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FDM: Clear=transparent part I intend and would like to print a transparent hemisphere. I have a Taulman T-Glase clear 1.75 mm filament and I have XTC-3D.
You can read this interesting page, Hacking t-glase to look more like glass!
First question, what kind of printing settings should I use? Should I go for a low infill percentage or a high one? Should I go for line or hexagon? I would say 5% line but perhaps there is a better setting.
Then, how should I use XTC-3D as mentioned on the above link? I'm a little bit confused how it can make the part more transparent. | First I would hedge your expectations.. I am very familiar with t-glase. It is very translucent but it is not clear and no amount of post treatment will make it 100% clear. Their example is the only exception where you have a simple print where it has only a single layer. By applying the clear coating they have normalized the wall and made the surface even. Thus no more light diffusion.
You could likely get the same effect with good sanding but good luck sanding a 1 wall thick print. Also note they do not show any solid parts. If they cannot get a solid part to look good and clear, then really you shouldn't expect to be able to.
Any infill will cause it to be non clear. Any extra shells will also create air pockets, lines, etc and make it non clear. If you really want clear, FDM is not the way to go. The only way I could imagine to print an item clear with FDM is to create a cast, then cast it with resin or glass..
If you consider how the plastic is applied, you can see there is no real way make it 100% air pocket free.. See below,
Image taken from here.
The best I can recommend for settings. Make your temp spot on. If you boil the material you will have less translucency. Play with over extruding (too much material) in a Limited amount. Might reduce gaps. I would also try to print in BIG THICK lines. Less lines, less diffusions. |
Hooking up an optocoupler in a 24V Machine, is a 2 kOhm resistor sufficient? I am going to buy an inductive probe for my Creality Ender 3 to enable ABL (Automatic Bed Leveling). And now, I have one last question left on my mind:
I am going to buy a Vishay Optokoppler Phototransistor SFH610A-1 DIP-4 Transistor DC.
Is it sufficient to put a 2 - 2.2 kΩ resistor between the input of the octocouplers LED side and the 24 V Output of the probe, to lower the current and voltage enough to work with the octocoupler? Or do I need something else?
On the transistor side, I will simply attach the 2 wire Z-endstop cable, +5 V on Collector and GND on Emitter. | TL;DR
Yes, a 2 kΩ resistor is sufficient to limit the current to about 12 mA through the optocoupler. With a maximum current specification of 60 mA you require at least 400 Ω; any resistor in between the values should be suitable for this optocoupler component when used at 24 V. More information is found below.
Having a glass bed and using an inductive probe may not work optimally. In such cases a 3D touch sensor is a very good alternative. For inductive sensors, remember that these sensors optimally detect steel, aluminium is harder to detect (about 60 % less than iron; a glass sheet in between the bed and the sensor requires you to acquire a sensor with a large detection range, e.g. 8 mm or more. To optimize the detection distance such sensors need to be powered to the maximum voltage they can handle (usually 36 V) or the highest voltage you have available (e.g. power supply 12 or 24 V). To protect the board, that is only allowed to receive up to 5 V, an optocoupler is an excellent way to guarantee the separation of voltage levels.
Considering your questions, it is fair to assume you are not an experienced electronics tinkerer, purchasing an optocoupler module is the best alternative, you just screw the wires into the respective input screw terminals as shown in this answer.
As the optocoupler separates two circuits, you can safely use 24 V on the one side and the 5 V on the other side, you do not need an additional resistor when you use a module board. If you plan to buy separate components to build your own circuit, you need to look at the maximum current that the optocoupler can handle on the input side (that will be 24 V). From the documentation from the optocoupler one reads that it is limited to 60 mA. A maximum current would therefore require a resistor of:
$$ R=\frac{U}{I}=\frac{24}{60\times10^{-3}}=400\ \Omega $$
My 12 V optocoupler module uses a 1 kΩ resistor implying a 12 mA current. In your case allowing 12 mA of current yields a 2 kΩ resistor. |
Printer homes to Z stop-switch, but presses on heat bed during printing I have a Prusa i3 that homes properly when you use the menu. After adjusting the bed and homing several times, it keeps the head at a reliable distance. However, when I try to print from an SD card, the printer buries the hot end in the heat bed.
What needs to be adjusted to fix this issue?
G-code from one of the 2 files
M190 S50.000000
M109 S200.000000
;Sliced at: Mon 13-06-2016 15:39:25
;Basic settings: Layer height: 0.2 Walls: 1.2 Fill: 20
;Print time: 3 hours 47 minutes
;Filament used: 11.435m 34.0g
;Filament cost: None
;M190 S50 ;Uncomment to add your own bed temperature line
;M109 S200 ;Uncomment to add your own temperature line
G21 ;metric values
G90 ;absolute positioning
M82 ;set extruder to absolute mode
M107 ;start with the fan off
G28 X0 Y0 ;move X/Y to min endstops
G28 Z0 ;move Z to min endstops
G1 Z15.0 F3000 ;move the platform down 15mm
G92 E0 ;zero the extruded length
G1 F200 E3 ;extrude 3mm of feed stock
G92 E0 ;zero the extruded length again
G1 F3000
;Put printing message on LCD screen
M117 Printing...
;Layer count: 446
;LAYER:0
M107
;LAYER:1
M106 S127
G1 F2400 E-4.50000
G0 F3000 X81.474 Y58.603 Z0.300
;TYPE:WALL-INNER
G1 F2400 E0.00000
G1 F2220 X83.063 Y56.456 E0.06663
G1 X84.277 Y55.080 E0.11240
G1 X84.836 Y54.444 E0.13353
G1 X85.799 Y53.476 E0.16759
G1 X86.755 Y52.587 E0.20015
G1 X87.179 Y52.244 E0.21376
G1 X88.836 Y50.911 E0.26680
G1 X89.285 Y50.610 E0.28029 | The correlation between the endstop switch -- or sensor -- and the surface of the bed is not known a priori . In your case, there are two possibilities. I'd say the more likely is that your g-code generator is not setting the Z-height offset from the bed correctly. The other is that your bed is tilted, so proper Z-home at one corner does not match the entire bed.
Try this: first manually move the extruder head to all four corners and adjust the bed screws until the separation is identical at all times. Then let your gcode start up -- and don't worry if the extruder depresses the bed during homing, as that doesn't matter. See where the extruder is once the print starts. Adjust the endstop switch up or down to compensate until the print head when printing is just off the surface and the first layer adheres well.
If all that doesn't work, then you may have the wrong printer profile settings in your slicing softwqre. |
How do I set the flow rate on my Ender 3 Pro and have it stay at that percentage? I am trying to increase the flow rate on my Ender 3 from 100 to 108 % but every time I start a new print it reverts back to the old 100 % flow rate. I have clicked through the settings and pressed the "store settings" button but it still reverts back at the start of every print. I don't want to do this in my slicer settings as I run 18 Ender 3's so I want to be able to use the same G-code for each. | Changing the flow rate during a print can not be saved. There simply is no way. It is usually meant to be a fix with filament inconsistencies or to look for the right extrusion factor for a new filament batch.
Slicer
The only way to consistently increase the flow rate would be to alter the flow rate in your slicer to what you have found to work best for each machine, probably using separate profiles. This will up the rate for every subsequently sliced print. Note though that this 108 % increased extrusion is converted extrusion factors that are simply numerical and 1.08 times the normal in the g-code. These numerical values will be taken as 100 % by the printer - and since it requires extra work to slice the gode for different profiles it is not the optimal solution.
As you elaborated though, this is not a doable thing, so let's look further.
Source hunt & Workaround
Since only one printer is showing underextrusion while the others do not, it is time to check the hard- and firmware:
underextrusion can be caused by a defective extruder assembly or a damaged or blocked nozzle.
if a machine has consistent underextrusion, its steps/mm in the firmware might be off. This could be altered and stored in the EEPROM. Since this could be a machine unique setting, here would be your point of attack to increase the extrusion of just one machine while using the identical G-code to all other machines.
Note that the standard firmware of the Ender-3 in 2019 did not contain Thermal Runaway Protection (What is Thermal Runaway Protection?) and should be upgraded because of this anyway. You have to flash a bootloader too, so in the process of doing the upgradeability and safety-upgrade to all the machines, you could store the altered steps/mm to each machine individually so they get consistent output. |
gcode to move the printhead up for maintenance I've got a Monoprice Mini Select (15365) and it takes FOREVER for me to manually spin the dial to get the printhead to raise all the way up so that I can perform maintenance (clear blockages in the nozzle or apply new tape to the bed, etc).
So, I was thinking about writing a snippet of gcode that I could just run which would contain the commands necessary to do that for me. I'm a n00b to 3D printing, but I'm an old programmer so I figured it would be too hard. However, before running this code on my printer, I wanted to get some experts to double check me to make sure I'm not going to hurt anything. :)
Here is what I have, please let me know if I've done anything wrong or if you have any suggestions.
; Move print head to center and top to prepare for cleaning/maintenance
M107 ; fan off
G28 ; home all axes
G21 ; set units to millimeters
G90 ; use absolute coordinates
; full dimensions of the print area are 120mm x 120mm x 120mm
G0 X60 Y60 Z119 ; move to center X,Y and just below the max height
M84 ; disable motors
I grabbed a few lines from gcode generated by Slic3r and used the gcode wiki entry to understand each of the commands and fill in the extra ones I needed. | Yes, on machines which will execute "standard" gcode, this will do what you request. Some good resources are http://reprap.org/wiki/G-code and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G-code |
SLA prints not sticking to build plate I have been working with our SLA printer (Facture Draken) for a couple weeks now printing in makerjuice waxcast. . I have had some successful prints, but the majority (80%) end up as pancakes stuck to the bottom of the resin tray. Some others break in half mid print.
I have experimented with laying my models (round circular diks) flat on the build plate, but most of the times I place them on supports which stem from a square baseplate.
It seems clear to me that there is allot of force being put on the models while curing on the bottom of the resin tray. I have noticed that printing objects with a larger projection area are more likely to stick in the vat. I assume this is because of the increased contact with the tray. Usually it seems ~10 layers are built before my baseplate breaks away.
Things I have tried
Pulling out the build plate, cleaning it with Acetone. Sanding it with 80 grit sandpaper.
Emptying the resin tray and replacing with new resin.
Upping base-layer cure-time from from 30seconds up to 3 minutes, and variations between.
Upping base-layer count from 2 to 4.
Rotating model base 45% to start the tray peel process from a corner rather than from a long edge to reduce initial tear force.
Anyone with experience got more suggestions on how to continue troubleshooting? | Prints could end up on tray for couple of reasons.
Vacuum force on early layers - Usually you should lose pieces on the center of platform
Put holes or channels on platform
Very slow speed on early layers
Use smaller platform
Use tilt mechanism
Use larger support structures
Use stickier platform - Anodized aluminum is specially good
Non-aligned platform - Pieces on side of platform end up on tray
Align platform / tray
Low cure times - you could lose pieces around platform for DLP and whole platform for LCD ones
Resin related issues
Resin designed for thinner layers - Decrease layer thickness
Pigment settled down - Shake resin before use |
Why are the STL files for the Ultrascope telescope at 45 degree angle? I began printing the parts for the Ultrascope DIY telescope designed by the Open Space Agency. See http://www.openspaceagency.com/ultrascope.
All of the STL files for the 3D printable parts are canted 45 degrees. Brackets, tubes, everything I have seen so far. Is there a reason for this? I printed one part last night and simply rotated the part so it would lay flat because I didn't want to deal with supports. I am relatively new to 3D printing -- Am I missing something I should know? Is this a thing? | The orientation of the part in the STL file depends on the Software that creates the file. I had a software that would export the parts standing upright instead of laying flat. Depending on the CAD software it can be beneficial for the creator of the model to create in in a different orientation as the one you want to use for printing. Also not all CAD Engineers know (or care) about the best orientation for printing a part.
So my guess is that this is an issue of file export/ STL file creation.
It is totally normal to rotate the parts into a position that is best for printing. |
Creality Ender 3 - printing in front of the build plate I am trying to print my first test but my Creality Ender 3 starts printing near the front edge and within 10 seconds is printing in front of the tray (off onto my table). I really think it should be starting the print in the middle and then never going so close to the edge and even over it
What can I do? | When a print is not printing on the build platform, you either:
Have the incorrect settings in the slicer (e.g. Ultimaker Cura, a common mistake is that the "origin at center" option is active), or
Have the center of the bed incorrectly stored in your firmware. (See: How to center my prints on the build platform? (Re-calibrate homing offset) or Recalibrating Home-position).
Note that the most simple change (after you verified the slicer settings and confirmed that it still does not print in the center) is adjusting the settings in the slicer (bed settings, of start G-code script), this way you do not need to compile and upload new firmware (e.g. if you are uncomfortable or inexperienced in doing so), but, fixing it in the firmware is the best solution. Why? If you change the offset in the slicer you force the bed dimensions to a new position that you know where it is, while if changed in the firmware, the printer "knows" the actual size and the limits.
To fully answer your question, we need a little more information what slicer you use and what the current settings are. From your question it sounds as if the offset is more than a few millimeters. Usually this hints to an incorrect slicer setting (frequently Ultimaker Cura). |
Car Body shop Printers What type of printer would one recommend to print and cast car body parts fast on a large scale? Also if I were to print parts for restoration would I need licences from the manufactures? | The Materialise Mammoth printers seem to be the predominant choice for manufacturing car body parts. However, any sufficiently large printer (e.g. bigrep) could work. That said, car body parts are quite a challenge to 3D print given how excruciatingly long such large parts take (exacerbating the probability of failure). You will have to very carefully consider whether 3D printing is right for your application (it probably is not).
The licensing part is extremely complicated. You'll have to deal with patents (perhaps the body part incorporates some clever patented feature), trademarks (you generally can't reproduce manufacturer's logo's) and copyrights (if the part is very "artistic" it might be protected by copyright, but this is unlikely). A simple, functional part such as a body panel would generally not be protected by any of these but these three things are the main reason why you might need a license.
In addition, you have to be careful as to which materials you use, as these will (most probably) not be as strong/durable as those that are produced by car-parts-manufacturers. Furthermore, if you print the parts yourself, install it in a customer's vehicle, and the vehicle malfunctions, as a result, you may find yourself being sued. |
PID autotune fails under all conditions so far. Any ideas I haven't tried? I got some Prusa i3 clones with Melzi boards with Marlin, or nearly so. One of them performed very well (considering that the board would reboot whenever power was applied to the build plate. But I digress) until finally the hot end failed, possibly due to me running it for two days with little respite. The replacement, a typical MK8 clone, installed almost painlessly but failed to start due to over-temperature conditions (we're talking as much as 45 °C over set temperature). I tried the known solutions, continually reducing my P value (got down to 7 before I gave up) and attempting autotune. I also tried autotuning to both higher (230 °C) and lower (150 °C) temperatures.
None of these seemed to produce an autotune successfully, and the same error message temp to[sic] high appeared in all cases. Can anyone suggest something besides a new hot end (I have one on order, but what if I have the same problem with another new one)? | Turns out I'm using a 12V hot end and should be using 24V. I looked up the resistance to be sure; so no amount of tuning the PID would fix that. |
Why would all of the Ender 5 Pro's axis motors (X, Y and Z) stop being able to move (all at once)? I have a Creality Ender 5 Pro which has been working properly for some time. During my last print, the axis motors just suddenly stopped working while the extruder motor continued to work properly.
In fact, when I connect the extruder motor wire to any of the axis motors, they respond correctly (mimicking the extruder motor) but neither works or moves when connected to its own wire(s). As a result the printer does not print anymore.
Here's what I've tried:
Switching the wires around to check if any motors are damaged (none are).
Restarting the Creality
Checking the output on the power source (which is 24 V and about 14 A)
Checking to make sure all motor wires are connected correctly on the SKR MINI CONTROLLER (all seem fine) and checking that the board is powered.
All external connections also seem fine.
I'm quite confused why the axis motors would not be working all of a sudden. I'll appreciate your help if you've faced this problem before. | The Creality V1.1.5 board was fried. I replaced it with a BIGTREETECH SKR MINI E3 V2.0 32BIT CONTROLLER. After struggling to find a corresponding firmware for the Ender 5 pro, the axis motors worked correctly. |
Whats the difference between a basic rapid prototyping machine and a 3D printer? In general 3D printers are compact and smaller than RP machines. That's ok. But, what's the difference? 3D printers can be used as RP machine too. | All rapid prototyping means is automatically producing a physical part from a cad model. 3D printing is a way to achieve rapid prototyping. There are 2 main methods of rapid prototyping: additive, and subtractive.
A 3D printer is additive- you add materials to an object layer by layer.
Usually, when people talk about a subtractive machine, they are talking about a CNC mill (or lathe), which tend to be extremely large (most are over one ton). You start with all the material there, and you subtract the material that you don't want. This might be what you are thinking of. |
Face where there should be no face When importing this .stl file in Creality Slicer another face appears in the middle when viewed in layered view. This face is not visible in my 3d modeling software Blender. I tried cleaning up the model a bit and to triangulate the faces myself, neither helped and the problem is still there. Also I didn't find anything online. | At the intersection of the top and bottom planes of the cross-piece and the cylinder, there are non-manifold edges. Meshmixer is able to identify this problem but cannot repair it. My slicer, Simplify3D also identifies the faults and prints a solid cylinder between the planes. Prusa Slicer 2 also creates a solid at that location.
As you've indicated that you are the creator, consider to use the 3D printing features within Blender to assist you with repairing the problem locations.
File ‣ User Preferences (or Ctrl-Alt-U)
to open the User Preferences menu.
In the Add-ons tab, start typing 3d print into the search bar. Once
the “Mesh: 3D Print Toolbox” shows up, click the checkbox on the far
right to enable this add-on.
Close the User Preferences window.
In the Tool Shelf, there should be a new 3D Printing tab. |
How does one use a heat tower? I've been asking around on how to choose the right temperature for a given filament. I noticed that with two different brands of pla I have to print at different temperatures, and the manufacturer specifies a broad range of print temperatures.
I keep hearing about heat towers, and have found various examples on thingiverse.
My question is how do I actually print one? And then, how do I judge the results? | When you slice an STL of a heat tower, you need to tell the slicer that you need a different temperature at a certain level and maintain that new temperature until another change is requested.
The way I usually do it is by using a post processing script in Ulltimaker Cura, but you can do it yourself quite easily by changing the G-code file manually.
To get it to work in Ultimaker Cura is to:
open a heat tower STL model onto the virtual build plate,
choose the correct print settings, e.g. fan speed, print speed, layer thickness, etc.,
now navigate from the main top menu bar Extensions -> Post Processing -> Modify G-Code,
select Add a script and choose ChangeAtZ,
you now are presented with an option (called Trigger) that you can change options at either a certain Height or at a certain Layer No. number, you decide what you want to use based on the model and layersize used, but height can be chosen safely when you know the height changes in the heat tower model
set a certain height at which you want to change the print properties by specifying a height in option Change Height,
now put a checkmark in Change Extruder 1 Temp (be sure that the box Behavior is set to Keep value so that it maintains this value until you specify otherwise, else it is only valid for a single layer),
a new input box will be presented to you where you can enter the value of the extruder,
repeat this adding of "changes at certain height" e.i. instances of ChangeAtZ until you have specified all the temperatures for all the levels
now slice the model (if not done automatically) and save the G-code file for printing.
If you look into the generated G-code file (the snippet below is taken from a G-code file for an Ultimaker 3) you will see that the post processing script will add extra lines in your G-code file. E.g. the following snippet shows you 2 changes of temperature, one at 5 mm (extruder 1 @ 250 °C), the other at 10 mm (extruder 1 @ 245 °C):
...
