@@GeekDetour sounds lovely to me. Im getting into it in like 1-2 months (just a money thing) to get a p1s. After looking around alot it seems to be the best choice for mid-high 3d Printers but as i know from experience : nothing is perfect! Those problems could appear there aswell.
Nah it’s brilliant fun and rewarding. I’ve had very few issues in years and my work has paid for the printer many times over. The best $250 (actually $500 after mods..) I’ve ever spent on a tool
Ran a 100 Ender 3 farm at one point. The problem you're experiencing is due to debris inside the threads of the brass Z-Rod guide. You have to disassemble and remove the rod to clean the brass threads inside the guide. Cleaning and lubricating the rod without disassembly can move the debris out of the threads in the brass, but eventually the debris will build up again and cause the issue. As you can imagine the issue can present itself more often in a dusty environment . Also, sometimes the rods are over greased from the factory and debri sticks to the grease and gunks up the brass guide.
@@GeekDetour hot water, Dawn detergent, and a bristle brush. Dry the rod (and brass guide) completely with a super absorbent car-wash microfiber towel that leaves no lint behind and then LIGHTLY spray one THIN coat of Corrosion X Lubricant. She'll glide smooth and need little maintenance after that.
@@GeekDetour never tried the POM nuts, but if they work, they work. Now I'm curious about them again. I may order a set. Sigh, the tinkering never ends 😅
Yep, you nailed it. I spent the better part of a year trying to pinpoint this issue on my S1 and even went to the extreme of installing oldham couplers and anti-backlash nuts on the printer - neither of which made an appreciable difference and if anything, those parts (or at least the way I installed them) contributed more to the rods binding than they did to resolve anything. I retained the oldham couplers but loosened the screws on the gantry as you said, and also removed the anti-backlash nuts, assuming the additional thread and spring pressure were adding friction to the rods. Immediate improvement to the part surface. My thanks for your fantastic troubleshooting!
You have no idea how much I loved reading your comment! Thanks! Very often, when I am working on a video, I overthink things… and imagine: “geeez, isn’t this super boring, or trivial?!” 🤣 Crazy how adding parts, even when they are designed to improve, can actually make it worse. I am happy for you!
I really like how you engage and solve the problem, makes me feel like a participant. Usually people just go straight into the problem and give some generic solution with little depth. Also I appreciate the book recommendation, goes immediately into my shopping basket. ❤
Oh, thank you! I am happy you enjoyed the storytelling of the process! I had to reenact some of it - the only thing I had REALLY recorded well at the time was the parts that were getting out of the printer, and not much more.
I don't like how its not in the manual and its not something the printer can understand on its own do they have any sensors at all or is that only on expensive ones..?
just came back to say that i had this problem, although not as severe, and took your advice and loosened the screws. made a massive difference right off the hope. printing so much better now. thank you for making this video.
The journey of finding this problem mimics a lot of my experience with FDM printers. You start getting a bit crazy after a while, bordering into the realm of superstition. Great job engaging us all the way through, I love a good problem to try and noodle on. Happy Holidays
Thanks! Absolutely - printers got so much better recently, but even so: from time to time you get at least very puzzling models that refuse to print the way you hoped. I enjoy the mastery of the hobby (when you are not running against the clock). Happy holidays for you and your loved ones 🎄❤️
@@4thfrom7I was going to say the exact same. 👌 They nailed it with that description. I then proceeded with my ritualistic chanting around my Z axis in prayer as i begin my next print 😅😅 (I think I should see someone about this habit LOL)
Oh the book author is Sean the "3D Print General" who has been banned from TH-cam for intransparent and likely bogus reasons, big machinery gone wrong. I'm sure he'll appreciate the support.
he had already previously deleted his firearm related videos months ago to hedge his bets and make sure, and tried unsuccessfully to communicate with youtube directly to ensure he was in compliance. none of that mattered and they still banned him without cause. i dont know why youre so invested in caping for a huge tech company without even getting paid for it@@johnbeima6413
Lead screw binding typically manifests as a regular repeating pattern that matches the lead distance of the screw. One thing not mentioned is that debris in the extruder can cause this as it will change the flow rate while printing.
I just got my copy of Sean's book today and after flipping through just a few pages it became obvious why this is a must have item for any 3D printer user. Thank you so much for recommending it. I am using an Elegoo Neptune 4 Max. Fortunately it's a newer revision so several of the issues that were being reported seem to have been mostly fixed. I am experiencing some minor quality issues with my prints but at least I know about Z-binding now and am hopeful that some lubrication on the rods will clear it up before it gets any worse. Great work!
I am glad you liked Sean’s book - I bought mine in July last year and I really thought it deserved more exposure. But I had to wait for the right video to show it. 🤗
Hi again. I finally got a print I'm happy with and just need to sort out some minor Z-binding. I was wondering if there is a specific type and / or brand of lubricant you recommend? I am fairly certain all that is happening is minor Z-binding but until I grease the rods I won't really know lol.@@GeekDetour
As someone trying to get into 3D Printing I love this guy's approach of explaining why something can cause the same issue, how it causes the issue, and a clear explanation on how to fix it even if it didn't fix the problem.
Oh, thank you! I got a few comments saying: “why wasting our time! Go straight to the issue!” Or “you didn’t really discover anything, you could not reproduce the problem!” 😂 It’s impossible to make everybody happy. Your comment made my day ❤️
@@GeekDetour I do watch a lot of videos and yes, SOMETIMES, some people do go on and on, never getting to the point until the end, clearly, only to get views. But YOUR videos are NOT like that. You do take the time to explain things CLEARLY, which is the most important thing. Those who complain about that, are the ones who perhaps should just move on to other types of videos, since they know it all anyway. For those who do not know and/or are just getting into 3D Printing, your method is excellent and PLEASE... PLEASE.... do not change.
Your problem trying to reproduce the binding issue reminded me of something I discovered as a beta tester for a camera flash wireless trigger. I'm not saying that you are having the same problem, just that it was a problem that appeared under very specific conditions. The design had a slide in battery tray. The tray had a arrow like shape at the end of the tray. In combination with the internal latch allowed of the battery tray to be locked in place when you pushed the tray into the cavity. Pushing again on the tray would release the latch and a spring would push out the tray a few centimetres. It was a satisfying mechanism to use. When I unboxed it it worked properly. But after a few days it stopped working. It would unlatch and release the battery tray. But when putting the battery tray back in it would not lock in anymore. All the radios had the same problem. What I determined was that it was a humidity problem. If I would blow into the battery compartment, after a minute, the latch would work properly again. Wait a couple of hours and the problem would return. I received the radios in January, in winter. Winters are cold and dry here. At the time I measured the indoor humidity to be about 10% relative humidity. What was happening was the plastic was drying out and that affected the operation of the latching mechanism. The manufacture had not experienced anything like this in their development. They were in Hong Kong and they never experience such dry conditions there. They did a slight design change and their second beta units, and later production, never experience the same failure.
Amazing story! Thank you so much for taking the time to write it down and share it with me/us all ❤️ I enjoy troubleshooting - and product development seems SO COOL. Unless everybody is with a tight deadline 😬
This reminds me of why the technician charged $10,000 to get the factory machine running again. The technician said, "Turning the screw only takes 10 seconds and it's free, but the $10,000 is for knowing which screw to turn."
@@orlovsskibet Very odd statement. Who says he's self-employed at the time? He could be working for the same company and so it's reaping the rewards. And besides, why does it matter how his expertise has been gained? It's utterly irrelevant. You're paying for his ability to fix the issue quickly, that's it.
@@orlovsskibet but thats the capitalism system that society wants. you charge what you can. people dont want any modern versions of communism or socialism (well, except for corporations - they love to socialise losses).
@@simonr23 so you'd like to see society charge 10$ rate for a doctor to save a life and 10$ for a factory worker to put a toy in a box and 10$ for a government run restaurant employee to flip a burger? In that case, why should a doctor/mechanic, or technician spend years to learn the knowledge and skills to earn 10$? Aside from pure totalitarian societies, even Communist societies don't work that way. They still pay better skilled and educated workers better than a common laborer. Only difference is communist regime has more control over your life blocking you from moving to a different region or working outside of a list you're given (unless you score high on education which gives you the ability to jump to a higher grade region). That's because the government controls supply and demand by force. If they need 500t of metal chairs they get 500T of metal chairs by forcing more people and businesses on that list to make them. It's more brute force which is worse for the environment because often times materials, equipment and buildings get abandoned or destroyed and such traffic for forcing supply often pollutes rivers and underground water and other resources more.
Wow. Thank you so much! This is the second time you've saved my prints. I encountered the mysterious blobs issue a while back and after seeing your video, reformatted the SD card I use and got smooth prints again (I now assume memory fragmentation made it slow, as it had been used for astrophotography with many write/erase/rewrite cycles). Now, I had a slight layer shift issue, so slight that I couldn't tell if it was Z binding or actual layer shift. I adjusted the bolts on my rods like you did out of despair after trying everything, and it now prints good as new! Thank you so much for making these videos. They are treasures of information, so well explained and documented, so useful!
Wow 🤩 I read your comment two days ago - only had time to answer now. THANK YOU! You made my day. Each video takes A LOT of time… and sometimes you wonder if it is really worth the effort. Messages like yours give me strength to go on❤️
Thank you for this! My Ender 3 Neo not days ago started to have some nasty wobble, sometimes even a millimeter or two to the side! I was just as confused as you were! Sure enough, those screws you showed, I had tightened way too much. Per craigjoe's recommendation here, I scrubbed the Z-rod & brass fitting with dish soap & water, lubed them up, and put it back together, this time making sure the screws were loose enough to let the parts move a little. Presto, no more issue!
Update: I bought the book "3D Printing Failures" as mentioned and it's certainly worth the price. It's pretty comprehensive and a good (technical) read but as mentioned in this video, it is not mentioned in the book. Almost everything else is. I'm still having the same issues and Creality just sent me new rods but I don't think that's it. To date I have a complete new hotbed and now new rods. This is a very useful video. Thank you! I am having the same exact issue with a slight difference: I can make two back to back prints, same file, same exact settings and one comes out (fairly) good and the other like crap! I tried every type of calibration, checked the hardware, rods are straight, and still get what you experienced but it's entirely random and not successive like yours. It's the most frustrating thing because I only have one printer and nothing to check it against. I thought that's how prints were supposed to look until I produced a silky smooth wall at random. I'm looking at a lithophane I printed and vertically one half of the print is smooth as can be and the other is jaggy as can be. How does one explain and troubleshoot that? I'm 100% convinced my printer is a lemon as it's been nothing but trouble from the start (now 9 months old). It's an Ender 3 V3 KE. I've been conversing wtih Creality for about 3 months with no solutions. In addition to the prints like yours, I can not get a respectable first layer no matter what I try, and I've tried everything. Frustrating to the max!
