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20657 | Creality Ender 3 Pro 3D Printer
I have an Ender 3 Pro with 4.2.2 controller board and BLTouch fitted, currently running Marlin Bugfix 2.0 firmware.
I needed to fit a new printer hot end and thermistor, but now the temperature is going wild and fluctuates up and down substantially from the pre-set temperature. The printer won't print and after a short time of E heating, it then displays an error.
I have looked at every video I can find and all the instructions I can find as to how to fix the problem and do a PID autotune but none of them match my firmware. I don't have the commands they say to go to. Creality must have released hundreds of different versions and none of what I can find match mine.
Can someone please give me detailed instructions on how I might be able to fix the problem. Most instructions I see on the web leave out at least 50 % of what you need to know. They tell you to go to certain commands in the firmware but in most cases those commands do not exist in mine. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.
Hi, welcome to 3DPrinting.SE! Please better explain in more details: but now the temperature is going wild and fluctuates up and down. When does this happen, possible make photos or a video and share this. It is really hard to understand what is going on with your machine with the current description.
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20635 | Ender-3 Pro Factory reset/BLTouch Setup
I bought the BLTouch and followed the instructions to install it, but it ended up not working. After installing the new firmware, the screen started bugging out (pixels being out of place, always moving). And when I tried to use the BLTouch, it didn't detect anything below it; the light is always red, and the plastic part it uses to sense doesn't move and making my printer unusable.
I looked online to see how to reset my printer so I could re-install the software, but it mentioned a terminal and I didn't understand what that was. My computer runs Windows 11, and I'm fairly new to PCs, so a step-by-step would be helpful.
What is a printer console/terminal?.
| Stack Exchange | 2025-03-21T12:54:44.316415 | 2023-02-28T23:27:13 | {
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20589 | Replacing hotend without replacing extruder assembly?
I have a Lulzbot TAZ 5, and the hotend is broken. Is there any way for me to replace the hotend without replacing the extruder motor and all surrounding parts?
Could you possibly try to explain by [edit] what is exactly broken? Is it the thermistor, the heater element, the heater block, the heat break (metal tube that connects the heater block to the cooling fins) or the cooling fins? It could well be that you don't require a whole new hot end set, it depends on what's broken.
What @0scar said. You're probably looking for a thermistor or heater cartridge. The only other real possibilities for "broken" are stripped threads in the block (needs a new block) or bent/broken/threads-damaged heatbreak.
It should be possible to replace the hot end, there are descriptions available that describe how to service or replace the "Mini Hexagon Hot End" or known as "LulzBot LongBlock Hexagon Hot End Kit".
However, it might be a challenge to find these hot ends to be sold separately. You need to search for "Hexagon hotend" and may find a supplier or two to acquire one.
It might be cheaper and more robust for the future to replace the extruder/hot end assembly all together. If you look at the amount of hits you get for the Hexagon extruder it appears as if it is discontinued.
I know this is an old post, but I Stumbled into this while researching new nozzles for my dual extruder:
https://www.printyourmind3d.ca/blogs/tutorials/replacing-the-hot-end-on-your-lulzbot-taz-printer
This may do what you need.
Welcome to 3D Printing! Whilst this may theoretically answer the question, it would be preferable to include the essential parts of the answer here, and provide the link for reference.
The only link in the link you provided that navigates to the actual hotend serves a dead page. This probably implies that the hotend is end-of-life. Although this answer does answer the question, as in it provides a link to a workscope to replace the hotend, merely linking to such a site is not how a question should be answered. If the link dies due to link rot, the answer is not useful anymore.
Link only answers are not the way the stack works. -1
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20573 | What are these effects caused by? And can I get rid of them?
I am using a Cobra Max to print PLA. I am trying to print a computer / tablet case.
There are some "defects" in it which look like the print head dragged something.
I have used a magnification lense to inspect what is going on.
It was hard to take a photo of it, but you can still see that all lines are diagonal (which gives an even appearance), but then there is one "drag" line. It looks like the print head went to a new position and melted the lines it met on its way.
That line is not raised.
How do I get rid of that?
Here I have drawn lines to indicate what is regular and what causes the irregular look (a line).
Are you using Cura? If so, this is almost surely combing, where it performs travel moves across already-printed material without retracting in order to avoid the time cost of retraction and work around problems some low-quality and poorly-tuned printers have with large numbers of retractions.
To avoid marring surfaces like this with combing, either find the "Combing Mode" setting and switch it from "All" to "Not in Skin" or "Within Infill", or leave it on "All" but set "Max Comb Distance With No Retract" to around 1 mm.
If you're not using Cura, if combing is already off, or the above does not help, it's possible that you have sufficient overextrusion that the surface is bulging up above the nominal layer height, so that even an unretracted move over it digs through material. In this case you'd need to tune extrusion so as not to over-extrude.
Some people might also suggest Z-hop as a solution to your problem, and indeed it may help, but it usually introduces bad stringing that's hard to get rid of, so I would not try it except perhaps as a last resort.
| Stack Exchange | 2025-03-21T12:54:44.316711 | 2023-02-13T18:23:55 | {
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20546 | Is it possible to have very high resolution 3D scan with not too expensive scanners?
I don't really know much about 3D scans and so on, so I'm just curious about it. I need to scan objects with different forms and I want to know which level of details I can reach during the scan. For example, if the object has a small (0.1 mm) black point on it, will this be detected?
Or if the object has a really small scratch (barely eye-visible), will this be reproduced as a 3D model? So how many details deep can I go and at which price? (More or less)
Or do you know if there is any other technology that can do such things?
For example, I can see those small scratches or defects on a good camera, the problem is that camera does not scan the entire 3D object, but I would need to shoot each angle of it manually. What can I do to scan the entire object and get deep details of it?
A lot of 3d scanning is done with cameras...so what's the cost of a good high res camera? Or, alternate viewpoint, can you afford to store and process the resulting extremely large high res model? And now that you have it, you'll have to reduce the resolution to print it.
Ok thank you so much, so basically cameras are good enough I would say
Structured Light Scanning uses a turntable and a dedicated light source that creates patterns on the scanned object. The patterns are interpreted by the software to generate a 3D model. Photogrammetry uses a series of photographs, sometimes on a turntable, sometimes not. The software that does not support turntable use tends to use the apparent background movement to assist in creating reference points to generate the model.
The resolution aspect of your question is dependent on the resolution of the camera and the ability to detect and determine any variations in height/depth/width, etc. If there is insufficient camera resolution (Macro lens), the feature you desire to appear will not appear.
Photogrammetry and SLS are susceptible to specularity and "invisible blacks." The former is the result of a reflection of light, causing a bright spot that interferes with the calculations and dimensional determination. Transparent objects also have a similar problem. Blacks on an object are easy to detect by the human eye, often because they contain specularity as well. The dark sections are erroneously detected by the software as depth or detected as gaps/chasms/open sections. Spray-on powders provide a more uniform surface to remove these problems, but may not be suitable to your purposes.
Multiple cameras is one method used to deal with the necessary angles of captures. President Obama was the subject of a fairly complex photogrammetry construction as well as the subject of a series of hand-held structured light scanning image.
Image below from linked site:
Wow, thank you so much. So structured light scanning would be one way to go.
But I think I also need to turn ON/OFF some lights to detect some small details in the glass (some details are only visible at certain angle with certain light. Is this still possible?
You should expect best results with consistent lights. SLS creates its own light patterns and only ambient light should be used with this process. Direct lighting will wash out the projected patterns. SLS will pick up those details you reference if the operator changes angles appropriately during the scanning.
That, and light patterns swap between four different bar patterns usually: two horizontal, two vertical ones.
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20539 | How to see BLTouch probing results?
How do I view the results from the BLTouch probing on my Ender 3?
I have set up all the firmware and installed the BLTouch fine and it works as expected. But how am I able to see the results of the G29 9-step probes so I can view them in a mesh visualiser?
I don’t have an OctoPrint print server, as I know this comes with a Plug-in.
G-code M420 V will show the mesh heights of the currently loaded mesh.
You can use a console to send the command and retrieve the values.
I used Pronterface terminal emulator and connected the printer via USB! Simple really when you figure out how!
It would be beneficial to future readers as to how using Proterface can provide the information in the original question. You can get additional information on how to write a good answer in the Help Center.
Please [edit] and explain how. It is great that you have solved your problem, but it would be helpful to other users with the same issue to know the steps that you took.
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20553 | Can't get anything to print Ender 3 S1 Pro
I'm new to 3D printing but got myself an Ender 3 S1 Pro but have been trying to get anything to print for the last week now. I'm pulling out my hair!
When I start a print, a strip of plastic will be put down to clear the nozzle without any stringing or problems but when the main print starts it will string, not adhere properly, come loose, and fail. I have tried everything; the bed is leveled using a piece of paper on all four corners I believe the nozzle is set to the correct height. (with iterations +/-0.3 mm) not changing the flow seems to be correct but if the print doesn't stick to the nozzle, it doesn't adhere to the print bed and comes loose. I have also tried printing with combinations of higher temps and lower speeds but can't get anything to work.
Does anyone have any tips?
Some additional details are needed. What type of plastic are you printing with (PLA, ABS, PETG, etc)? What type of bed do you have (glass, PEI, tape, etc)? What type of bed adhesive are you using (glue stick, hair spray, Magigoo)?
Hi Jurre, welcome to 3DPrinting.SE! We'd love to help you out, but this isn't just enough information to work with, please add some photos. Your question is lacking detail and as such is hard to answer without knowing a couple of things about your printer setup. Please [edit] and fill in the [placeholders] in the template I added and then remove the leading <!-- and trailing --> afterwards. This will turn it visible and help us help you find the actual problem.
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258 | How to minimize damage when removing an ABS print from a heated glass print bed?
Usually it will either will rip the tape, or break the print somehow. Currently using ABS on a taped glass bed with a layer of hairspray for adhesion.
After the glass cools throw it in the refridgerator. The print should pop off.
I moved to a plain glass heated bed with a brush applied acetone and ABS mixture. Using an old emptied nail polish bottle with brush, I added some acetone and then threw in ABS pieces until it reached a brush-able consistency. I then brush it on the glass build plate where I believe the print will occur, and it works very well. On removal of the part the coating comes with it.
I just found previously that ABS would adhere to my kapton taped heated bed too strongly to use, and so while this involves a little work before each print, it's overall better than kapton for me.
I did experiment with sheet metal beds coated with kapton, but they curl during printing due to the ABS thermal stress, allowing my parts to be concave on the bottom side. Easy to remove from the plate, though, since it flexed. There may be a good middle ground material but I didn't experiment further.
Any tips on part removal methods? Do you just lift it off or use a tool?
Most prints pull off without him too much trouble after they cool. Particularly solid prints with lots of bed surface area might require a little coaxing with a knife and perhaps a putty knife and some patience.
Might be worth to explain why such an "ABS slurry" works so well. Melted ABS merges with ABS well. But molten ABS doesn't stick to glass very well. However, if you create an ABS/acetone solution, it is far less viscous and can get in microscopic cracks and holes on the glass. Then the acetone will evaporate leaving the ABS layer which has "penetrated" the glass and pretty hard to come off. Since it's pure ABS now hot ABS comign out of the nozzle will stick to it well, but it is also better physically stuck to the bed too, so it won't lift like "regular" ABS layers do.
Hairspray on the other hand is more like glue, I think.
@LeoErvin many hairsprays are PVA based afaik.
I have had best results with ABS on a heated printbed
(untaped) with a thin coat of UHU Stic. It can be a little tricky to remove but minimizes damage.
UHU-Stick is a PVA based glue, which is also water soluble.
Glass has a very peculiar effect under heating, that can be used to remove extremely delicate parts from the surface of it:
Glass expands and shrinks differently to the ABS under temperature. Letting the glass bed cool down has it shrink, creating tension on the interface layer which can be exploited with a thin scraper. Putting the bed with the print into the fridge increases the tension to a point at which the bonding breaks. This results in the part popping free in several areas (sometimes everywhere) and easing the removal.
I'm not using ABS, but find that PLA parts printed on 60C bed with PEX coating glued on flexible steel are coming off pretty darn easy! At 9:50 into this video, ABS was printed on a 125C bed, and after very little cooling of the flex steel sheet (on a metal table) the printed part came right off. https://youtu.be/pSXgYwEcO6s The Pex/flexsteel/magnet system is great.
@CrossRoads the question was about a heated glass bed with ABS. Your combination is different and has different treatment needs. However, yes, flex metal sheets (removable ones) are very helpful in removing, they use a similar effect than the glass bed in the fridge: breaking the bonds in a way that usually keeps stresses minimal.
Maybe my comment should have been: don't use glass, convert to something else!
@CrossRoads Glass has its benefits, for example being super flat.
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269 | Can 1.75 mm filament be used in a printer that takes 3 mm filament?
As an extension from this question, is there any reason that you would not be able to use 1.75 mm filament in a printer that takes 3mm filament? I know you would have to change the filament size in the slicing of prints but would there be any other problems?
Also, would using 1.75 mm filament be possible if the nozzle diameter was greater than 1.75 mm but less than 3 mm?
Perhaps you should restrict the question to a specific printer, and the part about the 1.75mm nozzle should probably be a question in its own right (though it is right on the edge of what I'd consider a good-quality question, considering the answer will just be "no").
I was mainly asking this as a hypothetical question based off the previous question I mentioned. For the 1.75mm nozzle, I added that part to clarify what I assume the answer to the first part will be. I assume that 1.75mm could be used, but only if it was smaller than the nozzle. if you normally were using 3mm with a 2.5mm nozzle, 1.75 should not work.
There are some setups that can accept both with only minor configuration changes. The stock hotend for the H-1 is one example. You slip you mostly slip in an extra tube, and slide the hot end over to the over end of the knurled bolt and you're good to go.
Typically an extruder and hot end are designed for one or the other, and cannot support the other without mechanical changes.
The extruder may not be able to grip a smaller diameter filament with enough force to assure even feeding and retraction.
The hot end, however, is much more complex. The filament has to be pushed with force into the melting zone, which means the filament has to slide along an area inside the hot end where the filament is plastic but still put pressure on the filament ahead of it.
When you put filament into a hot end, the filament softens before the melt zone, but since the walls of the hot end are just barely larger than the filament it has no choice but to continue pressing down on the liquid filament below.
With a narrower diameter filament, though, the filament can heat, soften, then travel backwards along the sides of the hot end and cool in place, jamming the hot end, or at least preventing an even continuous flow of plastic.
Some hot ends will accept a small Teflon tube that takes this space up and allows you to do this with fewer issues, and if you like to tinker you can experiment with this, but be prepared to learn a lot and fail a lot as you find out the hard lessons of hot end design.
Generally you should upgrade your entire extruder and hot end setup to the size you want to use.
It may work for a short time but you're going to fill the melt chamber quickly and possibly overflow to a point where the filament isn't constrained causing a messy jam. All the molten plastic will likely flow backwards to a point where the diameter isn't 3mm any longer (probably next to your drive gear) but depending on the length it may just flow up, cool down and jam the extruder.
No, the filament would just pass through unheated and not do anything.
I don't understand why it would overflow. OP correctly mentioned that the settings would have to be changed; but once that's done, wouldn't the software turn the extruder motor only 1/3 as far to extrude the same volume of filament?
In most cases, the gap around the filament would be larger than the hole in the nozzle. I don't know the math to figure it out but I am assuming it would take less pressure for the molten plastic to go backwards through the larger gap than through the nozzle itself.
Now I have to go try this. My intuition differs, but the best way to know for sure is for us to try it... :)
You just need a teflon liner to prevent this issue (that's what the H-1 used to overcome this problem).
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20687 | I have an Ender-3 Pro, the platform goes to the right rear every time I try to start a print job
I have a Creality Ender 3 Pro, the platform goes to the right rear every time I try to start a print job. I do not know what to do. I am not very savvy on computer software, but I need some help.
I tried using the 3D pad with the same results.
I did a factory reset, using original controller, same results.
Back to the 3D pad, factory reset, same results.
I am using the Creality Slicer. When I select Auto Home, the platform returns to the front left side. When I try to print anything, it goes back to the right rear an sets there, dumping filament.
Can you tell us what happens when you try to autohome the device? Also, what slicer are you using?
So the bed comes forward and the extruder to the right? What is your start G-code? Does it print after going to the back-right? Or does it stay there?
Did your printer come with a test file? My Ender v2 did. If so, how does that print for you? If that works fine, then most likely, some setting in your slicer is telling your printer to move there. I found it to be a good idea to understand G-Code, and that allows you to reverse engineering problems that you run into. G-Code isn't hard, it's just a list of command
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20725 | How can I successfully set up my fans to run on my CR-10 using Marlin?
I have a CR-10 (original version), and I just installed an SKR E3 Mini V3.0 board, with custom Marlin firmware. Everything else seems to be running properly, but some of my fans won't spin, or won't spin correctly.
The CR-10 has four fans:
the parts cooling fan, which has variable speeds and is controlled by the G-code,
the heat sink fan, which should either be always on, or should activate when the heat sink registers 50 °C or higher, and
a fan inside the control box, near the rear of the case, and
a fan inside the control , near the front of the case, by the LCD screen.
The parts cooling fan seems to be operating correctly. The heat sink fan won't turn on at all. Inside the case, 3) operates correctly, and 4) spins very slowly and loudly.
I have read that you have to do something to the configuration files to instruct Marlin on which pins correspond to which fans, but any examples I find refer to Ender 3 printers and not to CR-10s. How do I troubleshoot the fans and/or edit the Marlin configuration files to set up my fans properly?
A standard CR-10 has a heat sink fan that receives continues power, did you change that yourself? Furthermore, fan 3 and 4 are also continuously powered fans, so if you have used the same power supply, and as such the same voltage, nothing can be different for them. Measure the output of the fans with a multimeter.
I've figured out some things since my original post. First, I had some of the connectors plugged into the wrong ports on the new mainboard. Second, Marlin is set up so that the heat sink fan turns on only when the hot end reaches 50 degrees, and the controller fans turn on only when any of the stepper motors have been engaged, and turns off a short while after they go idle. Third, fan 4) is dying, so I'll be installing a replacement today.
Thank you for your help, though!
Great to hear you are troubleshooting! Please make it a (partial) answer so that others may learn from it! Comments are transient and may be removed.
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38 | Conversion of 3 mm ABS filament to 1.75 mm
I have a few kg of 3 mm filament when I only have use for 1.75 mm.
How can I make 1.75 mm from 3 mm filament?
Note: I believe this will not be worth the cost/effort but am very curious to see what useful suggestions are provided.
In theory, making filament is easy. You take a 3 mm hotend with a 1.75 mm hole, and extrude the 3 mm (sometimes actually 2.85 mm) filament, let it cool, and then reel it up.
In reality there are a lot of pitfalls to making filament - if the pressure isn't even, the hole not perfect, the temperature uneven, you can end up with oval filament, filament with bubbles, or worse. If you are over temperature you may damage the filament and it could look good, but not melt correctly when used. If you reel it too fast you may thin it out more than the intended diameter, or too slow and you may thicken it. A lot of hotends use steppers, which may result in ripples in the filament, so you may end up building a nearly custom filament machine.
Resolving all these problems is probably not worth simply selling or giving away the filament to someone that can use it, and buying the right size for your machine.
If you are still interested, though, you might as well go all the way and build a full filament extruder that accepts raw plastic feedstock (usually pellets) as well as your filament, and convert it that way, then continue using it to create your own filament.
Your "theory" is wrong, the size of the hole through which you push the plastic only has a small influence on its size. Generally it will swell a little to become larger than the hole through which it was extruded, but by pulling on the plastic you can stretch it out.
@TomvanderZanden Which is why I tried to make the distinction between "theory" and "reality" starkly apparent. The die size influences the filament diameter, but there are many factors, as stated, and you'll have to make adjustments to make good filament at a given diameter.
The best option is to find somebody in need of 3 mm filament and trade them for it (either in exchange for 1.75 mm filament or in exchange for legal tender with which to buy said filament).
The next best option would be to cut it into small pieces, and feed those into a filament extrusion system such as the filastruder.
Exactly. Sell it, exchange it, or I have even contacted my US based provider and simply exchanged it. If you buy if from a physical location or have more direct contact with the provider, they may be willing to exchange it for little or no cost.
You could build a machine that has a nozzle with 3 mm input hole and 1.75 mm output hole, based on some designs for filament making machines. Or you could just cut the filament into little peaces and use them instead of the granulate in an original filament making machines.
There are some open designs for such machines you can build, or you could buy one, such as Filabot.
However, as mentioned by kaine, this is very unlikely to be worth the cost/effort. Best option for you is to try to sell the 3 mm filament to someone who has a use for it, take the money and buy some 1.75 mm filament instead.
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386 | Making your own filament
I"m considering making my own filament, with a device like the one at http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:380987. Partly because it's another machine to build, which is cool, but also to save money on filament.
Has anyone here tried to make their own filament? My main questions are:
Is the quality comparable to typical off-the-shelf filaments? Put another way, with reasonable tuning can one produce filament that's good enough to use without a lot of frustration?
Does it require a lot of attention to tuning, monitoring, or other details (which make it less worthwhile / more time-consuming)? Warning of pitfalls to avoid is also welcome.
Are there useful things one can do this way, that are hard to achieve with off-the-shelf filaments? For example, unusual materials; better control of diameter, density, etc; or mixing one's own colors?
Quality depends on 3 things:
Quality of pellets (purity, fillers, color)
Where/how they are stored before and during the extrusion (humidity, contaminants)
Have a filter in your extruder to get rid of random junk and air bubbles ending up in your filament (250 micron wire mesh filter)
There's no secret formula the filament producing companies have, they just have very efficient and very fast filament producing machines (of course very expensive, too). But when it comes to vanilla ABS or PLA, it's almost the same content.
Personal experience: no. If you get the same pellets, store it in the same place and run your extruder in the same place, it should behave the same.
I don't think there is some filament mixture you won't be able to find anywhere, but you might be able to make it yourself cheaper. Example: mixing strontium aluminate powder for glow in the dark filament (come in many colors, not just green).
I'd recommend this design: http://www.instructables.com/id/Build-your-own-3d-printing-filament-factory-Filame/
It produces filament pretty fast (one full 1kg spoon in 3-4 hours). Just make sure you have enough experience to not electrocute yourself while assembling this as the heaters use mains power.
I personally think the commercial "hobby" extruders are not worth the money. I also own the Filastruder and it's just no different and slower than the above, unless you care about a pretty plywood case for your extruder I see no advantage and since it uses off-the-shelf parts itself why bother buying a kit like that than sourcing the parts yourself?
You can basically use any machine that pulverizes your pellets into small pieces.
One guy on 3dhubs, explained it in details.
My conclusion is that you can recycle everything using this data gathered from research up in link there.
Also, you can use any plastic material and pulverize it into pellets (even from the bottles) and you can try to do this process. Only thing that matters is quality of product.
I was thinking about pellets from vinyl records. I bought one big collection before one year, and there was around 500-600 records that are completley useless. So, you can pulverize them and repeat the process, because process of making vinyl records and process of making bottles is completley different, and uses different kind of plastics.
So to draw a conslusion: everything depends on quality of pellets.
And to answer on your three questions:
Is the quality comparable to typical off-the-shelf filaments? Put
another way, with reasonable tuning can one produce filament that's
good enough to use without a lot of frustration?
No, it isn't Your filament would be lower quality if you don't get a great pellets.
Does it require a lot of attention to tuning, monitoring, or other
details (which make it less worthwhile / more time-consuming)? Warning
of pitfalls to avoid is also welcome.
Yes it does. Check the link up there.
Are there useful things one can do this way, that are hard to achieve
with off-the-shelf filaments? For example, unusual materials; better
control of diameter, density, etc; or mixing one's own colors?
Again, it all depends on type of filament you like to use. I wrote about plastic filaments.
Vinyl records might be a good source for PVC, but the question is: is it a good filament?
Producing own filament is a challenging task. I see main pitfall in producing filament so it has same quality as you get in shop. You have to:
constant round-shape diameter
diameter tolerance ±0.05 mm
avoid bubbles and other defects
avoid object in filament (depends on pellets quality)
store pellets properly (high humidity is a problem)
Additionally you have to deal with spooling, because it affects the diameter too (if you roll filament too fast then you reduce its diameter).
It takes a lot of time and frustration to develop such a machine. If you would like to produce own filament, consider buying a filament machine:
Strooder (£960) + Strooder spooler (£192)
FilaFab (£745 - £1495)
ExtrusionBot (\$720) (Spooler included)
ProtoCycler ($1700)
FilaBot (\$1600) + Spooler (\$600)
If you would like to use different material then ABS/PLA then take a look on Strooder documentation - they confirm usage of PP, PET, HDPE, HIPS, PE, even wood filament.
Is it not better option to print directly from pellets? Take a look on Universal Pellet Extruder for RepRap (model).
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319 | How to smooth the surface of parts printed with Co-polyester (PET) filament
Are there any techniques for getting a smooth finish for parts printed with co-polyester (PET) filaments? More specifically, I am looking for an alternative that does not roughen the look of the part - such as using sandpaper - but rather works like acetone baths for ABS.
In particular, I want to treat ColorFabb's XT filament made from the Eastman Amphora™ 3D polymer (datasheet). This is also the polymer is also used in:
ColorFabb nGen and XT
Taulman3D n-vent
TripTech Athiri 1800
3DXTech 3DXNano
Ethyl acetate (sold as a MEK substitute) is supposed to work for vapor smoothing PET. It doesn't seem very toxic (it's used to decaffinate cofee and tea, and as a nail polish remover), but you might want to look more into it. There's a post on Printed Solid's blog where he vapor smoothed colorFabb XT and MadeSolid PET+ along with a few other filaments and got some good results.
http://printedsolid.com/blogs/news/37035395-vapor-smoothing-3d-printed-parts-pla-colorfabb-xt-t-glase-pet
The links in the blog don't work for me, but google was able to find slightly larger versions:
https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0887/0138/files/blog_2014-03-20-18.38.04-1024x613.jpg?16147388421280943481
https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0887/0138/files/blog_2014-03-21-18.16.28-1024x612.jpg?9543779874607042697
This seems like fairly reasonable solution for PET. Thanks for sharing!
I've found a chart which covers several plastics and solvents and only two of them (Chloromethane and Chloroform) are rated "D" which includes dissolving the material and both seem to be quite nasty and I doubt you will be able to purchase them without being placed on several lists.
Is it possible that something like XTC-3D from Smooth-On would work for you?
Also some more information on dissolving PET here, several sources also mention PET is affected by Hydrogen Peroxide but they do not mention to what degree the plastic is affected.
Thanks for sharing some great resources! I will certainly not be experimenting with pure ozone or phosphorus any time soon, but some product like XTC-3D could potentially be of help. All in all, it seems like PET is a fairly stable plastic chemically. Thanks!
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341 | Updating firmware on Monoprice Architect printer
I just received this printer and while it seems to talk to Makerbot Desktop software I'm not sure if I should be trying to update the firmware.
The printer comes with firmware v7.2 and while Makerbot Desktop offers an upgrade to v7.5 I'm not sure if it's a good idea with this non-Makerbot branded printer.
I've also seen information on upgrading this printer to Sailfish v7.5, is this the same thing as Makerbot firmware v7.5?
The Monoprice Architect is is a bare-bones FlashForge Creator that has been re-badged for Monoprice. The Creator line is a very popular set of printers, so there is lots of good advice out there. The FlashForge Google Group is a good community to join: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/flashforge
The entire FF Creator line, in turn, is cloned from the original Makerbot Replicator 1. So you can use Makerbot slicing profiles for the Replicator 1. Just keep in mind that Makerbot does not generally test new software revs with their older printers, and DEFINITELY does not test new software revs with competitor knock-offs. Sometimes they appear to break functionality for non-Makerbot machines on purpose. So recent versions of Makerbot Desktop may not "play nice" with your FlashForge. The most recent "known good" free slicer you should use with this printer is Makerware 2.4.x. You can find links by searching the FF Google Group.
On that note, you may have received instructions to use ReplicatorG with your printer. But RepG is abandonware: development stopped years ago. It should only be used for firmware updates, not as a slicer. You should also only use the most recent version posted on the Sailfish page on Thingiverse:
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:32084
Using older versions of RepG with newer firmware revs will corrupt your EEPROM! Only use the version downloaded from the link above.
The firmware that comes with the printer is FlashForge's slightly-customized build of either Sailfish or Makerbot's Replicator 1/2/2x firmware. But here's the trick: Makerbot's Rep1/2/2x firmware is just an old, out-of-date, slightly customized version of Sailfish. Makerbot stopped keeping up with bug-fixes and feature additions a long time ago. Everything is Sailfish: just different versions. You should use the most recent official release version listed at:
http://www.sailfishfirmware.com/
Follow the instructions in the Sailfish manual from the link above, and RepG will automatically pull the right builds from the official mirror and populate a list of printer options to choose. The trick here is which build to download. As of 1-21-16, there is not an official Monoprice Architect build yet. Which would mean editing a machine xml profile to avoid the firmware throwing warnings. I STRONGLY recommend getting used to the printer using factory firmware before trying to fight with custom machine profiles... But here is the basic process to pick a Sailfish firmware build when you're ready:
First: which Atmega processor version do you have? The large chip in the middle of the control board will either say 1280 or 2560. You need to know which version you have. Bad things happen if you load the wrong version.
Second: What is the tooth count on the X and Y drivetrain pulleys? To my knowledge, FF always uses 17-tooth pulleys, which matches the Replicator 1 and FF Creator profiles. The Rep2 and 2x use 18t pulleys, so only use those builds if you have those pulleys. People often mess this up and their prints end up with dimensions ~5% off in X and Y.
Third: The Architect has one extruder and no heatbed, so firmware builds that expect those to be connected (Rep 1 Dual, Creator, etc) will throw errors if loaded. You can fix this from the LCD screen or RepG, but that's a whole separate question. Do some printing and learn about the printer before attempting any firmware update so you'll know what to do if you pick a build with the wrong parts.
Fourth: This one is just for the sake of completeness. Some FF models were shipped with off-spec heatbeds that require special firmware builds to prevent drawing too much current and overheating / overloading the power supply. The Architect doesn't have that, but firmware builds for those printer models (eg I believe the FF Creator 2560) will under-power regular heatbeds. This is just something you need to know with the Architect if you decide to install a heatbed later. But it's a really critical safety warning for people with those off-spec heatbeds.
If this all seems complicated, that's because FlashForge (and in turn Monoprice) relies heavily on the open source Sailfish project to maintain the software ecosystem behind this line of printers. FlashForge has some internal builds that they use for flashing new bots, but these are not kept particularly up-to-date. Nor does FlashForge release the source files, so it's quite opaque where exactly the stock firmware differs from mainstream Sailfish. In the long run, you should install mainline Sailfish. But it's ok to stick with the factory firmware until you get used to the printer.
To summarize: Because there is not an existing Sailfish build, you're going to need to do some investigating and some experimenting to figure out which build will work. Don't try that until you're familiar with the printer. Post on the FlashForge Google Group when you're ready for help.
I've just recently used the MakerBot Desktop (v 3.8?) on my Replicator 1 and worked out fine. It's nice because it provides a more user friendly interface for changing various settings (better than opening and deciphering a JSON file). I wouldn't recommend anything between MakerWare 2.4.? to this new Beta of MakerBot Desktop though
Since the printer has no heater, I'd advise some sleuthing
Look at the motherboard. Find the big black square chip and see if it is a ATmega 1280 or 2560. Likely it's a 1280, but you never know. This will impact which firmware build you use.
If you will eventually add a heater PCB, then figure out the size (wattage) of the power supply. It may be big enough now for a heated platform, or maybe not. I guess you can cross that bridge if/when you add a HBP (heated build platform). However, it can make a difference as to which firmware build you load as some builds of Sailfish will intentionally serialize heating so as to not put too high of a load on the power supply (PSU).
Armed with the above info, you can then decide if you want a 1280 or 2560 build of Sailfish. And if you want a build which will serialize eventual use of an HBP or not.
Serialized: MakerBot Replicator 1 Single & Dual (implied ATmega 1280), MakerBot Replicator 1 with ATmega 2560
Non-serialized: FlashForge Creator I, II & X (implied ATmega 1280)
For a non-serialized, 2560 build know that the FlashForge one is for a poorly behaved heater PCB and you likely won't want it. That sort of leaves you without a good, non-serialized choice. In a pinch you can use the ZYYX 3D build for a 2560. Or you can contact the Sailfish team directly: speaking with very certain knowledge, I can assure you that they'd be happy to do a targetted build for your machine. However, at present they lack info to do so (e.g., build volume, distances from endstops to center of build platform, etc.).
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20002 | How does relative bed flatness affect print quality?
What are ways to a priori determine how bed flatness affects prints, as a function of the initial layer height? It's pretty obvious that a 50 µm difference from one edge of the print to the other is not a big deal when layer heights are 500 µm, but it's huge when the initial layer height is 100 µm.
So where's the elbow between good, okay, and bad?
Motivation: I'm working on making a flat bed and want to know when to stop.
You can go about this by doing the arithmetic for volume of the extruded lines that go in the first layer, and figuring how their width will be affected by their thickness differing from the planned thickness.
For isolated lines or lines that are just part of a double wall, any excess will be "elephant foot". For solid fill, the error will accumulate until there's nowhere for the material to go, and it will either pile up above the nozzle height at the sides of the nozzle or cause the extruder to skip or slip after building up pressure that leaves the nozzle over-primed. It's also possible that the bed springs or compressibility of the build surface (buildtak, etc.) take up some of the error past this point.
For cases where the distance between the nozzle and bed is too great, on the other hand, it's possible that the extrusion will only slightly smash against the bed, or not at all. In that case you have to work out what dimensions the non-squished, likely-circular cross sections will have.
I feel like the case of too-great distance is particularly pernicious, as the result isn't just lack of squish, but warping and unmoored prints leading to failure. Do you have any guidance for evaluating the risks and results?
You asked about "a priori" ways to determine, so rather than trying to give anecdotal or empirical findings I focused on how you'd go about predicting the behavior. I think it shoul be possible to get a rough idea at what point lack of adhesion will occur this way - you'd look for the distance where the extrusion becomes mostly round and has very little surface area left to squish against the buildplate.
I see what you're getting at, although I'm not sure what I can do with "very little" in regards to surface area. I think it would be helpful to have a rule of thumb, if such a beast were to exist. Is "very little" a percentage of surface area? Volume? Or is it more likely to be a fixed width no matter the layer height and width.
If you imagine the cross section as a bubble expanding from the nozzle orifice, I think you'll find there's a fairly rapid transition from making no contact at all with the bed (fully round bottom) to covering a large portion of the intended line width. You'd have to work out the math to be sure, but this is my intuition at least.
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19992 | Layers offset at top and bottom and some inbetween
I'm trying to troubleshoot a problem/problems for a couple of days now regarding printing issues caused probably by the Z-axis. I'm new to 3D printing and kind of at a loss about what to do next or how to do it right. I hope you have some ideas about what could cause it and what to try. (There is also a picture included where you can see missing spots/holes in the print and I also would like to know how to fix that)
Printer: ELEGOO Neptune 3
Material: PLA
Slicer: Cura
What I already tried:
Readjusting the lead screw and couplers
Readjusting the belt tension
Readjusting the rollers
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20017 | Changing filament colors
I am new to 3D printing. I have a Longer LK5 Pro. I was making a part that has raised letters, and wanted to have white letters on the black part. I used a Post Processing script on the Cura program called "change filament", which is supposed to stop printing, retract the head, and allow you to change the filament. Mine just keeps on printing. I've tried "pause" and done the filament change, but unsuccessfully so far because of blobs deposited on the letters.
Any suggestions?
I've done it a few ways depending on the desired effect I'm after.
Manually pausing the machine is what seems to come out best. If you design for it, you can sometimes have it pause while it's over infill and therefore has no blobs to worry about. I haven't looked into doing it automatically, but perhaps it's possible to pause partway through a layer.
If the design doesn't have to be flat, then I'll do a solid colour and the last top layers another colour with the design cut out. This is to my mind optimal as you get a bit of texture with the design inset as well as different colour and makes for a nice clean method.
The other way was z-hopping which is an idea I got from a Youtube video. Cura has a setting for this. Basically you can make the nozzle lift when it moves. You split the colours into two separate objects and you print in one colour. Then you change filament and print another colour as a separate print right over the top of it and the nozzle hops over the original print.
Cura's "Filament change" post-process script relies on the insertion of the G-code M600. This only works when your printer manufacturer has activated this in the firmware!
