AST2 INVENT3D Operating Instructions And Troubleshooting Manual Download Page 2

Page: 2 / 34

INVENT3D

Printer Operating Instructions and Troubleshooting Guide

AST2 © 10/26/16

Page 2

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Overview of Printer Components………………………………………………………………………….. 3

II.

Turning the Printer On and Off……………………………………………………………………………… 8

III.

Overview of Printer Interface………………………………………………………………………………... 9

IV.

Loading / Unloading of Filament…………………………………………………………………………… 12

Calibrating Z-axis Limit Switch End stop……………………………………………………………….. 14

VI.

Leveling the Print Board………………………………………………………………………………………. 14

VII.

Converting .stl File to G-code………………………………………………………………………………… 18

VIII.

Printing a Part and Removing Part from Print Board……………………………………………… 21

IX.

Replacing BuildTak……………………………………………………………………………………………… 23

Troubleshooting Guide and Operating Videos ……………………………………………………… 24



Filament



Print Quality



LCD



Power Issues



Print Board



Hot End



Limit Switch



Z-axis

OPERATING VIDEOS

Videos are available on YouTube and INVENTORcloud website (

www.inventorcloud.net

)



Installing Slic3r:

https://youtu.be/-kWy8JPh2IQ



INVENT3D – Keys to Success:

https://youtu.be/4-TP87f_Dtk



Changing Filament:

https://youtu.be/GkhGFjlLo9Y



Part Removal:

https://youtu.be/YJ2lwoVA1l4



Print Board Leveling:

https://youtu.be/t5xmp9knYew



Routine Maintenance:

https://youtu.be/GVPg4gXYw9w



Z-Axis Calibration:

https://youtu.be/jwzYRii9fM0

Summary of Contents for INVENT3D

Page 1: ...INVENT3DTM Printer Operating Instructions and Troubleshooting Guide AST2 10 26 16 Page 1 INVENT3D Printer Operating Instructions Troubleshooting Guide Version 6 ...

Page 2: ...g Part from Print Board 21 IX Replacing BuildTak 23 X Troubleshooting Guide and Operating Videos 24 Filament Print Quality LCD Power Issues Print Board Hot End Limit Switch Z axis OPERATING VIDEOS Videos are available on YouTube and INVENTORcloud website www inventorcloud net Installing Slic3r https youtu be kWy8JPh2IQ INVENT3D Keys to Success https youtu be 4 TP87f_Dtk Changing Filament https you...

Page 3: ...nt board itself moves along the Y axis rail toward the front or back of the printer The 0 position on the Y axis is the furthest toward the back of the printer toward the power plug Movement along the Y axis rail is powered by the Y axis motor which hangs from the print board assembly o Z axis The print board assembly moves up and down along the Z axis lead screw located on the left side of the pr...

Page 4: ...ot end assembly is the mounted on the top of the printer and moved horizontally along the X axis The printer hot end assembly is comprised of two main components the extruder motor and the hot end The extruder motor sits on top of the assembly and it pushes the filament to the hot end The hot end sits below the extruder motor and it heats the filament to the specified temperature The filament then...

Page 5: ...in the center of the printer The print board itself is held in place by three clamps one in the front and two in the rear While the two clamps at the rear are fixed in place the front clamp can slide out by loosening the blue thumb screw that locks it in place which allows the print board to be removed The print board should always be securely locked in place while printing and the print board sho...

Page 6: ...r leveling the print board and calibrating the Z axis end stop Be sure that the yellow thumbscrew is loose before attempting to print starting a print with the Z axis locked may damage the printer The Z axis end stop is a black thumb screw located on the top of the printer The screw engages the Z axis end stop telling the printer that the 0 position on the Z axis has been reached The Z axis end st...

Page 7: ...lant products including corn and potatoes PLA is a type of thermoplastic becoming soft and moldable when heated and returning to solid when cooled PLA is available in a wide variety of colors It may be purchased online or from INVENTORcloud directly The INVENT3D Printer is not compatible with ABS or any filament which requires a heated print board The filament spool hangs from the filament spool h...

Page 8: ...printer and plug the power supply into an outlet To turn off the printer disconnect the power supply It is recommended to plug the printer into a surge protector and use the power switch on the surge protector to turn the printer on and off To prevent plugging the hot end be sure that the hot end temperature is less than 50 C before turning off the printer The fans should turn off at 50 C ...

Page 9: ...r is plugged in the LCD will light up and the Info screen will be displayed The Info screen is the home screen and after a short period of inactivity will return to the Info screen The Info screen displays the following information Temperature Current temperature of hot end specified temperature of hot end displayed in Celsius When not printing the specified temperature should be 0 C When printing...