;LAYER:48
G0 X93.4 Y132.161 Z5
;ChangeAtZ V5.1.1: executed at 5.00 mm
M117 Printing... ch@ 5.0
M104 S250.000000 T0
...
...
;LAYER:98
G0 X93.4 Y132.35 Z10
;ChangeAtZ V5.1.1: executed at 10.00 mm
M117 Printing... ch@ 10.0
M104 S245.000000 T0
...
The bottom line is that the extruder needs to be instructed to be heated or cooled to a new temperature. This is also something you could have inserted yourself manually by adding the codes M104 SXXX.000000 T0 at specific levels where XXX is the extruder temperature you need for that level.
Basically this describes how to print the heat tower calibration prints, not the selection of the settings (e.g. extruder temperature) to use for your prints. When you created the print file you are ready to print the tower and observe the quality of printing. You can look at the print and visually inspect the temperature giving you the best aesthetic performance, the best overhang performance, the best "filling" performance, highest speed, etc. It is you that decides what is best for your application. Alternatively you could print some coupon tests and see which are structurally the best. Please note that additional towers for different settings like layer height, print part cooling and print speed to may be necessary to optimize the print process.
Sidemark, I prefer the use of parametric models (e.g. in OpenSCAD) over the STL models found on the internet, this way I can embed the exact printer setting in the tower for reference. See e.g. this answer. |
MK8 extruder showing 500+ °C on temperature sensor? I just finish building a Graber i3 printer from mixed parts (a MDF clone of Prusa i3 MK2). For the hotend, I've bought the Greetech MK8 extruder. However, the temperature sensor is driving me up the wall.
I've already checked the wires and connections, but the darn thing keeps showing a steady 500 degrees Celsius. In Marlin, it shows it right up (I'm using the 1st option for a 100k thermistor), in Repetier Firmware (using the same one), it shows 0.00°C, until I tell the printer to heat up, when it shoots to 500°C just like before with Marlin. The documentation for this extruder only lists it as a "100K NTC Thermistor", so I tried to select one of the NTC options on the list for both Marlin and Repetier and the temp sensor reads steady 3.600°C!!!
Measuring it with the multimeter, it shows around 60k, it's 31°C outside.
Is it broken or am I selecting the wrong thermistor type?
Documentation for MK8 | A brand new thermistor shows about 95-105k ohm (depends on the multimeter quality), so it looks like that one is out of the range.
To be sure that it is a thermistor, you could connect a 100k potentiometer, play with it and see readings on the lcd. If the readings are OK, then mainboard is good so replace the thermistor.
A 100k thermistor curve |
Printrbot Simple + OctoPrint on PC not working I am running the newest version of OctoPrint server on my Windows 10 PC, and accessing it with Mozilla Firefox on the same PC.
I also installed Cura 15.04 and selected the Printrbot Simple profile, and pointed to the Cura install path in the OctoPrint client so that it can use it for slicing.
I plugged in my printer and it was recognized by OctoPrint. The nozzle temperature is correctly shown, and I can turn the fans on/off in the control tab.
However, I cannot do anything else in the control tab, including moving the axes. I have not imported any sort of printer profile into OctoPrint, since I cannot figure out how to or where to find my printer's information.
There has not been any kind of calibration process I can find either.
Can anybody help me find a print profile/calibrate my printer, and just get it working so I can move the axes/print something out? | Before any axis can move the printer must be homed correctly (G28 command, or an equivalent home button, there are 2: an X/Y and a Z button). A correct printer profile must also be defined; this profile contains some bed geometry and speed data, these are some basic values that are easy to add through the wrench button and "printer profiles" menu item.
Note that Cura 15.04 is very old, more recent version with far more options and better stability can be downloaded, but won't work integrated in OctoPrint, instead you download the most recent version of Ultimaker Cura directly from Ultimaker.com slice your product and store the G-code file to later import this into OctoPrint.
Please take care in choosing an optimal power plan in Windows 10, if your computer goes to sleep during a print (or updates or crashes) your print is lost; using a Raspberry Pi is far more safe. |
Nozzle jumps off the bed when using Marlin Mesh Bed Leveling I am using Marlin firmware with a RAMPS board on an Anet A8 printer.
The bed size for the printer is 220 x 220 mm and that is stated in the configuration.h file. When using mesh bed leveling, the nozzle jumps to the first corner on the bed perfectly after setting the x-min to 5.0 but the next two points are off the end of the bed. Here are my settings:
// Travel limits after homing (units are in mm)
#define X_MIN_POS 5.0
#define Y_MIN_POS 0.0
#define Z_MIN_POS 0
#define X_MAX_POS 220
#define Y_MAX_POS 220
#define Z_MAX_POS 240
What could be my issue? | None of the answers address your question to solve it! The only sensible contribution comes from a comment of @TomvanderZanden.
For the sensor to stay within the limits of the bed (considering the offset of the sensor and the size of the hotend carriage) you need to define where the sensor (plus carriage) may go to (to keep the sensor also on the bed, you also need to define the sensor limits). The suggested constants are important in defining the size of the bed and the build volume, but changing them does in fact do not solve your problem. Your problem is that you need to address where the sensor may probe within that specified volume i.e. the sensor probing area.
I use ABL (Auto Bel Leveling) on my Anet A8 using a left-front mounted sensor at position (x = -26 mm; y = -40 mm seen from the nozzle center). In order to have the sensor on the bed area without running into the limits of the carriage, you have to calculate (yourself!) what the dimension of the auto bed leveling area is. This is because the sensor is off set from the nozzle. If the sensor reaches for the whole bed, you need extra space on the axis. To explain this, if your sensor is at the left front, as in my case, the amount of extra space you have left on the right side of the X carriage will determine how far the carriage may go and thus limits the right probe position. If there is no extra space on the carriage (the safest assumption) you just need to add the sensor offset to the maximum bed size (what the nozzle can reach). E.g. my probe X offset is -26 mm. The maximum probe distance is therefore -26 mm + 220 mm = 194 mm.
This means that you need to set the following constants (amongst the settings to enable ABL; the probe and the type of leveling...) in the configuration.h of your Marlin Firmware installation:
#define X_PROBE_OFFSET_FROM_EXTRUDER -26 // X offset: -left +right [of the nozzle]
#define Y_PROBE_OFFSET_FROM_EXTRUDER -40 // Y offset: -front +behind [the nozzle]
// Set the boundaries for probing (where the probe can reach).
#define LEFT_PROBE_BED_POSITION (0 + 10) // 10
#define RIGHT_PROBE_BED_POSITION (220 - 26 - 10) // 184
#define BACK_PROBE_BED_POSITION (220 - 40 - 10) // 170
#define FRONT_PROBE_BED_POSITION (0 + 10) // 10
Furthermore the settings you do mention need to be:
// 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 -33 // Distance from end switch to X = 0 of origin
#define Y_MIN_POS -10 // Distance from end switch to Y = 0 of origin
#define Z_MIN_POS 0
#define X_MAX_POS X_BED_SIZE
#define Y_MAX_POS Y_BED_SIZE
#define Z_MAX_POS 240
The -33 and the -10 define how much the nozzle needs to travel from the endstop position to the print origin! This is not necessary to change when using ABL with a sensor (unless you are using a different print head carriage with a different center of the nozzle). Why these values are -33 and -10 (or values close to this; e.g. for my printer they are -36 and -8) is explained in this answer. |
All-metal hotend, cooling fan failures, and cold-side PTFE I'm getting a pet bird soon, and I know that off-gassing from heating PTFE above 300 °C creates noxious fumes, which are bird-killer1. To try to prevent even the chance of that I'm replacing my hotend with an all-metal one. I have an E3D v6 1.75 mm, which I noticed still uses a PTFE tube at the cold side (the 3 mm version apparently doesn't, but 1.75 mm filament is what my printer uses, so there we are).
If I'm reading the instructions correctly, it sounds like the heatsink shouldn't even get warm to the touch, and if that's the case I'm not worried as long as things go well. What I'm still worried about is what happens if the heatsink cooling fan fails. I plan to plug the fan into the always-on 12 V port on my board (SKR 1.3): if I do, then is it possible to set my firmware (currently Marlin 2.0.4.4) to stop a print if the fan fails?
If I can't get the firmware to stop on fan failure, then is there a 1.75 mm all-metal hotend out there that doesn't require the use of PTFE on the cold side?
1- Here: "at temperatures above 570°F (300°C), Teflon [PTFE] coatings on nonstick cookware start to break down, releasing toxic chemicals into the air (14)" | First of all, we need to discuss the failure mode and what can be done. LEt's do a
Failure mode 1: coolend-fan stops working.
Let's assume the coolend-fan for whatever reason (cut cable, defect fan, burnt board...) stops working. As a result, the coolend starts to rise in temperature, as it doesn't drain as much heat into the room air as before. This directly leads to an increase of the hotend temperature, which results in a case differentiation:
The hotend does not cope well with the loss of the heatsink and it triggers Thermal Runaway protection as for a given voltage bump the heating gets too high - the print gets aborted before the hotend reaches a temperature above 275 °C.
The hotend does not trigger Thermal Runaway Protection but the controller alters its heating behavior and works the heater on a lower duty cycle. As long as the hotend temperature is ordered to stay low enough, we will get a lot of extrusion problems from heat-creep, but the PTFE seated into the heatbreak stays below the heater break's temperature, as the thermal mass of the coolend alone draws away thermal energy into the room, even without the fan that keeps it at room temperature. As long as you don't print at above 300 °C and the thermosensor is intact, the failure mode does not release any fumes that could result in Polytetrafluoroethylene Toxicosis.
Failure Mode 2: coolend fan stops Working, no TRP, Thermosensor OK
But what if TRP is off? Let's look at this Double Failure: The hotend does not trigger Thermal Runaway Protection (or it was turned off to begin with) and the temperature increases due to the lack of cooling from the coolend.
As the hotend reaches 275 °C (few printers print that hot, and they use specialized setups), it should trigger the next safety line: a MaxTemp error and cut power. Heating stops before the coolend gets to the dangerous zone of 300 °C, as the coolend always is less hot than the heater block.
Failure Mode 3: no TRP, Thermosensor broken
We are getting desperate and turn off TRP, then break or disconnect the thermosensor to get a static low temperature. NOW we are getting serious, as only with such a failure we can trick our controller to continuously heat the heater cartridge and not trigger any of the error conditions. Only now there is the mere possibility to heat the coolend over 300 °C.
Marlin Firmware is designed to carefully work with checks and balances to keep the heater block in the wanted margin, and it would need a deliberate manipulation of the software to disable all safety features in conjunction with the failure of the thermosensor for the printer to go into Thermal runaway in such a degree that the coolend goes over 300 °C. And then you have different problems: your printer surely is turning into a molten pile in that failure mode. The presence or absence of the coolend fan would just delay the inevitable, should you run such a fire hazard-machine
Conclusion
Configure and install a recent firmware distribution (Marlin 1.1.9 and Marlin 2.x come with TRP enabled by default) and be sure to have MaxTemp enabled at 275 °C and Thermal Runaway Protection on, and you have a 3-layer safety against PTFE-fumes.
Adding more layers surely is possible, but the cost-effect calculation gets worse starting there. |
Can I reuse 3D printed parts? I need to show a demo to people on a daily basis. But every demo is for a different 3D printed part.
Can I reuse the material? Is yes, what is the maximum number of times that the material can be reused? | I ground up some prints and extruded them into new filament. The quality of recycled filament is not very high so I would not recommend it.
As pointed out earlier, the shredded bulk material you would create from your old prints would cost more in time and energy to produce than buying new raw material (pellets, not filament), and you still need to extrude it into filament to be able to use it in a printer. |
Is there a way to get more horizontal coverage out of "Vase Mode" in Simplify3D? I like using "Vase Mode" (or single outline corkscrew printing mode) for quick nonfunctional prints, but it tends to leave gaps in horizontal or near horizontal surfaces. I understand why it does this, but is there a way (beyond printing with no infill*) to get a little more horizontal coverage out of it?
*Is the answer to this literally just "Try to print without infill?" | Version 4 allows you to have multi-process vase mode prints -- do the vertical surfaces in vase mode, then switch over to normal mode for the horizontals. This lets you have the best of both worlds in the same print. :) |
Printing Filatech PETG with HyperCube E3Dv6 Clone fails after 3 smooth layers Recently I got a PETG filament from Filatech to print with my HyperCube printer with E3Dv6 clone Hotend. First 3 layers for every print are pretty fine but 4th layer doesn't stick and my prints fail like the picture below:
I use the following settings:
Slicer: Cura with Generic PETG profile
Hotend Temperature: 240 °C
Bed Temperature: 70 °C
Fan Speed: 100 % at the second layer
Print Speed: 50 mm/s (first 3 layers @ 30 mm/s)
I also tested 225 °C and 250 °C hotend temperatures. Both failing at the 4th or 5th layer. What is the issue here?
BTW I successfully printed with ABS and PLA with this printer. | As this is material dependant, you are facing not a printer, but a settings issue: your slicer needs the right settigns to print PETG.
The first layers look good, but then we get signs of stringy printing. Stringy printing usually happens if the filament comes out of the nozzle too cold (I had tried to print PLA at 170 °C and it would look somewhat similar) or if it gets cooled or stretched too much (forced a print failure by speeding up a 60 mm/s print, somewhat similar around 250-300%; though the filament was not hot enough then too). This, in conjunction with the information, that you print PETG suggests the following things to fix:
Reduce or deactivate cooling. PETG often doesn't need cooling at all.
Reduce print speed. As 0scar said, 50 mm/s is a good upper limit on a well honed in machine. As your other layers with 30 mm/s were fine, you could possibly go down to 40 mm/s, if less cooling alone doesn't help. |
BLTouch with TH3D Ender 3 pro I installed TH3D to my stock mainboard via this guide, but BLTouch does not work properly.
It does not check all 9 points before point it just go middle then check z then start printing. BLTouch normally needs to check all 9 points before printing or with autobedleveling but somehow mine do not work like this. | After setting up the BLTouch in firmware, you need to activate the leveling function for every print by inserting the leveling G-code 'G29' in the start G-code script of your slicer. The code should be placed directly after command G28.
Note that you can test the working of the sensor from the printer display: sensor can be deployed, stowed, reset and tested. |
Could anyone please provode me settings for Custom FFF for Zonestar Z6FB printer Recently I bought a printer and failed to find Cura 4.8 settings for it (both in application both myself). My printer Zonestar Z6FB
Currently I doubt in:
G-code flavor
All printhead settings excluding extruder number (which is obviously 1 in my case)
Start/End G-code
Add printer image to eye trap someone who also interested | After some pain, I figured out that if you are a poor Ubuntu/Linux user you should only use the AppImage version of Cura which you can download from official website
Next, make the file you downloaded executable chmod +x *.AppImage
Next, start it from terminal or by clicking in navigator
Ok, proceed as is and then Help ▶ Show Configuration Folder.
It will show 2 folders we need ~/.local/share/cura/4.8
Ok now download ZONESTAR_Cura_Resources.zip from here.
Then copy all files from ZONESTAR_Cura_Resources TO ~/.local/share/cura/4.8 but remember that directory structure is messed up but can be figured out. |
CR-10 randomly pauses for a few seconds I thought I have already had and fixed every problem one could possibly have with a 3D printer. Guess I was wrong.
I haven't used my Creality CR-10 for a few weeks, everything was working the last time I tried. Today I wanted to print something minor and the printer just randomly paused a few times in the middle of the print.
To be exact, it seems that after a few G-code commands have been executed the printer just freezes for like 10 seconds and then continues like nothing happened. This occurred a few times and every time the nozzle is melting the surrounding plastic and extruding a little which ruins the print.
I have tried:
Print from SD Card
Print from Laptop via USB connection to Ultimaker Cura
Print different models at different settings
My theory is that either there is a core problem with how Ultimaker Cura exports the G-code files or something is wrong with the printer software. I thought that maybe re-installing the firmware might fix it but I heard that that is a risky process. What do I do? | Edit: The z-hop problem has been fixed in Cura 4.2.
This is a known issue with Cura 4.1 when z-hop is enabled.
If you touch the z-axis motor frame while it is apparently stationary, you may feel it is actually moving.
The solution is to set a value (I used something like 250 in conjunction with an Ender 3) for the "Maximum Z Speed".
First you need to get the setting to be visible, so go to the "Settings" menu and choose "Configure setting visibility...":
Then in the "Print settings" panel:
The full story is available on GitHub at [4.1 - current master branch] Z feed rates #5753. |
Scale down SketchUp live size object does not render completely I got a life size model of a signaling post (trains) where I scale it down to 1/87 model (in SketchUp). When I send the model to my 3D printer (with Cura 2.4) some parts of the model are lost in translation even when their dimensions exceed the printer minimal dimension of 0.7 mm.
Is this a known problem of Cura or is something else at hand? | You will indeed have difficulties with scaling a model to the point that individual components become smaller than the tolerances of your printer.
It is more likely a problem with your model, having been created in SketchUp. If you use an online model repair service, it will almost certainly return an indication that the model was flawed. Unfortunately, those repair services are not a good choice for repairing a SketchUp model, as the fail points are usually beyond the capability of the software.
Another option would be to load the model into MeshMixer and use Analysis/Inspector to reveal the flaws, but again, the automatic repair feature would likely destroy the model.
Even a program as simplistic as TinkerCAD will do a better job of creating a 3D printable model.
Consider to begin learning a different, perhaps more challenging program such as OpenSCAD or Solvespace, or even more challenging than those, Fusion 360. All of the above are free, while Fusion 360 has the requirement of non-commercial/hobbyist use to remain free. |
Wrong calculation of E-parameter values Hello dear Community,
I am trying to print my first Box and I have a problem with the skin of the bottom layers.
After finishing the slicing and while looking into the generated G-code I was wondering why Slic3r increases the E-parameter continuously when 90 % of the lines have the same length and the axis have the same speed. Logically as long as the length of the lines are equal and the speed of the axis is also fixed so the amount of extraction has to be in this case also fix but that is unfortunately not the case. Therefore as you can see in the Result photo, that the printer prints the skin layer at the beginning in the right way with the right amount of extruded material. At the end of the skin layer, it seemed very bad because of the huge amount of extruded material.
Some Infos about my Printer may be interesting for you :
Nozzle diameter = 2.7 mm
Type of Filament= granules
Diameter of filament = 2.5 mm
Please let me know your suggestions and feedbacks. | The value you see is the cumulative extrusion, in other words the E value in consecutive G-code commands reflect a position of the filament since you started that print.
It is normal that it continuously increases in "absolute" mode.
You should see, at the beginning of the G-code, also a M82 or G90 command, which means "absolute extrusion". And you should avoid having M83 or G91 later in G-code, which would change an interpretation of E values to "relative extrusion".
It is more accurate than relative extrusion (which is the mode you are thinking about).
From your print it looks like the printing bed is not properly tuned, probably too far.
Also, it is difficult to see properly, but it looks like you get bubbles in the second part of the print, which are the reason there is an increase of extrusion: hot air pushes too much filament out.
Maybe your granules are not properly dry. It is difficult to tell you more, pellet extruders are more difficult to tune than filament extruders. |
Disable Marlin PID, and start print manual The thermistor of the hotend of my printer broke, at the moment I have no way to replace it, due to the global situation with the virus.
In my hands I have one of these industrial PIDs which is Temperature controller+K-type couple+SSR.
Is there a way to disable the PID in Marlin and start printing manually when the PID reaches the desired temperature? I just need it for PLA right now.
This way I can use the printer at least until I can replace the thermistor | You can edit the temperature control commands out of your gcode, or just tell your slicer to omit them, typically by setting temperature to 0. Then, as you suggested, start the print manually once your industrial PID tells you it's at-temperature. |
Cura's solution to replace corners->arcs to increase corner speed? I realized that with current Marlin I cannot use Junction Deviation with Linear Advance, see [BUG] Rapid changes of acceleration break linear advance when using Junction Deviation #15473.