The Marlin default is that the M600 command is not functional, see e.g. the following line of code of the advanced configuration file:
//#define ADVANCED_PAUSE_FEATURE
In order to enable the functionality to "add" the M600 code to the firmware you need to rebuild the firmware by removing the // in front of the #define ADVANCED_PAUSE_FEATURE. This may require some additional skills to do, downloading firmware, setting the proper settings in the configuration for your specific printer model, compiling and installing the firmware.
The alternative is manual pausing from the display, but this requires you to be present at the printer.
Another alternative is that you alter the G-code yourself to insert a dwell code (G4), which can be supplemented by a move away from your print), note this requires you to also sit next to the printer, the dwell command will allow for a pause for a specified amount of time, be sure not the miss the window.
Manually pause and immediately do an X-home or Y-home so nozzle is not over the work. Swap filament. Repeat an X-home and a Y-home to assure printer knows where the nozzle is (it's possible to disturb the print head position while changing filament). Manually turn on extruder heater if it's off and allow to reach printing temperature. Advance filament to purge old color and assure heating chamber is filled. Resume.
It works pretty reliably for me...
I found that raised letters look and work better when picked-out using paint or permanent marker.
Print your lettering in your part but don't even bother changing filament. Instead carefully use a marker pen or paint brush to colour in the top of the lettering. Depending on the paint you might choose to do several layers.
Nail polish is an excellent paint option - it comes in a plethora of colours and the budget stuff works fine. Gold/silver/metallic "art markers" give a nice look on black or white PLA too.
Note, white/light filament jobs may encourage pigments to track between the layers, giving a shadow look. Test before committing.
When dry, you might chose to do a clearcoat of spray paint on top for durability.
IMO changing filament colour is a feature that doesn't work very reliably.
I have a Longer LK5 Pro. The filament runout sensor provides the perfect functionality for this problem.
Insert a switch in the sensor line. I used this 12V 24V Latching Switch, Mini Latching Push Button Switch.
Pop the button over infill, the runout routine stops the print nearly instantly, parks the print head and brings up the change filament option screen. Make the change, pop the button, and hit resume. Clunky, but it works.
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20021 | Ender 3 Pro, tried both SKR Mini E3 V2 and V3 and still unable to connect with OctoPrint
So, long story short, I was using the SKR Mini E3 V2 and had a load of weird issues which lead to it not being able to connect via a Raspberry Pi 3B via USB (using OctoPi distribution).
I tried updating firmware and it would connect to the printer but failed whenever I did anything i.e. heating, moving an axis, etc. I eventually managed to find a heating error. I changed the thermistor on the hot end, realized it was complaining about the heated bed so changed that too, then the Pi just wouldn't see the board. I bought a new V3 board and on the first test everything connected fine; it even started heating up and then cut off as it was getting warm. After a couple of attempts to refresh the firmware, it has done the same thing where it won't find the printer. Like an idiot, I had removed the original LCD screen as I would just use OctoPrint as the screen. I am going to check it when I find out what I did with it.
Firstly, is there a way to set the boards back to default, just so the Pi sees either again? Secondly, is there a reasonable firmware that I can download or should I just use the Visual Studio application to rebuild the firmware? Would this even be helpful at this stage?
First thing you should try is to see if you can establish a connection to the controller boards over USB (beware of Baud rate and USB port location/name). Use Pronterface or other console interface and try to manage the printer from your computer/laptop. If that works, OctoPrint should also work, we may need some screenshots of the connection and the failures shown by OctroPrint.
Well.... turns out I'm kind of an idiot but not entirely... I found 3dprintscape.com and he said he had issues with the firmware downloading directly but if he downloaded the whole git as a zip and got it from there... I tried it and it seems to have worked! I even found my screen for the printer which confirms it... but that now means I have an extra board which is probably working fine... dammit... lol
Thanks for at least looking at it if you did... sorry to be easily confused..
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20047 | Cura 5.2 beta, flat wall indentation
Could anyone help me diagnose the setting or issue causing the effect in the second picture (indentation in a perfectly flat wall)?
The vertical wall should be flat, as shown in the first picture of the STL model.
You need to show us which wall you are talking about. I see several walls that are not vertical.
If you compare the slice preview to the stl you will notice the indentation I'm talking about where it should be flat. If I still need to point it out, look at the bottom left of the image.
Have you checked that the stl is error free?
can you pull down to look into the affected layers?
Could you post the STL as a link or on e.g. Thingiverse? We can then try ourselves.
added some pictures, I cant post the model.
Model comes from Autodesk Inventor STL export, I never had stl errors doing this.
Indentation goes all the way around the pocket of what should be a perfectly flat wall.
Cura 5.2 is in Beta, have you tried a non beta release like e.g. 5.1.1? Also post a picture of the printed object, is the indentation present? Else it might be a drawing error, not an actual printing problem. This has happened in the past with Cura before if I remember correctly, I even think we have had a question on that before.
I'm going off limited information here, if you could provide a full view of the model that would help.
That being said;
It looks like there is a feature on the opposite side of the wall "pulling" the lines towards the outside.
There is no direct setting to change to fix this, it looks like the layer size is limiting how close the printer can mimic the geometry.
Try dropping the layer height drastically (ie. .02 to .01) in order to see if the indentation changes it's shape.
Alternately, change the orientation to non-ideal angles and see what changes.
At the core, it seems your issue is the actual interpretation of the model by the slicing software and may not have a setting associated with it.
I added some pictures to my post. The indentation goes all the around that pocket. The slicer should be able to leave such a gap in the infill or inner wall instead of on the outer wall, or even vary with trace width to account for whatever is doing this.
I tried to reduce the wall count to 1 with no effect, I have 5 set for the slice preview. No effect with layer height changes.
Ok, lets dig into this some more then. Is this the latest Cura release (5.1)? Do you have access to standard CAD software (SolidWorks, Blender, ChituBox, Fusion, etc.)? Have you tried 0%, 1%, 5%, 95%, 99%, and 100% infill? You have quite the conundrum here, assuming you have all the above already done - I would say you want a complete rebuild, i.e. importing the mesh into a CAD program, converting the mesh to a solid, converting the solid back to a mesh/STL. If that doesn't work then I would assume it has to be a setting issue in Cura. If this file is publicly available, you should share it.
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19955 | XYZ da Vinci 3D printer doesn't want to load filament
My XYZ da Vinci 3D printer doesn't want to load my spool but I still have a lot of filament on it. I took the chip out in both spool and the printer itself and made sure I loaded them in correctly, but it still says that the spool is empty and I don't know what to do at this point.
XYZ Printing is now defunct, and finding the cartridges is akin to hen's teeth. Has anyone figured out a way to trick the RFID sensor or bypass the sensor entirely? (Without buying and resetting a cartridge or retrofitting an arduino?)
Proprietary systems have proprietary problems
The XYZ daVinci series is locked down in a way that without both an RFID and the sensor, it does not and can not recognize a spool at all, and thus does not print.
Resetting a spool's chip, according to the manufacturer, risks frying the motherboard.
However, DaVinci offers a special spool holder to solve the issue.
Oh god. And it's $49.99 and out of stock. Absolutely disgusting.
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6878 | Why does my part-cooling fan cause stringing?
Really strange observation with my MP Select Mini V2 printing PLA. I've printed a dual-fan shroud so I can have a dedicated part-cooling fan. I've noticed that when I turn it on, the extruder starts stringing everywhere. Little tiny spider-web wisps. No amount of temperature change will make them go away (printing at 200 °C). But if I simply turn off the part-cooling fan, I get a perfect print. This doesn't make sense to me - isn't the part-cooling fan supposed to reduce stringing by cooling the filament faster?
More info: Using Ultimaker Cura 3.4.1, retraction enabled at 3.5 mm and 40 mm/s, which works great when the part-cooling fan is OFF. But when I turn it on without changing any other settings, I get stringing everywhere.
Please see picture below. The part on the left was printed using the part-cooling fan and the one on the right was printed without the part-cooling fan. No other changes. The part-cooling fan is pictured in upper left (bottom fan).
Why does my part-cooling fan cause stringing?
Note that I print at 0.175 mm layer height, or "Normal" for the MP Mini. The cooling fan can be controlled but if I turn it completely off then the cold end part of the nozzle won't get actively cooled. Using Cura I can slowly increase the fan over the first several levels as well, but I'm worried that if the cold end doesn't stay cold it will get clogged up with melted filament. I will try some different fan speed settings and report back - currently running at 100 % all the time.
I went back to the stock shroud with single fan to remove variables. The stock shroud has a small vent at the bottom where air blows over the part, but not much. I had the same problem - I had to put a piece of tape over the blow hole to get the part to print without strings. I also couldn't get the PLA to stick to the bed easily when the blow hole was open. I'm not using the heated bed in any cases - I've found I can print most PLA without heating the bed at all. I'm beginning to think maybe this PLA is just extremely temperature sensitive. The brand is 3D Solutech Printer Filament Real Black.
Are you experiencing problems that the part cooling fan solves? If you get a perfect print with it turned off, what feature does it provide when on?
@fred_dot_u Originally I was hoping to improve the bridging capability by forcing more air over the extruded PLA to cool it faster. I just can't figure out why more air moving over the nozzle makes strings when the whole point of part-cooling I thought was to improve bridging and decrease stringing, not increase it?
Prior to a move the print cooling fan causes the filament to cool on the outside while the nozzle is still hot, when it then moves it causes a strings to form that will be cooled instantly. This means that the cooling you have is too much and should be reduced.
This printer has a single fan to cool the cold-end and the print through a slot with the same fan. As this fan can be scheduled, it would be recommended to create a dual fan on the carriage where you have a dedicated fan cooling the cold end at a fixed voltage, while the print is cooled by a separate fan that can be scheduled through slicer settings.
Too much cooling can't make strings unless there's already oozing material to make them out of.
The fans are allowing the strings to harden instead of break. Maybe you should use more retraction or wipe before crossing perimeters to reduce material ooze during moves.
This is the answer. OP had insufficient or no retraction and was depending on the tension on molten strings to break them and let them spring back.
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6938 | What is this weird support line doing in this print?
I am a newbie to 3D printing and ran into a weird infill line on my second 3D printing object on a new Qidi X-Pro machine (which works great). I've included a screenshot of the infill line, which is deliberately printed the full height of the object. I'm thinking this line has been deliberately inserted by the Qidi slicer for some reason, but I have no idea why. Do all slicers generate these kinds of lines? If so, why?
Hello Kevin welcome to 3Dprinting stack exchange. Seeing your image seems to be your are printing with a high temperature with out retractions; there are a lot of melted points. Follow 0scar's recommendation.
I do not know the Qidi slicer, but if you look closely, you will see this line is thinner than the normal support infill lines. You could try to visualize the G-code in a viewer, usually this can be done in the slicer itself, but online viewers are available. The viewer will not only show the printed lines, but also show moves by the print head (usually in a different color). You can check whether this extra line is actually printed or a move. If it is a move, this extra line is caused by your hotend which is leaking when it moves. You need to properly tune the hotend with respect to the retraction settings and temperature. There are numerous retraction test print objects to find on the internet.
Depending on your slicer settings, some slicers are able to define where each layer starts printing (e.g. random, or start at sharp corner). The fact you see a support structure "printed the full height of the object" tells you that each layer starts at the same position. It is not uncommon in uniform simple parts where each layer starts at the same position (X/Y) as this is instructed by the slicer setting. In Ultimaker Cura such an option is called Z Seam Alignment.
Bottom line, all slicers will do this when your printer is improperly tuned (incorrect settings for e.g. print temperature, retraction, coasting, travel speed). It is up to you to find the correct settings, test print objects help you with that.
I agree, that is not support but the leaking filament on the path from the end of infill to shell!
Thank you to everyone for your help. This pic is from the second object print that I ever did. I was using the slicer defaults (plate 50C, nozzle 0.4mm @ 200C, 1.75mm PLA, and I think that retraction was set to 1.5mm by default.) I tried increasing the retraction to 2.0 mm (before this post), but it never made any difference. It's odd to see such a solid wall from a leaky nozzle using 200C and only in the one place (apparently moving from infill to outer wall, which is an interesting idea itself.
I switched slicers from Qidi to Cura and noticed a big difference in print quality using the same temperature settings for plate and nozzle. Print speed was 40mm on the Qidi slicer and I set Cura down to 40mm too (20mm on outer walls, 40 on the inside, and it uses 100mm/s !! on travels). Cura does better path planning and controlling but I still see odd walls in various places. I will try to collect and post more images. Thank you again for all your help.
@Kevin A higher travel speed also helps minimizing resulting stringing (I forgot about that one!), I'll add that to the answer
Hi Oscar, thank you for the tip! That's the opposite of what I've been trying. I reasoned that slowing the print head down would give better adhesion, etc., so I set it down to 80mm/s to see if that helps going forward. Please see my other post where I (possibly incorrectly) reason that a high travel speed prevents adhesion in one corner of two prints. I can see that tuning will take some time. Thank heavens Cura lets me save profiles! I read a book called 3D Printing Failures (very good book) to get an education, but I still get stuck!
You can set one speed (slow) for printing moves and another speed (high) for non-printing (or "travel") moves.
Here have a posible solution -> How to remove unwanted filament trails from sharp corners
I think, that can be a combination of z-hopping and combing-mode in the slicer that you use.
Hi welcome to 3DPrinting.SE! Stack Exchange sites are not ordinary forums of threaded messages, but focussed on questions and answers. Your answer is sort of a link only answer with a hint to a possible solution without going into details why that might be the solution. Please take the [tour] for some more information. Thanks!
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6890 | Can the glTF format be used for 3D printing?
Can the glTF format be used for 3D printing?
If not, is there any tool can convert it to another format such as STL, OBJ, STEP, and IGES?
As far as can be found it should be possible to convert glTF into STL (or OBJ).
You could try to use an online converter to do this, e.g. this one (greentoken); and this (assimp) may be useful too.
According to this greentoken supports glTF as input and STL as output, but it is reported by @Trish that that does not work. Assimp could output STL files which then could be used by slicer programs to generate the specific G-code file to print the model on your printer.
Greentoken does not accept GLTF, Assimp though does.
No, gltf is not a format that slicers accept commonly, and indeed, it is not even intended to be reverseable in the 1.0 format version. This has changed a little for the 2.0 standard. Some programs that allow exporting into the sliceable stl and obj formats can also import gltf:
blender has an importer plugin - more info here
SketchUpp has an importer plugin
You have to be careful though: formats like dae or stl are meant to transfer 3d objects usually without the loss of information or with just a minimal loss (stl, for example, does technically not contain a scale natively), while gltf is end users and does not contain all the information. This can lead to models getting distorted and destroyed on importing them into a rendering or modeling software.
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6904 | Does auto leveling result in sheared prints?
I asked this question as a small question under an answer of another question (How bed leveling is achieved without table screws?), but have been asked to post this as a separate question to answer it with more detail conform SE policy.
One question with respect to automatic bed leveling (also known as ABL): If the bed is tilted and the auto leveling measured this and then the printer adjust the z axis over the position on the bed, will a x-y-point on the first layer be located exactly under the (in model) same x-y-point in a higher layer, or will it be shifted to? I mean, if the bed is 1 mm lower on one side over 10 cm then a top corner of a 10-cm-cube should be also 1 mm shifted, so that the cube still is real cubic and not sheared.
Using automatic bed leveling assists you in getting the print to stick better to the build platform as a result of the print head following the non-uniform geometry or tilt of the build plate.
In, e.g. Marlin Firmware, the bed level correction is fading out over a predefined distance, this is determined by the constant #define ENABLE_LEVELING_FADE_HEIGHT in the printer firmware Configuration.h file and the height can be set with M420 Z<height> (see here).
M420 S1 ; Enable compensation using current grid/mesh
M420 Z10 ; Gradually reduce compensation until Z=10
If Z equals zero, leveling compensation will be fully applied to all layers of the print object.
Yes, a cube will not be perfectly cubic, that is why even with auto bed leveling you need to provide a bed as level as possible, it only should correct for very small deviations.
When the print is smaller than the fade out height, you would indeed get a sheared print, if larger, then the top of the print would be level with respect to the reference plane (machine true; this is the level of the X-Y plane, basically the level of the hot end carriage). Note that that still can be skew if the printer is improperly calibrated (e.g. when using 2 Z steppers or misalignment of the height on either side).
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6778 | Can G-code scripts be run automatically on inserting an SD card when using Marlin Firmware?
When running Marlin Firmware, is it possible to run G-code scripts/series of commands automatically when you insert the SD card?
I'm running Marlin on a 3D printer board using an ATmega 2560 based board with a reprap discount LCD controller with an SD card slot. I would like to do this without the need to add another computer/board, so native from the board running the Marlin Firmware.
Not quite the answer, but close: https://github.com/MarlinFirmware/Marlin/wiki/Autostart.
Adding link to Nikkoura's answer and while that deals with power-on only, this post on the Marlin forum asks about purely insertion on a printer which is already powered on. A reply was received and apparently it should be possible by making a code change in ultralcd.ccp
A feature request has been made on Marlin's GitHub, see Can G-code scripts be run automatically on inserting an SD card when using Marlin Firmware?
I am not entirely sure if this is what you are after, or if it will work, but from this post on Printing From SD Card when printer is turned On
While an LCD controller is not needed for auto#.g to work, if you have an LCD controller you can use the MENU_ADDAUTOSTART option to add a menu command that will run the auto0.g, auto1.g, auto2.g whenever you want.
This (final) post ended up closing the thread so it appears to answer the OP's question - however, whether it will answer your question is another matter.
This post, on the Marlin forum, replicates your question and asks about purely insertion of an SD card on a printer which is already powered on.
A reply was received and apparently it should be possible by making a code change in ultralcd.ccp:
It does not seem like an auto print, when inserting a SD-card, is to
be found in the current program code of Marlin.
You might consider making a feature request here: [github.com]
I do not think that it would require much work to implement a
"card.autoprintfile()" function in Marlin. It seems to me that a call
to such a function could happen at line 5172 right after:
else
LCD_MESSAGEPGM(MSG_SD_INSERTED);
in the file ultralcd.ccp
A subsequent feature request has been made on Marlin's GitHub, see [FR] Can G-code scripts be run automatically on inserting an SD card when using Marlin Firmware?
However, from this reply, it appears that a feature request is already pending:
I'm not in favor of this as a general feature. We already have a
feature request to be able to run custom G-code in response to various
events, with SD card insertion being one of those events. Would that
feature serve your needs?
However, as yet, I do not have a link to this other feature request. Will update as and when.
As an aside, in might be worth mentioning that the SDFat related code could be the place to code this in, see if SD card removed, how to flag and restart?, although after looking at the Marlin codebase, in particular SdFatUtils.cpp, this would appear to be a red herring.
I don't know what you would like to achieve.
As @typo mentioned there is similar functionality which triggers at printer startup: https://github.com/MarlinFirmware/Marlin/wiki/Autostart
I found in Marlin's source code that you can enable that autostart feature to be triggered from menu. Just enable MENU_ADDAUTOSTART in Configuration_adv.h.
If you really need a g-code that start after sd-card insert then you have to adjust the marlin source code on your own. I suggest to alter file cardreader.cpp. There you have to trigger the autostart procedure after a sd-card is inserted.
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6879 | Does Octoprint stop printing on Crash Detection?
A corner of my model curled up, causing the head to crash into it. The Prusa MK3 detected the error, printed a message to that effect, and moved the print head to the home position.
I was surprised when printing immediately resumed, and of course immediately went awry as it pulled the model off the print bed and dragged it around.
My questions:
Is it expected that printing stops when a head crash is detected?
If so, does Octoprint recognize this condition and stop printing?
You are describing precisely how the crash detection should work on the Prusa Mk3, so it is doing exactly what it should do. If you look into this video from Jozef Prusa you will see him explaining that in case a crash is detected (steps missed are registered because the Mk3 uses trinamic stepper drivers), the print head is homed and will immediately restart printing.
Please do read this interesting post; it describes your similar problems: after detection it resumes. He noteworthy mentions that even a few lines of G-code went missing, this is probably caused by the fact that OctoPrint buffers a few commands or something that get lost because the Pruse Mk3 crash fail safe kicks in.
In effect, OctoPrint is just a simple supplier of G-code commands and does not recognize the problem to act on it and will therefore continue sending new commands after the Prusa Mk3 crash has recovered (sending ok to OctoPrint for receiving new commands) from the crash and re-homed and got the temperatures back to normal levels.
An existing plugin for OctoPrint may help you in this case. The Action Trigger Plugin is able to detect events, but have to be implemented in your firmware. E.g. the action for filament describes:
This trigger will pause the print and home the X and Y axis, giving
the user the opportunity to change out the filament. The print needs
to be resumed manually through the UI.
Maybe it can be configured to pick up the existing event and issue a pause. It could be worth looking into this.
EDIT
Looking closer to the ActionTrigger plugin I noticed that you cannot configure it and the "manual" is very terse. I guess this might involve some serious hacking...
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6225 | Marlin Firmware Auto Leveling only re-centers the XY-axis (Delta printer)
I'm trying to get my printer to auto level its bed, with Marlin firmware using the following:
Printer: Kossel Linear plus (Delta 3D printer)
Board: MKS Base V1.5
Firmware: Marlin customized
I go into the menu on my LCD, and go to the prepare screen. The screen has the following options:
Auto home
Level Bed
Bed leveling: off
When I select the "Auto home" function, the printer uses the stops at the top of the delta to zero itself.
When I select the "Level bed" function, the printer once again uses the end stops to level itself.
If I turn the Bed leveling to ON, then the Level Bed function will do the exact same thing.
My auto-leveling device is connected to the Z-axis end-stop, and looks like so:
I have the #define AUTO_BED_LEVELING_LINEAR line in my config.h, as well as the #define Z_MIN_PROBE_USES_Z_MIN_ENDSTOP_PIN line. I'm not sure why the printer doesn't actually lower the head to the plate and press the endstop.
Any clues as to how to make the printer level the bed and not home the XY axis?
You are correct to define the constants AUTO_BED_LEVELING_LINEAR and Z_MIN_PROBE_USES_Z_MIN_ENDSTOP_PIN, be sure to define the following also:
#define Z_MAX_POS MANUAL_Z_HOME_POS
and
#define MANUAL_Z_HOME_POS 300 // Distance between the nozzle to printbed after homing
Note that 300 should be the distance from nozzle to bed after homing.
Please look into the configuration files of this Kossel Linear Plus and compare them with your own configuration files, you may have missed something.
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6419 | Where is a reputable place to download Ultimaker Cura?
I noticed that my version of Ultimaker Cura was out of date, so I tried to go to their website and download a new version. For whatever reason, I could not get the download link to work properly in Firefox with a slew of security extensions.
Where are reputable mirrors for Cura?
Download.Cnet.com and Sourceforge came up as sources, but years ago they both went to the darkside (SourceForge: HowToGeek, thecomputerpeeps). I don't see anything else that looks even remotely reputable in the search results.
I did some analysis, and it appears that the drop down and form don't work correctly if you select "I don't want to share any personal information", leading me to think this is web page bug.
If one of your security extensions is blocking you from downloading software from the publisher's own site then either disable the extension (maybe temporarily) or look for alternative software -- you are always less secure downloading from unauthorized 3rd party mirrors because a good mirror site will have a copy of the original (including anything bad that might be in it) and a bad mirror can add malware of it's own - a mirror will never remove bad staff from the original but can add new bad stuff -- don't make yourself less secure just to please security software
I believe, it is the security extensions borking up. Disable them for the ultimaker site.
Reaction on the edit: I always choose that option, but I do get the DL link after that.
The answer to your question is: "From the application developer itself!".
Below is the explanation how you can (directly) download Ultimaker Cura from the most reputable source: Ultimaker.com
Regular download
When clicking the link to download of the Cura application download button from the Ultimaker website you are presented with a pop-up GUI that asks you if you want to share where you are using the program for. When you select the required field and press download, the download starts. If this doesn't work, a direct download approach can be used.
Direct download
If the regular download method fails, or you do not get the pop-up GUI, you can use the direct link for Ultimaker Cura from the developer's website:
https://download.ultimaker.com/cura/Ultimaker_Cura-4.1.0-win64.exe
This link can be found at the download directory at the website:
https://download.ultimaker.com/current/
This web directory overview also shows all previous releases and installers for other platforms.
As of version 3.6.0, the download does not appear to be in the list, this link will show an overview: https://ultimaker.com/en/products/ultimaker-cura-software/list
Do note that the latter link will show the pop-up.
As of version 4.1, the web directory overview link will serve a 404.
Github
The Ultimaker Cura Project has a Github, where they offer the current and previous editions under:
https://github.com/Ultimaker/Cura/tags
Cura is a software tool developed by Ultimaker for 3D printers. There is a downloadable page for this tool: https://ultimaker.com/en/products/ultimaker-cura-software/list. There is no restriction to download it.
I'm using Firefox on all my PC's and it can be downloaded with no problems, even if I'm using Windows XP, the main PC works at full speed with 3D models.
This shows the list, but is not a direct download link to the file, there is a GUI interface between that page and the actual download, this is probably why the OP is not able to download the file
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6427 | Nozzle heats up past the setpoint and increases
I made a few successful prints since I got my CR-10 two weeks ago and I didn't run into any major trouble. The printer is new.
Today I set it to "preheat" mode while I was preparing the SD card with the settings being 210°C for the nozzle and 60°C for the bed. When I wanted to start the print I noticed that the temperature showed as "actual temperature" on the printer's screen showed 233°C and it was going up steadily while the "requested" temperature was still 210°C.
Thiking it might be a mis-manipulation on my part I powered it down for a few minutes (I got scared by the high-temp) and then powered it back on. I then immediately requested the print to start. The CR-10 heated up to the proper value, started printing and kept heating the nozzle. I stopped it at 217°C.
I looked for an answer on the internet but all I could find is people having trouble with the nozzle not heating at all ...
Hi and welcome to 3D Printing.SE! How did you measure the "actual" temperature? E.g. using an external thermometer, thermistor, thermocouple or a pyrometer, or read from the display? Maybe you could add that to the question.
Thank you for your advice. I updated my question. The "real" temperature is measured by the printer itself and is displayed on the printer's screen.
Does this happen at lower temps, e.g. 195 (which is sufficient for most PLA filaments)?
If you know them, post the firmware version and control board type/version, etc.
Have you found & fixed the problem? If any of the answers helped you to get an answer to your question or come to your own conclusions then please do vote & accept an answer (using the tick button next to it). This helps us reduce the unanswered questions list & stops the question from being bumped once in a while. If you found another answer (than those already posted), please add that answer (& accept after 48 hours) to share your experience with the community. If you have not been able to address the problem please update your question.
@0scar I'm still in the process of fixing it. I did some more analyse work on the printer and it seems to come down to the motherboard, hardware or software I don't know yet. I'm very busy lately that's why I couldn't get my nose back into this earlier. I'll surely let you guys know when I fixed it. (I'm a StackOverflow user, I'll accept the right answer if there is one :-) )
Thanks for the feedback! You can also join us in [chat] if you require help and feedback. Personally I'm curious what the cause of this problem is, this is really an odd one!
This is not an easy one to solve, the firmware of the printer should be keeping the printer at a certain temperature depending on the temperature setting and the current value. If the firmware is not able to keep the temperature at the requested level, but goes beyond that level, that could be considered "strange". As it measures the temperature (and reports it on your display) it must know that it is over the limit and thus should not power the hotend.
In this process there are a few possible candidates for you to look at:
Check for a faulty MOSFET (sort of an electronic switch) on your controller board (is it leaking current to the hotend?).
Check and or update the current settings for the PID values (settings for the control loop of the hotend). The PID values control the overshoot of the temperature. E.g. is this is very large overshoot? When incorrectly configured the temperature can get higher, but normally should never increase to infinity, are you sure it keeps rising? The determination of the new values is called PID tuning. Important commands (that need to be send over a USB connected printer with a 3D printer terminal application like Repetier Host, OctoPrint or Pronterface):
The M503 G-code command shows the current settings (somewhere in the heap of all settings).
The M303 G-code command can determine the values.
Reflash the firmware
Replace the printer controller board
You could replace the thermistor and the heater cartridge (just to be sure, most definitely not the problem, but they are really cheap to replace). The thermistor works as it reports the temperature, and the heater element doesn't get powered by itself.
As suggested below the most likely candidate for your problem is the MOSFET. These are pretty easy to replace (depending on your board) or replaceable by an external MOSFET module (if you happen to have one lying around).
I would suggest checking the MOSFET first, as this is the most likely explanation in my opinion. Measure the voltage on the gate. If it changes when the temperature setpoint is exceeded, but the heating does not stop, then the MOSFET is fried. Another good thing to check would be whether it starts heating without any input. I don't think replacing the thermistor or heater cartridge is a good recommendation (a broken heater cartridge certainly wouldn't heat up the hotend without power being applied to it).
As far as I know, the MOSFET is only related to the heating bed. I couldn't find any schematics nor any obvious pointer to where the nozzle's power command components where. With a friend of mines we tested (multimeter) a few components such as the thermistor and the heating resistor just "to be sure" (we didn't really know where to go). Everything is ok.
We flashed the firmware and installed Marlin (latest version). Nothing changed.
So I'm going to order a new board. I don't have enough knowledged of the board to try and fix it and can't find any schematics for it online. I'll let you knopw
@Wndrr Both the connectors for the heated bed and the hot end have a MOSFET attached; this is because the micro-controller cannot handle high currents, instead the low current connection to the micro-controller schedules the high current loop (like a gain) to the hot end cartridge. If there is a failure in the MOSFET, current may leak continuously. So did you measure the voltage over the cartridge during overshoot?
I've repaired the printer a while back, but I forgot to update this thread. I tried everything but ultimately changing the motherboard was what solved the problem. I suspect I might have burnt something by heating both the bed and nozzle at the same time from a cold start. That's my best guess at why the MB failed.
Thanks for your help !
@MathieuVIALES Many thanks and nice to come back after a while and report that you fixed the problem by replacing the board! The MOSFETor the pin/port scheduling the MOSFET are definitely suspects on your old board and certainly could have been damaged. Have fun printing!
A similar condition occurred in my 3D printer. I solved the same. I checked all my connection and I came to know that I connected the thermistor of the extruder in the wrong port. So just check the connection of your thermistor.
Actually my 3D printer circuit board frequently failed because of over current. I then added a multimeter in series with my power supply and the load, also a voltmeter across the voltage regulator. I then corrected every motor driver DRV8825 to a reference voltage of 0.6 V so that the maximum current supplied to each of the motor will be less than 1 A. All these made my circuit checked ok. Then I uploaded the G-code, but I couldn't print because my extruder gets heated about 280 °C and got reset and suddenly shut down the extruder supply. This continues to happen.
Then I reinstalled the Marlin firmware and I also changed the port of my thermistor. Now my 3D printer is ok and prints nicely. I also faced another problem while I gave the print command - it showed that the extruder and bed had started heating but it actually was not heating. So I reinstalled the firmware again and this fixed it. Now my 3D printer works OK. You just try for these steps:
Check the connection.
Reinstall the firmware.
Try manually preheat the extruder, and just see whether it heats to infinity.
These are my working experience please try for these, I think it will help you. Just don't leave it you will get the solution. Keep on trying.
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6375 | How to center my prints on the build platform? (Re-calibrate homing offset)
When I print large prints close to (but not exceeding) the maximum dimensions of the heated build platform on my Anet A8, the brim or skirt or the print itself is printed outside the heated bed, while there is some space left at the opposite sites. It appears as if the print is not in the center.
Why is the print not centered on the bed?It was centered in the slicer before generating the G-code.
How can I center the print to make it fit on the heated build platform?
When centered in the slicer correctly, without offsets defined in the slicer, the printer is most probably incorrectly configured! Luckily you can do something about that! Basically, you will have to calibrate the printer for a new center.
Printer origin?
First of all, the firmware determines where your origin of the printer is. This implies that you need to properly set bed dimensions and offset values from the end stop switches in the firmware (usually not necessary out-of-the-box, but important when a newer or different firmware version is uploaded). These offsets determine where the origin of the bed plate is located. For Marlin firmware it is very common (for most printers) to have the origin specified at the front left corner (when facing the printer). From the configuration of Marlin we find the origin is e.g. in the front-left corner. Note that this can be rotated 180 degrees in certain printers, so the aft-right. Also be aware that there are a few printers that have the origin in the center, e.g. Delta's and a few Cartesian printers. Marlin definition (edited snippet) of a common bed layout:
* +-- BACK ---+
* | |
* L | (+) | R
* E | | I
* F | (-) N (+) | G
* T | | H
* | (-) | T
* | |
* O-- FRONT --+
* (0,0)
* .(-Xh, -Yh)
How do I find the physical origin of the printer?
This can be tested by instructing the head/nozzle to go to e.g. (0, 0, 15) using a terminal/console or a simple G-code file with a move to that coordinate that you print from SD card (e.g. G1 X0 Y0 Z15 F500); note a Z of 15 is chosen for safety!. When this is performed, the nozzle should be at the (elevated, so X, Y) origin as defined by your firmware. Usually this is at the left front corner of your build plate (there may be clips there, so therefore the elevated value), but this may be different depending on the firmware settings or firmware brand.
Next step is to configure the slicer as such that this coincides with the actual origin. Incorrect slicer settings can cause the slicer to assume the origin is at a different position than your actual position. In Ultimaker Cura, the "Origin at center" is notoriously known for this when the physical origin is not in the center, but in a corner. When the slicer is properly instructed, but the origin is still not at the corner of the build plate (beware! in some printers the origin is in the middle of the plate) you might have incorrect endstop to origin offsets.
Determine the offset first!
To quantify the offset of the center as it is known by the printer software (firmware) it is advised to print a large square that is a few percentage smaller than the maximum size of the bed. E.g. you can create a square hull at e.g. 90 % of the dimensions of the bed (parametric designs are very useful for this purpose, see e.g. this design). There are many things (.stl models) to be found on the internet. If it includes a cross, even better as some platforms have a mark in the center of the bed.
Example of a bed center calibration model
Once printed, measure the distance from every edge from the build platform to the printed square. If you fail to print the square, please check the level of the platform; this is also an excellent test for the level of your bed!
The measurements should give you a notion of the offset of the bed. E.g. for the X-axis you measure a distance of 12 mm on the left and 8 mm on the right (when facing the printer) you can easily deduce that the center is (12 - 8)/2 = 2 mm to the right (positive X direction). This implies that the printer manufacturer has done a lousy job by delivering you a printer with an offset bed; better said incorrectly configured in their firmware. Note this is not uncommon!
How to fix this!
Once you quantified the offset, you want to be sure that your next print prints in the middle of the bed. How to proceed? Basically there are a couple of solutions you can use, each with its own advantages and disadvantages.
A simple solution (i.e. if the printer support this) is to adjust the position of the endstops. Alternatively you can print alternate endstop holders to match the position change as measured from the calibration print.
Another simple and popular solution is applying an offset in the slicer. You could do that in the printer options some of the available slicers. If such options are not available, you could add G-code commands in the start code to create the offset (e.g. G1 X-2 moves to the left and G92 X0 resets the X origin). Note that this is a quick fix and should be applied wisely. The printer does not know where the actual center is! You merely changed if after the homing sequence. Exchanging .gcode with fellow enthusiasts with the same printer may have adverse effects.
A far better solution is to fix the center in the firmware so that the printer knows the actual center. This requires some extra effort by uploading firmware (files including configuration settings) to the printer or send G-code commands. The latter option will be discussed first.
A prerequisite of this method is that it requires the G-code command [M206](https://reprap.org/wiki/G-code#M206:_Offset_axes) to be supported by your firmware; note that not all 3D printer firmware solutions are able to use this G-code command for axes offset definition. E.g. the stock Anet A8 runs a modified Repetier version that does not support M206, it would be time to upload a new firmware like e.g. Marlin Firmware making this particular printer safer as the stock firmware does not include thermal runaway protection! See question: "What is Thermal Runaway Protection?". To send G-code commands to a printer you have the option to hook up your computer to the printer over USB and use a 3D printer program that support sending commands to the printer (this is called a terminal; i.e. an interface to the printer). Programs like PronterFace, Repetier-Host, OctoPrint, and probably many more have such an interface. A simple alternative that works also is creating a text file (with .gcode extension) with the commands on separate lines and executing the "print". The following codes need to be sent: M206 e.g. M206 X-2 Y2 (move center left and to the back, note to use integer values, float values are not allowed!) and store this new center with M500.
