[I wrote this blog entry a while ago but I’d not gotten around to finishing it.] I’m sad to say I gave up trying to get my Sumpod 3d printer to work reliably. Despite spending a lot of time and effort, the fact is that the combination of problems with the extruder and the hot end made it not worth my time to get it working. (Some of the newer Sumpod models have improved the extruder and also allow mounting of the extruder at the hot end eliminating another potential source of problems - the Bowden tube - and some owners of the original Sumpod are making progress towards reliable prints so perhaps my Sumpod adventure is not quite over.

My Sumpod 3d printer now has several upgrades. I’ve upgraded the software to Marlin (Thanks to Stohn and Erik for the firmware.) This gives noticeable improvements in print quality and allows the printer to be driven a bit quicker. I’ve upgraded the hardware adding: an SD card reader (for printing without a computer), an rotary encoder (knob) to control the printer and navigate the SD card, and a speaker for feedback from the rotary encoder.

Now my Sumpod 3d printer is working, I’ve been taking requests for things to print. Tracy designed these with inkscape and I did the rest: Caleb asked for a blue snake. I did my best to design one: He loves it which is what matters but I think it needs more work - both the design and the printing. I did rather like watching it print especially the hex in-fill:

I initially used spheres of blutack to level the bed on my Sumpod 3d printer. This worked surprisingly well and was good enough to start testing but wasn’t very robust. For something more robust, I followed Stohn’s method. The components I used were: M5 Stainless Steel Countersunk Allen Screws from ebay, M5 captive pronged tee nuts from ebay, 9.5x15.9mm springs from a set on Amazon, and washers from a set on Amazon.

I’ve never been so pleased to see a pink alligator! Today I did exactly what I said I’d do in the previous blog post. First, I took apart the hot end of my Sumpod 3d printer to clean it. I’m not sure if Tracy approved but found a Brulee torch (like this one) made a perfect tool for cleaning the nozzle. I used it to burn off all the PLA from an earlier leak.

Today, I spent a bit of time cleaning out the hot end of my Sumpod 3d printer. I put everything back together making sure I was really pushing home the PTFE tube. Unfortunately prints are still messed up by intermittent jamming. I wondered if perhaps the jamming was corresponding to the natural temperature oscillations of the heating process. I did several prints at different temperatures (195’C, 200’C and 205’C) and videoed the process with the temperature reading visible on the LCD.

My Sumpod 3d printer arrived a while ago but it has taken me this long to paint (sand, paint again, sand again, …) the MDF. I finished most of the build last weekend. Since then, I’ve been attempting to calibrate it in any spare moment. After initial problems with the extruder and with the X axis belt being too loose, it does feel like I’m making progress. This print started quite well: