Just finished my Kittaz successfully (first 3D printer too). My day job is related to video post production – I have little experience with building things, electronics, etc. I thought I would be better at printing if I knew how every piece fit together, so I bought the kit.
First: the build wasn’t too hard. I agree with a previous post about changes needed to instructions. The shipping and packaging was terrific but the Ohai guide needs some polish. Easy fix.
Concerning extruder fan, I assembled according to pictures and it was blowing the wrong way. I flipped it around.
Question: There are calibration instructions for extruder E steps, but what about making adjustments to the other motors? Is that needed for these printers?
Any tips for cutting down the noise level on the Taz a tiny bit? The power supply is rather loud, is that necessary? Maybe build an enclosure?
My extruder is clicking a slightly during retraction, doesn’t seem to be lose or skipping steps though. Normal?
The instructions were based of our internal assembly guides. We’re continuously adding and refining the guides to add more information for those users that don’t see the printers everyday. We appreciate your feedback!
The hot end fan should have the “fan grill/cover/motor mount” towards the inside of the duct. The exposed fan should be open like shown in the pictures. How do you have the fan harness connected and wired?
The KITTAZ firmware linked has the X, Y and Z axis stepper motor calibration settings already established in the firmware. Since we use the same drive system across the entire TAZ/KITTAZ line (save for the Z axis lead screw change on the TAZ4/KITTAZ), we can use the same X/Y and Z settings. Currently, the Extruder is the only stepper motor/axis that needs the custom steps per unit determination. We hope to eliminate the need for KITTAZ extruder calibration soon.
An enclosure can help, but make sure the power supply fan isn’t obstructed when it’s operating. The power supply can run inside the enclosure too.
What are your current retraction settings? Try using the Medium profiles found here: http://lulzbot.com/configs
Thanks for the feedback! I probably should have said that the build was a lot of fun despite getting stuck a few times. Had some trouble with tension between the x-axis rods and the z-drive. Not sure where I went wrong – the plastic parts are a very tight fit in general and I may have tightened things down under tension. Also, installing the bearing on the filament guide in the first step was very difficult.
I should also mention that the printer does work well now that I’ve had some time to adjust my build and learn the printing process. My cousin who has a Replicator clone is jealous of my Taz build plate. Bigger is better in this case.
I have the fan harness connected the only way I can (I think) since everything was pre-wired with connectors. I’ll look at it more carefully later.
I am using the lulzbot configs. I used to sharpie to make a couple marks on the filament to see if it is moving completely during retraction, everything is working fine. Just normal machine sounds.