The final, best solution is to set it fixed in the firmware. This requires an upload of a more recent configured version of an applicable firmware. See e.g. question: "How to upload firmware to reprap printer?". Note that there are different methods to upload a firmware to the board, it is best to search the internet for the applicable method for your board.
To do that you will have to be comfortable with computer software and tools to build source files and upload binary code to the printer. This depends on the type of firmware you choose and therefore cannot be described for each firmware in detail. Various sources on the internet describe this process. Generally speaking, it requires you to set the bed and offset values/positions correctly. For Marlin Firmware this comes down to changing the settings in the configuration file, this is similar in other firmware software solutions:
// The size of the print bed
#define X_BED_SIZE 220
#define Y_BED_SIZE 220
// Travel limits (mm) after homing, corresponding to endstop positions.
#define X_MIN_POS -35 ; used to be -33, so 2 mm shift to left now
#define Y_MIN_POS -8 ; used to be -10, so 2 mm shift to the back
#define Z_MIN_POS 0
#define X_MAX_POS X_BED_SIZE
#define Y_MAX_POS Y_BED_SIZE
#define Z_MAX_POS 240
Thanks for this very detailed explanation! I have an offset for x of -115mm and y of -123mm when I set the X_MIN_POS & Y_MIN_POS accordingly, I can't compile the firmware anymore, it says error: static assertion failed: Movement bounds (X_MIN_POS, X_MAX_POS) are too narrow to contain X_BED_SIZE. Adapting X and Y_BED_SIZE results in the same error. It's an Ender 3. Any advice? Thanks a lot!
@ChristianBaumann Your offsets are impossible values, no wonder it doesn't work.
As to why this happens, particularly with a budget printer the end-stop mountings may not be particularly precisely located, or the moving part may actuate the endstop slightly differently in each build. In my case, replacing the hot end (and thus the whole carriage) gave me an offset of some cm. With this upgrade, it was impossible to retain the stock calibration since the extruder dimensions are quite different.
As to how to fix it, the easiest way for me was to modify the 'start g-code'. This fix only applies to the particular slicer, means that what I slice for my A8 won't be centred on the work maker-club Prusa, but doesn't need me to mess about with firmware or apply a per-model update.
After the Z-home operation, I already have a pre-extrude step. Prior to this, I set the actual position of what I want my homed point to be, using G92
M82 ; absolute extrusion mode
G28 ; home all
G92 X17 Y-12 ; re-define origin
G92 E0.0 ; reset extruder distance position
Limit switch mount errors should be considerably less than a millimeter. My impression of the OP is that he's off-center by a large amount consistent with failure to include head offset in the slicer.
With the A8, I thought the limit switch mounts used a screw-in-slot - or maybe that was only for Z. I can imagine the actual switch provided might vary between batches too, so it could be a few mm...
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6394 | How to calculate linear Y rod length for a larger replacement bed?
I have an Anet A8 which I want to convert to an aluminium frame printer like the AM8 (rebuild of Anet A8 parts):
This should give a much more stiff frame with respect to the acrylic frame to aid in a better print quality.
Since the bed (220 x 220 mm) has a slight warp, I want to use a larger build platform (200 mm x 300 mm) I have laying around. My plan is to use the 300 mm in the Y direction.
Knowing the maximum outer distance of the current Y bearings to be 105 mm, is that too short for such a large bed?
How do I calculate the length of the Y axis rods? (especially if you take another distance than 105 mm)
Basically, your setup is the following:
The overhang of the bed, assuming the bearings are in the center, equals (300-105)/2 = 97.5 mm on each side. So the distance from the leftmost bearing face (when bed is at y = 0 mm) to the center of the Y rods assembly equals 300 - 97.5 = 202.5 mm. Knowing this distance for the other side of the center to the right when y = 300 mm is the same, the minimum length of the rod will therefore be 2 x 202.5 = 405 mm which equals the addition of the bed length and the outer bearing distance 300 + 105 = 405 mm.
Please note this excludes extra length for e.g. a limit switch, and some extra space around the bed. Basically the extra length of the bed 300 - 220 = 80 mm needs to attributed to each side of the bed, so 40 mm on each side extra.
For a 220 x 220 mm bed, the minimum length would be 2 x (220 - (220 - 105)/2) = 325 mm. When I measure the rods between the acrylic flanges it measures about 365 mm, about 40 mm extra for clearance around the bed (20 mm on each side).
The overhang for the 300 mm bed is not that much, and a construction under the heated plate will be used to fasten the bed at the corners, as long as that construction is not too flimsy, the current distance will be alright. For other distances you should change the value of 105 in the formulas above. E.g. for an outer flange distance for the bearings of 120 mm, you would require rods of at least 420 mm.
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6289 | How is the E argument calculated for a given G1 command?
I'm working on building a tool to generate G-code (a simpler slicer), and I'm trying to calculate how much filament should be extruded per movement.
Is there a standard calculation for this? Something like:
layer height * flow % * extruder diameter * distance
How does Ultimaker Cura calculate this?
Basically, all movements are (small) straight lines, the volume of a straight line is easily calculated as you already guessed.
To calculate the volume to be extruded you multiply the following parameters:
the layer height (h)
flow modifier (e.g. as percentage) (SF)
extruder nozzle diameter (dn) (or extruder line width if different from nozzle diameter)
distance of the straight line (l)
With this volume you can calculate how much filament you need to extrude. To get the length (thus the length defined by the E parameter), divide the obtained volume by surface area of your used filament by:
π * (filament radius)2 or alternatively π /4 * (filament diameter)2 = (π /4 * df2)
To sum up, the value of E is given by:
$$ E_{value} = \frac{h \times {SF} \times d_{n} \times l}{\frac{\pi}{4}d_{f}^2} = \frac{4 \times h \times {SF} \times d_{n} \times l}{\pi \times d_{f}^2} $$
Ultimately the volumetric extruder advance is modelled here just as the volume of a cube. Where there is a little bit of interesting room for variation is how you model the start/stop of the line, where it's not a flat edge but rounded.
I've taken the begin and end in consideration once, it doesn't make a real difference. (Unless you have very short lines to fill...)
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6298 | POM filament not sticking to the build plate?
In the creation of the process of printing my own bearings to reduce noise, minimize play/tolerances and size the bearings to the actual size of the application, I obtained a spool of Polyoxymethylene (POM) or also known as Acetal or Delrin.
This polymer is a thermoplastic polymer that is frequently used in engineering precision parts that require high stiffness, low friction and dimensional stability. It has been chosen for these material properties to be used as bearing material for linear guide rails.
This image shows an example of the application of customized igus® bearing that is as long as the housing part it is going to fit in:
Prints frequently get knocked over as it does not stick well.
How do I get POM filament to stick to the build plate?
Any comments on success/failure on this?
I tried:
plain heatbed = bad adhesion, zero
blue tape = better but peels off
blue tape and glustick = peels off after 1 or 2 layers tried both low and high bed temperature and on/off fan in all combinations,
without a success :(
@MiroKrsjak As described in the answer, I get very good adhesion with 3DLAC/ABS juice and a large brim. Lately I even do not use ABS juice anymore, only PVA based spray glue (3DLAC). Works fine for me.
Wow, first time I hear about printing Delrin, it opens up a whole world of possibilities. Just ordered a spool, I'll definitely try to print it using DustNPrint, so far it has proven very good with abs, pp, pc, nylon and all the easy ones like pla and petg. I'll be posting my results asap.
Great material but very hard to print as it does not stick easy to the build plate as it has a low friction coefficient to grip onto the heated bed. Also, the material sets quite fast, once the filament leaves the nozzle, it soon hardens so you need to be careful with retraction and Z-hop (leaving small peaks that will be hit later by the nozzle knocking over your print).
My experience with printing this material is based on printing with an Ultimaker 3 Extended (on glass) using a modified material profile (based on Nylon). It is printed at 240 °C (+5 °C for the first layer), no usage of the part cooling fan (if you do use cooling, the layers will not adhere well), a heated bed temperature of 80 °C, and a slow printing speed of 40 mm/s (20 mm/s for the first and second layer).
Ultimaker 3 Extended with printed POM bearing:
First thing I learned is to use quite large brim's (the image above shows a rather small one for this short bearing, for the longer bearings the brim size was more than doubled, e.g. 20 mm), brims enlarge the surface area so that there is more material that grabs hold of the heated bed. Also ensure to get it to stick long enough is heating the bed to 80 °C after smearing ABS juice (ABS dissolved in acetone) and spraying a PVA based spray over the dried ABS juice layer (3DLAC has been used, but other hairsprays or even gluesticks may work as well, as long as there is PVA in it). The temperature of 80 °C is chosen as this is the temperature where my PVA spray has the most tack/sticky-ness.
Other solutions like heating the bed up to 110 °C using 3DLAC or specifically designed sprays for higher temperature like e.g. Dimafix did not work well for me.
Note that complete infill may also give problems as filling out the whole surface area sometimes creates excess material that curls up, which is an easy target to be hit by the nozzle on the next layer.
This image shows an example of using the printed customized igus® POM bearing that is as long as the mount height:
Collection of POM printed bearings:
Another application of POM bearings:
CoreXY hot end carriage
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6329 | Print quality of Kossel clone for Print in Place models
My first printer is Delta style Kossel clone and I have bad luck with Print In Place (PIP) models, especially with hinges. I suspect that my printer just can't achieve low enough tolerances to make the hinges work.
Are there any tricks I can employ to get better prints for PIP models?
Much better. Would you share some specs about your printer? like nozzle size?
Delta printers are considered to be able to be accurate printers cause of the limited weight in the head (using Bowden extruder setup). The positioning can be very accurate (limited weight, limited overshooting) and because of the limited amount of weight, the print speed can be increased.
An interesting paper has been written on a comparative study between a Cartesian and a Delta machine. The paper concludes that the Delta style printer produces "a better surface finish". However, I'm a bit skeptical as the images of the Cartesian printed part they have printed are of far less quality I can produce with 2 of my printers. Fact is that Delta machines have no Z-wobble (also called banding) that is a common problem with Prusa i3 style printers for instance.
It is possible that your printer is over-extruding, and this will certainly give less satisfactory results when you try to print models which have internal clearances.
It is also possible that you have some calibration issues which affect orthogonality, x/y/z dimensions or flatness in each axis.
In terms of general improvements, slower and maybe cooler might help - but before jumping in with difficult models, how are your 'standard' print test parts coming out?
Which 'standard test parts" would you suggest?
@linuxdan ask that as a separate question...
asked here https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/q/6470/10422
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6326 | Gaps in Cura's Slicing for Monoprice Select Mini V2
Why does this happen (circled in red), and how can I fix it? It is making my prints come out horrible.
Not shown in the picture, but the option "Coasting" was Enabled:
Coasting Volume 0.064 mm3
Minimum Volume Before Coasting: 0.8
Coasting Speed 90%
Hi and welcome to 3D Printing.SE Could you look at the option "coasting" and report the value?
Coasting was Enabled (Coasting Volume .064 mm^3, Minimum Volume Before Coasting: .8, Coasting Speed 90%). I've disabled it and it looks sane now. Feel Free to write an answer and I'll give you an upvote.
If you enable the option "Coasting", the extruder will follow the extrusion path at the end of switching to the next layer or the next section, but will not deposit any material as it uses the build up pressure in the nozzle to deposit the final bits. This shows up in your G-code representation by empty (non-depositing) gaps (in reality, when fine-tuned correctly, will be filled).
E.g. sliced without "Coasting" enabled:
E.g. sliced with "Coasting" enabled:
I have had a similar thing happen when slicing a large piece that has - in real life - walls of about 2 cm. By scaling it down to 1.5%, this become less than the wall thickness, and the wall was simply omitted by CURA.
In my experience, a model showing gaps can have in these locations a thickness less than 1 wall.
Yes that is true, but not the case in this example. Very nice addition to mention for people that may stumble onto this topic with wall thickness issues!
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6574 | Can I use a 0 mm top layer thickness in Ultimaker Cura to create an open box?
Let's say I'm modeling a simple open-top rectangular box to slice via Cura for printing. Normally I would set up a solid box of the size I want in the modeler, and then subtract a slightly smaller box to create the final result.
Is it possible to get the same results with Cura by instead only modeling the simpler solid box if set my wall lines and thickness for the base and sides, set the infill to 0 %, and then set the Top Layers to 0 and/or Top Thickness to 0 mm?
How might that change the resulting print?
How will that impact the total height of the print?
Why not just try it yourself?
Because even simple prints can take an hour of machine time. This was answered much faster, took no machine time, and I didn't have to wait 6 hours for my current print to finish to even start.
You don't need to print it to see the resulting path.
Yes that will work in Ultimaker Cura exactly as you say.
So if you have a solid model of a cube, you select wall thickness, bottom thickness, 0 % infill, and no top layers or top layer size of 0 mm. You will then end up with a box without a top layer, but with walls reaching up to the height of your model.
Can you do this to remove the bottom of a particular object as well?
@CarlWitthoft Yes
Yes, you can even print no solid top, bottom, or side, and only print your infill shape/density if you like. I used to use this to make scaffolds.
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6535 | Controlling more fans with RAMPS board
I am using RAMPS 1.4 with Marlin. With Marlin, you can control a large number of fans with the M106 P<fan index> command. I'd like RAMPS to control some additional fans, independent of layer fan. Are there free pins on RAMPS 1.4 to do that? Otherwise, could I setup the RAMPS board to send a command to a separate Arduino? I also have Octoprint if that makes it easier.
Have you looked at https://reprap.org/wiki/File:Arduinomegapololushieldschematic.png?
You can control up to 3 fans with M106 P<fan index>, see my answer below.
From the sources of Marlin you can find how may fans you can use, even if you're not a coder it should be doable. From there you can find how to set the pins for the fans, provided that there are free unused and exposed (so that you do not have so solder directly to the microprocessor). First find how many fans are possible.
Starting in Marlin_main.cpp and searching for 106 (or 106 on the Marlin GitHub website) will lead you to the sources of the execution of the M106 command. Below a snippet of M106 and M107 is shown. The reason for M107 to be there becomes clear later.
#if FAN_COUNT > 0
/**
* M106: Set Fan Speed
*
* S<int> Speed between 0-255
* P<index> Fan index, if more than one fan
*
* With EXTRA_FAN_SPEED enabled:
*
* T<int> Restore/Use/Set Temporary Speed:
* 1 = Restore previous speed after T2
* 2 = Use temporary speed set with T3-255
* 3-255 = Set the speed for use with T2
*/
inline void gcode_M106() {
const uint8_t p = parser.byteval('P');
if (p < FAN_COUNT) {
#if ENABLED(EXTRA_FAN_SPEED)
const int16_t t = parser.intval('T');
if (t > 0) {
switch (t) {
case 1:
fanSpeeds[p] = old_fanSpeeds[p];
break;
case 2:
old_fanSpeeds[p] = fanSpeeds[p];
fanSpeeds[p] = new_fanSpeeds[p];
break;
default:
new_fanSpeeds[p] = MIN(t, 255);
break;
}
return;
}
#endif // EXTRA_FAN_SPEED
const uint16_t s = parser.ushortval('S', 255);
fanSpeeds[p] = MIN(s, 255U);
}
}
/**
* M107: Fan Off
*/
inline void gcode_M107() {
const uint16_t p = parser.ushortval('P');
if (p < FAN_COUNT) fanSpeeds[p] = 0;
}
#endif // FAN_COUNT > 0
Looking at this code, the first thing (actually the first line, #if FAN_COUNT > 0, already hints to that) that catches your attention is constant FAN_COUNT. Apparently the software knows how much fans are defined! Interesting! How does it know that! This piece of code ends just after handling the M107 command (line #endif // FAN_COUNT > 0), hence it is displayed here.
Continuing the search by finding how FAN_COUNT is set (using the search on GitHub for the Marlin repository) leads to file Conditionals_post.h. An interesting part is:
/**
* Up to 3 PWM fans
*/
#if HAS_FAN2
#define FAN_COUNT 3
#elif HAS_FAN1
#define FAN_COUNT 2
#elif HAS_FAN0
#define FAN_COUNT 1
#else
#define FAN_COUNT 0
#endif
So depending on HAS_FANx (where x denotes 0, 1 or 2) you can have multiple fans, up to 3 in total! Cool, learned something in the process. :)
Let's now search for HAS_FANx; in the same file you will find:
// Other fans
#define HAS_FAN0 (PIN_EXISTS(FAN))
#define HAS_FAN1 (PIN_EXISTS(FAN1) && CONTROLLER_FAN_PIN != FAN1_PIN && E0_AUTO_FAN_PIN != FAN1_PIN && E1_AUTO_FAN_PIN != FAN1_PIN && E2_AUTO_FAN_PIN != FAN1_PIN && E3_AUTO_FAN_PIN != FAN1_PIN)
#define HAS_FAN2 (PIN_EXISTS(FAN2) && CONTROLLER_FAN_PIN != FAN2_PIN && E0_AUTO_FAN_PIN != FAN2_PIN && E1_AUTO_FAN_PIN != FAN2_PIN && E2_AUTO_FAN_PIN != FAN2_PIN && E3_AUTO_FAN_PIN != FAN2_PIN)
Now we are getting into clear water! This codes hints to FAN1_PIN and FAN2_PIN. If you look into you pin layout file, e.g. pins_RAMPS.h you see that that are the pin constants that need to be defined, actually FAN1_PIN is e.g. set if you choose an "EFF" configuration (Hotend, Fan0, Fan1), e.g. #define FAN1_PIN RAMPS_D8_PIN.
What is left for you to do is find an unused pin of your micro-controller and set the FAN2_PIN with #define FAN2_PIN <a free pin number>.
E.g. pin 4 is not a used pin number (and an analog output pin). Don't forget that the pin you choose cannot directly run a fan, it should be used to schedule a MOSFET.
Note that a dual external fan header "Reprap Ramps1.4 RRD Fan Extender" exists, this describes using the D6 and D11 pins. Further investigation led to a 3D.SE posting using this fan header: "How to configure Marlin to enable auto-fans with dual extruder".
Very interesting! Thanks for teaching how to fish! I also see in pins_RAMPS.h that pin 4 is available for filament runout sensor or laser, which I don't use. So I could also use that I guess for a fan (via MOSFET).
@vega You're welcome, excellent that you used the post to find an unused pin (from here I don't know what your setup looks like and what is used or not), just configure the pin to the #define FAN1_PIN if you are running 2 fans in total and use a MOSFET and you're good to go!
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6524 | What are the specifications of the dual voltage controller of the Ender 3/CR-10?
Following on from What level of voltage does the Creality Ender-3 run at?
Dave's answer states that both 12 V and 24 V can be used on the controller board. It also goes on to say that the controller board is used in both configurations in two different printers:
Ender 3 and;
CR-10
I would like to know how this dual voltage operation works:
Does it use both voltages at the same time, or either one or the other?
Are there two different electrical inlets or are they the same?
Does it auto-detect or are there jumpers used to configure or are the components tolerant to both voltage levels?
Also related:
What is the board used?
Is the board a proprietary design or a standard third party board?
Does anyone have any photos of the board and/or schematics?
I own the Ender 3, and it runs on 24V, as this photo of the power supply shows:
From power supply to the board, it uses a 2-wire line connected with a XT60 plug/jack that is common on RC cars:
The board itself is a proprietary design and labeled as "V1.1.2". The Voltage in is the lowest input on the left:
The Cooling fan (blue-yellow wire), the hotend cooling fan, heater cartridge (white shielded), bed heater (left black-red), board cooling fan (middle red-black) run (in this setup) on 24V. The Logic connectors (black-black & White-white) run 5V logic. I could not figure out the voltage of the stepper motors (upper row).
I have not figured out how the power management circut works, but it achieves this:
Supply voltage $ U_S = 12\ \text V \lor 24\ \text V $
Logic Voltage $ U_L = 5\ \text V $
Sensor Voltage $ U_{sens} = U_L$
Hotend Cooling Fan $ U_{cool} = U_S$
Hotend Heating Cartridge $ U_{hot} = U_S $
Heatbed $ U_{bed} = U_S $
The chip's caption can't be read on the photo, but it is labeled as "Δ ATMEL // ATMEGA1284P // AU 1726"
For the pinout, a german maker did determine, that it the configuration of a Sanguino equipped with an Atmega1284P 16Bit works for compiling firmware and flashing via a bootloader.
This answer addresses the input voltage. If you look up the official replacement board at the official Creality store the board features a single pair of connectors next to it says: 12 V / 24 V. So you can either use 12 V, or 24 V, not both. An internal regulator will most probably reduce the voltage anyways.
Please note that (kindly reminded by user profesor79 through the comments) that the microprocessor on these boards only use 5 V. So any voltage you supply (12 or 24 V), the voltage regulator will always make sure the microprocessor does not get more than 5 V. However, that does not necessarily apply to all peripherals connected to the board! This should be verified if for the peripherals also a voltage regulator is used. One of my own boards, the RUMBA board can be fed by any voltage ranging from 12 V - 35 V, but this also applies to the peripherals like the heater cartridge and the fans! I use the RUMBA with a 24 V power supply, so I need to use 24 V fans heater elements and heat bed.
the most important thing to say that the regulator will provide 5V to ttl(Arduino) and the full value of input voltage will be applied to peripherals. Having that in mind - changing PSU voltage will require to change fans, heaters, and even steppers.
@professor79 Yes totally true, good addition, I did not bother to add that, I will make that more clear
I can confirm this measurement (after first reading the wrong line and getting a wrong factor in) If U_S=24V, then the bed, fans and heater cartridge run on U=24V, the switches have 5V.
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6541 | How to eliminate stringing and regulate flow rate?
I have been having a problem with stringing on my 3D printer, so initially I increased retraction distance from 6.5 mm to 8 mm. Then I tried again, with the same issue, so I increased retraction speed and lowered the extruder temperature. Same problem. Over and over. After I did each of these, I have since decreased move speed, increased minimum layer time, put fan on full blast, and nothing has seemed to increase print quality.
I realize this is a lot of alterations to be making, but I'm not sure what to do next. I am using 1.75 mm PLA and a Monoprice Select V2.
Hi elarr and welcome to Stack Exchange 3D Printing!
Stringing can be fought by increasing the retraction length, but 6.5 mm (the default in Ultimaker Cura) is already pretty much. Please do note that too much retraction can lead to sucking air into the nozzle, which can lead to air pockets/holes.
Basically there are 3 mechanisms that are in play:
Retraction
Temperature
Speed
You have tried changing multiple parameters already. You may have better luck in reducing the temperature of the nozzle even further, start with a decrease of 5 °C. All that is left to do is increasing the travel speed.
There are many stringing test prints to print to fine tune stringing.
Great, that makes sense. My current values are as follows: Print Temp = 195 C, Plate Temp = 60 C Retraction Distance = 8 mm, Retraction Speed = 60 mm/s, Print Speed = 25 mm/s, Travel Speed = 70 mm/s. Do you think making Print Temp = 190 C and Travel Speed = 50 mm/s would do the trick?
@elarr bump up the travel speed to 100 mm/s, you should increase that one. Many PLA filament can be printed below 195 degC. First try increasing the travel speed.
It turns out, the problem was due to clogging of my extruder. The settings you provided work well though. Thanks!
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6624 | Ender 3 nozzle homes off the bed in the Y axis
I just received my new Creality Ender 3. I was going through and checking/adjusting everything for alignment, and I noticed that when you "auto home" the print head, the nozzle stops off the front of the print bed by 5-10 mm.
Is that normal?
Is it perhaps by design to allow purging the nozzle without dumping on the bed?
It doesn't appear that there is any way to adjust the Y stop switch without making modifications to it. It also didn't look like there was any easy way to move the bed either.
Related: https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/6399/recalibrating-home-position
Different than the Ender 3's behavior, the Ender 3V2 homes on the bed. A bit of cold filament sticking out of the nozzle could potentially interfere with the homing accuracy/repeatability. I wish my Ender 3V2 homed off of the bed, but I think I'd need to replace and move the YMAX endstop.
Yes, this is the "intended" behavior, as the home in relation to the physical limit position is not placed correctly about 7.5 mm into the bed in both X and Y.
to correct this, please look at the Recalibrating Home-position for the Ender3
Sorry I'm confused: it is "intended" that the nozzle homes off the bed? If so then why should it be "corrected"? From what I've read, every Ender 3 (including mine) homes off the bed, and some people say how to "fix" it while others say it is supposed to be that way (so presumably we should leave it that way...), so just trying to settle this for myself and others: is it intended and therefore we should leave it, or is it an error that we must all correct?
@voxoid the Firmware says "This is the correct behavior". But if you use the full bed space for a print, you'll see everything will be shifted to the front-left, sometimes OFF the bed. the bad firmware setup can be corrected, but it is not mandatory for you'd lose for example the power-out protection. Also, thermal runaway protection is not on by default.
Many printer's X/Y endstops are not at the origin of the build plate/heated bed. In the firmware, an offset is defined from the build plate origin to the endstop locations. This is normal, nothing to worry about.
When you hook up your printer to your computer over USB, and install a program that can interface with the printer (e.g. PronterFace, OctoPrint, Repetier-Host, etc.) through a so called terminal, you can send the print head to the origin with command G1 X0 Y0 (or you can put that line in a G-code file and print the file, be sure to have homed the printer first with G28). You will then see the head move to the origin, which should normally be the left front corner as the firmware compensated for the endstop offsets. If the print head is not at the origin after these commands, you could recalibrate the endstop offsets.
It is intentional for the head to start slightly off the build plate.
If it did start on the build plate you could crash the nozzle when the bed is not levelled. Note the level varies with temperature and build plate type. If you switch from PLA to ABS etc you should relevel the bed.
Having just had the innaccurate z-end stop switch cause a deep gouge across my stock build plate, I strongly recommend getting an ABL (auto bed leveller).
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6485 | White blocks on LCD screen after Anet A8 power up
I just completed assembly of the Anet A8 and powered it up.
Powering up shows white blocks on LED and a series of clicking noise for about three seconds with flashing red LED. During power-up, the following happens:
The side heat sink fans start (Blower fan remains off)
LED comes up with all white blocks and buttons do nothing
No motor moves in any way
Motherboard show not light except a three-flash-red-LEDnear the corner (fan connector)
Printer remains in the state
Reset button only repeats the clicking sound + red flashing LED
Video: https://photos.app.goo.gl/mxNNeK5o13a9C6TC8
The display of the Anet A8 now shows white blocks.
Any hints as to what could be wrong?
Update 1:
The clicking sound is actually the blower powering up and then going off immediately after.
Update 2:
I just did a blind flash to Marlin 1.18 and the firmware deployed successfully. Now, the boot sequence is almost 4 secs longer (previously, it was 3) and the clicking sound of the blower fan slowly spinning is replaced by a high spin-up of the blower. but after that, we are back to a dead printer with all whites.
Hi Hassan and welcome to SE.3D Printing!
I bet that blinking red LED is an error code. Hope someone has the spec sheet for your motherboard. In the meantime, try the usual re-check that everything is connected to the correct port and properly seated.
The white blocks sounds like Connecting (Anet A8) 2004 display to MKS GEN L. Are the connectors pushed home correctly? See also Anet A8 display on MKS Gen L board
I can't play the video, "This video format is unsupported" apparently... Using Opera
@Greenonline It works fine in Chrome. As D1 never blinks he has a DOA board, this has happened so many times that GearBest put instructions on their site. I think I'm just lucky with my Anet A8.
This is a known and documented problem of this printer. I'm afraid your printer board is dead.
If you have white squares on the display like this picture:
You need to check Anet A8's mainboard - click reset button and check
the D1 indicator:
If D1 lights on for a second then went out and the screen is full of white square, try to reconnect screen wire for several times. When
it's well connected, click the reset button. If still not working, you
need to replace a screen.
If the D1 indicator is always off and the screen is full of white square, you need to replace a mainboard.
From the video you posted it can be seen that the D1 LED does not light up, it is off the whole time. Hence the main board is dead.
D1 light never blinks.
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3637 | Folgertech FT-5 : Does not seem to be reading G-Code correctly
I recently purchased an FT-5 from Folgertech and finished assembly about a week ago. I have yet to accomplish a successful print. It seems like either the file is not being sliced correctly, or that it is possibly reading the G-code incorrectly. It will lay down the first perimeter layer of the part and then shift down the build plate a few mm in the y-direction, extrude another perimeter layer and then repeat. I have tried printing from an SD and through USB using Cura as the slicing software, with the same results.
I have doubled checked the tightness on all of the belts and pulleys
The Y-Driver was bad, initially so I swapped it with the spare on the board and it solved the issue.
I have gone through the entire code on the Marlin V3 Firmware, and everything seems to look as it should.
MKS Gen V 1.4 w/ Arduino Mega 2560
I have tried using Arduino 1.6.5/1.6.6/1.6.7
I calibrated the XYZ steps/mm
All of the mechanical movements and offsets seem to be correct. The printer connects to Pronterface without issue. It also homes fine from the machine and USB and moves where it should during these processes. Again, it seems to be that the issue is when it tries to interpret the G-code. I have tried multiple G-code files from different sources as well, still with the same luck.
If anyone has experience with similar issues or can offer any help, it would be greatly appreciated. I have no clue what could be going on!
In red filament is my attempt to print the 5 mm calibration cube this morning, an example of how this calibration cube should look like is seen in the picture with the white calibration cubes.
This smells like skipped steps.
I agree. My next attempt at fixing the issue will be tuning the stepper drivers this weekend. Any other suggestions?
@T_Robbins, did you resolve this?
I agree this looks like skipped steps along the front-to-back axis in this photo. The machine is a 2 axis overhead gantry style machine, where the side-to-side inertia is much lower than the front-to-back inertia. I'd suggest checking the acceleration settings, which could be too high, or could be set for a different architecture machine.
The image shows that somehow steps in Y direction (under the assumption that you have taken the photograph from the front) are missed.
Missing steps can be caused by too high settings for acceleration and jerk, too much friction on the undercarriage or the belt assembly, undercarriage catching something at a certain point, too less current through the stepper.
You could increase the torque on the stepper by increasing the Vref of your stepper driver is you have separate stepper driver modules, or a adjustment screw on the printer controller board. Furthermore reduce the acceleration and jerk settings and check the undercarriage for stick-slip movement by disconnecting the belt, then reconnect the belt and check for friction of the pulleys.
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6522 | Different infill in the same part
I´ve have read an article to change different pattern depending on amount of layers, but my question is if is possible to have different infill in the same part? For example:
Base: has the infill of 25 % but the same base has some tabs for screws and mount the part for this area the infill need to be 40 % or greater.
The walls and forms: this has the same of the whole part and can be filled at 25 % but some areas need to be filled at 15 % or less.
Probably someone has seen or reviewed another software to achieve this, or I'm fooling myself.
@0scar's answer is certainly valid and is not limited to Cura. Simplify3D (paid, not free) supports different processes by layer, each process with independent parameters as you describe.
As a note: The problem is similar to removing internal geometry, but pretty much the other way around.
This answer explains that you can have different infill within the same part. Firstly the implementation in Ultimaker Cura is described, secondly how you can do this in Slic3r.
Ultimaker Cura
I've used a feature in Ultimaker Cura that can be used to alter the infill density locally. What you need to do is load your model into Cura, then load other objects (models) at the size of the area/volume you want your infill differently and position those at the position you want a different infill. Alternatively, you can add support blocker cubes that can be used as well. So basically, you use other models to intersect with your primary model to create intersections that can take a different infill percentage (please note that you can alter even more options, as long as you add these to the intersecting volume). This is extremely useful for lugs and brackets where you need some extra infill (e.g. extra stiffness for compression stresses) at the fastener holes. Note that this is an advanced feature which is not easy to use, but quite handy if you master it.
I could not find the video (on second thoughts, I think it was animated GIF) posted by Team Ultimaker, so I quote a section of one of their forum topics.
A short how-to: (italic font is not in the reference, but added to reflect recent version of Cura)
Unselect "keep models apart" (now called: "Ensure models are kept apart") and "drop models to build plate" (now called: "Automatically drop models to the build plate") in Cura preferences
Import a second object (for example a simple cube)
Put Cura in "custom mode"
Select the cube, and use the button "per object settings" on the left side
Select "Infill Mesh" (now called: "Modify settings for infill of other models") and enable that setting
The cube now turns transparent gray.
Position the cube to overlap part of your model. It should overlap with the section that you want to change the infill for.
Also with "per object settings" (now called: "Per model settings") select the option "infill density"
Set it to the desired value. All is more or less illustrated in the screenshot below
The picture shows a cube on the buildplate with infill 20 %. Locally, with a rotated 2nd cube, the infill % is raised to 100 %.
What happens is that the volume where the cube intersects with your object is locally sliced with different infill.
Please find below another example of a simple bracket that has extra cylindrical objects loaded to create the intersections with the bracket at the fastener holes. In the example, the infill at the fastener holes is set to 99 %.
After slicing, you will see that the infill at the intersections is adjusted accordingly.
Note: I've tested this in Ultimaker Cura 3.4.1, and confirm it works. I sliced a part with the inserts for fasteners and it actually is not very difficult, it just requires a little more work. You will have to make some STL's of cylinders and position them correctly. If you make your own 3D models it will be a very easy task to add extra components while you design, positioning will be a lot more easy then (as they align with your model). An example is the following linear Z rod bracket of a Hypercube Evolution CoreXY printer, this bracket requires local reinforcements for the bolts clamping the bracket onto the aluminum extrusion profile:
Inserts are modeled together with the development of the bracket:
When combined, it looks like this:
Now the infill can be modified locally to 100 % to increase compression strength.
Note that this will also work if you want a different infill percentage at the first X layers, just use a large cube (larger than the model) and position it correctly. Note that Cura already has an option called "Gradual Infill Steps" to adjust the density at the top layers.
Slic3r
This reference describes how to do this for Slic3r in detail.
The blog describes the use of a simple volume (the green volume loaded from an STL file). After loading:
Right-clicking on the main part brought up the object settings menu.
From there, clicking "Load Modifier" and selecting the previously
saved model adds it to the part as a modifier.
The green "+" was selected and "Fill Density" was added to modifier
list and set to 100 %.
This shows that the functionality in Slic3r is very similar to the functionality in Ultimaker Cura.
for anyone wondering "custom" mode is just the mode/menu where you can change the various print settings using your own ideas - not a special mode.
Great answer, @0scar. In case if anyone interested to watch a video on how to add Support blocker and change the infill density using Cura, here is a link: https://youtu.be/su_m5zV9rvA?t=123
I don't particularly recommend the following, but it may be easier than 0scar's answer (which I would recommend implementing if you use Cura).
Slice your object twice, once at the lower infill and once at the higher infil. Then open both gcode files in a text editor and replace all per-layer code in one file with the code from the same layers in the other file. This certainly takes some care to ensure no bugs fall in, and you'll want to know the exact layers at which to change infill. Further, this only changes density on a per-layer basis, not on an X-Y region basis.
This is not working if the higher infill is not along layer lines, i.e. because a screw goes in on the side.
@TomTom Which is why I explicitly said that in my last sentence :-)
While you definitely can do this with custom slicing settings, if the "infill" is a design constraint necessary for the part to properly function, I prefer making it a part of the design rather than leaving it as something you can mess up at slicing time. This is particularly important if you will be sharing the design for use by others or using a 3D printing service that might not give you sufficient control over the slicing parameters. Moreover, when you say you want "higher infill" in particular parts, this is often an imprecise way of conveying what you really need, which is particular infill structure - usually additional walls - not just a denser version of the infill pattern.
To use your example of points that need to accept screws (either drilled/tapped after printing, or with printed threads), just having denser infill in that part of the print won't help unless it's 100%; drilling into infill pattern will not give you something solid that a screw can thread securely into.
What I do for things like this is create internal gaps in the model, narrower than the minimum clearance needed to avoid walls bonding to each other. For example, cutting out concentric cylindrical surfaces can make a great solid region to thread a screw into. As noted by Trish in a comment, 0.05 mm seems to be a good choice of gap width that's below the clearance needed for FDM printers to avoid bonding, but large enough not to get removed by slicing tools.
If you want to ensure the model is still logically one connected component, leave some gaps in the cut, something like:
There's a lot of room for experimentation with exactly what kind of gaps work best. As Trish suggested, varying the location of bridges between layers may help. Adjusting spacing based on expected extrusion line widths may also be a good idea. One approach i've used in strengthening bolts, that might also work for threaded holes, is repeating the inner and outer thread profiles as a gap in the model. Here's an example cut to show the gap:
This particular reinforcement is mitigating the fact that roofing above infill is only supported by the infill, and thereby is able to sag slightly, preventing the layers from bonding as strongly and preventing the threaded walls from bonding strongly to the head.
a note about the wideness of these "slots" would be good. I had results with ca. 0.05 mm working. Also, it might be better not to line up the bridges but turn each ring a little to the one before into the direction of the threads. That seems to transmit the forces better to prevent shearing free.
