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20626 | Underextrusion Cause
Printer: Ender 3 with a metal extruder - PLA
After a long break from printing anything, I started printing again, but the results had obvious underextrusion issues:
But after I tweaked temp, flow, and speed for multiple test prints, the issues disappeared - even if the settings were returned to default.
Sadly, after a couple good prints, it started having issues again.
Why is my printer having these issues?
EDIT: The cause was that I didn't install the spring in the tension arm correctly-it was not compressed enough to deliver the necessary force to grip the filament.
Since my printer was working fine until recently, it leads me to believe that the spring must have weakened. So new question: is that the case? And do you recommend I unscrew the arm and release the spring when I'm not using the printer to improve lifetime?
Please remove the answer from your question and wait and accept the solution provided by R once he posted the answer. Or post your own answer. The new question should go into a new question preferably hinting and referring to this question.
As 0scar has already corrected stated... Please, post the answer from your "edit" as an actual answer, otherwise you mess up the Q&A format of the site. Also, remove your new follow up question in that same edit and post it as a new question, otherwise it will not be answered - you can't have two different/disparate questions in one post, otherwise which answer would be the correct answer to mark as the accepted answer. Thank you.
This is unlikely to be a settings issue. It's almost surely a physical issue with the extruder.
Usually on an Ender 3, this is a problem with the tension arm. The stock one is made of plastic and the arm, or mount that's holding the arm can crack.
It's also possible you have a weak spring tensioning it.
Aside from issues with the arm, the teeth of the extruder gear can get gummed up with chewed-up plastic, or worn down from printing abrasive materials, to the point they're no longer able to dig into the filament and push it effectively.
| Stack Exchange | 2025-03-21T12:54:45.218643 | 2023-02-25T21:57:16 | {
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20743 | What is the best way to print an action figure?
I have created an action figure and would like to print it.
Anyway, I am not sure the best way to print it, the action figure can be printed only once but the duration is 10 hours. If I separate the part, the time is concise, but I need to do some changes to my file. What is the best way to print an action figure?
If the second method is the better (separate arm, legs, etc.), does exist a good way to do the join between parts?
My 3d printer is Elegoo Mars, so I use Chitubox.
Can you share a photo/screenshot of your action figure?
Yes, I can share it!
Printing a complex object like this one from an attached photo requires a few factors to consider, such as print time, quality, ease of printing and eventual post-processing. You have two options: print the entire figure in one piece with supports, or separate the parts and print them individually.
Printing the entire figure in one piece can be a good option if you want to save time and reduce the amount of post-processing work. If you decide to go with this option, make sure to orient the model correctly to minimize the need for supports and reduce the risk of failure during printing.
Separating the parts and printing them individually can allow you to print each part in the best orientation for quality and reduce the risk of print failure. However, it will require more time for preparing the model for printing and post-processing work to assemble the parts. Bear in mind, that if you decide to separate the parts, it may still be necessary to print them with supports. It is also a better option if the model exceeds the printer's build volume.
To make the assembly easier, you can add alignment pins and holes to the parts to ensure they fit together correctly. Here is a very good tutorial on how to do it - How to cut STL models for 3D printing in Meshmixer. You can also add alignment pins and holes right in Chitubox.
Both printing options have their pros and cons, and you should choose the one that best suits your needs.
STL print speed is determined by height in Z
So to print your project, you should reduce Z height. In this case, your figurine can be placed with its height along the XY plane - lying on the back - and then drops its print time by roughly a factor of 8.
In my experience, you should never print a figure like that upright as it A) takes too long and B) can cause problems with supports.
I would recommend that you cut it on two pieces. One with the legs and one with the body. This will cut your print time almost in half.
Next, tilt both parts backwards by at least 45 degrees. This will further reduce print time and will give you better supports as you can spread them out across a larger surface area while having a smaller surface area in contact with the FEP for each layer.
My printer ins an Elegoo Saturn. I use Chitubox.
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19568 | Meshmixer create solid
I have this .stl that I downloaded and I need to create a solid of this 3D. However, if I click "Make solid", it doesn't work.
How can I do? I think the problem is the black layer but I don't know how to resolve.
Before make solid:
After make solid:
I need to make solid and the black layer is deleted when I do it.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1g-YaF1k_X5FU1Y-SgWiGCXC4k_nADohk/view?usp=sharing
PS: The other object are different item, so if they are there or not is the same
Hi and welcome. We may require more information, please [edit] and add more details.
Other? I have download the file, I don't much more but I need to make solid and the black layer is deleted when I do it
Do you have a link to where you downloaded the .stl file from? If we can reproduce the issue, then maybe a solution can be found. Please [edit] and add the link to your answer (don't add info in the comments).
Your object browser shows three objects in the first image, only one in the second. Are the missing pieces those of the other two items in the first image?
The other two objects are different item
Make solid requires an enclosed volume
To run the make solid operation, the selected parts need to enclose a volume. In case the volume is not fully enclosed, the program tries to solve a solution that closes the open surface.
The black layer is most likely failing to compute because its normals are flipped. This means it does not enclose a surface, it excludes anything between the surfaces from being inside the body defined by it - it is everything but. This is solved as "this surface does not enclose anything, so I cut it out" but for where it creates a valid solution in the area of the white surface before the operation.
This leaves you with the white retained part after the operation.
To fix this is an in-depth project
Fixing such errors is quite involved. You will need to do the following steps, depending on your program to alter:
flip the surfaces so that it shows outside
make sure that the body is closed, possibly by adding missing surfaces
How can I enclose volume?
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19140 | No distance between the nozzle and the print bed level at the center (1) position after bed leveling
After I have leveled the print bed on all four corners manually, on moving to the center (1) position I still observe that there is no distance between the print bed and the nozzle. The nozzle literally touches the bed at this position. Furthermore, I am also getting nozzle scrapping on the print surface as the thickness of the printed sample increases (1 mm and above). I am printing 5-152 mm(L)x35 mm(W)x3 mm(T) samples using a commercial PLA filament with a 0.1 mm layer height (30 total layers). The raster width is 0.4 mm while the raster angle in all layers is 0/0°. The bed temperature was 0 °C, while the printing temperature was 220 °C. The printing speed was 60 mm/s. The Z-axis compensation value was 0. The slicer I am using is Ultimaker's Cura, while the printer is Creality's Ender 6. How can I rectify this issue and can anyone guide me as to why this is happening?
I would think your bed isn't flat. My magnetic bed has high spots in a couple of places.
Another cause could be that you're just levelling once. Sometimes you need to go around again and check the levelling.
I have tediously leveled the bed multiple times to ensure the bed level is as uniform as it could be at all four corners, the nozzle still touches the print bed in the center. The printer is new so I am not sure if the bed level could be off so soon (or is it a manufacturing defect?).
@Beenum: Likely a manufacturing defect. You might be able to correct for it by shimming under the corners or putting something flatter (e.g. a high quality glass bed) between the existing bed and the print surface.
@Beenum I doubt it's a bed levelling issue, rather an issue with the actual bed itself. Mine had slightly high spots brand new, but not enough to worry me. Put a glass sheet on and see if the problem goes away
Going on a bit of a tangent, but do you think that Z-offset value should be altered even if no alteration (like adding a glass screen) has been made?
I think you should just try the simple diagnosis first, grab a bit of glass from a picture frame or small mirror
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19192 | Marlin + BLTouch layer compression
I have an Ender 3 Pro which I recently added an SKR Mini E3 v2.0 with Marlin and BLTouch. I have run into an odd issue where roughly the first 10 mm of the print are compressed into ~7 mm of Z height. I don't think its mechanical based on the following process.
Power on the printer, Auto Home.
Move the print head to the middle of the bed ~1 mm off the print surface (move the nozzle down until it touches, then back of 1 mm)
Measure the nozzle height relative to the print bed, command a 10 mm Z move, measure the Z nozzle height it's 10 mm higher.
Level the bed with the BLTouch (The Z offset is correct and 0 mm is basically at the print surface)
Repeat the process above, start with the nozzle 1 mm off the bed, command a 10 mm move. The measured height of the nozzle is now only 7.5 mm higher than it was.
Anything I try after this (rehoming, running bed leveling again) still results in a 7.5 mm move when a 10 mm is commanded. It's only the 10 mm closest to the bed, a second 10 mm postive move results in 10 mm delta to the nozzle height.
All prints consistently have the same compression of the first layers.
Two other pieces of information that seem like they are relevant, the Z zero when homed is about 2.5 mm lower than when I run bed leveling. ENABLE_LEVELING_FADE_HEIGHT is set to 10.0 mm. Those two numbers combined seem really suspicious to me, but its not clear to me what to change if that is the problem.
This calibration block should be 50 mm high, it's 47 mm high and the 3 mm are lost in the first 25mm step:
Does the Z screw move at all during the printing of the first 3 mm?
Yes, its a proportional reduction. I ran some test last night (sorry I haven't updated the question yet), and it appears to be caused by the offset between the z homing switch and the bed height. If they are aligned, the problem goes away. So its definitely related to the levelling fade height option. I'm just not sure why the fad accounts for offset as well as the bed being skewed.
| Stack Exchange | 2025-03-21T12:54:45.219494 | 2022-04-05T03:58:02 | {
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19288 | Printing in Material That Is Safe to Drink From/Dishwasher/Microwave Safe
I'm looking to get printed a design for a coffee mug, which needs to be dishwasher safe, microwavable safe, and safe to drink out of. What kind of filament or equipment would give these properties? If not, is there a company that offers such services?
about 9 years ago there was one doing their own 3d printed ceramic+glaze mugs but they did not accept custom one-off designs and I do not believe they achieved dishwasher safe - glaze and fire process after 3D print did not cover everything. All other info I have might be obtained by searching the nets.
I’m voting to close this question because recommendation questions are not allowed on the stack.
PETG meets the requirements for dishwasher safe and safe to drink out of, but if you're not careful in the microwave I think you'd get it hot enough to damage it. (FWIW I have PETG cold beverage cups that have been through many tens of dishwasher cycles with no problem.) Kilisi's answer is probably what you really want.
@Trish: The actual question part of the question body, "Does anyone have any experience of using a filament/equipment that would do this?", is on-topic, and I think the question is okay to answer regarding what technologies would be appropriate and how to look for a service offering them, without recommendations of a particular service to use. "There don't seem to be any services doing this at present" also seems like a reasonable thing to put in an answer, if that's the case.
@R..GitHubSTOPHELPINGICE only if rewritten that way
OK, I've made an edit that I feel is still faithful to OP's intent while focusing on what's in-scope and removing the apparent shopping question part.
@R..GitHubSTOPHELPINGICE The "suggest a service" part is the disallowable part: it asks for a recommendation. But "What type of filament or equipment" would work.
@Trish: Was "are there services of this sort?" inappropriate even?
Yes, that part is readable as "recommend me a service"
IMHO, this question was fine at edit #2, there was no (direct) request for a recommendation, merely an inquiry as to whether anyone had experience. The subsequent edits appear to have put words into the OP's mouth, which is not really correct nor fair. The OP's latest edit #5 has now (re-)introduced the recommendation request (which isn't strictly allowed). I believe that the question should be rolled back to edit #2 and then left as it is.
@Greenonline I’m unable to find a single company that does this; it’s not like I’m asking for a recommendation as to what works well and what doesn’t. The closest thing I am able to find about this is to purchase a WASP clay extruder but I still need a kiln and have to look up the specifics of that. I’m looking for comments like use PETG, upload your STL file here and use this filament, and stuff like that. I would appreciate it if new comments were only about this subject. I think it would be beneficial to even delete the comments that are not about this subject above
You need to find a company like this.
Or you could 3D print clay yourself, there are clay 3D printers online.
Do you have any ideas of what company might do this? I have been searching but cannot find anything out there
Depends on your budget
Something that a high school student could afford if they really wanted it
That means nothing to me. Not even sure what highschool is, but when I was in school I could afford a coffee mug from a $2 shop once in a while I guess.
"High School" US term for grades 9-12 for students (roughly) aged 14-18. 12th grade ("Senior" or "High School Senior") is the last year of federally mandated education. After successfully completing all 12 years, people move on to secondary education ("college"), the military, or civilian work force.
The problem is quantifying "what a highschool student could afford" - is that 5$ or 50$ or 500 $? All of those are reasonable for different high schools in different areas....
Is there something that does this for around those prices?
What prices? For 500 I can hire a master potter to make a all series unique mugs, for 50 I can order some customized mugs on a basic model from a print shop. For 5 I can get one or two mugs from IKEA.
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19306 | The weirdest DIY 3D metal printing
I have a very eccentric, weird, unusual and strange idea. I need some advice and serious professional help.
I'm interested in 3D printing in PLA a hollow complex structure with 0.2 thickness walls (Yes! That thin!). Fill it with very fine copper powder with a little borax powder thoroughly mixed. Use superglue to join halves or other shell pieces together, making sure the powder is very well compacted. Then in a separate container I want to make some thin plaster of Paris (calcium sulfate with a lot of water). Mix in it, some of my trimmed hair (about 5mm in length). No joke. Seriously. Please, I'm begging you with all my heart, hear me out! There's a very good useful reason for doing it. I then place the object (3D printed flimsy crappy shell filled with copper powder) in a DIY drywall box and pour in the plaster over the 3D printed shell object until the box is filled and object completely covered. Leave it to dry and completely solidify for a day. Then I bake the entire thing in a furnace making sure I'm over the copper melting temperature and voila! 3D printing in copper very complex intricate models with ease. Can it be that easy? Or am I deluding myself?
The hair purpose, after it will burn inside the plaster while in the furnace, is to create very thin tubules or air holes for water and gases to escape and to prevent cracking of the plaster under intense heat. I don't want to use hay because the straws are too thick. I have to use very thin organic straws. I just can't think of anything more accessible than my hair. Do you know of something even thinner and more accessible than human hair? Please let me know. I know it sounds and looks very odd, weird and strange. I'm opened to alternatives or other suggestions, otherwise I wouldn't be here making a fool of myself with such an insane ridiculous idea.
I was thinking to add some form of additional volume above the object, which is connected to the model by some thin hollow tube. All this volume (like an empty cube (shell) ) will also be filled with very fine copper powder providing additional melted copper to the model, in the case if the powder was not very well compacted inside the shell model.
Could this absurd ridiculous insane crazy idea work? I have never heard of anything like this. This is so bizarre and strange. It seems to be some form of odd mix of multiple techniques. But besides all this, will it work in the end? Will the plaster hold while some of it(depends on the model) will be inside molten copper? Or do I have to mix in the plaster, not just hair, but also some individual singular fine strands of steel wool?
I don't know who and where to ask such a thing. Am I in the right place? I don't know what this idea is, I don't know how to name it, I don't know how to ask or formulate this idea, I don't know how to google it or search it. I don't know anything. I really need some guidance, help and advice.
While yes this is very different, my initial thinking is that it may not work. Not being thoroughly experienced in this, I would imagine that the PLA would melt and lose its shape before the copper inside would fuse together. Maybe someone else could elaborate if I am correct.
Of course it will melt. I'm counting on it. It is supposed to melt. I feel sad for not being properly understood. The sole purpose of the 3D print is to create the required cavity inside the solidified plaster. After it will melt it will probably leave only some carbon residue at the very bottom of the mold, or it will completely evaporate. I'm not sure. I don't know. That's why I'm here. To understand what I'm about to do, better.
I guess I didn't explain fully. The PLA will melt before the copper fuses together. PLA has a melting point of ~200C while copper is ~1000C. So the PLA will melt (and probably burn off) before the temperature gets hot enough to melt/fuse the copper.
Yes. I know. I'm using the PLA JUST to make a mold (cavity inside the plaster in the box). Then when it's placed in the furnace, the hair, the PLA print, all organics will slowly burn away as I approach 1000C to melt the copper powder. It's designed to work this way. I'm not sure, what you see in the process as a problem. The PLA will have to melt. It has to melt. It will not probably burn. It will definitely burn. It is designed to burn and leave nothing behind(that's why 0.2mm walls). The only remaining thing in the furnace climbing above 500C will be copper powder inside a cavity in a box.
Hmmm... I think I'm beginning to see what your process is (coffee hasn't fully kicked in yet).
Can you at least tell me what this madness is? English is not my native language so I can't even begin a google search. I don't know what to search for. What is this that I'm describing?
It's not because I'm not extracting any ores.
It's not any form of because it doesn't involve any liquid material being poured anywhere.
It's not because I'm not pouring nor forcing any metal into a mold.
Perhaps it's a little bit related with but I want to actually melt the powder, not just bind it without liquefaction.
It's not because i'm not injecting anything into anything. My powder is already there. I'm just melting it.
I have no idea what to google. What on earth is this mad idea in my head which I'm describing? Just give me one single word to search for, besides the self-criticism I've expressed so far.
Putting the PLA and powdered metal together into the cavity made by the plaster isn't going to work. What's going to happen, at best, is that the PLA will float to the top and get burned off and/or escape, and the copper powder will compact down and leave more than half your mold empty. At worst, the PLA won't burn off evenly and will leave defects in the metal. If you have a large sacrificial cavity at the top and fill that with copper powder, it might work.
I don't see why it wouldn't work. It doesn't seem to be the optimal way but I haven't tried it.
Only thing that might be an issue is that PLA doesn't burn away clean (not for me anyway) which can leave defects in the product. But there are filaments specifically made for casting which apparently burn away with no residue.
This is assuming you can actually successfully print a complex object with walls that thin.
Care to explain the downvote?
I think this is just an overcomplicated lost-PLA (investment) casting.
What you're asking for is to create an object, create a mold around it, and then burn out the object and replace it with metal. Traditionally this is done with wax, and called lost-wax casting, but the same can be done with anything that melts/burns away, including PLA.
