I SO wish I had seen this video a month ago! Coming from Ender 3, this huge machine is completely different world. I experienced the blob of death very early on. Fortunately, the entire head assembly is surprisingly inexpensive. Still, I was having horrible issues trying to calibrate. With the new head, apparently as the original, the nozzle was loose and it took me forever to look at this thing I just "assumed" was good. "Professional mode levelling" .......I SHOULD have just chose this option off the bat! So much great information in such a relatively short video. Thank you for taking the time to supply this information!
Your guide for leveling the bed helped alot, another tip is to let the bed heat up for 20-30mins before leveling and printing. I've notice how much the plate level points changes when cold vs fully heated.
I can confirm that the bed warps slightly when warm, After seeing another video on youtube I bought a dial clock (mechanical measuring tool) and used it on my Neptune 4 Max to measure it myself. (A dial clock doesn't need to be expensive: only $10 for 0.01 mm resolution)
Before anything heat that bed up to operating temperature and let it soak for 30 minutes once up to temp. All beds flex when heated but it is amplified as the bed gets bigger. Save the headache of running a bed level procedure a hundred times by letting it stabilize with a heat soak. Do this before every print, I also run an auto bed level before every print, these beds are that finicky.
@davetriesthis this is my first printer ever. The hardest part was finding the right code to paste and where to paste it. After that the actual leveling process was super easy. I think a thorough video on how to do it would be awesome for those that are wondering how to do it
Useful information, thanks Dave! I think videos about printing specific items, like cosplay helmets or costume parts, would be really popular. You could include the painting, weathering too.
Honestly these steps aren't much different for any printer of this type. Beds you had to level were the predominant style up until bambu really popularized zero setup systems. The bigger size makes this stuff more important. A small variation on a smaller bed isn't such a big deal but if you're printing across a massive surface tolerances are more important. And this is a first printer for a surprising number of people. The firmware stuff though is all on elegoo. Thank you for the compliment!
@@davetriesthis I'm not referring to general setup, I'm referring to all the extra steps that were done after, the modifications and replacement of stock parts right away just seems to be like a lot when something like the Bambu Labs P1S exists. Sure the build volume is smaller but, seems like a lot less hassle is involved.
Your first video was very helpful. We've had the Max for over 6 months and may have gotten two or three good prints. That's it. We have a Raise3D and a Modix, which both print perfectly. The neptune 4 max is trash. Everything is wrong with it. What were they thinking - imagine what happens when you get 2kg+ of a large print on the bed, only to finally have the Y-axis motor (a cheap nema 17) skip steps and layer shift (ruining a 6 day print), because no one at elegoo considered that a bed-slinger of this size will never work, ever. You can tart this machine with new ball bearing slides on the x and y, replace every piece of crap part, adjust every adjustment, and it still is a POS because of the laws of physics. Elegoo should hire an engineer or two....
While I get your anger, I have two of them and they are now both printing great. I'm on hour 150 on one and about 300 on the other. I've printed 5 of these in my store on them so far. www.etsy.com/listing/1714050426/helldivers-2-rs-422-railgun-cosplay-prop
I significantly improved the quality of my prints by changing out my hot end for a Flowtech, and upgrading the PEI sheet from wam bam. After all the "fixes" I went through to fix my poor bed adhesion, , I think that the Bed and hot end contributed greatly at least in my case. I am finally up and printing again. Your tips were also invaluable in dialing in the printer settings.
LEVELING: Heating the bed for a good 20-25 minutes before leveling helps a LOT. I don't remember if this was your suggestion or someone else, but they checked the distortion of these huge Neptune 4 Max beds from cold to hot, and found it takes a while for these to heat completely and the deformations to stop. Since you will be printing on a hot bed anyway, best to level them when they are completely heated.... and it takes a long time on these.
I've got about 250 hours of print time on my N4M. I didn't have the z-height issue out of the box, so I avoided upgrading firmware due to terrible stories. Finally did it, and man getting the bed level mesh happy again was for some reason so much more difficult. Also had issues where for some reason my previous Orca printer profile (which I hadn't touched other than flow and pressure advance) would freeze clipper and cause a reboot of klipper when it sent the bed mesh load command... Removed printer profile, added again, and it's been fine since. Also FWIW, I haven't seen issues on mine with bed leveling screws moving over time, though those silicone bumpers seem like a good idea. Not sure why nobody talks about putting blue loctite on the threads though.
Because they end up being different sizes even from order to order of the same ones I get a variety pack. You want them to make the bed a bit taller on the edges than the center when all the way at the full size. This is what I buy and usually the second smallest size works. amzn.to/3B8u0Vu
Grid *works*. But for tall items on bed slingers since the head goes back and forth over the same spot it's more likely to make a clump and get hit by the printhead. Other fill can work more randomly so that the filament can cool before going over the same layer.
Hello Dave. Thank you for your videos. My problems have been a little different. My 3D prints have lines as if the extruder is too far. The normal thought is to lower the extruder. After several tries it doesn’t seem to help. I have pictures to show examples and definitely need help.
This is the 8th 3D printer I’ve bought in last 10 years. I’ve never had this much trouble. From the ‘cheap’ Anet to the Anycubic Chiron. It’s been 3 days and I’ve tried everything. Your findings make a lot of sense. But still having same issue. Part starts to print in one part of bed but screws up a bit farther into the print. Can’t seem to get consistent initial layer.
Amazing video. It’s too bad that I saw it after the blob of death!😂 well hopefully Elegoo will quickly reply and send me some new parts! Do you think i should get some extra in stock?
I've been eyeing the 4 Max lately because the price point is pretty spectacular for such a large format but I'm a bit balked by a lot of what I'm seeing about reliability and quality. You've addressed some of the points in this video but I'm wondering if you're still using it and if so, have you stumbled across any other issues? A lot of the negative stuff I'm seeing is 9+ months ago so I'm hoping maybe they've ironed out some of the bugs since then. My current printer is ancient and slow but bulletproof (Wanhao i3 Plus) and much as I'm keen to finally upgrade to a newer platform, I'm going to be heartbroken if I end up with something that doesn't print as well as my old beast. Thanks for the informative video.
