Need assistance with my new A10

[cmaxo]

Greetings everyone!

First, I'll point it out immediately. While I have some experience in using 3D printers, I'm quite a newbie when it comes to finding solution toward having good prints. I haven't really adjusted any 3D printer up to today.

Today, I just received a Geeetech A10 with a single filament feed. It's tech chart identify it as the 2019 edition (in case some wonders).

I followed all the instructions in the assembly and due to the fact that I don't have any space for it close to the PC, I have run the tests mostly via a SD card. I created my own model for the test since it would be just a waste to print the default dog print that comes on the SD card.

At first, everything seemed to work alright up to the point where I started to test out the printing setting.
I'm using Repetier-Host with CubaEngine for the Slicing. (I'm precising it because, while I was looking online, I noticed that there's a difference between "Cuba" which is a standalone slicing program using the CubaEngine and Repetier-Host which uses a plugin called CubaEngine.)
I imported the Repetier-host Profile for A10 found here : https://www.geeetech.com/download.html?download_id=30

At first, I had some issues with slicing because it filled up the holes I purposely placed in my model (to test).
It was some issues with the CubaEngine plugin when closing the top and bottom layer. I ended up fixing it.

After the slicing is done, I create the sliced file on the SD card. Inserted the SD card in the A10 printer and launched the printing.
It ended up in a big mess during the first layer so I stopped the printing right away.

Long story short, at that point, the hot bed wasn't hot enough. Default temp from the imported setting is 50 while it required 65 for the model bottom layer to stay still. The nozzle was too hot because it was leaving hair/strands all around which always ended up attached to the nozzle dragging what was printed spider-man's web style.

After about 12 tests, I found the settings (temperatures, speed, etc.) that seems to world well.
But now... it's becoming a mess as soon as the printer gets into the "filling" of the 1st layer. It raise its speed too much and ends up lifting all the printed material, gobble the nozzle with its hot filament and I'm now desperate.

I'm using the 1.75mm filament that Geeetech is currently selling.

Does anyone had any success using the Geeetech 1.75mm filament? If so, could you share your settings because I have been doing at it for 15 hours and I'm still not even close to be able to reach the 2nd layer, during the printing, without issues.

On a more technical aspect of today's work on the A10:

I did try to check if the nozzle, heat block and heat tube are all okay and it seems alright for the heat block and heat tube, but for now I can't check the nozzle because, during its assembly, the person who assembled the printing head made 2 big mistakes.
1) The nozzle is bolted way too tight/close to the heat block. I have wounded my hand trying to unbolt it. I tried to do it "cold" and I tried to do it while it's heated. Both cases ended up in failure. Tomorrow, I'll check if I can find a better tool in a local store because my tools are, currently, only chipping off the nozzle's angles.
2) When I disassembled the printing head block, it came to my attention that the heat block is kinda in a similar situation as the nozzle. The bolt that is securing the heater cartridge in the heater slot so tightly that the gap is barely visible from the outside. (You can see the top part slightly bend by the bolt) What this means is that even if I tried super hard with quite a couple of tools, I couldn't remove the heater cartridge (and so the wire) from the printing head block. I'll need an actual workbench to be able to do anything with it.

I'm currently guessing that I'll have to buy a new printing head block online for my A10. The Heat block and the Nozzles, for now, can't be removed at all, making the possibility to check if there's an issue with the nozzle or some game in the heat block impossible to check.

Anyone has some suggestion to this issue of mine?

[William]

Hi, You can try

1. Adjust the distance between the nozzle and the hotbed to level the hotbed;
                       
2. If you print at the speed, you can adjust the speed of printing in the range of 30-60mm/s;
                       
3. Regarding the disassembly of the nozzle, you can refer to this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gA-WgiVl6IQ

I hope this can help you.

[cmaxo]

Thanks for the few tips.

I got an update about my situation with my A10.

First, I got a reply from the merchant regarding that, from what he knows, "the heatblock can't be removed from the head block".
Well, I noticed how the A10 head block is really not alike to others. I posted a comment on a Youtube video that displayed how to change the nozzle on the A10 with a single filament feed and how to clean it (https://youtu.be/GSvc51I4oa4) and another user told me that there's a maggot screw in the heatsink (above the heat block) holding the throat/heat breaker (there's a couple of names for that piece online). That explained a lot when I tried to put the head block apart.

