little better than the first one I had. I will let you know what they say about my first printer when I hear back from them.

 

[Risu]

It seems misaligned to me, but I can't get it to pop into the clip any other way.

 

[cinemaflight]

I along with many others have experienced the davinci 1.0 clicking issue when the filament extruder is too close to the heating bed and causes the filament to not be able to pass smoothly when printing. My experience has been a constant click that begins once the actual print begins, during the first little test print that the davinci adds in gcode it prints fine though which is deceiving. I am no expert in 3d printing and this is my first one though I feel that their are some inherent issues with the davinci, or at least mine in particular. For some reason regardless of how many times I calibrated successfully the printer would begin clicking and not extruding during prints. I tried cleaning the actual feeder rollers and that did not help. Next I tried calibrating a bunch of times and even using lower numbers than the recommended 200- 250 range for calibration. I tried lower numbers and was able to successfully calibrate still, though this did not help either. My initial thought was that the clocking noise was a internal issue pertaining to the feeder or extruder itself. Though during one test print the moment it began clicking and jamming I applied some downward pressure to the heat bed with both hands, be careful because its extremely hot. Immediately after applying some downward force the extruder began printing out a nice layer of filament and perfectly stuck to the heatbed. The moment I let go it began clicking again, bingo... So next while it was still printing I turned all the heat bed adjustment knobs in a downward turn to slightly gradually lower the bed. Took about 3 even turns on each knob and then it started printing perfectly. As of right now I am glad that my part is printing perfectly, also even though other would consider this a issue and reason to buy a more expensive printer, honestly this has been a bit of a fun learning process and I feel I have a better understanding of how the printer actually works. So my click fix is basically just that, calibrate successfully then after calibration if clicking occurs try pushing down gently on your heat bed to see if it begins printing properly, if it does then begin making even adjustments among all of the heat bed adjustment screws to gradually move the bed downward until it starts printing properly. Make sure to make even turns to keep things as level as possible.

 

[Risu]

Yea, my click happens when I'm loading filament too, so that's not it for me.

 

[licensed2hench]

I have been having the same problem with my Da Vinci 1.0.
"Clicking" jams, air prints, etc.
On mine the "Clicking" is usually the filament gear tension lever popping loose and snapping back into place because the filament is not moving. This makes the whole extruder "jump" a tiny bit.

Some things I have found...
*Top layer quality is affected by infill density. A density of 30% or higher resulted less to no gaps between the lines on the top layer. Increasing the number of top layers did not do much. My guess is the top layer needs something sturdy to push against to "Spread" the bead of plastic out wide enough.

*Tightening up the print bed makes a difference. Give it a wiggle, it should no do that. The brass sleeves are supposed to be solid in the print bed. Some thin shims (I used strips of plastic packaging) seem to be all you need to lock them in place for good results. (I tried gluing them and that was a mess. I wound up gluing them to the rod. I don't recommend it.)
Make sure the glass is not sliding around. It should be firm. Again a tiny bit of paper shimmed between the edge of the glass works fine.

*At some point I knocked the auto calibration pin out of alignment?, so it would level but the height would be off. It turns out there is a setting in the Slic3r's Printer setting to adjust for this. Getting the bed level and the 1st layer height accurate made a huge difference in my prints sticking to the plate. Too close and it clicks and jams up, too far and it wont stick :/ a bit of trial and error and checking single layer prints with a caliper and I got it set.

*Under extruding / Over extruding. Calibrating the Filament's Extruder Multiplier in Slic3r is important. Calipers are a must. (I got a cheep pair for under $20)

*Filament curling, jamming etc. I have yet to fix this, but what I think is happening is I am getting partial clog inside the nozzle.
If I disassemble the extruder. Use flame to melt out the plastic. Acetone soak it and then tease out any remaining gunk built up inside the brass nozzles (with a wooden tooth pick so not to scratch) it will work fine for a print or two. Then it starts to get temperamental. Slowly over use, or if I have a jam / air print it gets problematic right away.
Again I am not sure what is going on but I /think/ it has to do with the small internal gap between the heat break and the nozzle? My best guess is that gap area is filling up with filament which is slowly charring causing all kinds of flow problems inside of the nozzle? I am going to try taking it apart and cleaning it again and see if that clears up the issue, even if only temporarily.
Any insight on this would be much appreciated!

*Print temperature. Another variable I am having problems with. I can't figure out if my clog problems are due to too hot / too cold. I have tried messing with temperature and different fan mods, but have yet to get something that works. Too may variables at once I think.