Rather than worrying about burning hairs and pressure and compaction of metal powder, print a model, and use the correct kind of plaster (a search for "investment casting plaster" will get you going down the right path) to make your mold. Heat the metal powder in a crucible, instead of the mold itself, and pour it through the expansion/extra material tube you were talking about.
Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been moved to chat.
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19326 | Best filament to print the housing for a laptop?
I have an old notebook computer that works just fine, but the outside of the lid is badly damaged and needs to be replaced. The screen and wiring are fine, so I only need to replace the housing that is exposed to the outside world.
What is the best filament for an impact-resistant printed housing? Should I consider other options that may prevent damage to the internal components? Are there any alternatives with cosmetic benefits?
Edit:
Since I was asked, presume I may be willing to buy a new part to upgrade or accommodate a new filament type.
Are you asking about material type ie. PLA, PETG, PC... or specific brand of filament? Tell me some more about your setup. What materials are you capable of printing with your hot-end/printer?
I tagged the question with "filament-choice" because I believed that signaled material type rather than brand name. Are different brands within the same filament type so significantly different that I should beware?
@whensquaredequalsanegative: For some materials, the material name is more a broad class of polymers rather than one specific one, so things can vary by brand. But I think you're right to just be asking about material types and I'm not sure why that wasn't clear to John - it was clear to me.
For casings I use a combination of TPU and PETG or PLA. PETG shell gives it rigidity and TPU gives it a bit of impact protection. So corners and inside layers of TPU within a hard PETG or PLA shell (shell has no corners).
I haven't had a problem with either but obviously PLA won't withstand heat very well, so it depends on environment.
For a laptop case you'd maybe want to do it the other way around with the outside shell of TPU and inside layers of PETG for rigidity.
If you just cared about impact resistance of the housing itself, the clear choice would be TPU, which would be basically indestructible. However, the housing is there to protect what's inside - not only from impact, but from stresses (e.g. bending) that could break it. This means you need a material that both provides rigidity and avoids breaking easily itself.
If you were doing an old (90s or earlier) style laptop case that's a tank, I'd actually say yeah, go with TPU 95A or higher (98A or so if you could get it) and add some reinforcement ribs/stiffeners. This stuff can be quite rigid at 100% infill, and it will hold up fine to heat, abrasion, even most chemicals. But if this is a modern slim style case, a small amount of material needs to provide a lot of rigidity and that's not going to work.
PLA actually fares really well here in some ways - it's one of the most rigid printable materials, and very easy to get good bonding. If you check for example CNC Kitchen's strength tests, you'll find plain PLA usually coming out on top of most comparisons. However, PLA doesn't handle heat well, which might rule it out.
ASA, ABS, or PC is probably your best bet, but I don't have any experience with them so I'll leave the part about them as something for another answerer to write.
I wouldn't trust PLA: it's strong but brittle, which makes for low impact resistance.
@Mark: That's what people say, but if you actually go and do the tests (or look at data from someone who does), it seems it's better than most of the alternatives. Somewhat related: I have tiny PLA gears operating in places where the PETG ones I tried first kept breaking.
Strength is not the same thing as impact resistance. People frequently conflate the two, but the difference is why we armor things with steel, not glass.
@Mark: Can you find test results where PLA fared worse either way? I know Stefan tested both and I believe the PLA did surprisingly well, but I may be misremembering.
ASA, ABS and PC are probably stronger and more resilient, but they also out gas toxic gasses when printing, so you'd need to vent that safely.
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19337 | Ender 3 v2 X-axis home fails
I have a problem. I upgraded my Ender 3 v2 for direct drive and added CR Touch. Updated software to bugfix-JyersUI v2.0.1. Now if I turn on my printer first homing X-axis moves to the left clicks one time (usually clicks 2 times) to endstop and that's it. Every after homing X-axis moves right. Changed endstop with a different endstop; same problem. Changed firmware with less possibility firmware and homing is successful.
This sounds like two different problems: X-axis homing problem and an LCD display problem. If this is correct, please [edit] your question to one then create a second "question" to address the second problem. I have used JyerUI so I can offer help but this sounds like 2 different problems.
Lcd display problem does not bother me. Homing issue is the main problem. If u can help me with homing problem that will be great.
My problem was with the Z-axis so I don't know if this will actually help (that's why I'm writing as a comment). Check your wiring from the CR Touch to the mainboard. I had a misconnection on my printer and was causing the Z-axis not to lower to the buildplate.
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19363 | Ender 3: Extruder Stepper Motor - Hand Turn
Should I be able to hand turn the stepper motor for the extruder of an Ender 3?
Trying to figure out why the motor isn’t turning on a new to me, never used, but out-of-warranty Ender 3.
Swapping controller cables I discovered the extruder port on the motherboard is dead, but even if I put it on the X axis and manually move the axis it makes the sound like it should move, but doesn’t actually move at all.
Trying to figure out if it’s seized or something. Doing a resistance test with a multimeter shows a resistance of 4 for either of the two pairs of wires. I am not sure what else to test.
I have a hard time believing I need a new control board and a new stepper motor, but maybe two things are broke.
Thanks for the help!
EDIT - Got the Extruder Working
After the comments here mentioned that "Yes, it should be able to be moved by hand", curiosity got the better of me and I said, "Well, if its broken, let's see why".
I did the following:
I tried to turn the stepper motor by hand again, just to confirm I wasn't crazy from the day before when I tried it. It wouldn't budge.
I removed all four screws on the bottom of the stepper motor and attempted to pry things apart. While fiddling with it, I thought I saw the stepper motor turn.
Sure enough, I now tried to spin the stepper motor and it moved relatively easily.
I put the 4 screws back in place and validated I could still hand turn the motor. I could in fact do so.
I hooked the stepper motor back up to the X axis controller and told it to move, and sure enough now it moves and works!
Just as a sanity check, I then hooked it up to the extruder controller and it again wouldn't turn.
I'm going to try what @towe recommended to make sure the controller board is in fact fried, but I think I might JUST have a fried board and not a fried motor.
The extruder port might not actually be dead - Marlin has an idiotic function turned on by default that prevents extruder movement if the hotend is not up to temperature.
Try sending M302 S0 or M302 P1 to the printer to disable that and try the port again.
I agree with the existing answer that your extruder stepper motor is likely damaged.
Yes - you should be able to turn the extruder by hand when it is unplugged and therefore not powered.
The V2 comes with a blue plastic knob for this purpose, it may be too small to turn the shaft by hand.
When powered and "steppers enabled" the motors need a lot more force to overcome, but even that can be done by hand or a machine crash.
If you can't turn the extruder at all, its probably toast. That you've tested other ports on the board is excellent problem solving.
Whatever damaged the motor has likely damaged the board too, or vise versa.
You likely need both parts replaced to get this printer working again. Could be expensive - you might want to compare cost of parts with cost of a new printer, remembering there may be other non-functional components still undiscovered.
Plausibly, with a dead extruder, you could slap a laser on this unit and make it a dedicated burner. The creality laser module is around $50 USD.
Thank-you! That’s what I was thinking, but good to know for sure!
Criggie's answer is basically correct, but I disagree with the conclusion that it:
Could be expensive - you might want to compare cost of parts with cost of a new printer, remembering there may be other non-functional components still undiscovered.
If you want to turn the Ender 3 into a decent printer, the controller board is one of the components you want to replace anyway, since it comes with either (old models) extremely loud and poorly performing A4988 stepper drivers or (newer models) TMC2208 stepper drivers hard-wired in a mode where they don't work well and malfunction if you enable Linear Advance (which is critical to getting decent prints on a bowden extruder system). Good boardsthat are exact fits for the housing and cable connectors, with TMC2209 steppers that lack the above problems, can be had for $35 or so.
If the motor is dead, that's a pain but not expensive to replace. Equivalent motors are available for $15 or so all over the place, or you could make the upgrade to a light-weight geared direct drive extruder with pancake stepper instead of the large NEMA 17 (which negates pretty much all of the disadvantages of direct drive and gives you a much better printer than you started with).
Thanks! I ordered a replacement v4.2.7 control board. Any specific recommendations on the "a light-weight geared direct drive extruder with pancake stepper instead of the large NEMA 17"? I mine as well upgrade if I'm replacing stuff.
@Doug: I would not get that board -- it's the Creality one with the same problem I described. Get an SKR E3 Mini or another one that lets you control the mode the TMC steppers run in.
The Sherpa Mini is probably the best lightweight direct drive, but there are several semi-light Bondtech models folks like as well as classics like the Orbiter.
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19476 | PLA Globbing up on the Extruder Nozzle
My Ender 3 was printing great. However, I'm now getting all sorts of globbing up on the Extruder nozzle. This is causing the prints to fail, and if I come back after a print I'm often getting 1/3 of the print printed with gaps, etc before it totally fails. Any idea what is going on? Its the same roll of PLA that was printing fine at this temperature, etc; but we are getting down to the last 15% of the roll if that matters.
------------------- EDIT With More Information ---------------
Switched out the PLA and my printer is printing great again! Per the suggestion from someone, I'm currently baking the old PLA and will report back on the results!
Does it happen with another roll? If not, wet filament is a likely culprit. Being wet makes it print like your hotend is 20-30 degrees cooler, which would give poor flow and poor adhesion, leading to stray material all over the place happy to get stuck to the nozzle the next time the nozzle passes over it.
Just ordered another roll to see. Currently, its the only roll I have.
I would think the filament has absorbed too much moisture. You can bake it and then try again.
I bake 2 hours at 50 degrees which works ok for me. But the first time I did this some of the roll tried to fuse together and the innermost 1/4 was wasted. So I've found that it's best to loosen the filament on the roll before baking if it's not that much. If it's a full roll I actually unwind it onto an empty spool and roll it loosely.
Nice answer. I've found that some manufacturers wind their rolls with too much tension, which drives the filament to deform and try to fuse when dried... which is rather infuriating. Better ones don't seem to have this problem.
Best of luck with the experiment.
BTW, I know its been awhile later; but looping back I took the roll of filament and put it in my wife's dehydrator for 2-3 hours. It worked great after that.
@Doug nice outcome, thanks for letting us know
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19483 | Printer stops printing at the same spot for every model
The 3D printer I'm using (Creality Ender 3 v2) stops printing at approximately the same height and no matter which model I try to print. When it stops, it does not go to park position or auto home, it just stops and sits on top of the print (getting stuck to it). It just started happening out of the blue, I have printed multiple things before this.
I am using the Creality Ender 3 v2, printing PLA at a temperature of 200 °C with the print bed at 70 °C. The Z-axis of the printer woks just fine manually. I changed the nozzle and I've made sure it is not clogged. The firmware does not need to be updated, and the bed is level.
I do not know what else the reason could be. Would love to hear your thoughts and opinions on why this is happening. Here's an image of what the print looks like:
And this is the g-code info from the little I understand about it
Hi CK, welcome to 3DPrinting.SE! Is this a brand new printer and has this always happened, or did this develop lately and now present in every model? Maybe linking to the G-code file (to e.g. Pastebin.com) could help us help you. Could be a faulty modifier in your start G-code. Which slicer do you use?
@oscar, Hi! This is a pretty new printer. Someone else set it up before me and I've just been printing on it since. We've printed about 3-4 models with no glaring issues, until the printer randomly stopped. I have been using the creality slicer. How can I get the G-code file to you? I have never shared it before
When you slice an object, you can save the file, please post this .gcode file on Pastebin.com for instance.
This could be a truncated gcode file, as a result of a corrupted SD card or trying to save the gcode on a full disk (at least in certain configurations, some slicers fail to report an error on writing to a full disk).
@oscar So, I opened the gcode in a text editor. Copied the text, pasted it on pastebin.com and tried to share it but it says that the code is too big. Sorry if these questions are stupid. I have never done this before. Can I put the code over 2 links on pastebin?
@R.. GitHub I reformatted the SD card and it seems to be working now. Thanx!
@R..GitHubSTOPHELPINGICE Please add an answer on the SD card issue, it seems to have fixed the issue. CKPrintissues, please accept that answer when posted. My own experience with SD cards is that is I save to SD card directly from Cura, the print fails, but if saved to HD first and copied to SD it works...
This behavior can be explained by a truncated gcode file - the printer gets to the end of all that's there of the file, and considers it done. A truncated file can be a symptom of corrupt storage media (corrupt SD card), or trying to save a file to a disk that's full with software that ignores the "disk full" error. At least in certain configurations, some slicers fail to report an error on writing to a full disk; I've had this happen when using Cura from the command line rather than the GUI.
Backing up any important data from the SD card then reformatting it is a good first step to try, and seems to have solved the problem for OP.
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19508 | Every time I print with my Ender 3 V2, I get a bubbly ring around the bottom. How can I fix this?
I have a Creality Ender 3 V2. I have done quite a few prints with it using only PLA. When the prints are done, there is always a bubbly looking ring around the bottom of them. I have tried using rafts, and changing slicer settings to fix this and nothing has worked. Are there any ways I can try to fix this?
Hello @lil mikey. Your question is lacking detail and as such is hard to answer without knowing a couple of things about your printer setup. Please [edit] and fill in the [placeholders] in the template I added and then remove the leading <!-- and trailing --> afterwards. This will turn it visible and help us help you find the actual problem. Also, if you could add a picture of what is happening that would help out a lot as well.
Something is wrong with your bed height, Z axis mechanics, or "automatic bed leveling" if you're using that. During this section of the print, the nozzle is not accurately at the requested distance from the bed, and material is spewing out to the sides where the printer tries to print the next layer too close to the previous one.
Try using the printer controls to manually move the head in small increments around 0.1 or 0.2 mm, and measure that the distance between the bed surface and gantry changes by the expected amount each time you move. I expect you'll find that it doesn't.
We'll probably need further information to track down exactly why it's not happening.
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20132 | Why does a raft reduce / limit build volume?
I am using Cura 4.13.1 as a slicer for my Ender 3 v2 printer.
I want to print a model which I scaled to 400 %. To improve bed adhesion I wanted to add a default raft (Extra Margin = 15 mm). Unfortunately, Cura is not able to slice the model despite being still within the printer's build volume (400 % = 190x200x200 mm). I have to reduce the scaling to 365 % (= 171x183x180 mmm) to fit the slicing.
As a workaround for printing the 400 % size, I will try to use a small support structure for better bed adhesion but I would prefer a raft.
Edit: Sorry for leaving out the info about the models form. I get the 220+raft limitation but my model is tapered downwards:
So the raft actually fits the printers/slicers default limit.
Does it really not matter and cura simply adds the raft size to models max X and Y values?
15 mm of raft margin should really not be needed. Reducing that might help it fit.
The raft still needs to fit on the bed, and it counts as a print, because, it is printed. You want the raft for better adhesion, so that means that you need more contact with the bed. If you’re not, your basically wasting filament. Its kinda logical actually.
Thank you but I forget some info. See the edited question please.
Adjusted model Dimensions
The model has the size determined by the base area of the bounding box, in this case, $\pu{190 \times 200 mm }$. The raft as told by OP adds 15mm on all sides of the model, and thus adds 30 mm in total on both the X and Y dimensions. This gets us a bounding box floor area of $\pu{220 \times 230 mm}$.
The model's bounding box has a height of $\pu{200 mm}$. Add to that the thickness of the raft. This is not mentioned, but in the worst case, this is about 3 mm, and so you get $\pu{203 mm}$ as the maximum. Our model's Bounding Box thus is $\pu{220\times 230\times 203 mm}$
The smaller scale model ($\pu{171 \times 183 \times 180 mm}$) results in an adjusted area of $\pu{201 \times 213 \times 183 mm}$.
Printer dimensions
The standard Creality Ender3 v2 is set up with a build volume of ($\pu{220\times 220\times 250 mm}$) As your base area is 230 mm in one dimension, it just can't fit. The slightly scaled item is just under that dimension and thus fits.
Solutions
With a firmware update, the printer can be told to use all of the bed, and then Cura's printer settings can be adjusted accordingly.
Sometimes, but not in this case, rotating the model can result in a model that doesn't fit in normal orientation to fit: A line of 240 mm doesn't fit along the X or Y axis, but easily along the diagonal of the printer. In fact, it is enough to turn the model by about 23.3° and the line fits:
What? Did Creality actually go and break the stock firmware to only allow 220 mm of motion?? The bed is 235 and I don't recall my original Ender 3 having any limits on use of the full build area in the stock firmware back then. Or is this just a bad Cura profile limiting it?
Thank you but I forget some info. See the edited question please.
@R..GitHubSTOPHELPINGICE it is set to 220 in the firmware stock. It's however rather easy to change... if you want.
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19565 | Clogging from heat creep, but only in the nozzle itself?
I have an all-metal V6 hotend clone that has worked in the past, but recently will clog very easily.
I've tried the following to address it:
Clean/replace the nozzle (0.4 or 0.5 mm, nozzle is hot-tightened)
Ensure nozzle is tightened against the heat-break tube, not the heater block
Adjust nozzle temperature higher/lower (190 °C to 230°C)
Recalibrate extruder steps/mm
Improve cold-end cooling with a 40mm fan (also, a 40 mm blower directly aimed at the fins did not help)
Try different filaments, from different brands (all 1.75 mm PLA)
Adjust slicer settings (speed, line width, layer thickness is usually ~0.2 mm) and even tried different slicers
Reduce/eliminate retractions
Replaced stock Ender 5 Bowden extruder with dual-gear setup for higher grip
Replaced the thermistor (wire was getting worn from disassembling/reassembling)
Some things I've noticed:
Prints tend to work fine for a while (~30 min to 1 hour or so), then the extruder is suddenly unable to push filament through the Bowden tube and begins to grind/click. There is very little to no period of reduced flow. It simply stops flowing completely.
I am unable to push the filament through by hand to clear the clog, but pulling the filament out and trimming the end works
The very end of the filament is the only place with any signs of being molten, well within the nozzle length itself
Pushing and pulling the filament in the hot-end by hand works for very small retractions, but can instantly result in a clog if pulled too far back (a few mm)
So far I have not seen particles / black buildup / other gunk that would explain the clogs
Letting the filament sit in the hot-end for a few seconds is enough to make it much harder to extrude by hand until enough filament is pushed through to clear what's melted (sitting too long will make it clog), but there are still no signs of heat-creep beyond the nozzle length.