That was a great diagnostic video and a thoroughly logical approach to solving a 3D printer issue. You are so right when you say "if you don't like doing 3D diagnostics, you won't like 3D printing". I easily spend a lot of time in diagnostic mode with mine. Above all else though, I really liked your colour palets, it just made the whole thing that more enjoyable to watch. You must have spent days printing all these test parts.
Had the exact same issue on my S1, leveld the Z-Gantry again, the Z-Nuts were extremely tight on one side, adjusted the V-Wheels again and it works like it should again. Thanks for the video getting me to the point of failure
Nice video. FYI those lead screw nuts don't only need adjustments occasionally, but they are considered a consumable part as well so they will need to be replaced periodically depending on your use. They're soft brass so they wear down relatively quickly if you're printing frequently. All part of the process of owning and maintaining a printer 👍
@@GeekDetour Polyamide (PA) is a very durable material, I have often seen a polyamide gear wear out a hardened steel gear! This material only seems weak, but in fact it is one of the most wear-resistant polymers
I've been using 3 of the same printers for over 3 years, they all have the exact same backlash nuts they came with. 6 months ago, I cleaned them for the first time. Still working perfectly.
@@LampDoesVideogame that's awesome. Not sure how often you print or if you're just still within tolerance but I can assure you it's a wear part, that's how they're designed. They're made of soft brass.
Hello Sir! Thanks for such a useful explanation. You acted like an actor, despite that fact you are engineer, respect! I have never seen such a guide which is recorded by heart! Just respect!
Hey, thank you so much! ❤️ If by heart you mean that I love it, that’s true: I am completely in love with 3D Printing since I got my first printer. Now, if “by heart” you mean “by memory”, here is the trick: when I try to memorize my points and speak them out, I basically freeze and I forget so much stuff… I write down the complete texts for my videos - when I record, I am actually reading. English is not my first language, so, I use a teleprompter 🤗
@@GeekDetour I meant overall work: 3D print engineering and also video recording. Keep it on! P.S. English is not my native language also. Hello from Uzbekistan 👋👋
Wow, thanks! ❤️ You made my day! I think I would love to do that - the challenge is that English is not my native language and I make many weird pronunciations - that I correct as much as possible… editing takes a lot of time 😅
Awesome to come across this tutorial, when I assembled my CR-10 SE a couple of weeks ago, I felt the nuts were a bit loose, and so I tightened them... The prints were not bad, but I will loosen the nuts to the original "setting" and run a print again. Thanks for the sharing the knowledge, bet a lot of guys may have made the same mistake.
I actually love troubleshooting problems like this. Even though it can get rather frustrating, the satisfaction after you find the problem and come up with a solution is wonderful. I fought a stubborn over extrusion issue in my anycubic kobra 2 for months. I calibrated the esteps multiple times and they were dead on. Temp changes didn't help and it happened with every filament. It happened from brand new and out of the box. I was able to mitigate it with flow settings in cura but i constantly had to adjust them as no single flow rate resolved it. One printe might work great at 95% whereas another world be best at 70%. It was maddening. I went through 5 brand new nozzles so that couldn't be it... could it? I finally changed to standard volcano nozzles and low and behold flow is dead on now.
Hey, I’m having the same issue with my Kobra Plus that has a volcano. When you say standard volcano nozzles are you meaning like the genuine e3d nozzles fixed the problem or something else? Thanks!
I am having this exact same problem, could i add you in discord or literally anything so I can send you pics and you can potentially confirm its the issues? New to FDM and have Kobra 2, everything was going fine but now I'm getting very frustrated.
I had this problem on a Ultimaker 2+ years ago and oddly I couldn't find any information about it online. But the dead giveaway was that the surface imperfections always happened at the same layer height. Thank you for taking the time to explain this!
Yeah, you are absolutely true: each Z-Lead Screws has an imperfection signature. We can make it less visible - but probably never really get 100% uniform and without ANY visible line when put under a harsh light. I’ve been thinking a lot about it… maybe I’LL come up with an idea to make it different.
I had exactly such a problem. I was about to research this. And all the ways you tried came to my mind and I was going to try them. I've tried it before but I was going to test it again. After watching this video, I remembered that I saw that those screws were loose and tightened them. Thanks to you my guess was proven. Thank you for sharing this video, my friend. I subscribed and see you in your other videos.. 🙃☺
After your explanation, I agree, dirt is probably the greater culprit. Just goes to show that adding grease is not the only chore. You need to occasionally REMOVE the old grease in order to keep the rods free of grit.
As an experienced user, I will say that most of the errors are related specifically to the controller board. These errors disappear after a long period of inactivity or other shamanism with a tambourine and dancing)
Just bought my first printer and I am glad I found this. A great video and a great comments section. I don’t have this problem, but if it arises I will have an idea where to start looking. Thanks for this.
I really loved how you tackled the problem you found yourself in. Also it's great to see another video upload from you again in such a long time as well. Wishing you a happy holidays Geek. :)
I’ve been struggling with my printer. I’ve upgraded what once was a Cr-10 V3 to now have a better hot end that can handle higher temperatures. E3D’s REVO Creality with the Obxidian nozzle. It has sadly been failing and like this video, I think I find the problem only for it to fail again. I’m still learning about this hobby and have only been in it for a couple of years now. I really appreciate this video. Whether it’s an answer to what could be wrong, I don’t know, but it’s full of a variety of things I’ve yet to check. I’ll also take a look at that book. Thank you! I love the way you explained things in the video. Very helpful.
MirageC has some great videos on this type of artifact and what problems can cause them. Especially his wobbleX looks insane (although it requires a minimum weight that makes it useless for generic bedslingers) Also take a look at oldham couplers for the 3 printers shown in the video, if you buy them in bulk it might only be $20 for the 3 of them
I watched all of them - love it! And in my mind all the 3 printers would immediately show the wobbliness in their prints starting to when I tightened their nuts. To be clear: on a very close inspection, it happened - but it was SO DISCRETE that was impossible to see it clearly on camera. The prints were in essence “perfect” or perfectly acceptable and nobody would point the finger and say: “what happened here?”. I wanted to show a guaranteed disaster and… depending on the printer you have, it might run just fine even with coupled nuts. Makes sense? But I will definitely start modding these printers just for fun - didn’t have time to do it this year, but in 2024 I’ll hack them to my taste.
@@GeekDetour i went to Oldham couplers a month after buying my ender 3 S1 because the wobble was bad enough to impact tolerances on parts I was making. Prints look way cleaner although I still have some inconsistent layer stacking due to the extruder gears not being perfect. But i honestly didn't mind it as much until I got the vzhextrudort on my custom build which just made the sprite extruder look like shit in comparison. But I guess every print looks shit when you shine a harsh enough light from directly above.😅
@@twanheijkoop6753 You shouldn't need oldham couplers. They account for radial misalignment. A 3D printer shouldn't have significant radial misalignment as it uses the motor shaft and bearings as the support point. They do have angular misalignment because the screw isn't inline with the shaft and the printer isn't usually aligned to it either. But the flex coupling accounts for that. An oldham would require a bearing to hold the shaft as well. Another problem is if the printer supports the screw at both ends. It should only be supported at one end and by the nut, or the out of straightness will cause z-wobble. Optionally if both ends are supported, the nut must float free, only two points of radial constraint are allowed to not over constrain it and cause lateral forces. To minimize lateral forces the motor shaft should be parallel to the gantry frame (z). This could be measured by removing the coupler, mounting an indicator on the gantry, measuring the shaft, and moving it vertically. Turn the motor mounting in whichever direction eliminates the misalignment. Shims (paper would likely work fine) under the motor mounting may be needed. Then check the motor 90° to the first direction and align again, and then recheck the first direction. The motor being aligned will minimize bending of the flex coupling and side loading of the gantry as it flexes. Next straighten the lead screw as best you can. Roll it on a flat surface like float glass and gently bend it straight if it is pretty bad. Shim gauges under the middle can help you get it even straighter than you can see. Really this and runout of the coupling or motor shaft are the only things that should cause z-wobble. Misalignment will cause forces on the gantry, but they won't change as the shaft rotates, so won't cause wobble. The nut needs to be aligned to be centered with the motor shaft when they are as close together as you can get them. Loosen the nut screws and run the printer all the way to the bottom. Hang the nozzle off the edge of the bed if you can to get even closer. Then tighten the nut screws. I don't have any troubles with this on the cheapest E3 made. I didn't bother straightening the screw, and the free end wobbles visibly as it rotates. But that is OK as only two connections don't transfer loads.
Remarkable timing. This just popped up as im in the middle of a massive job. 5 printers, 24/7 for 3 months ... just started noticing a bit of z binding but didnt know what it was, and them this video shows up... thanks ! Also i will be buying that book!
@@indalecio21 the reason im limited to 5 printers is electricity and space. We keep them all in 1 office to regulate temperature and while we could fit more on the tabls there is only only enough circuits for 5 printers and a laser. We had plenty of time before prints are being used so rather than dedicate another office to printing im just playing the slow game lol. Also we normally dont do large volume printing so i dont want to be stuck with 8 machines that wont get used.
Oh, thanks! That’s true! And you know what? For a lot of people, the most satisfied machines are the ones you can actually mess with, add stuff, change parts… It is cool to have a machine that does great and you just hit print… but I wouldn’t be happy without having at least one machine that is always open in a constant state of change.
Wow !! Easiest cheapest and fastest fix ever ! This fix solved my z-banding problem on my old cr20 v1 fully customized like XYZ linear railed & stuff (lot of) = now it prints like never before, for free ! Many thanks !!
Wow! Thanks for sharing ❤️ I am glad it helped! 3D Printing well depends on so many factors, right? You can have a machine full of great components, and yet printing less than ideal due to a single silliness 😄
My initial guess, not having read any other comments, I'm 0:20 seconds in. Check your belt tension. That's my initial gut reaction. It could also be the tension of the bed screws (one coming loose) or the tension of the x axis. Something is loose, I believe. edit: HAHA! Nooooo. to be fair, it was based on ONLY the print. I didn't have any info other than the first 24 seconds or so. That was fun, actually. As someone that is constantly helping people fix their printers on reddit, that was fun. Subscribed.
That’s good to know, tightening everything isn’t the solution. Some things are meant to work loose. It emphasizes the importance of knowing how to troubleshoot your own printer. 👍
I’ve been having an issue almost exactly like this and I’ve been looking for a solution, this just randomly popped up on my feed. Maybe it won’t be so random and this’ll work. Thank you so much man 🙏
00:03 Identifying and fixing 3D printer line issue 00:55 Identifying and fixing 3D printer printing issues 01:56 Maintain consistent temperature for better 3D printing 02:49 Loosened Lead Screw Nuts to fix Z-Wobble 03:47 Z-Binding is a common problem in 3D printers 04:41 Tightening the nuts resolved the 3D printer problem 05:37 Proper printer adjustment leads to quality prints 06:34 Troubleshoot 3D printer problems effectively
You just wrote two different titles that contradict each other... "Loosened lead screw nuts to fix Z-Wobble" then "Tightening the nuts resolved the issue". Huh???? He didnt tighten the nuts to "resolve the issue" he was just trying to recreate it which helped him conclude the different factors that may have combined to cause the problem.
