Ender 5 Pro

If you only print PLA and toys it’s OK. No more.
I need functional parts.
I’ve had the printer for a month and I’m still calibrating and trying to get something decent out of PETG.
Now I have upgraded to firmware (BLTouch, according to Creality specifications) and my printer is dead, I only have a blue screen. I don’t know how I will solve this problem and especially when. Most likely I will have to buy another motherboard. But will I be able to upgrade the firmware? Can I benefit from BLTouch?
I’ve been learning a lot since I got the printer from Creality but more than I want. Basically I didn’t manage to get into production :frowning:

From my experience with Ender 5 Pro the conclusion is one: Prusa had to buy !!! :mad::mad::mad:

I forgot to mention the curved bed. :frowning:

If I was buying again I would be looking seriously at the ADIMlab Gantry: all metal hotend, huge built plate, 32 bit controller, etc. and cheaper than the Ender 5 Pro. See it at https://www.amazon.com/ADIMLab-Assem…4907202&sr=8-3

However, a new controller would be much cheaper. I would seriously look at the TH3D. It’s 32-bit, and they provide serious support if needed. Also, check out the cheap add-ons when you buy their board. I’m looking at upgrading to it later: [U]TH3D EZBoard V2.0 - For Creality/Sovol Printers - TH3D Studio LLC

Still, I wouldn’t give up on your board yet. It may still be able to be updated with new firmware. Have you tried to print anything directly from a computer, over USB? That could tell a lot. What if it can print but it’s just that there’s no display? That would be interesting.

#Leo To get my original display to work with my v2 Creality board I had to rotate the grey ribbon cable 180 degrees and chamfer the rectangular guide so it slides in easily. But I can’t remember if you were upgrading the motherboard, or just trying to upgrade the firmware for the BL Touch? From what you say the probe IS working (orange and blue LEDs on) and clicks in and out when powered up?
MrD

AFAICR, he’s just upgrading the firmware on the 1.1.5 Silent board.

After many tests I decided to proceed as follows: With ENDER 5 I will print only the PLA. If in my projects I will need other materials then I will buy a PRUSA. I wasted too much time with the printer itself. And I was left behind with the projects for which I had bought the print.
Anyway, Ender 5, I wasn’t an inspired choice.

Has anyone here been able to ‘get something decent out of PETG?’ If so, what are your tips and tricks?

Thanks

I was thinking specifically tips and tricks for printing PETG using the Ender series. I need more coffee in the morning!

Cheers

I print mostly PETG, PA and TPU…and PP

Any Ender-specific tips for printing PETG?

Everyone should be able to print with PETG. Check out my DrVax video on the subject where I use PETG on a range of printers including an Ender 5.

This is PETG (from Prusa). Nozzle 260 , bed 85, (Celsius degrees) prusa slicer. But I don’t like that it’s at the limit, and the results are unpredictable.

The lowest printing temerature is for normal printing speeds and the highest is for higher printing speeds. I print for example with Devil design PETG at 220 successfuly as well as with eSUN’s in the same temp. Never use the highest temp as this will destroy your nozzle sooner.Unsuccessfull prints could be caused from weak extruder stepper or mA fault configuration in the firmware. But if you say that you can print PLA successfully, then you might have clogged nozzle. I’m trying to figure what is going wrong with your hot end…

I would try 240C with 80C. See how it looks.

Forgot to mention, these days I’m printing mostly PETG. I find it a lot more versatile than PLA: good for outdoors, food safe, less brittle, more heat resistent.

I started with 240. It goes weird, it works perfectly on small parts, the extruder skiping on large parts.
I stopped at 260 degrees because here I noticed that I can print.
But at 260 degrees I still find a few burnt points. In the end, the dremel support turned out well.

Hah, I’ve downloaded the files to print a drill press for my Dremel, but it will likely be a while before I can get to it, as I have other items ahead of it.

I print in 210-230 C and 90 C bed, always with Magigoo

This sounds exactly like what I had with my TronXY X5 a while ago and with PLA. I got under extrusion and a lot of clicking from the extruder. I ignored it and just increased the temperature. The clicking was gone for a while and then it worked for a while before it got worst. I knew what was wrong, but I was just to lazy to fix the issue. I knew I caused it when swapping between ABS and PLA a alot.

I think I told this here before: Your heatpipe/heat break is full with gunk, which is reducing the diameter where the filament needs to go through. You probably printed PLA before and swapped the filament, but not all PLA got out. It burned on the inside and is sitting there. The reason that higher temperatures work is that the closer the filament gets to the heater, the softer it becomes and you are pressing it through the trouble zone. Thats where the extruder works hard and looses steps you hear clicking. The gunk itself is no longer melting. It is just growing slowly in your filament path like a tumour.

When swapping filament from a low temp to a high temp version you should take caution. Best scenario is to heat the block up to a temperature both filaments can be printed with. It does not matter of the print would look good, just what is mentioned on the package. An overlapping temperature range.

Now push the old filament by hand into the hotend and rip it out fast again. This will ensure you got most of the stuff out. Now insert the new filament and push it in. When you feel it is melting, pull it hard. You will see there is still old filament on the tip of the new filament.

Cut the blobby end and repeat the process a couple of times. It is a good idea to pause a few minutes and repeat the process. This gives the filament inside the hotend time to sink down into the melding path, where you can catch it on the next attempt.

Some resellers are selling expensive “filament to clean and prime your printer” before the next print. That is just bullshit. They just sell you 20g of transparent filament for 12$. I even saw some youtuber praising the stuff, because they got sponsored hard. Do not fall for that.

If you have transparent filament or a rest of it, then you can use it the way described above. The advantage is you can see the pulled out grunk better and leftover transparent filament blobs will not be visible in your print. But remember the transparent filament needs to be in the same temperature range as the filament you want to print, or you just create gunk from transparent filament.

The important thing is to not cook the low temp filament when swapping filament types. The ash will get caught, form a solid blob and may even burn into the bowden tubing with its sharp edges. Creating dips and dimples on the way out, if it comes out at all.

You may get away with a simple filament swap, but over time you create a clogged hotend.

I agree with a lot of the previous comments. PETG and ABS both are hydroscopic - they love to absorb water. I purchased an inexpensive food dehydrator and modified it to dry the roll of filament before printing, you should also store in a sealed container, and possibly even print from one. I have had fair luck at 235c nozzle and 70c bed temp.
A good you-tube video on converting a food dehydrator. Filament Drying Guide - YouTube
The $40 unit on Amazon Amazon.com