First, I did the same test as shown in the video above where you push the filament manually through the feeder and check the angle/direction of the melted filament out of the nozzle with a temperature of 200. It was clearly clogged somewhere because the filament was going out toward the back (Y axis) by a lot as if gravity shifted toward that direction. I used the slick wire into the hot nozzle and it did fix about 75% of the problem. This means that there truly was something wrong in the filament feed at some point and a blog started to form.

Still, I bought a new set of ratchet that would allow me to unscrew the nozzle. It's a super compact one with a T-handle and it's great even in restricted space (like the space between the nozzle and the heat bed). It's a success and I was able to remove the nozzle rather easily! Inside the nozzle, there was already a block that clearly shown the assembly truly wasn't done properly. To put it simple, they put the nozzle on while it wasn't hot enough and entered the nylon tube afterward and it left a small gap between the nylon tube and the nozzle's bolt head. Some filament got stuck there and because I didn't checked it and did many test while it was like that, the filament filled the gap, created a small clog and the filament started to fill the inner nylon tube! When I removed the nylon tube, there was about 3/4" of it stuck with barely enough space for the filament to pass. This explains why, at some point, the feed out of the nozzle was inconsistent and created strange tiny 0.5mm blobs that attached itself to the nozzle when it pass and touch it. I had to cut that part of the nylon tube because there was nothing to do with it.

Now, the nozzle is replaced with one of the 2 spare ones that came with the printer and the feed, when pushed manually seems alright and straight downward. I realigned the hot bed's corners height.

I'm still wondering about the temperature and speed required with the Geeetech's 1KG PLA filament #700-001-1144 black.
I have used about 3/4 of the filament that came with the printer up to now with all the test clean up.

Side note: I bought quite a few tools today, with the ratchet. I noticed I wasn't well equipped the this kind of light weight engineering. Most of my tools are second-hands given to me by my father who's an ex-mechanical engineer. He has like 2 to 3 pieces of each medium and smalls things you would find in any car shops so he tend to give me his old ones that still work "but aren't brand new or have a less comfortable grip". Bought a tool case and basically, now, I have quite the set of tools to work on the 3D printer if needed or any hardward alike to it.

[cmaxo]

Small update

Well, I got another wasted day on this A10. I'm at around 30 hours put into this and I can't even get the 1st layer done properly.
It's a real 300$ nightmare (make it $400 with everything I had to buy for it)

By the way, just in case I did try the "Dog" stl file that comes with the 1GB SD card. I mean, from the videos around, that should work relatively well right from the start as I haven't seen any video about the A10 where the famous "dog" failed. There's only video stating that the amount of filament that comes with the printer is never enough for the dog.

It didn't work and I could say that it worse than 90% of the attempt I have done up to now.
It's like a vicious circle hunting me non-stop. When it's not related to the temperature, it's related to the speed. When it's not about the printing speed, it's about the amount of PLA extruded. When it's not about the PLA extruded, it's about the leveling. When it's not about the leveling, it's about the temperature.

I have tried temperatures between 190 and 210.
I have tried speeds between 30 and 60 mm/s.
I have tried flows between 95% and 110%

I have tried to produce the print file with Repetier-Host with both CuraEngine and Slic3r.

The only thing I have found that seems okay, is the bed temperature which is set to 65.
60 or below and it's a if there's no hot bed.

It goes as this:

The most common problems I am facing is this:

If I set the temperature at 190 to 200, it's an inconsistent mix of either having the filament not extrude enough and seeing the extruder clicking or having too little of filament being printed.
If I set the temperature at 200 to 210, the nozzle start leaking enough filament to make you think it's printing when it's not. (Imagine the result if you print and the nozzle is never able to stop the feed.)

95% of the time, there's something that drag and destroy the layer as it's printed.
- Sometimes, it's the filament that doesn't stay on the hot bed (which is at 65) and get dragged by the printing head and end up with a blob of material stuck to the nozzle. (Like if you twist spagettis around a fork.)
- Sometimes, the nozzle drags the print as the head passes over another part during the print and it melt/glue to the nozzle.
- Many times, there's a bit of a melted filament that hang down the nozzle before it print. As it prints, the first 5mm-10mm printed only gets dragged by around by the nozzle and it's like that as the nozzle leave a filament "printed", an huge spaghetti made of filament is following and destroy whatever is printed.

If, at least, the problem was something happening during the actual print... but no I'm not even at that part yet. I'm not even able to print a single layer because either the nozzle, the print itself or whatever destroy said layer as soon as it's done.

[William]

Hi，about the bed leveling, you can refer to this:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3eCEiqF_00