.2mm failures. I need to learn!

I’ve just come across the wonderful utility that is swapping nozzles for different prints. I’ve experimented with a 1mm nozzle and love the thing for prints I need done quick. Got all the settings dialed in and everything.

I am now in need of a smaller nozzle, as I need higher level of details that the .4 can produce. I have attempted one or two prints using the .2mm nozzle but find that I can’t get anything to lay down on the printer.

Honestly I think my issue begins before I even start the print. Whenever I go to load the filament through the .2mm nozzle, the extruder gears click and click once the filament reaches the actual nozzle. My assumption is that it is calibrated for a .4 mm nozzle still, and that is why it is clicking and not pushing much filament out. Am I required to do an e-step calibration everytime I switch nozzles? Perhaps there is a way to swap between e values based on what nozzle you’re using without manually changing it if this is the case? Looking for tips for efficiency and time savers when it comes to swapping nozzles, as well as tips on how to make small nozzles work in the first place! Thanks for your time guys!

You’re using Cura? Shouldn’t need to recalibrate esteps with a nozzle change. I’ve used 0.2mm, 0.6mm with Cura and no issues. I don’t think Luban supports anything other than 0.4 AFAIK.

Yes I am using cura! I’ve noticed that the 3DP module really tries to force the filament through the nozzle when it’s a smaller diameter when loading. I haven’t updated the firmware in quite some time though, so I should probably look at doing that. I found that part of my issue was a nozzle leak. I tightened that up and I was able to at least get the filament to extrude out the .2mm nozzle. Now it seems to be a matter of fine tuning the layer height and flow rate perhaps. Thanks for the reply!

When you change nozzles yourself you have to be sure tighten it A LOT. Otherwise it will leak as you found out. Hot filament will easily find its way out through semi tight treads, so there’s no issue getting out of a 0.2mm orifice.

It’s not just a matter of tightening it.
You have to make sure you’re tightening the nozzle against the heat break tube and not the body of the hot end itself.

-S

Well, that’s a given. Unfortunately, the newest version of the SM hot end no longer has flat spots on the heat break tube for securing in a vise. I guess SM frowns upon people changing nozzles.

FWIW, Cura 5.0+ has the Arachne rendering library. It will attempt to under-extrude to render features smaller than nozzle. There are some kinks to work out, but if 0.2mm is giving you a hard time, try re-slicing and printing with your standard nozzle. It might be good enough.

You could need to recalibrate the print head height. A smaller nozzle with have a smaller contact patch with the bed, so it will have less adhesion than a larger nozzle. If that doesn’t work, try your standard adhesion tricks: skirts, brims, glue stick, painters tape, etc.

It would not surprise me that the filament autoload is using the same extrusion feed rate regardless of nozzle or filament size. Luban doesn’t have settings for either one of those, and the print head doesn’t know anything about your nozzle or filament. A few clicks when loading shouldn’t cause too many problems. Although if you do it enough, you might get some filament dust build up inside the print head. A lot of clicks could grind out the filament enough that it won’t feed anymore. The difference will be pretty obvious when you pull the filament back out of the print head.