I can always easily pull the filament out by hand after it jams (while still hot)
Examples of what the filament end looked like when a clog formed:
Since the melted material is so short I don't think it's heat-creep. Maybe it's the (very cheap) nozzles themselves having inconsistent dimensions? Not being able to retract a few mm and re-extrude by hand seems pretty odd. I have ordered official E3D nozzles to try in case they are the culprit.
Any thoughts on what else it could be?
Edit: I had commented with the new nozzle being a solution, but unfortunately I spoke too soon. Using the E3D nozzle helped for prints that maintain a high enough flow-rate, but when printing small parts and/or multiple parts it seems that the flow rate becomes low enough to overheat the filament and clog (even with reduced print temp to 190 °C).
Update: While using the new nozzle and improving cold-end cooling with a blower aimed directly at the cold-end fins did help delay the clogging a little, it did not prevent it. It seems unrealistic to say that this is traditional heat-creep since the fins were cold to the touch and the length of deformed, clogged filament is even shorter than before (<5 mm).
When it has been up to temp for a half hour or clogs, can you try touching the heat break? If it’s hot it’s heat creep.
I'm able to touch the heat-break, and while it's warm I can keep my finger on it indefinitely.
Have you tried increasing the hot end temperature after you increased cooling of the heat sink?
Can you clarify why you deleted your self-answer? Did it turn out to be wrong?
Yes, per the Edit at the bottom of the original post I found that it only helped for some prints with relatively high/consistent material flow, but when multiple parts or small parts were printed it still resulted in clogs.
Since I have been unable to find a way to fix the E3D V6 clone hotend I have instead replaced it with a Creality Mk 8 that I had on-hand, which has so far worked flawlessly.
I am assuming that the improved performance is related to the use of a shorter nozzle and/or the Bowden tube butting directly against the nozzle instead of interfacing with an all-metal heat-break. Those seem to be the biggest differences between the two designs.
The Creality Mk8 is definitely a better hotend than a V6 clone and arguably a better hotend than a real V6. If you want all-metal you can upgrade just the heatbreak. No need to put an inferior hotend on the printer.
@R..GitHubSTOPHELPINGICE How could ice be helped? I think, just turning off cooling would be enough in most practical, in-life circumstances.
I had issues with my all metal hot-end where I got heat creep. I ended up doing e-steps, PID tune, and ensuring my speed wasn't too slow either. Is your printer in an enclosure? I found that mine being in an enclosure caused the hotend to not cool sufficiently, so I had to lower the hot bed temp by 10 degrees and that seems to have resolved my issue for heat creep. I also have the Hero Me fan housing which improves airflow.
Thanks for the response. I am not using an enclosure, and the room is air-conditioned (I only print PLA). I had tried pointing a 40mm blower fan straight at the heat break fins with varying print temps, so I'm fairly confident that my cooling was not the issue.
I had to revert back to my stock tube for my Ender 5 Plus because the Capricorn tube caused too much drag and for some reason caused heat creep as well. The troubleshooting took forever as my unit being stocked worked perfectly fine, and then i did a bunch of upgrade on it which then caused many problems. So I had to by process of elimination revert back slowly until the heat creep went away.
I also asked a local 3d printer shop here and the guy said that these clones cause a lot of troubles for folks as they're not made the same and not a true all metal hotend.
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19571 | Marlin 2.1 reboots before printing model when power recovery is enabled
Ender 3 Pro with Creality 4.2.7 board. Just flashed Marlin 2.1.
Enabled POWER_LOSS_RECOVERY
Problem: The printer will successfully go through auto leveling and the clean/prep line on the left side. When the line finished I see the LCD rebooting. If I disable Power Loss Recovery in the menu it will start the print without any issue. Already tried reflashing but no luck. Any idea how I can print with Power Loss Recovery enabled?
I have the same issue with marlin 2.1.x bugfix. I just downloaded it this morning, installed it on 6 machines.
If power loss is disabled absolutely everything works, but as soon as I enable power loss recovery, it will auto home all, heat up the bed and nozzle, do the purge line on far left of build plate, attempt the very first layer, and then reboots, reheats, and keeps retrying...
Funny thing is that for some reason my printers print so much better with Marlin 2.1, so I really need power loss to work as well.
Yes, that sounds like the same issue. Right now i'm running Creality's release from their hompage. Not a perfect solution as babystep Z is only 0.1 increments and i need to reverse the filament runout sensor's activated position which isn't possible without the source code. (The source code offereded on their own page didn't work correctly either)
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19575 | The bed of my Ender-4 does not go down during printing!
I am using an Ender-4 with MKS Marlin Firmware and an MKS Rovin V3 Motherboard. It took me a long time to get Marlin set up correctly, but now I am apparently on the way. I calibrated the bed and to test it I went to print the cube_XYZ, I noticed that the bed didn't go down during the print, even though the display was showing that the Z was increasing.
Has anyone experienced this situation and/or can give me some advice?
Thanks!
It seems that the Z stepper motor doesn't work during the printing and after. Because I've tried to move the axis and it didn't work. So I reset the printer and try to move the Z-axis again, and it worked.
Please [edit] and add new info to the question and not in the comments. Thank you.
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19644 | Quantum PLA stops extruding, other PLA works fine
I recently tried to use Matterhackers Quantum filament and I've run into some issues and curious if anyone else has. I have a CR6-SE with community firmware, a regular Bowden tube with upgraded heatbreak (the metal tube that goes inside the heat block where the material is melted) installed, slicing software is Cura 15. My issue is I can't get it to print well or for long. I can run Polymaker, Geeektech, Sunlu, and most other brands of PLA without issue or minor tweaks. This stuff will not play nice. I'm at my wit's end trying to figure this out. Here are something's I've tried. The first 15 to 30 layers will go down beautifully and then it just stops extruding. When it starts to stop extruding it will print blobs all over the print surface, wispy lines, then nothing. If I am not there watching it, it will have layers of virtually very little filament like it was getting clogged up and the next layers after that will be normal.
Other measures taken:
Hot end temperature ranges 215 to 240 °C as per Matterhackers support instructions.
Adjusting retraction distance/speed independent of each other.
Adjusted heat bed ranges 40 to 70 °C.
Adjusted print speeds 30 to 60 mm/s.
Adjusting initial Z height from 0.15 to 0.2 mm.
Put the filament in a food dehydrator for 2 to 48 hrs.
It's not just one particular file either; it's anything I try to print with this filament from a simple cube to complex curves and angles.
Image 1 shows first layer prints, these are mostly smooth and not problem with adhesion to the bed.
Image 2 shows how the print is changing. The temp has stayed constant throughout the entire print, but only towards the top is it smoothing out. On the bottom (pic doesn't show it clearly) there are layers missing, or partial layers missing.
You haven't even explained what these "some issues" are except that it won't "print well for long". For this question to be answerable you need to at least show pictures of what's wrong or a description of the specific problems, ideally both.
I will post pics when I get home from work.
If you are going to add images, please explain what with upgraded heatbreak installed actually means. I get the impression that it is an all-metal heat break which are prone to cause heat creep, the strange thing is that I fail to understand why other filaments do work well. Are the other filaments printed at lower temperatures? That would explain it! So please update your question.
@0scar yes, it is an all metal heat break. I had to change it out because the stock one from Creality pushes the Bowden tube all the way down to the nozzle. The new one stops the Bowden tube from going into the heat block, allowing only the material through.
@0scar yes, the temps are different .. vastly different. Polymaker, Geeektech, and Sunlu print awesome at 220 °C @ 65 mm/s. Matterhackers Quantum filament recommends 230 to 240 to print. Tech support from them told me to try going up to 250, but that just straight out clogged up my nozzle.
PLA usually prints better with lined heat breaks rather than all metal ones, unless they are bi-metal heat breaks. A plain all metal heat break isn't always an upgrade, it is a widely misunderstood assumption that it is an upgrade.
@0scar: I used to think and say that too, but if the all-metal one is machined from a single piece and doesn't have internal lips for anything to get caught on, and has plenty metal length before the junction with the PTFE, it really is pretty much just a pure upgrade. Of course it's hard to know whether this applies to the one OP bought.
But, OP, if you have an all-metal heat break, even one that's working very well, but still the original Creality extruder, your problem is probably just that the extruder is junk. It has very very little grip in the filament, and will fail as soon as there's any resistance in the filament path, which there will naturally be more of with metal, especially after any nontrivial amount of retraction and resume has taken place. If it just happens with this one filament, the filament is probably just slightly harder to grip...
...but a decent extruder will not be on the borderline of not gripping the filament like that. A good extruder will grip the filament so well it skips motor steps before the filament slips. You can try increasing the spring arm tension, cleaning the brass extruder gear, etc. but you should probably just buy a good extruder with a gear that wraps around the grips the filament rather than just touching it at a single tangent point.
@oscar it is a bi metal heat break. Copper and titanium for heat dispersion to prevent heat creep and melting / warping of the PFTE tube. I'm looking at getting a new dual geared extruder for it. The CR6-SE has an enclosed extruder, so there really isn't a way to increase the tension on the spring or replace the spring. It is also a pita to take apart and clean, once you take the cover off the spring wants to fly and the small parts inside don't stay put either.
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19654 | Installed BLTouch - what do I need to tell Cura? Just G29, or more to it?
I added a BLTouch to my Ender3v2. Yay! But my first layer is still as sketchy as it's ever been.
I've got the firmware updated, and I can see the auto-level process take place at the beginning of my print - I can watch the probe measure a 5x5 grid.
I updated the start G-code in Cura to do a G29 immediately after the G28, and I do see the auto-level sequence after homing at the beginning of all my prints, so things are happening. But it doesn't seem like the auto-level has improved anything. I've got single-layer test patterns that look OK on one part of the bed and look like the nozzle's crushed into the bed on another part.
Most of the web help I've found implies that all I need to do is insert G29 in the start sequence.
But other places talk about saving the auto-level settings to the EEPROM, M500/M501; do I need to do that if I'm running a new auto-level immediately before every print?
And I've just this evening run across the M420 command, which looks awfully relevant; do I need to add an M420 S1 command to use the auto-level mesh I just found with G29?
Hi and welcome to 3D printing.SE! SE websites are driven by questions and answers, your question contains multiple questions which makes it more difficult to answer as there are multiple answers. Please read the [help] section, accessible through the button with the question mark at the top right menu and read [ask]. Please split up your question by adding the other questions in a separate question! E.g. the question on the sending of commands is answered here. Please remove that from the question. The rest of the questions are related to G29. Thanks!
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19670 | Printed line is thinning near the end before it proceeds to the next "loop"
I'm coming back to printing after almost a year of hiatus. Sliced a new model with the latest Cura 5.
I noticed my brim lines are thinning out or under extruding or Z height lowering near the starting point of the print.
It is only happening at this side which is where it finishes a wall/line and proceeds to the next inner wall/line.
At first I thought my bed was massively warped there but I noticed that the first line of the actual body print (outer wall) is totally fine as shown in the picture. I also tried shifting the print to the right but the issue presents itself again.
Does anyone know why this is happening? The Cura flow preview doesn't show any change in flow at this side. And looking at the G-code (labelled as skirt) section.
Edit with more info:
Here are two images to help explain the issue further. The Cura slicer images represent the same print status as the previous images. This is the first layer and the outer wall has just started printing. From the real pictures, I was trying to point out that the outer wall prints fine while the brim lines are fading as it approaches the bottom right corner (where the brim started printing). The real pictures show the height difference clearly. I'm not sure why the brim lines are fading as it approaches the corner.
Is your photo showing only the first layer of the print, or a subsequent one? With photos like this it's always hard to tell what is what, what is expected, etc. so writing that out clearly, and/or showing the model and slicing preview, might help.
@R..GitHubSTOPHELPINGICE Sorry for the poor explanation. I've edited my post with more info and all the pictures are showing the first layer of the print, no further than the first outer wall being printed.
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20105 | Seams of print are underextruded causing large pits/gaps? (Prusa Mk3+, Prusa Slicer)
The seams on my print are much larger than they were a few months ago and I'm not sure what's going on or how to fix it.
Pic with seams random:
With aligned seams:
I'm using the 0.2 mm QUALITY profile with the following adjustments:
200 °C temp
Perimeters lower speed (25 mm/s inner, 15 mm/s outer; prevents small overhang warping, faster speeds don't really ease the issue anyway)
First layer speed slow (10 mm/s)
Retraction Z lift 0.2 mm (default 0.4 mm; helps stringing)
Using Jessie PLA (Printed solid)
Filament is dry, fresh out the dehydrator
My full slicer settings found here.
I've tried lowering the retraction speed, increasing it, increasing the detraction speed to 2x, raising temp, and calibration of the linear advance according to the calibration test print on Prusa's website.
What I can do to make gaps smaller?
do you have a Prusa made i3?
I ask, because direct drive has differences from bowden style. Also, we'd need retraction length.
@Trish Yes, I posted the printer model in the title along with the tag. My full settings I linked in the post which contains the retraction length.
I was able to more or less solve it by using the "extra length on restart" property set to 0.1 mm. Sort of "primes" the filament after a retraction by moving it forward a bit.
To lesser effect I reduced retraction distance from 0.8 to 0.5, lowered retraction speed from 35 to 10, and upped detraction speed from 35 to 50.
Left object is with new settings, right object is original issue.
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14000 | Why can't my Ender 5 Pro remember its axis position or move back to home anymore?
I am completely new to 3D Printing. I got my first printer, a Creality Ender 5 Pro, yesterday.
My problem
I shutdown the printer without the axis being in home position (X: 0, Y: 0, Z: 320 instead of X: 0, Y: 0, Z: 0). I thought this should be no problem but after turning the printer on again the info screen showed the axis position as 0, 0, 0 again.
So, I can't move the Z axis up now because the printer thinks it's already at 0.
NOTE: On the Ender 5 the bed lowers for increasing values of the Z. So 320 is the lowest and 0 the highest. I know that the motor works because it tries to go down further if I increase the Z position, but I am scared of damaging the motor because it can't move further but it tries to (judging by that weird sound).
My question
Is this a normal behavior that the printer axis cant remember its position? Because I think when I built the printer the axes were also not at the 0, 0, 0 position and on the first start they moved back without any problems.
Does anyone have any ideas on how to solve this? Or is this a broken printer?
PS: I could replicate this behavior on X and Y as well (moving them with prepare->move axis and then shutting down the printer). But in this case, I can easily disable the motors and move them manually back to 0, 0. This isn't the case for the Z Axis.
I hope I explained that understandably.
Once you pull the plug or disable power to the stepper motors, the printer forgets its location. That is perfectly normal and exactly how it is supposed to work.
The printer knows where the printer volume is once you have "homed" the printer. Homing is done prior to printing with G-code G28 which should be present in your start G-code script of your slicer. Once homed, the offsets from the endstops determine where the origin of the printer is and the maximum dimensions determine the build volume.
After you switched on the printer, the printer doesn't know where the origin is and movement is limited. E.g. when the following constant is defined: #define NO_MOTION_BEFORE_HOMING no movement at all is possible before the printer is homed, this can help prevent destroying the printer.
I don't know about the Ender-5 but the Ender-3 series has a front-panel command to "Auto Home" under "Prepare". I assume the 5 has similar.
@DoxyLover Marlin has a default option in the LCD menu to home all axis (the Ender 5 has the default reprap 12864 graphical display as the Ender 3), you can also activate homing of each axis separately in the Configuration.h, use: #define INDIVIDUAL_AXIS_HOMING_MENU.
(Summed up from several entries in this thread.)
It is an untrue statement that the printer can't move back to home anymore, until the G-Code G28 is executed. The printer can home, but must be ordered to do it.
There are several ways to home the printer (LCD hints are for Marlin firmware):
Start a print, which (by the book) includes G28 in its initial part
Use the LCD menu option to home all axes: Prepare > Auto Home
Use the LCD menu options to home single axes, for example: Prepare > Auto Home Z, after they are activated by adding the following to the Configuration.h file:
#define INDIVIDUAL_AXIS_HOMING_MENU
Add your own options to the custom menu in the LCD: Custom Commands > Your command - for example to have more complex scripts at hand, like a custom sequence of axes, multiple repeats, different back-off behavior, or move to center of bed (G-Code snippets)
The current position may be updated with G-Code G92, and this hack may be useful when a print gets stuck (e.g., power outage, thermal issue) and there is no space any more to home Z, but its actual position is known from the print file (the remaining part?) Set the known position of Z (G92 Znnn) and let X and Y home the standard way (G28 X Y)
Slightly unscrew the motor. Manually rig the Z-axis above its lowest point. Rescrew the motor back into place tightly. Then auto home it.
I disagree with this sugesstion. Z homing is often. Acting like this would quickly lead to wear of hardware (e.g. coupler's thread) or to introduce errors like too loose screw (we had this before). Much more useful would be to enable homing axes individually or Z with custom menu, or even ad-hoc update current position with G92 Znnn (hacky).
@octopus8 - you should post the last sentence as an answer (as it really is an answer), and expand upon it. The first half (the first three sentences are good though).
Good point. I added the answer summing up homing options.
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19710 | Is it possible to build a sponge-like surface using 3D printing?
I am new to 3D printing. I own jewelry stores and want to 3D print my jewelry packaging for rings, necklaces, and bangles as in the picture below:
I have two main problems:
Is 3D printing capable of building this package?
I know I can build boxes for jewelry with the outside being made of plastic. But I want the inside to be like a sponge. Is there a filament or a way to print a filament to make it look like cloth or a sponge?
Are there printers on the market which are able to print several copies without the need to set up each time it finishes a single box?
