New User Questions

I made my first test print today successfully. I used the HIPS filament. I plan to use it and PLA in the future.

  1. Should I use painters blue tape or other they products e.g. hair spray or stick glue on the build platform?

  2. Would it be advisable to purchase both belts just in case?

  3. Would it be a good idea to hook up the printer and laptop to a UPS in case of power outage during a print? I have a spare 600VA UPS available.

Thanks and so glad I purchased this brand. Auto level was super.

Jay Beckham, Berkeley Springs, WV USA

I don’t print much pla so ill skip question 1, but for the others:

  1. I have never had a belt just break. It is a rare failure even after thousands of hours of printing. That being said they are cheap and small so it wouldn’t hurt to have one on hand. Other spares to consider: a thermistor and heater core for the hotend, a spare small and large gear, a set of Rambo board fuses, a spare motor pulley (mainly for the setscrews) and a spare idler arm. That will cover the most common points of failure over time.

  2. Most definitely yes. Get one with a large battery capacity if you can since you may lose power in the middle of a large print.

  1. I don’t use PLA much but I know with ABS with hairspray on the PEI, it’s scary difficult to get stuff off. I’d recommend leaving the PEI plain. You could also remove the PEI and then buy some Aqua Net Extra Super Hold hairspray and it’ll work well and you won’t have to worry about rips in the PEI.
  2. I don’t think a snapped belt is anything to be too concerned about. I personally would just wait until the issue arises.
  3. Always use protection (unless you can’t afford it)
  4. I know you didn’t ask about it but DO NOT FOR THE LOVE OF GOD use a wire brush to clean the hot end. The static fries the board. I had to send mine in to get it fixed and it’s been a few weeks of agony.

The blue printer’s tape works great on most filaments.
The slightly textured surface of the tape is mirrored in the part, however. Not a big deal for most prints.
If you are printing NinjaFlex, you should do that on plain glass.

ABS and Nvent print perfectly on the stock Taz heated plate surface, but you can use blue painter’s tape if you like.
On large parts, it will occasionally pull up the tape and lift a touch at the edges.

Bill D.

We have a 450 KVA UPS and it carries the printer through “glitches” wonderfully. It won’t last through a big power failure, but the glitches are far more common in our neighborhood than power failures. We get a glitch maybe one or two times per week, and a power failure maybe once every few years.