We had previously experienced the 3-D Printing failure with a spectacular BLOB. Then there was the “birds nest” mess where you would see a print job becoming nothing more than a pile of plastic.
I experienced the “birds nest” twice and after reviewing my camera within the Snapmaker 2.0 enclosure I noted the problem to be not with the 3-D printing module but the PLA feed.
The roll of PLA sits outside of the enclosure and is just resting on the support. I observed the tension on the PLA to be greater than the 3-D module could easily “pull” and feed successfully.
A solution a came up with was to pull a large amount from the spool into the enclosure, where it would then coil on its own. The coil of PLA should be to the RIGHT of the axis and behind the 3-D Module.
Next, look at the spool, it is wrapped rather tightly. Pull additional PLA until it is loosely gathered around the spool. Make sure not to birdcage the PLA on the spool, but to have it rest loosely.
Note the printing took place under Luban version 3.14.
Solutions for Snapmaker to prevent the misprints.
- Have an additional guide placed inside the enclosure, and mounted to the left axis. Sort of like a gantry crane arm. (I will work to design one with my CAD software and print it. It is a simple matter of measuring the holes to drill and mount.)
- May sound crazy, but add rollers to the PLA roll arm to reduce friction. (I will look for aftermarket roller bearings to fit the arm for the PLA rolls to rest on.)
- Another option for Snapmaker is to add an additional feed motor inside the enclosure to help pull the PLA material into the 3-D Module.