Malyan M180 3D Printer Thread

[Ian Jones]

The Malyan M180 is a reasonably priced 3D printer for the features it offers, have you got one, if so let's hear your experiences. Thinking about getting one, perhaps your questions are answered here, if not then ask here too.

One of my early problems was that the glass building bed moved whilst a build was in progress even though I’d tightened the thumb screws up as much as I could. Anyone else experienced this?

Edited By Ian Jones on 18/10/2016 18:53:53

[pete taylor]

Hi Ian,

I've been using the Malyan 150 for a couple of months now and am mightily pleased with the results.

I chose the 150 over the 180 for 2 reasons:

1 I don't need a dual extruder capability, so can keep the cost down, and

2 The 150 has a larger print bed, 200mm sq as opposed to 230 x 150mm

Whichever folks choose though, Malyan is most highly recommended!

Pete

[Ian Jones]

Hmm interesting good points Pete, does it handle ABS?

Edited By Ian Jones on 19/10/2016 00:31:25

[pete taylor]

I haven't tried printing ABS yet Ian as the PLA filament I've been using up to now has seemed quite strong enough.

The M150 is perfectly capable of handling ABS with all of the settings being adjustable beforehand and "on the fly."

I know that ABS is reported to be a bit trickier to use as a heated bed is a must and the nozzle temps are higher. If I get around to using it I'll keep you posted.

All round, I've found 3D printing to be a real advantage when wondering how to produce those tricky parts. So far I've used it for all manner of things from scale gun sights, pilot figures, bespoke control horns, complex hatch covers, intake edges, camera mounts etc, etc. The list just goes on!

[Ian Jones]

That's very inspiring Pete, I still have a lot learn but I can appreciate the fathomless extent of what can be achieved.

Are you using CURA (latest 2.n.n)? If so have you been able to get it to print x3g files?

[leccyflyer]

Posted by pete taylor on 18/10/2016 19:22:47:

Hi Ian,

I've been using the Malyan 150 for a couple of months now and am mightily pleased with the results.

I chose the 150 over the 180 for 2 reasons:

1 I don't need a dual extruder capability, so can keep the cost down, and

2 The 150 has a larger print bed, 200mm sq as opposed to 230 x 150mm

Whichever folks choose though, Malyan is most highly recommended!

Pete

Thanks for the post, that prompted me to hit Buy on one of those, after Umming and aahing over a choice of about four printers for the past few weeks. I have no real need for dual extruders at the moment and that is what settled the issue for now.

[leccyflyer]

Posted by pete taylor on 18/10/2016 19:22:47:

Hi Ian,

I've been using the Malyan 150 for a couple of months now and am mightily pleased with the results.

I chose the 150 over the 180 for 2 reasons:

1 I don't need a dual extruder capability, so can keep the cost down, and

2 The 150 has a larger print bed, 200mm sq as opposed to 230 x 150mm

Whichever folks choose though, Malyan is most highly recommended!

Pete

Thanks for the post, that prompted me to hit Buy on one of those, after Umming and aahing over a choice of about four printers for the past few weeks. I have no real need for dual extruders at the moment and that is what settled the issue for now.

[pete taylor]

Posted by Ian Jones on 21/10/2016 21:38:05:

That's very inspiring Pete, I still have a lot learn but I can appreciate the fathomless extent of what can be achieved.

Are you using CURA (latest 2.n.n)? If so have you been able to get it to print x3g files?

I'm using whichever the latest Cura version is and haven't knowingly used any x3g files, but there are several converter programmes to download for free.

The process that I tend to use is to draw or download what I need into Tinkercad, save the final item to my PC before uploading the file into Cura for slicing and converting to G Code ready to print.

The printing is done from either a PC via USB or, my preferred option as it makes the printer stand-alone, via a micro SD card (the Malyan 150 allows this, not sure about others)

[pete taylor]

Posted by leccyflyer on 22/10/2016 10:23:20:

Thanks for the post, that prompted me to hit Buy on one of those, after Umming and aahing over a choice of about four printers for the past few weeks. I have no real need for dual extruders at the moment and that is what settled the issue for now.

You're welcome. I'm sure you won't regret it as these things find more uses as you get used to them.

The biggest issue when starting is getting the print bed level and close enough to the nozzle - it needs to be about a hair's breadth off the actual bed to sort of "squish" the first layer of filament onto the bed so that it sticks. When things start slipping around on the bed during printing, 9 times out of 10 it'll be the bed height at fault!

After that, the only real issue is sorting out the temperature settings for the type of filament you use, so once you find one that you're happy with I would stick to it unless there's a need to use another material. Coloido 1.75mm PLA works well for me.

Perhaps the mods might sort out a forum section for this black art stuff where we can all compare notes?

[Ken Lighten]

I've taken the plunge and got a M180, I'm starting off slowly with it and concentrating on getting the 20mm block to print, it does fine apart from it is undersize by 1mm in one direction, does anyone know how to correct this?

thanks in advance

Ken

Edited By Ken Lighten on 16/11/2016 17:42:11

[Ian Jones]

Hi Ken,

I've seen something somewhere about calibration affecting print size, can't remember the detail at the moment. I hope someone is able to help in the mean time I'll have a root around and see if I can find anything that might help.

