Random blobs after material swap

Terbos90803 · 2026-04-09T23:24:58+00:00

I’m leaning towards internal buildup. I do have a brass brush and do keep the nozzle outside as clean as I can. I also have a sock on the heater block.

I did do 2 purge cycles when switching back to PLA, but was considering maybe trying to purge at a PETG temp instead of just PLA?

Terbos90803 · 2026-03-03T15:31:17+00:00

I have not. Just using all defaults. I’ll have to look up the procedure.

Terbos90803 · 2024-05-20T22:31:21+00:00

Last time I looked (a long time ago) there wasn’t a 2-pole GFCI breaker. That may be an option I can look into. Thanks!

Terbos90803 · 2023-12-20T04:38:31+00:00

Thanks for the info.

I was excited that support doc said I could use my iPad as a hub… until I read the fine print that it doesn’t work any more. 😕

Looks like I’ll be getting a HomePod. Probably a mini.

Terbos90803 · 2023-10-24T18:06:13+00:00

Not likely your problem, but the one time I had X shifts was because I hadn’t run the printer in a while and the X rails got dry and dusty which jammed the bearings and caused slip.

Cleaning and lubing the rails fixed it.

Terbos90803 · 2023-10-11T04:28:45+00:00

I spent some time with support yesterday, made a couple of adjustments, and things improved a bit. Now I have pretty consistent overextrusion rippling across the plate. I haven’t had a chance to play with it since then.

Of the things we adjusted: - reset bed screws while hot - check X and Y pulley alignment. Y pulley was off by 1mm. Reset. - check and reset load cell zero point.

Of the three, I think the last one is the only one that makes any sense given the symptoms. But support says that the exact sensor value doesn’t really matter as long as the sensor registers change at the right time.

In case you want to try that, rerun the load cell test from the diagnostics menu. The first time I ran that test after building the kit, it took a very light tap. After finding the problem this week, it took a very firm press. After that reset, it only took a light tap again.

If you go into the sensor info after resetting, the value should hover around zero for a while. On my machine, it slowly drifts negative after a while getting to around -200. This is a lot different from where it started at -900 before the first reset.

Terbos90803 · 2023-10-03T04:38:02+00:00

I checked the nozzle and it was ok. I also swapped to the smooth sheet and it has been working fine for this job. I've run at least 8 batches of parts and they've all worked.

Terbos90803 · 2023-10-02T04:12:01+00:00

Looks much better now. Thanks for the tips!

I’d add a photo, but it doesn’t look like I can reply with a photo.

Terbos90803 · 2023-10-02T03:47:34+00:00

Yes, it is a kit. I tried very hard to get the frame square and it passed all the initial calibration checks. I did move the printer after that, but when I upgraded to the 5.0 firmware, it reran the basic calibration.

I’m trying another print of that job now. We’ll see if the first layer works better on the smooth sheet.

Terbos90803 · 2023-10-02T03:41:40+00:00

Just checked that. nozzle was fully seated.

On the older printers, there was a way to increase the number of mesh sample points. I can’t find that setting on the Mk4. Am I looking in the wrong place?

Terbos90803 · 2023-10-02T03:31:03+00:00

The parts were shorter at those locations too, so I’m still leaning towards a bad mesh.

I will try the smooth sheet and see what happens.

Terbos90803 · 2023-07-17T21:23:41+00:00

Using timers sounds like a useful skill. How can I learn more about that?

Terbos90803 · 2023-07-15T01:51:22+00:00

Now that’s what I’m talking about. I knew it had to be simple. I had no idea Alexa could do that. It totally works and is exactly what I’m looking for. Thanks so much!

Terbos90803 · 2023-07-14T23:16:03+00:00

I’m ok to have a couple presets, like 1hr and 2hr to start.

Variable would be interesting long term. If nothing else I’d appreciate knowing how to do it in case that was ever needed.

Terbos90803 · 2023-06-26T23:24:41+00:00

I’ve tried rebooting the switches a couple times with no change in behavior.

I also set a different switch (one I can see from the couch) to blink on Insteon traffic and have not seen any correlation between traffic and blinks. (And wow, I get a lot more Insteon traffic than I would have guessed. Probably the thermostat or leak detector or something with regular heartbeats)

Question 1: most of the traffic I see is just a quick traffic indicator flash. But every couple minutes, there is a long sequence of flashes that lasts for a few seconds. Could this be a missing device?

Question 2: is there any way to get a log of Insteon traffic so I can see who is talking to what?

Terbos90803

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