With the right materials
With the right material, you can get flexible surfaces and prints. Just two random examples:
TPU is a flexible material, which can be used to print something like "Lips" that flex and take the jewelry or even strings that suspend the piece in the center.
Foaming TPU is a variant of normal TPU that expands during printing. This makes it somewhat spongey.
However, those have downsides: they don't make good rigid shells, so you will need two different materials: one hard for the shell, and something flexible for the holder.
Luckily, any direct drive filament printer can work with flexible filaments, and there are some flexible filaments that work with a Bowden setup. Due to dissimilar materials though, you need to either assemble the part or buy a somewhat specialized printer: one with two nozzles. These are available but are way out of hobby-grade pricing.
Also, you will never get the "smooth" silky look of a fabric insert cover, but always a clearly industrial printed surface.
A dual extruder printer isn't necessary here, you can design the inner flexible part slotting in place in the hard shell. That way a you can print each part separately, swapping the filament between prints.
I would advise against this, as you will get layer lines which isn't visible in normal form, and the fit wont be as smooth etc, resulting in a cheaper look & feel. You will spend a lot of effort modifiying the parameters to get a foamy look, but still end up with a worse product.
Instead the best option is probably to buy EVA foam, and cut it with hot hire, or even a blade/knife.
I understand the jewelry is (probably) expensive, and thus you will want to give it a premium feel. One advice I would give is for the plastic box, consider SLA / Resin printing, and you will get almost injection moulding quality. However the chemicals involved with this are not as user friendly, and you will need to wear PPE and ensure a large amount of ventilation (as resin fumes can be toxic), however the quality will be much better
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19839 | Why is there some transparency between the layers of my print?
When I'm printing sometimes there is some "transparency" between the layers as you can see in the picture, I'm not sure how to name the problem.
I've looked on google, somes people said It could be the nozzle that is clogged, I cleaned it and it doesn't seem clogged.
I've also seen that it could be the pressure of the spring in the extruder arm, I adjusted it.
I also checked the bed level and it looks fine.
With all thoses changes et verifications I still have the problem, not even a small improve.
Some time ago I didn't have any problem, I didn't change the cura parameters, and the problem is for every 3D files, not only this one.
In your experience what could cause this ? Did I do something wrong ?
I have a artillery sidewinder x1 which I use together with Cura. I print in PLA at 200 °C. The print bed is set to 50 °C . I use a print cooling fan at 100 %. The layer height I set to 0.16 mm, the line width 0.44 from the 0.4 mm nozzle. The Printing Speed is set to 30 mm/s for walls and 60 mm/s for infill. My retraction is 5 mm at 45 mm/s.
EDIT 30/08/2022:
I have tried to print the gcode given by artillery (which is the manufacturer of the 3d printer), there is two files a cube and a chick, I have the same problem except that it's only the infill.
This file is supposed to be perfect for the printer so to my understanding the problem is not from the software setting in cura, but from the printer itself.
Hello Gregory, welcome to 3DPrinting.SE! Your question is lacking detail and as such is hard to answer without knowing a couple of things about your printer setup. Please [edit] and fill in the [placeholders] in the template I added and then remove the leading <!-- and trailing --> afterwards. This will turn it visible and help us help you find the actual problem.
I've just added all the details you asked for, it's almost all the settings from the profiles I downloaded from the manufacturer, I think I only changed the bed temperature.
Your problem is underextrusion, no doubt. The question is what is causing this. As a few hints, please inspect he extruder (the spring or filament tensioning mechanism) and the slicer (1.75 mm diameter and flow modifier), Also be sure it isn't in volumetric extrusion.
I've disassembled the extruder parts and clean everything, there was some dust, but not a big amount. I've reassembled every thing. I've adjusted the tension of the spring, the feeling was different than before when doing it, I think last time I disassembled things, I must have badly re-assembled it. The manufacturer print looks fine now. I'm trying my files now. I'll post a new comment when I have printed more files.
I found out what was the problem here, like @0scar said I think it was the tension spring that was wrongly set, even if I had checked it before.
Also the real name of the problem was "underextrusion" and not "transparency between the layers"
Here is the steps I followed to fix it:
I disassembled the extruder by removing the screw on the side like on the picture, there is also two behind the FAN.
After that I had access to every gear that was pulling the fillament.
I cleaned everything, there was some dust but not a big quantity so I don't think I was the problem.
I also removed the spring and the spring handle. I change the tension of the spring to be as low as possible. Then I reassembled every parts.
After that I have redone the bed level and the spring tension.
Compared to the first time that I change the spring tension, this time the gear to change it felt easier, there was less resistance than last time. Even so I changed the tension to the lowest possible each time.
After doing all that I printed the manufacturer print file, It was ok, there was no longer under extrusion. Then I tried multiple file of mine, which didn't print well before all that, this time it was perfect.
I think the real problem here was that some time ago I have disassembled the extruder and when I reassembled it I must have badly re-assembled it. Especially the spring part, since the feeling was different.
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19856 | Random Line on some 3D prints
I have been having an issue for a while now with my 3D Print that one of the layers will appear thicker than the rest.
The line artifact will be on different height level. Also not all models that I would print would have this defect some will look pretty clean.
If I print the same model again the line will appear on the same spot. I tried with different filaments on the same model same thing again.
Is this maybe a slicer issue, anything that can help with finding the cause?
Printer CR-6 SE
I have tried different retraction settings same result.
I have calibrated the extruder and have changed the extruder to dual drive.
I am using a Micro swiss hotend.
Using 2.0 Cura 5.0 Profile from CHEP & CHEP 0.28 Fast Profile.
Linear Advance has been calibrated.
Here is some images of models that came out with no line present.
Hi Dave, welcome to 3DP.SE! If you suspect the slicer to be the culprit consider to use an alternative slicer. But, since you added an image of another print object with a similar defect at a different print height (my assumption) it would rule out an issue with the hardware (e.g. lead screw or linear guides). Please describe if the other defect is at the same or different height by [edit]. Thanks!
I suspect you have a defect in one of the Z-axis V roller wheels, or possibly in the lead screw, making it so that, at the point where the defect makes contact, the position is slightly deflected from where it's intended to be.
Thank you, I added some more info, the line height is different heights on different models. It will definitely be worth checking the wheels any way to diagnose a wheel? I know I can take off the screws and roll them a bit to maybe see if they are bent.
I am going to give Prusaslicer a go tonight will report back
Seems the issue went away using Prusaslicer. Spent the last two days trying to figure out new artifacts (pin holes on layer lines) after using a different slicer seems it was mostly retraction related. Producing beautiful prints once again. Thank you for the help.
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21565 | What are the pros and cons of automatically turning off stepper motors after a print? Does it increase the stepper motor's lifetime?
I've noticed several times that one of my stepper motors is making a slight noise after a print is finished, indicating it's still enabled; also, the axes are still statically positioned and unmovable.
I meant that the stepper motors are still powered. Usually, after a print, the extruder moves up and away, and the bed moves to the front. However, some X seconds after that, I would like to automatically turn off the steppers because it could potentially preserve the lifetime of my stepper motors.
Is this a common practice, and if so, does this method have a name?
Does it indeed potentially increase lifetime?
How to do it? (By simply adding M18/M84 at the end of my G-code using a Cura script or using an OctoPi plugin?)
Are there any other pros or cons to powering off stepper motors after the print has finished?
NAA: De-energising coils will probably extend the life by a certain amount, depending upon usage patterns. That is to say that the gain would be proportional to the times that (1) the printer is normally operational & (2) operationally idle. IOW, if you generally just switch the printer on for a job and then off, then disabling the steppers probably won't extend life much. But at the other extreme, if the printer is on 24/7, but idling for most of that time, then de-energising the steppers coils will help considerably more. Also, saving any amount of electricity is always a good idea :-)
While it's plausible that it might increase lifetime, I doubt it. Unless you're driving them out of spec and allowing them to overheat, motor coils should last pretty much indefinitely. The main wear component in a stepper motor is the bearings, not the coils, and the bearings do not get any additional wear from having the coils energized, only from actually turning.
The advantage you do get from turning off the steppers is energy savings. As long as the stepper is energized, you're burning roughly $I^2R$ watts, where $I$ is the current you're driving the motor at and $R$ is the coil resistance. You also eliminate the stepper hum, which can be really infuriating to some people's ears, and if your board has properly firmware-switchable fans, you let the fans power down too, which also saves energy and cuts noise.
Another aspect that can be an advantage or a disadvantage is that, once steppers are powered off, you can move the motion components by hand. This can be nice for adjusting the toolhead and bed to remove the completed print, but it can also cause the toolhead or bed to fall due to gravity, which can lead to damage to the printed part or the printer. If this is an issue, on most kinematic systems (pretty much anything but delta or corexz) you can leave the Z stepper(s) energized between prints, and only disable the X/Y ones. The reduction gearing/leadscrew lead on most printers makes it so Z doesn't need anywhere near the current of X/Y, so turning off X/Y and just leaving Z engaged still gets you most of the power conservation.
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21789 | Why does Cura remove a part of a model when slicing?
Some parts of this model when slicing in Cura are just being deleted.
Here is the part of the model before slicing; notice how there is a wall between the threads and the inside
And after slicing, that wall is just gone, and this wouldn't be practical to print.
And turning on supports doesn't fix the problem in the slightest.
What the nozzle size 0.4mm? And what's the model height approximately, did you scale it?
Nozzle is 0.4mm, scale is X: ~75, Y: ~75, Z: 45.5, I have not scaled the model at all.
What version of Cura do you use? Latest 5.5? My guess is that there is simply to little space in the model to be sliced in that resolution. I would probably change the design a bit, or scale the whole model up, or maybe it's fixable with using a higher Wall Line Count and Wall Thickness. I'm not sure.
I'm on 5.3.1, I'll try updating to 5.6 and changing the settings you suggested
Scaling it up seems to fix the issue, but I have to scale it up to almost 150% for it to work again, but I don't want to print this at this size, so changing the model seems to be the only option.
Print with a 0.2mm nozzle at higher resolution?
Sadly I don't have a smaller nozzle, I ended up using PrusaSlicer instead which got it right.
As mentioned in the comments. Probably the model contains too little space for the slicer to be able to slice for that nozzle size and resolution.
You have a few options:
Scale up the model
Use a smaller nozzle and a higher resolution
Change the model to include thicker walls
Maybe you can increase wall thickness in slicer settings and achieve the same, although I am not sure of it.
As mentioned by you, apparently PrusaSlicer did work. It's interesting to figure out what the actual difference is. Isn't it just the wrong visualization in Cura? Did you try to print that Cura-sliced model or preview it top-down layer for layer?
All of these solutions would for sure work; but none of them are applicable to this model. I got this model from online and changing it would be a hassle, I don't have a smaller nozzle, and I would have to scale it up a ton for it to work. Cura's preview was very confident about printing it the way it showed, so I don't think it was a rendering bug. PrusaSlicer seems to be more lenient with very thin walls, so it sliced correctly.
Note: If the walls are really less than 0.4 mm thick, then that thread will be very fragile, even if you get it to print correctly.
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21729 | How to successfully flash a DACAI LCD screen of a Creality Ender 3 V2?
I thought I had two identical Ender 3 V2 printers, the main board in both is v4.2.2 but it turns out they came with a different LCD screen.
I flashed the firmware on both printers to mriscoc firmware and tried to also flash both LCD screens.
DWIN
The printer with the DWIN screen worked fine, everything went smooth and instead of the original blue, flat GUI, I now look at a colorful GUI something like this:
DACAI
On the other printer that I identified as a DACAI LCD as per mriscoc instructions documented.
I then flashed the firmware and the private folder separately, as shown below, in the end you can see it fails to load. Not shown on the video but if I rotate the knob, the buttons appear on top of the load screen:
After rebooting I see this:
I am able to view a test thumbnail on screen, as provided in the documentation and shown below:
But I expect the same colors and icons as on my DWIN screen, did I miss something?
I made sure the right cluster size was used when formatting, I tried three different SD cards and two different SD card readers, as well as unmounting from PC before removing it.
How to successfully flash a DACAI LCD screen of an Ender 3 V2 to achieve the same as on the DWIN LCD?
The process as shown in the question was all performed correctly and successfully however, simply the wrong icon set was used. The documentation isn't very clear and I should have personally documented this better when I did it months ago.
For flashing the LCD screen, the SD card will be placed in the SD card slot on the back of the LCD screen, not the printer slot.
This is what fixed it:
Clone the mriscoc Git repository or download latest the zip.
Open the folder display assets
Open the folder Giadej compilation for the icons I intended to use and utilize the color LCD instead
Depending on the screen type, follow the instructions as documented here:
For DWIN LCD copy only the folder DWIN_SET to the root of the SD
For DACAI LCD copy only the folder private to the root of the SD
Also, it's required to have micro SD card of 8GB or smaller formatted explicitly as MBR, FAT32, and with a 4 KB sector size.
For the DACAI screen specifically, I also flashed another DACAI screen firmware, also available in mrisoc Git repo: dacai_update.zip. Place the firmware.zlib file in the root of the SD card and flash.
Repower the printer after flashing both firmware and private folder. To test if the firmware and screen work correctly you can place this test gcode on the printer SD card to check if the thumbnail preview on the printer LCD is shown.
Result shown below:
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21755 | How to distinguish filament runout and filament jam using a microswitch-based filament sensor in Marlin?
I found two great designs for a DIY sensor that achieve both filament runout and filament jam detection in one unit.
A clever design that only uses one microswitch as follows:
Source: Thingiverse.com
Another design using two microswitches, as follows:
Source: Thingiverse.com
I am not sure about the reliability of either yet, and I initially liked the design with one more switch. Then I realized there was no way to distinguish what event occurred (runout or jam), so I plan to make the second two microswitch versions instead. However, how would I wire this in a way so that my Ender 3 V2 running Marlin, specifically mriscoc firmware, would be able to interpret both signals separately and interpret them as two distinguishable events so that the exact event is reported (runout or jam)?
Alternatively, I could wire it to my Raspberry Pi, since I always print from OctoPrint only, and implement it there instead. However, I'd prefer to wire it to the printer board and have the firmware handle it.
Lastly, in comparison to these two specific designs, would an encoder wheel approach add benefits other than runout and jam detection?
Suggestions for better designs or approaches are also welcome.
Blue design
The blue design can only detect a lack of filament. It is boolean: Filament or No Filament.
Pink design
The pink design can have multiple states, combining two boolean values.
The right of the sensors is "Filament there".
The left is using a ramp. On pull along the ramp, the sensor is triggered once a certain amount of pull is overcome, either by pulling up, left or right. As a result of passing through the hole in the lever of known diameter. Any tangle or over thickness will act on the lever to the right and trigger the sensor, and so will strong yanking up or left, through those might self reset. As a result, this sensor will trigger a signal that could be called Tangle or No Tangle, or of course No Jam/Jam.
Your interpretation that there is no way to distinguish the results depends on one thing: that you put the sensors through a single loop back, for the effect of an AND gate.
Filament
Jam
Output of the Series
Filament in
No Jam
Run
Filament in
Jam
Stop
no Filament
No Jam
Stop
no Filament
Jam
Stop
The design is set up such, that the filament sensor shows connectivity on being pressed, while the jam sensor is connected in reverse: triggering it opens the loop. While the designer wired the two in parallel, they could also be connected in series for the same effect.
To overcome this design deficiency of only sending a stop message, you need to route the signal to your control board and distinguish the two signals. However, for all but the error message, the practical effect should be the same: the machine shall stop if either of the Stop conditions is triggered.
If you have other sensory equipment on the printer, you might quickly run into problems in that the number of free pins is usually extremely limited, so you might not have enough pins to route the signals separately.
is tangle trigger separate a good idea?
Now, is the additional requirement of pins and wiring a good idea when it comes to error handling? No.
In either detected case - no more filament or tangled filament - you need to stop printing and access the very same area to deal with the lack of feeding filament. Only in large operations, there is any reason to try and detect the two separately for logging purposes.
Both designs listed can detect runout and tangled filament. In both designs, the mechanics of detecting runout is for the filament presence to activate the switch while detecting tangle uses the tension between the reel and the extruder.
The tension mechanism has specific mounting requirements that other runout only sensors do not. It has to be fixed mounted to the printer frame so that the tension can act against it. And the tension arm should be oriented towards the filament reel which in this case is hanging over the printer. Different reel locations will require more thought. As an example, standalone reel holders that sit next to printers might not work if it is not heavy enough where the tension might drag or tip the reel.
The blue design is a well thought out optimization that relies on a rotating stage to pivot the switch away from the filament when the tension increases beyond the opposing spring tab. So a single switch will toggle with either runout or tension.
I agree with other answers that it is not necessary to differentiate between the two errors in firmware since both requires the same user intervention. If I was to implement separate detection anyways using the pink design, I would build a custom Marlin firmware that supports two runout sensors assuming I have enough controller pins to support a seconds input. (i.e. spare z end stop)
A third error that can use tension detection is a clogged/cold nozzle. This is tension that builds up after the extruder that is easy to detect on a Bowden setup. As the extruder tries to push a stuck filament, the net effect will try to elongate the Bowden tube. This can be detected as tension on the tube after the extruder. It is similar to examples on the Bambu tension monitor.
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21738 | Can stepper motor skipping or stalling be detected automatically?
Is there a method such as fetching data from to stepper motor drivers, that can automatically detect or count stepper motor skips or stepper motor stalling?
Preferably for a Creality Ender 3 V2 board v4.2.2, but any related information is welcome. If something like this exists, how does it work and what are common use cases or implementation of it?
The reason I am asking is because it is a performance indicator that could help to track or measure print consistency and quality.
You seem to be looking for closed-loop stepper motors.
Detection of stalling and skipping on open-loop (aka regular) steppers is possible - that's how Prusa mk3s+ finds home position without endstops*. But it is not reliable and precise - that's why Prusa firmware tests every axis a couple of times.