@Trish: Indeed, there are lots of advanced variations possible. I've actually used a clone of the internal and external thread profiles turned slightly. But I wonder if clean integral number of walls (vs zigzag fill here and there) isn't more beneficial. I haven't done sufficiently rigorous tests to know yet.
@Trish: I updated the answer with your suggestions and a good bit of new material based on my comment.
Yes, it's possible, and not just limited to Cura. If you use GrabCAD Print (for Stratasys printers), the Advanced FDM feature allows different infill in different regions of your part - not based on layers, but based on your CAD geometry. Because of this, you have to start the process in CAD, by creating a part with multiple bodies. (For example, in Solidworks, you do this by turning off "merge" when you add a second boss, or by making a cut from a sketch and turning on "keep both parts".)
Once you've done this, go into the Advanced FDM tab in GrabCAD Print, and add your CAD part (the CAD file itself, not an STL). The two or more bodies in your part will be shown separately in the project panel: select them all and choose "merge". Now they will all be printed as a single part, but you can select each one and give them different infill settings.
You can also select any CAD face (i.e. not individual triangles) and override its wall thickness.
You can read a full tutorial about Advanced FDM on the GrabCAD website.
Using Cura 4.8
5% infill
This is the Support Blocker button:
Drop anywhere on bed, then resize and move like any model, make sure to turn off uniform scaling
With support blocker selected, then click the Mesh Type button:
Modify settings for overlaps
Select settings
Type infill in the search
Select infill density
Infill density has now been changed to 100% for selected part only.
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6358 | Inductive Sensor in 24 V machine?
I am getting a 24 V based Ender 3. From the factory, it has an aluminium bed. So I also put this LJ12 A3-4-Z/BX Inductive NPN NO 4 mm with 6-36 V operation current into the box together with a few other spare parts. Now, as I read up on these things something dawns on me: The normal input and output voltage of a simple switch is 5 V, as sensors are ran on 5 V on most boards (and in digital logics). The sensors run on 6 V plus though.
I do not want to fry my machine by putting in 24 V into the sensor input: What do I have to do (besides making a mount)?
The inductive sensors work better when you apply a higher voltage than 5 V. Usually they are rated for 6-36 V, but please do check.
To prevent frying your board when connecting the sensor to (12 or) 24 Volts you could optically isolate the 5 V and the (12 or) 24 V circuit with an OptoCoupler module:
Image of an optocoupler module
This module uses an optical switch based on the output of the sensor and should be correctly connected:
Image of connecting an optocoupler module to the sensor and to the board
Please note that the image uses a capacitive sensor rather than a inductive sensor, both are connected similarly
Note that there are many sorts of sensors, a few are listed here. Generally speaking, the larger the diameter of the sensor, the larger the detection distance to the bed. Note that these work well with metal beds (Iron/steel better than Aluminium), but will not work for glass (capacitive sensors work on glass but are prone to drift by moisture in the air, a touch sensor may then be a better alternative).
The specs for the indicated linked sensor does show up to 36vdc capability. Nice solution.
Another possibility is to create a voltage divider circuit.
In electronics, a voltage divider (also known as a potential divider)
is a passive linear circuit that produces an output voltage (Vout)
that is a fraction of its input voltage (Vin). Voltage division is
the result of distributing the input voltage among the components of the
divider. A simple example of a voltage divider is two resistors
connected in series, with the input voltage applied across the
resistor pair and the output voltage emerging from the connection
between them.
Note that fluctuating voltages of the power supply can have side effects that the voltage of the divider is either too low or high for the pin and could result in either a detection miss or could burn the on board processor.
A voltage divider based on 12 V is depicted below based on this source:
Please note that for different voltage you require a different value, e.g. for 24 V you would require (by calculation) a 2.63 kΩ resistor (which does not exist, so put two resistors in series; a 2.2 kΩ and a 430 Ω to get that value).
NOTE:This is posted as a separate answer as the question by the OP can be answered by different solutions; this solution uses a totally different approach than my other answer. It is up to the OP to decide which of the answers suits the OP best. This is not in contrast to the SE approach as can be taken from various Meta questions on this topic. To incorporated this answer into the other answer (with multiple ways under captions) is per definition not better than having various answers; different solutions should be in different answers so that they can be voted independently of each other
It is important that the resistors used for the voltage divider be substantially (at least 10x, as a guide, IIRC) smaller than the input impedance of the circuit that the signal is fed to. Resistors in the kΩ range are likely to be suitable; resistors in the MΩ range may give an unreliable circuit without taking into account the input impedance, and may also give problems if there is any EMI around.
Minimalist Solution
The very simplest possible implementation is to use a single resistor(!) to protect the input pin, as described in this source. The AVR inputs are protected from over/under voltage by internal silicon diodes D1 and D2. The input resistor must be sized such that it will conduct no more than 1 mA when the internal clamping diode, D1, conducts at Vcc+0.5V, or 5.5V in this case. A 22K resistor could work in this case if we use our 24V supply for the sensor. Our current through the clamping diode is calculated by Ohm's Law as (24V - 5.5V)/22K = 0.84 mA.
There is no reason, in this case, to cut so close to the bone though. We do not need particularly high speed detection for this application, so a 100K resistor would be a better choice, and limits diode D1 to 0.19 mA. This gives additional protection for voltage spikes.
This solution works well until the internal diode gets fried by a spike or surge, so it is much better to add redundancy, and use a pair of external Schottky clamping diodes, which have a lower forward voltage drop and will conduct before the internal silicon diodes.
So, my solution, (the one I plan to implement soon on my own Ender 3 Pro*), is from this source article and looks like this:
Where R1, D3, and D4 are my external components as described, and C1 is omitted for simplicity. (If C1 is used, it forms a low-pass RC filter, so you'd need to size it appropriately. If we find that noise or 'bounce' is an issue, we can add C1 easily later.)
In my opinion a single 100K resistor and two Schottky diodes are adequate protection for this circuit, and the 6-36V proximity sensor will work very well on the available 24V supply.
*Based on the first comment to this proposed solution, I recognize the need to look carefully at the failsafe property here. Depending on whether the existing Z endstop is included in the loop, and how Marlin handles this too will determine whether this is a satisfactory solution.
I'll leave my part of the discussion there for now, until I get closer to design and implementation on my own machine.
While this is technically an option, a properly rated (MOS)FET in use as a Voltage Controlled Resistor (or switch) would be preferable. Using the 24 V on the in and putting both outs directly to the pins of the switch turns it into an NC switch that opens upon voltage from sensor, so it needs an NC probe to have a failsafe - on loosing signal from the probe (ripped cable) the limit switch triggers just like on detection.
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5434 | Which is the difference between MK6 and MK8 and even MK10?
I made and assembled my own 3D printer two years ago and I notice that some extruders are MK6 and MK(*whatever). Some of them has the block fuser horizontal and others vertical, then uses a nozzle longer.
The block heater that I made was an aluminum block 20x20x10 mm using the M6 short nozzle. Then adapted the radiator to upgrade to Jhead heater.
So I wanted to know to which group belongs my printer, as base is a prusa clone with direct extrusion.
All credits for the following go to user "vermon" who posted in this thread.
The following is a heavily amended version from his longer answer there.
Makerbot did start its hotend series using MK as iteration designator (for Mark). The first commercially available version was the [Makerbot] MK4 on the Cupcake circa 2009. MK4 was hand built with nichrome wire heaters and prone to all kinds of failures. They only worked with ABS and 3 mm filament.
Following here, Makerbot was skipped as a manufacturer and that it is the hotend we talk about. The correct nomenclature would be Makerbot Hotend MK#
MK5 was a complete redesign and had huge nozzles and a thick PTFE liner. It used 2 large power resistors in parallel for heating and was also prone to failure.
MK6 was the first hotend sold as a kit that I know of (however Repraps had also started using them probably before).
Mk6+ was the first cartridge heater hotend sold in kit form. The MK5/MK6 heater block was stainless steel, where MK6+ upgrade kit was an aluminum block that was slightly smaller, a lot lighter, and had the now standard 1/4 inch heater cartridge.
MK7 was the first hotend you folks would think looks familiar. It was the first move to 1.75 mm filament dedicated extruders. While a MK6+kit had parts to adapt to 1.75 mm filament, it never worked well at all and was really a failure.
Again, this is all Thing-O-Matic and Cupcake era. Other than a few clones, there really was no third party market in the US at this time. You either had a MakerBot or some other Reprap based kit. Wanhao, FlashForge- they didn't even exist and if they did, weren't talked about like now.
MK8 was the all new dual extruder hotend setup on the MakerBot Replicator. The cooling bar was thicker than the MK7 but the same all metal thermal barrier and supposedly, the MK8 has slightly different nozzle geometry internally and externally.
MK9 was a MK8 hotend, cooling bar, thermal barrier, and nozzle, but the new feeder with spring lever we know on all current models. This is why it's confusing, MK9 was a feeder upgrade, not a hotend change.
MK10 was a complete change of the hotend. MK10 uses smooth OD thermal barriers with a larger 4 mm OD 2 mm ID PTFE liner. MK10 also uses M7 threads, vs the M6 of all previous models. This is because a 4 mm PTFE liner is barely enough metal to make the outer tube with M6 threads. MK10 is completely incompatible with all previous hotend parts. Every part is different. MK10 still uses MK9 feeder parts.
MK11 on the D6 is just an MK10 nozzle and thermal barrier, but a different heater block and the cooling bar is part of the D6 central cross. Again, the only real difference is MK11 is a different heater block, and that's to adapt a different and longer heater cartridge and slide in the thermocouple. MK11 still uses MK9 plastic feeder parts.
I wanted to know to which group belongs my printer, as base is a Prusa clone with direct extrusion.
This question seem difficult to answer concretely, as the number in the series seem to be assigned based on a combination of heating block technology and format, the feeder geometry and the nozzle shape and thread that was adopted on the MakerBot printers. Your actual combination of those three may not exist in the MakerBot universe.
I suggest you read the full, unabridged version of the post linked above though, as more details relevant to your inquiry may be disclosed there.
Thanks mac, this will help a lot, I know that my model could not be considered to Makerbot universe, but on startup display says already "Fernymaker Ready" and the nozzle is MKfer. I just wanted to ask my first student question.
| Stack Exchange | 2025-03-21T12:54:44.330545 | 2018-02-08T06:55:21 | {
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5247 | What is the largest microSD card that a Monoprice Select Mini can read?
I have a Monoprice Select Mini v2 and it came with a 256 MB SD card. I have a bunch of 16 GB cards. I have made sure that the new SD card has a FAT32 filesystem. I copy the gcode file onto this card and when I put it in the printer, it can't find any files!
And yes, the file is at the root level of the filesystem and it uses the proper naming convention. The file works on the old card.
Since the old card still works, this isn't an emergency, but I want to have a backup and I don't have any other cards that small.
I would expect Repetier and Marlin to support up to 32GB (the maximum size for a FAT32 partition).
16 GB Micro SD cards don't work, at least the ones I have.
That's interesting. Maybe the firmware developers were trying to conserve memory? I shall have to try a 32GB card that I have (with my Tronxy X1). It is also possible that Monoprice have tweaked their firmware for some reason, rather than use default values.
Try to determine the actual file system on your working SD card, maybe you just need exfat or something. You can use Disk Manager on Windows (does not detect all of them) or mount utility on Linux. Your problem also may have something to deal with SDHC support in the SD reader of your printer. Try using different SDHC and SD cards (SDHCs start from 4GB iirc).
The exFAT system doesn't work, though that may be due to the size of the card. i reformated it to a FAT32, and that didn't work. I haven't been able to find a source for 256 MB micro SD cards.
You could try to use the least advanced SD card, the SDSC style. These will be less than 4 GB. Since you can't find 256 MB cards, try an SDSC 1 GB card.
@NomadMaker, I took too long to edit :) Continued... In my work, we've had to support many generations of SD cards, and there are occasional problems with backward compatibility of SDHC cards when accessed through an older signaling protocol.
I finally got a 16 GB card to work. Perhaps the previous 16 GB card I'd used was defective.
Unfortunately, the answer isn't as simple as that a specific size of SD card works and another size doesn't. The Marlin firmware wiki mentions:
The SD- or MMC- Card must be formatted as FAT and must have a MMC interface. This is more likely with cards <= 2 GB.
MMC is the predecessor of SD. SD cards are not necessarily fully backwards compatible with MMC. Apparently, Marlin uses some features specific to MMC, so your card should support it.
The SD card support in Marlin is based on the Arduino SD Card Library, which further mentions:
The library supports FAT16 and FAT32 file systems on standard SD cards and SDHC cards.
Based on this:
Cards should be formatted FAT16 or FAT32.
Cards bigger than 32 GB definitely won't work (not SD or SDHC).
Cards at most 2 GB will probably work.
Cards between 2 GB and 32 GB might work, depending on the specifics of the card.
Is there any way of knowing that an SD card supports the MMC protocol without putting it into the printing (but another machine or even from the manufacture's website?). Are some brands more likely to support it?
hopefully one day they add exFAT support. FAT32 is getting long in the teeth. MacOS and Windows are trying to make it actively difficult to format FAT32 partitions.
Get a copy of Partition Wizard (Free)
Take your 16G or 32G or ...? SD card and delete the existing partition.
Create a 2G partition and format it as FAT.
Yes, you are wasting a lot of the SD card space but given the price of these things these days, who cares. And it will work.
The maximum size is 32 GB, however using microSD has a little disadvantage:
The microSD adapter and Micro memory are wrong assembled and the chip are unable to be read.
Solution: stick with a tape adhesive to keep Micro memory and SD adapter well aligned
The SD adapter can't be read on the 3D printer
Solution: Add an extra tape adhesive over the SD adapter just like sticker, to make tight the assembly inside the reader.
Clean the contacts of the SD adapter, normally has the same issue like nintendo cartridge.
I´m planning to get a bunch of SD cards instead microSD's, none of SD 8 GB and 16 GB are failing due wrong contact assembly.
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5535 | Proper way to power down a FDM printer
I just got my first 3D printer today, QIDI X-ONE[2], and so far so good with the setup and getting my 1st print. I wanted to power off the printer, but I don't see any instructions on how to properly power off the machine.
Does anyone know how long I should wait, or what the minimum temperature would be safe to power down the machine?
[TL:DR] - If you can comfortably hold the nozzle with your fingers, you are good to go
In order to understand how long one should wait, it is important to understand why one has to wait.
All modern consumer-grade FDM printers have their printing head made of two assemblies: the cold end, where the extruder stepper motor is located and the filament must be in solid state, and the hot end, where the filament is actually melted and pushed through the nozzle.
Between the two there is a thin-walled length of pipe called heat break, whose purpose is to keep the two separate and make difficult for heat to reach the cold end by conduction.
However, the heat break is not "watertight", and heat also transmits via the convecting motion of air and IR radiation, so the cold end is actively cooled (most commonly with a fan).
The reason you want to wait before switching off the printer is that you want to keep that fan spinning until there is no chance for the heat to creep up and melt the filament in the cold end.
If the filament were to melt in the cold end, the extruder would clog and you would probably need to disassemble it.
In order to make sure the cooling happens, you have to make sure that your G-code tells the printer to stop heating the nozzle, after the print is done.
All slicers that I know of have a specific configuration setting called "end G-code" or something similar where you can manually insert the code you want to execute at the end of each print. The part relevant to your question could look like this:
M104 S0 ; turn off heating block
If you want to get fancy and your hardware has a beeper you may also try:
M109 S60 ; wait for nozzle temp to drop to 60 °C
M300 S300 P1000 ; make a beep sound
Typically "end G-code" has other stuff too (move the head out of the way, switch off the heated bed, disable the idle hold of the steppers...)
Just make sure to move the nozzle away from the printer as your first action: you don't want the hot nozzle to linger idle above the print and ruin its top layer!
Wow @mac thanks a lot! Now I'm wondering if that "M104 S0" code is a default setting or not. I finally printed my own design, but I knew nothing about these parameters.
@1QuickQuestion Somewhere there's likely a file with *.gcode extension. You can open this file in any text editor and look at the very bottom to see what codes where included.
According to the M109 G-code the documentation, the printer will wait to reach temperature given with S only when heating. With R, the printer will wait also when cooling down.
So if the answer of mac fails to work, try:
M109 R60 ; wait for nozzle temp to drop to 60 °C
Welcome to 3DPrinting! Good catch!
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5646 | How to connect a NEMA 17 stepper to RAMPS 1.4?
I have an NEMA 17 stepper motor 17HS4401 and a RAMPS 1.4 driver unit.
The motor pinouts are:
RED A+
BLUE A-
GREEN B+
BLACK B-
while the RAMPS board has the following:
2B 2A 1A 1B
Could someone point me in the right direction? How can I connect the driver to the motor? I have a feeling I already messed things up.
There are very many combinations that will work. A bipolar stepper has 2 coils. Swapping the coils, or reversing the polarity of a coil, will simply cause the stepper to rotate in the opposite direction.
On RAMPS, one coil should connect to 1A and 1B, whereas the other coil should connect to 2A and 2B.
On the stepper, one coil is A+ and A-, the other coil is B+ and B-.
A possible wiring is A+ to 1A, A- to 1B and B+ to 2A and B- to 2B, but there are 15 other possibilities. The only "wrong" way is one that connects a coil of the stepper to two different coil outputs on the RAMPS (so connecting, for instance, A+ to 1A and A- to 2A wouldn't work).
Wow, thank you for your feedback. If i have A+ to 2B, A- to 2A and B+ to 1A, B- to 1B is also correct?
Yes, that also works.
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5554 | MOSFET as a safety feature
When going through printer reviews, I often see the presence of a MOSFET listed as an important safety feature.
I understand the MOSFET to be a transistor, but I haven't understood how it is used in the circuitry of a printer, and - above all - why it increases the overall operating safety of the printer (nor what the less safe option would be).
It would be good to include one or two examples for where you read about a "MOSFET in the PSU" being a safety feature.
@TomvanderZanden - I will try, but because a great deal of information I consume is via Youtube, it's not as easy as "find in page" for me to recover that information! You put the emphasis in "in". Can you clarify why? Maybe I expressed myself poorly and we are misunderstanding each other?
@TomvanderZanden - I was able to retrieve this review on the CR-10 safety: https://youtu.be/6s_UJ9I0fQo shortly after the minute mark is when it mention the mofset, albeit it seems he's impying the mofset is between PSU and motherboard, in this case.
"in the PSU" means physically inside of the PSU - I thought this was a bit strange so that's why I put the emphasis there.
In the world of (cheap) printers, "MOSFET" has taken on a meaning of its own.
For a long time, 3D printers have had MOSFETs on board of their motherboards to switch the heated bed. In the past two years or so, we've seen a surge of (mainly) Chinese printers where the on-board MOSFETs (or, more often, the terminal blocks) weren't rated for the high current for the heated bed and would melt down or catch fire.
People then started recommending fixes to these issues, such as using a relay, soldering wires directly to the board (to bypass the terminal blocks) or using an external (better) MOSFET. Eventually, manufacturers caught on and started offering "MOSFET boards" which basically consist of a high-power MOSFET, high-current rated terminal blocks and (often) an optocoupler to isolate the drive signal from the bed power (but this doesn't really do anything; there's no need for this isolation). These boards are meant to be used to switch the high current to the bed directly, without it passing through the main board (and instead, the bed output of the main board is used as a control signal for the MOSFET board).
People often refer to these pre-made "MOSFET boards" simply as "MOSFETs" but there is more to them than just a single transistor.
why it increases the overall operating safety of the printer
Using an external MOSFET board does not increase the safety of the printer at all, unless the main board of the printer is badly designed. There's no reason the MOSFET needs to be external and can't be integrated on the main board. Essentially, any company that is offering a printer "with a MOSFET (board)" is saying that their main board is poorly designed and that they've included a band-aid fix. Or, perhaps, because installing an external MOSFET is such a common "mod" nowadays, they're advertising an external MOSFET because it is what people want to see (even if the main board might have a perfectly capable MOSFET already...).
Thank you Tom, very helpful. The only thing that is unclear to me in your answer is what an "optical isolation circuitry" is. I also removed the "it the PSU" bit from my original question, so not to make the question to others.
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5251 | Under extrusion towards the end of the print
I have really strange problem. Thing is that my print (first layer) started ok, not good nor perfect but ok and everything was going well but then all of a sudden, near the end of a print, quality drops drastically. I'm not really sure but I think this happened because of under extrusion. I'm not so good with English so here are pictures of finished print and some more details.
I'm using custom build Delta printer with RepRap and Repetier firmware, CURA for slicing and Repetier-host for printing.
Slicing parameters in CURA are:
- ABS 250 °C hotend and 70 °C heatbed
- Layer height 0.2 mm (initial layer 0.18)
- Printing speed 50 mm/s (30 mm/s outer walls)
- Infill 40 %
- Extrusion multiplayer 0.96 (96 %)
Do anyone have any ideas? What this can be? How can I fix this?
Is this towards the end of any print (regardless of height and size) or it is something that triggers at a specific z-axis height for all prints, or...?
This doesn't happen on all prints, and it seems that this is height independent because it happens near the end no matter how high object is.
Do anyone have any ideas? What this can be? How can I fix this?
At least judging from the pictures, that does seem like under-extrusion. Some ideas for further investigating the issue.
The problem may be due to the gcode being wrong. In this case, your printer is merely executing correctly... the wrong commands. To check if this is the case:
The easiest, but inconclusive way, would be to re-slice a model that fails consistently, with a different slicer. If the second print came out good, than you would know that the problem is with the slicer. This method is inconclusive because you wouldn't not if the gcode is bad or if it simply happens that your printer cannot print well that specific sequence of commands (which may still be emitted by the other slicer under different conditions).
The more conclusive analysis would be to look at the gcode of a failed print where the fail happens between two geometrical identical layers. This seem to be the case for the print in the picture, btw. You should then compare the gcode of the layer that printed good with that of the layer that printed poorly. If the gcode differs... then you positively know the slicer doesn't work as it should.
The problem may be due to a mechanical fault with the printer. Here the only idea I have to offer is overheating of the steppers and/or their controllers. This may in turn make the extruder servo skip some steps and therefore extrude less filament. If you perform the conclusive test above, you will know if this is the case.
The problem may be due to a firmware bug. This is difficult to investigate, my only suggestion would be: upgrade to the latest and greatest, if you haven't done it already.
The problem may be filament-related. This could be a number of things, but since the problem seems to happen at towards the end of the print, and your are printing at relatively high temp, an idea could be that too much heat reaches the cold end of the extruder, interfering with its extrusion. The easiest test here would simply be to re-print a failed print with a different filament. In your case I would suggest some PLA, just to decrease the temperature and change the chemical composition too.
These are more or less all shots in the dark, but - together with asking here - it would be what I would do to debug, had I the same problem. Keep up posted! :)
Firstly thank you for answer. I roughly checked Gcode for these few layers and there is no significant difference in E parameter. I also have decent cooling on motors and driver's so I think overheating have a very little change here, mechanical stability is not so good but shouldn't than all layers be bad? Firmware is upgraded, and last thing to try is decreasing printing temp to 230.
@Rakic, actually reducing the temperature is the first thing to try, because it's way too high for your printing speeds. Also check that your temperature sensor gives correct values (ideally you have spare thermocouple) and is in contact with your hotend.
Ok, so I just finished print successfully. I actually decreased temperature (from 250 to 230) and increase extrusion multiplayer a bit (from 0.96 to 0.98) and for now it seems to work. Thank you!
I had a similar problem with PLA after upgrading to all metal hotend. My printer was in a cabinet and after some time in print had the same problem (heat creep). In the end, it was resolved by turning bed off after first 3 layers and turning on a fan to keep the cabinet cool.
This doesn't look like a configuration error.
It seems very likely this is a partial hotend jam.
This happens sometimes because of stale filament but most often by not cooling down the heat sink (the part just over the heat break) enough which generates heat-creep, e.g heat creeps up through the filament, which eventually melts too early, creating a blob.
It's main characteristic is that at first the print is impeccable but after some amount of time, you get a complete jam or under extrusion.
This can be mitigated by higher print speeds, higher layers (so that the filament moves faster), printing at colder speed (if possible), lower retraction or usually completely solved with a fan cooling down the heat sink.
I didn't know that, really useful information, thank you. By the way I already solved problem by lowering printing temperature.
Good you fixed it! So it was most probably heat creep then ;-) Get a cooling fan for the heat sink, it will save you lot of trouble in the future!
You can try to reduce your retractions (try setting it to half what it is now and try again)
If your retraction is too big you can pull hot plastic into the cold area of the hotend and create a partial clog - this happened to me yesterday when I tried to intentionally print with way too much retraction to make demonstration photos for the retraction test model I uploaded to thingiverse.
note/disclaimer: that model I talked about above is here, I'm the author of that model
Good point but on this part of the print there is no retraction. I already solved problem by lowering temperature.
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5474 | The bottom of the printed objects has waves after replacing the nozzle
I had a problem with my nozzle on my homemade printer. The problem was that the nozzle with a 0.4 mm diameter wasn't putting out any plastic. I replaced the nozzle with a 0.2 mm one and now the bottom of my model is looking like this:
I tried to change flow,temperatures and speed.
But nothing helped it keeps making this waves. At the old 0.4 mm nozzle there everything was okay.
You need to solve the problem (lack of extrusion from nozzle) rather than randomly switching to a different diameter. Since you're getting output from a smaller nozzle, clearly the 0.4 mm one is clogged.
@CarlWitthoft - no need to be so harsh! :) it may be that he did not manage to unclog it and only had a 0.2 mm readily available...
@CarlWitthoft Why I should stay at the stock nozzle diameter if I want to get different printing quality? That's not what you call randomly
@Coder_fox because you asked a specific question and implied that you were trying to figure out why your 0.4 mm nozzle wasn't working. My point is that you should find the root cause or there'll just be more trouble down the road.
This is a flow issue between speed and temperature, the temperature seems to be too high.
Replacing your nozzle will allow for more flow. This means that your extruder is now able to push out more filament on the same extrusion multiplier. Slowing down the first layer and turning down the extrusion multiplier with steps of 0.05 will most certainly help fix this problem.
Okay, there are a few potential issues here:
1: your belts are not tight enough. This will cause your bed to shake during printing, giving you wavy first layers.
2: your filament is bad. If you have an inconsistent filament diameter, thus can lead to inconsistent extrusion rates, and cause a wavy appearance.
3: your nozzle is jammed. The nozzle you bought may have something stuck inside of it, leading to underextrusion, which, in some cases, can lead to a wavy appearance.
If the belts are not tight enough than will speed decreasement help?
Sure, decreasing the speed would help, but the best solution is to retighten the belts.
The layer thickness should not be more that 75% of your nozzle diameter: Wavy lines on 1st layer only
Without more detail is difficult to say with certainty what the root cause of the problem is, but it looks like too much material is being deposited on the bed.
A few things to try/check:
Make sure the nozzle is not leaking. If it is, you should see fused plastic coming out from the seal nozzle/hot-end and/or hot-end/heat break and trickling down. This is often the case when the nozzle hasn't been tightened enough, or it has been changed with the hot-end being cold, or if the internal PTFE tube has been dislodged upwards (does not apply to all-metal hot-ends).
Make sure you changed the appropriate setting for the nozzle diameter. This is not "flow" it is a separate setting. If you haven't, your printer is now extruding ~4 times as much filament as it ought.
Recalibrate your nozzle height. This should be done at each nozzle change, as each nozzle is slightly different from the other, and it is possible your new nozzle now sits too close to the bed.
EDIT: also, the picture is too low-res to be sure, but looking at the skirt, it looks like the extruded plastic comes out in blobs. If it is not due to leakage, then I would suggest to also check that the filament is not slipping through the gears of the extruder. If you have access to a suitable thermometer, you could also check that the hot-end temperature is stable at the level it should.
Final thought: have you ever succeeded printing with that filament spool? It is unlikely, but it may be for example a defective one, or a mis-labelled one (so your printing temperature may be wrong).
The nozzle is not leaking. 2. I changed the nozzle diameter in the slicing software 3. I recalibrated the bed. I have done this when I installed the new nozzle so that's not the problem.
@Coder_fox - Maybe obvious question, but... have you also re-calibrated your extruder (https://www.matterhackers.com/articles/how-to-calibrate-your-extruder) in the process?
Yes I recalibrated it a few times.
@Coder_fox - see my edits. Just additional ideas, I may be off-track
The filament is not slipping and the temperature is ok.And yes I did succeeded with this filament spool all the times with the 0.4mm nozzle. Also I changed the level hight to 0.1mm and now it looks much better. Any suggestions?
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6067 | What is causing the walls of my prints to separate?
I have been having an issue with certain portions of the walls of certain prints becoming separated from the rest of the model. It happens with smooth vertical edges.
Specifically, this model, ID Badge Holder, on the edges where the lanyard would be attached. And on several places on this model, Cat Necklace.
Here is the resulting issue:
I am quite new to 3D printing, so I'm sure this is an easy fix, I just don't know about it yet.
I am printing with a Monoprice Select Mini V2, using Hatchbox PLA, and the default slicing settings inside Cura. I don't have problems with any of the D&D figures I've printed, or some of the other thicker square pieces I've printed. I know I've got kind of a bargain printer; if it's just a quality issue I have to learn to live with, no problem. But if an expert knows of some slicer settings to tweak for these kinds of prints with flat vertical walls, I'd love to give it a try.
Can you post the default settings in use for extrusion speed, wall thicknesses, layer height, at the least. "Default" varies by defined printer and by Cura version.
Please include the photos. Also please include photos of the model as links do not last the test of time.
@StarWind0, I've attached an image of the issue I'm experiencing.
@CatsAndCode Looks like your lines of the faces and not touching; under-extrusion? Or are you printing with no top and bottom faces and high infill? Have you checked filament diameter, filament settings in slicer and checked the length your extruder prints (when you ask for 50 mm, does actually push 50 mm forward)?
@0scar The more I'm reading everyone's responses, the more I think it IS an underextrusion issue. I am not sure how to create the "top and bottom faces" you mentioned in Cura. I'm printing at 10% infill. Filament diameter is set correctly in Cura, but I haven't done any calibration/verification on my printer. It was allegedly set up at the monoprice factory, so that's been working for me thus far.
@CatsAndCode I updated my answer. If you select 0 mm layer thickness and 95% infill you get the exact same faces as your print. I print stuff for a colleague who uses the products in a vacuum chamber as molds, without skins you cannot trap air :)
does it work better if you slow down the print speed?
I have faced the same issue if it concerns just gaps between the walls (to the point you could put a nail in between the outer and inner perimeters, so clearly the perimeters were not bonding), for me this was fixed with proper tension of the belts of my Prusa i3 clone, and for my other (CoreXY) printer reducing the friction of the X-Y system. Both help position the head better for proper wall adhesion.
Now that you have posted a picture of your product I do not think the above is applicable to you. Your print looks as if it has an under-extrusion problem as the lines on the faces are clearly not touching, you see the diagonals of the layers beneath. This under-extrusion also may contribute to the vertical wall bonding problems you mention. To fight under-extrusion you need to check a few things:
Be sure the slicer has the actual filament diameter as mentioned on the box, or measured at various points (if it varies, take the mean value).
Check your extruder setup to see whether you have play or friction preventing filament to extrude freely.
Also check whether your extruder gear is not loose, re-tighten the grub screw.
Final step is calibration. You want to be certain that when you demand 100 mm of filament to extrude, you actually extrude 100 mm. Put a mark on the filament and extrude 100 mm using a tool like Pronterface or Repetier-host. If this is off you should readjust the steps per mm in the firmware (if you are able to do so), or increase the extrusion multiplier or flow in your slicer.
Please look here or here for more information.
"You want to be certain that when you demand 100 mm of filament to extrude, you actually extrude 100 mm"
This. On my MP Mini I've noticed that the default extruder steps per mm is wrong. I think the default is something like 97, and every time I calibrate it, it's more like 105. This was leading to constant underextrusion for me until I did an extruder calibration.
As I saw this efect come in gradually over time, I knew it had to be something with the printer itself. And indeed, tensioning all belts resolved it.
I dont know if I understand you correctly, but let me try...
It could be that the wall-thickness of the part you try to print is to thin or is not "compatible" with your nozzle size.
Lets say your nozzle and output size is 0.4mm. You now try to print a wall with a thickness of 1mm. So the printer will print 2 wall-perimeters (left and right) with a 0.4mm thickness. Between these walls there is now a 0.2mm gap. The slicer cannot fill this gap as its to small for the nozzle, so it is left empty.
I run into this problem multiple times already with different models using Cura.
But, atleast in older versions of Cura, if you go to the layer-view you can kind of preview/see the problem.
(Iam still using an older Version.)
This problem can also effect the overall print quality of the part.
(For example I had a part with very big stringing problems but only on the inside of a specific wall. The wall wasnt even thin, it was a couple of mm, but the overall thickness of the wall was not a multiple of my nozzle-size so it created problems.)
Some say you should design a model with a nozzle size already in mind, however this is not really practical, as everybody uses different settings/printers and not everybody creates his own models.
Here are some more infos regarding this issue: (and more "walls-not-touching" issues)
https://support.3dverkstan.se/article/23-a-visual-ultimaker-troubleshooting-guide#wallspace
So maybe try varying your nozzle size and wall thicknesses and see if this changes something in the cura preview already.
This problem can also happen if you have some very tight corners, which are to small for the nozzle.
Yup I can tell at a glance it is under extrusion. I bet the issue is temp.
Test your steps per MM for E. See https://reprap.org/wiki/Triffid_Hunter%27s_Calibration_Guide
Measure Required tools: vernier caliper with depth gauge, or similar
tool that can precisely measure 100mm. Your hob effective diameter is
unlikely to be exactly 7mm.
Remove the hot-end from extruder so you don't waste filament. Feed in
some filament. Using the extruder body as a reference point, mark the
filament at 120mm. Tell the printer to feed 100mm of filament. Measure
the distance from the extruder body to the mark you made. It will be
over 20mm if it moved too little, under if it moved too far.
new_e_steps = old_e_steps * (100 / distance_actually_moved) … or,
old_e_steps * (100 / (120 - distance_to_mark)) Set this value in your
firmware. You may need to re-flash your board. Sprinter/Marlin
supports M92 Ennn to set this value temporarily. Repeat from Step 3
until you get between 96-104mm. Then continue with this guide. You'll
dial it in perfectly later on. Don't flash firmware yet. There's a
further refinement to this value below. Why? The back-pressure from
the hot-end alters how much plastic each hob revolution pushes, and
you'll probably end up tightening your idler more which reduces the
hob effective diameter. Re-attach hot end.
If that comes out correct, your Temps are too low.
To fix this, you will need to play around and increase your temps by 2-3 degrees until the infill comes out correctly. Do not go over the minimum needed else you will have other issues.
Also check for obstructions such as carbon buildup in the nozzle. In addition to the tightness of your filament tensioner on your extruder drive if you have one.
I will say, I had this issue on my Ultimaker 2. An apparent design flaw caused the filament drive to lose power over time or possibly wear on the tube causing extra drag (bowden tube only issues). I corrected it by increasing the extrusion multiplier in simplify3d. However that is a bandaid and the real issue should be addressed. In my case in the end I replaced the drive with a bondtech.
When printing someone else's model, your print is at the mercy of their design. Designing for multiple printers is hard work, and even if something is printable on 90% of printers, you may be in the 10%. Sometimes designs use walls too thin for other printers. On this design, the lanyard wall looks a bit thin but workable. My own card holder has a thicker wall at that junction: https://github.com/firepick1/taz-shield/blob/master/STL/Cardholder.stl
Vertical walls are the weakest part of 3D printing. Walls are made up of overlapping filament strands. They'll come apart if your printer belts are loose and the strands don't align (tighten belt if there is play). They'll come apart if you print too fast and the contact area is too thin (slow down for better contact and more accurate motion). They'll come apart if filament head temp is too low and the strands don't fuse (bump it up by 5C and try again).
Slicing software normally takes are of all this for you, but it's good to understand what happens on the print bed because your slicing software will often have options that you will need to tweak for your specific printer.
I respectfully disagree -- wall thickness is generally well-controlled by the slicing software, and a quick check by looking at "layer view" or similar should show if there are any unprintable sections.
Yes. Wall thickness is indeed well-controlled by slicing software. However, I think it's important to have a conceptual model of the printing process to understand how to use the slicing software. For example, Cura has three speed settings for non-expert mode. I use slow for accurate/strong prints and super-fast for prints with massive walls.
