I´m fairly newish to First. This is my first year up in my high school and i dont really now a lot about 3d printing. I´m not good at troubleshooting them and fixing them, maintenancing them or anything involving them really. So i´d really appreciate any information/tips i can get on them. the one specific issue we´re having out of our many 3d printer issues is our anycubic predator keeps giving us an t0 abnormality error. Anything you can tell me will definitely be very helpful and highly valued.
Unless you have someone that likes and wants to tinker with 3d printers, I would absolutely encourage you to try to budget enough for a prusa mini, and if you can get more than 1 that’s great.
The ender 3 pros v2 are a pretty dang good value for the money if you have someone experienced with 3d printing. But they do seem to require more set up and maintenance.I bought 3 of them for my team and while the extra throughput is nice because we’re a large team, I’d trade them for 2 prusa minis.
I think the main way teams can utilize 3d printing is:
the various prototyping things you can find on chief Delphi - (@Ryan_Dognaux quick build blocks, spectrums prototyping blocks, and the hype blocks).
printing your own pulleys (for timing belt and crowned pulleys for flat belt, but we’ll probably steer away from flat belt)
spacers
low load shaft collar (I think spectrum has a link in their collections page here Printables)
Depends on what you are doing. Almost all of what we do (pullies, brackets, mounts, etc) can be done in PLA . For those the Prusa Mini + are great. If you want to print something harder for gears for example, abs or better yet nylon would be needed. Those require some different features. For those you want to look for heated build plate, enclosure, and an all metal hot end capable temp 230+ for abs and 280+ for nylon . (IF you enclose a Prusa Mini+ it will allow for abs/nylon) For teams that do a lot you will see mixtures of printers. 2-3 Prusa Min+ for prototyping and printing things they need a lot of. Then they might have 1 printer with a larger build platform for larger parts. Maybe that printer is also enclosed and has the higher temp hot end.
Just yesterday I ordered a kit for a Voron 2.4 with a 350mm build plate. This is not a recommendation for everyone. This printer will allow us to print larger things and nylon as well. This is a kit and requires full assembly and configuration of Klipper. Such an item requires a bit of commitment and know how.
We’re extremely fond of the Ender 3 Pro v2, which has performed admirably for us with almost no maintenance. It does take a bit more training to operate successfully, but it’s well worth it and there are numerous online materials to get that training (just search YouTube and you’ll find dozens of good training videos.)
For what we do with it, the possibilities are wide-ranging. Certainly custom-sized spacers, shaft collars, brackets, custom mounts, cover plates, etc. that other people have mentioned. We also print in ABS for small gears and pulleys, plus other small functional parts (like new encoder mounts for our swerve drive units this year.) We can also print in TPU and nylon if we need to for added flexibility in what we produce. Honestly, if you have a good CAD team to design parts, the possibilities are almost endless for what you can turn out to make your robot better or easier to build.
(1) We used an Ender 3 v2 this past season – something like 25 different parts printed in either PLA or TPU. It’s great tool for “we need something to connect these two things together.”
(2) But, I’ve heard that the Ender’s manufacturer has had trouble sourcing parts (specifically power supplies) and has substituted cheaper components – there are posts in the /r/ender3 forum on reddit about the vents on the power supplies not lining up with the vent holes cut in the case. So, I’d probably stay away from Ender 3s right now.
(3) Any 3d printer is going to have a learning curve. Different filaments have different properties, there are a millions different parameters used in slicing, and there are a few things you just have to know.
(4) don’t have any idea what a “t0 abnormality” error is.
A quick use of Google says that T0 is Gcode for which extruder, usually right if a multi-extruder setup. If you have a single extruder you probably don’t need it…
If I were you I’d check print head wiring connections.
A stock PrusaMini will do 280C printing (no firmware changes or anything). It’s a hybrid hotend that doesn’t let the the PTFE tube touch the nozzle so it doesn’t melt. We use the satin build surface and print Polycarb (normally prusament PCblend) and other high temp filaments. With just the addition of hardened steel nozzle the PrusaMini’s can also print carbon fiber filled filament such as CF-Nylon or Polycarb-CF, we have printed both on our Minis. None of our PrusaMinis are fully enclosed and we don’t have many issues with warping, some filaments/prints are worse than others but mostly with glue stick and good first layer settings things are fine.
Thanks for the info. I haven’t done nylon not enclosed. I though the cooling an the perimeter would cause warping issues, but I guess not. Good to know
T0 is the thermistor on the hotend 99.9% of the printers (all that are Marlin based for shure) it means the printer detected a problem with it. Like the command is to heat but the temperature does not go up or it is up and the thermistor reports great fluctuations its also called a thermal runaway. To stop it every good printer will shut down. In 99% of the cases its a wiring problem that there is a broken wire someplace - inspect/replace the thermistor and heater wire. If that does not help. Then replace the thermistor and if you still have a problem the heater.
I built a 350mm Voron 2.4 from scratch about 6 months ago - it’s great. I primarily print ABS with it - adding a Nevermore charcoal filter has been a big plus. The Voron-variant of the E3D Revo hot end has also been a substantial upgrade as well.
Upgrades have included a Mandala Rose kinetic mount, a self-designed silicone nozzle brush holder, Substantial frame bracing, 270 door hinges (a big deal) and a chamber air circulation fan to name a few.
Be happy to cover some of what I’ve done.
It’s been a tank and Klipper is light years ahead of Marlin as far as control software goes.
I’ll suggest to check this article know more details about 3D printing. And personaly i use FlashForge 3D Printer Creator Pro. It’s a dual exturder 3d printer. This 3D printer that boasts an innovative design and great features for the price. 227 x 148 x 150 mm printing size. Compatible with multiple filaments. Upgraded support and easy to use.
BTW we are using the voron tons this year, it is pretty awesome, fact and dimensionally accurate. I do need to figure out better cooling for PLA though, bridges and overhangs aren’t the greatest because of the chamber, doors open helps but the only deadhesion failures we have had we had with the doors open.
We rolled the dice on the Stratasys last year from FIRST Choice. And it is so much nicer knowing it’s just going to work than dealing with all the quirks of hobby-level machines!
The enclosed print chamber isn’t your friend here from my experience.
I don’t want to go through the hassle of pulling panels so I leave the door open and put my Makita battery powered fan on low in front of it and let it blow into the chamber - works OK for me and no more filament jams from heat soaking. Maybe I need to work up a quick release for the top panel and go that route.
Honestly, ABS prints so well, I do almost everything in ABS now aside from some things that will just be a challenge in ABS due to cooling and shrinking (taller, mostly thin-walled, hollow kinds of things) - PLA is the champ there (really one of the PLA+ mixtures is where I go there).
I’m rebuilding my Qidi X-MAX with a new user-designed carriage and commercial gear-driven extruder (Orbitor) and a Revo hot end and upgrading it to the same basic electronics as the V2.4 - I’ll leave the sides off and make that my main line PLA-ish printer.
What is everyone’s favorite 3d printer? I love this 3d printer. It’s a belt printer and can print an infinitely long object. It’s perfect for supports for flimsy arms and long parts. probably not good for an entire chassis though…