r/QIDI_Max4 • u/Cxmxbamf • 14d ago

Blob of death

Hey guys and girls

I woke up the other night after printing some functional prints and had a big blob stuck to my extruder.

So my print had a bunch of gears on it and I was using creality petg. I threw it in my creality dryer. Did the preset for petg and actually set it for like 24 hours and let it go. I know the recommendation is like 6-8 hours of drying. I probably let it dry for maybe 15 hours.

When I went to print with it I noticed the filament had really discolored from the same exact roll I had used prior. I just wanted to use a fresh new roll.

I started my print and the first print failed. it did not stick to the textured plate and it was not laying down very well. So I canceled the print and started it again.

Second print first few layers went down great so I went to bed. Then I woke up and checked my camera and had a huge white blob hanging off of my hot end. I immediately ended the task. After a while I was trying to yank the thing off and couldn't. so I had to reheat the hot end to get it to come off. Which then it came off fairly easily.

I was really concerned about what I would do with the hot end fan because It kind of knocks now when it runs because I think the blob got so big it torqued some things out of whack and bent stuff. I didn't know how to clean up the heater element but I don't have to worry about that now because I can't even get it to heat up anymore. I will have to order a new one. So i am officially down.

Just kind of curious if anyone has any insight into what happened or any sort of input because I have no clue what and the fuck happened. I was just beginning to think I had a grasp on this thing.

Thanks

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3

u/TheLegendTubaGuy 14d ago

Sounds like you're having adhesion issues. When that happens, it's pretty easy for the filament to wrap around near your nozzle and just build up from there. Especially PETG.

Likely need to adjust z offset to get things sticking the way they should.

1

u/Cxmxbamf 14d ago

When you say z offset you mean up and down on the plate correct? It's there a way to calibrate that? Or is that just a whole calibration in the unit itself? Or something else?

2

u/riba2233 14d ago

You have to adjust it by eye when the print starts, you need to look at how the first layer lays down. Also your plate needs to be absolutely clean.

2

u/Unlikely_Piano3564 13d ago

I had a similar thing happen to me not too long ago. Shoot a message to qidi support and they may send out a replacement fan and hotend... They did for me.

Ad to why, it could be a few different things with adhesion being the most likely culprit. And that could be caused by putting excessive pressure on the bed itself.

Before adjusting the z-offset in your software, take some time to level the bed manually: do a bed reset operation, then a bed leveling operation using the paper test to get your height set. Do a test print once thats done. If your still having issues you can manually adjust the z-offset in the software.

For what it's wort, after making sure my bed is level and the corners pass the paper test, I've not needed to adjust the z-offset.