@CatsAndCode, I've updated my answer with my own lanyard cardholder I've used for years. If you have time, I would be most curious if you could print out this: https://github.com/firepick1/taz-shield/blob/master/STL/Cardholder.stl
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6090 | 3D printer filament will not load after running the printer out of filament
We wanted to test the post process properties of PVA but did not want to print anything. We unloaded the ABS that was in the printer and then started loading some PVA. After the PVA was loaded we let it keep going through the loading process until it pushed all the PVA out and we had our test sample. We then stopped the loading process and started the loading process again to put the ABS back so we could continue with normal printing procedures. Now, the ABS will not load into the right side and started making a clicking/ticking noise. Our printer is a Flashforge Dreamer. What is wrong with my printer and how can I fix it?
Run some cleaning filament through the extruder at the printing temperature of your PVA or ABS filament, whichever is greater, until the old stuff has been completely displaced. Then load the new filament until the cleaning filament has been completely displaced.
This should be done every time you are switching materials, unless you don't mind disassembling the extruder and/or hotend and clean it out manually.
When trying to load a cleaning filament, the filament doesn't load in and instead the machine makes a clicking sound. It resists the feeding
Sounds like your filament feed is jammed. If you can't run cleaning filament through it, be prepared to disassemble it and extract the debris manually.
@RussellRowe I think you are missing the point, you should not feed it automatically, you need to push it in by hand while pressing down the lever on the extruder or remove the Bowden tube (printer dependent). Just cut some strips of ABS and feed in manually like advised in my answer; it is key not to let the machine feed, you should do it instead. I've done this multiple times on an Ultimaker 3, you just need to bypass the feeder!
PVA is nasty filament to print (from experience). I use it in the Ultimaker 3 in a separate designed core (BB) and even with that core the filament frequently cooks up and carbonizes clogging the nozzle resulting in grinding of the filament at the feeder (it also attracts water really easy, so keep it in the bag with desiccant bags).
To clean the inside of the nozzle, a few techniques exist to remove blockage. E.g. by performing a cold pull or using the atomic method. Both techniques rely on the mechanism to insert the (cleaning) filament when it's hot and remove it quickly at a lower temperature. E.g. see here or here.
The trick is that you pull out all the goo inside the nozzle, you do that by raising the temperature and sticking some (cleaning or high temperature) filament (your ABS will do fine) to the goo. When the temperature lowers, you quickly pull and hope that some of the goo sticks to you cleaning filament. Cut of the tip and repeat until no goo or burnt particles come out and you can push the cleaning filament through the nozzle. You do not need the automatic feeding, it's all manual labor, just raise temperature through the menu and press the lever of the extruder to load the cleaning filament, lower temp and pull back after cooling a bit while pressing the extruder lever.
PVA will carbonize if you look at it crossly. The cleaning filament method stands the best chance of getting all the debris out. Nylon works really well, as the temperatures are a bit higher than most common filaments. You may find references to "yanking" the filament. Don't. Use a strong steady pull with pliers, perhaps using a solid location as a fulcrum for a long-advantage lever action.
@fred_dot_u Indeed, I use strips of POM filament (close to nylon), works really well!
Or just accept that nozzles are cheap, and toss 'em when really mucked up. (at least the bronze ones are -- I can understand wanting to save SS nozzles)
@CarlWitthoft Eh... I wish... the Ultimaker 3 cores cost about 100 Euros each (nozzle cannot be replaced), but indeed if you can change the brass nozzles just replace them!
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6018 | Cura printer settings for Alladinbox SkyCube 3D
I've just purchased an Alladinbox SkyCube 3D that I want to use to print board game miniatures and other fun stuff.
However, the instructions do not give the settings I need to put into software like Ultimaker Cura, and this is where I need some help so that I can generate the G-code files from models I download from MyMiniFactory.
I know it uses PLA and the extrusion temperature should be 210°C. However, I need help with the other settings.
Can someone please point me in the right direction? Is there a better software I could be using? Where can I find settings?
Thanks.
UPDATE: For those wondering "what" settings, I would probably start with the printer and extruder specifications. The following is my best guess.
and
I'm basing these settings on the device specs on this page:
Link to Alladinbox specs
we also don't know what is needed :), could you be more specific? Mainly you need to define printing capacity and firmware flavor.
Please see my edit. Unfortunately, I don't know the firmware. Marlin is just the default in Cura.
Okay, after some research and experimentation, I've come up with some settings that seem to work.
Firstly, some specs about the Alladinbox SkyCube 3D:
Firmware: Marlin
Nozzle diameter: 0.4 mm
Nozzle speed: 20 to 70 mm/s
Layer thickness: 0.1 to 0.4 mm
Printing area: 110 x 110 x 125 mm (WLH)
Note: There is NO cooling fan present and the base is NOT heated.
Now for the actual printing settings...
I'm using the PLA supplied with the printer so far, and it works well at a nozzle temperature of 210C.
I'm printing at 0.2 mm per layer, which seems to afford to a good level of detail. I've printed a scanned Greco-Roman basin, and the details are very nice indeed.
So far I'm using a 20% line filling, and this seems to give the structure a good solidity and strength. I'm also operating the nozzle at its maximum speed of 70 mm/s and it seems to work just fine.
Obviously, I'm still experiments, and different materials may require different settings, but overall I'm very happy. I hope this post helps someone.
To start printing with Cura, you can select standard printer (aka Prusa i3) and set the x,y,z dimensions in the machine properties window - it is a safe point to start.
Then you could print a test cube and try to dial in with speed/temperature setting to get the best quality.
Ultimaker Cura comes with pre-defined profiles for various materials. PLA filament is present in between them. This could be a good starting point to derive your specific profile for your own material. To do we usually print test objects and look at the quality of the product. Test prints can consist of simple X-Y-Z test cubes, temperature towers, retraction test prints, a "Benchy" or many more.
Generally 210 degC is pretty high for PLA, but may sometimes be necessary when printing high speeds. Just copying the material profiles from someone else may not work for you as it might involve different printer brands and even within the filament brands variations in between rolls of a single line may require additional tweaking.
Edit:
The original question appeared to hint at material settings, but the OP changed the question, hinting on printer settings with accompanying screenshots how to setup the printer in Cura. However, the OP's answer (that the OP accepted) also includes material and other slicing settings (infill, layer height, speed). To help other people I undeleted my answer which discusses using the standard Cura profiles to work on to make your own derivatives.
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5863 | Monoprice i3 clone heat shuts off printing abs
I have the Monoprice Select 3D Printer (i3 clone). I'm trying to print ABS. I set the temperature to 230°C for the extruder and 110°C for the bed. I can see the printer warming up to those temperatures and then when it gets there the bed and extruder set temperatures reset to 0, and the print does not start.
I pulled the ABS out and went back to PLA and printed a part without any issues.
Any thoughts on what the issue might be?
Does it shut down the temperatures before reaching the demanded values? Or close to these values? Not many heat beds reach 110°C due to bad connectors/connections, thin wires or lack of insulation at the bottom side.
It looks like the problem is that it shuts down before reaching the 110c.
I was playing with the extruder temperatures. I was at 250c and bumped it up to 260c. It must have thought something was wrong and it set the temp to 0c. Unfortunately, it keeps printing.
I made a quick and dirty enclosure with a few pieces of cardboard and then was able to get up to 110C for the bed and 255c for the extruder.
So I guess I'm building an enclosure :)
this could be connected to a thermal shutdown protection.
Most firmwares requires a decent increase in temperature every few seconds.
if you use Marlin then in the source code you can extend thermal shutdown timings.
what to check:
check every single connector to eliminate any fiddling or play - risk of fire !!!
if any of wires goes hot - double check connections, replace wires/connectors
note temperature change (how many seconds/degree) on the hotbead
then increase voltage on psu (probably you have a led psu - so there is a small regulator next to the connectors)
validate if that help
Thanks! It is a firmware problem. I had the extruder at 250c and bumped it up to 260c. It must have thought something was wrong and it set the temp to 0c. Unfortunately, it keeps printing. I made a quick and dirty enclosure with a few pieces of cardboard and then was able to get up to 110C for the bed and 255c for the extruder. So I guess I'm building an enclosure and will also upgrade the firmware to Marlin.
be very careful to maintain proper temperature inside the box as that could lead to elephant foot artifact (melted object at the hotbed).
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5865 | How can I stop the flare out of the bottom layers?
On nearly all of my prints, my first few layers are flared out slightly. I'm using painter's tape for the bed, and the bed temperature is at 60 °C while the extruder is at 205 °C. This seems to happen regardless of print quality settings.
Here's one example below:
That extruded rectangle shape is 19.50 x 19.30 mm on the outside on the straight part. On the flared part, it measures 19.92 x 19.70 mm.
Is there a way to fix this? If so, how can I improve it?
that's a really hot bed, especially with tape. you shouldn't need a hot bed at all if you use tape. it looks like you might have too much smush on the first layer, which, combined with the really hot bed fuses the next couple layers after, especially on a small fast print like a square.
The picture is not very clear so this can be related to either:
Overextrusion at the bottom layer (slicer setting) or an incorrect bed leveling (bed to nozzle distance too small), or
this could be the effect called "elephant foot" that is primarily caused by printers with a heated bed. This issue is related to unbalanced printing parameters: heat bed temperature (too high) in combination with insufficient part cooling.
The general remedy for these problems is to level the bed (e.g. nozzle can be too close to the bed). "Elephant foot" can be reduced by reducing the heat bed temperature, re-positioning the cooling nozzle and/or start cooling at a lower height. Please experiment with the print parameters by printing XYZ 20 mm test cubes till you find the correct settings.
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5921 | How to heat up a Printrbot's hotend using an SD card
My Printrbot simple metal's extruder is jammed and I need to heat it up to unjam it. Unfortunately, the printer does't want to connect to my laptop regardless of the program I'm using (Repetier-Host or Cura 15).
Is there a way to use a micro SD card to heat up the printer hotend but not print anything?
Sure there is. As you use Cura, you can grab any G-code file (you already have) and use it to set hotend temperature (delete the actual printing part from the file) to get something like this:
;FLAVOR:Marlin
;TIME:102
;Filament used: 0.0573674m
;Layer height: 0.2
;Generated with Cura_SteamEngine 3.3.1
; M190 S60 ;-> this sets the bed temperature so we can comment it out
; the next line sets the hotend to 200 degrees Celsius
M104 S200
As every line that starts with a semi-colon is a comment and is ignored by the printer, M104 S200, would be the only line you need in the printout file.
If you're interested in knowing more - look here: G-codes on reprap wiki
I will try that when I get some free time. Might not be for just over a week, though. Gotta prep for finals. Edit: Just wanted to say thanks for the quick response. :)
@0scar - ...or rather an answer (don't forget that Brendan posted his own answer). Good point though, and the same applies to his answer to this question, How to make walls thicker using meshmixer or meshlab. However, the OP is probably still under a lot of stress w.r.t. final exams.:-)
@greenonline There was no answer when I posted :) But indeed, final actual solutions are very welcome!
I heated it up and was able to extract some plastic that had gotten jammed in the hot ends opening.
I heated up the hotend by commenting out all the other lines of code in Cura's start and end G-code tabs (must have missed some because the printer moved. I would just unplug the printer when it stopped moving). I used an SD card but it would probably work with USB too. I tried to force the filament in to force the jam out of the hotend, but that did nothing.
I took apart the extruder assembly and discovered that a section of filament that was too wide got stuck in the hotend's entrance. I pulled the filament out using me multitool and put the extruder back together. Hope this helps others with a similar problem.
Nice that you answered your own question, and certainly glad that you fixed the problem. (Hope your finals went well as well) But this is not really an answer, it is more a comment. If the other answer helped you to solve this please accept it, if not please elaborate your answer and describe what you actually did to warm it up if different from the other answer (e.g. blow torch or heated on the stove, etc.).
As @0scar says, please describe how you managed to extract the plastic? Did you do it manually (tweezers, drill bit?), and how did you have to heat the hotend? Did you have to remove the hotend and heat it separately (if so, how and why?) or did you heat it whilst on the printer (and how?)? Did you manage to get the SD card to work, or your USB cable? If so, how did you get either the SD card or USB to work, and what G-codes did you use? A nicely detailed answer could quite possibly help someone else with the same issue, as well as garner more votes. Thanks in advance.
+1 - Thank you Brendan for updating your answer. Hopefully others will see your updated answer and remove their down votes. I'm glad that your exams when well too! Good Luck! :-)
Don't forget to mark some of your questions as accepted, using the green tick icon next to the voting buttons, if indeed they have been answered :-)
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5971 | What is wrong with my "disable sensor" gcode?
I have a spool of translucent PLA filament that doesn't work well with the filament sensor on my Prusa i3 MK3. The translucency trips up the sensor, making it think the filament ran out. I thought I'd create a filament profile in Slic3r and disable the sensor in the "Start G-code" block that gets inserted at the beginning of the exported gcode file.
I've got the following code:
M900 K{if printer_notes=~/.*PRINTER_HAS_BOWDEN.*/}200{else}30{endif}; Filament gcode
M406 ; Disable filament sensor
M117 Filament sensor OFF
The first line is provided by Prusa's default PLA profile. The second line should disable the sensor, and the third line should print the "Filament sensor OFF" message. If I look in the gcode, it's there:
G92 E0.0
M221 S95
M900 K30; Filament gcode
M406 ; Disable filament sensor
M117 Filament sensor OFF
G21 ; set units to millimeters
G90 ; use absolute coordinates
M83 ; use relative distances for extrusion
;BEFORE_LAYER_CHANGE
But if I print this gcode file, I see no message, and when checking the sensor in the "Tune" menu while printing, the sensor is still on.
I thought I might have a problem with line endings, but looking at the file in a hex editor, all the lines seem to end with a 0A line feed character, including mine.
Why isn't my printer doing anything with the M406 and M117 messages? Full gcode file here.
When you download the latest version of your firmware you find the implementation of all the codes in Marlin_main.cpp. Here you see that the M406 is not implemented! Hence it does not work.
this is original Prusa - so marlin is not used!
@profesor79 Download the software from Prusa itself and you will see that it does have the Marlin_main.cpp file! https://github.com/prusa3d/Prusa-Firmware/blob/MK3/Firmware/Marlin_main.cpp
ok got that, another bit it the puzzles sorted :)
@profesor79 Always glad to teach the professor ;)
Interesting. So why doesn't M117 work either?
@Bas I can't tell for sure, Prusa has implemented M117 differently (with a higher priority?). Maybe this does not work flawlessly.
As per github PR this is not implemented - see this PR for details
Please check if your printer is processing M406 by issuing it manually.
In meantime, a sticker on the sensor will help you to print :)
Professor79 Could you give a little more detail on how to use a sticker to stop the filament sensor issue? Maybe a photograph or specific placement advice? Left to my own devices I will continue to avoid the issue by printing my shiny filaments in total darkness. There has to be a better way. Thanks, from the peanut gallery
@Winky42 that depends if you have a mechanical or optical sensor. if is optical then just cover the lenses, if is mechanical put down the lever.
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5796 | Full steps mode for Z axis stepper controller
I have a Cartesian style 3D printer (FLSUN Cube), with two Z-axis stepper motors (1.8°, 200 steps/revolution) with T8x8 lead screw (8mm / 2mm pitch with 4 starts), and currently they are using 1/16 microstepping.
As I know, microstepping is an unstable state and can affect accuracy of the Z-axis. But many of modern 3D printers (like CR-10, Prusa i3 Mk2s and others) use similar microstepping for the Z-axis.
Is it possible to use full steps?
Does it improve accuracy if I use compatible layer height (like 0.04mm, 0.08mm, 0.16mm, etc) for my printer with 0.04mm per full step on Z axis?
Focussing on the questions at hand:
Is it possible to use full steps?
This depends on your printer board. Many boards use dip switches to select the (micro) stepping mode of the stepper driver. E.g. a RUMBA board has dip switches located underneath the stepper driver boards (e.g. DRV8825 or A4988). Sometimes you also see jumper caps. The answer is both yes as is no as it depends on the board you are using.
Does it improve accuracy if I use compatible layer height (like 0.04mm,
0.08mm, 0.16mm, etc) for my printer with 0.04mm per full step on Z axis?
Increasing the number of microsteps results in reduced incremental torque (for full step this is 100%, for 16 micro steps this drops to about 10%; this implies that a micro step requested by the controller may not effectively lead to an actual step as it cannot overcome the torque to turn the shaft). So highly loaded steppers could result in positioning errors. Resolution increases but accuracy will actually suffer. Furthermore, Few, if any, stepper motors have a pure sinusoidal torque vs. shaft position and all have higher order harmonics that in fact distort the curve and affect accuracy. according to this source. On the other hand micro stepping makes rotation go smoother (major advantage, see source). Interesting literature (must read) is this test and this paper.
The answer to this question also depends on the situation; when you load the steppers very highly, using micro stepping may result in more inaccurate movement compared to full stepping. When you use the lead screws native resolution for your setup, only when the stepper is actually at the full step position, you would benefit as in this position it will not dwell to the next full step as it is already in the stable position.
As a side remark I've added the correct calculation of the native resolution of your lead screws. From your question I deduce that you have Tr8x8(p2) lead screws. "Tr" for trapezoidal thread, followed by the nominal diameter in mm. The digit after the "x" tells you how much the nut advances per revolution, this is called the lead of the screw. The value between the brackets "p2" denotes the pitch. This means that the screw has 8 (lead)/2 (pitch) = 4 starts. So with every revolution of the stepper (200 steps) the nut advances 8 mm which translates to 8/200 = 0.04 mm per step of 1.8°.
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5942 | Help installing my Anet A8 printer to my computer
I am a complete noob when it comes to the 3d printing world. I just finished assembling my printer and I plug it into my computer with the included usb cable and nothing happens. My computer does recognize the printer being plugged in but it just says "unrecognized device in com 4". Nothing else past that. Somebody please help me with the following steps that need to be taken to get my CPU talking with my printer.
Did you install the CH340 driver? It is on the SD card supplied with the printer.
I did not see that. I did look on the card but didn't see a driver, but I will check as soon as I get off of work. Thanks a bunch for trying to help. So once I install the driver, is there anything I need to know from there. I have an autolevel sensor, so is that when I run "Ardruino", I'm sure that's not spelled right. That's how I knew I had a problem because as it was trying to upload, an error message kept coming up saying unable to synce
Is the printer delivered with the sensor working? Otherwise you may need to flash new firmware, I recommend flashing to Marlin anyways as the stock firmware has no thermal runaway control (provided you are able to flash new firmware).
It was shipped with the autolevel sensor so I would assume that it is already, but I'm referencing a youtube video on setting that up. So I wouldn't think that approaching it as if it didn't have the firmware already wouldn't damage anything by writing over it.
Your question addresses (USB) computer connection, so that will be addressed in this answer. For connection to the printer, you need 2 things (apart from the apparent things as computer, printer and cable):
A working CH340 driver installed on the computer for USB communication with the board,
a piece of software to talk to the computer at a bit transfer rate the printer understands.
The cheap Arduino based boards rely on the CH340 chip for USB communication. You should check whether you have correctly installed this driver. These drivers are erroneous and prone to cause problems. Sometime re-installation works, once did work for me.
The SD card supplied by Anet contains a folder (on my SD card: .\A8\A8资料\Software\CH340G Drive) with the installer file of the driver. Once installed properly, you should be able to connect various applications to the A8, provided you use the correct baud rate of 115200.
All this said, are you asking the correct question? Why do you need to connect to a computer, as you can print just fine by putting sliced .stl files (.gcode files) onto the SD card (when inserted in the computer using the adapter) and reinsert the card again in the printer to select the file using the menu buttons of the printer. Printing from SD card is considered safer then printing via the computer over USB as the print will stop when the PC is shut down or crashes.
as there is com4 attached that means the usb2serial driver is installed.
I'm sorry @profesor79 I'm not very knowledgeable when it comes to pretty much anything you responded with :). Could you dumb that down a tad. Even tho I don't understand, I get a feeling that it might be helpful. Are you saying that because it is recognized as COM4 that it means that the driver is already installed?
@0scar you definitely make a good point, it's just that I'm trying to get my auto level sensor calibrated and the video I'm watching to get it properly working required me to get Skynet3D or Marlin uploaded to the printer. And I would just like everything to work as it should. Even though I'm glad you reminded me that to print all I need to do is download to SD card and transfer card to printer. That is definitely the method I'll use to print in case of crashes, just as you said. Thanks for the advice and help.
Try using the provided SD card and SD adapter with Cura to give the printer gcode. If your computer isn't communicating properly with your printer, you can just download Cura 14 (it comes on the SD card) and upload the configuration file (also on the SD card). You can then plug the SD card into your main board and access it via the LCD screen.
I believe I did that much already, but I didn't put the sd card into the board. But before I do that, I need to install the CH340 driver like "Oscar" advised right? And thank you for your help btw. This is going to be corny but I really am touched that I'm getting this much help from this forum. You guys are some stand up guys and I really appreciate it.
@JoshR. No, you can print by copying files to SD card, and transfering the SD card to the printer. No need to use USB at all, and no need for drivers. Drivers and software for USB are a non-trivial thing to setup
@SeanHoulihane. Yeah I'm aware that I can do that but I really want to get my Printer communicating with my CPU. I found a really good video with a guy that explains very clearly and shows his process on his desktop. He's uploading Skynet3D to it tho, in the video. Is that obsolete now and maybe that's why I'm having a problem? I open Arduino and make sure the right board is selected, btw my card does not say V.1 is says V.1-5. but this is the message I get when I try to upload Skynet3D
@JoshR.It sounds like you need a lot of help with this one, at the level that won't work too well on a Q&A site. We still don't know if you're talking gcode, or arduino firmware download.
Sketch uses 114,230 bytes (87%) of program storage space. Maximum is 131,072 bytes.
Global variables use 4,470 bytes of dynamic memory.
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 1 of 10: not in sync: resp=0xd6
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 2 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x6f
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 3 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x80
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 4 of 10: not in sync: resp=0xbf
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 5 of 10: not in sync: resp=0xae
.....and so forth all the way to attempt 10.
I am in over my head I'll be the first to admit so please excuse my lack of correct terminology. So far all I've done is assembled the printer, installed the driver that was included in the included SD card, and now I'm trying to download Skynet3D, only because that's the program the video maker was using, and that requires me to go the Arduino program. That's when I run into the upload problem that gives me the error messages above this comment I.e. "attempt 2 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x6f avrdude..... And what started all this was so I could be able to install my autolevel sensor.
Most of the latest Windows 10 systems with high speed USB (USB3.0) fail to recognize USB to Serial connector (which is here: CH430).
Try with a decent self powered USB 2.0 hub that has been seen to fix a majority of USB 3.0 port issues, or try by disabling driver signature enforcement on Win10.
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5743 | Platform support up to a certain Z height in Ultimaker Cura/G-code
Ultimaker Cura offers a platform support type of “touching buildplate” which enables the printer to only make a raft for parts of the object that should be touching the build plate. It also offers “everywhere” for any object that might be hanging over the build plate.
I have a need to only offer support for overhangs up to a certain z height, such any overhang located at a z-point of 4 mm or below. Is there a software that will enable this, either as a setting/addition to Ultimaker Cura or just a G-code export for Pronterface?
Why don't you care about overhangs higher up? what "magic" allows those to print properly but not the lowest overhangs? What's the real concern here?
Basically, I have an irregular structure where I need to arrange it in a certain way to limit post-print-finishing. The support structures cause some of the irregular structures to snap off when it’s removed from the print bed. I don’t think sanding or acetone baths are a good way to smooth ABS -perhaps that’s the real problem here, I need to hide support structure connections prior to post-finishing, and this irregular surface is the only spot to do that. These high-up overhangs have a very low angle of overhang and should connect fine without support
Is there a software that will enable this?
Yes, as of Ultimaker Cura 3.3 Beta, Ultimaker Cura allows you to specify an area which will not be considered for adding supports. In your case you could define everything above 4 mm to be excluded from building support structures.
You can look here for this very new feature, it might be what you're looking for.
Is there a software that will enable this?
I don't own a copy of it, but from talking with other 3D printing enthusiasts, I know simplify3d is the slicer out there with the most granular control over support structures.
I'm unaware if it has a setting for exactly what you want, but I know it has the possibility to manually add support in selected parts of your model, so - depending on size and complexity of your model, and on the level of accuracy you need - it may well be an option for you.
It is proprietary, commercial software with a "no question asked" refund policy.
As an alternative, look into 3D modelling tools which allow you to add your own support towers to the model itself. Do that, then set your slicing tool to "no support" or equivalent.
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5695 | Weird Movement and not homing
https://photos.app.goo.gl/O6yPf3sDeV1yhS0C2
I tried to illustrate my problem in the videos above, two of them show the weird movement and the other shows me clicking on the home button repeatedly.
Some Info:
Marlin 1.1.8 or 2.0.0 (same problem in both)
Robotdyn RAMPS 1.4
0.9 angle stepper motors
DRV8825 drivers configured at 0.8V Vref
Anet A2 Plus stock for all the rest
is that freshly assembled device?
It might be helpful to know which are the result of a single movement command, and which is the response to successive home requests.
It might be helpful to know which are the result of a single movement command, and which is the response to successive home requests. Some words about what is weird could help, so that an answerer needn't access the video (although the video is great information to attach to your question). From the video, it looks like movements on two axes are not coordinated -- only X or Y moves, but not both at the same time. I won't try to answer your question, but your observations will help bring the right answer. You are closest to the problem, and have eyes, ears, and fingers on the problem.
The problem was the logic of the endstops that were reversed
This is not a matter of effort but instead it is a matter of what's right or wrong. The other post is really well written but it doesn't address the problem faced.
As far as I can see on the attached videos your homing movement is reversed.
as per Marlin, the homing for X shall move towards the left side and for Y to the back of the printer.
That could occur when: cable connectors to stepper motors are reversed, or the motor is assembled the other way (you can set reverse direction in Marlin)
The other issue is steps/mm calibration need to be done see source below.
The high pitch in the video could also point that the drv8825 is shutting down the movement as it is overloaded.
please also check that for vref
Configuring Vref In order to measure Vref you first need to turn on
your printer as you normally would. If you only connecct using USB,
but not external power, you get a wrong reading.
You need to turn on your multimeter and set it at 2v. Put the red one
on the potentiometer and the Black one on the Gnd pin. Both are marked
on the images here.
Before starting this I read they come with a very high vref setting,
and it is recommended to start around 0.5v Vref. After measuring mine,
I can confirm they come with a very high initial setting. Mine both
came at 1,65v or so! - Yours might be different, which just underlines
the importance of doing this.
Contrary to normal potentiometer usage, the ones on most copies/clones
of DRV8825 are lowered by turning clock-wise, so that is what we will
do, to we hit 0,5v on each. - A quarter of a full turn lowered it to
0,7v, - after that it goes very, very rapidly down, so aim for the
quarter of a turn + a tiny tad more. If you buy your DRV8825 directly
from pololu.com the Potentiometer are dialed up by turning it
clock-wise:
source
Hi, I've just solved the problem, I found out that the logic of my endstops are reversed. That solved everything. Yes, I have to tune the steps per mm yet. However my Extruder motor does not move, even above extrusion min temp
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5760 | Why is a heated bed important?
I hear that heated beds can help with removing finished prints, but not all printers have them!
Is this a nice to have or must have feature?
Are there any downsides to heated beds?
I'll try to give it a shot as the other answer (perfectly sound answer b.t.w.) does explain "how" we use heated beds, but not "why" they are actually needed for good prints.
Plastics or polymers are mostly amorphous (no macro crystalline structure) and usually relatively hard and brittle at low temperatures (this is referred to as "glassy"). By increasing the temperature of the plastics the state of the material changes as it becomes soft and more ductile (called the viscous or rubbery state). The temperature at which this transition takes place is called the "glass transition temperature". It is this temperature where you would heat your bed too (or close to this temperature). Below the glass temperature, the expansion is reduced/low because the polymer chains cannot move easily due to the closer packing and stronger inter-molecular forces; increasing the temperature increases the expansion lowering inter-molecular forces. The difference in stress between the bed and your print is therefore reduced (as of the expansion of the heated polymer).
This explains why we use heated bed to get the prints to stick to the bed. To answer your question why it helps in removing prints is that when the temperature is lowered, the polymer gets back into its "glassy" state, shrinks a bit and automatically loosens the print from the bed.
Indeed for printing PLA you can print without a heated bed, but for materials with a higher glass transition temperature and higher printing temperature it's almost a must to have. Downsides of heated beds are that they require a lot of power and when improperly installed lead to burned wires and connectors. It's usually wise to strain relief the wires from the bed and use proper gauge silicone leads and connectors.
Overall a good answer, but this bit is inaccurate: "..as the internal stresses are lower because of the more viscous state of the material". There is no intrinsic "lower internal stresses" associated to the viscous state. The reason why the print sticks better is that there is not as much shrinkage from the moment the plastic is extruded as it would be with a cold bed. Internal stresses within the print are not due to the "state" of the plastic either, but to the differential of expansion between layers, if that is what you were referring to. :)
@mac Indeed, not related to the state, I edited the answer.
It can help with bed adhesion. However, most 3D printing plastics will warp without a heated bed (since they shrink as they cool). ABS is notorious for this, although PLA is not so bad, and you can get away without a heated bed for small parts. ABS is so sensitive that you may need a heated (or at least draught-proof) enclosure, as well as a heated bed. If you are considering buying a 3D printer, it is best to get one with a heated bed, unless you are on a very restricted budget. If you buy a printer without a heated bed, you will soon realise that you need one.
There is no simple answer. I will only cover the three main filaments: PLA, ABS, and PETG.
ABS:
ABS likes to warp, and dislikes breezes and temperature changes. so a heat bed is required, as is some way to keep breezes off and heat in (I use a plastic tarp over my printer).
Although there are print surfaces that will claim to stop the warp. but a print surface can not change the nature of the filament.
A heated bed is pretty much required for ABS
PLA:
PLA is currently the most popular filament, it has low warping tendencies and it likes breezes, and prints really easy.
PLA does not need a heated bed, but if the part is big it may peel off the print surface.
A heated bed is optional but will help with any warping you may encounter.
PETG:
PETG is described as combining the printability of PLA and the strength of ABS.
PETG is quite stringy and has a higher slightly chance of warping then PLA.
A heated bed is recommended, and will help keep it from warping.
Now, for print removal, a heated bed can help as well:
Most PLA prints, especially smaller ones will remove just fine without a heated bed,
Medium prints having a removal tool will get those off
A heated bed is really helpful for removing large prints or prints that won't release using other methods.
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5778 | How to determine real printing speed (TEVO Tarantula/Cura)?
Recently I noticed that Cura always is giving me less printing time than the print itself takes on my TEVO Tarantula with Marlin firmware.
The time difference is about 15 %, at requested 50 mm/s printing speed.
How could I verify real printing speed?
slow down the travel options in cura to reflect hardware limits
Multiply by 0.85 . Done.
haha @CarlWitthoft, if life were so easy .......
Printing speed is dependent by the firmware and physical properties of your printer.
Slicers typically compute the expected time by assuming the printer will execute exactly what it is instructed to do, but a printer is a real object, with mass and momentum, and stepper motors that have an upper limit for their power output and rotation speed.
So for example, the GCODE may say "extrude 200mm at 100mm/s" and the slicer will compute that operation as taking 2 seconds. However the printer will need to accelerate and decelerate at the extremes of the movement, and it may even be incapable of reaching speeds over 70mm/s, so the actual operation will likely take 3 seconds or more.
Accelerations and decelerations account for most of the difference between ideal time and real one, and since the number and intensity of those is totally dependent by the GCODE/model being printed, it is not possible to simply multiply the computed time for a given factor (for example 1.15, as your question seems to imply). A large cylinder printed in vase mode will have a printing time much more similar to the computed one that an intricate model with a very complex surface, for example.
In recent years, slicers that are maintained by a printer manufacturer (cura, slic3r PE) have become better at estimating printing times for their own printers, as the settings of the firmware are accounted for in the actual estimating algorithm.
If you use Octoprint, you may have noticed that the time estimate octoprint gives improves over time, as octoprint will analyse the GCODE and measure the elapsed time, and will be able to guesstimate the real time with an increasingly degree of accuracy.
I use a Anet A8 which has a system acceleration and jerk of 400 and 20
When i slice with Cura, then I use a gcode without acceleration control, because the printer does this by its own and a combination with the gcode acceleration/jerk control gets me some strange behavior (e.g. sometimes some ultra slow movement in fine detail sections, or random nearly stopped movement)
But to get a realistic approximation for the print time, i enable the acceleration/jerk control in cura and then I get a really good result, that is really close to the real values.
And to be more specific to your question: It is e.g. 50mm/s >>maximum<< speed you can set, not a exactly and absolut speed.
If you know your printer you can also experiment with the following approach: Set the max speed really high, so that the max material volume per time is the limiting factor and set the acceleration and jerk as low as needed for good results. So that your printer will accelerate on long lines as long as it can up to the point it has to deaccelerate for the next corner.
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5782 | Can I use external stepper motor power and USB connection
I have a RAMPS 1.4 with Arduino Mega 2560 with 2 steppers connected to an external power supply using Polulo stepper drivers. The steppers are for X and Y axis movement. This external power supply is set to 12 volts and power is applied. I have configured the marlin firmware also.
Can I connect my setup to my PC using USB when the external power is also on?
If i connect the USB while the external power is off, do the motors take power from USB? Will this will burn my board?
Is possible that you can burn the USB port and or your steppers can't work due lack of power of the same port.
The motors are powered from 12/24V external power supply, so the motors will not be powered.
the ramps Schematics shows the connection diagram and the power is provided via the VMot pin/12V.
Is it possible to select V in pin on arduino in place of 5 volt pin as logic power supply for motor driver?for how many drivers ,the 5 volt pin can be used as logic power supply on arduino?
is possible, but you need a driver (switch) to change the source from 5V USB to External 9-24V.
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5857 | Z Offset on autoleveling sensor setup
How does Z offset (M851) work with an auto leveling sensor? Does it add the Z offset to the offset of the G29 mesh? or the G29 value replaces the M851?
My printer is an Anet A8 with Marlin firmware, I was having issues with the autoleveling sensor and reset the Z offset to 0 and let G29 get the mesh offsets and its working good now.
I was looking through Marlin G-code page but couldn't figure out how G29 affects M851 or vice-versa.
My setup with level issues:
M851 Z0
G28
M211 S0 ;turned endstops off and got a paper to find the zoffset
M851 Z-0.59
M500
M211 S1
And G29 before printing.
G28 instructs the printer to home itself to the X an Y endstops and the Z sensor determines the homing of the Z axis; i.e. when the sensor triggers, this is not necessarily (and most commonly) not the position where the nozzle is at Z=0.
G29 determines the shape of the bed by probing the bed. This will set the shape of the bed with respect to the sensor trigger point as described earlier. The Z-offset (set by M851 Z-x.xx is needed to set the offset between the nozzle and the sensor trigger point (to the bed).
The sequence to determine the offset is:
M851 Z0; // Set the Z offset to zero height
G28; // Home Z in the middle of the bed
G1 Z0; // This will move the head to zero height;
M211 S0; // This will disable the end stops so that you
// will be able to proceed lower than Z=0
Now adjust Z height to fit a piece of paper and note the negative Z height (either through the LCD or through an application or console/terminal over USB)
Please remember, that a sensor doesn't level your bed, is compensates for the shape, the user should always tram (level) the bed as good as possible with respect to the nozzle print head movement plane! This implies that the user should tram the complete bed as good as the skills allow, all corners, like you would do with a normal Z endstop switch.
M851 Z-1.23; // Define the Z offset
M500; // Store the settings
M211 S1; // Enable the end stops again
Please note that -1.23 is a fictive value that should be replaced by your own value.
To explicitly answer the raised question, the G29 probes the bed by scanning the surface geometry and the M851 adds an offset for the sensor trigger to the nozzle (at the center). The offset is required to let the firmware know where the nozzle is with respect to the trigger point. The offset therefor lowers the scanned G29 surface, no replacement is taking place. The sketches below illustrate this:
note that the bottom line of the "M851 Z offset" denotes the G29 scanned surface
You must use the sequence
G28
G29
If you do G28 after G29 it will reset bed leveling. I guess you don't want that.