Ian

[Ken Lighten]

Thanks Ian,

there does seem to be a lot of info in the ether but it all gets a bit technical and lost in translation

Ken

[Ken Lighten]

Another query,

it seems to print the supplied sample models quite well, but I cannot get it to print from Cura or Print Studio, and I feel my laptop may get the brunt of my frustration with the supplied print program which I am having no joy with at all.I have drawn a simple part, I can convert it to gcode and load it the card, put it in the machine and it recognises it and starts to print it, it will then start to print it slightly undersize, and then after a few layers go 'mental' and start digging into the print and going randomly over the print area. There is obviously something wrong with what I'm doing (would not be unusual!) ALL help will be really appreciated

Ken

[Ian Jones]

I had something like that happen and it wasn't the printer's fault. I used Slic3r as a plugin for ReplicatorG and that produced some duff instructions part way through the print. So the print started well, then suddenly part way through... well you know the rest.

This latest question has jogged my memory re your scaling question too. When I first used Cura I specified the wrong size print bed and this seemed to affect the scale of the prints.

Anyway, thing is my last few prints came out very well and I produced them using Makerbot desktop, it's free and you can get it here , might be worth a try. If you do, set the machine to Replicator Dual and you should then have the same setup I used which I hope would solve you problems.

I quite like Makerbot Desktop because objects can be moved & duplicated, it produces Gcode or X3G independently, both work. There's slices preview available which will show rafts & supports. Allows a good degree of settings for dual extrusion. It's more intuitive than any others I've tried too.

Edited By Ian Jones on 25/11/2016 20:58:23

[Ken Lighten]

Thanks again Ian,

I'll give it a go and report back

Ken

[Ken Lighten]

That has it sorted now thanks Ian, now just to get used to using it!

Ken

[Ian Jones]

Really pleased for you, excellent news.

[Ian Jones]

Something to look out for.

From new my printer has had a plastic chain link hanging down from the top right side of the printer. I presumed this was okay, just a way looking after all the wires to the motor that's on that side.

Whilst having a look at something else I spotted a loose screw in amongst the wires, now that can't be right. A further look revealed the hole it had come out of and the purpsose of the screw was to retain the end of the plastic chain that was protecting the wires. No harm done, everything works but long term this would be subjecting those wires to too much repeated bending action. So just put the screw back in then!

Nope, the reason the screw came out was quite clearly because it wasn't long enough and had only ever caught on the beginning of it's thread. Fortunately my spares box had a suitable slightly longer screw and so I soon have it sorted.

[rcaddict]

is the M200 any good, is it a better machine than the M180 ?

[rcaddict]

cant seem to source any malyan 3D printers in UK

[Colin Leighfield]

I want to do this and I'm prepared to spend some money. I'm limited by my lack of serious computer expertise, although I do use them and at home have Mac desk-top and also MacBook Air. However I'm still confused by some of the discussions about dual extruders etc.

Does anyone feel able to communicate at my Neanderthal level of comprehension and give me a clear steer on how to get started? There's so much that I would like to do with one of these.

[Tony Bennett]

i am in the same boat colin.

i have masses that i could use one for, but i am just so unsure how to use one.

[pete taylor]

Fear not!

Here's a simple guide that I wrote for someone just starting. It's for the Malyan M150, but the principles apply just the same.

For anyone wondering which printer to start with, the M150 is probably the simplest and has one of the largest print beds (always handy) as well as being one of the cheapest.

Unless you intent to get into simultaneous multiple filament type and/or colour printing it's best to stick with a single extruder model imho.

Anyway, here's the guide:

Simple 3D Printing Guide for Malyan M150 (aka Prusa i3 & Wanhao Duplicator i3)

1 Assemble printer frame and check that everything moves freely.

2 Apply included tape sheet to aluminium printer bed (improves print adhesion)

3 Move nozzle manually to one corner of the bed and lower the tip so that it just touched the surface. Lower the corner of the bed so that a single thickness of A4 paper just passes between the gap. Repeat for all 4 corners and double-check at the middle of the print bed. Nozzle can be moved by pressing the control button to enter the menu and scrolling to CONTROL to manually adjust the X, Y & Z axis.

4 Adjust AUTOHOME point to the front, LH corner as viewed from the front of the machine.

5 Load filament into the top of extruder by depressing the spring loaded lever on the top - this part can be awkward, so be patient and ensure that the filament has gone straight down into the nozzle and not off to one side.

6 Insert the micro SD card into the slot (it goes in with the gold contacts facing up,) then use the menu knob to scroll down to PRINT FROM SD CARD (it may ask you to refresh, in which case just press the knob to enter) and choose either the calibration cube if present or the mouse (looks like house on the LCD screen!)

7 Sit back and watch!

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The normal process for making a print is:

1. Download a suitable file from Thingiverse/Tinkercad etc. (these are usually in STL format)

2. Upload the file into the CURA slicer programme to add the printer settings (stored as a default profile in the programme once downloaded)

3. Save the resulting G-Code file to the micro SD card for loading into the printer.

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There are one or two settings worth noting with this printer:

Nozzle temp for PLA should be 190~210°C

Bed temp can be left off, but quite often 30~60°C allows better adhesion. This is really a "suck it and see" thing.

Print speed can be set at 120% without anything becoming over-excited, to effectively reduce printing time on longer prints.

Links:

**LINK**

**LINK**

**LINK**

Finally, a review of the M150:

**LINK**

[rcaddict]

pete

[Colin Leighfield]

Thank you Pete. Are there any issues with me using Mac rather than Windows with software?