A couple of weeks ago, I bought what I thought was a new Ender 3 v2 on Ebay. All descriptions listed on that add was for a Ender 3 V2. What I did not notice was there was a photo on that add of a Anet ET4. It turns out that the machine I received was a slightly used Anet ET4. The Anet looked new, but I found traces of filament around the nozzle and the filament tube had a couple of filament pieces in it. I filed a return request through Ebay and received $100 refund and I could keep the printer. I took the offer because I had read good things about the printer and decided it would do for now instead of having a Ender 3 v2. This all happened before I ordered my Ender 5 Pro.
My problem is: When I turn on the ET4, all I get is the flash screen. Nothing else comes up on the display. Is there anything I can do to get a operational screen. Could this be because my board is fried? If so, for the money I got refunded on this machine, I can afford to get another board.
This has not been a good week for me to get into 3D printing. I received 2 machines in the week and have had operating problems with both.
Any ideas on getting the ET4 running would be great.
Check for loose electrical connections and LCD ribbon cable integrity. Also, does the machine respond to g-code commands sent via usb from your computer? If so, it might be time to replace the screen.
Cheers
P.S. – Does the ET4 motherboard use NANO fuses? I don’t think so but if it does maybe replace them.
First, congrats on scoring the deal on the Anet. I know it may not seem that great ATM, but still, it’s a great saving on a decent printer (once it’s up & running). I’m betting whoever sold it gave up trying to get it going, probably thinking that they didn’t realize 3D printing would be so difficult. I suspect, post Covid, there are going to be a lot of second hand 3D printers for sale. I’ll be looking for deals then.
Second, what @Alan said. For all things electronic, I am a firm believer in my take on the old real estate dictum: instead of “location, location, location”, mine is “connections, connections, connections”. Even my children know this and, from time to time, they tell me how it helped them solve a problem. My daughter has told me that, these days, her 1st thought when she has a technical issue of any kind is, “What would Dad do?”.
So, check all the connections.
Third, and again, what @Alan said about sending g-code commands via USB. Load up Pronterface (PF), connect to the printer, and try some of the commands. The 1st test here is, can PF actually connect to the printer? If it can, that’s a sign that the mobo may be OK. Assuming a good connection, try: [LIST=1]
to move the X, Y, & Z axes;
extruding without any filament. Mark the end of the shaft of the extruder's drive gear with a Sharpie and watch to see if it moves;
to heat up the hotend. Watch the graph in PF to see if it rises;
repeat #3 except do the bed.
[/LIST] That's plenty for now I think. If you get this far successfully, I think you're well on the way to having a working printer.
Allan, Ender5r; thank you for trying to help on my ET4 problem. I don’t have the proper USB cable to connect the printer to my computer. I have ordered one from Amazon and it is supposed to be here tomorrow sometime. When I turn on the ET4, the screen displays “Anet” and nothing more happens. So the screen is working. It is just like trying to boot your computer and it displays the screen that tells you what motherboard is installed and the rest of the boot process hangs up. Therefore, I am guessing that the connections are OK, but I will check them anyhow.
I am also guessing that if the boot process is hanging up, I may have a board problem. I still believe if I have to replace the board, I am still money ahead because of the refund.
By the way Ender5r, my Ender 5 has ran a project all night and everything is fine except for a little bit of stringing in the infill. I am running eSUN PLA+ with Nozzle temp at 205 degrees and the bed at 70. I had a little trouble with part of the object not sticking on another project with the bed temp set to 60 and the nozzle at 215 degrees. Those setting changes made a lot of difference in the stringing between the two projects. Fill is 20%. Speed is 100 mm/sec. I can see that learning to control stringing is going to take time and effort on my part.
Yeah. Generally, from what people tell me, the most important factor is hotend temperature: i.e. lower it to reduce stringing. Also, I have had very good luck using UHU stick (same as Elmer’s Glue Stick) to get things to stick to the bed, often too well. In fact, I just order a small bottle of Magigoo original formula to see if it’s really better. DrVax swears buy (sic) it
I generally use lower speeds than you: 50 or 60 for infill, hotend @ 200C, bed @65C to 70C.
@Delcie70 If you open up the printer to check interior questions, it would be good to ensure the power supply is working at the correct voltage in addition to checking connections. Before replacing the motherboard, if all else fails, try re-flashing the firmware. Fun project! Good thing you have two printers.