If quality matters, and you want to reliably detect stalls and skips during print, closed-loop motors are what you need. Per one of the manufacturers description, they signal back to the controller what they are doing, so that controller can correct for skips and stalls:
On the contrary, NEMA17 closed loop stepper motor feedback signal, according to the signal stepper motor driver to take the corresponding action measures or signal feedback to PLC, by PLC to determine the next step of the program.
Open-loop steppers are much cheaper, so most manufacturers just massively over-spec their open-loop steppers to make them force their way thorough any obstacles like blobs of plastic, and not need to care about feedback signal, and pay for it. As far as I know, closed-loop steppers are not used in hobby or even entry business machines, cost of motors and controllers being prohibitive.
* When the motor stalls, power draw changes. If your driver can monitor power draw, firmware can make educated guess about the stall.
Really great answer. Thank you. I just don't understand that's how Prusa mk3s+ finds home position without endstops, could you further explain that?
Also, do you know if step skipping could be detected using an encoder wheel as an error correction wheel, as mentioned here: https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/q/21756/36802?
@BobOrtiz when the motor stalls, power draw changes. If your driver can monitor power draw, firmware can make educated guess about the stall.
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18681 | What is the difference between Linear Advance and Pressure Advance?
I've been trying to do some research on Linear Advance (LA) on Marlin and Pressure Advance (PA) on Klipper, and from my understanding the technology behind each is different, although also similar. If I understand what I have read correctly, then:
LA will alter the extruder acceleration movements so that the extruder can keep relatively the same pressure while printing. The effect of this would be prettier corners and z-seams
PA also seems to alter the extruder flow rate based on the movements. This should also prevent under/over extrusion in the print similar to LA, but where does it differ from LA?
Is my understanding of these correct? I currently have an Ender3v2 with a direct drive setup and am curious if LA or PA would be considered better today (2022)? From what I understand, my 4.2.7 motherboard is not compatible with LA due to its stepper drivers, and I am trying to determine if I should move from Marlin to Klipper and use PA, or whether I should upgrade my motherboard and use LA in Marlin. I may need to upgrade my motherboard anyways as I was also wanting to add some additional temperature sensors and fan controls for a heated enclosure I plan to build down the road.
Any thoughts/advice or reviews and/or current comparisons of the two technologies would be appreciated.
Both are implementations of exactly the same concept, even up to the units of the tuning constant being seconds (mm/(mm/s)). The difference is in the implementation details, and particularly how they deal with a mathematically and physically nasty/demanding part of the concept.
In order to compensate for pressure making the filament/filament-path behave like a spring, LA/PA offset the E-axis position by a fraction (K) of the pre-LA/PA E-axis velocity. Mathematically, as an operator acting on the function that's the E-axis position at time t, the basic LA/PA transformation is:
I + K*D
where I is the identity, K is the spring constant, and D is the (time) derivative.
Anyone with a mathematical background in functional analysis or PDEs will recognize this as an unbounded linear operator (at least with respect to most norms, due to the derivative term). Casually speaking, it shifts bad behavior of a particular derivative "down one level". Instantaneous changes of acceleration (starting to accel/decel) become isntantaneous changes of velocity. Instantaneous changes of velocity ("jerk"/junctions) become instantaneous changes of position. (Insert horrified face here.) In short, the result is not physically realizable.
There are two ways to deal with this impossibility:
The Marlin way (Linear Advance): E-axis acceleration and jerk limits are applied in such a manner that the result of the LA transformation is still within those constraints. This makes printing a lot slower. Essentially there's no longer any E-jerk, and E-acceleration is limited by K time E-velocity.
The Klipper way (Pressure Advance): No changes are made whatsoever to the kinematic timing. Print speed is exactly what it would be without PA. Instead, a smoothing convolution with a triangle wave is applied on top of the result of the PA transformation (I + K*D) to make the E-axis position function back into something physically realizable. This introduces a new type of error into the extrusion, but if the time window of the smoothing can be kept narrow enough, the error is expected to be small enough not to matter. Unfortunately, the more extreme your print acceleration, the longer the window needed to keep the result of PA physically realizable, so there are still limits. If you don't tune them right, the extruder will just start skipping.
In my opinion, the Marlin behavior is easier to get started with, but hopelessly slow to actually use unless you start cranking up your acceleration and jerk limits. And this ends up being comparable to the manual tuning you have to do with the Klipper PA smooth time window. But in the end, Klipper's approach will always win on print performance, because the smoothing lets you cheat and do moves that wouldn't be possible with Marlin.
Thank you for the detailed explanation and breakdown of the differences, this helps a lot. It gives me some ideas why I may have had some issues with LA on my custom Marlin firmware (perhaps making some excessive demands on my BIQU H2 pancake stepper). I think I'm going to take the dive and try out Klipper.
This a good quality answer like you don't see everyday... well done. I would add a mention of RRF firmware, to see whether it fits in one or the other techniques.
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18552 | Is resin 3D printing considered "additive"?
Subtractive manufacturing has been the way of the world for a while, but additive manufacturing, which is synonymous with 3D printing, has disrupted all of that.
If extrusion-based printing is considered additive, then can we call resin printing additive?
Resin printers start with a resin bath and then essentially "subtract" the material it needs (via UV light). This is just a matter of terminology, no big deal.
your bath is the equivalent of a spool of material. you "subtract" the material you need from a spool. sadly one cannot add matter to existence easily thanks to laws of conservation; something added is always subtracted from elsewhere. if with a conventional mill, your goal were to add chips to the floor...
Resin printing (aka stereo lithography) was actually invented before (FFF/FDM) filament extrusion printing. The term 3D printing was more or less created as a generic way to name and describe both along with a handful of other methods.
It is additive because you add layers to other layers to build the part rather than carving up an original solid block.
Resin printing is no more subtractive than removing the tip of the filament in FFF is subtractive.
Very nice punch line! Resin printing is no more subtractive than removing the tip of the filament in FFF is subtractive. :-)
It really took me a little while to understand why you thought that it was subtractive, but I can now see your point. Which is, that seeing as the resin model is created within the tank/bath, you are saying that the bath is analogous to a block of aluminium which is whittled away, using CNC, to make a 3D model. The resulting aluminium model was once within the block of aluminium, as was the resin 3D model - therefore, you posit, resin 3D printing is subtractive.
The more I thought about it, the more it seemed as if you were, actually, correct.
However, then I realised that we were neglecting the hardening process. It is the hardening of the resin that is done in an additive manner, in order to slowly build up the model, therefore the process is additive.
You aren't removing/subtracting non-hardened resin from the model (which would result in a non-hardened wobbly model), but instead, as user10489's answer states, you are adding hardened resin layers.
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17840 | Extruder stops printing before finishing first layer (Ender 3 v2 w/BIQU H2)
Let me preface this with me being quite a newbie to 3D printing, however, I am an engineer and coder, so tinkering with stuff like this is quite the norm for me. Don't be afraid to be too technical, knowledge is power!
I recently purchased a new Creality Ender 3 V2 based on a friend's recommendation and within a week or two, started getting terrible screeching from the print head fan. I already knew I wanted to get better PETG (and in the future, TPU) prints so I went ahead and bought a direct drive extruder (BIQU H2) to replace the Bowden setup.
I got everything tuned pretty well (or so I thought), which included tuning the E-steps (945 which is 10x the original value of 93, however normal for this BIQU H2), my home position, changing the retraction setting, setting my K-factor for linear advance, tuning PID, etc. I flashed these settings into a custom Jyers Marlin firmware. Everything was working fine, and I was starting to get some really high-quality calibration tests, so I then began tuning my slicer profile.
Then, yesterday, all of a sudden it is no longer printing correctly, even older G-code files before I messed with the slicer settings. It prints the prime line, retracts, moves, prints the brim, then retracts again, but doesn't start extruding to actually print the model. I've tried multiple G-code files that were working, and seem to get the same results, nothing prints beyond the first layer retraction or two. There is no clicking/vibrating or any attempts to move the extruder again after it stops printing.
After some more reading, it seems that maybe I should have adjusted the vRef on extruder driver pots, as the new stepper motor is 0.8a (I believe the original 4042 extruder is 2a). Is it possible I damaged my stepper driver for the extruder? From my understanding, it would be moving at 10x the speed of the old stepper attached to the Bowden tube extruder.
Some things I have done:
Completely rebuilt the BIQU H2. There is no sign of jamming or that there has ever been a jam. The gears all move smoothly with no areas with additional resistance. The PTFE heatbreak was clear and freely allowed filament through. Once re-assembled, I can freely turn the extruder gear when heated and the stepper disabled, and I can extrude/retract using the printer GUI (even after a failed print). I also checked to make sure the gear was firmly attached to the stepper motor while apart, and it was. I also added some gear lubricant while I was in there.
Tried a print with the BIQU H2 stepper detached and the wires attached to the old 4042 stepper (and adjusted the steps back to 93). It seems to stop moving the stepper in about the same place, so I don't believe the issue has to do with the stepper motor which has led me to believe this must be firmware or driver related.
Tried letting the printer sit idle overnight, thinking maybe it was just an overheated driver after running calibration tests almost continuously for 2 days.
Tried printing the same known working G-code with the speed adjusted to 25% and 50%, the same issue occurs around the same position in the print process.
For reference, I have an Ender 3 V2 with a 4.2.2 Motherboard. I'm not sure what stepper drivers it uses as there seems to be conflicting info online and I don't really want to remove the heatsinks if possible (but I will if I need to get this info and can't obtain it directly from the firmware). Unfortunately, the drivers are soldered to the motherboard so I guess I will need a new motherboard if I destroyed the extrusion driver. I do feel I probably should have made some driver adjustments given this stepper motor is 40% the amps, and runs at 10x the speed of the old stepper.
I'm sort of at a loss as to what to try next, any thoughts would be appreciated. I plan on flashing the stock firmware back later this evening to see if that helps, but I doubt it will. I have only made some small tweaks mainly related to home offset, build area, PID tune, and K-factor for linear advance (which were previously working fine).
Edit:
I did some further testing yesterday. Flashing back to stock firmware didn't help at all. It also seems I may have been mistaken as further testing of the old 4042 stepper was successful if I attached it to the motherboard and ran the G-code which fails on the first layer, however I attached it with a spare cable as to not have to take apart my harness going to the X carriage. Using the same spare cable with the BIQU H2 unfortunately did not help. The issue is reproducible without any filament loaded at all as well. There is an ever so slight play in the motor drive, so I am going to disassemble the extruder again tonight and see if the issue is reproducible with the motor detached from the extruder drivetrain.
Also, just an interesting point, but multiple times after the failure I quickly checked the temp of the heatsinks on the drivers. Ironically, the only "hot" ones were the X/Y/Z steppers, and the extruder driver was only warm. Also, when the issue happens, the stepper becomes completely disengaged (I can turn the wheel freely without feeling the resistance of the stepper holding the position). Not sure if this is indicative of a driver failure, or standard practice for the driver if it encounters significant resistance.
Another interesting point, the motherboard was not grounded. Although attached indirectly to the frame using screws, the panel the motherboard was attached to was not making contact with the frame. Some minor sanding resolved this issue. Once done, I notice the exterior case of my Y motor is grounded, but the X and Z as well as the extruder do not seem to be grounded. Is it typical for the exterior of the motors to be grounded? Perhaps there are some other ground faults I need to sort.
Check to make sure you don't have heat creep. See https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/15629/what-are-ways-to-avoid-heat-creep
@PerryWebb I don't believe the issue is heat creep, as I didn't have any clogs or jams when disassembling.
Are you saying the extruder stopped moving? With heat creep the extruder keeps moving, but doesn't extrude and the nozzle isn't clogged.
@PerryWebb Yes, exactly. The extruder just simply disengages from the driver mid print (the motor can free spin as if it was powered off). I believe I have sorted the issue now, thanks for your suggestion.
Okay, so after yet another frustrating night of troubleshooting. I believe I have identified the specific problem. I reduced the G-code file to about 100 lines of code, that 100% reproduced the issue on the BIQU H2 stepper. With the original 4042 stepper, the problem was intermittent, but did occur from time to time in the same part of the print.
I pulled the motor from the transmission on the BIQU H2 and observed the issue happen without it attached to the extruder and it still failed at the same place (so confirmed it wasn't an issue with the extruder/clogging/etc). This specific place in the G-code had many quick short movements of the extruder. Commenting out this block of code allowed it to get past, until it did similar movements on the next layer. This pointed me to it having to be an issue with either the stepper (which tested fine on my ohm meter, so unlikely), the controller, or the firmware.
Long story short: It was Linear Advance being enabled in the firmware.
I was too hasty to initially disregard the firmware being at fault. When I retested the original firmware, it was unusable as my offsets have changed with the new print head, so I rebuilt the Jyers Marlin with just a couple small changes for changing the homing as the original Jyers builds works fine. However I missed that I still had my Linear Advance settings enabled.
After doing some searching regarding Linear Advance and extruder motors, it seems this is a known issue with certain TMC drivers, and my board is one that can potentially have these drivers installed. It seems the "stealthChop" feature within the drivers causes issues with Linear Advance. It sounds like it can be disabled via UART but I do not believe there is any interface to the UART of the individual controller chips exposed to my mtherboard. I believe I will probably need to swap motherboards if I want to be able to use Linear Advance. I'm still pretty new to 3D printing, so maybe I don't need LA at all, however it did seem to make a positive impact on my prints before I ran into these issues which is why I had it enabled.
Some related references I found:
https://github.com/KevinOConnor/klipper/issues/196#issuecomment-383122655
https://www.reddit.com/r/ender3/comments/bncr8w/silent_board_and_linear_advance/
Check your retraction and run some experiments with it. I just had a very similar problem, when I switched from 0.6 mm retraction to 0.8 mm filament tended to get stuck between rolers and the cooler on layer change.
I don't have and never had linear advance enabled, so it's not the issue.
Unless I've misunderstood and your extruder didn't move at all (mine did move properly)
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16405 | What would cause magic smoke with a BLTouch installed?
I decided to purchase a BLTouch for my Ender 3 V2. I did all the physical installation of the BLTouch at the same time as adding LED lighting. I plugged in the power to test the lighting (BLTouch was not plugged in yet) and everything came on fine and the lights worked as expected. I plugged in the BLTouch, hot-glued it in place, and finished zip-tying and screwing in everything else back in place.
I connected power once again and powered on my printer. The fans came on, the new lights powered on, but the display didn't come on. I turned it off and back on, still no display. Then I smelled the distinct odor. I quickly powered off the printer and opened it up to look at the mainboard. I couldn't see any major scorch marks at first, so I decided to power it up again. That's when I saw the small spark and magic smoke at F2 in the picture below.
I feared the worst that I had fried my mainboard, but thought maybe it was the BLTouch. So, I unplugged the BLTouch and powered the printer on and miracle of miracles it powered on. All the fans, lights and display were on.
So something with the BLTouch is causing the short but I don't know what it is. YouTube videos that I watched for installation showed a different cable than the one that came with the BLTouch that I purchased. My BLTouch came with a 1 meter extension that is actually 2 sets of cables. One set is a pair of black and white wires that I deduced were for power. The other cable is a set of three wires colored orange, red, and brown. I zip-tied the two connectors together to make sure they stay together. On the BLTouch end, the orange and black wires are next to each other. The connector in the bottom picture is in the same orientation that I plugged it in.
Printer: Ender 3 V2
Mainboard: 4.2.2
BLTouch: Smart 3.1 from Amazon
Firmware: Jyers' Ender 3 V2 Extensible UI
Given F2's proximity to the linear 3.3V regulator and some inductor and large diode possibly belonging to a switching regulator, it is likely that some short circuit caused the fuse on a power rail to blow.
According to wiring instructions and your picture (if you're holding the connector as it was plugged in, you had it reversed:
Black to the G pins
NOTE: Sometimes blue or brown are used for ground wires
Red to the V pin
Yellow/Orange to the IN pin
White to the OUT pin
If that is the case and the protection was well designed, swapping the cable and replacing the blown fuse should repair the fault unless it also damaged to probe.
As for identifying the fuse value for F2 (T20), different manufacturers, due to the size limitations of SMD components, unfortunately use different markings, but the T would indicate either 0.5 or 5.0A.
It might be best to ask support about the value for the fuse as the manufacturer would surely know.
So according to your answer and referencing my second picture, I really just need to flip the connector. Is this correct?
Just saw where you mentioned that I reversed the connection. That fixed the problem. Thank you.
It worked just like that without replacing the fuse? That is surprising.
Yes. When I first saw that the printer was shorting out, I disconnected the BLTouch and tried powering it on and it did. So the fuse was still good and nothing else seemed fried. Thank goodness!
You might at some point want to replace it anyway because it looks damaged and might not function according to the datasheet anymore.
I'm not confident in my soldering skills for SMDs. Worse comes to worst, I can get a new mainboard off of Amazon.
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15111 | Are there quantitative means of measuring nozzle wear?
Are there quantitative means of measuring nozzle wear? What steps do you perform to measure this? If so?
I have some digital calipers, but I don't have much confidence in the measurements taken, as it's almost impossible to ensure the nozzle aperture is entirely free of filament residue.
The context here is I've recently been trying out some carbon-fiber-infused PLA filament, but I would like to keep an eye on how much it wears the nozzle and get an idea of nozzle wear rates. I can then work out if the mechanical and aesthetic qualities of the CF filament are worthwhile.
Why are people so fixated on does anybody?! please, formulate it in a way that is not I am poking with a stick at the anthill
Are you interested in evidence of nozzle wear? Then look at the Olsson Ruby site, they made a quantitative test on PC filament. Are you interested in scientific papers? There are non. are you into methods of measuring wear? or signs of nozzle wear in prints?
Do you have a microscope which you can use to take images? Also, you would probably want to examine the nozzle in situ rather than remove it every time.