Page 10: ...ly Print from SD Print G code files saved to the SD card Prepare Screen The Prepare screen allows the user to perform all functions necessary to prepare the printer to print The Prepare screen allows the user to select from the following options Disable Steppers Cuts power to motors and allows motors to move Auto Home Hot end moves to coordinate 0 0 0 Preheat PLA Heats hot end to 225 C to allow lo...

Page 11: ...SD card If the most recent file saved is not last on the list the SD card is full This can impact printing Use a new SD card or deletes files from current SD card Rotating the control knob allows the user to select the desired file to print Upon selecting a file the printer will begin heating up and preparing to print Options Only Available During Print These options in addition to Control describ...

Page 12: ...spool seats correctly on the holder and that material does not get trapped behind the spool and impair printing 2 Locate the end of the filament and cut away any bent or twisted filament from the end 3 Feed filament through the filament guide accommodates filament wound clockwise or counter clockwise so that it is coming off spool on the side that the filament is feeding 4 Run filament through gui...

Page 13: ...truder bottom Replace the extruder top to lock down the extruder motor Extrude filament until it comes through the hot end nozzle The filament will not feed if hot end temperature is less than 200 C 13 When using a new roll of filament watch how the filament is leaving the spool when beginning to print as well as when spool is placed on the printer If the filament is wound too tightly it can jump ...

Page 14: ...uctions on board leveling and setting hot end gap VI LEVELING THE PRINT BOARD It is imperative to understand each component of the schematic to successfully and easily level the board The print board must be level for printer to print correctly The print head is too close if the printed filament is transparent or if the hot end touches the print board The print head is too far away if the printed ...

Page 15: ... board by pressing it firmly into the rear print board clamps then press the front board clamp firmly against the print board and finally secure the front print board clamp by tightening the blue thumb screw located below the print board 7 Loosen the Z axis end stop screw so that the end of the screw extends no more than from the bottom side of the top plate 8 Place a business card or index card a...

Page 16: ... side of the print board and adjust only the front red thumbscrew Red Circle 2 13 Repeat Step K above moving the hot end to Blue Circle 3 in the picture approximately 1 from the left side of the print board and adjust only the rear red thumbscrew Red Circle 3 14 Repeat the last three steps with each red thumbscrew to confirm that you have a consistent gap between the hot end and the print board in...

Page 17: ...end and print board to check the gap with the card The card should be moveable with only slight resistance 9 If the gap is correct you re done If the gap is too tight turn the Z axis end stop screw turn clockwise If the gap is too large turn the Z axis end stop screw turn counter clockwise 10 Loosen the yellow Z axis lock thumbscrew then use the Z axis knob to lower the print board a few inches 11...

Page 18: ...and provide quality prints This assures that the settings correspond to the INVENT3D Printer Using settings designed for any other printer will damage the INVENT3D Printer and or result in poor quality IMPORTANT Do not use a slicer program that is not calibrated specifically for INVENT3D printer as doing so may break the printer Do not download the program from any other generic website Instructio...

Page 19: ... Bottom Fill Changes the pattern of the fill of the top and bottom of the part to be printed Rectilinear is recommended 3 2 3 Combine Infill Every Should be set at 1 layer 3 2 4 Solid Infill Every Should be set at 0 layers 3 2 5 Fill Angle Should be set at 45 degrees 3 2 6 Solid Infill Threshold Area Should be set at 70mm 3 2 7 Only Retract When Crossing Perimeters Should be checked 3 3 Skirt and ...

Page 20: ...D printer itself and not in the slic3r program 4 1 4 Board Should be set at 0 C 0 C The INVENT3D printer does not use a heated board 4 2 Cooling It is recommended not to change default settings 5 Printer Settings It is recommended not to change default settings as they have been programmed for the INVENT3D printer 6 Go back to Platter when finished with the various Settings 6 1 Select Export G cod...

Page 21: ...he hot end to point 0 0 0 Then the hot end will move to the side of the board and extrude a small amount of filament to ensure that the print head is not clogged If the filament does not extrude refer to Troubleshooting Guide This extra material should be cleared from the hot end by the edge of print board as the hot end moves to being the print If any of this material is dragged onto the print bo...

Page 22: ...ard by hand using the knob on top of the Z axis lead screw Wait for the hot end to cool down to room temperature and then perform board leveling 7 Upon completion of the print the hot end will move to the 0 point on the X axis The hot end will automatically cool down to room temperature 8 To remove the part from the print board lower the board and loosen the blue thumbscrew underneath the print bo...