My roll of eSun PLA+ recommends printing at temperatures between 205 and 225C, but it is always best to print a temperature tower. A bed temperature of 70C seems a bit on the high side (did you adjust the z-offset?). I’ll do the first layer at 55-65C and drop down 5C after that. Infill is usually 15-20%, unless the part needs strength. Also, I think you will find 100 mm/s speed setting is probably too high for other than draft parts for most cartesian printers. If you run into problems, the rule of thumb is: slow the print speed down! And, be sure to slow down the first layer!
Yep. I’m now doing the 1st layer 10 mm/sec. It takes a little longer, but it works, often too well, as it can be difficult to remove the print from the bed. Got some Magigoo coming to see if it fixes that issue.
I don’'t know anything about z-offset. I do not know how to adjust it. I tried to print with bed temperature at 60C, but had a little bit of a lifting problem. I dropped print seed down to 80 mm/sec and printing is better.
Now, about my ET4 problem. I may have discovered the problem. Remember that the printer I received was used, not the new one I thought I was getting. Because of that, I got a $100 refund. Here is what I think is the problem. Check out Anet ET4 Firmware Updating Guidelines — Anet 3D Printer and you will notice that improper firmware flashing can result in the LCD screen getting stuck. If that turns out to be the problem on my ET4, please understand that I don’t know anything about re-flashing firmware. In due time I can learn. So I guess that is not really a problem. Would I have to buy that Jlink that is mentioned or just download the newest firmware; put on a SD card and re-flash that way.
Without the LCD screen, it may not be possible to flash from a µSD card, but I’m not certain. I’m going by the video where the guy used the touchscreen to go into the firmware section and upgrade.
As far as the mobo goes, have a look at your current one. See if it says ET4-MB_1.1 or not. If it does, I think you have other options to reflash the firmware. That said, if you don’t mind the expense, a new mobo should be a guaranteed way to get working firmware.
re: printing speed: I would drop it to 60 and see if that’s even better.
I just went through the guidelines you linked to, which I realized I’ve read them before. I also went through the guide published by Karl Johnson and his seems really easy. I downloaded the ET4.zip file Karl links to, opened it, and discovered that it includes a copy of the ST-Link software, so you don’t have to pay for it.
I’m still trying to find the Z Offset option in Cura. I’ve looked, used the Search, but no go. I would like to use it to compensate for different beds I’ve been trying out.
So, I did have this plugin installed, believe it or not, but Z Offset doesn’t show up when I open the Configuration Pane. I did a search for it, and it found it, under Build Plate Adhesion of all things (I mean, really, go figure!! Duh!). But, when I clear the search parameters and go directly to Build Plate Adhesion, it’s not there! How is that?? I guess my mistake is expecting any kind of consistency or actual organisation in Open Source software. Love the concept… the implementation?.. not so much. Oh well, I guess it’s pretty minor compared to Covid ??
Cura hides some settings automatically, depending if you have Basic. Expert, or Advanced mode set. You can also manually enable the visibility of individual settings. (Prefs->Settings->Settings Visibility)
I’m not sure where to find the mode settings, at least not in v4.6.1. I’ve found reference to Basic and Advanced tabs, but they refer to Cura from several years ago. Anyway, thanks for the Settings suggestion. I didn’t find any Prefs menu item, but I found it under Settings/Configure Setting Visibility. I made Z Offset visible and it shows up. I’ll keep the Settings thing in the back of my mind.
The 1.1 board is the latest one I see on anet.com. It is a 32-bit board, so there’s not reason to upgrade for that reason. One of the reasons that’s important is that 32-bit boards have a lot more memory for storage of firmware, so there’s no requirement to disable features in order to shoehorn the firmware onto the board. The board also has TMC2208 stepper driver chips, which makes the stepper motors much quieter than older chips, so no need to upgrade for that reason.
All in all, if the board isn’t damaged, I see no reason to upgrade. You might want to order the ST-Link unit and download the firmware from Anet so you have the software. It’s cheap, and that way you’ll have it on hand should you run into a firmware upgrading issue in the future.
Which reminds me, if you do get the ST-Link, be really certain to format the µSD before putting the firmware file(s) on it. That really seems to be the root cause of most peoples’ problems.
