Allan Bennett Posted June 5, 2023 Share Posted June 5, 2023 Following a few initial teething problems with my Ender 3 I've had a good run since New Year printing several items in regular PLA at 220 degrees, and a couple of Eclipson models in PLA at 220 degrees and LW-PLA at 235 degrees. Running a g-code file with bed temperature 60 and nozzle temperature 220 my Ender first heats up the bed, then the nozzle, then starts printing. At 235 degrees though the nozzle temperature increases to about 7 degrees short of the target, then drop back about 3 degrees then, if I'm lucky climbs on to 235 degrees and start printing. Most times though, after dropping back, it would then hover around 225 degrees for a minute or so before giving an error message "Heating failed : E1" or "Thermal overload : E1", and powering off was the only option. Usually it got to temperature after 2 or 3 cycles of error message followed by power off and on. Today while trying to print a LW-PLA g-code file requiring 245 degrees nozzle temperature the Ender was unable to get beyond 235 degrees before stopping with the same error messages. By trial and error I found that if I first manually set the nozzle temperature to 245 degrees, then the bed temperature to the 55 degrees specified by that file (it failed if I tried the other way round) the print went ahead successfully. At first I suspected the fan in the motherboard casing, but after a few minutes printing it comes on and stays on. All other fans are working correctly too. I now have a procedure that allows me to print these files, but does anyone know if my Ender has a real issue that can be corrected, or is it something I'll just live with? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lima Hotel Foxtrot Posted June 5, 2023 Share Posted June 5, 2023 Try going into the prepare menu and set the HE and bed preheat temperature. Then before selecting the file to print, select preheat PLA. This will heat them up together and let them sit at temperature for a few minutes before printing. It may make a difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Chaddock Posted June 5, 2023 Share Posted June 5, 2023 Does your Ender have a silicone 'sock' around the nozzle heater block? The temperature required for LW-PLA printing may be beyond the capability of the heater element and the thermistor to accurately control it. Just a thought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Bennett Posted June 6, 2023 Author Share Posted June 6, 2023 LHF, I've already tried preheat PLA with 220 and 60 degree settings, and often as not it still fails when the print file requires the nozzle temperature to go higher than 220. I'd rather not change the default settings and, as I said, manually setting nozzle at 245 before setting bed at 55 before starting the print seems to work reliably and is almost as quick as using the preheat PLA function -- especially when the print is going to take several hours 😄 SC, my printer has the silicone sock. Since I can manually set the nozzle to 245, and it stays at that temperature throughout a multi-hour print, it doesn't seem to me that the heater element is working beyond its capability. I'm thinking that maybe it's slower to get up to temperature than the algorithm in the controller expects, and that's what's causing the shutdowns. Or maybe something in the G-code files which is expecting the nozzle to get up to temperature within a certain number of seconds? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flying Squirrel Posted June 6, 2023 Share Posted June 6, 2023 Personally, I'd replace the heater cartridge and thermistor, both inexpensive and a simple task. They are after all 'consumables'. Go for a 40w heater (the standard cartridge could be either 30w or 40w) and make sure you get the sleeved thermistor. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Bennett Posted June 6, 2023 Author Share Posted June 6, 2023 Thansk Flying Squirrel, I knew the nozzles were consumables but I wasn't aware of heater cartridges. I can't find them on the Creality site, but I presume this is the kind of thing you're talking about? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flying Squirrel Posted June 6, 2023 Share Posted June 6, 2023 40 minutes ago, Allan Bennett said: Thansk Flying Squirrel, I knew the nozzles were consumables but I wasn't aware of heater cartridges. I can't find them on the Creality site, but I presume this is the kind of thing you're talking about? Yes that's it, 24v 40W. Personally, I'm not too afraid of the cheap ones on Amazon etc, I'm sure they all roll out of the same door! I generally replace the thermistor at the same time but not sure it's necessary. Maybe consumable isn't the correct word but I do expect them to need replacing now and then, anything that heats and cools to these extremes will eventually fail. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fasizi-Reprap-Ceramic-Cartridge-Printer/dp/B09Z27V83H/ref=sr_1_6?crid=2X13NRTC33M7J&keywords=24v+40w+heater+cartridge&qid=1686053591&sprefix=40w+heater%2Caps%2C85&sr=8-6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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