I have two of the units as a result of elegoo sending a second one while I was working with them on issues and solutions. I have done zero firmware updates or tweaks since this video. Both run so well I recently did an order from cosplayers for seven of the helldivers railguns. The prints are massive and there's a lot of pieces. Both printers ran night and day for days and not a problem with any print. I've also done about five full size helmets on them since then. The negative comments were warranted 9 months ago but no longer accurate.
First i want to say thank you for the video. I do still have a couple questions. Even though i went through the leveling process it still ask for me to set the Z offset before saving, you mentioned this in the video but did not show this or explain what i am looking for. Do you set the z offset before the leveling and then again after the leveling? do you do it before only or after only? During the leveling process what are you doing to adjust the leveling process...i mean i understand the turning of the wheels but what am i adjusting? Am i suppose to use a piece of paper between the nozzle and the bed? If so what am i looking for, how tight should this be? Is there a certain sequence to leveling the bed, I mean do you just do 1-6 in that order over an over? do you go 1 to 4, then 2 to 5 and then 3 to 6? am i over thinking all of this? It just that you were very specific explaining certain parts of the video so i dont know how crucial my questions are. Thank you.
Thank you for the complement. The comment was to say that after leveling or adjusting the z axis you have to save (floppy drive icon top right corner) or the leveling or z axis wont save. You do the z axis with the sheet of paper first. Then save. Then do the leveling. Then save. No specific order to adjusting the dials. I tend to do it in the order of biggest value away from zero to smallest. (And then save the z axis and level again. Repeat till the values are all close to zero.)
That’s for this video. I’ve been printing for a few years but the Neptune is pushing me to pull out what little hair I have. I’m struggling with the leveling
I have 2 4 maxes. The problem is the bed warps. It's large and doesn't heat evenly. Mine is just slightly over 1.25mm lower in the center than on the edges. Both of mine worked well for about 3 weeks and then the issues started showing up and that's when I noticed the bed mesh profile. Waiting to hear back from Elegoo support.
Interesting mine have stayed relatively consistent, especially with bumpers not springs. I re auto calibrate every few prints and the measurements rarely drift by more than .1 or .2 though I haven't written them down to see if maybe they're going from negative to positive. I definitely have an area in the front most position and the rear most position where the middle points don't seem that connected to the edges which is probably a mild version of what you're seeing. So left might be .03 and right +.02 and the middle is like +.3 which would be consistent with that. However my original max had the bed replaced. And the newer one has very few leveling issues. I wonder if they did a running line change. I wish one could select just the middle to heat for a smaller print.
@@davetriesthis I really hope they will just send me a new bed. If that works, I'll get them to send me a new one for my other printer. I do have a 4 plus coming and it will be interesting to see if the smaller bed has similar issues. I never checked the mesh profile on them when I got them. I was new to Klipper and honestly didn't know I could. They worked flawless for about 2 weeks. Then I started seeing some variations in my first layer across the print. part would be good and some was either too close or too far. And then adhesion issues. Nothing would stick except at the front of the plate. I kept thinking "what did I change". And then i looked at the bed mesh.
That seems consistent with the problems I had too. Their support has been great with me. (And they don't know I'm a RUclipsr working with their PR. I purposefully don't tell them.)
I have a question I am having an issue with balancing the bed I can get the right side of the printer close too zero but the left side seems to be stuck at an uneven level or something as it is way too high for a balanced beding for example the middle left is almost 1.0 and I can’t get it any lower
Just got my 4 max and it’s been frustrating to get going, I was able to print one good size Budda and that’s it , everything else is starting ok then next thing you know is it’s either knocked out the way and blobbing up? 🤯🤯🤯 not sure about firmware update and I’m not online with the printer.
Hello, I seem to be having a problem with my z axis on the gantry, one side the right looking at the machine is tight however the left will not tighten down no matter what I try! I'm at a loss I got this printer a few weeks ago and yet to get a print out of it due to leveling/tramming issues. I feel that my Enders are way better... please help.
Can't a cover be added to the board/wires on the extruder to protect it from the filament blob? Seems like a poor design to leave those wires exposed like that.
Many companies put a silicone sock over the wires. The wires do need to connect to the print head, one of them is the heating element wire and one is the thermistor that measures temp. But yes they can be put in an enclosure. It won't eliminate blobs but it will eliminate the wires getting damaged. Bambu is one of the companies that has a covered filament heater and related wires.
What do i do if i was able to install the updates on the printer via the usb drive but now I'm trying to install the update with the micro sd card and it is just giving me the elegoo logo and the two spinning wheels.
Does the Neptune 4 Plus have the same issue? I just got a Blob of death on my Neptune 4 Plus, which I've only owned for a couple months, my first printer, and I found these videos. I really wish I had found them earlier!
Thanks for the great video. So after tuned and working what do you think of the printer. Should I continue looking at this printer or another model you recommend over this one.
I've run probably 200 hours of prints across two of the Max and they are nearly flawless. One print had a weird y axis alignment issue but I am pretty sure it was the slicer. The only weird thing is that the filament runout sensor doesn't always work. So usually it pauses when out. Sometimes or it doesn't.stop when the filament is out. I think it's based on what screen the printer is on in the controller when I print. But now I just swap filament out before I go to bed. They really are great machines now.
Just recently started having really annoying under extrusion and smearing issues on my original Neptune 4 (brand new filament). Firmware confusingly says "V1.53", and I have yet to run a fix on it or the screen but do you think firmware is the cause of these issues? I've run bed leveling so many times I'm blue in the face.
@@davetriesthis Yep 2 dried out spools and today I used a brand new spool out of the bag. It’s like the Z axis is just all over the place. I manually level until I feel the paper drag and then do the auto level but the first layer corners of a square print are all out of whack. Either smearing, misaligning, gapped or under extruding.
Seems to always be an issue with 90° corners. I’m just using their standard Fine/Normal/Extra Fast slicer profiles with no mods (just to ensure that none of my tweaking was causing the issues).