On my printer deployed z-probe falls 2.3 mm lower than nozzle. In printer settings I've therefore stored static Z-offset of -2.3 mm, so after G28 and G29 I can be sure that when ever I tell Z-axis to lower to zero, it can go down -12.3 mm, coming to stop at around 0.1 mm above the bed surface (so just a single sheet of paper fits between the nozzle and the bed).
That said, I'm not worrying about sending the Z-offset via print commands, as restart restores the aforementioned -2.3 mm offset.
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7710 | Ambient Temperature Range for Printer Storage/Usage
I've just joined the 3D Printing world and am patiently waiting for my printer to come in next week. I've been thinking about keeping my printer in the garage so that it stays out of the way of every day life.
Since I am in the Midwest, I was wondering if this is the best plan. Is it okay to store and use my printer when the ambient temperature can get as low as 10 °F (about -12 °C) and as high as 120 °F (about 50 °C)? Would the cold affect my prints substantially, mainly using PLA, PETG and some TPU? Would larger prints, spanning days, affect the filament on the spool?
Note that I am solely talking about the printer. I plan on keeping the filaments inside the house so they won't be bothered by the temp extremes.
My google searches came up with nothing and I didn't find anything on the supplier from which I purchased my printer. I doubt that it matters, but in case it does, my printer is the Creality CR-10S
Printers are electrical machines. They don't like water, so they also don't like condensation in them. If you can keep your garage dry and prevent a sheet of metal inside it from rusting, then your printer might survive the problems the shifting temperatures induce by condensing water vapor on the electronics.
Another thing to consider is, that at negative degrees Celsius, your printer might trigger a mintemp error, as the minimum temperature allowable is usually defined as 0 °C or higher. On the other hand, low temperatures might allow to bridge further than other days, as the cold air absorbs the heat from the prints faster. It could cause other problems like clogging or under extrusion due to low temperature though.
High summer temperatures might impact the print quality, causing quite some extra sagging.
The Filament on the machine in a garage might be impacted because of the humidity changes, but might be mitigated with a drybox.
I didn't even consider the condensation aspect and using metal currently stored as a metric. That's pretty handy.
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7771 | How to repair burnt heat bed connector?
My Anet A8 suddenly had issues with being unable to heat the bed. After ruling out software issues, I disconnected the connector and found this (sorry for the terrible quality):
The left most pin on the male connector (bed) is also charred. How could I best repair this?
So it seems as if the old error https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lp0_on_fire found a new use?
Owning an Anet A8 I confirm that the connectors are not rated for the amount of current that pass through them. You do not need a new bed unless the heat element has burned through (but that is pretty uncommon, it usually is the connector). This burning of the bed connectors is a very well known problem of the Anet A8 printers; these connectors are just not rated for the current and the movement of the bed. It is best not to use a connector at all! And yes, the Anet A8 default printer firmware does not have any build in protection for thermal runaway! It is always advised to immediately flash another firmware, e.g. Marlin firmware.
The best repair is to get some high quality silicone AWG 14/16 wires and solder these directly onto the back of the pins of the connector. Also crimp forks to the other end to connect the wires correctly to the printer board.
What I did was cutting up the connector to leave only the 2 middle pins (for connecting the bed thermistor, which does not use much power) and soldered the red wire to the left 2 pins and the black to the right 2 pins. You can do that at the back side of the socket where the pins make an angle.
Why exactly do you advice to solder it to 2 pins? I'd expect pins 2 and 5 to be unconnected?
@DaniëlvandenBerg Because 2 pins for 12 V connections (+ and -, not that this matters by the way) are connected to the heating element each (etched copped resistor elements). This was at my bed, please look into your own bed if 2 pins are connected to the heating elements!
New Bed (Connection)
You will at least need a new female connector, but as the connector burnt, you have some underlying problem that made the connector burn in the first place: either the board is sending bad signals to the bed, or the bed is not rated for the board or you just had a faulty connector (the most usual culprit). Honestly? Replace the whole connector for a properly rated and intact pair - these pin connectors are not rated for 12 V at all but for 5 V!
If you don't use a beefier connector, solder the wires directly to the bed.
Safety first!
Anet isn't known for good firmware implementation of safety, so make twice sure that you run a firmware that has Thermal Runaway Protection enabled!
Thanks for the advice. (Fortunately) I already had Skynet running, which indeed includes TRP.
@DaniëlvandenBerg Skynet3D is obsolete, but good that you at least changed it!
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7774 | Why does my model stop printing at the same spot?
I have a Monoprice Maker Select v2 printer which has a printing height of 7".
I tried to print this trophy.
The first time I printed, it stopped about 3/4 of the way (about 5.5").
I use Ultimaker Cura to move the model's z-position down, effectively splitting it in half to print the top half. But on the 2nd print, it seems to have stopped at the same point. There was a lot of extra PLA filament curled up at the end.
Did my printer just jam or am I missing a setting that allows it to print the remaining top portion?
The answer is that you have not used support structures. The printing fails as a result of missing support structures.
If you look closely to the Ace of Clubs card at the top, you will see that the lower point is being printed from out of nothing, this corner needs to be supported. When unsupported, the extruded filament flows freely and where it deposits is unknown. Usually this extruded filament sticks to the nozzle or ends up stuck at the next piece of the printed layer building up. This build-up can cause the head to hit the print and ruin the print.
To enable support in Ultimaker Cura configure your setting accordingly:
These settings are accessible when you select custom settings:
If the options aren't visible, use:
and type in the option.
Please do note that using supports does not guarantee that the print will not fail! Especially when using long slender support structures, the chance that a support structure fails increases with the amount of support structures and the length of the structure. Sometimes long slender support structures are knocked over.
Sidenote:
Your printer has more issues, if you look at the brim, it is not a continuous bed adhesion layer, it looks like it does not adhere too well, see also the bottom of your trophy.
Thanks Oscar. I will try out the supports. As for the adhesion issue, I bought a Magigoo Adhesive Pen. I hope that helps. Otherwise, I might go back to a raft instead of a brim, though I found the raft extremely difficult to remove
@kane Good to hear that, but have you managed to get a whole print considering the other question. If so than we can bag and tag this question. If not please expand the question.
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7818 | TPU Filament in Dremel 3D20?
I recently got a Dremel 3D20, and I understand it only takes PLA filament according to the Dremel site. However, I was wondering if anyone has successfully used TPU filament or knows it will work fine. I’m more than happy to use other software to change the temperature, I just don’t want to gunk up or otherwise ruin my printer.
TPU wants in general two things of your printer:
A Printing Temperature of (over many makers) 195-230 °C
A Direct Drive (extruder on the printhead)
Bowden extruders are not ideal for printing flexible filaments such as NinjaFlex due to the excessive
distance between the stepper motor and the extruder head. However, some users have generated
successful prints using reduced speeds.ninjaflex handout
Check the temperature you can reach, and you are lucky, as some of the smaller Dremels use Bowden but the 3d20 is apparently direct drive.
If you want to try to run a Bowden with flexible filaments, dial down speed down really low (20-30 mm/s at most) and pray.
So in theory I should be good, but it’s not guaranteed good results. What’s the worst do you think could happen to my extruder?
the worst that can happen is spending some dozen meters of filament on dialing in your settings and maybe a clog. But the most likely is a couple sub par prints.
Fantastic, thank you. Dremel has some notice about other filaments like ABS plastic voiding the warranty if you try it on the 3D20 so I wasn’t sure if that meant my extruder would explode (not really but you get the idea).
I've never used a Dremel printer, thus I cannot guarantee that my solution will work fine, but you might want to give a try to the Ultimaker Cura slicer.
Ultimaker printers have Bowden tubes, like the Dremel, unless I am mistaken, and I've been able to successfully print TPU on my Ultimaker 3 Extended printer. I also know that many Ultimaker users have printed using Ninjaflex without much problems on their Ultimaker machines, both old and new.
Ultimaker Cura comes with pre-programmed settings for TPU95, which is the Ultimaker brand of TPU, then I guess you'll have to fiddle a bit with settings to find what works best with your Dremel. Take a look around Ultimaker's forums, many users have other printers beyond their Ultimaker printers, you might be lucky and find some useful information. The 'search' feature of the forum works quite nicely.
Quick summary of the settings for TPU95A in Ultimaker Cura for a 2.85 mm Bowden setup:
Layer Height: 0.2mm
Printing Temperature: 225°C
Print Speed: 25 mm/s
Cooling Fan Speed: 20%
Depending on how the Dremel performs and the quality of your TPU, you might want to disable retractions, it's been known to help.
The UM3 and Dremel 3D20 cannot be compared, there are differences in filament diameter (UM3 uses 2.85, not 1.75 mm) and extruder style (UM3 uses Bowden, not direct drive).
While the speed is a result of the bowden, the temperature and layer height are good start.
Thank you! Very helpful info. Unfortunately Cura Ultimajer doesn’t play too nicely with Dremel files but the other info you gave here is very useful.
@Surge Glad to have been at least partly helpful! ;)
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7831 | How to remove exess filament from bed after removing model
Recently got an Anycubic I3 Mega Printer and I've been playing with what it can do, but after a model is done it leaves residue on the build plate behind that is bugging me. Do I NEED to remove it? If so, how? Thanks! (I'm using PLA if that matters)
My Problem:
My gut check is "yes", mainly because some of it will come off with a new print. If you're using black next, the white filament will then leave splotches on your next print. The reason I'm not leaving an answer is ... I really don't know how to get it off of a bed which isn't aluminum (like mine) where you'd just use a scraper to clean it up. WIth any kind of surface which can be damaged (like I'm assuming yours can), I really don't know the best way to clean them up. Just thinking about it, acetone may work to clean up PLA, but I'm not sure.
@Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2 Ok, If I do leave it on, will it affect future prints outside of leaving splotches?
@Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2 PLA does not dissolve in acetone.
Possible duplicate of How can I best clean the print bed after a print?
This usually doesn't happen on an Ultrabase, except you did not use it properly. It is essential that you wait until the Ultrabase is cooled down before removing the object. If cooled to room temperature the object can be removed very easily. If not material will stay behind and jam the "pores" of the special surface. Use isopropyl alcohol to clean it.
@KlausD. This is actually one of the best answers I've gotten so far, are you sure isopropyl alcohol will not damage the bed?
Not at all, in problematic cases you can even go one step further and use acetone.
You should remove it because it can and will affect the quality of future prints. Residue can mix up with new filament and create a ugly of colors and also prevent adhesion in places, thus potentially ruining your next print.
You have several solutions to clean up the bed:
Scrape it off: usually works, but you risk chipping the surface if you're not careful or if you stumble upon a bit of residue that is stubborn and you need to apply strength to get rid of it. I think a scraper is included with the printer.
Sponge and soap: Since the bed cannot be removed, as far as I can tell, you'll need to make sure that the sponge isn't dripping or put towel paper around to avoid damaging the components below, including the heating unit. Rub it gently on the residue until it soften and detaches. It might take a bit to work.
Yellow glass cleaner from Karcher: my favourite, the one I use on my printer and it never failed me. Spray it on a cloth or something, and rub it on the bed until the residue softens and detaches. It might take a bit to work, but you don't run the risk of dripping liquid on any component, and it works way better than soap and without the risk of chipping the bed like when you use a scraper.
Thank you! You say that you use the yellow glass cleaner, what printer do you own?
@UltraGamer I have an Ultimaker 3 Extended.
It might be worth pointing out that while there are good reasons for removing it, leaving it in place probably won't affect the print too much. If you don't care about how the bottom layer looks, it probably won't hurt.
@TomvanderZanden The main hurt that this kind of residue does is prevent good bed adhesion. And since it's not always apparent right away, you run the risk of having your print pop out in part or completely several hours into it, ruining it and forcing you to start again, not to mention wasting time and material. Better safe than sorry.
I have had moderate success with a product called Goo Gone (don't laugh). It quite remarkably lifts off any number of "sticky" items from various surfaces.
I work with PLA filament that is very hard and stubborn to remove from any surface.
I own a FlashForge Adventurer 3 that appears to have a carbon fiber build plate. Nothing, except a #11 XActo blade, can harm that.
Good Gone contains d-Limonene which dissolves HIPS, it doesn't dissolve PLA, how does it remove the stuck PLA?
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7674 | Changing FAN0 to FAN1 in TriGorilla printer board
I plugged a new fan into the (TriGorilla v1.4) printer board Fan0 which I found out to be broken.
I'm trying to upgrade the part cooling fan for a bigger one. Unfortunately after plugging in the old one, I realize that the fan is constantly "ON". On other forum someone told me that MOSFET might be shorted from plugging in the broken fan.
This triggered my question: "Is there any possible way to change the firmware FAN0 to use FAN1 socket?" and: "Would that work for part cooling model fan?"
Hi JAKE and welcome to 3D Printing.SE! This question has similarities to Controlling more fans with RAMPS board and has an answer for a RAMPS setup. Does that answer help you out?
Yes you can use another fan port, this requires some editing of the configuration files of the firmware and reflash the firmware.
If you look at the documentation of the board and an overview of the board layout, you will see that there are 3 PWM controlled FAN ports. The answer is therefore yes, you can use another port (e.g. FAN1 or FAN2) to be used for your broken FAN0 port. The most easy solution is to swap the port numbers in the pins configuration of your firmware, so swap pins 'D9' and 'D7'.
How you edit the configuration is depending on the version of the TriGorilla board you have, there is a version 1.3 and a version 1.4.
Basically you need to define the software FAN (0) to be reached at the hardware location Fan1 using pin 7:
#define FAN_PIN 7
Subsequently, FAN1 in software needs to points to Fan0 in hardware
#define FAN1_PIN 9
If you changed this, the software will think that the Fan1 port on the board is the software FAN.
If you are using the v1.4 TriGorilla printer board, the v1,4 specific pin definition is found in pins_TRIGORILLA_14.h. If you look into this file you will see that this is basically a RAMPS board:
#define IS_RAMPS_EFB
...
#include "pins_RAMPS.h"
So editing for you need to redirect the pins 7 and 9, but you only have a single active fan (as per #define IS_RAMPS_EFB)! Luckily we can forget about the second fan as you want to replace the first by the second.
In pins_RAMPS.h you will find:
#ifndef RAMPS_D9_PIN
#define RAMPS_D9_PIN 9
#endif
Note that it is wise not to edit this latter file, instead edit your copy of pins_TRIGORILLA_14.h to include assigning of the pin 7 to the Fan1 header as FAN in the firmware.
If you look closely at the assigning of the RAMPS_D9_PIN pin, it says: #ifndef; so if it has been assigned previously, do not override the value.
Now edit the pins_TRIGORILLA_14.h file to include:
// Comment out this line:
//#define FAN_PIN 9
// And enter this beneath that line
#define RAMPS_D9_PIN 7
or
#define FAN_PIN 7
// this bypasses setting of the RAMPS_D9_PIN constant
From this point on, if the software addresses scheduling of the FAN port, the pin 7 schedules the MOSFET attached to the Fan1 header.
Basically, the above procedure describes how one directs hardware ports by changing the addressing in the firmware configuration.
If this does not work, there might be more things broken on your board.
I'm 90% sure that I have 1.4 version. I edit script like you show me. Unfortunately nothings changed.
In script there is "#include "pins_RAMPS.h"
Should I change there pins as well?
@JAKE you need to take care where you put it else it is overridden, several pins.h files are read subsequently. It should work, I have done this several times. I've updated the answer for you, this works for me.
Is it possible that even if i modify Fan0 to Fan1 and other way around, it will still use MOSFET from Fan0 which I have problem with?
I did exactly how you said above.
#define FAN_PIN 7
#define FAN1_PIN 9
Pin 9 is physically attached to the gain of the MOSFET of Fan0, pin 7 physically attached to the gain of the MOSFET of Fan1 (if the documentation is right!). So if it is swapped in the firmware you should not be using the Fan0 header anymore. Strange that it does not work for you, maybe there are more things broken on your board.
You might be right :(
It's now shut down after finish print, so it's half success, thank you for your help @0scar
I just swapped the two pins on my printer and got an error when using RAMPS_D9_PIN and an error when setting FAN_PIN. I managed to get it to work by setting FAN_PIN to 7 and changing CONTROLLER_FAN_PIN to 9 otherwise
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7678 | Retraction Causing Skipping
I am trying to get rid of stringing on my prints, to do that I have tried turning on a retraction in Ultimaker Cura, and reducing flow.
When I turn on retraction it causes the extruder to skip on the filament. the extruder pulls the material out as it should, but when it pushes back in as it prints the next parts it goes part of the way then it skips making the bumping sound, it seems to do this almost every time that it retracts.
To stop this from happening I have tried changing the retraction distance from 10mm to 5mm, the retraction speed from 60 mm/s to 40 mm/s, the flow from 100% to 90% and the temperature from 200 °C to 220 °C.
I am using the Ender 3 running Marlin 1.1.9 with an aluminium Bowden extruder upgrade and BLTouch.
How do prevent this skipping due to retraction?
Update:
After changing the setting to what has been suggested in this answer the result of the retraction print resulted in:
It has almost completely solved the stringing problem as well.
Fighting stringing will not work by increasing the temperature of the hotend.
There could be 2 possible causes for your problem,
the first is that you still have a too high retraction speed, too high for your stepper to follow (do note that the default value in Ultimaker Cura is 25 mm/s),
the second is that you retract too far and the cooled "hot" filament tip is deformed and causes extra tension/friction in the extruded liner.
I have set the retraction speed to 25 mm/s and the retraction distance to 5 mm, and everything seems to be working, the skipping has stopped. Thank you
@Liam You could benefit from some extra part cooling to improve the top of the print.
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7597 | Filament gets coiled inside the extruder
A while ago bought a Bowden extruder to replace the old built-in one (It was malfunctioning or something that I cannot remember well). This one in particular has been acquired:
The thing is, that almost a year has passed since the printer did something rather than getting jammed and not work properly. The extruder itself seems to work properly, when I heats up and push the filament by hand seems to pass properly.
When assembled and start to print, the printer at first seems to work, but after a minute or so, it stops extruding (gets jammed or something).
The last time that I removed the filament and I've found out that it was coiled inside (Very strange):
My first thought was that the filament was thinner than the extruder's specs, but the seller says that is for 1.75mm, and all my filaments have that diameter.
What I am missing? Something maybe that is not properly mounted?
The product is not official, bought on Amazon (I didn't know about e3d v6).
Printing temperature should be 180ºC but I've seen now that Cura sets the first layers to print at 200ºC. Material: PLA
My printer is a BQ Prusa i3 Hephestos.
What material are you using? Also what temperature? After you remove the twisted/coiled filament, is the nozzle chock-full of previously melted material?
is it a genuine e3d v6 or a chinese aftermarket? What kind of printer do you use? Did you follow the assembly instructions and hot-tighten it?
I've added additional data to the question. About the instructions... well, I didn't know about the original model and the seller does not provide instructions so, I just tightened them in cold (but nothing more).
What kind of material is it? Printint PLA 1t 180° is a little low, ABS is to be printed even hotter.
Do you use an all-metal heat break? (e.g. is there a liner in the heat break or not) Also, what is the scale of the filament image, e.g. id the filament 1.75 mm on the thickest parts?
@CarlWitthoft, Trish The material is PLA (I've updated the question, sorry I didn't see the question).
0scar the heat break is (or at least seems) all-metal, about the filament, the calliper tells me 1.78~1.79mm normally, and the "coiled" part varies up to 1.80mm aprox.
@SigmaSoldier How long is the piece that is shown? E.g. the length of the cold end (cooling ribs). On which side is the unaffected filament? E.g. is it fed from the right? If so than I've got a pretty good idea what the problem is.
@0scar About 26mm, but is fed from top
As long as there is no more information about the printer itself (I searched a bit and around half of buyers were severely unhappy with the result), I'd advise you to make a full check of all of the important parts that make up a 3D printer making ok prints:
Are motors moving as they should?
Is the extruder actually extrude filament when told so (do the check "2cm" = 2cm extruded)?
Is the Z calibration ok (<- VERY important, will make tons of weird problems if extruder is too close to the bed, believe me, don't skip out on this one. A blue tape or not a blue tape makes a world of difference).
Also of course check your filament (no variations too big of the diameter).
For the temperature, IMO go for the higher for starters (maybe no, see "heat creep" below), you won't be able to bridge / less good quality etc. but you'll get pieces done.
NOW, the image you posted shows a twisted (I don't know how to handle that) or a grinded filament.
When I say 'grinded' I mean that the filament got stuck somewhere (see below) and the (cogged) wheel pushing the filament is so strong that is grinds off plastic from it, forming waves on the filament. Eating away parts so it looks like your photo.
If that's the case, then you should check out "heat creep", it's basically the heat in the lowest part of the extruder (the thing you call a bowden extruder) will heat up the filament and make it melt Above the heat block, making a blob of half melt plastic stopping the forward movement of the filament.
This is usually mitigated by two things, that lacks more or less in cheap chinese knock offs:
* The fan and it's cooling efficiency (the fan must blow when the heat block is hot, even if there is no printing going on. Even if the heat block is no longer heating. I shut the fan off at around 60°C).
* The Heat break: if it's heavy it will conduct too much heat, if it's thin it might work but will break easily.
3D Printing is not obvious or easy, but spend some time and it'll start to work well!
Cheers
Thanks! I'll check out tomorrow for the extrusion amount to see if really is extruding what it should, The Z callibration should be OK (I use a glass heated bed and test with a paper sheet) the axis motors work more or less Ok but I'll check out if they do so. And also I'll tell you if the fan is really cooling what should or not.
A late remark, do check out the spring or whatever system you have, that pushes the filament onto the cogged wheel (or similar). If it's too loose, the extruder motor could grind the filament and not be able to push it correctly. My bet is on the fan though but who knows!
If you converted a printer from direct to Bowden feed, it is possible that the cold side of the hot end is too hot, and you are suffering from heat creap. Simple, less expensive printers often use the extruder stepper and the extruder stepper mount as part of the cooling system.
If there is any sort of a heat-sink on the cold side of the hot-end, try to rig a fan to blow through the heat sink. If there isn't a heat sink, find one and add it. Heat sinks made for round transistor cases can sometime be fitted to the cold side. A little heat sink great, a couple of transistor heat sinks, and a fan may completely solve your problem.
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7671 | Calibration improvement of the Prusa i3
I recently got myself a Prusa i3, that I needed to assemble and adjust myself. As expected, the first prints was of quite poor quality. After better adjustment, I improved a bit the print, but I am not quite there yet. I was hoping to get some advice on how to improve the print based on few pictures of the 3DBenchy boat I printed.
The most annoying point, on the following image, is the dent that I have in the hull, on the front of the boat. And one layer appears to be missing or close. And I have another one just like it in the top cabin.
I also think that my specific settings on the first layers shouldn't be there, because they don't improve anything, but that is another topic.
Also, when I look on the top, I have a lot of filament strings getting here and there, the path of the tip of the printer is quite visible on the roof and floor, the steering wheel is not to clear, etc.
Also, at the end of the boat, I am supposed to have some letters, but I cannot read them because of the poor definition of the print...
How can I improve the quality of the print? What settings should be looked at?
The material used for printing is PLA. The hotend temperature was set to 215 °C for the first layer, 210 °C for the rest. The bed at 65 °C for the first, then 60 °C.
The setting in Slic3r for the fan is between 35% to 100%. If I understand the rule correctly, under 5 sec for a layer, it is 100%, then it decreases proportionally up to 35% if the layer is done in 60 sec. And off otherwise.
The diameter of the filament is set to 1.75, with a nozzle of 0.4 mm. I wonder if I should put it to 0.375 mm.
I otherwise think that it is a genuine prusa, but clearly not from the first iteration. I don't have an arduino on it, but the makerbase chip. (That comes from a kit I bought online.) I would wait to be a bit more confident before attempting any modifications.
The speed for perimeters is 60 mm/s, 30 mm/s for external perimeters. Infill 80 mm/s. Bridges 60 mm/s. Support material 60 mm/s. Non print move: 130 mm/s. There are a couple of other print speed, but I don't think they are that relevant for the case.
After modifications of temperature and cooling, following the answers, I got the following print:
(Nozzle 200 °C, fan at 50 %)
Weirdly, it was like the PLA got burned here and there, which was not the case at hotter temperature... But at least, the edges are sharper, and the writings are easier to read! I will try to lower a bit more the temperature, but I would need to fight a bit with my extruder motor, which seems to have hard time pushing the PLA when the temperature is too low.
I tested at an even lower temperature: 190 °C. The result is not pretty, the layer were not sticking to each other. And even at 195 °C, some layer don't attach.
I tried again at 200 °C, but with lower peripheral printing speed. It did help! I can feel the progress.
However, I still have a small dent. And on the following picture, we can clearly see that there are sometimes molten half-burned PLA dripping. And there are still strings remaining between the places.
The nozzle was cleaned just before this print.
Hi Emile and welcome to 3D Printing.SE! Please add what material you print and which printing parameters you used for slicing. Please [edit] your question to include: material, hotend temperature, bed temperature, part cooling fan %, is it a genuine Prusa, print speed, etc.
Your hotend temperature is too high and/or too less part cooling. The part cooling is very important to solidify the hot fluid filament in time to have a solid fundament for the next layer. PLA has a reasonably low glass temperature (at this point the filament is weak and mealable/flexible, at about 60 °C), if the part is not cooled properly, the part temperature can be over the glass temperature when printing the next layer and will distort the previous and current layer.
I print PLA at a maximum temperature of 200 °C (for my thermistor reading).
A combination or a single of these parameters not being the correct value will cause the dent at the front and the stringing and letters to be faded as the filament is not cooled properly and deforms the previous and current layer, this easily shows up in overhangs like at the bow of your print.
Try to lower the hotend temperature by 5 °C per next calibration print (or start at 200 °C and work down from there) and increase the part cooling a little if possible (35 % to 50 %). The build plate generally does not need to be 5 °C higher for the first layer nor do you need an extra 5 °C for the hotend, PLA is not that difficult to print.
Thank you a lot for the answer. May I ask some questions related to the temperature? What is the cooling fan doing exactly? (I was seeing it as a way to have a better precision of temperature control). And what are the trade-off with the hotend temperature? (and even hotbed temperature?)
@EmileD. you print far too hot. I print PLA at most at 200
@Oscar. Sorry for the delay. I was busy this week. The few prints I did failed, mostly because the extruder jammed. I was trying to tackle that problem. I just got a new print around 200°C that worked, but the dent is still there. And what I got from an even lower temperature still had the dent. But there were less rogue strings everywhere.
@EmileD.e The burned filament could well be caused by your high temperature sessions, please clean the nozzle. How m y perimeters has the model?
@EmileD. As 0scar said, check your nozzle. Another item that can cause the front denting in is too high print speed - I find that 60 is the highest that I want to use for visible walls.
@Trish Indeed, I think lowering a bit the print speed did help. But I cleaned the nosel several times. The last time by putting it in boiling water then cleaning a bit by end. It was not enough to remove the big chunks that I have sometimes. It is quite like I have molten PLA accumulating, burning a bit, and then dripping down...
@EmileD. that sounds like the hotend is not sealed... a different question though
@Trish Hm, I am still interested to have other information that could improve my prints! :) What do you mean by my hotend is not sealed? I sadly can't find a good explanation of why I have drippings. Mostly because I can't see any other holes where the dripping could come from, thus I have to assume that it comes from the nozzle...
I add an information there: during the last cleaning, I noticed that inside the nozzle, the plastic was hollow. I wonder the setting that withdraw a bit the filament, to avoid the strings everywhere, was not stretching a bit the plastic unequally, and making the layer printing less predictable.
Nevermind, I think I have an idea why I have dripping. The nozzle gets wrapped around by plastic during the printing. I guess the pressure makes the PLA turn around the filet of the nozzle, and makes its way to the outside. I was indeed surprised to see PLA on the filet each time I remove the nozzle, and would be a perfect explanations to the molten/burned PLA.
@EmileD. actually, your nozzle is leaking because the nozzle's top is not closing up against the heatbreak or the liner in it.
@Trish: You are right. I just noticed that the heatbreak was spinning with the heater block, not because it was like this by design, but because the screw was not completely closed. The nozzle was not pushed on heatbreak, thus causing a poor conduction of the molten filament, leading to the PLA finding a way between the heat block and the nozzle. Thanks! (I would love to upvote your comment.)
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7606 | Settings for vase mode in Cura?
I keep hearing about vase mode, but I have some problem figuring out how to set it up in my slicer; I use Cura slicer.
So, I'd like to get some settings to do it in Ultimaker Cura, using PLA if the material is important, plus any advice on how to properly do it and ensure that the print retains it's shape on print.
Vase Mode changed the name in some version before 3.5. Now you can achieve this with 2 modes: "Surface Mode" and "Spiralize Outer Contour". To turn it on do this:
Choose the Custom setting menu on the right
click a gear to set up what settings you want to see
Under the header "Special Modes" you find both Surface Mode and Spiralize Outer Contour
set the checkmarks on both
Turning on the Surface mode to Surface and checking Spiralize Outer Contour gets the "classic" Vase Mode.
Turning on Surface without Spiralize Outer Contour gets an infill-less outer perimeter
Now, the classic Vase mode will only print the single most outer perimeter of a print, so your model will have to be very limited with angles and contain no bridges - with one perimeter, you will only be able to print at best 45° angles!
I would add to this answer that you'll probably want to change the thickness of the bottom (e.g. change "Bottom Layers" from 6 to 2), otherwise your vase will have a really thick base even though the sides are only a single layer thick, which probably isn't what you want.
Option Spiralize makes your model one layer thick on outer edges.
What I do for a vase is set the top layer count to zero.
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7634 | How do I calibrate the temperature of my hotend?
I'm using a Monoprice Maker Select v2 (a Monoprice-branded Wanhao i3 duplicator) and would like to calibrate temperature readings for my hotend.
I used a thermal probe on my multimeter to determine the hotend is running about 5 degrees C above it's reported temperature (setting it to 200 degrees reads 205 on the multimeter). I measured this by placing the thermal problem partly into the hole where the printers thermistor resides.
I use Marlin 1.9 for firmware and ideally would calibrate it there--I'd prefer the readouts to be accurate rather than relying on offsets to compensate. What's the process for recalibrating the hotend temperature readings?
While interesting, it's not needed. A 5-10 °C error has little effect if you use the suggested temperatures and has zero effect if you pick the best temperature with temperature towers (and strength testing, if you have the equipment). Even if you have PTFE hotend setting 250 °C and getting 255-260 °C won't destroy it.
Unless you are using a calibrated temperature sensor, it is a question what the temperature will be.
Actually it doesn't really matter what the temperature exactly is, you just need to find the sweet spot for your filaments on your machine. With respect to reported temperatures by others, your settings may differ a little, but that does not matter.
Temperature from thermosensors gets collected as a resistance value that changes with temperature. The chip in your board decides the temperature from this value based on a temperature-resistance table.
If you are using Marlin Firmware, the setting which table is referenced by your machine to get its values is written under the header Thermal Settings inside Confinguration.h.
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7636 | When I attempt to calibrate extruder steps the increased values don't correspond to physical increases
I am attempting to follow these instructions to calibrate the extruder, however when I increase the value for DEFAULT_AXIS_STEPS_PER_UNIT the change in physical output does not correspond with the changes.
I started by testing how much filament goes through the extruder when sending G1 E100 F100 to my printer, instead of the 100 mm I get about 38 mm (#define DEFAULT_AXIS_STEPS_PER_UNIT { 80, 80, 400, 93 } in Marlin). I increased the value to DEFAULT_AXIS_STEPS_PER_UNIT { 80, 80, 400, 149.73 } which should take it to 100 mm, when I tested the physical output the increase was only negligible so I repeated the calculation with DEFAULT_AXIS_STEPS_PER_UNIT { 80, 80, 400, 387.8007 } as the new value. The new physical output is about 64 mm, I think this suggests a mechanical problem rather than a firmware configuration problem, but I am not sure where to go from here.
My printer is the Ender 3, running Marlin 1.1.9 with a BlTouch and an aluminium bowden extruder mod
(installed after the extrusion problem began).
Any help you can give will be greatly appreciated.
Mechanical?
You basically answer your own question that there could be a mechanical issue.
If 93 steps gives you 38 mm, to get to 100 mm, you need to divide 100 by 38 = 2.63 times. This implies that you need 2.63 x 93 = 244.7 steps/mm (not 149.73).
You even tried close to 400 steps per mm to see you are not extruding 100 mm of filament. This implies that you are either missing a lot of steps (increasing the stepper current or increasing the temperature of the hotend would help out) or the extruder gear slips on the filament (increasing the pressure on the extruder gear and filament could solve this).
Or not mechanical?
Furthermore, it could be another issue than mechanical. If your extrusion rate is too fast, the stepper might not be able to cope the high speed and miss steps. I have had this before with a too high of a retraction speed.
I sorted the problem, I took the extruder apart and put it back together again (although I don't think this did anything), and I changed the rate that the material is extruded down from 100 to 60 mm/min which I think is the speed the printer normally prints at and I was able to follow your steps and get 100mm of material for a 100mm extrusion command.
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7591 | What is this part and does it have to do with my my z-position is messed up?
I recently bought my first 3d printer, a monoprice maker select v2.
After a couple of print jobs, this piece fell out.
I have no idea where it came from.
But afterwards, I notice that my Z-positioning is all screwed up.
When I select "Home All" to reset all positions to do bed leveling, the extruder tries to push down pass the build-platform, puncturing a hole into the plastic bed cover.
There was a lot of clicking from the motor so I immediately turned it off.
I turned it back on and then tried to move the z-position back up. But it moves only about an inch up before the motor starts clicking again.
I was reading some other posts about a "Z-axis limiter switch". Could that be what the little metal fork-like piece is?
Where does it go and how do I put it back?
And how do I reset my z-position?
Any help appreciated.
Limiter Switch/Endstop
That is the lever that is meant to trigger your Z-Endstop. The variant used in your case is on the cheaper end and is meant to look similar to this QIAOH KN12-1 limit switch:
You will either exchange the endstop as a whole, somehow reattach the/a lever or change the physical position of the endstop so that the moving X-axis is triggering it (again).
Replacement & Wiring advice
Pretty much any switch that can have both an NC/NO (normally closed/normally open) state will function in its state, but it is usually a good idea to have all safety switches (like limit switches) be NC types and have the firmware detect the loss of signal as a safety feature. In case of a broken cable, this will automatically force the machine to halt, instead of keeping the machine moving despite having reached the maximum position.
Normally Open/Closed
It is even possible to wire up a number of redundant switches into one circuit. For NC setup, all the switches need to go in series, so that any switch getting toggled cuts the signal at that point. On the other hand, if only NO switches are used, they have to be wired in parallel: the signal passes when any number of switches is closed.
NO switches, because they are parallel, do cost us in the security department, as a broken lead does not halt the machine's use, but they are easier to troubleshoot as a broken component only takes out its specific arm of the parallel circuit. On the other hand, the NC-series does give us the broken lead security, but a single broken component that stays switched to open disables the whole series and identifying the broken component can take more time.
NOT-Gates
As you can imagine, some clever electronics allow us to use us to turn an NO into an NC and vice versa. This clever piece is a NOT-gate, sometimes also called inverter. They take a logic signal and a supply voltage lead, and only allow the supply voltage to pass into their output if there is no signal in their input side. So, they allow using a NO switch as an NC switch or vice versa. In any case, the NOT-gate needs to be on the output side the switch(es) it shall invert as it only inverts the signal that happens before it in the circuit.
With this clever piece, one can use a combination of NO and NC switches, if one so desires: The NO and NC parts are to be wired separately in groups (the NC group in series, the NO group(s) in parallel). To combine the two signals, there are two ways: Either run the NO output through the NOT-gate into the NC circuit's input, putting it into the series (and making it technically function as a single NC-element), or put the NC group output signal into the NOT-gate and put both groups in parallel. In either case, the NOT-gate 'flips' the function of the switches to behave as if they were the other type: from NC to NO and vice versa.
BTW those limit switches are dirt-cheap, so just buy a new one and install it.
I was able to put the piece back on, but the smooth bar (the thing that holds the extruder) is now uneven. it's higher on one end than the other. any idea how to re-align that bar?
@kane one way comes to mind: take it apart, repair and re-assemble (it might be bent!). Or - as it has rails - loosen them, realign them, re-tighten
I don't know if this was appropriate, but I pushed the z-position as far up as it could go and then it ended up re-aligning my bar. I'll take your advice up next time though
@kane lucky you!
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8136 | Ender 3 distance between nozzle and bed changing on Y-axis
After I level my Ender 3, the distance between the nozzle and the bed seems fine on both ends, but moving the bed on the Y axis shows that it's increasing and decreasing for three times, which I just cant fix.