It's crazy that this was uploaded so recently. I got this exact issue and was debugging it and then I found this. Also, excellent frikkin video my dude. Extremely useful and easy to digest information
I chased this demon exactly like you. I found it to be inconsistent extrusions between layers due to a deformed/off center extruder gear. Also sometimes certain colors show layers more than others
My first 3D prints were horrible. From bad calibration to bad PLA filaments, humidity, bad spare parts from factory, software config issues, my own 3d files not well done, etc. I solved those problems, and my ender 3 prints quite well, but too much hours spent on and no works done after all, thats why i quit and i only see videos, for entertain and learn more. PD: Absolutly amazing channel you have man, good job, and amazing book too, subscribed!
Than you Adrian! Oh man, I hope you can give it a new try again soon - there are amazing new printers that give you excellent results with little headaches. Bambu Lab sent me a P1S and it is such a great machine. Sure, everything needs maintenance to keep working fine. But their profiles are so well tuned… it is a breeze to print.
@@GeekDetour I think the ender 3 is still a smart choice to start in this world, but as you say (totally agreed) there are more new printers, with better results and less headbaches. Greetings from Spain!
Nice video! I think one thing you could infer is that there could be some debris that somehow got into the lead screw nuts themselves. I noticed you were using brass nuts and I had that on my Ender 5 Plus initially. I decided to go with the anti backlash POM nuts instead and they did wonderfully. POM is self lubricating and has low friction that shouldn't cause much z binding. Also, dual extruder gears could be an issue too as maybe the idler gear could be shifting side to side changing its effective extrusion rate. I know Mirage3D and some others did a video on that one. Hope this insight helps anyone and Happy Holidays! 😊
writing this just after you said you checked everything, but what a lot of people forget to check is if the hot-end is still tight against the gantry. gave me a lot of trouble once before. dont know if that is the answer, but if you're saying you checked everything, that should be on the list.
Makes sense! Another person also commented he suffered from a nozzle that as not really tight - never happened to me but it will be in my checklist now ❤️
My Guess loose x y arms and also belts. So glad I watched this. Once my current print finishes, I'm going to check these as I had noticed some of this chatter too.
I had the same issue with my prints on an Ender 3. I lubricated the Z axis rods and tightened everything I could find. Of course it's the one thing that's supposed to be loose that was the issue, it probably was tight from binding up and I just secured it more. Thank you so much.
Once the z-axis lead screws are setup straight and rotate without wobble through the up/down gantry travel shouldn’t those z guide bolts be tightened? Otherwise wouldn’t you induce a little more slack in the z-axis? Great video, it seems indeed z-axis binding was the culprit.
You definitely don't want to leave them all loose, it will add significant uncertainty in Z height especially if you are using Z Hop (i.e. Z axis changes direction during printing)
This is super helpful! Just got into 3d printing 4 days ago, got myself a 2nd hand Ender 3 PRO. And golly I've had some print quality issues. I started with calibrating my e-steps, then bed leveling. With just those 2 things, the print quality improved but there are still imperfections in the printed product.... Will watch more of your videos hopefully to achieve better results. Thanks!
I am so happy you enjoyed the video - and Welcome to 3D Printing!!! You probably already figured out how addictive this thing is… be careful: one printer becomes two… then 4… you risk getting a divorce or having to move to a bigger place 😄
@@GeekDetour woahhhh didnt expect a reply from you! It is very addicting. I doubt the divorce part since my wife is enjoying it more than I do. 2nd printer is on its way even tho I havent mastered this one yet lol. Greay channel and great vids! Looking forward to more of your content.
That’s beautiful! 🫶 Enjoy the printers, my friend. And if you spend some time watching tutorials, learning Fusion 360 (you can create a free hobby account) is will 100% be worth your effort. It is such a satisfaction to design your very own functional parts and do nice fixes and improvements in your house. Have a beautiful 2024 🥂 More videos coming soon!
Bought myself a 3d printer last week. it worked the first day then out of a sudden it stopped extruding filament mid-printing. I could not figure it out what went wrong for 3 hours then suddenly I realize maybe the tip is jammed. and sure enough it was. fixed it. now its running fine. A few hiccups here and there, other than that I am starting to love 3d printing. Long way to go!!
@workforth It's very interesting that you mention the clog right away like that. In September, I got 2 Creality Ender 3 V3 Plus printers. With the 1st one, I immediately got a jam and had to take apart the entire extruder. I was not happy and blamed the printer. It turns out, the printer was NOT the problem. I WAS THE PROBLEM because I didn't realize that this printer has its own special function to add or remove filament! I was trying to just pull it out... not a good idea and just wrong! To remove filament, all I have to do is go into the mention and there's a RETRACT or EXTRUDE function. When I press RETRACT, the printer does the most amazing thing. First, it heats up the nozzle, which is fast on this printer. Then, it gently moves the filament up and down a tiny bit, so as to not let it melt, then harden, getting stuck. After moving the filament up and down a bit and the nozzle is hot, it begins to extrude some filament to clear the path! Then, is does a fast retract, does some more up/down, then zips the filament right up to the top! Nice and clean! Also, on my old printer, I used to have to constantly clean the nozzle's point of melted filament before making the machine do bed leveling. But on this machine, before leveling, the machine does some zipping around and then pushes the nozzle to the back of the bed and very gently, with the nozzle hot, moves it back and forth, up and down a bit to clean the nozzle automatically! Works a wonder. 👍😁👍
@@BlondieHappyGuy I did even tried extrude and retract, tried pulling the filament also. it was really stuck. I had to heatup the hotend then poke the nozzle with a fine needle (provided with printer) back and forth only then I was able to unclog the head. Working fine since then.
@@workforth Just for clarity, using the extrude/retract feature only works when there is no filament stuck. The first time I used the machine, I didn't know about this function and I just heated the nozzle the pulled on the filament. It snapped inside the extruder. That's why I had to take it apart to clean it out. It turns out, taking it apart was really easy and I found 2 little pieces of plastic inside. One piece was covering the hole in the filament path. I forgot, I did try to clear the problem using the big pin. I was able to get the pin to pass through, but as it turns out, it was just passing through the little piece of plastic. Once I remove the 2 pieces (filament) all worked fine. It was then that I learned about the extrude/retract function that is designed to remove the filament (retract). Since then, no clogs at all. So I'm saying, it MUST be used every time and used properly. So, NEVER pull on the filament. Use Retract and let it finish. It will extrude some to clean things out, then you'll hear it moving up and down, then, at the end, you'll hear a high pitched sound and see the filament move up fast. At that point, flip the little locking lever to open and gentle pull out the filament. Works ever time. Hope that helps because these are amazing machines when used properly.
Hi there! I believe YOU didn’t, but it happens also with Prusa owners: forum.prusa3d.com/forum/original-prusa-xl-tool-changer-assembly-and-first-prints-troubleshooting/z-banding-or-z-wobble-do-we-have-a-solution-yet/?language=cs
Just my two cents... after years of tweaking my old ender 3 pro, it prints small parts nearly as clean as my Voron. What I found most useful for inconsistencies like this was polycarbonate wheels on the Z axis (not for X/Y) and POM anti-backlash nuts on both lead screws. Anti-backlash is optional but I can't recommend POM nuts enough. Seriously, you'll wish you tried them sooner. They are self lubricating but I use a dry lube as well, which keeps dirt from accumulating like grease and I've had no issues with wear. Before anything I strongly recommend people go through and get the frame and gantry as square as absolutely possible. This can make a huge difference. Stabilizing bars can help further if you print fast and can help keep the frame aligned. I'm not a fan of flexible Z motor couplers if you can avoid them and I personally have the top of my lead screws loosely secured with pillow bearings, primarily due to my dual-Z mod but this can make things worse if people aren't careful and/or if the screws are very warped. For some printers, flexible anti-backlash couplers are helpful but I think most people can avoid it with proper setup.
Very nice comment! I second everything you said. Well, the POM nuts I still need to try - lots of people talking wonders about them here in the comments. About squaring the frame and specially the Gantry: true! It was the first thing I did to my old Ender 3, the full “x gantry rework”.
Thanks a lot! When I assembled my CR10V3, those nuts were extremely loose. At the time, I was told by many TH-camrs to tighten every loose bolts on 3d printer so I did.....
The advice is correct, for structural things. The body of the printer should be as rigid as possible. But v-slow wheels have an ideal pressure: should just tight enough to not have wobbliness, but tighter than that is bad. The z-Nuts on the ideal world should be tight. But in most printers, having them a bit lose allowing free lateral movement is better than really tight. One thing is certain: lubrication is really important.
Thanks Tyler! A few people were not happy that I spent half of the video showing what was NOT the problem… but I think that’s valuable, because many “defects” look identical, but have very different roots… Showing just one ends up in a bunch of VERY specific videos. I am glad it helped you ❤️
I discovered your channel today, with this video. Very pleasant conversation, a lot of information provided by a human being, like from a friend who sits at the table with me. Thank you, you have another follower and I can gain experience from. Good luck to you.
Love that you couldn’t recreate the problem. It’s like when I ask for help with something and someone finally comes to my desk and the problem has completely resolved itself.
@@GeekDetour oh definitely. Mines usually an error when writing a function in excel. the format type is usually my most common error. So annoying. Haven’t had too many issues with my printer thankfully. I’m better at solving code problems than hardware.
Mechanical domains have a bigger set of uncontrollable variables 🤣 On a previous life I was a software developer too - so long ago most of what I used now is old fashion, ha ha.
Sean! Hey man! So good to see you here - by the way, if you take a look at your LinkedIn, you will see a connection request from me - I will be very happy if you consider accepting it 🤗 Yeah, I bought your book in July and it looked like people would have so much less frustration if they had such a guide in their hands. I just needed the right video to coincide with its idea - it finally happened. Happy Christmas, Sean! 🎄🎁🥂🍀🎉🎊
Can’t wait to try this when I get back from my vacation! I’ve had the same issue with my Neptune 3 Pro for a few months and couldn’t find a simple and easy way to troubleshoot. This should get me back on my game in no time!
