One Problem Solved . . . On to the Next One

I had been printing for two days and everything was moving right along, then last night when I tried to print the last two spool holder parts the printer started acting strange.  After a few layers, the positioning would be off and it would start to print too far towards zero on the X-axis.

I did not have enough time last night to find out what the cause was, so I took a close look today and finally found that the pulley on the X-axis motor did not have its set screw tightened down . . .  That would do it, for sure.

With that problem solved I was able to then print out the last two spool holder parts that I needed, and now my plastic spool is sitting on top of the machine rather than off to the side.  The filament can feed straight down to the extruder, and there should be no issue with twisting or tangling like there was when the spool was just sitting on the workbench beside the machine.

I also was having issues tonight getting the PLA to stick to the glass plate.  The first couple of days I had no issues with adhesion, then last night and tonight I wasn't able to get an entire first layer to stick to the bare glass.  

I ended up adding Kapton tape to the glass surface.  Right away I saw a vast improvement in the adhesion of the first layer to the build surface.  However, the spool holders I printed both warped slightly and pulled off of the Kapton tape on one end.  

One way to address this would be to find something that the PLA adheres to better, but from what I can tell by reading online, the PLA should not show a lot of warping, and Kapton tape is one of the most popular means for improving adhesion.  

To really solve the problem, I think I need to install a fan that blows on the material after it comes out of the nozzle.  I've seen some pieces on Thingiverse.com that might work.  I also need to spend some time completing the calibration prints, so the fan may have to wait.  We'll see.

D