Again, what do you look for? A grind-up curve? An estimation how long your nozzles survive? Olsson-Ruby did a test and it a brass nozzle survives about 0.5 kg of Carbonfiber.
examle: https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/a/10886/8884 references the olsson-ruby picture.
With nozzles costing 40¢/ea or less, the additional cost of carbon fiber filament is probably around 10-15x greater than the cost of a few nozzles.
Good quality E3D nozzles for my Prusa i3 mk3s are considerably more expensive than 40c. However I'm more concerned about the time/hassle factor/risk of breaking something in the process of switching nozzles. Despite following all the instructions carefully, I managed to bend the heat break trying to free a seized nozzle, last time I attempted a nozzle swap and therefore wish to only replace nozzles when absolutely required.
Based on CNC Kitchen measurements,
the wear can be initially estimated by judging the overall length of the nozzle. Abrasive particles wear the nozzle very little on the channel (so the diameter doesn't change, for a while) but they wear out the outer surface in contact with the printed part, resulting in a shortening.
Of course, once the shortening gets severe, the diameter will increase because you reach the inner chamber.
And Olsson ruby got some numbers on that on their pare
@Trish I noticed after writing the answer that both 0scar and I already replied to a sister question: https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/a/10886/8884
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20116 | Can inserting a shim fix a misaligned nozzle assembly on an Ender 3 S1 Plus?
I recently purchased an Ender 3 S1 Plus. Printed off the benchy, went great, tried a more complex print with a 0.16 mm height, and it looks wonderful. However, when I tried to print something a bit taller (~200 mm), the nozzle assembly (I believe the fan is the culprit) started catching on the print and in one instance got stuck and burned in a small divot.
I've leveled the X-gantry to the bed and checked the assembly angle. It still appears to be off, and I'm wondering if I should insert a shim where it screws in, to fix the angle.
It is close, but overall higher positioned than the nozzle, it should not catch on your print at all. Can you print a cylinder of the same height to reproduce the problem? You may take some pictures of that.
Hey Oscar, I added a picture of the piece that was catching the most. There would occasionally be a very loud POP as it went over the tree support. it only really happened towards the left side of the print.
I believe the issue is that the mounting bracket itself is bent. If i could somehow get that back into alignment, the whole issue would be solved.
The back left is the problem, somehow it accumulated a chunk of molten filament, could indicate that retraction is a bit under par.
Thanks again for the comment. I'm trying my best to see any chunks of filament but i seem to be missing it. the print was catching on everything from the middle of the print to the left. At times I could hear the sound of it moving over the infill like a bicycle with cards in the spokes.
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20650 | Is it possible to stack multiple models on each other using Cura if the top of the model is not flat?
I'm using a Creality Ender 3 printer with 1.75 mm PLA filament. The print model has a 0.8 mm thick rectangular base. The design contains a couple of shapes (mainly circles and a cross) that stick out an otherwise flat rectangle. The circles and the cross stick out by 0.8 mm. The bottom of the model is flat.
Is it possible to stack multiple models on each other using Cura if the top of the model is not flat (as shown in the image below)?
Does this answer your question? Printing multiple prints stacked on top of each other
Although theoretically it should be possible to stack objects vertically, Cura does not support it out of the box. You will need to change the following configuration under the [Preferences] menu to allow objects to be placed on top of each other:
Automatically drop models to the build plate
Ensure models are kept apart
This is a bit tedious, but it works.
A different approach would be to make a single model of stacked elements in your 3D modeling software. stacked elements would simply fuse the elements to 1 model, so leave some space between them for the slicer to be able to generate supports. This solution would work, but produce a lot of support material and a terrible rough surface on both sides of the cards.
This solution screams "laser-engraved plywood" by the way. Maybe someone nearby can cheaply help you out?
This is good for the software side of it, I was unaware of the "Ensure models are kept apart" option. Thank you! Though I am more concerned about will something like this be actually printable. I've seen people stack models that have a flat bottom and top surface, but my model above does not have a flat top, due to the circles that stick out of it. Could something like this be reliably printed?
absolutely, but with a horrible finish.
This print will not stack reasonably, unless you have a multi-material printer that can use a separate material and zero gap supports.
Flat bottom surfaces are particularly bad for printing on top of supports; they will not squish right, producing inaccurate thickness and a surface finish that's very visibly made from strands of filament, possibly not even bonded fully to one another. On top of that, supports will mar the surface of the object below them. You can avoid that with tree supports that come in from the sides, but that requires a large vertical gap between objects.
For this particular print, have you considered printing them all on their sides, stacked horizontally? It will give a different finish and less strength but would make it easy to print lots on a plate.
Interesting, so almost like laying them on their sides? I hadn't consider that before. Would the circles sticking out still likely be okay? Maybe with supports?
The circles will probably be okay, but with a little bit of support. Enable supports in your slicer and preview it to get an idea.
Consider changing the model by having the top surface features as shallow depressions instead of raised areas.
Adding a series of small raised nubs to the top surfaces would make for easier separation of the pieces and would be fairly easily removed from the top surfaces after separating the layers. The bottoms would likely be pretty ugly from sagging, however.
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20622 | Creality Ender 3 V2 Printed objects incorrect dimensions
I have had a Creality Ender 3 v2 with a 4.2.2 motherboard for about 2 years. It's a company-owned machine but I got it just about when Covid hit so it has only been used at home. It worked OK at first. I used it a good bit. Then I got a Prusa and liked it better so I mostly used it for both work and personal stuff.
Now Covid work-from-home is over and I have moved my Ender 3 back to my office. I also installed a BLTouch I bought a long time ago but never got around to installing it. I had a devil of a time getting the BLTouch to work. It would quit halfway through leveling. I ended up installing Jyers firmware with a 3x3 leveling grid and now it prints. Kewl!
Now I have an issue where none of the dimensions on my prints are correct. I am printing a housing for a circuit board so the dimensions have to be correct or the circuit board will not fit. X, Y, and Z are all undersized. Worse yet, the first 3 or 4 mm in the Z-axis layers are squished. It's like elephant's foot on steroids. I attached a photo.
So the X and Y dimensions of the print are oversized at the bottom due to the elephant's foot but are undersized at the top. The Z-axis dimension is way undersized because of the squish.
The Jyers firmware has a "steps/mm" setting. I haven't changed it from default. Creality's specs say the printer is capable of 0.1 mm resolution but it doesn't say steps/mm so I have no idea whether default settings are correct in Jyers firmware. Jyers was developed specifically for the Ender 3 v2 so I would expect it to be right.
I checked all the rollers on all axes and they look fine. I checked the coupler on the Z-axis stepper and it is tight. I can't find anything loose. The rails are clean and no foreign matter is present. The belts are tight.
I am printing with Hatchbox PLA. I have always had success with this stuff on my Prusa.
I compared the default PLA temps for Creality vs. Prusa. The Prusa runs the extruder at 220 °C vs the Creality running at 215 °C. I am using PrusaSlicer for the Creality.
A related issue I am having is the supports. When I print with supports on the Prusa the supports break off easily. I can usually break them off with just my fingers. The same supports on the Ender 3 v2 require pliers. The support material is binding to the model too tightly. The elephant's foot would explain why supports on the lower layers would be wonky but even supports at higher layers are hard to remove.
I replaced the nozzle with a new 0.4 mm unit hoping this might help. No improvement.
Any ideas?
I think the first important question is: have you calibrated the printer in all 3 axes? Also, please break up the post into only one question; create a separate question about the supports.
What is the temperature of the bed? P.S. your corners are bulging a lot, i guess you have more issues than dimensional problems. What print speeds do you use?
Bed temp is 60C.
I tweaked the slicer 1st layer and printed a calibration cube. The elephant foot is greatly reduced. The corners are still bulging. The X and Y dimensions are a little undersized but almost correct. The Z axis is better but still a bit short.
I mentioned the support issue in the same posting because I think it is related. It looks like the squished Z axis is causing the support material to be fused to model such that they do not break off cleanly.
I punted. This BLTouch consumed about 2 weeks of on and off troubleshooting. It was more trouble than it was worth. Not only was it unreliable but the print quality was pathetic using Jyers firmware and default settings. The layer lines are clearly visible in the photo above.
I disconnected the BLTouch, reconnected Z-axis switch, and restored factory firmware. Reliability and print quality has improved dramatically. I have had only one print failure since and the layer lines are almost invisible. Elephant foot is controlled by using 2 pieces of paper to measure nozzle tip height.
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371 | How to identify nozzle wear?
E3D-Online and Make Magazine have written about the potential damage printing carbon fiber and glow-in-the-dark filaments can do to your printer's nozzle.
What I can't seem to find is what clues or warning signs to be on the lookout for if your nozzle has taken a significant amount of wear. I've printed a few hundred grams of glow filament personally and have not noticed any change in print quality.
E3D says you may have "unpredictable, erratic printing" with a worn nozzle. Can anyone explain or provide examples of this and when a replacement is necessary?
Obviously, when you notice your print quality deteriorate... Don't fix it if it ain't broke.
Somewhat off topic, but if you plan on printing more of such kind of filaments, consider getting a hardened steel nozzle
Where did it say that glow in the dark causes the same effects?
It's fairly common knowledge. Depends on the particle size though, some GITDs are more abrasive than others.
If you want to check directly (say, before doing a big or important print), I'd get a set of tiny drill bits (one of many sources: http://www.amazon.com/SE-Drill-Mini-Sizes-82615MD/dp/B0052Z9TJG). If the next size larger than should, fits through the nozzle, then it may be time to replace the nozzle. The bits are also useful in general...
I believe the little experiment made by E3D - the same link you provide - answers your question very well. Several points about wear can be found in this article. After printing only 250 grams of ColorFabb XT-CF20 (carbon fiber filament):
The nozzle diameter had increased markedly
The inner walls of the orifice (opening) showed deep sharp ridges and grooves
The tip of the nozzle had become critically rounded, and shortened
All of these symptoms were found repeatedly for standard brass nozzles.
In particular, I believe the last of these symptoms may be the one most easily identifiable without accurate measuring equipment (and without observing print quality).
With regards to reduction in print quality, these symptoms could be simulated by:
Setting the nozzle diameter too big in your slicer
Leveling your bed too high (the rounded tip will also reduce the length of the tip)
Printing with a partial clog that interruptus normal filament flow (due to the grooves and ridges)
Exactly what this will look like on your printed part is hard to predict, but I would assume you could see blobs, under-extrusion, poor layer adhesion, as well as an irregular surface finish of your top layers.
One of the things I look for is if you pull the print head a good ways off the bed and have it extrude. It should just squirt plastic straight down. If it bends sharply in one direction, or even curls back on itself, then that is a sign of damage.
According to
the inner diameter doesn't change much, but, as said by @0scar, the nozzle shortens and at the end you get to the inner cavity.
Check the length and you are done.
TL;DR You could compare the nozzle to a similar new nozzle to look for wear.
The creators of the Olsson Ruby Nozzle have published some pictures of wear on brass, steel and hardened steel nozzles. From their website the following image is taken:
Depending on the amount of filament that is being printed, not only the internal dimensions, but also the outer dimension change considerably. This is clearly visible in the images. Comparing your nozzle to a similar new nozzle might give you an idea of the wear of your nozzle. It is expected that long before the nozzle reaches this state, you need to readjust the bed to nozzle distance and the flow modifier, you will see this in the quality of your prints and the first layer sticking to the bed. So, the more (frequent) you need to tinker to get the print to stick or to print successfully and dimensionally correct, the bigger the change your nozzle has worn.
You can check for shortened nozzle length using a set of feeler gauges to measure the gap from bed to nozzle. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feeler_gauge
A worn nozzle is not necessarily shortened. Also, this seems like a pretty unreliable method unless you (1) used feeler gauges when you first installed the nozzle, and remembered the exact gap between nozzle and bed (2) while using the nozzle, never changed anything to the set up like leveling the bed (3) the bed and nozzle were/are perfectly clean when measuring.
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322 | How to achieve dimensional accuracy of printed parts?
When designing parts that should either fit with external objects or other printed parts, what measures can one take to ensure that the dimensions of the final print are accurate and fit the other object?
To my knowledge, you at least have two options to account for printer inaccuracy and shrinkage:
Adjust the space around joints in your CAD model
Adjust dimensional offsets in your slicer software
Are there any good workflows one can use to design and print 3D-models accurately without resorting to trial and error?
I think the best way to go about this would be to calibrate your printer and slicer as best you can. One of my pet peeves is when people upload STLs that have been adjusted to fit their printer/material. There are many suppliers of material that vary in quality as well as many materials and different printers that the tolerances shouldn't be built into the part because in the end it usually just makes it harder for others attempting to print the model.
If you aren't sharing models then all I can say is you are still better off to calibrate your printer and tune your slicer to your material. You'll have more luck with models from other people and have an easier time designing your own.
If you still have trouble then modifying the model is probably the last option. I don't know of any CAD programs that can work with problems 3D printers have so experience is going to be your only help. I know in Inventor you can go around and Thicken/Offset individual surfaces of the model to compensate or if you had a percentage for your shrinkage you could get creative with formulas in the sketches.
So basically: set printer and filament settings in the slicer to achieve as accurate dimensions as possible, regardless of the model printed. Then assuming the printer is doing the right thing, adjust margins in the CAD to make the parts fit (hopefully) on any printer. Sounds reasonable!
Unfortunately, different firmwares and different slicers require different calibration techniques! There's a lot of software-specific advice out there, like printing a single-wall calibration box and measuring the wall thickness. That's a good technique for Slic3r, but not for Simplify3D. It can be very confusing.
Here's the general outline of what you should do:
Rough calibration check for printer steps/mm. Do the values in your firmware settings make sense for your linear motion hardware? For example, you can calculate what the theoretical values SHOULD be based on belt pitch and pulley tooth count. Print something moderately big (~100-200mm) and check if it's +/-1-2%. If it's off by more than that, your steps/mm is probably wrong.
Check for mechanical backlash using a backlash-checking print like this one: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:252490 Tighten belts and perform other printer-specific tuning required to eliminate backlash. Backlash will throw off other calibration steps, so make sure there's no slop!
Follow the recommended extrusion volume calibration steps for your slicer. This starts with measuring your filament diameter with calipers and inputting that into your slicer. And then you will usually either "print a single-walled box and measure the thickness" or "print a series of 100% infill calibration boxes and adjust the extrusion multiplier to the largest value that looks good without bulging." By measuring filament diameter and then adjusting an extrusion calibration setting in the slicer, you will be able to measure future filament and prints will come out right. Giving the slicer fake diameter values will force you to recalibrate every time the diameter changes. Note that you must redo this calibration for each FILAMENT MATERIAL and EXTRUDER DESIGN. Different material/extruder pairs will have different bite depths and effective drive diameter.
Precision calibration check by printing a variety of object sizes and PLOTTING "desired size" as X and "actual size" as Y. Then find a linear fit equation, y=mx+b. (Do this separately for your printer's X, Y, and Z axes.) The value "m" is your scale error. You can use your slicer object scaling to fix this. For example, ABS usually requires 100.3-101% scaling to account for shrinkage. If you have scale error with a low-shrinkage material like PLA, you can adjust your firmware's steps/mm value to compensate. The value "b" is your fixed width error. Assuming you don't have backlash, this is usually caused by the small amount that molten plastic bulges out to the sides, or by extrusion volume calibration error. You can improve this by fine-tuning your extrusion volume. Many slicers also have "horizontal/XY size compensation" settings that you can use to shrink/expand the part by b/2 to correct the fixed width error. Any residual fixed-width error that you cannot correct with slicer settings should be added as a tolerance in your part models.
If you follow these steps, you should get +/-0.1mm or better dimensional precision on your prints.*
*Deltas not included. That's a whole other ball of wax.
Great post! I do actually have a delta (the Kossel Mini), but I am sure most of your suggestions can be related to some degree. Either way, I think this answer deserves to stay for the reference! :)
I think it's important to remember that a 3D printer is both an R&D tool and a piece of manufacturing equipment. As such, we should treat it and it's process similarly to other pieces of manufacturing equipment (ie mills, saws, etc.). Other (albeit traditional) manufacturing methods such as a mill will typically require post-processing to parts to remove any burrs and clean the parts. Since tools like a mill are a subtractive technology, it can already hold tight positional/dimensional tolerances. However, as 3D printing is additive manufacturing, it's difficult to hold the same tolerances directly out of the machine as compared to traditional tools.
For this reason, I would suggest planning time for a more traditional process after the print if tolerances and connections are a concern. This could be as simple as using a Dremel or using a mill/lathe. I would recommend increasing your shell/floor/roof settings in your slicer to accommodate the subtractive process though.
That is some very reasonable advice! I usually forget to add that extra shell/floor/wall when designing, and end up fiddling with some dremel tool on a model not fit to the task.
Glad to help. I've often screwed myself over during post-processing like reaming a hole to size and end up cutting too deep into the part and reveal the infill. I'll typically decrease my hole size in my CAD model by about 0.010" and increase my shell to about 5 or 6 to ensure I can ream the hole without this issue.
I print several pats that use 2.5mm "Pogo pins" which are spring-loaded electric contacts. I've found that many variables will influence the size of the holes I have in my design. Flow, temperature even different brands of filament will change the final size.
I create a profile for each part and specific filament. That way I can make changes without changing other parts/projects. Then I print a test piece with some 2.5mm holes and a few that are a few tenths of a millimeter larger and smaller. I also make holes in the test piece that are vertical and some that are horizontal as I've found that orientation to the layers makes a difference.
I then fit the pins in my test piece and note which orientation and diameter fit best.
After that, I lock down every variable I can think of!
I added some desiccant beads to my filament storage bins and found even that increased the diameter of the printed holes.
A few suggestions I haven't seen explicitly stated in the other answers.