You are my lifesaver! My ender3 is not only having this issue, it would stick at a certain point and not going up anymore, now this is also solved, thank you!!!❤❤
Oh, this video is getting traction very well - I think it will reach the attention it needs to change most of the (bad) advice people share around. It is not the first video telling that the nuts must be loosened - but it is already, by far, the most watched one in the topic. I cannot ask for more 🤗
For anyone still lost or just curious Z binding can happen numerous ways. Your rods can be bent The rod(s) may not truly be perpendicular to the gantry (you may have a loose rod or improperly installed) Your gantry may be a little tight There may be physical obstruction within the threads that can cause minor friction thats hard to notice - this can be debris or some gnarled threads. Loosening the screws to a minor degree can potentially solve some minor tolerance issues but they should not be so loose that they float
I had one of my Ender 3's on vacation last month cause it had an issue i couldn't figure out. It has a Sprite Extruder, and it was having a couple failed lines, very random, but more common on taller pieces. After assembling and disassemblying pretty much the whole printer, i ended up switching the stepper motor and voilà, it worked perfectly! The issue with the motor was a single bearring that was rusty and loose, causing the metal rotor inside to catch on the steps and block the extrusion for a couple seconds! Luckly i had just bought a spare Sprite Extruder otherwise i wouldn't have had the chance to try another motor. Also, ótimo canal meu caro!
Cara que demais sua história. É fácil esquecer que dentro dos motores tem dois rolamentos - e tudo gasta cedo ou tarde! Obrigado demais por escrever e bem vindo ao canal!
Thank you very much for making this video! I had this issue since i installed direct drive mod on ender 3 v2 neo. I tried everything but this solution finally fixed those ugly lines 🙏
That sounds crazy to me, ha ha ha. NOT! But I have a guess that, if you think it is interesting, there might be a 3D Printer in your future - a cautionary advice: it is super addictive 🤣 Merry Christmas 🎄🎁
Short yet comprehensive. Thanks for the book tip, never heard of it until now. 3D printing is such an inspiration yet so many moving parts plus the job of printing our inventions, it's a big ask. no wonder it goes wrong but when it's right 🎉
Thanks! What you mean man? It happens to you too! (ha ha ha, I hope) I just like to talk about them 🤣 Merry Christmas @UncleJessy Always nice to see you here 🎄🍾🥂
I was having Z wobble on my new Neptune 4 so I thoroughly checked and tightened every screw and bolt on the printer, but somehow the wobble got worse. Well, one thing I tightened was the lead screw nuts! I must have made them too tight, but thanks to this video I know what I did wrong.
Superb video ! I have only been in the 3D printing wolrd for less than a month and this really helped me figure out some inconsistencies on my prints. Thanks for the book link also.
Hello! Happy 2024 🥂🎉 Oh, I am so happy my vídeo helped you in your journey! Thanks for letting me know! Welcome to the channel! I have lots of 3D Printing experiments on the go - they take time, but I am very optimistic because I finally have a much better space to work 🤗
Exactly my issue! Thank you. Years of perfect prints then one day my Ender motherboard heater died so I replaced the thermistor and heater and still not fixed so replaced the board to the latest 4.2.7. In the process I gave the machine and check and clean and tighten. When I ran the printer again, terrible z lines even though the same part printed perfectly the day before. I checked everything, re-sliced the model printed again exactly the same. Tweaked again tried another slicer, tweaked the e-step and tried again, fail. After watching your video I realize I tightened those floating z nuts!
What people don't understand is that the leadscrews don't need to be relatively straight. Their function is to transmit movement only. It's the wheels and the vertical extrusions that guide the gantry in a straight line.
Owning a Neptune 4 Pro by a month and an half, couldn't figure out why it was reccommended not to tighten those screws (and and I was also mislead by others to tighten them) Aside the fact that it will work better in a state or the other, I wanted to know the reason behind it, needless to say I love your work!
Thank you so much for your kind words. MirageC has excellent videos explaining and demonstrating how the nuts work and why it is important to decouple lateral movement. They are EXCELLENT and here is one: th-cam.com/video/mqSQhwqSzvg/w-d-xo.htmlsi=X-eEC4E2SA49M_1q
@GeekDetour By the way, my CNC journey started with building a CO2 Laser Cutter from scratch. At one point I needed custom parts and here I am in the 3D Printing world. I'm Happy to see your laser journey started too! Can't wait to new laser video too! ^^
Thanks. This makes sense about the z axis needing to be loose. I was a bit worried this morning when unblocking the extruder gears and hotend in my BBL P1S and seeing that the z screws were visibly loose inside the top bearing bushes
Sir, you have another sub. Your video was both informational and entertaining. So much so I think I would have subbed if you were just reading a McDonald's drive through menu. Your accent combined with your voice is a perfect math. PLEASE do some books on tape.
Wow! Thanks 🤗 And welcome aboard! I think you will like these two weird videos I published some time ago - this is the first one: th-cam.com/video/G5jTgGmD5js/w-d-xo.htmlsi=cacfMEXy0wgA-1Ms
Oh, thanks! 🤗 My voice is getting “older” quite fast - I am afraid I’ll sound like an old mafia boss that just whispers, quite soon. Enjoy my past videos - you can probably watch everything in one evening 🤣
Sensacional Everson! Nunca vi ninguém explicando sobre essas porcas das SP1 Pro. Eu também apertei, não muito, mas apertei. Irei afrouxar novamente e colocar uma graxa pra testar. Obrigado pelo norte!
Thanks for the video, it was pure coincidence, because TH-cam recommended it to me. If I didn't realize this, I would spend my whole life leveling the printer, I just don't understand how they can assemble the printer, and not even the anti-threading screws are properly tightened. I have an Elegoo 3 max, and the level always varied, and of course, if this is loose, how can it not be level hahaha Now I tightened it, and I'm doing tests.
Yeah! Superlux Top 258 - legendary (yet cheap) Shure SM58 “clone”. How do you know that!? 🤣 Hi brother! Remember when we bought this mic? 20… maybe 25 years ago?! Still sounds great!
New to 3D printing. Oh dear god what did I get myself into.
Oh, you got yourself in a delicious tortuous path of maddening learning 🤣❤️ Enjoy, my friend. Highly addictive for tinkerers.
@@GeekDetour sounds lovely to me. Im getting into it in like 1-2 months (just a money thing) to get a p1s. After looking around alot it seems to be the best choice for mid-high 3d Printers but as i know from experience : nothing is perfect! Those problems could appear there aswell.
Sameeeeee, I regret it for like 3 hours a day
Same here! "inclusive, exclusive, middle, seam, z hop, temperature, damnnnn".
[edit: I am loving it, hehe]
Nah it’s brilliant fun and rewarding. I’ve had very few issues in years and my work has paid for the printer many times over. The best $250 (actually $500 after mods..) I’ve ever spent on a tool
Ran a 100 Ender 3 farm at one point. The problem you're experiencing is due to debris inside the threads of the brass Z-Rod guide. You have to disassemble and remove the rod to clean the brass threads inside the guide. Cleaning and lubricating the rod without disassembly can move the debris out of the threads in the brass, but eventually the debris will build up again and cause the issue. As you can imagine the issue can present itself more often in a dusty environment . Also, sometimes the rods are over greased from the factory and debri sticks to the grease and gunks up the brass guide.
Wow! I loved your advice: hard to beat the experience of running a Big printing farm 👍 Do you have a favorite way of cleaning the Rods?
@@GeekDetour hot water, Dawn detergent, and a bristle brush. Dry the rod (and brass guide) completely with a super absorbent car-wash microfiber towel that leaves no lint behind and then LIGHTLY spray one THIN coat of Corrosion X Lubricant. She'll glide smooth and need little maintenance after that.
Oh, you really take the rods off and treat them good! I only did that twice in one printer. I want to try POM nuts, it seems they should run dry.
@@GeekDetour never tried the POM nuts, but if they work, they work. Now I'm curious about them again. I may order a set. Sigh, the tinkering never ends 😅
Did this solve the problem?
Yep, you nailed it. I spent the better part of a year trying to pinpoint this issue on my S1 and even went to the extreme of installing oldham couplers and anti-backlash nuts on the printer - neither of which made an appreciable difference and if anything, those parts (or at least the way I installed them) contributed more to the rods binding than they did to resolve anything. I retained the oldham couplers but loosened the screws on the gantry as you said, and also removed the anti-backlash nuts, assuming the additional thread and spring pressure were adding friction to the rods. Immediate improvement to the part surface. My thanks for your fantastic troubleshooting!
You have no idea how much I loved reading your comment! Thanks! Very often, when I am working on a video, I overthink things… and imagine: “geeez, isn’t this super boring, or trivial?!” 🤣 Crazy how adding parts, even when they are designed to improve, can actually make it worse. I am happy for you!
I really like how you engage and solve the problem, makes me feel like a participant. Usually people just go straight into the problem and give some generic solution with little depth. Also I appreciate the book recommendation, goes immediately into my shopping basket. ❤
Oh, thank you! I am happy you enjoyed the storytelling of the process! I had to reenact some of it - the only thing I had REALLY recorded well at the time was the parts that were getting out of the printer, and not much more.
My big brother is a Great teacher!!! Teaching using questions and making everyone start thinking with him! Perfect storytelling!!!
🤭 Bro… you are selling me too well 😂
I don't like how its not in the manual and its not something the printer can understand on its own do they have any sensors at all or is that only on expensive ones..?
just came back to say that i had this problem, although not as severe, and took your advice and loosened the screws. made a massive difference right off the hope. printing so much better now. thank you for making this video.
That’s so nice to know! Thanks for sharing it with me ❤️Merry Christmas 🎄
The journey of finding this problem mimics a lot of my experience with FDM printers. You start getting a bit crazy after a while, bordering into the realm of superstition. Great job engaging us all the way through, I love a good problem to try and noodle on.
Happy Holidays
Thanks! Absolutely - printers got so much better recently, but even so: from time to time you get at least very puzzling models that refuse to print the way you hoped. I enjoy the mastery of the hobby (when you are not running against the clock). Happy holidays for you and your loved ones 🎄❤️
"Bordering on the realm of superstition" is soooo true about this hobby. 😂
@@4thfrom7I was going to say the exact same. 👌 They nailed it with that description. I then proceeded with my ritualistic chanting around my Z axis in prayer as i begin my next print 😅😅 (I think I should see someone about this habit LOL)
Remember to recite your daily canticles.
All hail the omnissiah
Oh the book author is Sean the "3D Print General" who has been banned from TH-cam for intransparent and likely bogus reasons, big machinery gone wrong. I'm sure he'll appreciate the support.
Yeah, I’ve been following his drama and it scares the B-Jesus out of me! I hope it helps a bit 👍🍀
It was not in-transparent. It was because he had discussed printing firearms on his channel.
@@johnbeima6413 That's not against the rules. Major channels like Vox have also shown 3D printed guns.
@@SianaGearz Actually it is. :) Read the new terms. He even mentioned he had been warned about it before.
he had already previously deleted his firearm related videos months ago to hedge his bets and make sure, and tried unsuccessfully to communicate with youtube directly to ensure he was in compliance. none of that mattered and they still banned him without cause. i dont know why youre so invested in caping for a huge tech company without even getting paid for it@@johnbeima6413
Lead screw binding typically manifests as a regular repeating pattern that matches the lead distance of the screw. One thing not mentioned is that debris in the extruder can cause this as it will change the flow rate while printing.
omffffffffffffffg
thx so much...im an expert, but am the biggest newbie at the same time, seing this.