Yet, it is very much beneficial to not stop at the corners with high acceleration but rather do a small curve. Is it possible on a G-code level?
Is there a feature or plugin in Cura which replaces sharp corners with arcs to remove need for Junction Deviation in firmware? | Cura's solution can be found in the "Jerk Control" settings.
Short analogy; when driving, and a corner is coming up, you basically have two options to take the corner smoothly; you can take the corner with a wide turning radius, or you can slow down. Taking a neighborhood street corner at highway speeds just doesn't work even if there's nobody else on the road; you'll very likely overshoot the corner, if you're in a RWD car you'll likely lose the back end and fishtail (or worse), and the occupants of the car, yourself included, are going to be thrown around violently, to no-one's real advantage other than to say you took that turn at 70.
Back in 3D printing land, something similar applies; as the extruder approaches a sharp corner, it will be disadvantageous all around for the extruder to try to maintain 70mm/s around what's basically an instantaneous turn. Your jerk (stopping the moving axis) and acceleration (starting the non-moving axis) settings are going to exceed the physical capabilities of your steppers and drive belts, making the corner less accurate (and in the extreme, losing steps causing layer shifts), and if your belts are not perfectly tensioned, and really even if they are, you'll get "ringing" (the 3D equivalent of fishtailing as you straighten out after the apex of a turn while driving).
The first option, cutting the corner, is your corner-to-arc replacement; rather than try for an instantaneous turn, just soften that corner by enough that you're within what's possible for the stepper motors in terms of acceleration. This keeps the speed and surface quality high, but necessarily reduces the accuracy of the print to the model.
So instead, Cura encourages the second option; slow down before the turn. Enabling Jerk Control and tweaking the associated settings lets the Cura slicer reduce head speed gradually as the extruder approaches a sharp corner, thus reducing the torque required to stop motion in one axis and start it in another, to something the steppers can actually accomplish at a rate you'd call "instantaneous". This keeps the corners sharp and avoids ringing along straight lines after a corner, at the cost of a slower overall print speed (though not as much as reducing overall print speed to the speed at which the extruder will take corners).
Now, I realize that this is the opposite of "increasing corner speed"; jerk control exists to slow the extruder near corners. However, increasing corner speed is rarely what you actually want, for the reasons stated above. If you really want nicely-rounded corners, fillet them in CAD, and then the slicer will generate a sequence of arbitrarily short linear movements (true G2/G3/G5 curve interpolation from the purely polygonal STL geometry has been experimented with, but currently more trouble than it's worth) which limit the change of velocity of the extruder as it rounds the corner, instead of making the rounding an "artifact" of printer limitations. At fine enough detail levels of conversion to an STL, the results are indistinguishable from a true curve. |
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. |
Can you recommend professional 3D metal printing books? I am a fresh graduate student in 3D metal printing. My undergraduate major is mechanical engineering. Later research will focus on the process of metal 3D printing. I hope that you can recommend some excellent 3D metal printing books for learning. | This is a free ebook that I have perused briefly which it looks interesting, and it is free (did I say that already?)
3D Printing of metals
Manoj Gupta
ISBN 978-3-03842-591-5 (Pbk);
ISBN 978-3-03842-592-2 (PDF)
Three other books that might be of interest are:
3D Printing with Metals for Design Engineers, Explained
Ann R. Thryft
Downloadable free ebook, but some sort of sign up is required
Additive Manufacturing of Metals: The Technology, Materials, Design and Production,
Yang, L., Hsu, K., Baughman, B., Godfrey, D., Medina, F., Menon, M., Wiener, S.
ISBN 978-3-319-55128-9
Additive Manufacturing of Metals: From Fundamental Technology to Rocket Nozzles, Medical Implants, and Custom Jewelry (Springer Series in Materials Science)
Although, as the title contains a (rather obvious) mis-spelling, it does not bode well for the rest of the book.
John O. Milewski
ISBN-13: 978-3319582047
ISBN-10: 3319582046 |
Internal wall does not print in horizontal print orientation I have an object that has cutouts in it (alignment pins fit in the cutouts). The shape of the hole is a right triangle with the point clipped off to create a flat surface in the deep part of the hole.
When I print the object in vertical orientation the wall in the deepest part of the cutout is printed properly. But when I print the same object laying down flat on the build plate, the internal wall is not printed and I can see the infill grid through the hole where the wall is supposed to be.
I sliced the object with a slicer based off a recent Cura version. I'm using the same STL to print the object vertically and horizontally.
Why is this occurring? Is there anything I can do about it other than printing vertically? (Because I have a need to print the real part horizontally. The part shown here is just a thin test piece.) Thank you
Here is a picture showing what the (Cura-derived) slicer does with the model in horizontally-printed position. I checked the layer display in the vertically-printed instance, and the missing wall was correctly rendered and visible.
I guess this is some kind of a slicer bug.
Here is a large-scale picture of what the cutout shape looks like. This picture is of the protrusion tab that fits into the hole. But the same shape was used to cut the hole in the object.
Here is another instance of the same problem. This time, I made up a simple block component, a simple cylinder component, aligned the cylinder into the block volume, and did a combine/cut operation in Fusion to cut a hole in the block (visible in the STL file). As you can see from the (Cura-derived) slicer layer image below, the same problem exists - no wall at the back of the cut when printing in the horizontal position. If I draw a sketch on the block and extrude/cut into the block, I get the same results. I also tried cutting the cylindrical hole, creating a "tin can" shell cylinder with an explicit bottom-of-the-can surface, sliding the open can into the cut hole, and joining the can to the block. Same results. The explicit bottom 0.5 mm surface of the can disappears in the horizontal slicing position. Strange.
UPDATE:
The test object is just a simple block with a cylinder extruded into the block as a cutout. As simple as simple can be. I have determined that Cura 3.5.0 works properly (Cura v3.6.0 is available).
I am using the Qidi slicer v5.0.7 latest, which uses an earlier version of Cura (I don't know which one; I have sent them an email to find out).
I have determined that the Qidi slicer behaves properly if the cutout cylinder diameter is 6mm or larger. But at 5mm, the slicer will not generate a back wall in the cut. The square/triangular cutouts in the example objects below are all 5 mm or less. My installed Cura 3.5.0 generates a proper back wall even at 5 mm. Therefore, it must be a bug in the Qidi slicer, which uses an older version of Cura.
As a workaround, I will increase the size of my cutouts to 6 mm. When Qidi updates to a newer version of Cura (they are currently using 3.3), the problem should go away. | I think this is caused by the shape of the hole. The shape is parabolic or circular, this means that if you slice it as in the green part, the slicer determines the placing of the layers along the curvature. If it has a shallow curvature, and slicing layer height is relatively thick, the curvature of the object cannot be followed. But, if you have more than 1 top layer, this usually should not be visible. I don't think that you have a single layer, so this is a pretty odd anomaly that I have not seen yet (that you look at the infill without top layers).
You could get past this by using a local different infill, e.g. 100 % infill. You can look at this answer of the question: "Different infill in the same part". This should help you out printing in your preferred orientation. |
How to thin UV sensitive resin I have some older resin that got a bit thick. I was thinking I could use some paint thinner to thin it a bit and restore it. My thoughts are the paint thinner is made of terpene oils so should be compatible with the resin.
To test, I went ahead and mixed a half capful of paint thinner with about a cup of resin. I mixed it thoroughly and it seemed to mix well and restored proper viscosity. I then filtered it through a paper coffee filter twice. The results were very nice and smooth resin. I did a UV hardening test with a few drops on a strip and into the UV lamp. It still hardens.
Any thoughts, suggestions or OMGs! before I try this in my printer? It's a Pegasus Touch SLA. | You've covered a couple of concerns "outside the box," but the real tests will come when you pour some of the resin into the vat.
If you don't get a reaction with the release layer, score one for your side. The release layer is a silicone kind of compound, which typically is un-reactive to most substances, but that's not to say the thinner qualifies in that respect.
To be cautious, you could dab a bit on the corner of the vat, especially out of the usual scan area or off the build plate contact surface. If it sits without clouding the release layer, the next test would be a layer test.
You could even remove the build plate, pour the modified resin in the vat and run a model comprised of only one layer, perhaps two. You'd be able to carefully pull the cured resin off the release layer and make a preliminary determination.
If all is well by this point, it's time to create a model, yes?
I hope you'll report back on your results. My Pegasus is still in the box from Kickstarter days. I'm sure my resin is well beyond the "sell-by" date! |
Installing Slic3r on Kubuntu 14.04 with NVIDIA I am running crazy trying to install Slic3r on my Kubuntu 14.04. It is a fresh Kubuntu and I downloaded the Slic3r package from them.
At first it worked well but then I changed the display driver to NVIDIA instead of the default Nouveau. I have repeated this operation a couple of times and I am almost sure that the NVIDIA driver screws up my system.
I have read and followed several "SOLVED" posts but none of them gave me a solution.
Any ideas? | There is a huge problem with any linux distributions and Nvidia drivers. I have tried countless times to get that driver to work but it crashed my systems time after time. If your slicer works with the default driver i would not try to change it. If it doesn't then you may have to go to windows where the driver is guaranteed to work. I know this is not the answer you are looking for but unless you can code a new driver to work for Linux thats the only solution. |
Will a Micro Swiss extruder and hotend speed up prints on my Ender 3 Pro? Long story for hopefully a simple yes/no answer:
I have a lightly modified Ender 3 Pro (BLTouch, glass bed, beefier bed springs and nobs, led lights) and I daydream about someday getting an "Ender Extender" kit to go larger or something, but before I ever do that I need to drastically speed up the prints. Last night the first layer on one of my prints took 40 minutes and I watched the whole time to make sure it laid down well. Can't imagine waiting around with a larger build surface. I understand basic settings like lighter infill/less perimeters/etc... but when it comes to really changing the speed and acceleration settings I'm a bit of a newb.
So after reading this article on improving print speeds, it seems like the Bowden tube style default extruder on my Ender 3 probably doesn't have the grip strength and/or constrained filament path to really push filament faster.
Based on that same article and this one, it seems like there are a lot of options for extruders and hotends to upgrade. The reason the Micro Swiss appealed to me is that it seems like this option is pretty much bolt-on plug and play (additional info here).
And it seems like it already has a convenient spot for my BLTouch.
Which brings me to the title of my question: will that Micro Swiss extruder/hotend combo do what I think it'll do? i.e. allow me to push filament faster and heat it up quicker?
Is there a better alternative extruder/hotend that is also pretty easy to figure out?
Lastly (maybe this should be a different question/too open-ended) are there other relatively simple upgrades/modifications to the Ender 3 Pro that will help it print faster? | If you want a single word answer, then no.
Before you ask this question you need to figure out why your prints are slower than you want them to be. With default settings, unless your models are something dead simple like a big cube or cylinder, you're almost certainly limited by acceleration, not extrusion rate or even max print/travel speed (which you'll almost never achieve). Gcode analysis tools like gcodeanalyser.com will help you gauge this by predicting actual speeds the printer will achieve. Note that even if your model is simple, printing infill and top/bottom layers involves a lot of acceleration/deceleration cycles, so even for simple models this may still be your limiting factor.
Until you reach very high accelerations (over 5000 mm/s²) letting you actually achieve very high speeds (over 150 mm/s or so), the only way to make extrusion your limiting factor is by using really thick layers or wide walls. At 0.2 mm layer height and 0.4 mm line width, even a sustained 150 mm/s is only 12 mm³/s volumetric extrusion rate which is high but reportedly within the capabilities of the stock Ender 3 extruder and hotend (but probably requires cranking up the temperature). |
Do aluminium PCB heatbeds reduce hotspots? TL;DR
Do aluminium PCB heatbeds suffer from hotspots as much as standard PCB heatbeds, or is the presence of hot spots smoothed over by the fact that the PCB "substrate" is aluminium, and so its thermal conductivity helps spread the heat more evenly?
Or, conversely, could the effect of the hotspots be magnified, and actually made worse?
Which has fewer hotspots, MK2A, MK2B, or MK3? (I'm not sure if this should be a separate question)
I would have also asked whether aluminium PCB heatbeds are worth the additional cost, over standard PCB heatbeds, but for the slightly less common dimensions of 200 mm x 300 mm, the costs, of an aluminium PCB heat bed, are roughly the same as standard PCB.
Some thermal imaging pictures, comparing standard PCBs with aluminium PCBs, would be appreciated.
I am keen to buy an aluminium PCB heatbed for my P3Steel v.4 printer, which has a larger build area of 200 mm x 300 mm. So, after some searching, I found this MK2A: MK2A 300x200mm Aluminum Heated Bed Hot Bed for RepRap 3D Printer 12V + Wiring + NTC 3950 Thermistor - Upgrade you Prusa i3 for LARGE Printsize, or this cheaper MK3, Anycubic Dual Power MK3 Heatbed 300*200*3mm Aluminum Heat Bed 12V/24V Perfect for Prusa i3 3D Printer.
Note: this is not a shopping question, I am merely providing a background to my questions.
While the RepRap wiki is full of information, the information can be rather piecemeal and incomplete. Cases in point being the two pages on heatbeds:
Heated Bed, and;
PCB_Heatbed.
As stated in the former link, on the section on Metal print beds, PCB based heatbeds can suffer from hotspots, and that is why, apparently, it is sometimes preferrable to use a subsequent aluminium build/print bed on top of that, en lieu of glass plate, in order to even out the hotspots, as the aluminium's greater thermal conductivity helps smooth out the hotspots, by distributing the heat more efficiently than a glass plate can. However, it doesn't describe the heating effect of just a single aluminium PCB heatbed.
The section, in the latter link, on Aluminium heatbeds, where the heating circuit is printed directly onto the aluminium, rather than a standard PCB (on a non-conductive substrate), makes mention that the print can be made directly on to the aluminium, without the need of an additional glass plate, resulting in a lighter print plate, and hence faster print speed. However, yet again, it is not particularly clear, or explicit, when it comes to heat distribution. | A thermal image of my aluminum heated bed does not show hotspots, although the edges are cooler than the majority of the center. |
Printing multiple materials with different properties on the same device I have searched the internet and found various 3D printers with different advantages and materials which they can print - some even multi color.
However, I cannot seem to find a printer that can print multiple material with different properties; for instance, simultaneously printing PLA and metal. Is there currently such a printer available or in development? | Yes and no.
for instance simultanious printing of plas plastic and lets say metal. Is such a printer available or in development ?
Practically speaking, no. Metal printing requires significantly higher temperatures than plastic, and the two processes are so incompatible that there is currently no good solutions that would allow one printer to print both in the same print. Whether extruding filament, laser sintering, or curing resins, the materials involved have to be fairly similar in processing environment to print adjacent to each other without issue.
There are many printers that are intended to print multiple materials by changing the print head. You might, for instance, use a ceramic paste extruder, then change the head for the next print using plastic.
There have been efforts in the past, and some efforts are ongoing, to resolve this. For instance wood's metal, a low temperature alloy, can be poured at temperatures compatible with plastics, so it's possible to create a printer that prints plastic, leaving troughs or voids in the plastic, then the same printer during this print would pour molten woods metal into these areas, which then solidifies into an internal metal structure. These are intended for circuitry and electrical use, however significant problems still exist because the thermal expansion differences in these materials lead to stress and result in poor reliability.
So while some of these processes are being developed, this is still just in the experimental stage and there are significant problems to overcome before printers can print widely different materials in a single printing session.
Of course you can find plastics with such a wide range of characteristics that they can be seen as printing different materials. Plastics imbued with wood fibers, printing next to conductive plastics with graphite, printing next to flexible plastics, etc, etc are now possible, and depending on your requirements they may meet your needs. |
FreeCAD to design moving parts I am trying to create a mechanism with moving parts, and would like to see how it works (whether it even works) before printing it.
For example, there's a servo with a bracket, and I would like to see how far can the bracket move before colliding with other objects.
Unfortunately I cannot find any information on how to set pivot points and rotate objects around these points in FreeCAD. Is this even possible? | freeCad has a draft rotate function in DRAFT workbench:
Select an object;
Press the Draft Rotate button, then;
Click to set the rotating point and rotate.
You will get used to that after a few trails.
There is a step by step guide on freeCad site.
There is also a short demo of the function here. |
How to use an Anet A8 control board with a damaged AVR IC? This post was taken from this comment, as the OP did not repost their deleted answer as a new question.
See associated post on SE.Meta: Is it possible to attribute a wiki post to a user?
With respect to this question: Anet A8 reading 739°C from the extruder thermistor!
Having read the issue, it seems that this is a common problem for the ANET3D board. I'd like to ask two questions:
Is it possible to sever connections to the ATMEGA and use the hardware itself while controlled with the Raspberry Pi or some other dev board?
While waiting for a new board (seems to be the only cost/time effective choice), is there any way to use the other temperature circuit (likely having to do some work in Arduino IDE)?
My hot end decided to set itself to 265°C while my bed is reading the new thermistor on the new Hot End just fine. I need to get a few prints made while waiting on funds to replace the board for full functionality.
I figure #1 is too much to hope for, but I have to ask. So, if you swap the heater circuits, what do you have to modify in configuration.h to convince the firmware to accept the modified input? | This post was taken from Tooniis's comment.
I've been doing #2 for a week now. I swapped ports of the nozzle and hotbed. Now I have a functional nozzle but the bed cannot be heated. The new hardware should arrive soon though. As for #1, it would be very hard to do since the ATmega chip is an SMD package.
In sanguino.h there are two lines which define the pins for the hotbed thermistor and the nozzle thermistor. One of them is 6 and the other is 7, and I just swapped those two. The lines are next to each other. |
Unable to load G-code in Ultimaker Cura I have generated a few 3D prints in G-code using KISSlicer and Slic3r, but when I load them into Ultimaker Cura I'm unable to get anything. The number of layers says one but I cannot see anything and print option is not working. I have viewed these G-codes online and they are fine. I'm using a Lulzbot KITTAZ with v2 toolhead (hexagon) and I can print only using Ultimaker Cura. Please tell me what the reason for this is. | Update:
Cura 2.5, and higher, does load and print G-code.
(The support was added April 19, 2017.) |
How to map Cura printspace to Prusa I3 printspace I seem to be observing a couple problems w/ Cura2.3 OSX . It seems to be placing the sliced data (gcode) over to negative X by a cm or so. Further, the X- and Y-axes displayed in Cura definitely map to Y and X when the printer starts up. I've verified that I have the printer's X and Y end stops and motors connected to the correct outputs. Now, I can just rotate my parts before slicing, but I'd rather have things be "correct" to begin with.
I've read the relevant info at question 1323, but I'd rather if possible adjust the Printer Settings for my defined printer in the Cura Preferences sub-menu. I couldn't find any description of what the "printer head" X and Y offset values mean there, nor what the "Z-gantry" value does either.
I'm running from the SD card; no USB connection. | Well, in my particular case, it helps to have the X and Y control (motor and endstop switch) plugged in to the correct ports :-( . That took care of the X vs. Y orientation problem.
If you command "Home All" either via the LCD panel or over USB, the nozzle should sit in the front left corner of the bed as you face the machine ("stage right" for you thespians).
The link Chris T provided, ultimaker, provides helpful background information as well.
Next, if there are small offsets, find control can be set with a script similar to the following (leave out the auto-levelling command if you don't have that),
from printerbot talk forum .