I suffered from a blob of death on my max, and I replaced the hot-end, and it works fine when I boot it up, but now whenever I level the printer I cannot hit confirm on the values at the end. Turning the printer off and back on will sometimes fix this, but no matter what the screen freezes following the leveling process. Do you know how to fix this?
bom dia! o nivelamento automático não funciona ate o final, ela cobre 90% da área, mas na parte de traz ela simplesmente para e chega ate a dobrar a mesa no canto superior a direita, em seguida aparece o aviso: no trigger on probe after ful I moviment = nenhum gatilho na sonda após movimento completo. como resolver isso.
First printer for me and honestly the worst experience ever, blob of death, followed by a broken thermistor, bought a full new hotend and constantly getting errors that extruder not heating at expected rate. I've seen nothing but complaints about the Neptune 4. When it was printing it was very good but I've spent more time opening it up and replacing parts than printing.
Amazing video! I have one question. The MIDDLE front of our printer bed (on the 4 plus) is registering -0.13 | -0.15 with the sides measuring around +0.05. Everywhere else on bed is basically perfect. Is that a reason for concern and is there a way to fix it?
Good eye. The middle is a bit raised compared to the bumpers. I could have used taller bumpers and it would have evened that out better. But no, have no problems with that one spot. Seems to be mapping it well. Thanks for the compliments!
is there any value in going through the OpenNept4une upgrade on a Neptune 4 max. The version of Klipper that ships from Elegoo only seems to work for certain features. Bed_mesh and screws tilt adjust has been great but the probe calibrate will. not save the z offset at all for me, I have to go through their LCD interface and even that seems as if its hit or miss.
Personally I wouldn't muck with the installed klipper. That could break and leave you stranded. The axis offset issue was solved for me with the first firmware update. Which firmware are you on?
Love the video but I want a printer that prints not something I need to work on looks like I'm going to have to pay a little bit more just so I can not do the extra stuff just to make it do its job
I have gone thru 4 print heads losing them all to the blob of death. I have tried so many different things from making sure my bed is level to running test prints after every print and updated the firmware over and over multiple times but I still get the blob of death after about 20 minutes of run time. Please help me. I have contacted elegoo and they never contact me back. I am getting to the point of sending back and taking a lose on the printer because it won't work for me. I have a neptune 4 plus but it has the same print head as the max
I got the neptune 4 pro and i can't keep it level. The four corner screws keep coming loose on me. I just bought this printer a week ago. I did the frimware update and change it from standard to professional bed leveling. I sat there for two hours leveling the bed and the print i did came out great and i when to print again and it started to hit the print and rip it off the bed and the corner justments was off again. I did buy some silicone to replace the springs to see if that helps. Thanks for making good videos.
I have a neptune 4 max and was having the same problem. So I went out and got some 4mm×0.7 nylon insert lock nuts to use instead of the leveling wheels. It took some time, and a few choice swear words, but now I've got it tuned in and I haven't had to re-level my bed at all. Well worth the time. As a side note, bc the bed on mine is so big I had to let it heat up to 60°C and leave it for a half hour to get rid of bed warp that occurs as it heats up. So it was quite hot when I was leveling it with the locknuts. You shouldn't have to do that though, if you persue this course of action
My 4 Pro did the same thing. Print head and bed were moving so fast it actually shook the wheels until they fell off. I know you’d probably say print slower, but I didn’t buy a 300mm/sec printer just to have to print at Ender 3 speeds 😊
Elegoo sent me a new print head because of the blob of death but now the new nozzle tends to smoke and spray out filament. Meaning I’m not getting a good even flow it’s just spraying it like cotton candy. Thoughts?
My Neptune 4 Max has been acting like the bed is too high on one side and too low on the other no matter what the mesh looks like. This causes the nozzle to be too close to the bed on the left side and too high on the right side. it's really weird. I updated the firmware just like in this video and I tried many different slicers. I tried for 3 months to fix it at my college's maker space with the 3d print people there. I just sent Ellegoo an email with all of the relevant data they asked for. Hopefully I can get mine printing larger prints. It can only do smaller prints right now because of this issue. If you have any advice I would appreciate it.
The 4 Max is 20%+ off right now through various big sellers including Amazon!! We wanted a large print bed for our first 3D Printer and despite the software issues at launch (which is normal in the electronics world, everything we can find says the latest firmware updates released this year fixed all that.) HELP!!! So, is it just we are new? ... or is there something special about the Neptune? For the life of us, we are attempting to needle filament into the Nozzle but it won't stick. (We tested moving the Nozzle around after we noticed how difficult it was to feed to the Breakage Detector but the filament just slips out the second the Nozzle moves around.)
I've had mine for over a month and it still won't print. The unit defaults to 140 C nozzle temp every time. They are not worth your wasted time. Elegoo support is a 3 day email turnaround that I found generally useless. Mine delivered with firmware 3 updates behind the latest and it's a month old! Don't waste your money. Go buy a Bambu. They work!
So, if I'm looking for something this size, and I don't want a loosely put together science project with some sub-par parts and no QC (but great customer service) , do you have an idea for one that works well out of the box? I'd like to spend more time in Fusion and less time fiddling.
Nope. There's nothing else out there. The alternative is the 3 Max but it's about 4x slower. I've been running my two 4 Max non stop since this video. I've done serval multi-day helmets. They're good after these updates.
Hey Dave, I just bought the Elegoo Neptune 4 max, and I'm having some issues, I'm thinking that I may be having this trouble because I did not install a new version of cura. Is that required to install the cura software that comes wth the printer, if you already have it? The printer I had before was the Elegoo Neptue 4 Pro. I 'm just trying to figure this out, I'm kinda new to 3d printing. The issue I'm having with the 4max is adhesion and level problems. I think I'm just going to go over your video again to be sure I have done everything as you say. Thanks for these great videos, I hope this does the trick!
Elegoo finally updated their Elegoo-specific Cura from 4.8 to 5.6. It's on their website. Use that. You could also use Orca but I have found in my initial tests that cura with its native support is better
@@davetriesthis Hello Again, Dave. I have an issue with the print bed. While leveling, it will auto-level the first 3 levels and then make a grinding noise on the left side. Do you have any suggestions on how to fix this? I am still unable to print anything, and I have done all firmware updates. I am at a loss as to how to fix this.
