Welcome to the SeeMeCNC Community

Some background info:

I had a rostock max V2 printer which was printing just fine, but I wanted to upgrade to the he280 head to print higher temp materials + get the auto calibration. I also upgrade my power supply which died, and while I was at it I replaced the cheapskates and arms. I didnt touch the extruder however. I also flashed the V3 firmware from see me cnc.

Now, everything works fine, except all my prints are coming out really bad quality. It looks like I am under extruding, and bringing the extruder multipler up seems to help, but only to a certain extent, the picture is a test print (which I stopped half way) which was printing with an extruder multipler set to 4. I tried it at 1, and it was shitty, 1.15, 1.4, 1.6, 1.8, 2, 3, 4 and 5, going up seems to help a little, but not enough, and now I am starting to think that because the V3 has a different extruder, that my eeprom settings are set incorrectly for my set up.

(also I am printing with PLA, at 210 degrees, at the heat bed is at 50. Ive run these tests with the print head everywhere from 180 to 220, and the heat bed from off, to 50, to 70, I use to get fine results at those temperatures, but not anymore! )

Can someone please help me out here!

I attached the pictures of my last attempt, multipler set to 4.

I am guessing you didn't lower the retract value in your slicer. Use 1-2mm retract for the HE280 or you will get jamming resulting in filament starvation like you show. Another thing to look for is to make SURE the bowden tube is COMPLETELY inserted down deep into the hot end. If you leave even a little gap it can (and will - especially with long retracts) fill with molten plastic and then solidify into a plug. Don't muck with extruder multiplication.

Or check the nozzle diameter in your slicer/software settings. The one the V2 comes with is .4mm, the HE280 comes with a .5mm.

I believe the retract is set to 1.5mm, but not sure, where is this setting exactly? Im using matter control btw. And the nozzle is set to .5mm already.

And the bowder tube is definitely inserted all the way down.

Im not sure what else it could be. I feel like the issue is the difference between settings for the EZ extruder and the EXR extruder. It feels likes it just printing too fast and the extruder cant keep up.

Im still stuck.. :/

I stil bet its your retract. The default I saw in MC was 6mm.

Then you should also slow down, slice at 30mm/s (read the link in my signature if you have not) until you sort the rest of it out. The EZ and EZR struders use exactly the same steps/mm so that has nothing to do with it. It is either you are printing too fast, printing too cold or have too high of retract - or any combination of these. I still bet its your retract setting.

Here's where you set it. Increase your Z lift to 4mm also.

update: I slowed it down to max 12mm per sec for the print.. its printing slow as hell right now, but the print is coming out much nicer.. but this is way too slow for this printer. any idea how I could maintain this quality and speed it up..

ill upload photos when |I got a little more to show.

Thanks !

what about retract?

it was set to 1.5, but everything else was off.. im trying with new settings now. The last print came out perfect, just really slow.

Thank you for bringing this up viciousXP . I also upgraded to the HE280 and have been having hit or miss results with my prints.

update:

The print came out nearly perfect at 12mm/s max speeds, but it was pretty shitty again at 30mm/s using the settings from mhackneys screenshot.

I am guessing at this point ill have to slow it to 20mm/s max to get decent prints, but this seems excruciatingly slow for a rostock max.

mhackney, I have been through your post, and I do play and adjust these settings often to get the best prints, I did that for a year and a half or so with my rostock max v2 and I had it down pretty sweet. I am just not understanding why with the new he280 head, the quality of my prints have gone down so much..

Ok, this is telling me you likely do not have the Bowden inserted all the way OR you are experiencing what I did last week - the Bowden is a little crimped/distorted where it is held by the PTC coupler on the hot end. So even if it is inserted properly, it can move up and down. I discovered it as I had similar filament starvation problems at 30mm/s but slowed to 15 mm/s all was good. As I started ramping up the speed, I finally got to the point where I saw the movement. It is not the retract speed that was the problem but rather the frequency of retracts and the faster you print the closer bursts of retracts can get. I cut 6mm off the Bowden and reinserted and I'm printing really nice parts at 70 mm/s now.

I think these issues are all related to the way the Bowden inserts into the HE280. You have to be very careful to make sure it is pressed all the way in and that the tube is held securely by the PTC fitting.

mhackney wrote:I think these issues are all related to the way the Bowden inserts into the HE280. You have to be very careful to make sure it is pressed all the way in and that the tube is held securely by the PTC fitting.

^^^
Push it in /all/ the way, then pull the black locking piece up by hand or with pliers (gently) if you cant get it. Jam the included oval and claw thingy (the lock for the lock) in and hope it works.
Also, do it with any filament removed, otherwise some melted filament may be jammed between the heat brake and the Teflon tube.

Youll most likely be able to pull the Bowden tube up 1 mm or so, but just a tiny amount.

Ok, so I just redid the bowden tube, and it should be in nice and tight. I will print one more time at 30mms and get back to you on results.

In the meantime, I just noticed that on the extruder, there seems to be some residue, presumably from some sort of grinding/slippage (there is never a clicking sound from the extruder thought). Im attaching a picture, see if that tells you anything.

I have never seen this before, this must be from the last few days of test prints since the upgrade.
Thanks !

Ok, also make sure your cog is aligned properly for the filament path through the extruder. That could also cause this problem.