My money would be a clogged nozzle. But a better photo (close up) may be helpful. Things I wonder…
Does the filament come out and curl back up during preheat?
Is your heat block messy with residue?
Have you tried a cold pull, or pulling the nozzle and cleaning/replacing it?
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What is an appimage?
When I first started working with 3d modelling (for 3d printed parts), I followed everyone’s advice and got a trial of Fusion. Luckily, I didn’t use it much and when I came back to it, my trial was over. I did not want to use a hobbyist license, just to have things change - so went looking for FOSS alternatives. OpenScad made my brain hurt, but then I found FreeCAD. Definately hard to learn, and for someone new to CAD design - I am learning very slowly.
I watched a ton of videos, but still struggle. My saving grace was that I found the official discord. The users on the discord server can be super helpful with learing the nuance of the platform. Several times I posted a file and askded for help and had an answer within an hour. In fact, I just submitted a screenshot of my sketch with dimensions and someone went ot the trouble of recreating it and fixing my problem…so I recommend you join the server if you are struggling. Link below:
Yes and on some printers, that spot where the Bowden tube meets the nozzle is very problematic. You have to loosen the nozzle a bit, push the Bowden tub up against it, then tighten the nozzle the rest of the way
It was awful on my Ender clone, but haven’t had that issue on my Prusa.
I have tried to jumpstart a few communities by posting and commenting regularly . I would try a new one, but if people do not find or join, it will get caught in the same cycle as the existing groups. I like participating, but am not interested in being the single driving force, or moderating.
To answer your other question, I cannot stand when I see auto mirrored content from Reddit. I usually ignore those posts, as I have rarely seen comments happening. When the content wasn’t created by somebody here, I don’t think anybody is invested in maintaining or participating in the discussion.
I think you may have misunderstood. I have FOUND communities, but there is not much engagement or activity. I have resorted to discord channels for most of them, but it is not the same.
Some of my most active subreddits were different 3d printing and 3d modeling groups, groups for games like Overwatch, and Payday. Different AI focused groups, but specifically groups like the Stable Diffusion sub, Subreddits that discuss my favorite shows, or styles of music. None of that is active here. It isn’t that they don’t exist on Lemmy, they are just ghost towns. I joined multiple instances and am very active and engaged on multiple accounts, on some of these groups - but there is not response. I was in the top 3% of karma earners on Reddit - and I did that by submitting and commenting a lot. That just doesn’t happen here (yet).
I gotta be honest…I am hanging on by a threat. The communities that I was engaged with on Reddit before the Snoopacolypse were pretty niche. I wasn’t there for r/funny or r/videos, etc. I found similar communities on Lemmy, but they have soooooo little activity. I have to modify my sort just to see content, as its so old. When there are posts, they typically get very little discussion.
I am on Lem.ee, and I have the hardest time posting anything from mobile. It looks like it fails, and if I sort by new, it isn’t there and never shows up - HOWEVER, I start getting replies, so someone is seeing it somehow.
I detest what reddit did and is still doing - but Lemmy is not filling that void for me, and its frustrating.
I had to dig to find where I got the model from. I suppose I should add the link in case anybody wants to give them kudos or print it for themselves.
It was created by Rocket Pig Games: Printables link
That is a very good question. There aren’t any insane overhangs, just a few tricky spots. I had print he same thing smaller, so I knew it would be okay. I think the file actually mentioned in the notes that you COULD print it without support.
Can I ask what settings you had to hone in?
What printer and hot end?
(this is all specific to Prusa MK3/Prusa Slicer)
I used the default profile that Prusa has for .6 nozzles, and I changed the layer height to be larger. I think I may have actually added a perimeter as well, which slows things down normally. Nothing else changed at all.
You have to change the nozzle size in the printer hardware menu. Then I had to run the first layer calibation. I found out the hard way that that calibration test ALWAYS uses .4 settings. I printed about 10 of them and nothing was turning out, then I made my own, but creating a 75x75 box, that was one layer high. It printed perfectly with minimal z adjustment.
Was it a kit? Had it been printing before you started getting this issue or was this an issue out of the box?
Here is my take. I have an Aquila (Ender 3 v2 clone). I really had to keep that thing tuned in order to get decent prints. I later bought a Prusa MK3S+ which I haven’t had to tune at all. I am bummed that the MK4 was released 4 months after I bought my MK3, but thats life.
With the evolution of printing, and the new advances, an ender 3 just cannot compete with quality or speed…unless you put in a lot of upgrades and time/energy. Its a workhorse, but only for those that want to work on it and tune it. There are so many new printers that are faster, more reliable, and have some incredible features like Bambulabs, Mk4, Anker Make, etc. Its really hard to recommend Ender 3s (any of them) anymore.
It is tough to get support for a machine that is at your house anyways. Youtube will offer way better support for Creality and Prusa printers. You can find almost any repair you need.
While this is true, and I learned a ton on my Creality. Some people don’t want to tinker, or repair anything. Some folks aren’t comfortable or confident in their ability to do that. That is why you can find so many super cheap used creality printers. People buy them, and don’t want to work on them. It fails and they get rid of it. If you get a more reliable machine, like the Prusa, and it seems like Bambulabs is starting to join that club then you may never really need to repair it.
I have had my prusa for coming up on 2 years and haven’t adjusted or touched anything. I did build it as a kit, and have built and tinkered with Enders, but with my prusa I don’t need to. If people don’t plan on printfarming or selling, or having it run 24/7 chances are it will run for ages without needing to adjust anything. Thats not the case with the cheap printers.
With the MK4 out now, you can find super cheap MK3S+'s on places like Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist (in the US). I have been seeing a ton of them listed locally lately. From what I have seen, you can pick one up for $400-$550 depending on whether prusa assembled it or it was a kit and what accessories it comes with.
I had an Ender 3 clone, and that is how I got into 3d printing. Would I buy one again, now that I have an Prusa MK3S+, no. Creality makes a good product for the cost, but it will cause you headaches and cost more in the long run. I probably spent $100 on parts my first year alone…more the following years. I have had my Prusa for 2 and haven’t spent a nickel on it and haven’t ever had to repair or adjust anything.
So take that for what it’s worth. From a SAFETY perspective, I trust the software and hardware on the Prusa over anything on the market. It has much more reliable failsafes and sensors looking for thermal issues. I never worry about my Prusa for safety. Just make sure you update it if they have any big firmware changes.
I forgot until looking at your photo that the mini uses a Bowden tube, not direct drive like the MK3S+. Did you replace/switch the nozzle around the time this all started happening? With Bowden tubes, there are a few problems that can arise that you don’t see on direct drive. The end of the Bowden tube (that is inside the extruder/hote end assembly) can get deformed or clogged. If you can check that, you may find an issue. Other than that, when swapping nozzles I always had to put the nozzle in part of the way, then push the Bowden in further, then tighten the nozzle.