@@kristeenbeck2609reading thru the comments setting up my max I'm amazed this guy can respond to all the inquiries. Free tech support warrants a tip or gratitude. No problems yet. Haven't sent a print. Ill probably join the hey Dave club soon...
I just got a N4Max for work, I would've never expected a RETAILED product to require going to such extremes of out-of-factory tweaks to get decent results, yet alone the ones advertised by the company . My prints are literal morse code, the extruder can't do a full line without leaving gaps **everywhere** I am seriously considering a refund, with a ticket to consumer protection office if I have to sink more manhour$ than the cost of the actual hardware to get results.
@@davetriesthis if it's sold in your country there's a regulatory agency somewhere you can contact to make it stop if it's being done with deceptive marketing tactics
@@Scott4271 don't get me wrong, I picked up the makerbot cupcake back in the days so I'm used to all that nonsense. then i got the ender 6 with the inevitable direct drive sidegrade. I just wish companies would put some sort of warning label that a degree of troubleshooting will be required on the early batches, like the afforementioned did.
I was so enthusiastic to buy this printer model. After a month of use all hell begun... After a blob of death everything went pear shaped. I've got the replacement print head no doubt, but the next one couple of days later... I was so angry, I've just throw it to the bin... No replacement from this company. Since the installation and re-levelling of the latest pre-assembled extruder kit I was not able to print a single usable piece. As the latest repeated fails, I've checked the bed temp and found that: it is all over the place and some parts even 10C degree lower than the set level. I wasted countless hours and countless filament reels with this junk of a printer. Not happy at all! Wouldn't ever buy another elegoo in any shape or form.
Maybe. It's what most people should do anyhow. Update firmware, level bed properly. Most people don't though. It's more important to note because many people buying this printer are newcomers to printing and so don't know a lot of this. But if this feels like a lot of work you would not have loved the early days of 3D printing.
Yeah I started printing only few months ago. Id love for you to make a more detailed video on exactly how to do these steps. You only briefly talk about them. Can you make a longer video showing everything how to do these steps? I'm thinking about getting this machine but all these steps spook me. @@davetriesthis
You are a blessing. I had been having may issues with my 4 max and ended up realizing it had broken x & y sensors. Got the replacement machine now and will setup to your specs. Thank you very much for sharing the information
I have a 4 pro that cant seem to get past the 1 or 2nd layer. The printer pulls the raft off the build plate and everything sticks to the hot end. I've gone back to the cura 5.6 from elegoo's site for slicing, cleaned the build plate with water, releveled the bed 4 or 5 times and swapped the tip. The only improvements i saw was the relevel which only lasts till the 2nd layer. Any ideas what else I should try to get back on track?
@@davetriesthis Just water, I ended up re-leveling after pre-heating the bed for 10 minutes and got a successful print. Thank you for responding. Watching the video now :P. I also turned off the secondary cooling fan now that I think about it.
Man, id love to get help getting mine swtup and tuned to be this great, being new this hobby is frustrating, if you ever have time to help me out that would be great!
I let mine bed and nozzle heat up to temperature then leveled the bed. Now it been working great. I let it heat up too and do the auto bed leveling now before I print. Few extra minutes seems to help. Thanks.
I SO wish I had seen this video a month ago!
Coming from Ender 3, this huge machine is completely different world.
I experienced the blob of death very early on.
Fortunately, the entire head assembly is surprisingly inexpensive.
Still, I was having horrible issues trying to calibrate.
With the new head, apparently as the original, the nozzle was loose and it took me forever to look at this thing I just "assumed" was good.
"Professional mode levelling" .......I SHOULD have just chose this option off the bat!
So much great information in such a relatively short video.
Thank you for taking the time to supply this information!
Your guide for leveling the bed helped alot, another tip is to let the bed heat up for 20-30mins before leveling and printing. I've notice how much the plate level points changes when cold vs fully heated.
Yeah I wish I had mentioned that. It's one of the reasons why I run the leveling over and over since the bed stays warms between each leveling.
@@davetriesthis Add it in the video! It's such a huge thing it's worthy of the effort to edit the video!
I came to write the same thing in the comments :)
I can confirm that the bed warps slightly when warm, After seeing another video on youtube I bought a dial clock (mechanical measuring tool) and used it on my Neptune 4 Max to measure it myself. (A dial clock doesn't need to be expensive: only $10 for 0.01 mm resolution)
Before anything heat that bed up to operating temperature and let it soak for 30 minutes once up to temp. All beds flex when heated but it is amplified as the bed gets bigger. Save the headache of running a bed level procedure a hundred times by letting it stabilize with a heat soak. Do this before every print, I also run an auto bed level before every print, these beds are that finicky.
Yeah I pulled out a section on bed temps as it was going long. But good points.
Screws tilt calculate is a game changer for bed leveling.
Yup. Though I don't think most new users would find it as easy as the auto leveling process.
@davetriesthis this is my first printer ever. The hardest part was finding the right code to paste and where to paste it. After that the actual leveling process was super easy. I think a thorough video on how to do it would be awesome for those that are wondering how to do it
Could you please provide some source about this leveling technique? Thank you!
@@John-of3ur also have bed leveler 5000 for Neptune printers
Thanks for the video. I just unboxed my new 4 max today and your tips really helped. Just finished printing a test benchy, it came out very nice
I'm so glad to hear that. Thanks for letting me know!
Useful information, thanks Dave! I think videos about printing specific items, like cosplay helmets or costume parts, would be really popular. You could include the painting, weathering too.
Thanks Gordon!
This is a great video, it just seems like a lot for something you should just be able to buy, dial in, and then print on.
Honestly these steps aren't much different for any printer of this type. Beds you had to level were the predominant style up until bambu really popularized zero setup systems.
The bigger size makes this stuff more important. A small variation on a smaller bed isn't such a big deal but if you're printing across a massive surface tolerances are more important. And this is a first printer for a surprising number of people.
The firmware stuff though is all on elegoo.
Thank you for the compliment!
@@davetriesthis I'm not referring to general setup, I'm referring to all the extra steps that were done after, the modifications and replacement of stock parts right away just seems to be like a lot when something like the Bambu Labs P1S exists. Sure the build volume is smaller but, seems like a lot less hassle is involved.