M104 S{print_temperature}
G21 ;metric values
G90 ;absolute positioning
M82 ;set extruder to absolute mode
M107 ;start with the fan off
G28 X0 Y0 ;move X/Y to min endstops
G28 Z0 ;move Z to min endstops
M109 S{print_temperature} ;wait on temperature line
G29 ; Auto bed levelling
;G28 X0 Y0 ;move X/Y to min endstops
G92 X132.4 Y20; Reset actual position after G29 bug
G92 E0 ;zero the extruded length
G1 F{travel_speed}
And finally, there's a calibration file at thingiverse which prints large squares so you can see the exact offset. I hope to get that file modded with a couple markers (indents, e.g.) to verify orientation as well as location. |
Ender 3 homing problem I got myself a Creality Ender 3 and just finished assembling it and I noticed that the home position is at the right instead of the left. It also is about about 3 mm in front of the right corner.
Anyone could maybe help me to understand what is wrong? | Homing is the process where the machine finds all the limits of the 3 axis (at the endstop switches), to have a common reference point for each axis. From the endstops, firmware defined values exist to give the printer head the offset to the home position, also known as origin (X=0, Y=0). If the origin position is in front of the plate, wrong offsets may be defined, but you can re-adjust the position.
If the stepper is driving the printer head away from the endstop on a particular axis on homing (in your case the X direction), there might be a few possible problems at hand:
The stepper cables are plugged in reversed
The wires in the stepper cable are switched
The stepper direction is reversed in firmware (this is not very probable for a kit or bought printer)
The stepper motor itself is build mirrored (not uncommon mistake for Y stepper motors on the Anet A8)
A quick fix would be to rotate the connector 180° of the cable going into the X stepper, if this works, you can disassemble the cable and properly arrange the stepper wires. |
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. | 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. |
Delamination issue Ender 3 Pro PLA I recently bought some SUNLU PLA black filament and was attempting a small print with it and it started to come out in strings and lumps and was incredibly inconsistent. Before this I'd been using some Eryone PLA and those prints were superb, been printing back to back successfully but after using the SUNLU all of my prints since have been having layer separation issues. I've cleaned the extruder, taken off the fan and cleared out the hotend of some wisps of filament, then flushed it through with some more reliable filament which looked better and replaced my magnetic bed sticker with a new one as the adhesion on the initial layer was poor even though the bed looked level. Once I replaced the sticker, the adhesion on the first layer is excellent. I thought I'd fixed the problems so tried an XYZ cube and still getting serious layering issues and the infill is thin. Any ideas what else I could do to fix this problem? I've put slicer settings below:
Hot end temp: 210 °C
Bed temp: 60 °C
Fan speed: 100 %
Print speed: 50 mm/s
No custom modifications to the standard Cura profile for the Ender 3.
My filament diameter setting in Cura is 1.75 mm and so is my filament. | This is under extrusion, not delamination. Delamination is the result of the under extrusion.
It typically happens when the wrong filament diameter has been set in the slicer (a larger diameter than used, e.g 2.85 mm instead of 1.75 mm). Another option is that you accidentally put the printer in volumetric printing mode which is accessible through the display of the printer:
Control -> Filament -> E in mm³ -> Disable
Other solutions may be found in the extrusion process, e.g. the extruder may be skipping. |
Printer fails to print a cube I'm trying to print a calibration cube from PLA using a 70 °C heated build platform on a Prusa i3 Pro W. This results in:
Please explain why it prints like this. | There are multiple issues that cause this result.
First, your nozzle is to far from the bed. This can be seen by the curly deposited filament on the build plate (I guess that is the brim or the skirt). Please properly level the bed and position the nozzle at a distance of a plain A4 paper as best as possible (should be doable as you have a glass sheet that are usually very flat as a result of the production process to make glass).
The second problem you face is layer shift. You see that the squares are printed further and further to the left, the print head does not return to original position. Layer shift is usually caused by improper belt tension or a loose grub screw of the belt pulley. This answer describes layer shifting in more detail. This question may be helpful too, the answer contains some references to layer shifting. |
Is cutting the arm off the Z-axis switch a good idea? We all know (or should!) that the repeatability of common spring-arm limit switches is crappy at best. I'm looking to build & install one of the precision height adjusters for the Z-axis limit switch, and noticed a post on some forum suggesting removing the arm and triggering the switch button directly (e.g. with a screw end).
Has anyone tried this, and if so has the repeatability of Z-homing improved any?
Edit
Sorry -- this is a stock Prusa i3, which depends on physical contact between the vertically-moving subassembly and a microswitch mounted on the frame. | While I haven't seen this on a Z axis for a printer personally, there is no reason it wouldn't work, and would improve your repeatability in theory. Removing the arm on the switch is taking away the lever. Going back to simple machine mechanics, the lever gives you a larger range of motion in which the button could be triggered, with the tradeoff that you get a larger target to hit. How much of an improvement depends on the exact switch, where the button is compared to the axis of the switch, and how long the switch is.
My Shapeoko 3 CNC router has a switch for all three end stops that do not have arms, and my Original Prusa i3 mk2 has switches without lever arms on X and Y axis endstops, so there is is no reason it won't work for your i3 Z axis, you just need to make sure you can accurately hit the small button on the switch. |
Which algorithm does Marlin use to create arcs? I'm writing a paper about a plotter (I use a Prusa i3 with a custom "extruder" aka pen). And I'm supposed to write about the algorithms I/the plotter use(s). I tried reverse engineering, but since I'm not very experienced with this technique I wasn't successful.
So I'm looking for the algorithm that Marlin uses for its G2/G3 commands. | The algorithm is based on the "Vector rotation by transformation matrix", and this solution is based on a solution from Jens Geisler. The formula for clockwise rotation is:
More information about the vector rotation can be found on Wikipedia. |
Can't get bed to level properly I am new to 3D printing and just purchased an Ender 3 V2 about two weeks ago. Since I've got it, I've been having trouble leveling the bed. I've tried watching videos, but they don't say how much friction on the paper is good or bad. I have even tried foil, playing cards, and a business card but still can't tell if it's good enough or not. Then when I would try printing calibration squares and adjust as it prints, but when it prints all looks good when printing the outside ring, but when it gets to the square parts there are bumps on the print from the nozzle being too close. Also when I seem to have corner perfect, when it gets to the center it's too close to the nozzle and doesn't even print. I'm using the stock glass bed so I'm not sure if that could be the issue. This is getting frustrating as I really want to start printing. And I want to save money for other parts and try avoiding purchasing a BL Touch if I don't need to. Am I doing something wrong? How can I get this resolved?
Forgot to mention, I upgraded the springs to these yellow ones on Amazon. | Step 1: stop using paper and get some feeler gauges. The gauge should be able to just barely pass under the HEATED nozzle.
Step 2: What are you using for bed adhesion? I use Elmer's white glue. After you think you've trammed (aka levelled) the bed, apply a generous layer of the glue in a coat on the bed. Let it dry.
Step 3: Verify bed level with a large square print that will cause the head to move to the outermost parts of the bed. Stop the print after a few outlines. Try to remove the print. If some areas are easier to remove than others, apply another coat of Elmer's glue to those areas.
Note: Do not hold down all four (4) corners of the glass bed. The aluminium plate is not going to be flatter than the glass. Only attach the glass to the bed on one side of the bed. I use the side that is furthest from the nozzle. |
Automatic bed leveling probes outside of bed despite NOZZLE_TO_PROBE_OFFSET I just changed the motherboard of my CR-10 mini printer to an SKR 1.4 and installed Marlin 2.0.x on it. Everything seems to work except for the automatic bed leveling. I’m using an EZABL probe.
The probe is mounted to the left and slightly in front of the nozzle. Therefore I have set the probe-nozzle offset in Marlin as:
#define NOZZLE_TO_PROBE_OFFSET { -45, -12, 0 }
When I run automatic bed leveling with G29 the nozzle moves to a position where the sensor is outside of the bed (but the nozzle is inside the bed). And then it crashes down into the bed with the nozzle because the Z endstop is never triggered.
To debug I used the DEBUG_LEVELING_FEATURE in Marlin and ran G29 from Pronterface. This is what I got:
SENDING:G29
current_position= X140.00 Y90.00 Z5.00 : >>> G29
Machine Type: Cartesian
Probe: FIX_MOUNTED_PROBE
Probe Offset X10.00 Y10.00 Z0.00 (Right-Back & Same Z as Nozzle)
Auto Bed Leveling: BILINEAR (disabled)
current_position= X140.00 Y90.00 Z5.00 : Probe::set_deployed
deploy: 1
Probe::move_z(5.00)
>>> do_blocking_move_to X140.00 Y90.00 Z5.00
<<< do_blocking_move_to
reset_bed_level
>>> Probe::probe_at_point(30.00, 30.00, raise, 0, probe_relative)
current_position= X140.00 Y90.00 Z5.00 :
>>> do_blocking_move_to X20.00 Y20.00 Z5.00
<<< do_blocking_move_to
current_position= X20.00 Y20.00 Z5.00 : Probe::set_deployed
deploy: 1
current_position= X20.00 Y20.00 Z5.00 : >>> Probe::run_z_probe
current_position= X20.00 Y20.00 Z5.00 : >>> Probe::probe_down_to_z
>>> do_blocking_move_to X20.00 Y20.00 Z-3.00
<<< do_blocking_move_to
echo:busy: processing
current_position= X20.00 Y20.00 Z-3.00 : sync_plan_position
current_position= X20.00 Y20.00 Z-3.00 : <<< Probe::probe_down_to_z
FAST Probe fail!
current_position= X20.00 Y20.00 Z-3.00 : <<< run_z_probe
current_position= X20.00 Y20.00 Z-3.00 : Probe::set_deployed
deploy: 0
>>> do_blocking_move_to X20.00 Y20.00 Z-3.00
<<< do_blocking_move_to
Error:Probing Failed
[ERROR] Error:Probing Failed
What I don’t understand is why it says:
Probe Offset X10.00 Y10.00 Z0.00 (Right-Back & Same Z as Nozzle)
Because that is not at all the NOZZLE_TO_PROBE_OFFSET I have defined. Is there another setting related to the nozzle/probe offset besides NOZZLE_TO_PROBE_OFFSET that I have missed? Or why does Marlin get the idea that my probe is to the right and back of the probe when in reality its to the front and left? | The problem is that, although you have set the offsets correctly, the boundary limits for the probe to "probe the area" have not been adjusted. It is my belief that this is a flaw in ABL of Marlin 2.0.x. If the user has set the probe offsets, the firmware already knows that the probe area is limited!
This answer on question "How to set Z-probe boundary limits in firmware when using automatic bed leveling?" describes in detail what the boundaries of the probe are for Marlin firmware 1.1.x and 2.0.x.
Basically, you need to set the boundaries of the probe using some extra definitions in your Configuration_adv.h file:
constexpr int nozzle_to_probe_offset[] = NOZZLE_TO_PROBE_OFFSET;
#define PROBE_X_OFFSET_FROM_EXTRUDER nozzle_to_probe_offset[0]
#define PROBE_Y_OFFSET_FROM_EXTRUDER nozzle_to_probe_offset[1]
When including the MIN_PROBE_EDGE this means that the area is defined as:
#define MIN_PROBE_EDGE_LEFT (MIN_PROBE_EDGE)
#define MIN_PROBE_EDGE_RIGHT (MIN_PROBE_EDGE - PROBE_X_OFFSET_FROM_EXTRUDER)
#define MIN_PROBE_EDGE_FRONT (MIN_PROBE_EDGE)
#define MIN_PROBE_EDGE_BACK (MIN_PROBE_EDGE - PROBE_Y_OFFSET_FROM_EXTRUDER)
(Since the offsets are negative in your probe setup, we need to subtract the values in order to add up the absolute value to the edge...) |
How long is an extruder's/nozzle's life? I've been using a printer for several years now and I've never replaced any of my extruder hardware (nozzles, steppers, gears etc.). I was wondering how long you should expect your extruder hardware to last? Is it indefinite, or are there normal life expectancies on them?
Also, what signs should you look for, in your prints, that would suggest that your nozzle is starting to wear out?
I'm more interested in the parts that contact your filament directly - I'm painfully familiar with replacing gantry parts (X-Y belts and pulleys). | This is highly dependent upon the type and quality of filament you use.
Exotic materials such as wood, metalic, or otherwise infused plastics can potentially wear out the inside of the nozzle and at the very least leave deposits of composite material in the nozzle. This can lead to more frequent or irreversible clogs. You may also notice your prints becoming "stringy-er" (sorry for lack of vocabulary at the moment) as the volume of your nozzle reduces with more deposits sitting in the basin of the nozzle, therefore leading to lighter extrusions against what your slicer is expecting.
Lower quality materials (common ABS/PLA) can also have an effect on your nozzles life span. So can good quality filament, don't get me wrong. However, lower quality materials have a tendency to go through much more drastic material changes during the printing process than better quality filaments. For instance, a lower quality PLA may not be 100% PLA. It could have 10% Nylon, 5% ABS, 0.1% operator's BandAid, and 83% PLA. Well, the 17% of the filament that isn't PLA has the potential to clog the nozzle just as easily as the exotic filaments. This is why it's so important to verify the quality of your source of filaments.
Some signs that your nozzle may be wearing:
It simply clogs more frequently
The printed part looks "stringy" or "bubbly". The "stringy" effect is that the extruder is not extruding at a fast enough rate for the speed of the motion, which is common if your extruder is about to clog, your filament is crappy quality, or your slicing settings are invalid for your machine. The "bubbly" effect can be from an overheated extruder or another sign that your nozzle is about clogged.
Your filament begins curling around the nozzle as it initially comes out. Typically there is a burr or something that catches the filament on its way out that you can simply take a small file to grind it off, but sometimes it may be because there is the build-up of deposits towards one side of the basin. |
MakerBot Replicator 1 Voltage Regulator Fix My Replicator (you know, the one made of balsa wood) has blown a voltage regulator on its MightyBoard for the second time. The first time, MakerBot graciously replaced it. However, they replaced with the same model board with no apparent fix for the commonly faulty voltage regulator. I can't afford the now $500 replacement board, so my option is to replace the faulty component and hope no further damage was taken on the board.
As MakerBot Industries did not need me to send in my old board, I've followed these steps to try and replace the voltage regulator on the old board.
I've offset the voltage regulator towards the power jack, jumped the remaining pin on the voltage regulator to the remaining lead on the board (where the old voltage regulator was), but I'm confused what/where the green wire does/goes (mine is blue on my machine). The image looks like he just soldered it onto the heat sink pad.
I tried to test it by plugging in the power and the RGB LED strip. The stepper motor driver LEDs turned on, but the LED strip and none of the other on-board LEDs turned on. I'm not very seasoned when it comes to electronics, so can anyone explain what the actual pinout should be or suggest other ways to resolve this issue?
Update: Old Board Replacement
So far I've replaced the regulator on my old board with some success. Before the replacement, the board wouldn't turn on (on-board LEDs wouldn't turn on). Now, all of the proper status LEDs turn on, but the board seems to be stuck in a boot sequence. The LCD screen provides two lines of block characters (as it normally does when initializing), but just hangs up there. I tried connecting the machine to my PC to try and restore the board to factory settings and install the latest firmware. However, the PC couldn't find the machine and I began to smell a bit of burning. I'm not sure if this is a result of permanent damage from the original regulator failing, or improper installation of the new regulator.
I'm going to dig around a bit more before attempting this fix on my main board. I'll edit this post as I continue the project.
Update: New Board Replacement
So, I've now attempted the fix on the newest board (the reason for this question). The results of this board are the same as the old one. I actually get power on the main board, but the LCD screen just shows two solid lines. I've taken pictures of what I've done. | What's the part number of the regulator you're putting in? The pin assignments vary from one part to another, but you can probably find them from the part number online. Some parts have the ground pin also connected to a metal part of their case. The green wire from the board should be ground (no promises!)
Assuming you've got a voltmeter, you can use it to find out which pins on the board are power and ground (easiest to do before the regulator is installed...). Then once installed, check that you're really getting 5V versus ground on the remaining (output) pin.
Since 2 of these burned out on you, I suggest taking steps to reduce the strain on the regulator. Voltage regulators turn the excess power into heat. Some things that can help:
Use heat sink grease to conduct heat from the regulator to the circuit board, the adjacent socket, etc. Hot melt glue, as the instructions you linked to mention, won't likely provide as much heat conduction.
Attach a heat sink to the regulator, or a bigger heat sink.
Get more air blowing across the regulator. You could do this by moving the regulator slightly, adding a fan, adding something to redirect some air onto the regulator, etc.
Swap in a bigger voltage regulator (that is, one rated for more current)
Turn down the voltage just a tiny bit on your power supply (if it has a control for that; many do).
Let us know how it turns out!
Steve |
What nozzle size should I use for filament containing glitter? I recently had a series of issues with my prusa MK3 that kicked off when I tried to print with Proto-pasta's glitter filament using a 0.4 mm nozzle. The glitter clogged up and cleaning it out was pretty difficult.
A different user here pointed out that 0.4 mm was too small for glitter filament. When I initially read (and, after the clogging fiasco, re-read) the Proto-pasta website I didn't find any information suggesting that a larger nozzle borehole diameter was necessary.
I have the glitter and metalic green filaments. Do I need a nozzle with a larger diameter to print these or not? I emailed Proto-pasta about it the other day but have yet to hear back.
Update
Here's the reply I got from proto-pasta on these questions:
Thank you for following up. Yes cold pulls that leave behind material can cause all sorts of trouble. It happens to me on the Lulzbot quite often, probably my biggest gripe about that machine. Anyways, on to your questions:
Is this accurate? Should I print the glitter filament with a nozzle with a larger borehole diameter?
A larger bore is not needed, the glitter flake is quite small and flows through a 0.4 nozzle fine. However, using a 0.4 nozzle and printing layer heights of 0.1 or 0.05 with glitter can cause a shift in apparent color as it forces the glitter to lay down flat.
If so, what diameter should I use? 0.6?
While not needed, a 0.6 nozzle does allow for a better sparkle or shine from the glitter filament.
Are there other proto-pasta filaments that require a larger borehole?
Generally any metal or wood filled filament benefits from a large nozzle size. For example, wood filaments most people suggest a 0.5 for better flow but they do work at 0.4. For us, we like to use 0.6 on the metal fills as it allows for a good flow.
I have a spool of matte fiber htpla that I got with my last order. Can I print this with my nozzle?
The matte fiber was designed as a non-abasive alternative to the Carbon Fiber filament. It does not require a larger nozzle, a 0.4 will work just fine. | Fact is that you encounter clogs with this filament, so trying a larger diameter nozzle is an option to solve this. Nozzles are very cheaply found in various sizes, so buy a few and experiment. Commonly found larger nozzle sizes are 0.5, 0.6 and 0.8 mm nozzles, even larger nozzles exist, like e.g. 1.0 mm or even larger, but keep in mind that the hot end needs to keep up heating of the extruded filament, so deposition speed may need to be reduced for larger nozzle diameters.
Alternatively, you could fight clogs the usual way by playing with temperature, layer height, retract settings, oiling filament, purging nozzle from previous filament or cooked up residue, etc, etc.
Quoting someone's experience:
As far as differences, here has been my experience:
0.5 mm low back pressure (High speed), and very hard to clog,
0.4 mm medium back pressure, rarely clogs,
0.35 mm high back pressure and very easy to clog.
Edit: According to Proto-pasta, concerning filament with glitter, a 0.4 mm nozzle should not be a problem as the glitter particles are smaller, the print layer thickness definitely can be a problem. However, they state that a larger diameter nozzle will result in more sparkle as the glitter is not laid too flat. |
Z axis at print is lower than when I home I replaced the controller board in my Monoprice Select Mini with an Arduino/Ramps setup and compiled an uploaded Marlin 1.1.0-RC8 to run it. I've got most everything calibrated and working with one exception.
I tell the printer to home for xyz and then level my bed with a piece of paper then start a print and the nozzle consistently drops too far down into the bed and nothing can extrude. If I adjust the bed and put 1-2mm gap between the nozzle and bed then it prints fine.