Page 23: ...the first layer of the printed part to firmly stick to the print board and then allows the print to be completed without the part unsticking moving or warping However it must also the part to be removed when printing is finished without damaging It has to withstand the heat from the hot end and extruded plastic without burning Also it should not degrade or rupture quickly and the surface finish is...

Page 24: ...ic Print is hard to remove Print part lifts or is warped Print is stringy or messy Print quality not good LCD Blue screen Nonsensical characters Power No Power Print Board Not level Does not lift to print Hot end Leaking filament Does not maintain temperature Limit Switch Wires Broken Grinding of Y Axis Noise when raising on lead screw If you do not find information regarding your issue or the rem...

Page 25: ...lder and unwrap the filament from around the spool holder Wind the filament back onto the spool being careful not to overlap the filament to ensure that the filament will smoothly unwind from the spool When placing the spool back on the filament holder ensure the side with the cutout faces the printer so that the spool sits flush with the printer Remedy 3 Filament may be getting pinched in the fil...

Page 26: ...t end is plugged DO NOT insert any foreign object into the top of the hot end such as a paper clip or tooth pick Turn on the printer go to the Info screen and select Preheat PLA Once the hot end is heated go to the Info screen and select Move Axis then Move 1mm then Extruder Rotate the knob counter clockwise to remove the filament from the hot end Cut off the partially melted end of the filament a...

Page 27: ...e filament to rupture Probable Cause 7 Filament may be bent Remedy When inserting filament into the filament drive for the first time or when changing filament ensure that the tip of the filament is not significantly bent in one direction If it is the filament may not pass directly from the filament drive to the hole in the top of the hot end The filament will not extrude through the hot end produ...

Page 28: ...quality PLA filament Remedy It is important to use quality PLA from a recommended supplier It is important that the diameter is consistent and the feedstock is good quality Poor quality PLA may not stick properly to the print surface Remove the incorrect filament and replace with quality filament from a recommended supplier Probable Cause 2 Print board too far from hot end Remedy If it appears tha...

Page 29: ...l contacts are not hitting Problem Print shifts while printing Probable Cause 1 Print board moved Remedy The print board may be loose and shifted Stop the print remove the print board and remove the part When inserting the print board ensure that it seats all the way into the rear clamps Push the front clamp tight against the front of the board and lock it into place with the blue thumbscrew Attem...

Page 30: ...t the gear height if necessary on the X axis approximately 5mm of motor shaft should protrude from the top of the gear and the Y axis the motor shaft should be recessed approximately 5mm Tighten the set screws to affix the motor gear to the shaft Loop the belt around the motor place tension on the belt and tighten the idler bolt Re attempt the print to verify that the issue is corrected It may be ...

Page 31: ...mended to print at a temperature greater than 225 C If this does not remedy the problem the thermistor may be faulty Probable Cause 3 Hot end needs replaced Remedy Submit a Support Ticket to order a new hot end Problem Print quality is not good Probable Cause 1 Improper slicing Remedy The printer part may have been improperly sliced Re slice the part using the pre programmed default settings which...

Page 32: ... board connector cable Ensure that one end of this cable is inserted completely in the 6 pin connector in the breakout board and ensure that the other end is plugged into the appropriate port on the RAMBo board Probable Cause 2 Fuse burnt out Remedy If above remedy does not resolve issue there may be a burnt out fuse on the RAMBo board Replace the fuses on the RAMBo board with the appropriate new ...

Page 33: ...mit switch end stop described in the operating instructions for setting the print gap HOT END Problem Hot end is leaking melted filament from heater cartridge onto the cooling fans Probable Cause Hot end needs replaced Remedy Leaking filament from the hot end nozzle is common and not an indication of a problem However if melted filament is leaking around the top of the nozzle of the hot end or fro...

Page 34: ...xis plate Hold the slack in place using a zip tie Y AXIS GRINDING Problem Grinding when raising the y axis subassembly on the lead screw Probable Cause 1 Z axis lock engaged Remedy If there is a loud grinding noise as the Y axis subassembly is being raised on the lead screw when starting a print the Z axis lock may be engaged Disconnect the power to the printer and loosen the yellow thumbscrew on ...

Search results

Summary of Contents for INVENT3D

Reviews:

Related manuals for INVENT3D

Brands by name

Popular brands

AST2 INVENT3D, Operating Instructions And Troubleshooting Manual

Search results

Summary of Contents for INVENT3D

Reviews:

Related manuals for INVENT3D

Brands by name

Popular brands