Your first video was very helpful. We've had the Max for over 6 months and may have gotten two or three good prints. That's it. We have a Raise3D and a Modix, which both print perfectly. The neptune 4 max is trash. Everything is wrong with it. What were they thinking - imagine what happens when you get 2kg+ of a large print on the bed, only to finally have the Y-axis motor (a cheap nema 17) skip steps and layer shift (ruining a 6 day print), because no one at elegoo considered that a bed-slinger of this size will never work, ever. You can tart this machine with new ball bearing slides on the x and y, replace every piece of crap part, adjust every adjustment, and it still is a POS because of the laws of physics. Elegoo should hire an engineer or two....
While I get your anger, I have two of them and they are now both printing great. I'm on hour 150 on one and about 300 on the other.
I've printed 5 of these in my store on them so far. www.etsy.com/listing/1714050426/helldivers-2-rs-422-railgun-cosplay-prop
Those r cool af
Hmm. Can you explain then why the laws of physics are allowing my 4 max to print perfectly? 🤔
I significantly improved the quality of my prints by changing out my hot end for a Flowtech, and upgrading the PEI sheet from wam bam. After all the "fixes" I went through to fix my poor bed adhesion, , I think that the Bed and hot end contributed greatly at least in my case. I am finally up and printing again. Your tips were also invaluable in dialing in the printer settings.
Thanks for the good words. I'll check the pei plate. One of mine needs to have glue 100% or thr time and one doesn't. An upgrade would be helpful.
@@davetriesthis Excellent, glad to hear it. the PEI bed that shipped with mine has always felt inadequate as far as grip was concerned
mines been great right out of the box ive never had any problems
Awesome. That's what I like to hear.
LEVELING: Heating the bed for a good 20-25 minutes before leveling helps a LOT. I don't remember if this was your suggestion or someone else, but they checked the distortion of these huge Neptune 4 Max beds from cold to hot, and found it takes a while for these to heat completely and the deformations to stop. Since you will be printing on a hot bed anyway, best to level them when they are completely heated.... and it takes a long time on these.
@@bluebeast440 I'm sure you saw the same video I did from functional print friday.
I've got about 250 hours of print time on my N4M. I didn't have the z-height issue out of the box, so I avoided upgrading firmware due to terrible stories. Finally did it, and man getting the bed level mesh happy again was for some reason so much more difficult. Also had issues where for some reason my previous Orca printer profile (which I hadn't touched other than flow and pressure advance) would freeze clipper and cause a reboot of klipper when it sent the bed mesh load command... Removed printer profile, added again, and it's been fine since.
Also FWIW, I haven't seen issues on mine with bed leveling screws moving over time, though those silicone bumpers seem like a good idea. Not sure why nobody talks about putting blue loctite on the threads though.
Great video. This helped me dial in this printer and put it to work.
I'm really glad that it helped!
Thanks Dave!
Thank you, anonymous
1. Install OpenNept4une, forget elegoo firmware
2. Do assisted tramming
3. Do adaptive mesh each print
4. Serious upgrade: eddy current probe.
Assisted tramming is the best.
Are there still problems with the software, or have they fixed it since then?
have they
I see nothing on what silicon bed spacers are needed, how long are these?
Because they end up being different sizes even from order to order of the same ones I get a variety pack. You want them to make the bed a bit taller on the edges than the center when all the way at the full size.
This is what I buy and usually the second smallest size works.
amzn.to/3B8u0Vu
Wait so grid support doesn’t work 😢 I love grid it comes out so easy on my bambulab
Grid *works*. But for tall items on bed slingers since the head goes back and forth over the same spot it's more likely to make a clump and get hit by the printhead. Other fill can work more randomly so that the filament can cool before going over the same layer.
Hello Dave. Thank you for your videos. My problems have been a little different. My 3D prints have lines as if the extruder is too far. The normal thought is to lower the extruder. After several tries it doesn’t seem to help. I have pictures to show examples and definitely need help.
I have this printer. It taught me a valuable lesson. Ill never buy anything Elegoo ever again. NOTHING but problem after problem.
This is the 8th 3D printer I’ve bought in last 10 years. I’ve never had this much trouble. From the ‘cheap’ Anet to the Anycubic Chiron. It’s been 3 days and I’ve tried everything. Your findings make a lot of sense. But still having same issue. Part starts to print in one part of bed but screws up a bit farther into the print. Can’t seem to get consistent initial layer.
Just got my blob of death today!
Welcome to the club'
@@davetriesthis and they wont replace it (elegoo) as its past its 6 months warranty now, which I thought was a year.
Amazing video. It’s too bad that I saw it after the blob of death!😂 well hopefully Elegoo will quickly reply and send me some new parts! Do you think i should get some extra in stock?
Now that they're available from Amazon and places I've purchased a few. Better safe than sorry
I've been eyeing the 4 Max lately because the price point is pretty spectacular for such a large format but I'm a bit balked by a lot of what I'm seeing about reliability and quality. You've addressed some of the points in this video but I'm wondering if you're still using it and if so, have you stumbled across any other issues? A lot of the negative stuff I'm seeing is 9+ months ago so I'm hoping maybe they've ironed out some of the bugs since then. My current printer is ancient and slow but bulletproof (Wanhao i3 Plus) and much as I'm keen to finally upgrade to a newer platform, I'm going to be heartbroken if I end up with something that doesn't print as well as my old beast. Thanks for the informative video.
I have two of the units as a result of elegoo sending a second one while I was working with them on issues and solutions.
I have done zero firmware updates or tweaks since this video.
Both run so well I recently did an order from cosplayers for seven of the helldivers railguns. The prints are massive and there's a lot of pieces.
Both printers ran night and day for days and not a problem with any print.
I've also done about five full size helmets on them since then.
The negative comments were warranted 9 months ago but no longer accurate.
@@davetriesthis Thank you for this it really helps!