Export resolution
When you export your STL files you can increase the resolution. If dimensional accuracy is extremely critical, you'll want to confirm that the STL conversion process hasn't altered the dimensions of curved surfaces outside your max min tolerances. I.e. open your STL file in you CAD program and then re-measure the resulting surfaces. STL conversion for holes makes the wholes slightly smaller, and external curved surfaces slightly larger.
Material Swell
I've noticed on my printer that parts are typically slightly larger when printed. I've managed to account for this in my CAD model by shrinking certain dimensions slightly in CAD prior to exporting them. My dimensions are typically off by about 0.1-0.2mm in XY, which if you're making something with close fits it's worth tweaking the file prior to printing.
Warping
If I've got a part that needs to be perfectly flat, I'll use a raft with an additional ring (or two) of helper discs surrounding the part. For the flattest side I'll also print this on the build plate. If you've got two or more, best judgement.
Angled Flats
If i have a part with flat surfaces that are at angles to the the build platform I'll slow my extruder way down, 10mm/s is my go to speed. Keeping the extruder moving slowly will help to ensure that your edges and walls will be relatively smooth and with the least amount of distortion.
Calibration and setup
Everyone has said it, I'll say it again. Check your printer prior to a critical print. Any sag in your belts will cause drooping, Print a test part to ensure that your temperature settings are good for your filament, and that your extraction distance will minimize stringing.
I do a few test prints with a new filament and again about half way through a roll to ensure everything is still working properly, and if needed I'll tweak things as needed.
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19692 | Uneven mesh after perfect auto tramming?
BLTouch enabled Ender 3 w/4.2.2 board running mriscoc's Professional firmware.
How is it that the auto tramming can report the corners of the bed to be level, and then immediately afterwards it produces this mesh?
What am I missing?
Still, other than a bug in the firmware, why would it do this? Am I misunderstanding tramming vs leveling?
Leveling is making the print bed parallel with the earth. Tramming is adjusting the print bed to be parallel with the XY-axis. (hope I got that right)
Have you asked on the Github's discussion page about this issue? Since this is their area of expertise they may have a better idea about what the problem is.
@agarza Leveling or tramming is explained in How do you level (or tram) your build surface correctly?.
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19087 | How to encrypt the WiFi password in the OctoPi config file?
I recently changed the password of my WiFi and updated the file in the /boot folder of the OctoPrint's OS running on my Raspberry Pi.
Yet, it is now in plain text, and I would like to avoid storing it that way. What can I do to make the file more secure?
The automatic configuration from the Raspberry Pi imager generated an encrypted version of the password. But I'm not planning to flash everything again, so that's not an option.
There is no way to store it that's "more secure". In order to connect to the network, a device needs the password. The configuration tool you used likely just stored an encoded (which means roughly the opposite of encrypted, despite many people not understanding the difference) form of the password. To store it encrypted would require also storing a decryption key to decrypt and use it, but then whoever reads the SD card could just read the key too.
There is nothing special about a Raspberry Pi in this. Your PCs, phones, etc. all store wifi passwords in a form that can be read back, and that is read back every time they use them to connect to a network. If they don't make it easy for you the human user to read back the password, that's simply a user interface choice they've made to give you a false sense of safety, not any actual security boundary.
Thanks. I would just say that encoded and encrypted are two different things, not opposite, since they don't belong to the same "world". Anyways, would you say that "encoding" it in the way it was before is not any safer than having it in a human-readable way? At least a thief would have to know how it was encoded...
@Myoch: "Encoded" means stored with a particular convention for how the data is represented and to be interpreted. For example UTF-8 is an encoding of Unicode text not to obscure it but to ensure that senders and receipients agree on a convention for how to communicate. In the case of encoding of the password, I'm pretty sure that reading the docs for wpa_supplicant will tell you how it's encoded; if not the docs, surely reading the source code would. So it's unrealistic to expect someone not to be able to find out how to interpret it.
Then clearly, it was not just simply encoded in any standard way. Too bad I did not copied it before changing it.
It's not a direct answer to the question but rather an alternative worth mentioning in this context. Avoid saving your password in plain text on the SD card of the Raspberry Pi by not to use WiFi and using an ethernet cable instead.
There may also be a way to whitelist the mac address for the raspberry pi's wifi interface, so that you don't need a password for it to connect
Perhaps but that would lower security even more. MAC address spoofing is ridiculously simple.
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15434 | How to probe twice while mesh bed leveling with a BLTouch setup?
I am using an Ender 3 (v1.1.4) with Marlin 1.1.X bugfix installed. Also BLTouch v3.1 is used. The probe is deployed once only while mesh bed leveling.
How can I make the probe deploy twice at every point? Where am I supposed to change the code for it?
Please explain in detail if possible as I am not familiar with the coding part?
For the 1.1.x (1.1.9) bugfix firmware version, the multiple probing is defined in the configuration.h file.
// The number of probes to perform at each point.
// Set to 2 for a fast/slow probe, using the second probe result.
// Set to 3 or more for slow probes, averaging the results.
//#define MULTIPLE_PROBING 2
You should change the configuration to include the multiple probing by uncommenting the line:
#define MULTIPLE_PROBING 2
Note that there is question: "Updating Marlin Firmware - Step by Step Guide" that shows how you should modify the sources.
How to compile and upload/install the compiled binary on your printer controller board depends on the controller board version and type.
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2970 | How to add tolerances/gaps in Autodesk 123D Design?
When I design parts that must fit in each other, I usually keep in mind that prints are 0.2-0.5 mm wider than expected (depending on the material), and I size the parts accordingly.
However, sometimes, I design the whole part and then slice it with planes or lines. In these cases, I need to push/pull each contact surface manually by the same amount (0.2-0.5 mm), which is a time-consuming task. Another option is to use a cutter to remove the outer surface layer (basically, I remove the rigged surface, making it smooth again). Still, it's unsafe and even more time-consuming.
How can I quickly generate said controlled gaps on the contact surfaces between two objects but not on the rest of the object? To make it everywhere, I could use shells, I guess, but I don't need that on the whole object.
This isn't an answer exactly, but I'd suggest you skip 123d design and check out Fusion 360. It's easy to use, much more capable, and very well supported by tutorial videos. The way I normally handle tolerances is to add them as parameters that I use in my sketches. The sketches define the 3d geometry. If I decide I need more clearance later, I just change the tolerance parameter and it all updates automatically...that's the power of good parametric CAD.
I think fusion 360 is not free... Unless I lie and I say I'm a student.
No need to lie, use the free startup license. Autodesk has been offering this for a couple years now. This lets you legitimately use it for hobby, fun, or even business as long as you're not using it for a business that makes over $100,000 per year. See here and feel free to confirm with Autodesk. (I'm paying for my license just to maintain my access to Fusion 360 Ultimate, but really Ultimate doesn't offer much more yet.)
Unfortunately, 123D Design doesn't have such a feature.
You could select multiple surfaces and push/pull them all at the same time though.
Remember, your 3D Printer's slicer should have an option to undersize or oversize holes and walls, to help reduce/remove the effect you talk about.
It's called size correction, I think? Simplify3D Has it, atleast.
You might have to tweak this for every filament type, though.
AFAICT Push/Pull faces is the closest thing to what you're looking for. eg:
In OnShape there is an "offset face" command that allows applying such an offset to multiple faces at once: How to add tolerances/gaps in OnShape?
Unfortunately I'm not aware of a way to do exactly the same thing in 123D Design, but I'm far less proficient with that tool (as Alucard Pawpad noted, though, it is possible to just select multiple faces at the same time and manipulate them all together, which is somewhat similar)
So that's what I was already doing. In the meantime, I switched to Fusion, 123D is no more available. It works the same way, but with the history I can always change that amount later on, which is a bonus.
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7786 | Can I print and sell 3D models licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0?
Can I Print models from Sources like Thingiverse and sell them ?
I will be only charging the print costs and will provide full credits and attributes to the original creator of the model (with links to their profiles) in my web-page.
There are websites like 3dhubs where the seller will print any file the user uploads. Similarly I want to charge only for the printing services.
I am not an attorney, so this isn't legal advice. Like any legal question, you should consult with an actual attorney, who can consider all the gory details.
That said, it seems like you've got the BY and SA parts covered. "Non-commercial" is more difficult: does a sale that's not for profit count as "commercial"?
The Creative Commons site (https://creativecommons.org/faq/#does-my-use-violate-the-noncommercial-clause-of-the-licenses) explains it a bit more, as pasted below. But perhaps the best thing is to just drop an email to the originator and ask. Probably you'll get an email back saying it's fine; and who knows, maybe you'll make a new friend, too. I've been on both ends of exchanges like that, and it's generally worked just fine.
Does my use violate the NonCommercial clause of the licenses?
CC's NonCommercial (NC) licenses prohibit uses that are "primarily
intended for or directed toward commercial advantage or monetary
compensation." This is intended to capture the intention of the
NC-using community without placing detailed restrictions that are
either too broad or too narrow. Please note that CC's definition does
not turn on the type of user: if you are a nonprofit or charitable
organization, your use of an NC-licensed work could still run afoul of
the NC restriction, and if you are a for-profit entity, your use of an
NC-licensed work does not necessarily mean you have violated the term.
Whether a use is commercial will depend on the specifics of the
situation and the intentions of the user.
In CC's experience, it is usually relatively easy to determine whether
a use is permitted, and known conflicts are relatively few considering
the popularity of the NC licenses. However, there will always be uses
that are challenging to categorize as commercial or noncommercial. CC
cannot advise you on what is and is not commercial use. If you are
unsure, you should either contact the rights holder for clarification,
or search for works that permit commercial uses.
CC has a brief guide to interpretation of the NC license that goes
into more detail about the meaning of the NC license and some key
points to pay attention to. Additionally, in 2008, Creative Commons
published results from a survey on meanings of commercial and
noncommercial use generally. Note that the results of the study are
not intended to serve as CC's official interpretation of what is and
is not commercial use under our licenses, and the results should not
be relied upon as such.
Preface
I am Not a Lawyer, the stack does not give legal advice, consult a licensing lawyer and the maker to check your use is within the licensing agreeming or make a seperate one
Read your license
The license CreativeCommons specifies BY-NC-SA as:
BY = Attribute. You may share and modifiy it, as long as you tell who made it.
NC = Non Commercial
SA = Share Alike. You may not change the license
Non Commercial
The Non Commercial clause explained in the FAQ says:
CC's NonCommercial (NC) licenses prohibit uses that are "primarily intended for or directed toward commercial advantage or monetary compensation." [...] Whether a use is commercial will depend on the specifics of the situation and the intentions of the user.
[...] If you are unsure, you should either contact the rights holder for clarification, or search for works that permit commercial uses.
It also provides a CC-Wiki entry what NC is meant to be (pretty much the same as the FAQ), and a survey on it.
What is NC?
Ok, let's look at the NC part of the CC... When is something breaking the NC license? As soon as it is "primarily intended toward monetary gain" it is commercial (short version), and any commercial use is prhibited. What is this? well, let's read the report...
Specifically excluded from the prohibition against
noncommercial use in the NC licenses is the exchange of a CC-licensed work for
any other copyrighted work, whether by means of peer-to-peer digital file-sharing
or otherwise, provided no monetary compensation is involved.p.17
Most[significantly>50%] participants thought that “noncommercial use” had no
legal definition, or were not sure. Some[<50%] participants believed noncommercial use to be
more likely a fair use than not, and some conflated noncommercial use and fair
use. Some participants also mentioned personal or private use as being both
legally and pragmatically a noncommercial use, though they were not certain of
any law defining “personal use.”p.30
When asked to share their understandings of noncommercial use, no participant
could provide a definition of noncommercial use that worked for everyone in their
particular group, although there was much agreement on elements of many of
the definitions. Through discussion, it emerged that creators take a variety of
factors into account when determining what constitutes noncommercial use.
These factors are often considered on a case-by-case basis[...]p.30
However, participants across communities were able to articulate a list of factors
they generally agreed as a group were relevant to creators’ understanding of
whether a use of a work is commercial or noncommercial.p.31
Qualitative Research Consideration Factorsp.31
Perceived economic value of the content
The status of the user as an individual, an amateur or professional, a for-profit or
not-for-profit organization, etc.
Whether the use makes money (and if
so, whether revenues are profit or recovery of costs associated with
use)
Whether the use generates promotional value for the creator or
the user
Whether the use is personal or private
Whether the use is
for a charitable purpose or other social or public good
Whether the
use is supported by advertising or not
Whether the content is used in
part or in whole
Whether the use has an impact on the market or is by
a competitor
Of particular interest are these paragraphs:
Creators in the groups recognized that they consider some factors more
important than others, and they also weigh the factors differently. Some consider
certain factors to be “gatekeeping” questions, the answer to which settles the
matter. Some creators consider a use commercial if there is any advertising in
connection with it, for example. Others consider certain factors to be questions of
degree. For example, some creators consider recovery of costs to distribute a
work a noncommercial use, but not if salaries or other overhead are calculated
as part of cost recovery. Rather than constituting a simple checklist, for many
creators the factors exist within a matrix in which the type of use (for example,
promotional or advertising use) and the context or community-based nature of
the use (for example, charitable use, or use in a public school) are important
vectors. In sum, the decision-making process is not clear-cut.p.32
In the quantitative surveys for both Phase 2 (creators) and Phase 3 (users), the
first mention of “noncommercial use” appears in an open-ended question asking
respondents how they would define the difference between a commercial use
and a noncommercial use of a work, in their own words and without consulting
other sources. Creators and users provided an answer in the same ratio –
approximately 7 in 10 from each group.p.49
A
large majority of both creators and users define a commercial use as one in
which money is made (73% of creators, 76% of users). [...] Neither group expresses a majority consensus on an
understanding of noncommercial use. [...] the most common mention of a
noncommercial use by both creators and users is some use by an individual
(19% of creators, 33% of users), including personal and private uses.p.50
Gatekeeping Factorsp.54
Making Money
The figure below provides a visual summary of the anchor point exercise
measuring responses to uses that make money.
On the question of making money for cost recovery, creators think covering
distribution costs only is slightly more commercial than covering operating costs,
or raising money for an endowment fund. Users tend to agree, but overall see
these uses as rather more commercial than creators.p.60
Conclusion
Contakt the maker that designed the part what is OK with them. But be warned: The broad idea the report gives is that around 3 of 4 of the makers and 4 of 5 users deem a "For Profit-Company selling [a thing] to cover distribution costs" as breaking the NC clause, as they deem it commercial use
Do you know of any updates / consensus regarding the NC part?
It's so ambiguous it propably wouldn't have any effect if it was ever brought to a real court - I feel like CreativeCommons should just drop the concept or completely rework the terminology.
@towe no, the whole thing is just not designed to work with 3D printing
I've informed myself a bit about this and found out the following:
It is good that you state the Name/Website or any Reference about original creator
Creative Commons absolutely requires this, even if you don't charge anything for your prints.
So, whether you are trying selling your print or not, you should still always do this.
You are not allowed to sell your prints
Creative Commons License dictates that you are not allowed to commercialize products that are based on any of their sources. This means, even if you are only charging the printing costs, you are not allowed to sell them, as you are profiting of their sources because you did not design the prints yourself.
For further information on this, you should probably check out the official page for this, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/
I hope this helps, Max
If you read deeper into the license and the people that use it, a lot more begins to matter.
According to Weinberg, 2013, artistic works are copyrightable: if you're printing an action figure or such a useless pretty piece of art, it's protected by copyright.
For utilitarian things, the copyrightable portion must be severable: if you're printing a video game controller with an artistic design drawn upon its case—not an artistic shape, but a design that could be lifted from the surface and applied as a separate artistic display—then that design is protected, and the controller that happens to be an aesthetically-pleasing shape is not (i.e. you could wipe away the design details and have the blunt shape of the thing and that would not be protected).
Purely-utilitarian things are not copyrightable. If you're printing a lamp or a cup holder or whatnot, there are no rights to extend over that.
This is important: copyright allows you to make decisions about what rights you will extend. If you don't have the right to copyright, you can't simply slap a license on something and assert you do in fact have that right. CC-NC licensing prevents you from making a derivative or a collection and selling it, but there is no right to the printed object upon which to extend to the user the right to sell the printed object. That means, conversely, that there is no right to the printed object to prohibit the user from selling it.
That actually creates some odd situations, e.g. CC-BY doesn't apply, either. You can't strip the author's name off the file and pass it off as your own, but you don't have to credit them for the physical object. It is, however, potentially asinine to do that. Even that can be a judgment call: it's likely socially-acceptable to print e.g. an ABS gear for a particular machine that strips its ABS gears and sell a repair kit without crediting whoever posted it on Thingaverse; but if somebody made a more unique object, such as a fancy planter for house plants, it might not be copyrightable as an object, but it's certainly not a copy of a gear that goes into a machine and is instead a unique creation of the user who created it.
Very valuable analysis. Your source document link does not work anymore, though (see). But I found a copy in the Internet Archive.
| Stack Exchange | 2025-03-21T12:54:45.232409 | 2018-12-26T15:09:40 | {
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15088 | How to treat PLA (Polylactic acid) plastic to make it biodegradable?
I am using PLA for 3D printing, and I know it does not degrade well in the wild. I would like to know if there is a chemical process I could use to treat it at home.
Specifically, I am looking for a cleaner alternative than throwing my 3d printing scraps in the garbage, so I wouldn't be generating toxic components when doing this, ideally. I want the plastic to degrade (in a few years, maybe?) when I put it underground while limiting the amount of toxic matter propagating in the soil.
I have read that hydrolyzing PLA could help to achieve this. I also found threads on dissolving it (How to dissolve PLA (polylactic acid)?). But as I am looking for an eco-friendly process, I think I need to stay away from this as the fumes may be very toxic and polluting
Posts like this one Can I really throw failed PLA prints on compost? mention a few requirements for PLA to degrade but don't talk about a way to achieve these conditions.