I just got my copy of Sean's book today and after flipping through just a few pages it became obvious why this is a must have item for any 3D printer user. Thank you so much for recommending it.
I am using an Elegoo Neptune 4 Max. Fortunately it's a newer revision so several of the issues that were being reported seem to have been mostly fixed. I am experiencing some minor quality issues with my prints but at least I know about Z-binding now and am hopeful that some lubrication on the rods will clear it up before it gets any worse.
Great work!
I am glad you liked Sean’s book - I bought mine in July last year and I really thought it deserved more exposure. But I had to wait for the right video to show it. 🤗
Hi again. I finally got a print I'm happy with and just need to sort out some minor Z-binding. I was wondering if there is a specific type and / or brand of lubricant you recommend? I am fairly certain all that is happening is minor Z-binding but until I grease the rods I won't really know lol.@@GeekDetour
As someone trying to get into 3D Printing I love this guy's approach of explaining why something can cause the same issue, how it causes the issue, and a clear explanation on how to fix it even if it didn't fix the problem.
Oh, thank you! I got a few comments saying: “why wasting our time! Go straight to the issue!” Or “you didn’t really discover anything, you could not reproduce the problem!” 😂 It’s impossible to make everybody happy. Your comment made my day ❤️
@@GeekDetour I do watch a lot of videos and yes, SOMETIMES, some people do go on and on, never getting to the point until the end, clearly, only to get views.
But YOUR videos are NOT like that. You do take the time to explain things CLEARLY, which is the most important thing.
Those who complain about that, are the ones who perhaps should just move on to other types of videos, since they know it all anyway.
For those who do not know and/or are just getting into 3D Printing, your method is excellent and PLEASE... PLEASE.... do not change.
Your problem trying to reproduce the binding issue reminded me of something I discovered as a beta tester for a camera flash wireless trigger. I'm not saying that you are having the same problem, just that it was a problem that appeared under very specific conditions.
The design had a slide in battery tray. The tray had a arrow like shape at the end of the tray. In combination with the internal latch allowed of the battery tray to be locked in place when you pushed the tray into the cavity. Pushing again on the tray would release the latch and a spring would push out the tray a few centimetres. It was a satisfying mechanism to use.
When I unboxed it it worked properly. But after a few days it stopped working. It would unlatch and release the battery tray. But when putting the battery tray back in it would not lock in anymore. All the radios had the same problem.
What I determined was that it was a humidity problem. If I would blow into the battery compartment, after a minute, the latch would work properly again. Wait a couple of hours and the problem would return.
I received the radios in January, in winter. Winters are cold and dry here. At the time I measured the indoor humidity to be about 10% relative humidity. What was happening was the plastic was drying out and that affected the operation of the latching mechanism. The manufacture had not experienced anything like this in their development. They were in Hong Kong and they never experience such dry conditions there.
They did a slight design change and their second beta units, and later production, never experience the same failure.
Amazing story! Thank you so much for taking the time to write it down and share it with me/us all ❤️ I enjoy troubleshooting - and product development seems SO COOL. Unless everybody is with a tight deadline 😬
This reminds me of why the technician charged $10,000 to get the factory machine running again. The technician said, "Turning the screw only takes 10 seconds and it's free, but the $10,000 is for knowing which screw to turn."
I've always hated this story.
All the hours (or the vast majority of them) he spent learning which screws to turn, he was getting paid by someone.
@@orlovsskibet Very odd statement. Who says he's self-employed at the time? He could be working for the same company and so it's reaping the rewards. And besides, why does it matter how his expertise has been gained? It's utterly irrelevant. You're paying for his ability to fix the issue quickly, that's it.
@@orlovsskibet but thats the capitalism system that society wants. you charge what you can. people dont want any modern versions of communism or socialism (well, except for corporations - they love to socialise losses).
@@simonr23 I have zero clue what you are talking about.
@@simonr23 so you'd like to see society charge 10$ rate for a doctor to save a life and 10$ for a factory worker to put a toy in a box and 10$ for a government run restaurant employee to flip a burger? In that case, why should a doctor/mechanic, or technician spend years to learn the knowledge and skills to earn 10$?
Aside from pure totalitarian societies, even Communist societies don't work that way. They still pay better skilled and educated workers better than a common laborer. Only difference is communist regime has more control over your life blocking you from moving to a different region or working outside of a list you're given (unless you score high on education which gives you the ability to jump to a higher grade region). That's because the government controls supply and demand by force. If they need 500t of metal chairs they get 500T of metal chairs by forcing more people and businesses on that list to make them. It's more brute force which is worse for the environment because often times materials, equipment and buildings get abandoned or destroyed and such traffic for forcing supply often pollutes rivers and underground water and other resources more.
Wow. Thank you so much! This is the second time you've saved my prints. I encountered the mysterious blobs issue a while back and after seeing your video, reformatted the SD card I use and got smooth prints again (I now assume memory fragmentation made it slow, as it had been used for astrophotography with many write/erase/rewrite cycles).
Now, I had a slight layer shift issue, so slight that I couldn't tell if it was Z binding or actual layer shift.
I adjusted the bolts on my rods like you did out of despair after trying everything, and it now prints good as new!
Thank you so much for making these videos. They are treasures of information, so well explained and documented, so useful!
Wow 🤩 I read your comment two days ago - only had time to answer now. THANK YOU! You made my day. Each video takes A LOT of time… and sometimes you wonder if it is really worth the effort. Messages like yours give me strength to go on❤️
Thank you for this! My Ender 3 Neo not days ago started to have some nasty wobble, sometimes even a millimeter or two to the side! I was just as confused as you were! Sure enough, those screws you showed, I had tightened way too much. Per craigjoe's recommendation here, I scrubbed the Z-rod & brass fitting with dish soap & water, lubed them up, and put it back together, this time making sure the screws were loose enough to let the parts move a little. Presto, no more issue!
Hey! That’s great! I am glad you could fix it! ❤️
When David Altenburg retires, you can take his place as a narrator. But to be fair, very, very detailed and well made video!
My goodness! I wish! For me, a documentary only feels like a REAL documentary when it has Attenborough’s voice. He is awesome! Thanks ❤️
Update: I bought the book "3D Printing Failures" as mentioned and it's certainly worth the price. It's pretty comprehensive and a good (technical) read but as mentioned in this video, it is not mentioned in the book. Almost everything else is. I'm still having the same issues and Creality just sent me new rods but I don't think that's it. To date I have a complete new hotbed and now new rods. This is a very useful video. Thank you!
I am having the same exact issue with a slight difference: I can make two back to back prints, same file, same exact settings and one comes out (fairly) good and the other like crap! I tried every type of calibration, checked the hardware, rods are straight, and still get what you experienced but it's entirely random and not successive like yours. It's the most frustrating thing because I only have one printer and nothing to check it against. I thought that's how prints were supposed to look until I produced a silky smooth wall at random. I'm looking at a lithophane I printed and vertically one half of the print is smooth as can be and the other is jaggy as can be. How does one explain and troubleshoot that? I'm 100% convinced my printer is a lemon as it's been nothing but trouble from the start (now 9 months old). It's an Ender 3 V3 KE. I've been conversing wtih Creality for about 3 months with no solutions. In addition to the prints like yours, I can not get a respectable first layer no matter what I try, and I've tried everything. Frustrating to the max!
That was a great diagnostic video and a thoroughly logical approach to solving a 3D printer issue. You are so right when you say "if you don't like doing 3D diagnostics, you won't like 3D printing". I easily spend a lot of time in diagnostic mode with mine. Above all else though, I really liked your colour palets, it just made the whole thing that more enjoyable to watch. You must have spent days printing all these test parts.
Had the exact same issue on my S1, leveld the Z-Gantry again, the Z-Nuts were extremely tight on one side, adjusted the V-Wheels again and it works like it should again. Thanks for the video getting me to the point of failure
Nice video. FYI those lead screw nuts don't only need adjustments occasionally, but they are considered a consumable part as well so they will need to be replaced periodically depending on your use. They're soft brass so they wear down relatively quickly if you're printing frequently.
All part of the process of owning and maintaining a printer 👍
Hi Dude! Yeah man, so true! People are commenting I should try POM nuts - I’ll give it s shot. Merry Christmas my friend! 🎄🎁
@@GeekDetour
Polyamide (PA) is a very durable material, I have often seen a polyamide gear wear out a hardened steel gear!
This material only seems weak, but in fact it is one of the most wear-resistant polymers
I've been using 3 of the same printers for over 3 years, they all have the exact same backlash nuts they came with. 6 months ago, I cleaned them for the first time. Still working perfectly.
@@LampDoesVideogame that's awesome. Not sure how often you print or if you're just still within tolerance but I can assure you it's a wear part, that's how they're designed. They're made of soft brass.
Hello Sir! Thanks for such a useful explanation. You acted like an actor, despite that fact you are engineer, respect! I have never seen such a guide which is recorded by heart! Just respect!
Hey, thank you so much! ❤️ If by heart you mean that I love it, that’s true: I am completely in love with 3D Printing since I got my first printer. Now, if “by heart” you mean “by memory”, here is the trick: when I try to memorize my points and speak them out, I basically freeze and I forget so much stuff… I write down the complete texts for my videos - when I record, I am actually reading. English is not my first language, so, I use a teleprompter 🤗
@@GeekDetour I meant overall work: 3D print engineering and also video recording. Keep it on!
P.S. English is not my native language also. Hello from Uzbekistan 👋👋
Wow! That’s… awesome! Cheers from Spain 🇪🇸 (I am actually from Brazil 🇧🇷, but we came to Spain 14 years ago).
You have the voice to read audio books.
Wow, thanks! ❤️ You made my day! I think I would love to do that - the challenge is that English is not my native language and I make many weird pronunciations - that I correct as much as possible… editing takes a lot of time 😅
I agree. I was thinking the same thing.
Awesome to come across this tutorial, when I assembled my CR-10 SE a couple of weeks ago, I felt the nuts were a bit loose, and so I tightened them... The prints were not bad, but I will loosen the nuts to the original "setting" and run a print again.
Thanks for the sharing the knowledge, bet a lot of guys may have made the same mistake.
Thanks! Yeah, A LOT of people post in forums “hey, look how loose this thing came from the factory!”
I actually love troubleshooting problems like this. Even though it can get rather frustrating, the satisfaction after you find the problem and come up with a solution is wonderful. I fought a stubborn over extrusion issue in my anycubic kobra 2 for months. I calibrated the esteps multiple times and they were dead on. Temp changes didn't help and it happened with every filament. It happened from brand new and out of the box. I was able to mitigate it with flow settings in cura but i constantly had to adjust them as no single flow rate resolved it. One printe might work great at 95% whereas another world be best at 70%. It was maddening. I went through 5 brand new nozzles so that couldn't be it... could it? I finally changed to standard volcano nozzles and low and behold flow is dead on now.
