I'm experiencing my part splitting during its build. The photos show the split. The part being printed is my third attempt at printing this part. I initially tried building it face down (180 degrees from what is shown in the photos), but the part split from the base with only about 25 percent finished. I have printed the parts upright, see the black version of the same part. I found this build difficult to remove the support structures, plus, if you look carefully, you'll see stress cracks. Also, the opening warpped some such that it did not match to the front mating part.
I've included the printed front part of the project (speaker housing) so you can see what that looks like. I've also shown a CAD screen shot of what the speaker housing should look like when finished.
Can anyone explain what causing this splitting? I've had parts peel away from the plate, but I've not seen this before.
Any ideas and suggestions as to what may cause and how I might eliminate the causes.
It look to me that the print is cooling to fast , my olny suggestion is to put side covers on your printer, that will help hold the heat. If you don’t have them you can get a very good door kit on ebay or cut some cardboard and tape it on the 3 sides hope this helps
This is a typical case of “printing a box”. That’s the most difficult thing to print on a FDM printer. The long straight sections start to pull during cooling.
Make sure to set the fan to 0% (not even auto). And get some side covers to keep the heat in the build area. The printer should also be in normal room temp…not e.g. in a garage. But even with all that you probably need to print it upright, still.
If you still have issues then, you might have to try Ultrat…and as last resort…Hips…
Lol, not biased at all are you ? ;) (The doors on ebay are produced by gadgetstogo.) With that said, they really are great doors at a great price, and they even look awesome on the printer; I would absolutely recommend them.
For my enclosure, I grabbed some cheap acrylic sheets at Lowes and cut with a dremel, used Julia's design (adjusted to my specs for magnets) and some magnets on amazon. Its not "beautiful" but I think it cost me 12 bucks. :D
Have a front cover but only use when not using. lol
For my enclosure, I grabbed some cheap acrylic sheets at Lowes and cut with a dremel, used Julia's design (adjusted to my specs for magnets) and some magnets on amazon. Its not "beautiful" but I think it cost me 12 bucks. :D
I bought and like Clark's doors for my second M200 (and heartily recommend them to others), but I think my original with black grommets is cleaner-looking somehow, as well as being less fussy to remove/re-attach. And nothing beats the satisfying 'click' of those magnets :)
I do have side panels I purchased from Zortrax. Unfortunately I lost two clips (carpet must have eaten them). I set off to design my own clips, but I’m experiencing that peeling problem with these parts as well.
My Zortax printer is located in the front reception room (front living room), which I use as my office. It does get cold in there after the central heating turns off, so the splitting, or peeling, may be a result of the part cooling to fast, so I thought. I placed a portable heater to warm up the room and to keep it warm while the printer was going. The plan was to leave the heater on while I’m printing parts over night. Unfortunately, yesterday, even when the room was warm, a bit warmer than I’m use to, I experienced the clip parts I was printing peeling from the platform. I warmed up my office this morning, rearranged, reorientated, the parts in the slicer, and even cleaned the platform (I was thinking residue from previous prints may be contaminating the surface) and set the printer off. Went out for a walk. When I got home my parts were peeling from the platform at one end again. I’ll have to try again, maybe this time printing a few pars at a time.
As for the rear speaker housing, I was able to use it given that only the rear part of the housing was affected by the splitting of the support structures. The fit between the rear and front housings are near perfect. So, printing in a flat orientation works out better fit than if I printed the rear housing upright.
Mind posting the hinge designs you have there? The attachment method is the only thing I’m not a huge fan of (kinda a PITA to keep popping it off/on). Which spool holder are you using that works with the side panels on?
Clark includes the files to print the hinges and knobs (along with the hardware….. bolts and hinge pins) so you'll need to ask him. For the side spool holder I'm using http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:329301 unaltered because the bottom gripper resting against the plexi holds the spool out just the right amount for the spool to avoid the enclosure knob. The enclosures work great for me and I'm happy to support another Zortrax owner.
Clark includes the files to print the hinges and knobs (along with the hardware….. bolts and hinge pins) so you'll need to ask him. For the side spool holder I'm using http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:329301 unaltered because the bottom gripper resting against the plexi holds the spool out just the right amount for the spool to avoid the enclosure knob. The enclosures work great for me and I'm happy to support another Zortrax owner.
Hm, I didn't get hinge files with mine - only knobs, latches, and clips.
Hm, I didn't get hinge files with mine - only knobs, latches, and clips.
Same here. Clark, was the design changed/modified at all? It would be really nice to have those hinges so I don't have to remove the whole panel every time.
David - I saw the side holder on thingiverse but thought that I’d have to modify it; I’m glad to hear it works as-is. Looks like that’ll be the next thing to hit the print bed. Oh, and I love the yellow/black combo you’ve got going.
Most of my customers did not wont to drill holes in there printers so I stopped posting the style with hinges and my sales went up, but if you wont hinges jest let me know
Well, I've not found a solution to my splitting problem. With the side panels and keeping the room warm I'm still getting split support structure, or peeling from the platforme, if they're big. Small parts seem OK.
As for the side panels, the clips you get with them are a bit of a pain to fit and remove. So far I've lost a pair, so one panel just lays against the side of the printer.
But I solved that problem, talking about fixtures to hold the panels to the side of the printer. I designed myself clips, or latches, that hold the panels to the side of the printer without having to modify the panel, or the printer itself. Two parts, a latch and rear plate, which are fitted to the existing two holes on the panel. The latches fit onto the printer, like the original clisps, but are part of the panels, so you can't lose them. Also, the latches make nice little handles to hold the panel as you fit it to the printer.
When fitting to the printer you have to push the latch's lever towards the centre of the printer to lock it. to remove you only need to pul the lever outward (from the centre of the printer) to unlock and unlatch the panel, then just move the panel away.
If you would like an STL file of both parts, e-mail me at 3dcad@aardvark3d.co.uk.
Oh yes, you'll need three 3X12mm Self Tapping Pan Head Screws for each latch.
