Are you testing cold with the nozzle off or hot?
If you are testing hot, your numbers might be skewed.
You can either change the extrusion steps per mm in firmware (multiply your current value by 100/73) or adjust the flow in your slicer (change to 100/73).
I second what @Richard_McKenna said. The steps per mm for extruding plastic is a firmware issue that should be done when initially setting up and calibrating your printer. You don’t want to mess with slicer settings to correct the issue, especially if it is off by more than a third like that.
Ideally the manufacturer provided uncompiled firmware so that you can make edits to the config.h file and re-upload the code to your printer board using the Arduino IDE.
It’s also possible that the eeprom is enabled and you can update the steps per mm via gcode commands. That’s outside my wheelhouse though.
Worst case is that you have to download Marlin or Repetier and input your printers settings from scratch. If forced that route, I would check for other a8 users who have gone through the same process, possibly on the RepRap forums.
Did some checking at lunch. The firmware came on an SD card with the kit (Anet A8 Prusa i3) and it’s own loader(?). I’ll access it via Repetier – looks fairly straightforward. I might also have access to Simplify3D which, I understand, can do the same thing.
The firmware should be a bunch of *.h files and possibly one *.ino file that references all of the other files. Not sure of what the provided loader does, but normally you would download the Arduino IDE from their website, use it to open the *.ino file, and then make all of your edits to the config.h file listed under one of the tabs.
Repetier and Simplify 3D both have the ability to control your printer via a USB interface… moving the hotend around you bed, controlling the temperature, print speed, etc… But they are not intended to edit and upload firmware to your printer, they just send commands too the firmware to be processed.
There is a grey area however. Repetier-Host (?) is the software used to control your printer, but there is also Repetier-Firmware which you can load into your printer. With EEPROM enabled in the firmware, the software and firmware can “talk” to eachother, making tweaks to the firmware easier on occasion, without the need to recompile and upload the firmware constantly.
Hey @allanGEE , keep me posted about that firmware update. I did not get any *.ino or *.h files in my Anet A8 kit.
On YouTube, I saw a few that upgraded their Anet A8 firmware with Skynet3D but I hesitate to muck about firmware now that my printer is behaving nicely !
@Wylie_Hilliard I’ll try and use your advice as a starting point but, to be honest, you lost me at “terminal program”. (but I don’t mind taking the time to research it… once I find the time)
Also, I’m using Cura at the moment, and the lastest version won’t connect to my printer (which is why I’ll probably move to Repetier or something).
If you load the Arduino software, go to Tools>Serial Monitor to get a terminal window to the printer.
If you have an LCD on the printer, some have a way to change the values there
Once you connect to your printer with Repetier, Ponterface, Simplify3D (?) Or a similar application, they should offer you some form of command line or g-code console interface. This is how you can send the commands.
@Wylie_Hilliard Thanks for the clarification. As far as I know, none of the Anet A8s come with Arduino files. I had to use avrdude for the firmware installation.
@John-Paul_Hopman Thanks. That’s my plan – to date. I thought I read somewhere (I’ve done so much googling I’ve lost track) that changes made through Repetier and similar aren’t actually firmware changes. I hope to find out one way or the other this weekend.
Worst-case scenario, nothing works and I re-install the firmware that came with the kit. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
I’m also considering ordering a Ramps 1.4 and 5 polulu drivers for one of the Arduino Megas I already have in case I fry the supplied board some time in the future. Seems like a cheap enough insurance policy. Or maybe I’ll build a laser etcher/cutter or small CNC for my Dremel as a way to “store” the backup parts.
Well 3D print me embarrassed! I tried a print on Friday night with the flow cranked up. Noticed some clicking from the extruder assembly. I suspected that MAYBE the nozzle was clogged and the extruder was clicking because it was trying to feed in more filament than could be fed out (which would also explain the under-extrusion). Spent Friday evening tossing the nozzle in a 350F toaster oven, pulling it out, inserting a pin in the wide end, and pulling out whatever stuck. Repeated until I was sure I got most of it out. Couldn’t use acetone because it was PLA. I have a print going right now, and although not perfet (I’m still a newbie) it’s FAR better than previous!
So it was a hardware problem. Not software.
That being said, I still plan on switching to something that gives me access to the eeprom for other mods I’d like to employ.
