Actually there is something wrong with both of them. It's a minor thing but something I want to fix properly before getting them up and running again.
This guy put one printer on idle:
See that part sticking out in front, on the top? Yeah. That guy. For whatever reason it caught on some wires you can't see on the other side of the print head. Those are some thin wires that really should be protected better. In and of itself that wasn't the problem. When it caught on those wires it made the print head hang when it goes side to side. When it freed itself it was in the wrong place but didn't know it. It continued to print but the layers were now about an inch to the right.
That's called 'layer shift' for very obvious reasons. And that ruined a print that had been running for over twenty four hours. I'm still going to send it to my friend because he's crafty enough he can use it to make something else.
The other printer has been having trouble with that same component but for different reasons. I've been able to print decently even though it's a problem. But since I don't have anything pressing to print I decided to idle them both and fix the darn thing once and for all.
My solution is going to be to tape those wire to the much larger ones running along side them. That serves a dual purpose of keeping them safe and keeping them out of the way. Which I guess is the same purpose really. But I'll call it two reasons.
Here's the next question. What do you use to tape something when it's right up against a block of metal being heated up to about 220 degrees Celsius? For those of us using imperial measure that's over 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Regular old electrical tape isn't going to do it here.
There's a special tape meant for high temperature use. There's a piece of it holding the heater in place under the print bed. Of course I don't have any on hand so an Amazon order was placed. In case you want to know this is kapton tape and it's used in a lot of places where high temperatures are around. It's good to have some on hand anyway. At least if you have a 3D printer it's good to have on hand.
When it arrives I'll test that the parts are working properly (heat it up, wiggle the wires, watch the temperature) and replace what is bad. Then I'll carefully align the sets of wires and spiral wrap tape them together until they pass the problem area. After that they go into the main cable bundle that's in a textile sleeve.
Until then the printers are sitting here. I unloaded the filaments so they're truly idle and kind of sad to see.
I'll have them running for a couple of months and then my next upgrades happen. Those are going to be a doozy. I'm upgrading the entire frame to extruded aluminum and there's an upgrade from the manufacturer as well. All new plastic parts will be printed. At the same time I'll do the routine maintenance I've put off. These things are literally going to be stripped down to parts and rebuilt in the process.
And I'll be spinning that design around so the sticking out bit is around back and less of a hazard for the wires when I print it again.
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