Oh yeah! The A-ha moment after a maddening chase… LOVE IT! Thanks for sharing!
Hey, I’m having the same issue with my Kobra Plus that has a volcano. When you say standard volcano nozzles are you meaning like the genuine e3d nozzles fixed the problem or something else? Thanks!
I am having this exact same problem, could i add you in discord or literally anything so I can send you pics and you can potentially confirm its the issues? New to FDM and have Kobra 2, everything was going fine but now I'm getting very frustrated.
I had this problem on a Ultimaker 2+ years ago and oddly I couldn't find any information about it online. But the dead giveaway was that the surface imperfections always happened at the same layer height. Thank you for taking the time to explain this!
Yeah, you are absolutely true: each Z-Lead Screws has an imperfection signature. We can make it less visible - but probably never really get 100% uniform and without ANY visible line when put under a harsh light. I’ve been thinking a lot about it… maybe I’LL come up with an idea to make it different.
Your storytelling is impeccable, love it!
That is very kind, thank you! Welcome to the channel and have a lovely Christmas 🤶🎄🎁🎉🎊🥂
I had exactly such a problem. I was about to research this. And all the ways you tried came to my mind and I was going to try them. I've tried it before but I was going to test it again. After watching this video, I remembered that I saw that those screws were loose and tightened them. Thanks to you my guess was proven. Thank you for sharing this video, my friend. I subscribed and see you in your other videos.. 🙃☺
The screws on the LeadScrew Nut must be loosen. The nut must be able to move sideways.
@@GeekDetour Yes, but at the same time, my z eccentric nuts were also tight. When I loosened both of them, it was fixed. thanks a lot again
excellent tutorial! 👏
Adrian! Thanks man! ❤️ Merry Christmas for you and Mihai 🎄🎁
After your explanation, I agree, dirt is probably the greater culprit. Just goes to show that adding grease is not the only chore. You need to occasionally REMOVE the old grease in order to keep the rods free of grit.
As an experienced user, I will say that most of the errors are related specifically to the controller board. These errors disappear after a long period of inactivity or other shamanism with a tambourine and dancing)
I loved “shamanism” It works. Of course 🤣
Merry Christmas my friend🎄🎁
Just bought my first printer and I am glad I found this. A great video and a great comments section. I don’t have this problem, but if it arises I will have an idea where to start looking.
Thanks for this.
Hi! I am happy you got more information to help you in your 3D Printing journey! Welcome to our maddening lovely hobby ❤️🤣
I really loved how you tackled the problem you found yourself in. Also it's great to see another video upload from you again in such a long time as well. Wishing you a happy holidays Geek. :)
Thank you so much! ❤️🎄🎊🎉
I’ve been struggling with my printer. I’ve upgraded what once was a Cr-10 V3 to now have a better hot end that can handle higher temperatures. E3D’s REVO Creality with the Obxidian nozzle.
It has sadly been failing and like this video, I think I find the problem only for it to fail again. I’m still learning about this hobby and have only been in it for a couple of years now. I really appreciate this video.
Whether it’s an answer to what could be wrong, I don’t know, but it’s full of a variety of things I’ve yet to check. I’ll also take a look at that book.
Thank you! I love the way you explained things in the video. Very helpful.
MirageC has some great videos on this type of artifact and what problems can cause them.
Especially his wobbleX looks insane (although it requires a minimum weight that makes it useless for generic bedslingers)
Also take a look at oldham couplers for the 3 printers shown in the video, if you buy them in bulk it might only be $20 for the 3 of them
I watched all of them - love it! And in my mind all the 3 printers would immediately show the wobbliness in their prints starting to when I tightened their nuts. To be clear: on a very close inspection, it happened - but it was SO DISCRETE that was impossible to see it clearly on camera. The prints were in essence “perfect” or perfectly acceptable and nobody would point the finger and say: “what happened here?”. I wanted to show a guaranteed disaster and… depending on the printer you have, it might run just fine even with coupled nuts. Makes sense? But I will definitely start modding these printers just for fun - didn’t have time to do it this year, but in 2024 I’ll hack them to my taste.
@@GeekDetour i went to Oldham couplers a month after buying my ender 3 S1 because the wobble was bad enough to impact tolerances on parts I was making.
Prints look way cleaner although I still have some inconsistent layer stacking due to the extruder gears not being perfect. But i honestly didn't mind it as much until I got the vzhextrudort on my custom build which just made the sprite extruder look like shit in comparison.
But I guess every print looks shit when you shine a harsh enough light from directly above.😅
@@twanheijkoop6753 You shouldn't need oldham couplers. They account for radial misalignment. A 3D printer shouldn't have significant radial misalignment as it uses the motor shaft and bearings as the support point. They do have angular misalignment because the screw isn't inline with the shaft and the printer isn't usually aligned to it either. But the flex coupling accounts for that. An oldham would require a bearing to hold the shaft as well.
Another problem is if the printer supports the screw at both ends. It should only be supported at one end and by the nut, or the out of straightness will cause z-wobble.
Optionally if both ends are supported, the nut must float free, only two points of radial constraint are allowed to not over constrain it and cause lateral forces.
To minimize lateral forces the motor shaft should be parallel to the gantry frame (z). This could be measured by removing the coupler, mounting an indicator on the gantry, measuring the shaft, and moving it vertically. Turn the motor mounting in whichever direction eliminates the misalignment. Shims (paper would likely work fine) under the motor mounting may be needed. Then check the motor 90° to the first direction and align again, and then recheck the first direction. The motor being aligned will minimize bending of the flex coupling and side loading of the gantry as it flexes.
Next straighten the lead screw as best you can. Roll it on a flat surface like float glass and gently bend it straight if it is pretty bad. Shim gauges under the middle can help you get it even straighter than you can see. Really this and runout of the coupling or motor shaft are the only things that should cause z-wobble. Misalignment will cause forces on the gantry, but they won't change as the shaft rotates, so won't cause wobble.
The nut needs to be aligned to be centered with the motor shaft when they are as close together as you can get them. Loosen the nut screws and run the printer all the way to the bottom. Hang the nozzle off the edge of the bed if you can to get even closer. Then tighten the nut screws.
I don't have any troubles with this on the cheapest E3 made. I didn't bother straightening the screw, and the free end wobbles visibly as it rotates. But that is OK as only two connections don't transfer loads.
Remarkable timing. This just popped up as im in the middle of a massive job. 5 printers, 24/7 for 3 months ... just started noticing a bit of z binding but didnt know what it was, and them this video shows up... thanks ! Also i will be buying that book!
Hi Andre, Andrew? 🤗 Thanks man! I am glad it came for you in the right moment 👍 Please tell me later if it worked! Merry Christmas 🎄🎁
Why dont you add more printers?
@@indalecio21 the reason im limited to 5 printers is electricity and space. We keep them all in 1 office to regulate temperature and while we could fit more on the tabls there is only only enough circuits for 5 printers and a laser. We had plenty of time before prints are being used so rather than dedicate another office to printing im just playing the slow game lol. Also we normally dont do large volume printing so i dont want to be stuck with 8 machines that wont get used.
There's still a lot of people with machines like this so it's great that you address your problems with them.
Oh, thanks! That’s true! And you know what? For a lot of people, the most satisfied machines are the ones you can actually mess with, add stuff, change parts… It is cool to have a machine that does great and you just hit print… but I wouldn’t be happy without having at least one machine that is always open in a constant state of change.
Wow !! Easiest cheapest and fastest fix ever !
This fix solved my z-banding problem on my old cr20 v1 fully customized like XYZ linear railed & stuff (lot of) = now it prints like never before, for free !
Many thanks !!
Wow! Thanks for sharing ❤️ I am glad it helped! 3D Printing well depends on so many factors, right? You can have a machine full of great components, and yet printing less than ideal due to a single silliness 😄
No matter what happened to the printers... your voice IS so great!
Wow! Thank you so much @FPV-Drones 🤗 You made my day!
My initial guess, not having read any other comments, I'm 0:20 seconds in.
Check your belt tension. That's my initial gut reaction. It could also be the tension of the bed screws (one coming loose) or the tension of the x axis. Something is loose, I believe.
edit: HAHA! Nooooo.
to be fair, it was based on ONLY the print. I didn't have any info other than the first 24 seconds or so. That was fun, actually. As someone that is constantly helping people fix their printers on reddit, that was fun. Subscribed.
Thanks!!! I am glad you enjoyed the game ❤️
That’s good to know, tightening everything isn’t the solution. Some things are meant to work loose. It emphasizes the importance of knowing how to troubleshoot your own printer. 👍
Yeah, that’s the take away here! Troubleshooting and maintenance 👍 Merry Christmas 🎄🎁
I’ve been having an issue almost exactly like this and I’ve been looking for a solution, this just randomly popped up on my feed. Maybe it won’t be so random and this’ll work. Thank you so much man 🙏
00:03 Identifying and fixing 3D printer line issue
00:55 Identifying and fixing 3D printer printing issues
01:56 Maintain consistent temperature for better 3D printing
02:49 Loosened Lead Screw Nuts to fix Z-Wobble
03:47 Z-Binding is a common problem in 3D printers
04:41 Tightening the nuts resolved the 3D printer problem
05:37 Proper printer adjustment leads to quality prints
06:34 Troubleshoot 3D printer problems effectively
4:40 He didn’t tighten the nuts. He LOOSENED them and made it clear they should be loose!
This sounds like you fed the subtitles to ChatGPT and asked it to mark chapters
You just wrote two different titles that contradict each other... "Loosened lead screw nuts to fix Z-Wobble" then "Tightening the nuts resolved the issue". Huh???? He didnt tighten the nuts to "resolve the issue" he was just trying to recreate it which helped him conclude the different factors that may have combined to cause the problem.
It's crazy that this was uploaded so recently. I got this exact issue and was debugging it and then I found this. Also, excellent frikkin video my dude. Extremely useful and easy to digest information
Oh, thank you! 🤗 I guess there will be always a lot of people debugging this problem 🤣 Merry Christmas 🎄🎁
I chased this demon exactly like you. I found it to be inconsistent extrusions between layers due to a deformed/off center extruder gear. Also sometimes certain colors show layers more than others
Oh man, extruder issues are a whole category of demons! It really needs to be precise otherwise it is pure frustration.
My first 3D prints were horrible. From bad calibration to bad PLA filaments, humidity, bad spare parts from factory, software config issues, my own 3d files not well done, etc.
I solved those problems, and my ender 3 prints quite well, but too much hours spent on and no works done after all, thats why i quit and i only see videos, for entertain and learn more.
PD: Absolutly amazing channel you have man, good job, and amazing book too, subscribed!