This only occurs on the left side - the right side is constant from beginning to end.
Also I've been using three different beds (the magnetic one and two glasses) to make sure it's really something else.
I created this video to demonstrate the problem.
I'm sure that this has something to do with the carriage wheel adjustment, but tightening those did not change anything.
How do I get rid of this problem?
I'm having the same problem on my Geeetech A10m (Ender 3 clone), but the distance changes on X and Y axis. Did you find a solution? I know the bed is not warped, so the answer bellow doesn't work for me.
I switched the carriage wheels and tried to tighten things differently, which really changed the position of the increases and decreases. Tightening them seemed to have the most positive effect.
@Davide if your bed is not warped, then it should be just slanted in one direction or incorrectly leveled.
Messing with the eccentric nuts for the X axis seems to make a difference, but didn't really fix anything. I also noticed a change in the noise the printer makes when the head lifts, as if the vibration from the fans is transfered more to the frame. It almost seems as if the X axis is twisting or something. Or maybe the wheels are just bad...
Your video shows that your bed seems warped somewhat.
Ammount of error
As I assume you did level the bed with a sheet of paper to be 0.1 mm thick, we can estimate the change of thickness. The thickest point seems to be 0.2 mm, the thinnest 0.05. that's in average an error of 0.075 mm for the first layer. If you can live with that, no need to touch it.
Fixing the issue
Basically, if the error is too large for your liking, you need to fix it. To fix it, there are pretty much 2 ways. Remember that the Ender-3 uses 24V when ordering parts!
Fix the part or install a replacement part
If you feel like you need to get it even flatter, you'll need to try to flatten the bed mechanically or replace it. You'll need to be comfortable to remove the BuildTak-clone surface, then remove the leveling screws, open the electronics enclosure, remove some hot glue, unhook the bed.
Then you will need to flatten the bed in some way (grinding the upper side perfectly flat or bending it, replacing it for an entirely flat one).
Then reinstall it, going through the uninstallation backward, and add a new build surface on it.
Switch to alternate leveling method: Mesh Bed Leveling
If you consider yourself to be able to do some intermediate to advanced modification of your printer, you can change the hotend carriage to one that allows mounting a distance sensor and changing the firmware to mesh-bed-leveling.
You'll need to get an induction or capacity sensor (common operation ranges for those are 6-36V, so perfectly fine with 24V) and some way to couple that to the board, most likely an optocoupler. Print a new mounting for sensor and fans.
To install you open the electronics compartment, hook up your chosen 24V-5V coupler as extra to the Z-switch, hook the power supply of the sensor up and run it up to the printhead. Replace the mounting for the hotend cooling fan and part cooling fan and change your firmware. Calibrate the height of the sensor to trigger correctly.
I did flash a bootloader via the ISP on my ender-3 since then, so I can just flash the new firmware via a direct connection.
Last words
In either way, after fixing, you should run a PID-tune on the machine.
Thermal Runaway might or might not be active, depending on your firmware iteration, so you should update it anyway, which might make Mesh Bed Leveling the slightly easier way to go.
This has nothing to do with the bed carriage wheels, as the bed hangs onto the carriage only via the screws in the corners.
With that average error being so small mounting a sensor seems to be the best/easiest/cheapest(?) option and there are several videos on YouTube on mounting such on an Ender 3.
@LuxClaridge True. Note though, that Mesh Bed Leveling isn't that simple to set up, it is what I would consider intermediate or advanced thing, as you need to flash firmware and substantially modify the machine.
Though it's getting easier. TH3D's Unified Firmware includes the Ender 3 and one only has to uncomment a few lines (as opposed to changing Marlin directly). Either way, modifying the machine has to be done, I think adding a mount is a lesser mod than potentially replacing the bed.
@LuxClaridge well, I think replacing is "simpler", but gave a rundown to both variants.
I managed to get rid of the problem by installing a linear rail for the y-axis!
Used this mod from thingyverse: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3064275
There are also solutions out there which are placing a linear rail on the left AND right side, but since for me the problem was only on the left side, this seemed sufficient (and was).
Blue Painters tape on the left side starting at the center and leaving a band on the far left side and the rear Perfetto side. I checked the before and after and the thickness of the tape shimmed out the deflection on the plate. It sounds like whatever the use to stamp the steel out is creating the bend we are only talking several thousands of an inch but when I put a flat edge on the plate and shined a light from the rear I could see daylight. The blue tape was from Nearys video on creality cr-10 bed leveling.
congrats on introducing a step on your bed...
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8139 | Why did my printer's nozzle dig itself into my print?
I just completed my first print on my Ender-3 and when the print finalized itself the nozzle didn't elevate itself to clear away from the piece. I watched as the nozzle slowly lowered itself into my print and destroy it. Here is the gcode generated by Slic3r used:
; Filament-specific end gcode
G4 ; wait
M221 S100
M106 S0 ; turn off cooling fan
M104 S0 ; turn off extruder
M140 S0 ; turn off bed
G91
G1 F1800 E-3
G90
G1 Z{z_offset+min(layer_z+30, max_print_height)}{endif} ; Move print head up
G28 X0 ; home x and y axis
G1 Y180; Remove Print Position
M84 ; disable motors
M300 S2600 P100; Beep
; filament used = 24040.5mm (57.8cm3)
; total filament cost = 0.0
You are using incorrect commands in your end-code for the incorrect tool with respect to the print head raise.
Slic3r has no knowledge of the maximum printer height (as in variable max_print_height) because there is no input field to specify this, as can be seen in this partial screenshot:
However, in Slic3r PE (Prusa Edition), there is a possibility to enter such a value, as seen in the following partial screenshot:
Note that in both editions, the Bed shape interface is equivalent when Set... is pressed:
To use the raising of the head, respecting the maximum print height, in Slic3r PE, you need to add the following line:
{if layer_z < max_print_height}G1 Z{z_offset+min(layer_z+60, max_print_height)}{endif}
This will parse fine in Slic3r PE, but not in Slic3r (as max_print_height is not known).
If you want such a command in Slic3r, you need to enter (for a printer with a maximum print height of 240 mm):
G1 Z{[z_offset]+min([layer_z]+3, 240)}
results in Slic3r for a 20x20x20 mm calibration cube with a zero z_offset to:
G1 Z23
But there shouldn't be a need to change the Z-pos at all! Once the print is done, the head should be able to clear the last layer applied and move to X=0,Y=0 . No need to do anything else, right?
@CarlWitthoft Have you never seen the straight ironing line that some slicers generate over the top layer? Raising the head prevents that.
@Oscar I have to admit I have not. Certainly a good reason, then, to do a small relative-Z move first.
The same thing happened to me several years ago. My print was a fairly tall part for my delta printer, about 220 mm. In many previous prints, the print head would always go up after finishing, but what I didn't know was that the Slic3r finish print routine specified an absolute Z height of about 200 mm. When the tall part finished, the still-hot print head moved down and ruined the top of the print.
After figuring out that the routine had an absolute reference, I replaced it with a relative movement 20 mm up. It's worked fine since then. An easy fix.
Your print end code should have read something akin to this:
; Filament sy end gcode
G4 ; wait
M221 S100
M106 S0 ; turn off cooling fan
M104 S0 ; turn off extruder
M140 S0 ; turn off bed
; End code
G1 F1800 E-3 ; retract 3 mm
G1 Z30 ; Move print head up 30mm
G28 X0 ; home x and y axis
M84 ; disable motors
M300 S2600 P100; Beep
The problem with your end code is the G90 for absolute measurements together with the formula G1 Z{z_offset+min(layer_z+30, max_print_height)}{endif} to set the height. The printer itself doesn't calculate anything. That what it doesn't interpret, it ignores, interpreting that whole thing as something crazy like G1 Z30 to force the printer to go to Absolute 30 mm above absolute 0. To fix it, your slicer would need to calculate {z_offset+min(layer_z+30, max_print_height)} for the printer - which seems to come out to 30mm above the print and then an if-statement that is not started anywhere.
Going up 30 mm can be much easier be done by staying in G91 ; relative measurements and calling G1 Z30 to go up another 30 mm, though this might be too high for the printer frame.
The G-code in the slic3r reads:
G90
{if layer_z < max_print_height}G1 Z{z_offset+min(layer_z+30, max_print_height)}{endif} ; Move print head up
I notice that 'if' statement doesn't seem to be present in the output G-code file. Is this the problem?
@JonathanGallant-Mills yes, it is a problem. you should also have some else... or just skip that
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8153 | How to set Z-probe boundary limits in firmware when using automatic bed leveling?
In setting up a probe for automatic bed leveling, the limits of the probing area must be entered in the firmware of a 3D printer.
When using a sensor, how do you define the bed limits for the sensor in Marlin firmware?
E.g. the Marlin (1.1.x) configuration.h contains the following inactive statements:
// Set the boundaries for probing (where the probe can reach).
//#define LEFT_PROBE_BED_POSITION MIN_PROBE_EDGE
//#define RIGHT_PROBE_BED_POSITION (X_BED_SIZE - MIN_PROBE_EDGE)
//#define FRONT_PROBE_BED_POSITION MIN_PROBE_EDGE
//#define BACK_PROBE_BED_POSITION (Y_BED_SIZE - MIN_PROBE_EDGE)
How do you set the values for the constants of your custom setup? Is this generic or specific?
Probe positioning is defined in the Marlin configuration as:
* +-- BACK ---+
* | |
* L | (+) P | R
* E | | I
* F | (-) N (+) | G
* T | | H
* | (-) | T
* | |
* O-- FRONT --+
* (0,0)
The probe could be placed with a positive or negative X and Y value. Considering this position, how to setup the sensor bed limits?
There are a few questions on this topic, so a more generic solution would be informative and will prevent multiple questions of others when their sensor has a slightly different location. This answer intends to cover any position with respect to the nozzle. It also does not matter what kind of sensor it is, it can be 3DTouch, BLTouch, inductive, capacitive, etc., as long as you are able to determine the offset to the nozzle (center to center).
For now, it is assumed that the nozzle can only reach the complete area of the bed, no extra space. So unless the sensor runs of the bed, the nozzle limits are used, otherwise the sensor limits the nozzle with respect to the sensor limits. This is the safest assumption and will prevent the carriage running into the end mounts. But if there is more room for travel, an additional offset may be added to the limits.
First, determine the offset of the sensor (e.g. by measurement or taken from the information of the printable sensor bracket found many share sites on the internet; Thingiverse is a good source for such brackets).
HINT for Marlin 2.x
Note the version (branch) of Marlin! The answer is written at the time of the 1.1.x branch and as such is perfectly valid for the latest 1.1.x (1.1.9) version. For the 2.0.x branch of Marlin, different constant names are in use, and a different strategy is used (more simple for setting up). The constant names are not found in the Configuration.h, the answer (and the theory) is still helpful. Constant probe offset values are now found in Configuration_adv.h:
MIN_PROBE_EDGE_LEFT
MIN_PROBE_EDGE_RIGHT
MIN_PROBE_EDGE_FRONT
MIN_PROBE_EDGE_BACK
HINT for Marlin >= 2.0.6
Since version2.0.6 MIN_PROBE_EDGE_* has been renamed again.
Now it is:
PROBING_MARGIN_LEFT
PROBING_MARGIN_RIGHT
PROBING_MARGIN_FRONT
PROBING_MARGIN_BACK
Note that in Marlin 1.1.x the boundaries are set in absolute positions while in Marlin 2.0.x it is described in offset values from the bed edge.
Sensor Offset
The position of the sensor is set using the following constants:
#define X_PROBE_OFFSET_FROM_EXTRUDER [XXX] // X offset: -left +right [of the nozzle]
#define Y_PROBE_OFFSET_FROM_EXTRUDER [YYY] // Y offset: -front +behind [the nozzle]
where [XXX] and [YYY] are offset values that specify the center of the sensor with respect to the nozzle. If both are positive values, the sensor is located in the back-right, if both negative, the position is front-left (as seen from the front of the machine using the definition in the Marlin configuration file). The other positions that are possible are the back-left and the front-right (one positive and one negative value).
HINT for Marlin 2.x
Note that in Marlin 2.x, these constants are replace by an array definition:
#define NOZZLE_TO_PROBE_OFFSET { XXX, YYY, ZZZ }
Where ZZZ is the Z offset. If you use the old constants, the sanity check upon compiling will throw an assertion that these constants are not in use anymore and should be removed.
Second, let's set the sensor area limits!
Sensor Area Limits
In the following images, the nozzle, the sensor and the offsets are defined by:
There are four possible positions of the sensor, this results in the following schematics for the sensor area limits (transparent red area):
1. Sensor at the back-right:
This implies that the sensor can reach the back and the right borders, so the limits are set by:
#define LEFT_PROBE_BED_POSITION (X_PROBE_OFFSET_FROM_EXTRUDER)
#define RIGHT_PROBE_BED_POSITION (X_BED_SIZE)
#define FRONT_PROBE_BED_POSITION (Y_PROBE_OFFSET_FROM_EXTRUDER)
#define BACK_PROBE_BED_POSITION (Y_BED_SIZE)
Note that if a minimum probe offset is defined by #define MIN_PROBE_EDGE [value] in the configuration (to account for sensor width/dimension), the bed limits are changed resulting in (where t = MIN_PROBE_EDGE):
Limits are then set by:
#define LEFT_PROBE_BED_POSITION (X_PROBE_OFFSET_FROM_EXTRUDER + MIN_PROBE_EDGE)
#define RIGHT_PROBE_BED_POSITION (X_BED_SIZE - MIN_PROBE_EDGE)
#define FRONT_PROBE_BED_POSITION (Y_PROBE_OFFSET_FROM_EXTRUDER + MIN_PROBE_EDGE)
#define BACK_PROBE_BED_POSITION (Y_BED_SIZE - MIN_PROBE_EDGE)
In the following sensor position placements, this offset for MIN_PROBE_EDGE will be accounted for.
2. Sensor at the back-left:
This implies that the sensor can reach the back and the left borders (for zero MIN_PROBE_EDGE), so the limits are set by:
#define LEFT_PROBE_BED_POSITION (MIN_PROBE_EDGE)
#define RIGHT_PROBE_BED_POSITION (X_BED_SIZE + X_PROBE_OFFSET_FROM_EXTRUDER - MIN_PROBE_EDGE)
#define FRONT_PROBE_BED_POSITION (Y_PROBE_OFFSET_FROM_EXTRUDER + MIN_PROBE_EDGE)
#define BACK_PROBE_BED_POSITION (Y_BED_SIZE - MIN_PROBE_EDGE)
3. Sensor at the front-left:
This implies that the sensor can reach the front and the left borders (for zero MIN_PROBE_EDGE), so the limits are set by:
#define LEFT_PROBE_BED_POSITION (MIN_PROBE_EDGE)
#define RIGHT_PROBE_BED_POSITION (X_BED_SIZE + X_PROBE_OFFSET_FROM_EXTRUDER - MIN_PROBE_EDGE)
#define FRONT_PROBE_BED_POSITION (MIN_PROBE_EDGE)
#define BACK_PROBE_BED_POSITION (Y_BED_SIZE + Y_PROBE_OFFSET_FROM_EXTRUDER - MIN_PROBE_EDGE)
4. Sensor at the front-right:
This implies that the sensor can reach the front and the right borders (for zero MIN_PROBE_EDGE), so the limits are set by:
#define LEFT_PROBE_BED_POSITION (X_PROBE_OFFSET_FROM_EXTRUDER + MIN_PROBE_EDGE)
#define RIGHT_PROBE_BED_POSITION (X_BED_SIZE - MIN_PROBE_EDGE)
#define FRONT_PROBE_BED_POSITION (MIN_PROBE_EDGE)
#define BACK_PROBE_BED_POSITION (Y_BED_SIZE + Y_PROBE_OFFSET_FROM_EXTRUDER - MIN_PROBE_EDGE)
This should have tackled the basics for defining the sensor area limits. It becomes a little more complicated when there is extra travel space. A very easy use of extra travel space can be found in the configuration file; e.g:
// Travel limits (mm) after homing, corresponding to endstop positions.
#define X_MIN_POS [XX]
#define Y_MIN_POS [YY]
where [XX] and [YY] are offset values from endstop to origin (orange arrows represent X_MIN_POS and Y_MIN_POS):
Results in offset constants for a back-right probe:
#define LEFT_PROBE_BED_POSITION (X_PROBE_OFFSET_FROM_EXTRUDER + X_MIN_POS + MIN_PROBE_EDGE)
#define RIGHT_PROBE_BED_POSITION (X_BED_SIZE - MIN_PROBE_EDGE)
#define FRONT_PROBE_BED_POSITION (Y_PROBE_OFFSET_FROM_EXTRUDER + Y_MIN_POS + MIN_PROBE_EDGE)
#define BACK_PROBE_BED_POSITION (Y_BED_SIZE - MIN_PROBE_EDGE)
For all other options, a similar addition of the homing offsets can applied.
A similar addition is possible if the print head is able to travel further on the X or Y axis at the other ends of the axes.
Thoughts for solution for Marlin 2.0.x
As I mentioned earlier, Marlin 2.0.x uses bed edge offsets rather than absolute positions. In analogy of the previous graphs we can draw a bed limits diagram (the example below assumes a back-right mounted probe!):
Note that the offsets from the edge need to be defined, to properly do this we need access to the definition of the nozzle offset:
#define NOZZLE_TO_PROBE_OFFSET { XXX, YYY, ZZZ }
As this is the part that defines the array values, you first need to make an array (note that this is a simple solution that many people should be able to understand with limited programming skills, more elegant solutions use the XYZ struct to access the X, Y or Z properties):
Note that Marlin 2.0.x automatically adjusts your probe area based on the defined offset and the MIN_PROBE_EDGE defined for all 4 sides of the bed.
see:
#if PROBE_SELECTED && !IS_KINEMATIC
#define MIN_PROBE_EDGE_LEFT MIN_PROBE_EDGE
#define MIN_PROBE_EDGE_RIGHT MIN_PROBE_EDGE
#define MIN_PROBE_EDGE_FRONT MIN_PROBE_EDGE
#define MIN_PROBE_EDGE_BACK MIN_PROBE_EDGE
#endif
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8159 | Creality CR-10S Pro 3D printer heated bed turns off after first few layers: normal?
When I run prints on my Creality CR-10S Pro 3D printer (using Ultimaker Cura as slicer), I set the heated bed to around 70 °C for PETG. after the first few layers, the heated bed set point changes to 0 °C.
Is it normal for a 3D printer to turn the heated bed off during a print, or is this a problem?
I have had some parts warping, and wonder if this is a potential cause.
Maybe you could add a link to the G-code file that you are printing? Which slicer do you use? To be sure, the print commences after the temperature is lowered, or does the print stop?
To those saying that bed heating turning off during a print is not normal, please do not spread this misinformation. Note, Michael and Lewis' replies regarding the CR-10S "ECO Mode". Also Ultimaker Cura has an option to change bed temperature after the first layer.
No, this is not common behavior, and yes this can cause your prints to warp or detach from the build plate.
The question is whether you instructed this (by accident) or not (e.g. it can be a result from slicing or some economy mode of the printer). This should be clear if you look into the G-code file that you print. The typical commands that concern bed heating are M140 and M190.
Please note that this a generic answer to find bed heating operation in your G-code file. Other answers, e.g this one and this one hint to a specific ability of the printer that shuts off the heating of the bed when it is working in an economic mode. Note that this is printer specific.
If you start a print there is an "Adjust" button, that will take you to a screen where there is an option "Economic". It that is left on it will turn off the bed heater during the print.
Cr-10 S Pro has an eco mode make sure it's not turned on because this will turn your bed off after the first few layers have printed.
Very interesting, could you please expand the answer where that "eco mode" is found?
The heat bed turns off because economy mode is set to on by default, change this in the adjustment menu.
Hi and welcome! As most of the information has been provided already, you might want to highlight that this is the default setting, as none of the other answers have stated that. Is it really the default setting? I haven't used this software, but if there is a "Reset Defaults" setting, does the "Economy mode" get set to ON again?
I do have the CR 10S Pro as well and for me it does the same but only because it's a setting in the slicer I enabled. Make sure you check the slicer settings to make sure it is not a setting which is turning it off.
Personally I do let it cool down after 10 layers since it does save energy, and I've not seen any negative effects because of it when printing PLA. Have not yet tried PETG or ABS on this printer.
For PLA that is right, but some materials (ABS) hate that and react with bending considerably.
For clarity, what is the setting called?
This seems like an awful idea for PLA too. If you don't need heated bed for PLA, just don't heat it at all to begin with. Cooling it down mid-print will encourage detachment from the build plate more than just never heating to begin with, and can also encourage warping.
I specifically tried this to combat corner-curling in the first few tens of layers after the bottom, and found that, for prints with lots of small non-connected components in the base layer, turning off the heated bed after the first layer made them all start curling up like shrinky-dinks. If it does work, it's definitely highly dependent on the geometry being printed, and should never be on by default.
That is not normal behavior for the heated beds. I don't have that exact model, but when I print the heated bed will stay to whatever temp was set in the slicer program. Unless you override it manually on the printer itself during the print. I would check slicer settings ensuring temp doesn't change after it's first layers.
I have a new CR10 max.
I can't find any adjustments for the bed temperature settings other than the basic ones in the Creality slicer. I'm not sure if the latest software has got this facility.
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8163 | Can an extruder rated for 24 V work with 12 V ATX power supply?
Heads up: I'm not good with electronics and only have a vague idea of it's inner workings.
I have a E3D V6 Extruder rated for 24 V, that i plan to use in my 3D printer. Will there be any problems with it if powered by 12 V? Will it take longer to heat up? Will it be able to heat up enough to melt PLA? Will it work at all for that matter?
If there are any other quirks or potential problems that I overlooked, please let me know.
Thank you for such a detailed answers!
I was hoping to get away with mismatched voltage ratings, but oh well. I'll see if i can figure out how to replace the heating element in the extruder; at the worst, ordering a new extruder shouldn't be a problem.
you can use a cheap DC-DC converter to step up the 12v to 24v DC. They even make fixed-voltage-output ones at 24v, since that's a common RV/trucking voltage.
@Ivan you could order a 12V heater cartridge from e3D or a reseller, they have those.
Yep, bought a 12 V heater today, which is way cheaper than an entire extruder. Replacing the old one with it was very simple too; definitely a way to go.
Electrical engineering can be quite complex, but in this case you can save yourself with same simple equations/relations. Using the following formulae:
Voltage ($\ U$) equals current ($I$) multiplied by the electrical resistance ($R$)
$$ U=I \times R $$
and
Power ($P$) equals the square of the current multiplied by the electrical resistance
$$ P=I^2 \times R $$
can be rewritten using the first formula to:
$$ P= \frac{U^2}{R} $$
Applying these formulae to a 40 Watt, 24 V heater element, the electrical resistance (in $\Omega $) is calculated by:
$$ \frac{{(24\ V)}^2}{40\ W}=14.4\ \Omega $$
Running this heater element with 12 V will lead to a power of
$$ \frac{{(12\ V)}^2}{14.4\ \Omega}=10\ W $$
The heat produced is proportional to the square of the current multiplied by the electrical resistance, halving the voltage is quartering the heat output. This will heat up very slowly! If it is able to reach the required temperature that is. Calculating the temperature is far more difficult, but if you are interested in doing so, please look into this answer from the Electrical Engineering Stack Exchange.
No, it probably won't work as you want. As explained in another answer, you will only achieve 25% of the expected power. So it will take 4 times as long to heat up, will have a lower 'highest temperature', and most critically will reduce the possible print speed by a factor of around 4 (actually more, since a proportion of the power is lost to the room rather than used to melt filament).
I guess that you could print with this setup as a temporary measure (so long as it's PLA, or some other low-ish temperature filament). It would not be a sensible choice, particularly since the extruder only needs a single component to be swapped out to change between 12 V and 24 V operation (the heater cartridge). All the mechanical parts will be identical between the two versions, and these are the 'expensive' elements in the assembly.
No not by itself.
Also you need to check the wires in the ATX power supply as 16 gauge wire might melt depending on how many amps it needs.
You could on the other hand connect 2 ATX power supplies the plus 12v on power supply 1 to the 12v ground on the second power supply. Then use a volt meter to confirm your getting 24v out. On the 2 leads not connected.
This still could run into problems as you have to be careful with the wire gauge. You need 14g wire for 15 amps, and 12g (thicker) for 20 amps. Finding an ATX power supply with better than 12g wire is highly unlikely.
The -12V line from an ATX power supply is typically rated for under an amp. Try to power a printer off that, and the best you can hope for is to blow a fuse.
@Mark Sorry I meant 12v ground and not negative 12 volts.
Using half the voltage on a resistive heater will quarter the power.
Sorry but part of this answer is incorrect! Using 24 V on a 14.4 Ohm resistor will give you about 1.7 A, that same resistor on 12 V uses 0.8 A. You cannot choose current, it is a result of applying a voltage to a resistor! It only applies if the heater element is of lower resistance, but that is not what the question asks.
It will take longer to heat up. However if you use a boost converter (like I did on my Anet A8 when I upgraded to a Maxiwatt 24 V hot end), then it will work just fine without any further adjustments; to the power supply or the gauges of the wire etc. I set the boost from 12 to 24 volts. Now my A8 heats up in 56 seconds!
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8166 | Print layer shifting on Alunar M508 Prusa i3 clone
[Edit: My specific question is firmware error or standard layer shifting. using 2 different versions of Cura were getting quite different results from the same stl file.]
Per the image below with Cura 15.4 the centered print both shifted to the bottom of the print bed for the first few passes and then did not build the proper internal structure of the bracket. the top loops were then skewed to the top of the bed. The 2nd print in the corner was using Cura 3.1 and the first few passes like usual skewed off towards the bottom but it seemed to start printing normally after that. I am trying to determine if it is a hardware calibration issue or bad firmware on the printer. Any suggestions on what's going on would be appreciated. For some reason the image flipped 180° when posting.
Center part completed its print and should be about an inch or so tall. It was not even able to build the internal structure like the 2nd one had started to do. the 2nd one I stopped after about 10 min since it clearly showed different behavior. from the layer shifting links the most likely cause would be over current stepping.
Possible duplicate of How to fix Y layer shift on Creality Ender 3?
If I may ask, what's going on with your bed tape? If your settings dictate a 0.1mm layer height, the bubbles we are looking at in your tape are going to mess with your print. By having the rough layers of tape with bubbles and the edges not sticking, you are just creating more issues for yourself. I'm not sure what kind of tape that is, and maybe it just isn't sticking too well. If you must use tape, get some 3M Blue Painter's tape and ensure there's no overlap of the tape, there are no gaps, and most importantly, there's no bubbles.
That bed tape is very badly mounted. You want to put it down as flat as possible and not overlapping. As you laid it down, the nozzle will catch at the upcurling edges and incuce layer shift.
This effect is called layer shifting . Now that you know what it is called you could look at some other solutions fixing this issue; e.g. here, here or here. The answers of this question describe best what is causing this. Usually (most of all the cases) it means that your belts are not tight enough.
An edit of the question shows that the effect happens when a different version of Ultimaker Cura is being used. In such cases you need to check the speeds and acceleration settings. Too high values may lead to skipping steps causing layer shifting. Be sure it is not a mechanical issue, also note that the nozzle does not get caught up by the uneven tape on the bed. In that effect, you may want to look at this unaswered question.
@Kendrick get your print speeds down to at best 150 mm. and Flatten your tape!
Ended up being a missing set screw for the bed stepper. it was tight enough to hold during normal movement but when transitioning from the back where the layer ended to the front corner etc the speed would go to high and slip.
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7676 | How to add menu options to the (Marlin firmware) LCD menu?
Where is the correct Marlin firmware file and location to add code that I want to shop up in the LCD menu of my printer, and then execute the function I write when the button is pressed?
For example I want to add a menu item that says "Preheat Custom" that is in the same menu as "preheat PLA" and "preheat ABS" and then runs code to heat to values I specify.
I'm running Marlin Firmware version 1.1.9 on a Creality Ender 3.
The answer to your question (baring in mind that the question is raised for Marlin 1.1.9) is the file ultralcd.cpp. Nowadays, you can also enable extra option through the Configuration_adv.h file, just enable:
#define CUSTOM_USER_MENUS
and edit the options beneath it to your needs (otherwise it will use the preset values from the Configuration.h file).
Add custom items using ultralcd.cpp
This is how I used to do it if you want to add items to the menu in Marlin Firmware through the ultralcd.cpp. It is best to first look at the current implementation of the menu items. As you already mention Preheat PLA, that would be the first to search for. Searching in files is easy when you go to the github website with the Marlin firmware sources, functionality is available for searching in the files. Alternatively, download a copy of the firmware and use a free "grep" utility to search in files.
Searching for Preheat PLA will show you a bunch of language translation files. These point to the use of a constant MSG_PREHEAT_1 which finds its presence in ultralcd.cpp. This hints to function lcd_preheat_m1_menu that is called by MENU_ITEM which adds menu items to LCD. You could start there to add your own option.
Demonstration
As a quick demonstration, I've added a CUSTOM PREHEAT item by copying the lcd_preheat_m2_menu function in ultralcd.cpp and renamed this lcd_preheat_m3_menu (a full functional item needs changes within the lcd_preheat_m3_menu as it now uses the constants from the ABS preheat option).
You then add the item to the menu by changing this part of the code:
//
// Preheat for Material 1 and 2
//
#if TEMP_SENSOR_1 != 0 || TEMP_SENSOR_2 != 0 || TEMP_SENSOR_3 != 0 || TEMP_SENSOR_4 != 0 || HAS_HEATED_BED
MENU_ITEM(submenu, MSG_PREHEAT_1, lcd_preheat_m1_menu);
MENU_ITEM(submenu, MSG_PREHEAT_2, lcd_preheat_m2_menu);
// ADD THIS LINE:
MENU_ITEM(submenu, "CUSTOM PREHEAT", lcd_preheat_m3_menu);
#else
MENU_ITEM(function, MSG_PREHEAT_1, lcd_preheat_m1_e0_only);
MENU_ITEM(function, MSG_PREHEAT_2, lcd_preheat_m2_e0_only);
#endif
After compiling and uploading to the printer board, enter the Prepare menu and scroll down to see:
The supplement on how to proceed with custom menus in practice:
Enable (uncomment) this line in configuration_adv.h:
#define CUSTOM_USER_MENUS
Below there are 5 sample entries, later you can change them or remove/comment out.
You can add new, for example:
#define USER_DESC_6 "Home Z (0.2)"
#define USER_GCODE_6 "G28 Z\nG0 Z0.2"
#define USER_DESC_7 "Fan on"
#define USER_GCODE_7 "M106 S255"
#define USER_DESC_8 "Fan off"
#define USER_GCODE_8 "M107"
Marlin currently (v2.0.7.2) supports up to 25 menu items (see menu_custom.cpp). There may be gaps in these numbers, so you can comment out some unnecesary options without fixing numbering of others, which could be really convenient.
Custom commands can be executed in runtime (when already printing). I could use the above "home Z" after manually tuning Z endstop to correct first layer's height quickly, without restarting the print. So you can actually make harm to ongoing print as well.
As Mark said, Marlin supports a number of menu items in it's advanced configuration. These items are meant to run custom G-code, which in this case (adding a preheat action with custom target extruder and bed temp) is enough to fill your needs. So, let's see that advanced configuration file: Configuration_adv.h. The section we are looking for is almost at the end of the file, you can ctrl+f for "CUSTOM_USER_MENUS" to find it.
#define CUSTOM_USER_MENUS
#if ENABLED(CUSTOM_USER_MENUS)
#define USER_SCRIPT_DONE "M117 User Script Done"
#define USER_SCRIPT_AUDIBLE_FEEDBACK
//#define USER_SCRIPT_RETURN // Return to status screen after a script
#define USER_DESC_1 "Do the trick"
#define USER_GCODE_1 "G91\nG0 z5\nG0 y10"
#define USER_DESC_2 "Park"
#define USER_GCODE_2 "G27 P2"
//#define USER_DESC_2 "Preheat for PLA"
//#define USER_GCODE_2 "M140 S" STRINGIFY(PREHEAT_1_TEMP_BED) "\nM104 S" STRINGIFY(PREHEAT_1_TEMP_HOTEND)
//#define USER_DESC_3 "Preheat for ABS"
//#define USER_GCODE_3 "M140 S" STRINGIFY(PREHEAT_2_TEMP_BED) "\nM104 S" STRINGIFY(PREHEAT_2_TEMP_HOTEND)
//#define USER_DESC_4 "Heat Bed/Home/Level"
//#define USER_GCODE_4 "M140 S" STRINGIFY(PREHEAT_2_TEMP_BED) "\nG28\nG29"
//#define USER_DESC_5 "Home & Info"
//#define USER_GCODE_5 "G28\nM503"
#endif
The source code downloaded from the official repo actually comes with some examples (the ones commented) and I added two more just for fun.
To get your custom preheat menu item working you'll make use of the following Gcodes:
M140: set target bed temperature (visit
http://marlinfw.org/docs/gcode/M140.html for some more data)
M104: set hot end target temperature (visit
http://marlinfw.org/docs/gcode/M104.html for some more data)
There might be a better solution.
Marlin supports custom user menus, in configuration_adv.h, you probably should try to keep your changes limited to the configuration*.h files.
The menu code is kind of ugly and you can easily break things.
Hi Mark and welcome to SE.3DP! That sounds like a good point to be made. Could you provide a snippet of the code? I haven't looked myself, and maybe it is too large to summarise, but if you could edit your answer and show a part of the code and illustrate how/where to insert, that would be a great addition to the answer.
Preheat Constants - Up to 5 are supported without changing the code just add a new one and then build
#define PREHEAT_1_LABEL "PLA"
#define PREHEAT_1_TEMP_HOTEND 215
#define PREHEAT_1_TEMP_BED 70
#define PREHEAT_1_TEMP_CHAMBER 35
#define PREHEAT_1_FAN_SPEED 0 // Value from 0 to 255
#define PREHEAT_2_LABEL "PETG"
#define PREHEAT_2_TEMP_HOTEND 235
#define PREHEAT_2_TEMP_BED 70
#define PREHEAT_2_TEMP_CHAMBER 35
#define PREHEAT_2_FAN_SPEED 0 // Value from 0 to 255
#define PREHEAT_3_LABEL "ABS"
#define PREHEAT_3_TEMP_HOTEND 270
#define PREHEAT_3_TEMP_BED 100
#define PREHEAT_3_TEMP_CHAMBER 35
#define PREHEAT_3_FAN_SPEED 0 // Value from 0 to 255
#define PREHEAT_4_LABEL "NYLON"
#define PREHEAT_4_TEMP_HOTEND 260
#define PREHEAT_4_TEMP_BED 65
#define PREHEAT_4_TEMP_CHAMBER 35
#define PREHEAT_4_FAN_SPEED 0 // Value from 0 to 255
```
Hi Bruce welcome to 3DPrinting.SE! Thanks for revisiting the question, yes, it is much easier now in Marlin 2.x as other answers have already pointed out. The question is raised for Marlin 1.1.9, so this answer doesn't technically answer the question for the OP, please [edit] the question to include that in Marlin 2 it is much easier to add custom preheat menu items. Also link to the code section where the preheat examples are found. Thanks!
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7957 | Gap between infill and walls for one filament only
When I'm printing with my Chromatik filament white, 1.75 mm in diameter, I observe a gap between the infill and the walls (see picture).
Everywhere on the web I can find explanations for this kind of problem (apparently it's the symptom of loose belts), but I have this problem for this filament only. I have the filaments Chromatik electric blue and Octofiber black and I don't have this issue with them. I tried to increase the temperature by ~10 °C, but it didn't have much effect.
Have you ever seen that guys? I repeat, it's with this filament only.
I have observed similar issues between walls, not necessarily between the infill and the walls.
It is most likely that the viscosity of this filament is way different (less fluid) than the other filaments you print. Not only mechanical issues (to be precise: inaccurate positioning e.g. caused by loose belts) could play a part in this, but also printing speed. A more viscous filament needs more pressure and time to get the filament through the nozzle. This is exactly what happened in my case, because of different wall speed line settings (inner and outer), the filament did not flow fast enough leading to under extrusion. In your case you probably also have a higher infill than wall speed, so lowering your infill speed may mitigate your problem. Also, most slicers have an option to define the overlap between the infill and the perimeters/walls, you could also increase that for this filament.
It makes sense. I decreased the inner wall speed (60 to 45 mm/s) and the infill speed (60 to 45). The outer wall speed is still 30 mm/s. Print temperature increased by 5 °C. The issue is totally fixed. I know there shouldn't be any reason to expect it, but still, I'm a bit surprised that for the same brand of filament print settings need to be so different.
