A couple of weeks ago, my KE had the ‘blob of doom’ on the hot end. I eventually received a new part, installed. I also took the opportunity to strip down the printer, wipe it down, apply a bit of light oil and give it a general clean. I set a couple of small test prints running and everything worked perfectly.
On Wednesday, my KE had printed a few things during the day without a problem but I needed a couple of storage boxes printing. One was a 7 hour print so I set it running around 6pm and it was printing well at 11pm. The morning told a different story with the almost completed box on the floor and spaghetti all over the place!
After cleaning all the crud, I set the print job going again. No changes to anything, the same Gcode…and it printed perfectly after 5 hours and 20 mintes. I was sat next to the printer in my ‘den’ and kept looking but all was well.
Friday now and the KE was working away quite happily without any issues. It had printed another storage box perfectly so I set the printer going to make another around 7pm. At 1130pm it was running fine and 4 hours into a 5 hour print job.
Again, the morning showed string all over, and the almost finished box on the table.
After cleaning up (again) I set the print running this morning and it’s printing OK. It has about 40 minutes left according to KE display.
The Z axis is set up to as near perfect as I can get it, the print head is clean & level and the print had a large surface area so I didn’t bother with a raft
It just seems like it all works when I’m in my ‘den’ but the moment I turn my back it goes horribly wrong. Is it Gremlins, is my printer haunted or is it just Murphy’s Law?
Has anybody else experienced the same thing?
The storage box has just this minute finished…perfect!
I’ve had a couple of prints do that on my V3SE+sonic pad, its fine if I leave a light on but in the dark it might sometimes complain about insufficient light and go pearshaped. Might be coincidence or superstition but I leave the light on. Wholly unhelpful comment but its not just you. In addition to leaving the light on I will resort to gluestick to be doubly sure.
But seriously, I’m now wary of leaving things printing overnight. I don’t want to wake up to string all over and then, like this morning, finding it has wrapped itself all around the Y axis pulley. Still, like I keep saying, it’s all a learning curve for me and I’m learning how it all works
Yes, leaving a light on may be an idea. I might leave the radio on as well like I did for the cat when I was out at work
Tongue in cheek notwithstanding it has happened to me to so hardly isolated. As for wrapped around the Y pulley, I have snapped one with spaghetti before and yes I didn’t leave the light on. Blame it on lack of sacrifice to the printing Gods.
Well, same thing here with my KE: Completed 5 straight prints with no major issues. The 6th one…spaghetti. Nothing at all was changed. I got too cocky and left it alone and just like our dog it decided to act up. The only reasonable explanation is that the nozzle possibly got hung up on a layer “imperfection” and broke the plate bond. This occurrence may have happened to you as well.
Another less likely explanation is that your bed temp dipped your print lost adhesion. Stranger things…
After stripping down the entire printer last week and unwrapping string from the Y axis belt, I’ve had problem-free printing all week and I’ve been really pleased with the quality of my prints. However, that has been during the hours of daylight!
Yesterday evening, I left a print running just after 1800 (a deburring tool case…11 hours) I’d even added a small amount of glue to the print bed to help with adhesion…just in case. I was woken just before 0330 this morning to a loud banging noise from my ‘den’. What a ruddy mess! The ‘top’ of the tool case was on the floor after printing only around 20% of the print while the main part of the case was stuck solid to the build plate with string all around the Y axis belt and pulley. Had I not turned off the printer at that point, I’m sure that the Y axis belt would have snapped as it is so clogged up with string filament with no ‘give’ in it. I think it was that causing the banging noises as the bed tried to move against a clogged up pulley.
It would seem that the Printer Gods have not been appeased Either that or the printer is afraid of the dark!
It is now 0420 and I’m stripping down the Ender KE again. Maybe I should’t print anything while unattended after the hours of darkness
I would suggest an experienced printer therapist. There might be some underlying trauma during assembly that is affecting it’s circuit psyche. Most likely being left along during the firmware installation. Alternatively, if there is something more nefarious at play then an exorcist!
Hold the Holy Water and Excorcists as I think I’ve solved the mystery!
After the first nocturnal printing led to issues, my first thought was a bed adhesion issue. A added a raft to the print job in the hope that it would help. Only a thin raft but still a raft.
Yesterday while printing a previously failed print, I was aware of a soft clicking sound. Couldn’t see anything untowards but as the print progressed the clicking sound got slightly louder. Then I saw the problem.
After the first couple of layers of the raft, something on the print head was catching the corner of the raft and lifting it off the print bed. It was just on that particular corner and nowhere else. After a few more passes and another layer, the raft was beginning to peel away. I stopped the print, restarted and had exactly the same result. After changing the raft for a skirt, reslicing and printing again, it seems to have solved the issue. The previously failed print is printing quite happily with no problems.
I’ve no Idea what caused it. The Z axis is as perfect as I can get it with crashing the nozzle into the print bed, the bed is heating correctly, new hot end and nozzle…so still a a bit of a mystery.
So thanks guys. Maybe I’ll hold the call to Ghostbusters but, to be on the safe side, I’ll ask a Priest to bless my next batch of Isopropyl
I’ve had this issue. In fact, today I was 50% complete on a print and when I looked down it was fine so I went about my business. 1 minute later I checked and there was a pile of spaghetti on top of a 1/2 complete print. I thin my bed temp was too low and it nicked the edge. That’s an issue I’m facing in Creality Print 5: The bed temp is defaulting for some reason. I’m just getting used to v5 from v4 so it must be my fault somehow.
What I’ve found with lots of the “newer” slicers is that the flowrate needs to reduce by 10%ish after the first layer, that’s on my Creality and Qidi machines alike, not on my Snapmaker though, guess Luban hasn’t caught up yet. I don’t know if there is a slicer that will do it but I run 120% on the first layer then 90/95% thereon in. Might try that on my V3Se+sonic pad that doesn’t like 5.1
I adjust mine on the Fluidd interface as it prints, but in CP5 you adjust it through the filament properties for an initial change. Filament>Base information
Your assignment is to write a concise procedure on using a 3D printer including troubleshooting all errors and faults. I shall be collecting a bucket full of Unicorn tears whilst you do that.
Either that or the printer is afraid of the dark!
Alternatively, if there is something more nefarious at play then an exorcist! 
To much to learn but I want it yesterday! 