I can't find anything in Marlin to adjust for this and I'm kind of stumped. I'm printing the original cat gcode that came with the printer that should just work fine as it always has and shouldn't have anything that a slicer would put in there to screw things up.
Can anyone point me in the right direction?
This is the output of M503
Send: M503
Recv: echo:Steps per unit:
Recv: echo: M92 X93.00 Y93.00 Z1097.50 E99.00
Recv: echo:Maximum feedrates (mm/s):
Recv: echo: M203 X300.00 Y300.00 Z5.00 E25.00
Recv: echo:Maximum Acceleration (mm/s2):
Recv: echo: M201 X3000 Y3000 Z100 E10000
Recv: echo:Accelerations: P=printing, R=retract and T=travel
Recv: echo: M204 P3000.00 R3000.00 T3000.00
Recv: echo:Advanced variables: S=Min feedrate (mm/s), T=Min travel feedrate (mm/s), B=minimum segment time (ms), X=maximum XY jerk (mm/s), Z=maximum Z jerk (mm/s), E=maximum E jerk (mm/s)
Recv: echo: M205 S0.00 T0.00 B20000 X20.00 Y20.00 Z0.40 E5.00
Recv: echo:Home offset (mm)
Recv: echo: M206 X0.00 Y0.00 Z0.00
Recv: echo:Material heatup parameters:
Recv: echo: M145 S0 H180 B70 F255
Recv: M145 S1 H240 B110 F0
Recv: echo:PID settings:
Recv: echo: M301 P26.15 I2.74 D62.35
Recv: echo: M304 P231.09 I45.21 D295.34
Recv: echo:Filament settings: Disabled
Recv: echo: M200 D3.00
Recv: echo: M200 D0
Recv: ok
I also wanted to test whether the nozzle is actually moving closer. I did a G28 and manually put a piece of paper's width gap between the nozzle and the bed at all points. Then I started a print with no filament but with the sheet between the nozzle and bed. When it got to temp it homed all the axis and moved the nozzle to the first position. I would expect the paper to maintain the same gap but it tightly presses into the paper. The first gcode move that includes the Z before extruding is :
G0 F3600 X42.228 Y46.985 Z0.3
Which you would expect would put even more space between the nozzle and bed for the first .3 layer of filament but it isn't.
I printed directly from the SD Card to hopefully rule out Octoprint running gcode before the print so I really think the culprit is Marlin at this point. | I found the issue. When the hotend and bed are at temps for PLA everything works fine but at temps for ABS the Z offset would get all messed up. After a bunch of testing I was able to track it down to a single gcode statment G1 Z15.0 F6000
At the higher temps my Z stepper skips steps at that feed rate.
The "Custom FDM printer" machine settings I used for my printer in Cura had that statement in it and so did the cat gcode that was on the card from the factory. I changed the feed rate to 200 and was able to print in ABS.
I was surprised Marlin didn't have a 'limit the feedrate for Z to this number' setting. |
Resin printer build plate scratches/ damage I have an anycubic photon, and occasionally have trouble removing prints from the build plate. While trying to removing prints I've put some scratches into the surface, as I guess I've come in at the wrong angle trying to get under and leverage the print.
Typical examples I've seen of people removing prints, they appear to come at it hard with a blunt edge. I've come across scrapers that are blunt and some with a sharper edges.
I've put a bit more a ding into my plate today, using a scraper with more of a blade edge for a difficult to remove print. I had used the same scrapper before with great success, as it slide right under and I could leverage the print, but struggled with it today and scratched up my plate.
I haven't come across much discussion on this so thought I'd ask about scratches to the build plates.
Are scratches to the build plate something to be concerned about, is it something that it expected when removing prints? | One of the resources I've found is a forum with a discussion of the impact of scratches.
The general consensus is that scratches are not a problem, as long as there are no burrs above the surface of the plate that would damage the bottom of the vat. One posting party has used 36 grit on a palm sander followed by scotchbrite pad to resurface his plate, but one takes the risk of creating an out-of-plane surface.
A better method to sand a plate would be to place the sandpaper on a glass surface or something equally flat and planar and pass the build plate repeatedly over that.
Another aspect of the discussion was that scratches are good, as the rough surface provides a better bond to the resin.
You're likely to note that your build plate is not a polished smooth surface for the same reason. |
Under extrusion... sometimes You can see small gaps in the print which looks like under extrusion (see image below).
What is the reason for that?
I've tried smaller retracting distances. Temperature looks stable.
Print settings:
PETG from Extruder
245 °C Printing temperature
50 mm/s print speed
25 mm/s wall speed
30 mm/s retracting speed
1 mm retraction distance -> stringing...
Print cooling fan is enabled
Setup:
E3D Titan Aero
Duet Wifi
1,5 A Motor current for feeder motor
250 mm/s2 feeder max acceleration
Slicer:
Ultimaker Cura 4.0 | Here's your problem:
1 mm retraction distance -> stringing...
If you have stringing, that means that material that was supposed to end up as part of printed lines instead ended up somewhere else, leaving less material (underextrusion) where it was actually wanted. This particular test piece may not exhibit stringing, but it's likely that it occurred interior to the piece, in the infill region. Contrary to widespread(?) opinion, stringing here is not harmless. It's just not visibly ugly. But it still messes up the surface quality, and even more importantly the strength, of your print.
You don't say if your printer has a bowden extruder or direct drive. If a Bowden, the 1 mm of retraction is virtually useless; a typical Bowden system has more than 1 mm just of compression between the extruder gear and the hotend, meaning that retracting by 1 mm does not pull the filament back out of the hotend at all, and doesn't even relieve all the pressure that's pushing melted material out. I would recommend an absolute minimum of 5 mm for Bowden type extruders, unless your printer firmware has linear advance (Marlin 1.1.9+ or comparable features in other firmware) in which case you might be able to reduce it some. For direct drive, I don't have experience, but 1 mm is still probably too low; 2.5 mm is the believable recommendation I've heard.
In addition to retraction, you can further reduce material loss to stringing/oozing in the infill region by turning on Ultimaker Cura's "Zig-zaggify infill" option, which helps avoid in generating travel without retraction over unprinted area within the infill zone (see e.g. this issue). Turning slicer setting "combing" to "off" is an even more extreme option here. Of course make sure retraction is really on (not "retract at layer change", which is a separate, mostly useless option) and make sure "retraction minimum travel" is set low (something like 150 % of the nozzle width or less) to prevent retraction from getting skipped on short travel moves.
I also just noticed you wrote:
I've tried smaller retracting distances...
This was probably based on erroneous advice. Reducing or eliminating retraction does not mitigate these sorts of problems; it creates them. The only reasons to reduce retraction distance are to fight problems with the extruder gear grinding down the filament after repeated retraction, and problems with jamming the path into the hotend due to pulling molten material back into the cool part where it then solidifies and jams. If you're not having such problems you should not reduce retraction. If you are having such problems, you should try to fix them in other ways that still let you keep the necessary amount of retraction not to have catastrophic print quality problems from material coming out in the wrong places. |
Creality CR-10 extruder clicking and/or nozzle clogging So I am fairly competent with 3D printing, but this problem has got me stumped. I use a Creality CR-10 and I hadn't printed anything off for quite a while (maybe 5 or 6 months?) and I just recently starting printing again. I got a roll of somewhat cheap, but highly reviewed, filament that I have had for around a year that had just been sitting in a cupboard and went through the process of levelling and setup before starting a print.
I started to print a model and left it, expecting it to work as it usually does, but came back later and it had failed halfway; it stopped clean with no spaghetti or continuous extrusion. I started the print again and watched it for a few layers to make sure everything was working fine, and found that it printed the first layer off perfectly fine, but as soon as it started the second layer the extruder gear starting making a clicking noise like it was slipping and the filament wasn't being extruded any further.
I thought this could be because the extruder gear was worn, as it is only brass, and the teeth weren't biting the filament, so I bought a steel one and replaced it; but it's still clicking. I then thought it could be because the nozzle was getting clogged, so I took off the hotend and cleaned it thoroughly but that didn't fix the problem; even if this was the case, it wouldn't make sense that it is regularly completing the first layer before getting 'clogged'. I also tried printing at hotter and cooler temperatures, with and without the heated bed, and printing at slower speeds, but all of these attempts fail to fix the problem.
I did have a brief thought that it COULD be a problem with the model or gcode, as I did print of a spacer for the spring in the feeder which printed off without any clicks, and I also printed off a smaller version of my model (33% scale) which made the clicking noise intermittently and was affecting the filament but printed off fine in the end after I left it.
My final thought is that it could be the filament, as it isn't exactly new or expensive and was left for over 6 months, but before I buy a better roll I want to know if this is a viable reason for the clicking and slipping in the extruder. If anyone could help me out of give me any solutions I would be incredibly grateful. Thanks.
These are all my current settings in Slic3r: | Turns out the filament was the problem, I tried printing a model with a high quality sample PLA filament I had and it printed perfectly; one of the cleanest prints I've had. Never skimp on filament. |
3D printer calibration test STLs? Is there any well-known test set of 3D models that I can print out which will clearly show up the problems I need to work out in calibrating my 3D printer? Ideally, it would be either one or multiple models which shows the point at which overhanging starts to fail, points at which stringing occurs, the accuracy of one layer over another, and maybe edges which are supposed to be a particular length. | Yes.
There are more test models one can download than would be possible to list here. A search on Thingiverse results in pages and pages of useful models. A common model for testing is called the 3d Benchy, although it is not particularly parametric. Overhangs, retraction, layer alignment and other aspects of your printer are tested with this model.
Another option is to purchase a set of test models from 3dkitbash.com:
QuickPrintTests
The models lists as such:
#3dk01 - Voids
#3dk02 - Spikes
#3dk03 - Flex
#3dk04 - Edge
#3dk05 - Text
#3dk06 - Bridge
#3dk07 - Dissolve
#3dk08 - Ball Joint
#3dk09 - Hinge
#3dk10 - Columns
which are more specifically defined for testing your printer. I would expect that Thingiverse and other model-sharing sites would have similar designs available to meet your specific requirements. |
Replacement teflon (PTFE) liner For Dremel 3D45 I had filament on my 3D45 coming out of threads on the nozzle.
To fix this I removed the nozzle to find the PTFE Liner in really bad shape. It looked crushed and deformed. Now the tough part, how do I replace the PTFE Liner. You can't seem to buy the liner and getting a replacement nozzle assembly from Dremel takes weeks. Can anybody help me figure this out please, I really would like to get back to printing!! | The initial problem you had with filament coming out of the threads at the nozzle is caused by improper seating of the heat break to the nozzle. In a "from the ground up" installation, you'd have an empty heat block, containing your heater core and your thermistor. Threaded into the "bottom" of the block is the nozzle, just a turn shy of being flush with the heat block. The heat break is the thin threaded segment extending from the heavily finned heat sink.
The heat sink/heat break combination is threaded into the heat block until it contacts the nozzle, at which time, the nozzle is snugged into place securely. This keeps continuous the filament path from the heat break to the nozzle. Somewhere in time, a gap opened between the two.
When you have assembled everything (including the PTFE liner), you'll want to heat the extruder assembly to about 250 °C and re-snug the nozzle to the heat block and heat break. Hold securely the heater block, as you do not want to apply force that will snap or otherwise damage the fragile heat break. Use a wrench that fits the heater block without contacting the wiring. Use a wrench that will keep your fingers safe, as the heat block will be hot.
Stepping back in time a bit, when you remove the assembly, you should be able to determine the necessary length for the PTFE tube. I checked the manual for your printer and it is lacking in detail for this information. The diameters you've specified are standard and you should be able to locate a suitable substitute from many online sources. Amazon, Matterhackers, eBay, etc.
Examine the heat break tubing. The diameter should not be so small as to allow you to push the PTFE tubing in from the heater block side, unless you have an unusually manufactured product. Dremel may have decided to create a new bit of engineering, but I'd expect not.
You'll purchase more PTFE than required and examination of the upper portion of the heat sink should give you a clue how much to use. When the cover of the extruder assembly is removed, is there a guide for the filament to make it easier to push through the PTFE tubing? If so, the length of the PTFE is from the bottom of the guide to the bottom of the bore of the heat sink/heat break assembly.
Photos of the upper entry to the heat sink/heat break, with the cover removed, would be useful, but you may have sufficient resources in hand to resolve your problem, once you replace the nozzle and purchase PTFE tubing of the correct size. |
Printer LCD controller required when using a Raspberry Pi + LCD? When using a Raspberry Pi and an LCD to run the printer, can the LCD controller that comes on the printer be removed or does it need to be used also? | No, when you run the print jobs from a Raspberry Pi, e.g. using the OctoPrint print server, you do not need the display of the printer as you can control the printer from the Pi screen or from a browser of any other device. Do note that not all functionality of the LCD controller is built-in in those printer servers, but you normally have a terminal to interface using G-code with the printer, or you can make macros to do that.
In some cases it might be handy to leave it on the printer for small adjustments, homing an axis, or feeding some filament; it saves you some time opening a browser to control the printer when you operate the printer remotely and allows to troubleshoot the machine manually. |
Getting a Cura Raft to stick to the object more firmly (for ABS) I have been have a problem printing ABS with Cura on an Ender 3.
I am getting good bed adhesion on the raft, but the object on top of the raft easily curls off it. See photo below.
Settings:
Bed 110 °C
Nozzle 260 °C
Fan 0 % speed
How do you control how strongly the raft adheres to the object in Cura? | You should reduce the air gap option called "Raft Air Gap". Printing ABS optimally requires an enclosure of the printer, wind and draft cause temperature changes which could lead to layer separation. |
Ramps 1.4 and extruder I have ToyRep printer (RepRap), with RAMPS 1.4 on the board. And I am powering in from ATX power supply with 12V. And the problem is it doesn't heat to 230(for ABS), max value was 173 degrees by Celsius. Is it bad extruder or not enough power? | Make sure that your heating device (resistor) is for 12v, not 24v (resistance is < 10Ohm)
Check if the temperature readings that you get in your system are (at least roughly) the same as actual temperature (thermocouple with multimeter or any other device that can measure ~200C will help)
Check if connections are good enough. Low voltage at hotend is an indication of possible problem. ATX power wires are often too thin to transfer enough current. Consider replacing them with at least 2.5mm2 (AWG 14) |
Material extruded to prime the nozzle doesn't stick to bed at first When the material is extruded to prime the nozzle before the print starts it doesn't always stick to the bed for the first 20 or 30 mm of the line, causing the material extruded just after to peel off the bed as it is pulled up by the nozzle, eventually it does stick down to print a line but the parts that are not stuck to the bed can get caught by the nozzle as it comes back down to draw the second part of the line, this then ruins the first layer of the print of the actual model. On the occasions where the material does not get caught by the nozzle, there is stringing between the nozzle and the end of the line which itself can cause the first part of the bottom layer to have problems.
should I include a retraction after the priming has finished as it travels to begin the print or would this cause under extrusion of the start of the model thereby defeating the purpose of the priming in the first place.
The gcode that makes the nozzle prime at the beginning of the print is as follows:
; Ender 3 Custom Start G-code
M104 S{material_print_temperature_layer_0} ; Set Extruder temperature
M140 S{material_bed_temperature_layer_0} ; Set Heat Bed temperature
M190 S{material_bed_temperature_layer_0} ; Wait for Heat Bed temperature
M109 S{material_print_temperature_layer_0} ; Wait for Extruder temperature
G28 ; Home all axes
G1 F1800 E-3 ; Retract filament 3 mm to prevent oozing
G29 ; BLTOUCH Mesh Generation
G92 E0 ; Reset Extruder
G1 Z5.0 F3000 ; Move Z Axis up little to prevent scratching of Heat Bed
G1 X0.1 Y20 Z0.3 F5000.0 ; Move to start position
G1 X0.1 Y200.0 Z0.3 F1500.0 E15 ; Draw the first line
G1 X0.4 Y200.0 Z0.3 F5000.0 ; Move to side a little
G1 X0.4 Y20 Z0.3 F1500.0 E30 ; Draw the second line
G92 E0 ; Reset Extruder
G1 Z5.0 F3000 ; Move Z Axis up little to prevent scratching of Heat Bed
I am using an Ender 3 running Marlin 1.1.9 with BlTouch Auto Leveling, With slicing done by CURA 3.5.6
Any suggestions you have for how to stop the priming problems will be greatly appreciated. | Have you tried using a raft
I had the same issue on my mini delta when I first started printing with it. After checking and double checking the bed level I ended up discovering that using a raft base in Cura solved the issue.
It does use more plastic however I have had absolutely no issues with respect to sticking in the dozen or so prints since then.
Additionally it makes removing the print from the bed really easy as I'm not worried about damaging the print with a scraper. |
Are the Makerbot 5th generation's initial issues resolved I am considering buying a 3D printer for work (scientific research). On paper, the Makerbot 5th generation seems to be the best option, because the price is right for my budget, and also because I'm generally pretty busy, so I want something that's as close to "plug and play" as reasonably possible. This will be my first 3D printer and I have no prior experience with the technology.
However, any search for "Makerbot" brings up a raft of negative reviews from around the time of the 5th generation's first release, which mostly focus on issues with the smart extruder constantly failing and needing to be replaced under warranty. Many of these reviews point out that this may be an initial "teething" issue which might be fixed in later versions of the model, but now, one year later, I'm unable to find any information about whether this was indeed the case.
So: are the initial issues with the Makerbot 5th generation's smart extruder generally considered resolved, or is it an underlying flaw of the model that won't be fixed until the next generation?
I imagine that people might want to suggest alternative models in the same price range. That would be welcome, but I have an extra constraint, which is that I can only buy models that are available in Japan without a long delivery time - this probably limits my options quite a bit. | Makerbot claims the problems are fixed. I have heard from a number of resellers that the problems are fixed. Unfortunately, both of those are somewhat biased sources. It's surprisingly hard to get good info on the subject -- very few credible people are talking about recent experiences with the product line.
Issue #1: The main surviving user forum (https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/makerbot-users) has had the torrent of people reporting 5th gen issues more or less dry up. There ARE still people posting issues, but at a fairly low level that is not far outside what you would expect for an average hobbyist printer. What we DON'T know is whether the flood of complaints has slowed because they're working better, or because very few people are actually buying them any more.
Issue #2: The power-users and community leaders that typically evaluate and review 3d printers are all avoiding the 5th gen line like the plague. Makerbot burned up a lot of community good-will by going closed source with the Replicator 2, and lost more good-will through a series of misunderstandings over patent applications and the Thingiverse terms of service (Takerbot scandals), and put the nail in the coffin by knowingly releasing a non-functional 5th gen product line. Very few credible people are willing to give them a chance at this point, so there is a severe shortage of unbiased reviews.
Issue #3: Makerbot has a proven history of buying off journalists and reviewers to get positive 5th gen press. Some verifiable examples:
Hundreds of fake 5-star Amazon reviews from paid review accounts. A relevant analysis: http://www.amazon.com/review/R2JI8LRRXZYNX1/ (Not verified, but related: a widely-believed rumor states that the German Amazon site actually wiped all of Makerbot's 5th Gen reviews because of blatant tampering: http://www.amazon.de/MakerBot-MP05825-Replicator-5th-H%C3%B6he/dp/B0183TP806/)
The CES awards initially given to the 5th Gen line were given before Makerbot had functional firmware. None of the 5th Gens at the CES launch were functional. All demo prints shown were made on Replicator 2s. How could a non-functional product win awards? Not hard to figure that one out.
Historical positive press in the 3DP journalism media (3ders, Make Magazine, etc) has been directly proportional to the volume of ad-buys from Makerbot or the parent company Stratasys.
I could keep going, but you get the idea.
So it's hard to evaluate the reality of the situation. But even IF the Smart Extruder issues are truly all fixed (jams, leveling issues, thermocouple connection, filament encoder failures, etc), there are still meaningful problems with the product line.