First i want to say thank you for the video. I do still have a couple questions. Even though i went through the leveling process it still ask for me to set the Z offset before saving, you mentioned this in the video but did not show this or explain what i am looking for. Do you set the z offset before the leveling and then again after the leveling? do you do it before only or after only? During the leveling process what are you doing to adjust the leveling process...i mean i understand the turning of the wheels but what am i adjusting? Am i suppose to use a piece of paper between the nozzle and the bed? If so what am i looking for, how tight should this be? Is there a certain sequence to leveling the bed, I mean do you just do 1-6 in that order over an over? do you go 1 to 4, then 2 to 5 and then 3 to 6? am i over thinking all of this? It just that you were very specific explaining certain parts of the video so i dont know how crucial my questions are. Thank you.
Thank you for the complement. The comment was to say that after leveling or adjusting the z axis you have to save (floppy drive icon top right corner) or the leveling or z axis wont save.
You do the z axis with the sheet of paper first. Then save. Then do the leveling. Then save.
No specific order to adjusting the dials. I tend to do it in the order of biggest value away from zero to smallest.
(And then save the z axis and level again. Repeat till the values are all close to zero.)
That’s for this video. I’ve been printing for a few years but the Neptune is pushing me to pull out what little hair I have. I’m struggling with the leveling
Keeping people from losing hair was one of the key goals of this channel!
Excellent video sir!
Thank you!
I have 2 4 maxes. The problem is the bed warps. It's large and doesn't heat evenly. Mine is just slightly over 1.25mm lower in the center than on the edges. Both of mine worked well for about 3 weeks and then the issues started showing up and that's when I noticed the bed mesh profile. Waiting to hear back from Elegoo support.
Interesting mine have stayed relatively consistent, especially with bumpers not springs. I re auto calibrate every few prints and the measurements rarely drift by more than .1 or .2 though I haven't written them down to see if maybe they're going from negative to positive.
I definitely have an area in the front most position and the rear most position where the middle points don't seem that connected to the edges which is probably a mild version of what you're seeing.
So left might be .03 and right +.02 and the middle is like +.3 which would be consistent with that.
However my original max had the bed replaced. And the newer one has very few leveling issues. I wonder if they did a running line change.
I wish one could select just the middle to heat for a smaller print.
@@davetriesthis I really hope they will just send me a new bed. If that works, I'll get them to send me a new one for my other printer. I do have a 4 plus coming and it will be interesting to see if the smaller bed has similar issues. I never checked the mesh profile on them when I got them. I was new to Klipper and honestly didn't know I could. They worked flawless for about 2 weeks. Then I started seeing some variations in my first layer across the print. part would be good and some was either too close or too far. And then adhesion issues. Nothing would stick except at the front of the plate. I kept thinking "what did I change". And then i looked at the bed mesh.
That seems consistent with the problems I had too. Their support has been great with me. (And they don't know I'm a RUclipsr working with their PR. I purposefully don't tell them.)
Great video, almost got a 4 Max. Ended up buying a Sovol SV08, it's likely to have its own set of problems.
Circle back and let me know how you like it. And thanks for the compliment
Hi, i tried setting up my 4 max. When i did the leveling on point 3 amd 4 the nozzle is outside the bed, how to fix this problem?😊
I have had a full bed print. But it wasnt stick on bed at the border area. How can i fix that?
I have a question I am having an issue with balancing the bed I can get the right side of the printer close too zero but the left side seems to be stuck at an uneven level or something as it is way too high for a balanced beding for example the middle left is almost 1.0 and I can’t get it any lower
Just got my 4 max and it’s been frustrating to get going, I was able to print one good size Budda and that’s it , everything else is starting ok then next thing you know is it’s either knocked out the way and blobbing up? 🤯🤯🤯 not sure about firmware update and I’m not online with the printer.
Buying mine now
Let me know how it goes
Hello, I seem to be having a problem with my z axis on the gantry, one side the right looking at the machine is tight however the left will not tighten down no matter what I try! I'm at a loss I got this printer a few weeks ago and yet to get a print out of it due to leveling/tramming issues. I feel that my Enders are way better... please help.
Can't a cover be added to the board/wires on the extruder to protect it from the filament blob? Seems like a poor design to leave those wires exposed like that.
Many companies put a silicone sock over the wires. The wires do need to connect to the print head, one of them is the heating element wire and one is the thermistor that measures temp.
But yes they can be put in an enclosure. It won't eliminate blobs but it will eliminate the wires getting damaged.
Bambu is one of the companies that has a covered filament heater and related wires.
What do i do if i was able to install the updates on the printer via the usb drive but now I'm trying to install the update with the micro sd card and it is just giving me the elegoo logo and the two spinning wheels.
Try the microsd card install again. Sometimes it takes more than one pass.
Does the Neptune 4 Plus have the same issue? I just got a Blob of death on my Neptune 4 Plus, which I've only owned for a couple months, my first printer, and I found these videos. I really wish I had found them earlier!
It has the same issues as the Max. Fewer people bought it though and the larger size of the max exaggerates the issues.
Thanks for the great video. So after tuned and working what do you think of the printer. Should I continue looking at this printer or another model you recommend over this one.
I've run probably 200 hours of prints across two of the Max and they are nearly flawless. One print had a weird y axis alignment issue but I am pretty sure it was the slicer.
The only weird thing is that the filament runout sensor doesn't always work. So usually it pauses when out. Sometimes or it doesn't.stop when the filament is out. I think it's based on what screen the printer is on in the controller when I print. But now I just swap filament out before I go to bed.
They really are great machines now.
Just recently started having really annoying under extrusion and smearing issues on my original Neptune 4 (brand new filament). Firmware confusingly says "V1.53", and I have yet to run a fix on it or the screen but do you think firmware is the cause of these issues? I've run bed leveling so many times I'm blue in the face.
I don't think it's firmware that should be the right one. Did you dry the filament or test a different spool?
@@davetriesthis Yep 2 dried out spools and today I used a brand new spool out of the bag. It’s like the Z axis is just all over the place. I manually level until I feel the paper drag and then do the auto level but the first layer corners of a square print are all out of whack. Either smearing, misaligning, gapped or under extruding.
Seems to always be an issue with 90° corners. I’m just using their standard Fine/Normal/Extra Fast slicer profiles with no mods (just to ensure that none of my tweaking was causing the issues).