Than you Adrian! Oh man, I hope you can give it a new try again soon - there are amazing new printers that give you excellent results with little headaches. Bambu Lab sent me a P1S and it is such a great machine. Sure, everything needs maintenance to keep working fine. But their profiles are so well tuned… it is a breeze to print.
@@GeekDetour I think the ender 3 is still a smart choice to start in this world, but as you say (totally agreed) there are more new printers, with better results and less headbaches.
Greetings from Spain!
Greetings from Guadalajara (Spain too 🇪🇸) 🤣
Get a Bambu Lab p1s my friend, i do prints with just pressing a 1 fking button lol for real bro pls give u a new try pls !!
Nice video! I think one thing you could infer is that there could be some debris that somehow got into the lead screw nuts themselves. I noticed you were using brass nuts and I had that on my Ender 5 Plus initially. I decided to go with the anti backlash POM nuts instead and they did wonderfully. POM is self lubricating and has low friction that shouldn't cause much z binding.
Also, dual extruder gears could be an issue too as maybe the idler gear could be shifting side to side changing its effective extrusion rate. I know Mirage3D and some others did a video on that one. Hope this insight helps anyone and Happy Holidays! 😊
Absolutely! MIRAGE3D videos are a MUST! Thanks for the POM suggestion, it will be in my list to try out!
No prob! Hope they'll help you out. 😁
Oh, it has been printing nice since I recorded the incident. BUT I love to tinker
writing this just after you said you checked everything, but what a lot of people forget to check is if the hot-end is still tight against the gantry. gave me a lot of trouble once before. dont know if that is the answer, but if you're saying you checked everything, that should be on the list.
Makes sense! Another person also commented he suffered from a nozzle that as not really tight - never happened to me but it will be in my checklist now ❤️
My Guess loose x y arms and also belts.
So glad I watched this. Once my current print finishes, I'm going to check these as I had noticed some of this chatter too.
I had the same issue with my prints on an Ender 3. I lubricated the Z axis rods and tightened everything I could find.
Of course it's the one thing that's supposed to be loose that was the issue, it probably was tight from binding up and I just secured it more.
Thank you so much.
My pleasure man! Thanks for sharing!
Once the z-axis lead screws are setup straight and rotate without wobble through the up/down gantry travel shouldn’t those z guide bolts be tightened? Otherwise wouldn’t you induce a little more slack in the z-axis? Great video, it seems indeed z-axis binding was the culprit.
You definitely don't want to leave them all loose, it will add significant uncertainty in Z height especially if you are using Z Hop (i.e. Z axis changes direction during printing)
This is super helpful! Just got into 3d printing 4 days ago, got myself a 2nd hand Ender 3 PRO. And golly I've had some print quality issues. I started with calibrating my e-steps, then bed leveling. With just those 2 things, the print quality improved but there are still imperfections in the printed product.... Will watch more of your videos hopefully to achieve better results. Thanks!
I am so happy you enjoyed the video - and Welcome to 3D Printing!!! You probably already figured out how addictive this thing is… be careful: one printer becomes two… then 4… you risk getting a divorce or having to move to a bigger place 😄
@@GeekDetour woahhhh didnt expect a reply from you! It is very addicting. I doubt the divorce part since my wife is enjoying it more than I do. 2nd printer is on its way even tho I havent mastered this one yet lol. Greay channel and great vids! Looking forward to more of your content.
That’s beautiful! 🫶 Enjoy the printers, my friend. And if you spend some time watching tutorials, learning Fusion 360 (you can create a free hobby account) is will 100% be worth your effort. It is such a satisfaction to design your very own functional parts and do nice fixes and improvements in your house. Have a beautiful 2024 🥂 More videos coming soon!
This is real example of Murphy's Law😂
Why? Just because I could not reproduce the problem months later? Nah… 🤣❤️
I don't have a 3d printer, but this video is so well done, it is exciting to watch even for a non printing geek!
I am so happy you enjoyed it even without having a 3D Printer. Please, stay far from the printers… you’ve been warned! Extremely addictive hobby 🤣
Bought myself a 3d printer last week. it worked the first day then out of a sudden it stopped extruding filament mid-printing. I could not figure it out what went wrong for 3 hours then suddenly I realize maybe the tip is jammed. and sure enough it was. fixed it. now its running fine.
A few hiccups here and there, other than that I am starting to love 3d printing. Long way to go!!
The journey is the big reward here! Welcome to this amazingly maddening great hobby
@@GeekDetourthe more I get to know this field the more I realize there's a lot more to learn. Great content BTW. Thanks.
@workforth
It's very interesting that you mention the clog right away like that.
In September, I got 2 Creality Ender 3 V3 Plus printers.
With the 1st one, I immediately got a jam and had to take apart the entire extruder.
I was not happy and blamed the printer.
It turns out, the printer was NOT the problem. I WAS THE PROBLEM because I didn't realize that this printer has its own special function to add or remove filament!
I was trying to just pull it out... not a good idea and just wrong!
To remove filament, all I have to do is go into the mention and there's a RETRACT or EXTRUDE function. When I press RETRACT, the printer does the most amazing thing.
First, it heats up the nozzle, which is fast on this printer.
Then, it gently moves the filament up and down a tiny bit, so as to not let it melt, then harden, getting stuck.
After moving the filament up and down a bit and the nozzle is hot, it begins to extrude some filament to clear the path! Then, is does a fast retract, does some more up/down, then zips the filament right up to the top! Nice and clean!
Also, on my old printer, I used to have to constantly clean the nozzle's point of melted filament before making the machine do bed leveling.
But on this machine, before leveling, the machine does some zipping around and then pushes the nozzle to the back of the bed and very gently, with the nozzle hot, moves it back and forth, up and down a bit to clean the nozzle automatically! Works a wonder.
👍😁👍
@@BlondieHappyGuy
I did even tried extrude and retract, tried pulling the filament also.
it was really stuck. I had to heatup the hotend then poke the nozzle with a fine needle (provided with printer) back and forth only then I was able to unclog the head. Working fine since then.
@@workforth Just for clarity, using the extrude/retract feature only works when there is no filament stuck.
The first time I used the machine, I didn't know about this function and I just heated the nozzle the pulled on the filament.
It snapped inside the extruder.
That's why I had to take it apart to clean it out.
It turns out, taking it apart was really easy and I found 2 little pieces of plastic inside. One piece was covering the hole in the filament path.
I forgot, I did try to clear the problem using the big pin. I was able to get the pin to pass through, but as it turns out, it was just passing through the little piece of plastic.
Once I remove the 2 pieces (filament) all worked fine.
It was then that I learned about the extrude/retract function that is designed to remove the filament (retract).
Since then, no clogs at all.
So I'm saying, it MUST be used every time and used properly.
So, NEVER pull on the filament.
Use Retract and let it finish. It will extrude some to clean things out, then you'll hear it moving up and down, then, at the end, you'll hear a high pitched sound and see the filament move up fast.
At that point, flip the little locking lever to open and gentle pull out the filament.
Works ever time.
Hope that helps because these are amazing machines when used properly.
This video has helped me to save quite a bunch of money and unnecessary parts replacing!
I've been printing since 2017 when I got a Prusa Mk2. Have had 6 different printers since then, all of them Prusa. Never once has this issue.
Hi there! I believe YOU didn’t, but it happens also with Prusa owners: forum.prusa3d.com/forum/original-prusa-xl-tool-changer-assembly-and-first-prints-troubleshooting/z-banding-or-z-wobble-do-we-have-a-solution-yet/?language=cs
i bought the book soon after buying my printer and it has saved my butt more times than i can count
It is a very nice book! Sean surely put lots of time into it!
dont ever use lithium grease for your z rods..... use dry teflon lube.
Why?
Why tho?
Just my two cents... after years of tweaking my old ender 3 pro, it prints small parts nearly as clean as my Voron. What I found most useful for inconsistencies like this was polycarbonate wheels on the Z axis (not for X/Y) and POM anti-backlash nuts on both lead screws. Anti-backlash is optional but I can't recommend POM nuts enough. Seriously, you'll wish you tried them sooner. They are self lubricating but I use a dry lube as well, which keeps dirt from accumulating like grease and I've had no issues with wear.
Before anything I strongly recommend people go through and get the frame and gantry as square as absolutely possible. This can make a huge difference. Stabilizing bars can help further if you print fast and can help keep the frame aligned.
I'm not a fan of flexible Z motor couplers if you can avoid them and I personally have the top of my lead screws loosely secured with pillow bearings, primarily due to my dual-Z mod but this can make things worse if people aren't careful and/or if the screws are very warped. For some printers, flexible anti-backlash couplers are helpful but I think most people can avoid it with proper setup.
Very nice comment! I second everything you said. Well, the POM nuts I still need to try - lots of people talking wonders about them here in the comments. About squaring the frame and specially the Gantry: true! It was the first thing I did to my old Ender 3, the full “x gantry rework”.
Ill save you all 7:28 min . Just tensor every belt correctly and thats it. Bye.
I‘ll save you weeks of frustration: belts are just part of it. Besides correct tensioning, you need to keep rods and ZNuts lubricated.
Thanks a lot! When I assembled my CR10V3, those nuts were extremely loose. At the time, I was told by many TH-camrs to tighten every loose bolts on 3d printer so I did.....
The advice is correct, for structural things. The body of the printer should be as rigid as possible. But v-slow wheels have an ideal pressure: should just tight enough to not have wobbliness, but tighter than that is bad. The z-Nuts on the ideal world should be tight. But in most printers, having them a bit lose allowing free lateral movement is better than really tight. One thing is certain: lubrication is really important.
You are the first video i found that answered my problem. Thank you! There are so many videos that lead to a dead end. It's a relief to have an answer
Thanks Tyler! A few people were not happy that I spent half of the video showing what was NOT the problem… but I think that’s valuable, because many “defects” look identical, but have very different roots… Showing just one ends up in a bunch of VERY specific videos. I am glad it helped you ❤️
I discovered your channel today, with this video.
Very pleasant conversation, a lot of information provided by a human being, like from a friend who sits at the table with me. Thank you, you have another follower and I can gain experience from. Good luck to you.
Love that you couldn’t recreate the problem. It’s like when I ask for help with something and someone finally comes to my desk and the problem has completely resolved itself.
Yeah, that’s why some software bugs are very hard to catch: there are corner cases that require specific factors that can be very circumstantial.
@@GeekDetour oh definitely. Mines usually an error when writing a function in excel. the format type is usually my most common error. So annoying. Haven’t had too many issues with my printer thankfully. I’m better at solving code problems than hardware.
Mechanical domains have a bigger set of uncontrollable variables 🤣 On a previous life I was a software developer too - so long ago most of what I used now is old fashion, ha ha.
@@GeekDetour one of my first college courses was an Access course, so I feel ya a bit!