The print quality is not impressive. The motion mechanics, which have not been appreciably changed to my knowledge, are not great. The Smart Extruder is basically a giant pendulum wobbling off the side of a non-optimal gantry selection of an H-bot architecture. Makerbot has addressed the floppy construction via firmware tweaks to significantly slow down the machine to give marginally-acceptable print quality. According to most reports I have seen, a Replicator 5th Gen will print significantly slower than a Replicator 2, for example. Expect in the neighborhood of perhaps 30-40% longer print times than comparable printers.
The price tag is roughly double or even triple the current market price for the size and print quality output of the machine. There are so many great printers on the market now for significantly less money that it's kind of nuts to drop the cash on a Makerbot.
It is marketed as a PLA-only machine. That's fine if you're printing art and trinkets, but it's not a great option for mechanical parts. While you CAN print other materials, this is not technically supported.
The support plan structure has quite frankly become abusive. Makerbot used to have really helpful phone tech support, but the crushingly massive volume of 5th gen troubleshooting requests forced them into a paid tech support model. Around the same time, Makerbot shut down their user community forum and deleted links to external technical resources off their website. So unless you know the right places to go, support is scarce. For official tech support you must buy "Makercare" or pay for each help ticket. This is completely out of line with industry norms for a hobbyist/consumer 3d printer. They essentially took their biggest liability -- unreliable printers -- and tried to twist it into a profit center. I personally think this is a significant reason to avoid the company entirely.
Is it possible to get good results from a Replicator 5th Gen? Sure. But it's a poor value for the cost, from a company that has spent the last few years systematically driving away its former loyal user base. I would recommend staying away until there's some significant change in the product line at minimum. |
Is Arduino Due a worth buy as controller electronics for deltabots? Over the times I hear people saying delta inverse kinematics push atmega2560 to limits. I see in my local supplier Arduino Due and RAMPS-FD is the cheapest 32bit alternatives. But there's not much documentation on it so any opinion or personal experience are welcomed.
is it really 2560 based electronics so laggy that printing quality is compromised?
does Marlin4Due has a good support for auto calibration?
anything else to caution against besides a ramps1.4 is a no-no?
(I'm planning my first delta. 2560 seems to work perfectly with my previous xy bots though. ) | An 8bit Atmega can provide bare-bones delta performance with Marlin (eg 40mm/s print speed) or pretty good performance with Repetier (due to more optimized algorithms). For a small and simple delta like a bare-bones Mini Kossel, 8bit may be fine. If you want to do high-speed printing or use any of the fancier features, you should go with 32bit.
The big issue with 8bit comes up when you want to do something that taxes the MCU. Delta kinematics already add a lot of extra math on top of all the normal printer functions like command parsing, motion planning, and heater control. For example, adding any of these to an 8bit Delta can cause issues:
Bed tilt compensation "auto-leveling" -- the coordinate space rotation transform adds a lot of extra floating point calculations to every movement segment. That really taxes the 8bit Atmega since it does not have native floating point support. (Note that pre-print auto-calibration such as in the RichCattell Marlin fork is not the same as bed tilt compensation and does not add any run-time processor load.)
Full graphics LCDs -- refreshing the LCD screen for animations and status reports takes a surprising amount of horsepower. 8bit Marlin is widely known to suffer from stuttering and print quality issues when running a GLCD on a delta.
Highly faceted (smooth) curves, particularly over USB -- the high rate of gcode command processing sucks up a lot of clock cycles, particularly in firmwares that run USB comms as a top-priority interrupt.
What the Due (or other 32bit board option) does for you is de-bottleneck the MCU so you can push the printer harder or utilize features that add processor load. Here's why they're so much better:
In simple clock speed terms, the SAM3X8E in the Due/Duet/Alligator/etc is about 5 times faster than the Atmega 2560, and the LPC1769 in the Smoothieboard/MKS-SBASE/etc is about 7 times faster. But they're actually MUCH higher performance than clock speed alone would suggest, because the 32bit architecture and native floating point support mean far fewer clock cycles are required for complex calculations.
They also have more RAM, meaning the the firmware can manage more features and look farther ahead when motion planning.
They also have more program space, meaning the firmware can, if desired, be compiled as a single full-featured build that covers all possible printers (as RepRapFirmware and Smoothieware do) and thus end-users don't have to edit and compile code in the Arduino IDE to configure the firmware. The Atmega line requires hundreds of conditional compile statements in the firmware to exclude unused features from the binary to get the memory footprint down.
All that said, the switch from an 8bit Atmega AVR to a 32bit ARM Cortex-M3 is still just an upgrade from a late-1990s processor to an early-2000s processor. Neither is "modern" by any stretch. (For example, the BeagleBone Black used by Redeem and MachineKit utterly blows away the Due in processing power and memory. But those options have steep learning curves at the moment.) The Due can still be bogged down by printing very fast with lots of features enabled. It's a big upgrade on an Atmega, but I predict it's going to be replaced by much faster controllers within the next few years. Announcements of upcoming next-gen controller boards are already trickling out.
To summarize, the answer is yes, a Due-type board is a good buy if you want a high-performance printer. It will meet 99%+ of user's needs today. But it will be replaced in a few years, just like the Atmegas are being replaced now.
As for specific Due shields, I strongly recommend NOT going with RAMPS-FD. It was cloned for sale by Asian companies before the design was finished, which seemingly caused the original designer to abandon it before working out all the bugs. RAMPS-FDv1 has some nasty design flaws such as heaters turning on while flashing firmware. RAMPS-FDv2 is better, but can experience unreliable and oddball behavior due to unresolved issues in the circuits intended to make it compatible with both 3v3 boards like the Due and 5v boards like the Mega. (For example, the thermistor voltage reference circuit needs modifying to work right, and there appears to be timing issues in the 3v3-5v level shifters.)
RADDS is a good Due shield. It is a simpler, more reliable, more compact version of RAMPS-FD. It is very popular in Germany and has recently (late 2015) become available for sale in the US.
I also recommend purchasing the Due R3-E instead of the regular Due R3. Anecdotally, the "E" version appears to eliminate some firmware bootup issues that can occur when the board is first powered at lower than nominal voltage.
One possible downside to the Due is that Arduino just announced they are no longer manufacturing it. So all new Due boards from here on will be made by 3rd parties. That's not necessarily bad, since it's open source and many other companies will surely continue making them, but there won't be any more made by Arduino.
For single-board options using the same SAM3X8E processor as the Due, the Duet 0.8.5 is becoming quite popular. (It runs RepRapFirmware, which has some great Delta features.) The Alligator runs Repetier. There are several other beta/experimental/development boards in the works too. The community appears to be moving towards the Due and Due-compatible boards over the other various options. |
Printer with 50 microns or close to 50 micron (z resolution) We're thinking of buying a PETG-powered printer. When researching printers available on the market, there are machines with a 100 microns. I was wondering if there are machines with a 50 microns or close to 50 micros? Otherwise, why not? | I assume you mean a resolution of 50 microns (0.05 mm step size)
Most FDM printers can produce something useful upto 100 microns. If you want to print with more precision, try resin printers.
The reason for this is that an FDM printer uses an extruder with a specific nozzle diameter (typically around 0.4mm and minimum around 0.25 mm). plastic has too much viscosity to fit through a smaller diameter nozzle easy. |
Is there a G-code to get power supply state? I'm using M80 and M81 G-codes to power on/off power supply.
Is there a G-code to know the actual state of the power supply? | I don't see one at http://reprap.org/wiki/G-code so it's probably safest to set the power supply to the state you want. |
Y-axis layer shifts with recent Marlin on Ender 3 Since upgrading from the manufacturer's firmare to recent Marlin (first 1.1.9, then 2.0.x git HEAD), I've been having significant model-dependent (didn't happen for first few things I tried to print; other prints reproduce it reliably) layer shifting on the Y axis. It's always in the positive Y direction, usually by 1-3 mm at a time.
I first suspected mechanical problems (see: Ender 3 has developed a tendancy to skip Y steps), but reverting the firmware confirmed that it's a firmware problem.
A number of bug tracker entries for Marlin indicate that there are significant ongoing layer shift problems:
https://github.com/MarlinFirmware/Marlin/issues/9768
https://github.com/MarlinFirmware/Marlin/issues/10446
https://github.com/MarlinFirmware/Marlin/issues/12403
But most end up getting closed. Some people say reverting to 1.1.9 from 2.0.x helped; others say 1.1.9 is EOL and to use 2.0.x. Is there a solution? How do I get a working version of Marlin (new enough to have Linear Advance 1.5, which was my motivation for upgrading) on Ender 3? | Buried in a bug tracker entry for a seemingly unrelated issue, I found what seems to be the solution:
@johanmga, I've discovered the velocity jumps here come from using "classic jerk" computations, and happen whether or not s-curve acceleration is enabled.
Try uncommenting //#define JUNCTION_DEVIATION in Configuration_adv.h; that will disable classic jerk and use the junction deviation math instead.
Also for reference, issue #12403 is actively tracking the layer shift issue (please comment there too if you have more information on problems/solutions), and #12540 is has more information on classic jerk vs. junction deviation.
https://github.com/MarlinFirmware/Marlin/issues/12491#issuecomment-443464603
It seems that the "classic jerk" code no longer works and produces erroneous motion to the steppers under some conditions (dependent on G-code contents), whereas the Ender 3 default configuration file is still using it.
With the default JUNCTION_DEVIATION_MM of 0.02, things worked right away, but printing was so slow that I could plausibly attribute it working just to the slowness. But increasing it up to 0.1 via the menus got the speed closer to what I'm used to, and it's still printing with no layer shifts.
I've posted my results in the tracker in hopes that they'll lead to discovery of the root cause: https://github.com/MarlinFirmware/Marlin/issues/12403#issuecomment-519305409
Another issue on the tracker seems to have more detail:
https://github.com/MarlinFirmware/Marlin/issues/12540#issuecomment-442793326 |
Building a cheap 3d printer with DC Motors? Because I do not own a 3d printer I am searching a way to build an affordable 3d printer. But paying a 200Euros for one seems too much for me.
So in my search for affordable 3d printer I thought to build one out of legos (for example this one) that I can find in bulk at reasonable price.
As for rods I can use out of old printers and skim them down to 8mm at a machine shop (at worst case).
But as for motors DC ones are easier to find/scavage that stepper ones but:
Is it possible to build a 3d printer that uses DC motors instead of stepper ones and what kind of firmware is needed? | To use DC-motors instead of stepper motors, you would need to have some sort of encoder that tells the controlling machine where the printhead has moved.
On the arduino Forums they have discussed the problems and difficulties. The main problem is, that currently, there is little firmware for Arduino or similar chips that can do this. Another big problem is, that such a machine might need a different type of G-code, unless well done.
That is not to say that there is no firmware that does control DC motors via an encoder. Printers do so since ages. But to reverse engineer printer firmware is really really hard. It took a pair of hackers the better part of a half year to dissect the printer & Fax firmware for one printer, and they had mainly looked to dissect the fax protocol and had not looked at all at the motor controlDefcon talk about it.
Luckily, as the RepRap tells though, somebody did hack together a DC motor control: Miguel Sanchez has a GitHub about it. You DO need proper encoders though. |
Mesh/Geometry quality tried searching but couldn't find anything.
I do not have a 3d printer so can't really experiment on my own, which means that when I am going to order a 3d print I want to get it as good as possible. So, my question:
Do quality of geometry matters when 3d printing? Will 3d printer only print quads, or ngons are fine? Are there shapes to avoid?
Cheers :)
M. | Welcome to the site!
In regards to quads, vs polygon. People will often reduce the overall detail to make it easier to print. But so long as after you export it to a STL and verify that your Manifold edges were done correctly and what you though was solid is solid, you should be good to go. As near as I can tell so long as you can export it to STL then it doesn't matter what meshing you use. That said I see Polygons more than anything.
Worst case you can run it through a STL repair program and it will make the required changes for you. Usually I used these tools to fix poorly rendered files.
My favorite is Nettfab. which is now part of microsoft.
You can verify if it will print by downloading slic3r, then "slicing" the file. After that you should be able to view a layer by later output.
Article talking about quads vs triangles from design
Shapeways article on preparing blender files for 3d printing |
How many times printed printer can print it-self? There is a 3D desktop printer RepRap which can print most of its own components.
Assuming each printed printer will print the next one and so on. Are there any limitation how many times this can be achieved?
For example somebody printed for me printer and I do the same for my friends and they do the same for theirs. Can this go forever (since 3D model stays the same), or there are any serious side-effects/disadvantages of doing that continuously? | The files used to print these objects are digital, and do not degrade in any way after each printing. There are no side effects or degradation that occurs over time due simply to printing them multiple times.
This is the RepRap philosophy, and the machines are actually designed with enough tolerance for printing and building mistakes that even if the print isn't perfect, it will not only work fine, but it can print a printer better than it was printed, with some care and attention to calibration.
The process still takes a lot of human intervention, in the way of building the new printer and properly calibrating it. If there are errors in the printer or the prints it produces, they can almost always be attributed to the builder/calibrator/user, and not to the design or the fact it's the Nth generation of printer. |
What is a good book to read about 3D printers? I've been interested in 3D printing for the past month however, I have noticed that it's sort of a "reserved" topic. Meaning that everyone who talks about it, has already some basic knowledge about the topic. What are some good resources for someone who wants to start learning from zero? My main goal is to acquire enough knowledge in order to build my own 3D printer. | You can learn a lot just by reading the forums. I'll just list a few that are quite popular...
Reprap Forums - Has a ton of information on DIY printers including build logs and posts dealing with many issues.
Soliforum - Large user base with lots of information. Not sure what it's standing is now that Solidoodle is gone but I'm sure the forum will stick around.
SeeMeCNC - Support forum for SeeMeCNC, has a lot of information for Delta printers and also other printers.
There aren't many books that I know of...Make magazine has done a few issues on 3D printing that you could try to obtain. I'm not sure what your idea of building a printer is, do you want to design your own or follow someone's instructions and put one together? Designing one would require some basic hardware and engineering knowledge.
All that said, the best learning experience would be buying a kit and learning as you go. You'll never read in a book what you will learn from having your own printer. |
What is the best material for printing an anatomic bone model? What is the best medium/material for printing an anatomic model for educational or study purposes? Specifically, I'm interested in printing intricate head and neck bony anatomy that requires fine detail to look at important holes and "cracks"/fissures. | The Stack Exchange discourages "best" type questions, as any answers are going to be opinion based. There are going to be more opinions than types of materials and types of printing.
Your question regarding specifics is more on the mark, however, and has less to do with material than with method.
Consider that resin based printing, especially SLA printers will provide extremely fine detail at extremely fine prices. SLA printers are more commonly used for smaller models such as jewelry and dental applications.
SLS, Selective Laser Sintering is capable of nearly as detailed work as SLA and is better suited for larger models. One can contract for SLS work on the major 3D printing services. Pricing for SLS is also "up there." Use The Google to locate 3D printer services for a suitable resource.
In the FDM world, you'll find lower costs and lower resolution. My printer is capable of 0.100 mm layer thickness, which means barely visible layer lines, but they are still quite obvious, especially on sloped or slanted surfaces.
I suggest that you find a small scale or segment of the part you wish to have printed and send it off for sample returns in the above formats.
As an option, once you have the parts, you could consider to use them to create molds and cast in resin as many copies as you would need. |
Setting Junction Deviation in firmware has no effect I have built a 3D printer with Marlin bugfix-2.0.x forked from github.
I am attempting to set the default value for junction deviation so that I don't have to change it through the printer's screen/interface every time I power cycle the printer, but what I thought would set it properly isn't doing the trick.
My thought was that uncommenting this in Configuration_adv.h would work:
#define JUNCTION_DEVIATION_MM 0.02
I have tried setting this define inside of and outside of the default if block in which it appears, just to make sure the issue wasn't because I didn't have something else set, and I get the same behavior when this define statement is either protected or unprotected by an if
Also, the default if block is this:
#if ENABLED( JUNCTION_DEVIATION )
#define JUNCTION_DEVIATION_MM 0.02
#endif
Uncommenting #define JUNCTION_DEVIATION leaves me with a compiler error telling me that I don't need to do that, so I'm not seeing anything that I am supposed to enable to get it to use the JUNCTION_DEVIATION_MM setting. In other words, I can't actually enable "JUNCTION_DEVIATION" any more, so I HAVE to break the JUNCTION_DEVIATION_MM setting out of the if but it still has no effect.
After setting this parameter, when I power cycle the printer, the junction deviation is set to 0 (although one touch of the adjustment knob makes it jump to 0.010, so I think that what is displayed as "0" may actually mean "unset"), which is causing a significant stop/start jerk on every angle change until I manually set the junction deviation.
My current Configuration.h and Configuration_adv.h are taken from this Marlin fork.
In case it matters, I'm running this on an SKR V1.3 with TMC2208 drivers at 24V.
Any ideas what I'm missing? I'm sure it's something simple, I just haven't found it.
UPDATE: Still no solution after 10 days. Here is additional information from another forum where I posted this request:
Did you run M502 and M500 after updating your firmware?
I dug into this a little more, and I am either running into a bug, or I'm simply not understanding what I'm supposed to be seeing.
I send this command:
M205 J0.020
Then verify that junction deviation is set correctly (it is)
Then this:
M500
And that responds with:
Settings Stored (616 bytes; crc 51371)
Then I send this:
M503
And the report for M205 is missing the setting I just confirmed to have changed and been working:
...
M205 B20000.00 S0.00 T0.00
...
And power cycling or resetting the controller leads to the same result: Junction Deviation is reset to 0.
Shouldn't I see "J0.020" in the M205 line immediately after changing the setting, and verifying that it works? | I've bought an SKR Pro V1.1 which is suffering from the same problem. It has actually to do with a shortcoming or design flaw (of the "HAL" or "Hardware Abstraction Layer" addressing of SPI devices) of Marlin and access to the SD card; I quote:
The problem: On board SD-Card on SKR-PRO 1.1 can't be used.
After the SD card has been inserted, the firmware binary is loaded into memory, and all access to the SD card is gone. The initial connection is by hardware design of the SKR boards.
Basically, there is a bug in the Marlin code/SKR boards preventing storing (to the SD card) any alterations after the firmware is loaded. There is a PR on Marlin that fixes it, but it has not been merged into Marlin yet.
There are 2 options,
Every change to the firmware has to be compiled and uploaded to the board by placing a hex (firmware.bin) on the SD card;
Compile a firmware version from the sources from the fore mentioned PR. |
Marlin - slowing down print speed I'm currently using Marlin firmware (1.1.0-RC7 - 31 July 2016) and would like to experiment with print speed.
In the file Marlin_main.cpp I see in the process_next_command() function, there is a variable called current_command which (supposedly) holds the G-Code values for travel distance and feedrate(speed).
I'm expecting the actual command for travelling to look something like this:
G1 X50 Y25.3 E22.4 F1500
but I'm getting tied up figuring out exactly where it is. I'm assuming if I can change F1500 to F200, I can effectively slow down the print speed.
I'm aware of line 753 in the configuration.h file:
#define DEFAULT_MAX_FEEDRATE {300, 300, 5, 25} // (mm/sec)
I'm not interested in setting a fixed slow feedrate but would rather change individual G-Code commands. Can someone tell me where I can find the actual G-Code command to edit it? | G-code commands are not in the firmware. You're trying to find something in the code that simply isn't there. Your slicer is responsible for generating a g-code file, which you can then send to your printer (either by printing from an SD-card) or using a host program like repetier or cura. The commands in the G-code file are then executed by the firmware, but they're not part of it.
How the commands are actually processed is not trivial, and it happens in multiple places.