I suffered from a blob of death on my max, and I replaced the hot-end, and it works fine when I boot it up, but now whenever I level the printer I cannot hit confirm on the values at the end. Turning the printer off and back on will sometimes fix this, but no matter what the screen freezes following the leveling process. Do you know how to fix this?
bom dia! o nivelamento automático não funciona ate o final, ela cobre 90% da área, mas na parte de traz ela simplesmente para e chega ate a dobrar a mesa no canto superior a direita, em seguida aparece o aviso: no trigger on probe after ful I moviment = nenhum gatilho na sonda após movimento completo. como resolver isso.
First printer for me and honestly the worst experience ever, blob of death, followed by a broken thermistor, bought a full new hotend and constantly getting errors that extruder not heating at expected rate. I've seen nothing but complaints about the Neptune 4. When it was printing it was very good but I've spent more time opening it up and replacing parts than printing.
Amazing video! I have one question. The MIDDLE front of our printer bed (on the 4 plus) is registering -0.13 | -0.15 with the sides measuring around +0.05. Everywhere else on bed is basically perfect. Is that a reason for concern and is there a way to fix it?
Good eye. The middle is a bit raised compared to the bumpers. I could have used taller bumpers and it would have evened that out better. But no, have no problems with that one spot. Seems to be mapping it well.
Thanks for the compliments!
Love the video
Oh, thanks!
is there any value in going through the OpenNept4une upgrade on a Neptune 4 max. The version of Klipper that ships from Elegoo only seems to work for certain features. Bed_mesh and screws tilt adjust has been great but the probe calibrate will. not save the z offset at all for me, I have to go through their LCD interface and even that seems as if its hit or miss.
Personally I wouldn't muck with the installed klipper. That could break and leave you stranded.
The axis offset issue was solved for me with the first firmware update. Which firmware are you on?
@@davetriesthis also on the latest version that is available. Updated the LCD and the Main system firmware
I'm having trouble with the n4m firmware, I get a message saying MCU shutdown, please help
Usually it'll work if you redo the firmware upgrade.
@davetriesthis I've tried the ones from elegoo site and doesn't seem to work, so I'm kinda at a loss.
Love the video but I want a printer that prints not something I need to work on looks like I'm going to have to pay a little bit more just so I can not do the extra stuff just to make it do its job
Birthday sales on all Bambu Lab products. triesth.is/bambubirthday
I have gone thru 4 print heads losing them all to the blob of death. I have tried so many different things from making sure my bed is level to running test prints after every print and updated the firmware over and over multiple times but I still get the blob of death after about 20 minutes of run time. Please help me. I have contacted elegoo and they never contact me back. I am getting to the point of sending back and taking a lose on the printer because it won't work for me. I have a neptune 4 plus but it has the same print head as the max
I got the neptune 4 pro and i can't keep it level. The four corner screws keep coming loose on me. I just bought this printer a week ago. I did the frimware update and change it from standard to professional bed leveling. I sat there for two hours leveling the bed and the print i did came out great and i when to print again and it started to hit the print and rip it off the bed and the corner justments was off again. I did buy some silicone to replace the springs to see if that helps. Thanks for making good videos.
I have a neptune 4 max and was having the same problem. So I went out and got some 4mm×0.7 nylon insert lock nuts to use instead of the leveling wheels. It took some time, and a few choice swear words, but now I've got it tuned in and I haven't had to re-level my bed at all. Well worth the time.
As a side note, bc the bed on mine is so big I had to let it heat up to 60°C and leave it for a half hour to get rid of bed warp that occurs as it heats up. So it was quite hot when I was leveling it with the locknuts. You shouldn't have to do that though, if you persue this course of action
Thanks for the comment. When you say the screws come out, do you mean the knobs under the bed?
My 4 Pro did the same thing. Print head and bed were moving so fast it actually shook the wheels until they fell off. I know you’d probably say print slower, but I didn’t buy a 300mm/sec printer just to have to print at Ender 3 speeds 😊
Elegoo sent me a new print head because of the blob of death but now the new nozzle tends to smoke and spray out filament. Meaning I’m not getting a good even flow it’s just spraying it like cotton candy. Thoughts?
Well neither of those things should happen. What temp is this happening at?
My Neptune 4 Max has been acting like the bed is too high on one side and too low on the other no matter what the mesh looks like. This causes the nozzle to be too close to the bed on the left side and too high on the right side. it's really weird. I updated the firmware just like in this video and I tried many different slicers. I tried for 3 months to fix it at my college's maker space with the 3d print people there. I just sent Ellegoo an email with all of the relevant data they asked for. Hopefully I can get mine printing larger prints. It can only do smaller prints right now because of this issue. If you have any advice I would appreciate it.
It sounds like you diagnosed it, the bed isn't level. They sent me a new bed for one of them and that was much better than the bed I replaced.
The 4 Max is 20%+ off right now through various big sellers including Amazon!! We wanted a large print bed for our first 3D Printer and despite the software issues at launch (which is normal in the electronics world, everything we can find says the latest firmware updates released this year fixed all that.)
HELP!!! So, is it just we are new? ... or is there something special about the Neptune? For the life of us, we are attempting to needle filament into the Nozzle but it won't stick. (We tested moving the Nozzle around after we noticed how difficult it was to feed to the Breakage Detector but the filament just slips out the second the Nozzle moves around.)
Do you have the nozzle heated up?
couldn't find the silicone bumpers :(
They're in the Amazon storefront but here is a direct link amzn.to/4bwk7y4
On the screen software update do you put the folder on card or just the file?
You put just the file on the card. The tft file
@@davetriesthis thanks finally someone answers a question lol
Neither one of the flash drives work. All I get is an error message.
You can reformat them and reinstall the software. They have to be formatted as FAT or exfat
I've had mine for over a month and it still won't print. The unit defaults to 140 C nozzle temp every time. They are not worth your wasted time. Elegoo support is a 3 day email turnaround that I found generally useless. Mine delivered with firmware 3 updates behind the latest and it's a month old! Don't waste your money. Go buy a Bambu. They work!
Do these updates work on the Neptune 4 Pro?
Yes though there aren't wheels under the bed for leveling so you can skip the part about dialing that in.
Is the printer with this bed size that doesn’t require all this 🤦🏻♂️
The ender 3 v3 plus isn't quite this size but has been less trouble configuring.