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7960 | How to clean up my build plate for a new build surface?
My ender3 came with a BuildTak-clone surface, and as I was a little too vigorous in getting the print off the bed (I had failed to level right and printed a bit too tight to the bed, resulting in SUPER strong adhesion), I needed to replace it.
Peeling off the black was easy. The plastic sheet that held the glue was easy too... but how to clean up the bed to get the residue glue off and prepare for the new 3M sticker?
No personal experience so I'm not adding it as an answer, but I've seen Goo-Gone recommended by GeckoTek.
In my experience, we deal with 3M™ Adhesive Transfer Tape 468MP; high-temperature glue residue. To remove the leftover glue from my Aluminium build plate I found that it works best if I apply paint thinner.
I ran out of acetone for one refurbishment so I tried thinner and white (cleaning) spirit; the latter option did not work well. However, thinner worked very well. I got a bottle of "thinner" at the hardware store's house brand and found it to be more aggressive stuff than turpentine or acetone. I had tried those latter 2 but found that "thinner" works best.
Putting the thinner fluid on paper cloth directly to clean the glue did not work well. I applied the thinner directly onto the glue (splash it on), waited for a while to let it soak in to weaken the bonds after which you can remove it with a spatula and kitchen paper towel.
The exact contents of paint thinners are not always available but they contain various hydrocarbons.
I just checked my cellar and found the one "Waschbenzin" (~solvent petroleum) have to contain "C6-C7 N-Alkane, ISO-Alkane, cyclic hydrocarbons, <5% N-Hexan" and marked with a CAS number; the other bottle labeled paint thinner just says "hydrocarbons, keep material and fumes away from flame"
"Waschbenzin" ("white spirit") or in Dutch "Wasbenzine" did not work for me. The sticky residue did not solve, it did with paint thinner.
The results can be quite different it seems, based on the exact mixture.
Cleaning up the aluminium build platform was rather easy in a three step process as I figured out:
Preparation
Get the old bed-surface off and any film layers that stick to the original glue. Don't bother to try to scrape off the glue, it is wasted time.
Solvent
To remove the sticker's residue, I first tried heat and 70% isopropyl alcohol (aka isopropanol, 2-propanol), which was not very effective.
What did prove effective was nail-polish remover on the base of acetone. It worked like a charm to turn the sticky film into easily removable, goopy clumps. With small doses and a lot of rubbing/massaging it into the residue and careful use of the scraper, all the glue was gone after about half to three-quarters of an hour of work.
In subsequent replacement, I used paint thinner, which is more effective in goopifying the glue and allowing to scrape it off much faster. 10 minutes max.
Cleanup
After applying the generous amounts of nail polish remover, I thought that it might be best to get any of the additives that were meant to protect the skin off the bed - as well as the slight blue coloring - before applying the new tape. So I gave the aluminium a good wipe down with isopropanol.
In subsequent replacements I used ethanol 98 % to clean the bed before applying, just to make sure no fingerprints or glue residue creates bumps.
Applying the new bed surface was easy afterwards, and after a quick bed leveling, the printer runs like a charm again.
Following up from Charles Duffy's comment, I can confirm that adhesive remover containing D-limonene is an effective way of removing remaining glue when replacing an Ender-3 platform sticker. While “Goo Gone” was named in the comment, I used a similar product, Goo Buster.
Goo Buster turned the glue residue into a water soluble gel that was easily removed using a plastic scraper, with final clean up using a wet paper towel. While D-Limonene has a pleasant citrus fragrance, it is an irritant, and these adhesive removers typically also contain petroleum products and surfactants.
As ever, use care when using solvents near electrical devices such as 3D printers. Ensure the device is isolated from power and all parts are clean and dry before operating.
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7965 | Z-axes out of sync with Simplify3D
I have a Robo 3D R1+, and I'm using the default Simplify3D profile for it. When I finish a print, I notice that my X gantry is way out of level. The right side is visibly higher than the left side. So much so that it won't even auto-level on the next print. What that tells me is during the print, the Right z-axis is moving up faster than the left. It also ruins the print.
I do not believe this is a hardware issue, as when I use the Craftware slicer, it works properly (I tried the same model with both slicers). Is there a setting or something I need to adjust in Simplify3D to get this to print properly?
If you would like to see the G-code for the CW and S3D models I was testing with, you can download them here:
G-code download (Google drive)
Feed rate for Z axis is too high; probably your firmware has not limited that speed and your settings within Simplify3D is taking the fastest speed.
What you are describing is not possible as a result of changing slicers, this must be an intermittent hardware issue.
The slicer has no knowledge of the hardware layout of your machine (other than the build volume and gantry dimensions; if properly configured), it just creates slices of the model you present which are found in the G-code file as Z movements. In case multiple Z steppers are used to move the X gantry, these are usually driven by a single driver, but if they are separately controlled, even in the G-code file the instruction would be to move up Z in total, not per stepper. It is the firmware of the 3D printer that translates this Z level in movement for your 3D printer based on the layout of the machine and the firmware settings.
The CraftWare G-code file does show some inconsistencies with respect to the Simplify3D file in that it does not use G29 and has a too large first layer height of 0.45 mm (this is larger than you nozzle diameter of 0.40 mm, you should always limit that to about 75 % of your nozzle diameter).
For an X gantry to become unlevel/skew, there must be a mechanical issue that is causing it to miss steps/prevent advancing at one side. It is possible that one of the shafts or lead screws has some more friction than the other (generally it is not a good idea to grease the screws as dirt easily stick to the grease, a light oil may be better suited). This is not uncommon for Prusa i3 clones and is usually fixed by resettling the leadscrew nut by loosening and tightening the screws which attach the nut to the X gantry idler. It is unclear if this is your problem here with this specific machine.
To be fair, uneven displacement of any axis powered by 2 separate motors (driven by separate drivers) could be induced by the slicer when unrealistic high accelerations and incorrect hardware/electronic settings are employed.
I ended up removing the G29 line from the gcode, and it doesn't do it any longer. So yeah it probably is the firmware. This is good enough for me at the moment, as the printer prints successfully again.
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8059 | PETG nozzle clearance and extrusion multiplier
I've started printing PETG recently and I'm happy with results so far, awesome strength and good looking (except for stringing). But I've noticed that PETG prints better with more distance nozzle-plate than usual, and under-extrusion make parts looking better than both normal/over-extrusion.
What distance nozzle-plate is optimal for PETG? (i.e. the distance between nozzle and build plate during calibration)
What extrusion percentage is optimal for PETG?
Your second question seems a bit strange, any value lower than 100 % will cause under-extrusion, so what is optimal? Any value different than 100 % means that you have not calibrated the nozzle well.
Is it solely the clearance on the first layer that's a problem here? If so, adjust the Z-axis stop. If the nozzle appears to be running into every layer, then as @Oscar suggests, your "underextrusion" value is really a proper calibration for the nozzle in use. BTW: what is "dirty" ? If you mean burnt bits, just drop the temperature.
@CarlWitthoft Your comment about the temperature makes perfect sense in light of of the OP's mentioning of stringing also!
Clearance is machine, not material dependant. You also speak about initial layer thickness, not clearance, which is space between parts
By dirty I mean that the nozzle seems to gather all strings (or whatever) and gets dirtier and dirtier during the print. The print itself remains good, I mean that there are no trace of nozzle dragging over the surface.
@FredoCorleone I have assumed that with "clearance" you meant the paper distance when bed levelling, also known as Z offset, maybe it is better you make that more clear. Both questions are now unclear. Please update by [edit], thanks!
I've tried to make my question clearer. If not I'm more than willing to edit again.
@FredoCorleone So you mean the calibration distance between nozzle and bed or first layer height, it is still not clear what you mean.
Calibration distance...
How long of a print it is and does ot show "buggers" from material collecting on the nozzle? I mean PETG does stick to nozzle somewhat no matter what you do. That's why it's recommended to clean the ouside of the nozzle before each print.
Here is the mental framework that I use to reason about PETG: In a nutshell you want to avoid nozzle contact.
Unlike most other plastics, PETG sticks to hot brass really well and every time the nozzle moves through material it will pick up some of it. Material around the the nozzle then sticks to a random place creating a blob. It can also cook, turn transparent brown and drop into the print. Investing in a plated nozzle or silicone socks helps but doesn't eliminate the problem completely.
Now to the questions.
1) Nozzle Distance
Distance to the plate has to be such that the plastic is laid down precisely without the nozzle dragging through the material (remember, avoid nozzle contact). Precise lines require the build plate to be level and the flow perfectly calibrated. If nozzle is too low and/or the layer is over-extruded then PETG will stick to the nozzle and rip the lines off the plate again. Inspecting the first layer is required for best results. I like to print a layer test pattern after the flow has been calibrated and tweak Z offset in 0.02mm increments until it's perfect.
With many other plastics it's ok to have a large amount of "squish" in the first layer as it helps to work around minor leveling issues. This is where the cookie-cutter recommendation to raise the nozzle when printing with PETG is coming from.
2) Extrusion percentage
Flow has to be near perfect. Down to one percent perfect. Even a slightest over extrusion and some of the excess material will end up on the nozzle when it makes the next pass. Under extrusion isn't great either as this can lead to holes and affect overhangs where thinner strands of a previous pass may not be enough for the next line to stick to.
There are two critical parameters: diameter of the filament and extrusion multiplier. This is how to determine the settings:
Measure filament diameter. I use an average of ten measurements over about a meter (yard) of filament taken in multiple orientations.
Calibrate the extrusion multiplier using a method described in Prusa
manual:
I print a 40x40x40 cube in vase mode with extrusion multiplier set
to 1 and fixed extrusion width (e.g. 0.45mm), measure the wall
thickness in three spots on every side, average the results and
compute the correction factor.
I perform flow calibration for every new roll of filament.
To calibrate flow percentage I make a mark on the filament itself, about 10cm then I extrude 10cm within the move axis panel and then divide 10cm for whatever it has extruded. Is it good?
@Fredo Corleone - this is a different process called E-steps calibration. It is a prerequisite for a good setup. However it's done once when you assemble the printer. The process described here is fine tuning for every individual roll of filament.
@fredo-corleone The reason additional calibration is needed is that e-steps calibration handles the length of filament going into the machine. However the volume that is extruded also depends on the shape (how oval it is) and diameter of the filament (measured first to get close).
Also where did you enter that number? This should go to printer firmware and not into slicer.
I've just finished calibrating the extruder stepper, now it extrudes exactly the right amount! And I'm currently calibrating the flow. It seems that my printer over-extrude a bit (printed wall is around 0.45mm while line width is 0.4mm).
@FredoCorleone If you get 0.45 instead of 0.4 then it's ~12% over-extrusion. Not unheard of but doesn't smell right. Assuming 0.4mm nozzle, the default extrusion width should be more than 0.4mm. Are you sure 0.4mm is correct? If you're using slic3r then set everything under Print Settings -> Advanced -> Extrusion Width to 0.45 and print that cube again. This will make sure that there is no automagic involved in calculating extrusion width.
@FredoCorleone I don't know what you meant by line width here. However if it's the line width of the model (STL) then it may not match the actual extrusion width the printer can achieve. Extrusion width is determined by slicer settings and in the simplest case slicer will use a default extrusion width (generally larger than the nozzle diameter) and attempt to fill the walls with the number of lines that best approximate the desired thickness. E.g. a 0.4mm wall will come out ~0.45mm thick if this is what the extrusion width in the slicer was set to.
By line width I meant extrusion width, it's called that way in Cura. Anyway I've successfully calibrated my printer. Thanks
Measuring the wall width is a very bad way to tune extrusion multiplier. Your caliper may be accurate down to 0.05 mm, the wall width is 0.45 mm. Your uncertainty (optimistic) is 11%. Extrusion multiplier should be accurate down to 1-2%, therefore you cannot get there with a measuring technique accurate to 11%.
Yes calipers are not accurate enough. I don't see calipers mentioned anywhere in the answer nor the linked pages. Prusa docs linked above call for using a micrometer.
I have printed literally kilometers of 2.85 mm PETG filament on various 3D printers, and frankly, I do not share your opinion on an increased calibration distance/offset (like using thicker paper when levelling you build plate or increasing the Z offset by G-code M851). I even lower the default first layer height in Ultimaker Cura (0.2 mm prints fine). I am aware that on the web there are folks that do increase the calibration offset, or increase the first layer height, but that should not be necessary on a well tuned printer with sufficient first layer adhesion (e.g. printing on glass with 3DLAC).
Furthermore, the best extrusion multiplier for printing PETG is 100 % on a well tuned extruder for a constant diameter quality filament brand.
On my Ender 3 Pro's I have found the following works well (also remember settings can be effected by different brand/quality of filament):
Bed to nozzle 0.2-0.3 mm,
Multiplier 100 %,
Nozzle ~230 °C/bed 70 °C,
Speed 50 mm/s.
Cooling off first few layers but from there cooling and retraction is part specific.
If you use retraction, it may help to slow it down to 25 mm/s and adjust retract distance if your using Bowden tube or direct drive. Last, a must have, a can of hair spray, works great and less expensive than the glues.
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8084 | ANet A8 running Marlin v1.1.9 Auto Bedlevel with ROKO SN04-N
I'm trying to get the ROKO (SN04-N) sensor to work with my Anet A8. First of all, while trying to screw it to the extruder, I tightened it too much and sort of broke the acrylic plate... sort of. I had to use a very thin steel plate with two holes to enforce the acrylic plate. It still works.
Now, I followed instructions in this video. (Please note that the video is not in English.) After the first "Auto Home" operation, the guy draws on the bed and then measures. My measurements are slightly different.
At the 19-minute mark, the guy is hard-coding the values but I don’t understand how he calculated them? My measured offsets are: X_PROBE_OFFSET_FROM_EXTRUDER 16 and Y_PROBE_OFFSET_FROM_EXTRUDER 58. In his video, his calculations were 18 mm for the X offset and 57 mm for the Y offset. Either way, I’m not able to compile the code as a sanity check fails:
`static_assert(FRONT_PROBE_BED_POSITION >= MIN_PROBE_Y, "FRONT_PROBE_BED_POSITION is outside the probe region.");`
Here are the sensor limitation values from the configuration file:
// Set the boundaries for probing (where the probe can reach).
#define LEFT_PROBE_BED_POSITION 20 //MIN_PROBE_EDGE
#define RIGHT_PROBE_BED_POSITION 200 //(X_BED_SIZE - MIN_PROBE_EDGE)
#define FRONT_PROBE_BED_POSITION 47 //MIN_PROBE_EDGE
#define BACK_PROBE_BED_POSITION 200 //(Y_BED_SIZE - MIN_PROBE_EDGE)
What am I doing wrong?
Note that I'm using Marlin Firmware v1.1.9
Too bad you broke the acrylic plate (nice temporary fix though), but you can easily print a replacement part once your machine is up and running.
Probe positioning is defined in the Marlin configuration as:
* +-- BACK ---+
* | |
* L | (+) P | R -- probe (20,20)
* E | | I
* F | (-) N (+) | G -- nozzle (10,10)
* T | | H
* | (-) | T
* | |
* O-- FRONT --+
* (0,0)
This implies that your sensor is located on the back-right when facing the machine and need to have the following constants set:
#define X_PROBE_OFFSET_FROM_EXTRUDER 16 // X offset: -left +right [of the nozzle]
#define Y_PROBE_OFFSET_FROM_EXTRUDER 58 // Y offset: -front +behind [the nozzle]
#define Z_PROBE_OFFSET_FROM_EXTRUDER 0 // Z offset: -below +above [the nozzle]
In order to calculate the correct limits of travel for the sensor, you need to subtract the offset values from the bed size at the max limits.
An additional offset may be required for some sensors, so please add an additional offset in the configuration by defining:
#define MIN_PROBE_EDGE 10
As the sensor is off-center with respect to your nozzle, one can only assume that you have no extra space to move the whole printhead and therefore need to confine the head within the limits of the max/min bed size (there should be some extra space, this can be seen from the offsets for the origin as in values for X_MIN_POS and Y_MIN_POS, but for the sake of simplicity these will not be taken into account).
Basically, your positive Y and positive X offset result in the following schematic.
Or, if you include the #define MIN_PROBE_EDGE [value]
Bed limits for the sensor then will need to be calculated based on the values of your offset of the sensor. E.g. when your nozzle is at (X=0, Y-0), or (0, 0), your sensor is at (16, 58). If you don't want to move the head further left and forward (to respect to origin as limit!), this is the minimum position of the sensor. When the sensor is at the back-right position of (220, 220), the actual head is at (220-16=204, 220-58=162).
This means that the limits for the sensor without a minimum offset are (16, 58) and (220, 220):
#define LEFT_PROBE_BED_POSITION (X_PROBE_OFFSET_FROM_EXTRUDER + MIN_PROBE_EDGE)
#define RIGHT_PROBE_BED_POSITION (X_BED_SIZE - MIN_PROBE_EDGE)
#define FRONT_PROBE_BED_POSITION (Y_PROBE_OFFSET_FROM_EXTRUDER + MIN_PROBE_EDGE)
#define BACK_PROBE_BED_POSITION (Y_BED_SIZE - MIN_PROBE_EDGE)
would translate with a MIN_PROBE_EDGE = 0 to:
#define LEFT_PROBE_BED_POSITION 16
#define RIGHT_PROBE_BED_POSITION 220
#define FRONT_PROBE_BED_POSITION 58
#define BACK_PROBE_BED_POSITION 220
and would translate with a MIN_PROBE_EDGE = 10 to:
#define LEFT_PROBE_BED_POSITION 26
#define RIGHT_PROBE_BED_POSITION 210
#define FRONT_PROBE_BED_POSITION 68
#define BACK_PROBE_BED_POSITION 210
The assertion in code: FRONT_PROBE_BED_POSITION >= MIN_PROBE_Y would now translate to (58 >= 58) (or 68 >= 58), in your case it was (47 >= 58) which clearly is not true.
Please look into this answer, this answer or this answer for more information.
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8091 | LCD full graphic smart controller, no character display and screen blinking
After uncommenting the REPRAP_DISCOUNT_FULL_GRAPHIC_SMART_CONTROLLER, the display is blinking and no characters are shown on the screen, I have already switched the cables between EXP1 and EXP2, but it did not succeed.
This question could use some more information and pictures. It is a fact that some of the cheap displays have the EXP ports upside down, I have had that myself so I cut out some slots for the notches on the cable connector.
this problem can be solved by turning the slots on the display, as in the image below. Some Chinese displays are inverted from factory.
Yes, my experience was the same, I didn't know you could turn the plastic all the way around, good to know for next time! I just cut some extra slots...
I've just switched the slots and it worked like a charm, it made my day!
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8100 | Reinforce screw holes
I made some 3D printed supports for tools, using screws to fix it to the wall, some of them broken because of the screw forces. Is there a way to reinforce only the screw holes where it will have more stress/compress? I am using PLA, Fusion 360 and Ultimaker Cura.
you might want to look at the slicing too
Welcome to 3dPrinting.SE! I'm not completely understanding what you are trying to reinforce? Are they just holes which the screw goes through? Or are they actual threads you are printing which you need to reinforce? Could you provide a picture of the area you are working with?
This question is not very clear, are you interested in local increase of the infill (see e.g. this question), dimensional hole accuracy or techniques to design support fixtures/lugs?
Thanks for your reply Oscar, the e.g. you shared here is exactly what I need. I think you understand the question very well. Cheers.
Looking at the answers, you are after local strengthening, this can be done by changing the infill percentage around holes and is described in this question; this could imply that this is a duplicate.
Are you using screws similar to drywall screws which have a flat head that tapers down to the screw or a pan head screw which usually has a rounded head and flat bottom?
You can test different print settings. Trying to visualize, but I believe you can increase the perimeter lines, since there is a hole, this will increase the resistance in that area. Or try to change the orientation with which the part will be printed
Hello thanks for your input, I am trying to find how to increase the perimeter line in Fusion360, where is it? :)
@Manolo These settings are made inside the CURA (shell settings)
You can use a washer between the screw head and the plastic material to distribute the load
In my designs I also put in a depression to fit the washer so that it sits flush with the resultant surface.
Thanks for your reply, this is a good idea, I will try to do that as well.
In order to add localised extra walls, I will sometimes cut a torus shape around the part that I want to strengthen. This can result in n*wall, infill, n*wall, void, n*wall.
See the images in this answer if the description is not clear.
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8103 | Print box bigger than the printer bed
I am trying to make a box that is 420 mm wide by 86 mm tall by 100 mm long, I wonder if there is a good technique to design, cut, print and fit all parts together to be safe and hard.
Are you making a simple box? Or does it have some kind of detail or structure? The photo below exemplifies a structure attached to connectors that have been created outside of Fusion, but you can also use it as an idea to create your own!
Link to OPENSCAD LIBRARY
If you are thinking of cutting into parts, you can also create a kind of male / female (puzzle) in the parts that fit. Something like that ...
Here is some interesting information to study How to design Snap-fit Joints for 3D Printing
Great this is what I needed... :)
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8105 | How fast can printer head move without damaging steppers?
Is there any risk of damaging stepper motors if I set too big travel speed?
What is maximum safe travel speed?
My printer is a German RepRap Neo.
I currently use 120 mm/s. Is it safe to increase this value to 200 mm/s?
What would my printer do if I set very big travel speed?
Reminds me of the time when hard disks gave complete control of their insides to the OS - allowing viruses to play happy birthday by smashing the hard disk head onto the disk. Most places learnt after that to ensure any requests wouldn't result in hardware damage.
Short answer no
We use stepper drivers to limit the current, the travel speed is at capped by the amount of current supplied by the stepper drivers. This prevents the stepper motors from damaging themselves. You can set 200mm/s in the slicer, but you have no guarantee that that will be reached in real life.
One thing to keep in mind though is that setting your travel speed too high can induce artifacts such: shifted layers, ghosting, uneven extrusion, etc. So the best thing is to keep the speeds within the specified limits.
What would my printer do if I set very big travel speed?
If a speed is set above the limits of the stepper, the stepper will stop rotating or stutters.
Basically there are 2 limits, the first is the limit of the board to generate the pulses to the stepper and second, how these pulses are processed by the stepper.
The speed of steppers depends on several aspects, including:
microprocessor speed
stepper driver
micro-stepping setting
voltage
etc.
This reference gives you some more background as well as a table (which is a little optimistic for Marlin firmware) with maximum speeds. Depending on the application in your printer (stepper type, pulley size and microstepping value), it lists some maximum speeds for various boards:
What is maximum safe travel speed?
In case of an Anet A8, 1,8°; 16-teeth-GT2-pulley; 1/16 microstepping, this leads to 160 mm/s on Marlin on an Atmega microprocessor (note this is optimistic).
I currently use 120 mm/s. Is it safe to increase this value to 200 mm/s?
That depends. If you work out the mechanical and electronic details of your printer, you could look up the value you could ultimately use.
Is there any risk of damaging stepper motors if I set too big travel speed?
No there is not, the stepper will stutter or stop. I've had this with too fast retractions on an extruder stepper motor.
Stepper motors contain permanent magnets, which are only really damaged by heat. The coils in the motor are only damaged by high currents that would happen at voltages above the maximum rating of the motor. While it is possible to configure a stepper driver to send enough current into a stepper motor to damage it (either due to heat or over current), desktop 3d printer drivers do not have enough current capacity to do such damage to those NEMA 17 stepper motors. The only thing bad that will happen is that you risk over heating the driver or the components around it on the PCB causing an early failure of the parts. (Google "Temperature Cycling and Fatigue in electronics").
That aside, the only problem that you are likely to encounter is stepper stalling.
A high speed is unlikely to be reached unless you also set a high acceleration, and acceleration is generally more likely to cause a problem (unless you reach the pulse rate limit of the drivers).
High acceleration will increase vibration, and critically requires higher torque from the motors. At some point, the torque will exceed the motor/drive current capability, and the motor will skip steps. As soon as this starts to happen, your print will become unusable.
Before reaching the point of missed steps, you're likely to see other quality issues, but unless you're in a very hot environment, unlikely to see damage to the motor. Depending on the quality and heatsinking of the stepper driver, you might see overheating here (you can check for overheating of the board though).
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7989 | Difficult to remove support material
I'm having a lot of difficulty removing support material without damaging the print.
Are there any tips/tricks to doing this or is it just a case of sanding, cutting, chopping and then cleaning it up as best I can?
Settings
Printer: Monoprice Ultimate
Filament Temp: 200 °C
Plate Temp: 60 °C
Material: PLA
Slicer: Ultimaker Cura
Placement: Everywhere
Angle: 20°
Pattern: Concentric
The question lacks some basic information and settings like: "What material, printer, temperature, support settings, slicer, etc." Please add some more vital information by [edit] of the question.
The right side of the cube looks strange, was that the top or the bottom of the print?
@0scar The bottom. The sphere protrudes the edge of the box very slightly, meaning that the bottom of the box also had support material,
CURA: Support->Support Z Distance -> activate the Support Z Distance Top and Support Z Distance bottom. Mostly the top distance is NOT the normal distance, e.g. I set the Z distance to 0.4 but the z distance top still was 0.12 which causes painfully hard to remover supports
I had the same problem some time ago: https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/5226/problems-with-support-interface-since-cura-3-1
Possible duplicate of Problems with support interface since cura 3.1
Oh, and double check this setting after EVERY Cura update. They mess this up every time.
Print/material specific settings
If you are printing too hot with too less distance, the support just fuses to the print object. Extra cooling, lower print temperature and support distance should be in balance to create easy to remove support structures with respect to an acceptable print object surface. If temperature and cooling cannot be balanced to prevent fused support structures (e.g. for high temperature filament materials that cannot take too much cooling as that would result in less structural solid prints), there is an option in Cura to override the fan speed for the first layer above the support (Fan Speed Override). If this fails to produce easy removable supports, you can resort to changing the support distance between the support and the print object.
Support settings
Most of the used slicers have an option to determine how much distance (in terms of layers) you want between your support and your product, you could add an extra layer as space to try out if that works better for you. E.g. the default Cura setting for Support Bottom Distance (which is a sub-setting of Support Z Distance) is the layer thickness specified in Layer Height. If you have a layer height of 0.2 mm, the Support Bottom Distance is also 0.2 mm. For the top, option Support Top Distance this is two layer heights, so 0.4 mm in this example. These options are visible in the expert mode, you can search for them in the search box, see image below.
Why should you want air in between your part and the support?
You'll soon find out when you want to remove supports, if no gap is used, the support will fuse to the print part. This is only interesting (no gap between print part and support structure) when you use a different filament for support like PVA or break-away filament; e.g. PVA dissolves in water in a dual nozzle printer setup (not that you can make the biggest part of the support except the top and bottom layer from the print object material, e.g. PLA for the main part of the support and PVA for the bottom and top layer: settings First Layer Support Extruder, Support Interface Extruder, Support Roof Extruder and Support Floor Extruder).
Would extra cooling be me buying a more powerful fan?
Or a better fan duct, e.g. the stock duct of the Anet A8 is quite bad. I don't own a CR-10 to evaluate the duct of the machine.
I've got a Monoprice Ultimate. I suppose I could print a better duct and add a more powerful fan.
@BanksySan Or lower the temperature and increase the distance between the support and the print, much easier and faster to test.
@0scar Wouldn't an increased gap defeat the objective of the support?
@BanksySan No, as long you don't make them too big, an extra layer (so 2 layers instead of 1 of in total a few tenths of a millimeter) is usually sufficient. Else tune your temperature down and increase cooling, but that might affect the structural integrity of the print.
Test out a couple different types and z distances. I've found that the 'lines' type on Cura turns out very well - they are generally easy to remove and leave few artifacts on the part. Some types of support I've found to be much more difficult to remove than others, I would recommend 'lines' or 'zig zag'. See the link at the bottom for all possible values.
Z distance
Beyond switching over to 'lines' instead of 'concentric' this is the one that I've found has the most impact on the how easy it is to remove supports. You want this to be as large as possible while still providing sufficient support. Do a couple test print, increasing this value until the detail start to get bad, then lower it just a bit.
Current link for Cura setting explanations
https://ultimaker.com/en/resources/20422-cura-support-settings
Welcome to 3dPrinting.SE! If the settings which are posted on the ultimaker site are important to your answer, please just copy them over here and leave the link in place. While this has a little more information in it than a "link only answer", it's not much beyond that. Please bring the information over as the link can become stale.
That's actually a really useful list. I can see that it would be too much to copy over.
@Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2 - I've only just seen this, and you are obviously correct, and the link has now died... rendering (that part of) the answer almost useless. That's a shame. There is this link Ultimaker - Support... I'm not sure if this was the same sort of information. Anthony, can you either find a new version of your link or confirm that this new link contains the same information, please? Or this 3rd party site CURA SUPPORT SETTINGS
What Are Support Structures?
Yes, that contains an updated version of the information. In fact, that version is much better than the original.
It’s possible to use a heat gun to smooth it off after removing the majority of the supports. It creates a glossy effect as well.
Dont use external heat if you want to preserve your prints, just change separation from the part 1mm, and Z to 90% of your layer or 70% of population, this last parameter will make weak supports, of course dont make it too weaks.
Changing slicer settings will ultimately help with future prints, but there is a tool that has been an absolute god send to me for cleaning up hard to clean up prints.
Please, go pick one up. You won't regret it. They make life so much easier to clean up prints from hard to clean up materials.
deburring tools remove elephant foot and bad corners, but not sticking support material.
Why so many downvotes? Seems like a reasonable alternative to try. I've undeleted this, and upvoted..
It is recommended that you try "tree support" in the "experimental" module of settings.Also,before removing the support, blowing with a hot air gun to soften the support material connected to the model may achieve good results.
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7982 | Why won't my filament feed through the extruder anymore?
Printer: Monoprice Select V2.
I've done several prints already and swapped out filaments many times but in my most recent swap, I can't feed my PLA through any more.
I first preheat my extruder for PLA temps (185 °C). Then I press the plastic thingy to allow me to push as much of the filament into the hole as possible. Then I adjust my extruder position to try to suck it in. Usually after a few mm, I start to see the filament come out of the extruder and I also feel a pull on the filament from the top. But nothing is happening now.
However, if I adjust the extruder position in the opposite direction, it eventually pushes the filament back up and out, so I guess the "stepper motor" (is that what it's called?) is working (at least in one direction).
I'm getting ready to open the extruder module up to see what's going on, but wanted to see if anyone had any simple ideas for me to try before I unscrew anything.
Terminology note: Keep in mind that the Extruder is the motion setup that pushes the filament. The part that reshapes the plastic is the nozzle which is mounted in the hotend.
I figured out the issue. I think I was shoving it in the wrong hole.
I took apart my extruder component. There's a good video on it here.
But basically, you just have to loosen the two bottom screws on the side fan like this:
I checked everything out first. I cleaned the extruder head with the included pin. I also shoved the filament through the heated area and filament came out ok.
But then I discovered the filament could go in the wrong way sometimes through the extruder.
This is the correct way for the filament to go through. It should come out of that plastic hole.
But once in awhile, I accidentally pushed the filament through this way.
If the filament was bent and I pushed the lever too hard, it would often find its way down the wrong path.
So I played around with how much force I should be holding down the lever and how hard I should be pushing the filament through.
I don't know if other 3D printer extruder feeders are designed this way, but seems error prone. Or maybe it's just me.
If you want better prints, remove the spring from the X-axis belt and properly tension the belt by printing a proper belt tensioner. You now have an extra spring in the spring-mass system. Having 2 springs with different spring constants, the displacement of the mass (read hotend) becomes more complex.
"this thing" is the Extruder comprised of the motor, extruder gear, idler roller and its lever. I have to note though that the extruder looks somewhat sketchy... It might be a good idea to unmount the extruder and champher the feed hole on the incoming side so it has an easier time "fetching" the filament.
I have two coworkers that each have monoprice printers with these extruder designs - I recommend putting the filament just barely in the extruder and using the "Feed filament" function in your firmware to put the filament where it needs to go. Having the bearing put pressure on the filament against the gear tends to guide the filament better than doing it manually, as I've discovered with quite a bit of trial and error.
Maybe some PLA is stuck in the throat above the heat break. Can you feed a very small wire all the way through it, or see light through the filament path?
185 is a little on the cold side. I would suggest trying to feed at 195 before taking more drastic measures.
I even have some PLA that recommends a temperature between 210-220C
183 is the coldest I've ever managed to go. For filament I haven't tried before, I'll usually start at 200 or 210, then come down in 5 degree increments until I start to see symptoms of it being too cold, then back up in 1 degree increments until those symptoms go away.
Try turning the temperature up to 260 °C and pushing it through.
Also, cut of a few centimetres for I'm the end of the PLA in case the drive wheel isn't able to grab it due to a greasy bit of filament.
If you get it all working, run cleaning filament throughout it and to a cold pull with it. That removed an annoying but of grit from my Monoprice.
Although raising the temperature is encouraged, 260 ℃ is pretty high for PLA, in case of PTFE lined heat breaks the general advice is not to go above 250 ℃ to prevent degradation of the liner.
@0scar I've got the same machine as he does. Printing a few centimetres of PLA at that temperature is what's recommended in the manual.
Could be possible if it is a few cm, but if you are dealing with a hard to remove piece of filament that is stuck higher up or longer and broken off, you would need to wait longer for the clog to get loose. If it has no PTFE lining, like an all metal hotend, my reasoning does not apply. Thanks for the info!
| Stack Exchange | 2025-03-21T12:54:44.349725 | 2019-01-15T19:39:01 | {
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7645 | Scratches in the build plate - How did this happen, and may it cause problems?
A couple of prints after leveling the bed (<10), I noticed some weird sound, and saw the nozzle scratching the build-plate.
What is really weird, is that I noticed (My printer is in quite a dark edge, so the build plate isn't really illuminated), that there were some scratches from a print before, but it worked fine with the prints in between.
So my question is, how that might have happened, could it be also software issues (Maybe some mistakes converting to gcode?), or is this propably purely a mechanical issue?
Furthermore, I'd like to ask whether this may cause any problems, e.g. massively reducing print quality, or weakening the grip of the prints.
I'm using the Tevo Michelangelo 3D, with manual leveling (it drives to the positions, but one has to tighten/loose the screws).
Note that I might have overtightened the screws in the beginning. Another thing I noticed is that the screws on one side tend to be more loose than the other ones.
What kind of machine are you using? Is it manual leveling or automatic? Straight build plate? Please update the question to include such information by [edit]. Thanks!
@Oscar I edited the question...But what exactly do you mean with Straight build plate ?
Put a metal ruler on its side and check if the bed is not warped.
@0scar I couldn't find something to check it, but that could indeed be a problem. I might have overtightened the screws in the beginning. Another thing I noticed, is that the screws on the one side tend to be more loose than the others.
As the question continued in comments, it can be read that the build plate had over-tight screws and loose screws on the build plate. This uneven tension could lead to stresses that warp the bed, e.g. lower corner and bulging out in the middle of the bed. When levelling on the corners, the nozzle could hit the bulge in the middle when printing. Furthermore, an endstop may have shifted during operation.
I currently have a couple scratches on the base of my Cr-10. They may have come, for me, from using tape on the bed as well as the nozzle being too close and rubbing. I have not noticed any quality difference during my prints. Noting Oscar, warping could also cause the nozzle to scrape the build plate when it goes over it. I am attempting to fix this problem on own printer.
How does tape scratch the build plate? I imagine it leaves residue, but actual scratches?
Not the tape, but having the glass puts distance between the build plate, take that away and there is a chance that while moving, the tape gets torn up and the nozzle hits the bed not the glass.
| Stack Exchange | 2025-03-21T12:54:44.350420 | 2018-12-14T14:52:34 | {
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8041 | Unable to hit hot end temperature with part cooler on
I'm unable to use the parts cooler I printed. Every time I turn it on, the hot end temp drops too low, and for some reason the PID can't seem to get it back up:
This is a test to simulate the issue. The first drop is the fan kicking on, then the last bump is me turning the fan off. It's almost as if the set point drops when the fan kicks in. Any ideas? The PID is tuned (I ran the autotune) and works well without the fan on. This is a RepRap Guru Prusa clone.
This effect you describe is a commonly known problem that occurs when the print part cooling fan is not correctly positioned, i.e. if it blows air directly onto the nozzle or heater block and is best solved by printing an alternative part cooling fan duct. Alternatively you could insulate the heater block with some insulation cotton or silicone socks that fit over the heater block.
| Stack Exchange | 2025-03-21T12:54:44.350795 | 2019-01-23T03:19:03 | {
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