Thank you so much for shouting out my book! I really appreciate it!! Hopefully TH-cam doesn't delete this account too haha.
Sean! Hey man! So good to see you here - by the way, if you take a look at your LinkedIn, you will see a connection request from me - I will be very happy if you consider accepting it 🤗 Yeah, I bought your book in July and it looked like people would have so much less frustration if they had such a guide in their hands. I just needed the right video to coincide with its idea - it finally happened. Happy Christmas, Sean! 🎄🎁🥂🍀🎉🎊
@@GeekDetour Just logged into Linked In and replied! Merry Christmas indeed!
Can’t wait to try this when I get back from my vacation! I’ve had the same issue with my Neptune 3 Pro for a few months and couldn’t find a simple and easy way to troubleshoot. This should get me back on my game in no time!
Subscribed! I appreciate you showing your initial mistakes until finding the correct solution...thank you!
So great that you liked it 🤗 Very often I get the opposite in some comments: “Hey man! Go straight to the point! Don’t tell us a story!”
I spent months trying to figure it out. I gave up and a week later I see this, thank you so much
You're very welcome! 😂 I am happy it helped you!
You are my lifesaver! My ender3 is not only having this issue, it would stick at a certain point and not going up anymore, now this is also solved, thank you!!!❤❤
Your video deserves more attention, all others says to get tighter, but you the opposite one.
Thank you VERY much for letting me know how it helped you! It makes me supper happy!
Oh, this video is getting traction very well - I think it will reach the attention it needs to change most of the (bad) advice people share around. It is not the first video telling that the nuts must be loosened - but it is already, by far, the most watched one in the topic. I cannot ask for more 🤗
For anyone still lost or just curious
Z binding can happen numerous ways.
Your rods can be bent
The rod(s) may not truly be perpendicular to the gantry (you may have a loose rod or improperly installed)
Your gantry may be a little tight
There may be physical obstruction within the threads that can cause minor friction thats hard to notice - this can be debris or some gnarled threads.
Loosening the screws to a minor degree can potentially solve some minor tolerance issues but they should not be so loose that they float
You are right! Many things can cause this problem. That’s why I started the video exploring different possibilities ❤️
Really enjoyed the video.. Appreciate the time taken.... Been printing for a number years and it’s always good to learn more...
Great to hear that! Welcome to the channel and Merry Christmas!
The thumbnail is like my ender 3 vs my a1 mini quality comparison.
Thank you for the video Geek Detour!
Glad you like it! 🤣👍 Loved the comparison 🤣 Merry Christmas 🎄🎁 and welcome to my channel!
I had one of my Ender 3's on vacation last month cause it had an issue i couldn't figure out. It has a Sprite Extruder, and it was having a couple failed lines, very random, but more common on taller pieces. After assembling and disassemblying pretty much the whole printer, i ended up switching the stepper motor and voilà, it worked perfectly!
The issue with the motor was a single bearring that was rusty and loose, causing the metal rotor inside to catch on the steps and block the extrusion for a couple seconds! Luckly i had just bought a spare Sprite Extruder otherwise i wouldn't have had the chance to try another motor.
Also, ótimo canal meu caro!
Cara que demais sua história. É fácil esquecer que dentro dos motores tem dois rolamentos - e tudo gasta cedo ou tarde!
Obrigado demais por escrever e bem vindo ao canal!
Your video really hooked me, i was really impressed with the quality of your video, keep it up man!
Thanks! It means a lot to me ❤️ Merry Christmas to you and your loved ones! 🎄🎊🎉
Your voice is so soothing to listen to. Great video.
Oh thank you so much! Specially about the voice 🥰 🤣 Merry Christmas 🎄🎁🥂🎊
Thank you very much for making this video! I had this issue since i installed direct drive mod on ender 3 v2 neo. I tried everything but this solution finally fixed those ugly lines 🙏
Oh! So great it helped you! Thanks for telling me! Merry Christmas 🎄🎁
I don't even have a 3d printer but these videos are so entertaining
That sounds crazy to me, ha ha ha. NOT! But I have a guess that, if you think it is interesting, there might be a 3D Printer in your future - a cautionary advice: it is super addictive 🤣 Merry Christmas 🎄🎁
Short yet comprehensive. Thanks for the book tip, never heard of it until now. 3D printing is such an inspiration yet so many moving parts plus the job of printing our inventions, it's a big ask. no wonder it goes wrong but when it's right 🎉
Glad you enjoyed it! Yeah, in the end, it is like a tiny factory.
Fantastic video man. Lovely how those issues just creep up on you
Thanks! What you mean man? It happens to you too! (ha ha ha, I hope) I just like to talk about them 🤣 Merry Christmas @UncleJessy Always nice to see you here 🎄🍾🥂
I love the way you say merry Christmas that was really good after problem solving
When we are having a problem and someone helps us to fix it, feels like a Christmas Gift, doesn’t it? 😁 🎄🎅 🎁 Thanks!
A very cool video! I like the way you explain things and walk the viewer through the video.
Keep it up!
Thanks!!! I’ll keep doing it, yeah! I love making videos about 3D Printing and Arduinos (I am neglecting Arduinos, I have so many things in my list!)
This is a seriously well researched and executed video! Sincerely impressed.
Oh, thank you! That means a lot to me; because it is true: some videos get in the making for many months until I get the idea mature ❤️
I love your videos. They are beautifully put together and your voice is so easy for me to focus on. It's smooth as silk. 😄
Oh, thank you! Very kind words!! I hope you had a beautiful Christmas 🎄🤗
I find his voice annoying.
I was having Z wobble on my new Neptune 4 so I thoroughly checked and tightened every screw and bolt on the printer, but somehow the wobble got worse. Well, one thing I tightened was the lead screw nuts! I must have made them too tight, but thanks to this video I know what I did wrong.
Superb video ! I have only been in the 3D printing wolrd for less than a month and this really helped me figure out some inconsistencies on my prints. Thanks for the book link also.
Hello! Happy 2024 🥂🎉 Oh, I am so happy my vídeo helped you in your journey! Thanks for letting me know! Welcome to the channel! I have lots of 3D Printing experiments on the go - they take time, but I am very optimistic because I finally have a much better space to work 🤗
Exactly my issue! Thank you. Years of perfect prints then one day my Ender motherboard heater died so I replaced the thermistor and heater and still not fixed so replaced the board to the latest 4.2.7. In the process I gave the machine and check and clean and tighten. When I ran the printer again, terrible z lines even though the same part printed perfectly the day before. I checked everything, re-sliced the model printed again exactly the same. Tweaked again tried another slicer, tweaked the e-step and tried again, fail. After watching your video I realize I tightened those floating z nuts!
Oh! Interesting! 🤔 Thanks for sharing your episode - and I am happy my video helped you get the printer back on track! ❤️
What people don't understand is that the leadscrews don't need to be relatively straight. Their function is to transmit movement only. It's the wheels and the vertical extrusions that guide the gantry in a straight line.
True.
Really nice video, thank you, you gave me an overview of the things to keep in mind when working with my 3d printer.
Owning a Neptune 4 Pro by a month and an half, couldn't figure out why it was reccommended not to tighten those screws (and and I was also mislead by others to tighten them)
Aside the fact that it will work better in a state or the other, I wanted to know the reason behind it, needless to say I love your work!
Thank you so much for your kind words. MirageC has excellent videos explaining and demonstrating how the nuts work and why it is important to decouple lateral movement. They are EXCELLENT and here is one:
th-cam.com/video/mqSQhwqSzvg/w-d-xo.htmlsi=X-eEC4E2SA49M_1q
@@GeekDetour now I hate you. Sooner or later I will need to build a couple of those even if I know I don't need them at all °°
@GeekDetour By the way, my CNC journey started with building a CO2 Laser Cutter from scratch. At one point I needed custom parts and here I am in the 3D Printing world. I'm Happy to see your laser journey started too! Can't wait to new laser video too! ^^
I had similar issues with my Neptune 3 Pro, and if that fix actually works I will bless you and all your bloodline for all eternity
Oh my goodness… so much pressure on me now! 😬 I hope it works!
Thank you for this video. I have an Ender 3 S1 Pro, so I'll have to keep an eye out for this binding issue. So far, it's printing fine. 🤞
Keep it lubricated, don’t let it stay unused - I like mine a lot.
A year ago I installed belts instead of rods on my ender. And I'm happy. No lubrication or problems with Z
Interesting!
Thanks. This makes sense about the z axis needing to be loose. I was a bit worried this morning when unblocking the extruder gears and hotend in my BBL P1S and seeing that the z screws were visibly loose inside the top bearing bushes
Sir, you have another sub. Your video was both informational and entertaining.
So much so I think I would have subbed if you were just reading a McDonald's drive through menu.
Your accent combined with your voice is a perfect math. PLEASE do some books on tape.
Wow! Thanks 🤗 And welcome aboard! I think you will like these two weird videos I published some time ago - this is the first one: th-cam.com/video/G5jTgGmD5js/w-d-xo.htmlsi=cacfMEXy0wgA-1Ms
…and this is the second (that is far from 3D printing… but it has “the voice”, ha ha): th-cam.com/video/z5NLi_UdWUU/w-d-xo.htmlsi=Zcq_nuEETM-Ha6MD
I work as a software developer and when you said "I cannot reproduce the errer", I just could relate to it
Ooops… you got me! 🤣 12 years of web development 🤷♂️
Great video, awesome voice, that's a hit for me. Instant subscription, wouldn't want to miss following videos :)
Oh, thanks! 🤗 My voice is getting “older” quite fast - I am afraid I’ll sound like an old mafia boss that just whispers, quite soon. Enjoy my past videos - you can probably watch everything in one evening 🤣
Sensacional Everson! Nunca vi ninguém explicando sobre essas porcas das SP1 Pro. Eu também apertei, não muito, mas apertei. Irei afrouxar novamente e colocar uma graxa pra testar. Obrigado pelo norte!
Thanks man! Let me know if it helps you with your printer 🤗
Love your work man, the one about the accordion player is just pure class
Thanks for the video, it was pure coincidence, because TH-cam recommended it to me. If I didn't realize this, I would spend my whole life leveling the printer, I just don't understand how they can assemble the printer, and not even the anti-threading screws are properly tightened.
I have an Elegoo 3 max, and the level always varied, and of course, if this is loose, how can it not be level hahaha
Now I tightened it, and I'm doing tests.
Looookkk at that INCRIDIBLE VINTAGE TOP 258 SUPERLUX MIC!!!!! SOOOO NICE!!!!
Yeah! Superlux Top 258 - legendary (yet cheap) Shure SM58 “clone”. How do you know that!? 🤣 Hi brother! Remember when we bought this mic? 20… maybe 25 years ago?! Still sounds great!
That ‘s kinda deep research with insane solutions ,thank you!
Oh, I am happy you mention that - yeah, these videos take A LOT of time to be made 😅