The commands are processed in the process_commands of Marlin_main.cpp. Upon reading a G1 command, it calls get_coordinates to parse the X/Y/Z/feedrate values from the command. Next, the prepare_move function is called, which applies the necessary transformations (clamping to endstops, and the reverse kinematics if you have a delta) before calling plan_buffer_line (which is in planner.cpp) which does some more preprocessing and computes a "block" which is pushed onto the buffer. Next, planner_recalculate is called, which iterates over the blocks to find feasible acceleration patterns for them. Finally, an interrupt (in stepper.cpp, ISR(TIMER1_COMPA_vect)) periodically reads blocks from the buffer and actually sends the signals to the steppers. |
Cura imports FreeCAD stl wrong I am trying to import an STL file, I created in FreeCAD. It has a hole in the hull of the object and behind that hole there are two pins inside the object (see attached FreeCAD screenshot).
When I import the STL in Cura, there are no walls around the whole object where there is the hole in the hull (see attached Cura screenshots). However the wall and the hole are visible in light grey, Cura just doesn't print it.
Update:
I understand the problem. It's not a watertight solid. I found a way to import it somewhat fine using meshmixer to create a hollow with an offset which makes the outer Hull actually have a thickness to it. Now the problem is, that's not really what I want. The result in cura now can't be printed with infill since the actual inside of the model is only within the walls. Also cura sees both sides of the wall as outer Perimeter. I understand the problem but actually am looking for a way to just prevent printing part of the regular model's wall.. In other words: I would basically like to set the whall line count to zero in that particular area. I just tried to use the support blocker and "Modify settings for overlap" but that doesn't do anything.
CURA:
FreeCAD: | I suspect that your method to create the hole for the pins may not be consistent with the modeling practice that FreeCad and other programs of this nature require.
Consider the following:
Import your base shape.
Create a second shape that matches the hole you wish to create. It must be a solid object, not a plane or other single surface item.
Consult one of the many FreeCad tutorials that present the method to use next, that is to place the shape to be subtracted in the desired location, then perform a Boolean operation involving both objects. In the linked tutorial, it's referred to as a cut, which is an accurate description.
Performing this action will create a surface where the two objects intersect, removing the smaller one, leaving a solid, rather than a zero thickness surface.
You would then create and place the cylinders in a manner consistent with the original model. |
Massive over extrusion after changing firmware I have an Anet A8 printer (no modifications) and first printed a calibration cube. It came out okayish, within expectations. Afterwards I flashed the firmware to Marlin 1.1.9 and since then have very high over extrusion. In this picture you see on the left the original calibration cube with the stock firmware and on the right a cube with Marlin (unfortunately not a good picture):
In fact on the right cube you can see two narrow vertical lines in which extrusion appeared to have come out fine.
The cube on the left was without calibration. On the right hand side all axes, including the extruder, where correctly calibrated. The bed is level. The extruder has been calibrated in case of the cube on the right hand side (95.6 steps/mm). Material is PLA.
After flashing to Marlin the over-extrusion became such a problem that the nozzle is constantly dragging over the printed plastic. You might notice, that these are in fact different cubes, that is correct. I tried the same G-code from the left cube again, but aborted the print, because the nozzle was hitting the print too much.
I calculated a modified flow rate according to this tutorial and found that I would have to reduce my flow rate to 44%.
This appears quite wrong to me. What could be in the firmware change that causes such a massive over extrusion? | Very wise to change the firmware of the stock Anet A8. The stock firmware does not have thermal runaway protection which Marlin Firmware does have.
You should be able to print equivalent or slightly better with Marlin Firmware as you can tweak it better/easier than the closed firmware clone of Repetier that is originally loaded onto the board. My A8 runs perfectly fine on 1.1.9.
To identify if this is over-extrusion, you need to check out the settings of the steps per millimeters that are defined in your configuration.h file:
/**
* Default Axis Steps Per Unit (steps/mm)
* Override with M92
* X, Y, Z, E0 [, E1[, E2[, E3[, E4]]]]
*/
#define DEFAULT_AXIS_STEPS_PER_UNIT { 100, 100, 400, 100 }
Furthermore, rather than calculating the flow reduction, you could calibrate your extruder.
From the images it it hard to say whether this is over extrusion or not, it does look like it is printed at a high temperature. Please update the question to include print material and print settings (hot end temperature). |
Sending G-code commands to Hyrel System 30M using python I am using python 3.6 with pySerial library to connect to the Hyrel System 30M 3D Printer. I am able to read the data from the device but unable to write any commands to it
Here is the code:
ser = serial.Serial()
ser.port = 'COM4'
ser.baudrate = 38400
out = ser.readline()
ser.write(b'M106 T14 S30\n') %This is the command to turn on the fan at 30% power
Can somebody suggest me how to write commands to printer through python | If the one in your question is your complete code, a possibility is that your computer is just buffering the output for the serial port, withholding it in memory. Try to add
ser.flush()
after your last line. This command will... well... flush anything into the buffer through the actual connection. |
Dual extruder unused nozzle is breaking prints So I got my first 3d printer, with 2 nozzles. I thought why not, I may want to print 2 colours, dissolvable supports etc in future. But for now, only using one.
I've had good success on small items so far, but when I try to print something that's a big on the bigger side, my "spare" nozzle seems to crash into the side of the print - either snapping a bit off if it's delicate, or losing bed adhesion.
What could be the possible cause of this? I've levelled and re-levelled the bed, but I am losing the heart to keep trying. I have more half-printed broken bits now that successful parts...
Not sure of the relevance, but I'm printing in PLA | I started this as a comment, but it got too long. I have been working for much too long on a multi-extruder printer, and so I understand that the fixed, dual-head designs are somewhat fraught with problems.
I am assuming that this is a mechanism in which the two nozzles are inline in the X-axis, the Y-axis is parallel to the bed and normal to the line between the two nozzles, and the Z-axis is normal to both X and Y (and usually vertical).
When you "bed level", is it clear that both nozzles are "exactly" the same height from the bed everywhere on the bed? If there is anything non-parallel about the movement plane and the bed, it can cause one head to dip lower than the other when over the same position on the bed.
Is twist along the Y-axis of the heads possible? A twist could be because of either looseness or compliance (springiness) in the X-axis. The twist could be induced either through acceleration or by a nozzle being pushed up in reaction to the plastic extrusion against the object.
Is the printing from the active nozzle properly flat, or does it produce verticle bumps? Any vertical ripples will cause any head passing over them to bump against them. Something will need to comply with the force. Either the head will melt through the bump and smear it out a bit, the bed will be pushed downward, or the nozzle pushed upward. If the passive nozzle hits a bump, that compliance will be conveyed to the active nozzle, creating another defect.
Is the passive nozzle cold or hot? It may help to heat the unused nozzle so that it can melt the plastic it touches rather than pushing against it. If this helps at all, it may be necessary to slow down printing so that the passive nozzle has more time to melt through the obstacle.
If you find that the problem is bump defects from the active nozzle, it might help to remove the passive nozzle completely and focus on printing a smooth, even surface with the active nozzle. Debugging that would be easier without the passive nozzle compounding the problem. |
Reprap RAMPs over heating issues So I've got a couple problems, to begin I'm using the RAMPs 1.4, generic Arduino mega with Marlin, generic stepper motor drivers, a generic power supply. Nothing is special or even out of the ordinary. But for some reason when I plug the RAMPs in, with everything connected or everything unplugged my Arduino heats up like hell. I clocked it at around 60°c after a couple seconds of being powered on around where the main chip is. The voltage regulator seems fine because it doesn't heat up much, I've checked it around 40°c.
Second problem is the stepper motor drivers keep blowing up for some reason. With everything plugged in I power on the board for the first time and hear a small pop and then a small amount of smoke comes from the extruder driver. I replaced it thinking it was just a bad chip and the same thing happens. All other chips are fine it's just the extruder that fries.
When the board is plugged into usb it doesn't give me any readings what so ever on what the printer is doing but the Arduino works fine with anything else I throw at it.
Things I've tried:
- Lower the voltage on the power supply from 12.00v to 11.26 with no changes
- try running it with everything plugged in and everything unplugged
- tried buying a new Arduino but the exact same problems occur
I've gotten kinda tired of thinking of ways to trouble shoot so I'll open it up to the community.
Picture of a friend stepper driver | This really sounds like there is a short somewhere on the RAMPS add-on board. It is advised to not use the RAMPS add-on shield to prevent damage to the Arduino or the shield.
Personally, I would ditch this one and buy a new one. By the looks of the picture you are using a clone RAMPS, these are mass produced and the quality is not always the best (many components are skew). If you are very into electronics you could try to find the short, but it can well be that the traces on the board are somehow connected. Alternatively, you could buy a new board where RAMPS and Arduino are already combined, e.g. an MKS board. |
Prusa i3 hotend not getting to the temperature that I want (180 to 230 celsius) I recently finished building my first printer. The only problem that I'm having is that the hotend is not getting hot enough to start printing with PLA (180 to 230 degrees celsius), the hotend getting hotter stops at 170 degrees. Please help I've been stuck on this problem for days. Thanks in advance. | Usually, this kind of problem is due to an issue with the control loop of the temperature. You can try to do PID Tuning by running the command M303 E0 S200 C8. This will heat up the hot end and cycle it around 200C a few times, and afterwards tell you Kp, Ki and Kd values which you need to enter into the PID settings of your firmware configuration, or store them in EEPROM using M301.
If this does not solve the problem, then disconnect the heater cartridge and check its resistance with a multimeter. For a 12V system, it should not be higher than 6Ω (24Ω for a 24V system).
If the heater cartridge is okay, then perhaps it is a problem with the power supply. While the hotend is heating up, measure the voltage across the heater cartridge. It should not be much less than the nominal 12V/24V your printer runs at. If it is, you may have a bad MOSFET or power supply.
Finally, if you have a very powerful fan blowing on the hotend this can cause issues with heating up as well. Adding a fan shroud (or pointing the fan away from the nozzle and only at the print) can help with this. |
Monoprice Select Mini v2 clogged Boden tube connection I have had my Monoprice Select Mini v2 for about two weeks now and I get a clicking noise on my filament insert on some prints and when I check a few minutes later, I can see that it's not extruding and that there is a clog of some sort.
I checked to see whethere there was possibly a clog in my hot end or nozzle, but there was nothing there. So I checked my Boden tube to see if the filament was brittle and had broken, but I found that there was plastic with a slight twist clogged in the Boden tube connector. When it first happened I had used an Allen wrench to push the plastic out. The second time it was harder and took heating the connector piece up to melt the plastic and pull it out.
Now I know (from the ticking) that my gear feeder is making a clicking noise - as it did when it was clogged. So when I hear that, I just push the lever to loosen it and it sounds like it releases tension. So is there a way to stop this or prevent it? I tried upping the temperature on the nozzle but it didn't help much. I'm printing from an average of 60°C and a high of 80°C with PLA. | If you are heating your hotend to 60/80, that is WAY too low. PLA should be at 180+ hotend, and if you are using a heated bed, 60-80.
I would try increasing the heat of your hotend, starting at 180 and increasing if it looks like it is underextruding or if you get more clogs. |
How thin can my extrusion be from a 1.2mm extruder? I always assumed that the smallest diameter that you could extrude was equal to the diameter of the extruder tip itself. Recently I heard that you can actually extrude a line that's as little as half the width of the nozzle opening.
Is that true in theory? In practice?
My printer's 0.3mm nozzle broke recently, and the only replacement on hand was a 1.2mm nozzle. The prints have been fast, but really coarse and imprecise. I've dialed the extrusion diameter down from about 2mm to 1.2mm for some smaller, more intricate parts, and it worked fine. Can I go down to 0.9mm or 0.6mm extrusion diameter without it screwing up my prints?
If I can't do that, what does happen if I try to print 0.6mm out of a 1.2mm extruder nozzle?
For this question, let's assume an FDM printer using PLA and/or ABS filament. | The main issue with very narrow extrusion widths (less than the nozzle size) is that you get really poor "nozzle squash." The plastic isn't pressed down very hard as it's extruded. That causes poor layer bonding and weaker prints.
The flow of molten plastic coming out of the nozzle must be drawn down by tension in order to end up smaller than the nozzle opening, and that drawing effect makes it difficult to get good contact with the previous layer. So you end up with a "stack of logs" structure kind of like this:
(This photo actually shows layer height = extrusion width = nozzle size, which is another no-no, but the end result is similar.)
What you want instead is something very "mashed together" and strong like this:
How finely the the strand can draw down -- versus smearing or breaking apart into blobs -- will depend greatly on the type of filament and the printing conditions. For example, nylon draws down extremely well because it experiences a large degree of strain crystallization, and actually gets stronger and stiffer as it's stretched. PLA tends to get more brittle when strained and may break into stringy blobs. ABS doesn't change terribly much because it's highly amorphous. Polymer type, blending agents, print speed, printing temperature, and cooling will control the drawing behavior of the filament.
Another factor to consider is what the strand spacing is within the print. If you set the extrusion width equal to half the nozzle width, depending on the slicer, adjacent strands may be placed with pitch equal or slightly less than half the nozzle width. So after the first strand is printed (say an unimportant inner perimeter) the next strand will be printed with the nozzle partially overlapping the previous strand. This effectively creates a constriction to force the plastic out of a smaller opening to one side of the nozzle, which is not too different from printing with a smaller nozzle. Subsequent perimeter strands may then tend to "heal up" even if the first is low quality. This effect doesn't completely fix the problem, but it helps account for why under-width strands seem to work better than they ought to.
Of course, even if the strands turn out ok, it's arguable whether there is any benefit. If the goal of a smaller extrusion width is more precision and sharper corners, you may not actually accomplish that goal. When the filament is being drawn down by tension in the cooling polymer, it may tend to "cut corners" and get pulled into a rounded arc when the nozzle changes direction. That may defeat the point of using a thinner extrusion width in the first place. Generally I only recommend using under-width strands to capture thin-wall detail that is only a little bit too thin for the nozzle, not as a way to improve overall print quality.
In comparison, having the extrusion width equal or wider than the nozzle ensures the plastic is firmly squished downward into intimate contact with the lower layer. You can fudge this a bit and still get decent results, but it's usually best to keep the extrusion width equal or larger than the nozzle size. There's no hard cutoff where it will / won't work. |
Wavy lines on 1st layer only I'm getting wavy lines on the first layer only in both the x and y direction identically. The first layer is 0.4 mm with a 0.4 mm tip. The other layers are 0.2 mm. I've tried changing the Z offset all the way from -1.2 to 0.5 mm. I've tried changing the hot end leveling the heated bed. None of these changes affected the wavy lines. The waves have about a 1 mm period. The printer is a German RipRap. The material is ABS. The heated bed is 110 °C. I've tried the hot end at 220 °C and 240 °C. So far, nothing has changed the waves. | You have a too thick layer: to get straight lines, the plastic has to be squished together to some degree as it is pushed out of the nozzle. The result is a shape similar to a circle with the top and bottom cut. This works well until your layer thickness is more than 3 quarters of the nozzle diameter - above the "squishing" is practically nonexistent, and if you go above the nozzle diameter, there is almost no way to get the desired thickness out of the nozzle at all.
To aid in depositing the layers, it is also advised to demand a line width that is about 10 % larger than the nozzle diameter. As illustration, this is roughly what 0.4 mm extrusion width with 0.4 mm layer height (blue) and 0.45 mm extrusion width with 0.3 mm extrusion height (yellow) look like: |
Weird temperature reading using thermistor on MKS GEN L v1.0 AUX-2 analog pins Temperature is showing about 680 °C at room temperature. When I make it "hotter" by holding my thumb and index finger on it, the temperature does increase. So it is responding to temperature changes.
I'm trying to add some thermistors to my MKS GEN L v1.0 board:
I'm using the A11 pin and GND in the picture above.
The thermistor works correctly when plugged into the HE1 temperature pin. So the thermistor is fine hardware-wise.
The thermistor is set to be the "Chamber" thermistor in Marlin 1.1.x. This just means it is supposed to record the temperature of the enclosure. I don't know if there is some kind of volatility issue with the chamber constant in Marlin.
The thermistor has the same settings in Marlin for both HE1 and the chamber one. They are both set to "thermistor 11" for the 3950 type of thermistor. So the most visible setting implies they should be treated the same firmware-wise.
I've also tried the other extra Analog pins in the AUX-2 port.
What could be the issue here?
If these are the only available analog pins, how can I add more thermistors to my set-up so that they're available in Marlin?
Is there any way I can use the AUX-1 port? It doesn't seem to be an analog pin like in the photo for this particular version of RAMPS. I tried pin A3 but it didn't work. | Thermistors, commonly used as temperature sensors on 3D printers and other DIY things, work by changing their internal resistance depending on the temperature.
On the analog ports, the microcontroller can determine the voltage of the connected signal.
To actually measure the resistance - and thus temperature - of the thermistor, you need to build a voltage divider:
Most, if not all, 3D printer control boards use a resistor of 4.7 kOhms and a capacitor to build this voltage divider:
You'll need at least this 4.7 kOhm resistor to get your thermistors working on any analog pin, if the three thermistor ports on the MKS Gen L don't suffice for you needs.
You could also use other temperature sensors, especially for the case, like the DHT11 or DHT22, however I couldn't find whether they're supported by Marlin yet. |
Anet A8 beginning layers not printing correctly I have had an Anet A8 printer for about two months now and still have not gotten it to print good prints.
At first, it would only print completely solid parts and every time I would try infill from 10-90% the first layer would not stick or it would print really filmy like. As of now, it won't print the first layers for anything well but once it gets up about 10-ish layers it prints perfectly. I have tried a lot of stuff but it seems to be making it worse.
The pictures show my recent attempt at these settings below (Cura's default for normal quality), the print is supposed to be a 10 mm square. I have gone back to the default settings because nothing else was working.
Using blue painter's tape
Layer Height 0.1 mm
In. Layer Height 0.3 mm
WallThicken 0.8 mm
Top/Bottom Thick 0.8 mm
Infill Density 20%
Grid Pattern
Print Temp 210°C
Bed Temp 65°C
Dia 1.75 mm
Flow 100%
Brim (raft is a little better)
Any suggestions?
In the top picture you can also how the top layer has two bubble effects. | With respect to the filament lifting off, and/or not adhering correctly, on the first layer, see Filament lifts from the hot bed while printing... in particular, you may need to clean the bed, calibrate the leveling and the nozzle height (see my answer).
The fact that the prints are fine, after 10 or so layers, could be to do with the heat - at the higher layers the print is warm and no warping occurs, but below that, maybe the print bed is acting as a heat sink and making the filament cool too quickly - hence the distortion. Are you using a heated bed? If not, then maybe consider installing one.
Not sure about the bubbles: how do your store your filament? The bubbles could be due to water, which expands as it gets hot, thereby causing the filament to bubble. It is best to store your filament in an air tight container, to prevent it collecting moisture and dust from the air. |
Z-Axis raising and dropping substantially during print knocking print off I've had my Creality Ender 3 Pro since October 2019. It was running like a dream until about a month ago. The Z-axis started knocking prints off the plate during printing. I've changed mats and worked on adhesion issues. I've switched to a glass plate and triple checked that it is level. I checked to see if it was binding but honestly I couldn't tell.
I'm at a loss of what to do to troubleshoot and fix the issue. Any suggestions?
It homes fine and manual controls work fine with no issues. | Can you send a link to a short video of the problem occuring? It might be because of multiple factors but we will be able to identify if there's a video of it.
Possible reasons:
Z axis nut might be too tight. This would cause the nut to bind with the leadscrew and so the motor will not be able to lift the z-axis further while printing.
Not enough retraction. This would cause filament to ooze from the nozzle during travel moves and this filament would collide with the printed object, causing it to be knocked off. A possible solution for this would be to enable Z-hop in the slider, have the hop distance set to at least 1.5x the layer height you are currently printing with.
