I’m sure there is a perfectly simple explanation for this, but I need some assistance to see it. I purchased a delta printer a few months ago and have worked on it off and on with no success so far in printing. The issue I have now is that when a print begins, the filament will not stick to the build plate. Rather, it pulls up, with the nozzle essentially kneading the filament like dough (see the attached photo). I have tried increasing and decreasing the Z height with no effect.
After great success with the Makerbot Replicator at work, I thought I would give myself a challenge. Clearly I was not ready for some of the intricacies of kit printing. Any help you can give would be greatly appreciated.
GIFT3D
2
Your printer nozzle may be clogged. This may cause it to come out at an angle and curl round allowing it to bend round and go back on itself. This would then make it look like it is kneading the filament. It may also be conditions and temperature appearing it. If the printer bed is cold at all, the filament will want to push upwards. Check heater bed setting (if you have a heated bed) and make sure it is in an enclosed area, with a structure around it so it may maintain heat.
Hope this helps. If you need any more help just ask.
What are your print settings? Layer height, extruder temp, Printing material, etc…
No heat bed, I’m afraid. Just using PLA, anyhow. I have cleaned the nozzle several times with no discernible difference, though I have ordered some new ones to try.
I have used many different settings, but my last few attempts were .3mm layer height, 215degrees, PLA filament from MakerBot.
If using PLA, top your bed with blue tape (no need to heat it) and make sure your first layer is so close to the bed that it smushes the lines out so that you are getting good adhesion. Print with thinner layers as well. In addition, you may want to perform a “cold pull” to clean your nozzle. To do this you will need to heat your extruder to 100c, then release the tension spring on your extruder and pull the filament hard until it comes out. It should come out in the shape of the internal geometry of your hotend. If i doesnt, decrease the pull temp by 5c and try again. This will clean your nozzle.
**edit**
I see from the picture that you are using masking tape. You have to use blue painters tape for proper adhesion. It is best to have a roll that is very wide as well, so that it sticks to the build plate below it.
I purchased new parts for everything below the heat sink (nozzle, heating block, etc.) so nothing is clogged. I recalibrated so that my four calibration points all just grabbed a piece of paper. I replaced the tape that came with the printer with green painter’s tape. I know blue is usually the choice, but I can feel no difference in texture. All of this done and still no luck. I feel like I may still be missing something very fundamental in my firmware, but I have no clue what it is.