I have already voided the warrantee on my machine (the extruder heater connector failed and I replaced it with a heaver duty one) So I went ahead and jail broke the Da Vinci by re-flashing the firmware to Repetier. (This took me a while, I got hung up on the "Replace these files" part. It took me several hours to realize I had to replace the key files in the Adreno control program folders, not the "to be uploaded" folders.)
Being able to use Repetier Host to control my machine is so much better than editing the gcode.
But I have a suspicion that I may need to tweak the settings to get things right. But again too many variable to be sure /what/ is going on just yet.

Eventual I plan on replacing the hot end completely. But in the mean time I hope to try to figure out what is going wrong and why. :/

 

[dlcramer]

This thread has been great to read. I have been using a 3d printer for work for over 7 years and always wanted one for home (cosplay and other fun stuff!) but just couldn't justify the price but the XYZ may be the answer. Looks like if I get one, it wont be long before I will want to hack it from reading everything. Thanks to all for sharing their experiences.

 

[Saber Concepts]

I just got my 1st Da Vinici 1.0 back from the factory being repaired and haven't had a chance to see if they fixed it yet. (just had a knee replacement done and haven't been able to do too much.) My 2nd printer seems to be working fine for now and as always I am still tweaking the settings to get the best prints. I did find a calibration calculator app on Amazon that has saved me a ton of time when calibrating the bed. Here is the link for it: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00LDBC7YC/ref=oh_aui_d_detailpage_o01_?ie=UTF8&psc=1 It takes a little getting used to but once you get used to it, it will save some time.

On another note, has anyone been able to find the PLA cartridges for the Da Vinici printer anywhere? They say they are available but I haven't been able to fine them anywhere. Now that I have 2 printers I was planning on having one set up as PLA and one as ABS.

 

[Fawbish]

An update of some background things I've just been messing around with

 

[Fawbish]

decided to at least put a finish on this - have had little time, so its rough. but it looks lovely compared to just a white base.

 

[Risu]

What kind of paint did you use on that?

 

[Fawbish]

Hi Risu. The total stuff used in this instance was a base layer of xtc-3d (settled well in some areas, not so well in others) then a layer of white primer. The chrome was plastikote chrome fast dry enamel.which I picked up from a b and q - which is a british hardware store. Amazon do stock it also I believe.

 

[Risu]

Ah, cool. And for anybody else in the US, Plastikote go by Valspar here.

 

[Jardine]

Hey all, I'm going to add this to favorites.

I've had my Davinci for a few months now. The very first thing I did was flash the firmware with Repetier Host so i can use generic Amazon filament. So far I've printed with PLA and ABS, but I get feed issues when I use PLA (clicking problem everyone has). I am finding that I need to calibrate this thing nearly every single print. Once I do, I get a great print, but then it's gone again. It's been a fun learning experience though. Here are a few prints and my setup:

Boba Rocket

 

[blu240]

I just a purchased a Da Vinci in the US and am new to the whole 3D printing scene. I have been searching around for a good forum and this looks to be one of the most up to date.
My biggest concern is that with the new models "1.0a" all the hacks do not apply.

Can anyone confirm this? I've had no issues so far, other than wanting to hack the filament which I am not inclined to do with everything I've read. But the biggest frustration is from XYZware crashing or taking hours to slice complex parts. I have downloaded Slic3r and it seems fairly straightforward, I just don't know how to transfer the G-code especially with this latest firmware.

I appreciate the support and look forward to contributing to the community!

 

[AndyJ]

Would anyone be interested in coming to my shop to hack and level my printer? would pay for your time obviously and buy lunch as well. I'm in Lombard, IL, not far from Chicago.

 

[Fawbish]

blu240, there is a guide at the start of this thread that explains the steps you can go through to take a slice from slicer (Gcode) through to xyz compatible print.

great to see youre enjoying it jardine

andyj, I would suggest that you learn to level your printer yourself as it is something you will be doing often, it is not a one time thing.


I bought a filament resetter, so that I can now just have a "reset" cartridge in the printer at all times and use 3rd party filament. Just means I can use cheaper ABS is all.

 

[Fawbish]

I am currently in the middle of my first commission on behalf of Stigmorgan on here, and the little Da Vinci has been hard at work. Here's a few progress pics of the arkham knight gauntlets. The design is originally by Bandiet.



All printed out at a relatively low (0.3) resolution because there will be a decent amount of finishing needed anyway, and there was no reason to take too long/use too much filament. As the design is quite boxy and armour like, the larger resolution works well with some sanding etc. If there had been a ton of small detail, I would have used a lower resolution.

 

[Fawbish]

And a few more. Almost at the smoothing stage now.

 

[Fawbish]

Did myself a little Arkham Batarang and added in some magnets etc. Also used xtc-3d a little more for finishing work.



[video]http://tinypic.com/r/aenz3n/8[/video]

And a little action video.