But my Neptune 4 max work perfectly now.
@@davetriesthis is the Neptune 4 max better than the K1 max?
My Max keeps defaulting to 140 degrees on the nozzle. I keep changing it and when a print starts, it blinks back to 140. Infuriating!
Did you do the firmware update?
So, if I'm looking for something this size, and I don't want a loosely put together science project with some sub-par parts and no QC (but great customer service) , do you have an idea for one that works well out of the box? I'd like to spend more time in Fusion and less time fiddling.
Nope. There's nothing else out there. The alternative is the 3 Max but it's about 4x slower.
I've been running my two 4 Max non stop since this video. I've done serval multi-day helmets. They're good after these updates.
had constant issues with my first n4m, on my 2nd entire replacement aaaand now I have more issues and new ones too, so sick of this trash.
Hey Dave, I just bought the Elegoo Neptune 4 max, and I'm having some issues, I'm thinking that I may be having this trouble because I did not install a new version of cura. Is that required to install the cura software that comes wth the printer, if you already have it? The printer I had before was the Elegoo Neptue 4 Pro. I 'm just trying to figure this out, I'm kinda new to 3d printing. The issue I'm having with the 4max is adhesion and level problems. I think I'm just going to go over your video again to be sure I have done everything as you say. Thanks for these great videos, I hope this does the trick!
Elegoo finally updated their Elegoo-specific Cura from 4.8 to 5.6. It's on their website. Use that. You could also use Orca but I have found in my initial tests that cura with its native support is better
@@davetriesthis Hello Again, Dave. I have an issue with the print bed. While leveling, it will auto-level the first 3 levels and then make a grinding noise on the left side. Do you have any suggestions on how to fix this? I am still unable to print anything, and I have done all firmware updates. I am at a loss as to how to fix this.
@@kristeenbeck2609reading thru the comments setting up my max I'm amazed this guy can respond to all the inquiries. Free tech support warrants a tip or gratitude. No problems yet. Haven't sent a print. Ill probably join the hey Dave club soon...
i just updated my firmware and now i cant level my bed.
I just got a N4Max for work, I would've never expected a RETAILED product to require going to such extremes of out-of-factory tweaks to get decent results, yet alone the ones advertised by the company .
My prints are literal morse code, the extruder can't do a full line without leaving gaps **everywhere**
I am seriously considering a refund, with a ticket to consumer protection office if I have to sink more manhour$ than the cost of the actual hardware to get results.
I don't think most consumer protection agency's have any control over companies in China?
@@davetriesthis if it's sold in your country there's a regulatory agency somewhere you can contact to make it stop if it's being done with deceptive marketing tactics
It’s like the early days of PC’s, lots of tinkering and frustration.
For an easy to set up and easy to use printer Bambu Labs are excellent
@@Scott4271 don't get me wrong, I picked up the makerbot cupcake back in the days so I'm used to all that nonsense. then i got the ender 6 with the inevitable direct drive sidegrade. I just wish companies would put some sort of warning label that a degree of troubleshooting will be required on the early batches, like the afforementioned did.
I was so enthusiastic to buy this printer model. After a month of use all hell begun... After a blob of death everything went pear shaped. I've got the replacement print head no doubt, but the next one couple of days later... I was so angry, I've just throw it to the bin... No replacement from this company. Since the installation and re-levelling of the latest pre-assembled extruder kit I was not able to print a single usable piece. As the latest repeated fails, I've checked the bed temp and found that: it is all over the place and some parts even 10C degree lower than the set level. I wasted countless hours and countless filament reels with this junk of a printer. Not happy at all! Wouldn't ever buy another elegoo in any shape or form.
this seems to much work lol
Maybe. It's what most people should do anyhow. Update firmware, level bed properly. Most people don't though.
It's more important to note because many people buying this printer are newcomers to printing and so don't know a lot of this.
But if this feels like a lot of work you would not have loved the early days of 3D printing.
Yeah I started printing only few months ago. Id love for you to make a more detailed video on exactly how to do these steps. You only briefly talk about them. Can you make a longer video showing everything how to do these steps? I'm thinking about getting this machine but all these steps spook me. @@davetriesthis
I've decided this printer is a failure. Nothing but problems. On my avoid list.
Sounds good. I've just printed four full size helmets that are 3 day prints each so I've warmed to them. :)
You are a blessing. I had been having may issues with my 4 max and ended up realizing it had broken x & y sensors. Got the replacement machine now and will setup to your specs. Thank you very much for sharing the information
how did it go?
Are you running any aftermarket upgrades? Or is this a stock Elegoo; other than the bumpers
Just the bumpers. I am just replacing the print surface on one now as sone areas the filament sort of fused with the texture.
Just got my Neptune 4 max! Great video.
Awesome! Thank you!
I have a 4 pro that cant seem to get past the 1 or 2nd layer. The printer pulls the raft off the build plate and everything sticks to the hot end. I've gone back to the cura 5.6 from elegoo's site for slicing, cleaned the build plate with water, releveled the bed 4 or 5 times and swapped the tip. The only improvements i saw was the relevel which only lasts till the 2nd layer. Any ideas what else I should try to get back on track?
I should watch the video before I post. Just frustrated the printer worked so well out of the box.
Did you wash with boat soap and water? And not bar soap. Dish soap like dawn. Removes the oils.
But you probably figured this out from the video?
@@davetriesthis Just water, I ended up re-leveling after pre-heating the bed for 10 minutes and got a successful print. Thank you for responding. Watching the video now :P. I also turned off the secondary cooling fan now that I think about it.
Man, id love to get help getting mine swtup and tuned to be this great, being new this hobby is frustrating, if you ever have time to help me out that would be great!
Not sure I have much more to offer than what's in the video. Anything specific causing issues
I let mine bed and nozzle heat up to temperature then leveled the bed. Now it been working great. I let it heat up too and do the auto bed leveling now before I print. Few extra minutes seems to help. Thanks.
Glad it helped!!!
Are there any 4 max prusa profiles out there. Orca is not doing it for me.
Elegoo released Elegoo cura 5.6. It's got profiles for all the Elegoo printers. You can grab it on their support page.
@@davetriesthis so no prusa?