Too small of a contact area. This usually happens more often for tall prints. A solution would be to increase brim in the slicer settings (at least 10~15 lines) to increase the adhesion of the print and the bed.
Dirty nozzle. Old prints filament may be stuck on the outer face of the nozzle and might be catching onto the printed part while printing. |
How to choose a right 3D printer filament type? There are a big variety of them that can be found at the market. Some of them have similar characteristics, the other varies from each other.
What are props and cons of cheaper filament vs expensive filament?
How to choose which filament to use? | Determine what properties you need the filament to have.
There are a very wide variety of filaments because they all have somewhat different properties. You need to determine what properties you need your final print to possess. For instance, ABS can be smoothed used acetone and PLA is biodegradable. More exotic filaments could be conductive or be extremely flexible. Do not neglect to consider safety of the plastic in your application. A full list of properties is too broad for an appropriate answer from this site.
Determine what you printer is designed to handle.
Most printers can handle PLA and ABS with little issue but higher temperatures are required to use some materials such as nylon and polycarbonate. Determine beforehand what your printer is designed to handle. This includes determining whether you have and appropriate heated bed or other accessories.
Determine what you can afford.
Printing not only requires the cost of the weight of filament in the final print but all of the support structures and misprints you produce. Not only should you look for inexpensive filaments, but you should look for ones that are good enough quality you don't waste time and money fighting problems with the raw material.
All in all, this will vary case by case. I would recommend that you start with PLA or ABS as they are common and relatively easy to work with but that you do your own research into what each individual filament type has to offer.. |
BLTouch error Marlin 2.x (on SKR 1.3) I have some issue with my BLTouch (I'm new to bed levelling) :
I compiled Marlin 2.x (for my SKR 1.3) for a Antclabs BLTouch, and everytime I power on the printer, it shows this error message: Failed to enable Bed Leveling, echo Bed Levelling off, echo : Fade Height 0, FF, ok:
The LED of the BLTouch is on, I can still deploy and stow the pin, and do "levelling ABL" but Homing Z (for example) is not working.
I linked the config.h and config_adv.h in case needed below:
Configuration.h
Configuration_adv.h | From a comment can be read that the OP found the solution:
it's fixed : it's because I didn't level the bed once after flashing the firmware, once it has been done the error is no more |
Looking to use 3D printing to make a master plate for rubber stamp vulcanizing I am an art rubber stamp maker, using a vulcanizer to make art rubber stamps from molds that are usually created with a magnesium plate.
The normal process is to send artwork off to an engraving firm to acid etch the magnesium plate (11 pt depth is desired) and that metal plate is then used with uncured matrix boards (a bakelight type material) that is "cured" in the vulcanizer that is then used over and over to make as many images of the rubber stamps as one would want. The vulcanizer heats up to 300 to 320 °F, and one usually uses 2000 to 2500 p.s.i. of pressure for 10 to 15 minutes to cure a mold. Once the mold is cured, it is impervious to the heat used in the vulcanizer, and the heat is used to cure the unvulcanized rubber (again, 300 or so degrees, 2000 psi, or so, for 8 to 10 minutes.
In reading up about the melting points of PLA and ABS, the 200 °C equates to around 460 °F, so there doesn't seem like the heat of the vulcanizer will be an issue, and the pressure isn't applied all at once, one usually allows the uncured matrix board to heat up before the high pressure is obtained, I'm just curious if any other stamp makers have had success with this method and/or have any suggestions about STL files for this type of printing, if there needs to be 2 or 3 degree shoulder angle added to the file configuration, or any other suggestions. | This would likely not work. ABS has a glass transition temperature of 105 °C. It doesn't have a melting point because it's amorphous. Rather, as you heat the part up, it gradually transitions from a solid to a viscous liquid, but there is no "hard" transition from solid to molten at one particular temperature.
The glass transition temperature, at 105 °C, is significantly lower than the 200 °C "melting point" of ABS you quoted. At 160 °C, while ABS would not be molten sufficiently for 3D printing, it definitely becomes flexible and would deform easily.
I do not think it would hold its shape very well over the long period of time it has to spend in your vulcanizing machine, under high pressure and well above its glass transition temperature.
The surface of 3D printed objects also usually has a somewhat rough finish. If you wanted to make satisfactory stamps, you would probably need to spend a long time manually finishing the 3D printed master before making a mold from it. |
Rough vertical ridges I sometimes have a problem with rough surfaces. This problem can show up any time on vertical surfaces.
In the linked picture of the problem, the area further from the camera has ridges that are sharp and clean. It is usually in one area on the outer surface of curving shapes. Could anyone tell me what the name of this effect is and how to avoid it? I'm using an Ender 3 and Cura. | Looks like under extrusion, here's a extreme example.
I would check your feed rate by marking out 100 mm on the filament then manually extruding 100 mm. You can use this to verify if you are under extruding due to your feeder. If you find that the printer only fed say 90 mm when you asked for 100 mm, you will need to change your feed rate in Cura to 110 %.
If you confirm that the printer is pulling 100 mm through when you manually ask for that much, then it could be a combination of speed, cooling & jitter. I would slow down the print speed and see if it improves the print quality. I've experienced issues where the nozzle is moving fast around small bends and wobbling slightly, the filament is struggling to land on the previous layer and the resulting effect looked a bit like your photo.
I can't think of anything else that might be causing this issue. |
My print did not turn out as I expected. Where can I start troubleshooting? I am trying to modify this thing. It's prints OK, but there are some design choices I don't like, so, since the previous makers uploaded their source files, I tried my hand at Sketchup.
My latest round of changes have produced a weird phenomenon, and I'm not sure how to describe it. The slicer sees the GCODE as I intend, but for some reason the printer is printing something different than what the slicer is showing me. I am primarily concerned with the top of this case, but the base does not have the additional screw holes I made, so the phenomenon, whatever it is, is not limited to a single part.
Sketchup v17.2.25555
Cura v3.0.3
OctoPi/OctoPrint 1.2.7
PrintrBot LC custom
Grey Inland PLA+ @~180C, bed @~60C (my temps are higher than the software thinks they are, so I have to put the temp lower in the software)
You can see the parts in Sketchup:
The corner on the left was giving me no end of trouble! I left it with a messed up hole because I could more easily clean it up with a drill bit than spend another few hours futzing with that corner.
This is in Cura, after I have sliced it. Looks fine to me! There is a bit of red in that problematic corner, but I only noticed that after the print came out weird.
This is the output of the printer. Notice how the edge near the GPIO pins is shorter than the rest, and how the hole is inverted into a protrusion. This is the opposite of what I want, and the opposite of what I see in the other softwares. | first issue
bed inclination. it has to be heavy issue :)
if you have any other printouts then please reveal them so we could see if it's the problem
next issue
inversion of hole into solid object
i would say it's caused by wrong calculation of normal vector to some face(s)
algorithm uses normal to calculates what is "inside" and what is not
it's hard to say if it's an issue of
object itself
application in which you modify it (even if duplicating or joining with other objects)
slicer engine
to fix the issue, you can try edit your object (recreate this hole)
but first - definitelly i'd align your bed properly ;)
EDIT
after closer look i bet it's the issue of bad object. it looks like pointed line is kinda remnant of some operations made on object in the past
in other words - it's possible place where normals are reverted and doesn't "create" inside but outside
all above this line is reverted. part of body disappeared and part of hole appeared
this is the issue for sure! |
Raised lips on sharp vertical corners I have an Ender 3 with a lot of mods. Of note, a cheap direct drive kit, linear rails for the Y axis, an upgraded "silent" mainboard and TH3D's firmware. But this issue goes back a long ways, yet I've not seen any really good examples of this particular issue in various faqs.
All of my vertical edges, especially when they are 90°, have raised lips in a very precise, repeated fashion. It's small, maybe a quarter millimeter in diameter, so it rarely is a problem, but occasionally it messes with the dimensionality of a print with tight tolerances.
I had suspected the problem might have been related to using acceleration/jerk settings, but I disabled them for the print below and got a perfect example case.
Other things I've tried:
calibrating E-steps (I've done this many, many times, only to find the E-step number changes with speed and temperature anyway).
Deliberately underextruding. This actually doesn't help.
Slowing prints way, way down. Also doesn't seem to have an impact, at least down to 20mm/s.
changing slicers. This problem happens with Cura, Simplify3d and PrusaSlicer.
replacing my nozzle with a fresh one, which should have cleared up any existing clogs or leakages from a worn nozzle.
After a lot of searching on the subject, I found this bug report for Marlin, the first case of over-extruded corners I've found that look at all like mine. What I find especially interesting is that changes to Marlin around version 1.1.8 have introduced the issue for some people who previously didn't have the problem. This seems to suggest it's not necessarily a hardware issue, but a bug in software. I'm considering testing out a downgrade to a 3-year-old version just to see if that alone makes a difference. | If the amount of time spent by the head near the corner is significantly longer than what's spent per unit time elsewhere, you will get more extrusion at the corners and thus this effect. High print speed combined with low acceleration/jerk limits give you this effect.
Using a lower print speed should make it go away because it takes very little time to accelerate up to (or decelerate down from) a low nominal print speed from (to) the max cornering speed allowed by acceleration/jerk settings.
Using (much!) higher acceleration/jerk limits can also make it go away, but can cause other print quality problems and even layer shifts.
The Right Fix for this problem is upgrading your firmware to a version of Marlin with the Linear Advance feature and calibrating it. Then the printer automatically compensates for this issue by varying the pressure at the nozzle to get consistent extrusion rate regardless of changes in speed. I've had very good luck with this on my Ender 3, with a calibration constant K=0.6 for PLA and significantly larger ones for flexible filaments (the constant is essentially the spring constant of the filament for the length of filament path between the extruder gear and the nozzle).
If you don't want to replace the firmware, though, increasing acceleration and jerk limits and lowering speed should work ok. Your machine should be able to handle 3000 mm²/s acceleration on X and Y axis, with 10 mm/s "jerk" (the units of jerk are weird because it's not actually jerk; see my question on the topic). |
Models are printing with a scratch on the side I just recently got an Ender 3 and have been trying to learn the do’s and don’ts. My first model looked like it had under extrusion and stringing, but my second model looks like it has frequent “scratches” along the sides. I printed it with two materials, a white sample PLA that came with, and a black Sunlu PLA.
I could use some insight on how to improve it, I’m seeking to make some fairly smooth looking models similar to Fat Dragon games. | The vertical lines you are referring too are the result of ringing or vibration. This is commonly encountered with high print speeds, high acceleration values or if a sudden change in direction takes place.
This can be solved by printing slower, decreasing acceleration values and checking for mechanical issues. E.g. the belts may be too flexible (or contain a tension spring) or there may be a loose part somewhere. |
How to correctly clean the Lacquer from bed? How can I correctly clean the lacquer from bed printer?
I have used some ethylic alcohol (ethanol) to help cleaning
But what is the best way to do it? | The Ender 3 does not come with a lacquered surface at all.The bed should have a rough build surface that is a clone of the BuildTak build surface. It is intended to be rough and satin-gloss in its native state. I do not remember if there was a thin protective plastic foil on my Ender-3 bed on delivery, but if there was, it should have been removed during assembly.
A BuildTak surface can be easily cleaned with isopropyl or ethyl alcohol of grease and fingerprints. The odd discoloration at the edges seems to be a layer of grease and dust, which can be easily cleaned away by soaking it in Isopropyl alcohol and then wiped with a microfiber cloth.
If the bed surface is destroyed by chipping holes into it, sanding it or otherwise ruining it (like melting plastic rap into it), you will need to replace it. Replacement surfaces come about 5 bucks on Amazon. Doing this, you might find How to clean up my buildpate for a new build surface? helpful. |
Can I increase retraction length on an E3D v6 beyond 2 mm if I have a really long Bowden tube? E3D mentions on their own wiki:
Excessively long retractions will cause issues by dragging soft filament into cold areas. [...] for bowden systems you might want to go up to 2 mm. Retraction beyond 2 mm is likely to cause issues.
I have retraction set to the recommended maximum of 2 mm, but I still get a lot of stringing and blobs. My printer is set up with a relatively long Bowden tube (500-600 mm). I wonder if I need to push my retraction setting slightly beyond 2 mm to take up some of the slack. Is the 2 mm a conservative rating (I guess they don't want dissatisfied customers with clogging problems) or is it really the maximum? Is there anything else I can do to improve retraction performance? (I already have a small coasting distance of 0.1 mm set.) | Yes, you can increase retraction past E3D's max 2 mm recommendation to compensate for Bowden tube stretch and slop. The reason for the recommendation is that jams will occur with most all-metal hot ends if you pull molten filament up into the cold zone. Any molten filament that enters the cold zone rapidly cools and hardens and sticks to the walls, very often forming a jam.
So, the requirement is to keep your retraction distance at the extruder less than 2 mm. Additional retraction travel that is absorbed by the Bowden tube and not seen at the extruder is fine. I personally run 2.5 mm retraction on an E3Dv6 Bowden system without any issues. |
Thick wall or solid part of an otherwise medium-fill part I'm trying to design a camera handle, which will be around 8" long and will have a brass camera thread insert in the end, where the camera will be mounted. (That way, I don't have to screw the camera thread into plastic which will wear out faster.)
If I print the handle normally, the end of the handle won't be solid so I can't solidly put that brass fitting in. If I set the fill in Cura to 100%, the print will take a very long time and will be unnecessarily solid. I only need a centimeter or two at the end to be solid.
Is there a way to get one particular wall in Cura to be very thick (1-2cm) without affecting the other walls? Is there some other way to get a solid chunk in the end of the part? | I'd suggest creating a hollow tube with ~1 to 1.5 mm walls. Then to increase the strength design your own internal structure rather than relying on the slicer to fill the part. This takes longer to model but you can design the strength of your part much better.
Something like this
If you were to then print this with 60 % infill you'll have the strength and also use less material. If you happen to know specifically how your part would be loaded, you could then change the dimensions on that internal cross structure to take the loads better. |
Heated bed is not heating anymore I have built a RepRap Prusa i2 a while back. It worked for a while, but then I moved the printer from place to place and after a while I noticed that the printer's bed is not heating anymore. The thermistor shows the temperature (room temperature), but the bed is not heating.
The wires are connected and the heated bed has a resistance.
Did anyone else confronted with this? Thanks! | I have a Prusa i3 and the same case happened to me. I checked the continuity of the wires and discovered one badly soldered wire in the heated bed. After soldering the wire correctly, the heated bed turned on again.
Your problem is in all likelihood the continuity of the wires.
I hope that I helped you with your case. |
Do I need linear rails on a corexy printer's z-axis while already having quality lead screws at hand? I'm currently working on a CoreXY printer, my build platform will be 220 x 220 mm I've chosen to go with linear rails on X and Y axes. I have some nice straight machined 12 mm diameter lead screws on hand which I'm thinking of using in the Z-axis, both of them will be supported on each end with pillow blocks, is it necessary to support them with rails? Or will it be overkill? | Using rails for Z is overkill. They are stiffer than smooth rods, but for Z axis that's not needed.
Using only the leadscrew may be enough, especially in designs with three of them, but if you have only two you may be able to still twist the bed around the Z axis.
Also, the bed would be supported only in the center by the "nut" on the leadscrew. This means that the bed could wiggle around the X axis (the axis along the line between the two nuts).
Some additional support for the bed, or using two "nuts" per leadscrew, properly spaced apart, is usually needed.
This in general. Since you mention now that the bed is 220x220 mm, maybe you can get away with the two leadscrews alone, especially if you can find "long" leadscrew nuts, so that the wiggling is not excessive. |
TMC2100 stepper motor drivers not detected on SKR 1.4 turbo with RepRap firmware I've upgraded my board to SKR1.4 turbo with RepRap firmware. Heated bed and heated nozzle work, but motors do not move.
OctoPrint reports them as 'no-driver-detected'.
Send: M122
...
Recv: Driver 0: position 67347, no-driver-detected
Recv: Driver 1: position 67347, no-driver-detected
Recv: Driver 2: position 67347, no-driver-detected
Recv: Driver 3: position 0, no-driver-detected
...
I tried to figure out what is wrong, but did not find good documentation for this combination of hardware.
This is how I setup the drivers.
I removed all four jumpers from the board below each driver (MS0, MS1, MS2, RST).
Plugged each driver to the board making sure that the corresponding pins match (GND to GND etc.)
Checked voltage between ground pin of the board and VREF pin of the driver. The voltage was 1.365 V (same for each driver). This is a bit higher than some guides suggest, but the drivers worked perfectly with the old board.
Some guides suggest modifying driver timings if the motors do not move, but I was unable to find the right timings for my drivers. What could be wrong in my setup? | As @towe mentioned, 'no-driver-detected' messages in Octoprint log are harmless if you have TMC2100 motors. After experimenting with RepRap settings I found the correct configuration that works with my hardware. Here is the relevant part of the configuration.
; Drives
M569 P0 S1 ; physical drive 0 goes forwards
M569 P1 S1 ; physical drive 1 goes forwards
M569 P2 S1 ; physical drive 2 goes forwards
M569 P3 S0 ; physical drive 3 goes backwards
M584 X0 Y1 Z2 E3 ; set drive mapping
M350 X16 Y16 Z16 E16 I1 ; configure microstepping with interpolation
M92 X100.00 Y100.00 Z100.00 E100.00 ; set steps per mm
M566 X1200.00 Y1200.00 Z1200.00 E300.00 ; set maximum instantaneous speed changes (mm/min)
M203 X48000.00 Y48000.00 Z48000.00 E1500.00 ; set maximum speeds (mm/min)
M201 X1500.00 Y1500.00 Z1500.00 E1000.00 ; set accelerations (mm/s^2)
M906 X1000 Y1000 Z1000 E800 I30 ; set motor currents (mA) and motor idle factor in per cent
M84 S30 ; Set idle timeout |
Print not sticking to bed Today I ran into an issue with the filament not sticking to the build plate. However, the strange part is, that this only happens with one filament color (both PLA, khaki, black works just fine) and only in the main print. The test line on the side of the bed and the brim all stick without a problem. I already releveled everything and as I'm using ABL and the other filament works fine, this shouldn't be the issue.
I also tried increasing the first layer thickness in Cura, however, this leads to extreme warp (2 mm height on 5 mm width).
From my observations, it seems that the print head is raised after the brim is printed. Is there a setting in Cura to change that?
Printer Details: Modified Ender-3 with MKS Gen L V2 Board and TMC 2209 motor drivers and BLTouch
Print temp: 220 °C / 70 °C initial after that 200 °C / 60 °C
Firmware: Marlin, details here | Yes you can edit many parameters in Cura that may help with your problem.
However, I believe an easier fix to this problem may be to either apply some glue or masking tape to the bed before you try to change Cura settings since the problem only occurs with just one filament type.. |
RAMPS 1.4, 1.5 or 1.6? I'm about to build a Prusa i3 dolly. I am confused whether to use RAMPS 1.4 or 1.5 or 1.6.
What is the big difference? Is it only the MOSFETs and the poly-fuses? If that is the case, would it be advisable to upgrade a RAMPS 1.4 board (replacing the MOSFETs, connectors, and fuses)? | The biggest issue with RAMPS 1.4 (and 1.5) is the power connector is prone to melting/burning, this appears to be fixed on 1.6 with the use of screw terminal blocks. I've used RAMPS 1.4 with both 12v and 24v power supplies and never have had any issues with the fuses or the power connector but mine have only come from Ultimachine or RepRapDiscount. A RAMPS 1.4 with power connectors and fuses replaced with those from a reputable dealer (Digikey, Newark, Allied) will likely be fine, you can even remove the power connector and solder the wires directly to the board if you don't need the ability to unplug them.
Whichever you go with, make sure the screws are tight and never tin the wires going into the power connectors. |
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