A good question, and I was going to leave a semi-informative comment, however, I have added the content of the comment as a new answer to the question that you linked to instead. The article doesn't offer any process for accelerated degrading, unfortunately.
Almost anything you can do is going to have more net environmental harm than benefit. You probably should start by just crushing/shredding the material and trying mixing it with an established organic composting system to see what happens. For this to be environmentally friendly you should be using the purest PLA you can get, unpigmented, and not any sort of "PLA+" with ABS or other stuff mixed in.
Great question, have you checked with your local council to see where your green waste goes , weather they use an industrial composter, and if it’s ok to put it in your green waste bin otherwise? Sometimes they have special facilities where you can drop off bio plastics like PLA. Kudos for saving the planet :)
@HotGlue I haven't called them, but I tried bringing PLA scraps to the local ecocenter and they wouldnt let me explain what type of plastic it was, so I assume they threw it away.. :(
You can make it biodegradable but it is very hard you need oxygen a temperature of 140+ degrees and a 2/3 cocktail of organic substrate these are usually absent outside of a industrial composting facility.
I had the same question when I got my printer - it's better to just buy recycled filament or recycle your own but PLA is a byproduct of milk production so its pretty naturally sourced anyway.
Hi and welcome. Don't forget to take the [tour]... :-)
Naturally sourced means nothing. PLA still accumulates plastic waste. I agree, you're probably better off using recycled filament but I have one of those printers that use proprietary spools with chips... Im stuck with this until I get a new one
@JCSB: You can just replace the firmware (and possibly also the board) to fix that, without replacing the whole printer. Price will be something like $0-35 plus time spent installing it.
Can you give more details about the '2/3 cocktail of organic substrate'? And the time it would take under these conditions?
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15023 | What is causing the extruder stepper on my Ender 3 to skip steps?
I have a problem most likely similar to some reported by other users: the extruder stepper is visually skipping a step occasionally. It rapidly rotates in the direction opposite to the one it is supposed to turn.
I noticed the following:
The extruder stepper jumps randomly - nothing specific in the pattern printed, position, etc.
Stepper jumps more often on the infill, rarely on the walls.
Details about print:
PLA (Devil Design - various colors, they don't matter)
Filament guide installed on top, but not yet before the extruder (it is printing right now; I'm waiting for the ball bearings too)
Filament mounted on the top - in the place defined by Creality
The extruder is already replaced with the aluminium one
The mainboard is SKR E3 mini V2 (replaced recently)
95% flow set in Cura
Printing on glass, leveled bed (the jumping occurs on all layers, not only first)
215 °C hotend temperature, 60 °C bed temperature
Stepper motor current settings (from Marlin menu): 580 for X, Y & Z, 650 for E1
Other observations:
What's interesting is that the extruder motor jumps even if I manually unwind some filament, so the only force it has to overcome is pushing filament into the head.
I made a quick DIY wooden spool holder to feed the filament almost horizontally. This seemed to make things worse - stepper jumped more often. I moved the spool to the top again, reducing jumping a little.
Prints are done beautifully (after changing the motherboard) - no lost lines or layers, walls connected with infill, perfect first layer, etc.
What may be the cause of stepper motor jumping? How can I solve it? Does it pose a threat to the motor or stepper? I need to print the filament guide and spool holder with ball bearings to minimize the force required by the extruder motor, but then the stepper will probably jump during the prints. I already damaged the original mainboard because of the stuck filament, and I don't want to destroy another one.
This is how regular extruder retraction looks:
(10 seconds)
This is how stepper skipping looks:
(13 seconds)
Today I replaced the whole heat block (radiator, heater, thermistor and nozzle) to a new one (original, for now) and the motor stopped skipping - at least on the calibration cube. I will see, how will it perform on more complex prints.
However, even having the prior one in hands, I couldn't find the reason, why the motor was skipping - other than the fact, that I couldn't extract the bowden tube from the radiator (so maybe some filament was dripping inside?)
How did you damage the mainboard from stuck filament?
@R..GitHubSTOPHELPINGICE, stuck filament increased resistance on the extruder - the extruder's gear's teeth became flattened at the level of filament. I suspect, that this might have caused the engine to stop sometimes and this - from what I know - would cause shorts on the engine controller. In the end of original motherboard's life the extruder was barely rotating - even if there was literally no resistance on filament (I was holding it in the air).
The bottom video shows that there is too much pressure build up (by compression of filament) for the stepper to handle, once over the tipping point, the stepper rotates back. Probably the initial resistance to overcome the stepper to rotate back is larger than when it has been set in motion, hence skipping back quite a distance. You should check your hotend, your temperature looks already quite high for PLA, or reduce print speed (don't know what that currently is).
@0scar, the print is done at rate 50 mm/sec with nozzle 0.4 mm. However, this issue started when I replaced the motherboard and the extruder. At the beginning, with stock motherboard and extruder, printer printed even with speed of 60 mm/sec without any issues. I bought a spare extruder motor to check, if the original one is not damaged.
Which part of the hotend do you suspect to be faulty? Clogged nozzle? Some other issues maybe?
Could be that the stepper doesn't get enough current?
@0scar, how can I check that and possibly fix?
The non tech way is to feel if the stepper gets warm or hot during printing. The more heat, the higher the current. You could also measure the Vref and look up your driver's and calculated the current. Turn the potentiometer to increase the Vref. There is lots to find here and on YouTube how to do that
Factually, your answer/fix, should be in an answer, not a section of the question, could you please post a separate answer?
From a comment:
the print is done at rate 50 mm/sec with nozzle 0.4 mm. However, this issue started when I replaced the motherboard and the extruder. At the beginning, with stock motherboard and extruder, printer printed even with speed of 60 mm/sec without any issues. I bought a spare extruder motor to check, if the original one is not damaged. Which part of the hotend do you suspect to be faulty? Clogged nozzle? Some other issues maybe?
we now know that the problem occurred after switching out the main board.
As the OP isn't mentioning is the stepper drivers are well tuned, it could be that the Vref for the extruder should be increased to increase the current and thus the power of the extruder stepper.
We also read that:
Today I replaced the whole heat block (radiator, heater, thermistor and nozzle) to a new one (original, for now) and the motor stopped skipping... However, even having the prior one in hands, I couldn't find the reason, why the motor was skipping - other than the fact, that I couldn't extract the bowden tube from the radiator...
This may hint to a Bowden tube being faulty causing extra friction to the extrusion path. So while the stepper didn't receive enough current, there may also have been a mechanical issue at play.
Now that it works, you should not be satisfied with the hotend swap alone, but also look into the stepper current.
I had same issue. It is because filament broken inside mostly. If you are not using printer much, filaments effected from humid and broken easily.
I have a problem most likely very similar to some reported by other users: extruder stepper is visually skipping a step from time to time. It rapidly rotates in the direction opposite to the one it is supposed to rotate.
These two sentences are saying something totally different, and the latter is not what a skipped step looks like. It sounds like retraction, which is totally normal.
Skipping happens regardless of the retraction. Also, retraction is fluid (stepper rotates) and the jump is rapid. Finally, jumps happen during drawing infill (like, in the middle of the line), so I hardly believe this is intentional behavior of the printer.
@Spook: Can you post a short video clip of it happening? From your question it sounded like the print still comes out ok. Is there underextrusion where the skip happens?
I just edited my question. Sorry for the delay. There are two videos: one with regular retraction and one with skipping. You can even clearly hear the "thud" sound when it happens in the second video.
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5790 | What's the best way to clean PETG residue from a magnetic steel sheet PEI?
I have the MK3 with a magnetic PEI, and some PETG residue is stuck on the surface. How can I remove it? Does acetone work?
First you will want to verify that what you are seeing is remaining PETG and not a loss of PEI on your bed. In many cases, when PETG is used without a separating agent (window cleaner or glue stick), the PETG forms a stronger bond to the PEI than the PEI has to the bed. This causes the PEI to lift off the bed. You can often recognize this by seeing a spot of higher smoothness where the print was stuck rather than the more matte look elsewhere on the print bed.
If it is truly PETG left on the sheet, first try a firm use of a fingernail. If that does not work, you can attempt to use acetone or 1000 grit sandpaper (which also work to restore PEI). A careful use of a spatula can also be used to remove the material.
In subsequent prints of PETG, you will want to add a separator when printing PETG.
How does the sandpaper restore PEI? Can you please clarify?
@mac Same affect as the scrubbing side of a kitchen sponge where it is just abrasive enough to remove any residue without damaging the PEI. Recommended for restoring appearance, so sanctioned, but can also help remove small stuck pieces that you can't remove in other ways.
Ok, thanks. The way the sentence is built, confused me: I understood how it would work in the main sentence, the part in parenthesis seemed to me to refer to the first paragraph as in: "sandpaper works to scrape of remaining PETG (and works too when the PETG has removed the PEI)".
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21358 | Help me diagnose these print problems?
I produced a cube model (XYZ) using a printer to test its capabilities. Could someone offer guidance concerning the issues visible in the image?.
Printer Used : Createbot F430
Slicer Used: Simplify 3D
You haven't provided any information about your printer. These artifacts look like oozing during retract or unretract due to an excessively slow retract/unretract speed, but might also be related to misconfigured or lack of pressure advance/linear advance.
Apologies, I have edited the question. Is my Retract Distance too small ?
These artifacts look like oozing during retract or unretract due to an excessively slow retract/unretract speed, but might also be related to misconfigured or lack of pressure advance/linear advance.
Based on the settings info you added to the question, I think this is a very plausible explanation.
The "extra restart distance" setting is probably the primary culprit. This is an extremely misguided feature and, with the configured value, is spewing out enough plastic to fill a whole 1.25 mm worth of linear movement (at typical layer height and line width). All this is ending up in one place as a blob. Turn that off (set it to zero) and the problem will almost surely go away. There is never a legitimate reason to extrude a fixed excess amount of plastic after each unretract, and doing so will cause catastrophic nozzle collisions dependent on your model geometry.
Beyond that, 2.0 mm is a very long retract distance for a direct drive, which I believe this machine has, and 15 mm/s is very slow retraction. Those combined make it take at least 1/7 of a second dwelling in place during retract/unretract, which could also ooze material. 0.3-0.8 mm is the usual reasonable range of lengths for direct drive, and 30 mm/s (1800 mm/min) or so a reasonable speed. Play with these, but set it back up closer to where you had it if you get stringing or other problems.
The coasting setting of 2 mm is really, really dubious too. Coasting is a hack to make up for printers with extremely outdated/bad firmware by underextruding. This doesn't seem to be the cause of your bulges, but it could be making them more noticeable by contrast between slightly over-extruded (from oozing) and severely underextruded lines juxtaposed. Coasting should always be off.
Assuming your printer has it (I would hope so at that price, but sometimes pricy printers are running really old firmware), you should also make sure linear advance is enabled and calibrated. This solves the problem that coasting was trying to solve, but does it in a way that's actually accurate and still extrudes the correct total amount of material, just modulating pressure up and down as it does so that it flows in the right places.
TL;DR: Set extra restart distance to 0, coasting to off, and maybe speed up and reduce the length for your retractions.
Thank you for your insight! I'll conduct additional test prints with the settings recommended and observe the outcomes
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20472 | Why does Prusaslicer set the final temperature in two steps?
I'm using PrusaSlicer 2.5.0 and printing the sliced G-code on a Creality CR-6 SE via a USB-connected OctoPrint/OctoPi. As you can see, the slicer sets the temperature by G-code commands in two steps (final temperature is 205 °C). This seems strange to me, as the printer can go directly to the final temperature. Also, this screenshot shows the case where I'm switching filament, therefore I have to heat up the extruder and when I start printing, the hotend cools for some time, because the target temperature is way lower set by PrusaSlicer.
Is there a setting for configuring this in PrusaSlicer?
These are the first few lines in the G-code file:
; generated by PrusaSlicer 2.5.0+win64 on 2023-01-18 at 12:15:56 UTC
;
; external perimeters extrusion width = 0.42mm
; perimeters extrusion width = 0.44mm
; infill extrusion width = 0.44mm
; solid infill extrusion width = 0.44mm
; top infill extrusion width = 0.40mm
; support material extrusion width = 0.36mm
; first layer extrusion width = 0.42mm
M201 X500 Y500 Z100 E5000 ; sets maximum accelerations, mm/sec^2
M203 X500 Y500 Z10 E60 ; sets maximum feedrates, mm / sec
M204 P500 R1000 T500 ; sets acceleration (P, T) and retract acceleration (R), mm/sec^2
M205 X8.00 Y8.00 Z0.40 E5.00 ; sets the jerk limits, mm/sec
M205 S0 T0 ; sets the minimum extruding and travel feed rate, mm/sec
M107
;TYPE:Custom
G90 ; use absolute coordinates
M83 ; extruder relative mode
M109 S180 ; set temporary nozzle temp to prevent oozing during homing
M190 S70 ; wait for bed temp to stabilize
M140 S70 ; set final bed temp
G28 ; home all axis
G1 Z50 F240
G1 X2.0 Y10 F3000
M104 S230 ; set final nozzle temp
M109 S230 ; wait for nozzle temp to stabilize
G1 Z0.28 F240
G92 E0
G1 X2.0 Y140 E10 F1500 ; prime the nozzle
G1 X2.3 Y140 F5000
G92 E0
G1 X2.3 Y10 E10 F1200 ; prime the nozzle
G92 E0
G21 ; set units to millimeters
G90 ; use absolute coordinates
M83 ; use relative distances for extrusion
; Filament gcode
Hi, welcome to 3DPrinting.SE! Can you share the first 30 lines or so from the G-code file? The image doesn't really help that much. We have to discard the first 2/3 of the image (unrelated to the problem) and do not see the final temperature being reached, in fact it settles at the 165 °C mark. Please update your question by [edit]. Also look into you start G-code scripts in PrusaSlicer, maybe post them as well.
I have replaced the initial gcode in prusaslicer. I've found those defaults degrade print quality on my E3. I typically preheat the nozzle so the temp is stable, and then the default code drops the temp and then raises it, guaranteeing that the temp will be unstable. The rest of the surrounding code causes other issues.
Since the bed usually takes longer to heat than the nozzle, the nozzle is in a pre-warmup stage so that it doesn't ooze filament waiting for the bed while homing and/or finding the Z limit.
Once the bed is warmed up and the Z limit is reached the nozzle heats up to the final temperature and the print starts.
If you go to the Printer Settings tab of Prusaslicer and click on Custom G-Code, you'll see the initial temp in the Start G-Code section. Mine even says:
M104 S150 ; set temporary nozzle temp to prevent oozing during homing
A temperature of 150 °C is low enough that the filament doesn't melt but close enough to the final temperature so that you're not waiting for a full heat cycle.
Good answer, and most probably the answer, but I still hope the OP adds the first lines of G-code, then we will know for sure!
FWIW I think it's worth fixing this to just heat directly. At least on my machine, with temperatures I use, bed heating and hotend heating take comparable time, and the nozzle will not significantly ooze at print temperature if your end gcode properly retracts the filament all the way out of the melt zone for the start gcode to reverse.
You can't retract the filament at the start of the print, however, since the nozzle is cold. You'd have to make sure your g-code retracts at the end of the previous print, which is no guarantee. The temp setting is a workaround for either case.
R was hinting to retract in the end G-code, the start code needs to reverse it.
Accepted as answer as this sounds reasonable to me.
Yes, what @0scar said: retract the whole melt zone length at the end of the print, and unretract the same amount in the start gcode, after heating but before priming.
I'm going to have to play around with that idea. Have you tried it? Seems like there would still be material in the hotend that would ooze.
@R..GitHubSTOPHELPINGICE that only works if every one of your prints is perfect and you never abort a spaghetti print, have broken filament, or anything else that ends up not executing the retraction code.
@simpleuser: My abort-print gcode also performs the retraction.
@R..GitHubSTOPHELPINGICE What about if a power loss occurs?
@LarryBud: Then you potentially have various things to get in proper order before printing again - for example, possible clogs from heat creep with no cooling on the hotend. But the worst that happens from the missing retract is pooping out a bunch of extra filament on the unretract.
@R..GitHubSTOPHELPINGICE I'm just trying to figure out the benefits of doing it the way you do, when you have to account for additional scenarios.
@LarryBud: That you don't have unpredictable oozing, and don't waste time heating and cooling the nozzle trying to use temperature to control oozing. It's necessary for working pause and resume anyway, and once you have that, it makes sense to do the same for stop/start print. It also lets you leave the nozzle at temp between prints for instant start of the next job.
I almost always have my nozzle and bed preheated either manually or because I just finished a previous print. This cooling to 150 while moving the print head around then waiting to heat up again is getting to be quite tedious with repeated prints! I would put up with oozing in return for getting prints going quicker.
| Stack Exchange | 2025-03-21T12:54:45.234752 | 2023-01-18T10:01:15 | {
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20483 | Inserting steel dowel pin into hole with interference fit
I'm building a product which requires a dowel pin inserted into a plastic piece. I'm planning to 3D print the plastic piece with nylon (must be nylon for biocompatibility), but the tolerances won't be sufficient to ensure a consistent press-fit for the pin. To get around this, I plan to undersize the hole, and then ream it out with a reamer on the drill press. There will be 1000 pieces on this run. Any flaws you can see with this design?
Give us more details. What are you building? What is it for? Dowel pin out of wood or metal?
It is not possible to insert a steel dowel into a hole of a plastic workpiece with a press fit: at least not for long. Tremendous force is exerted on the plastic by the steel, and the plastic will soon begin to deform in a process called cold flow or creep.
Thanks for posting your own answer. I've done this multiple times, I guess is depends on the application. The HyperCube Evolution CoreXY printer uses such pins to mount the nozzle assembly to the XY carriage (I've used Nylon for that), and the SMuFF multi color extruder uses the same principle to connect all the extruder bodies. Never seen any problems with this.
Maybe you have a magic plastic. Or maybe the interference fit exerts little force, or maybe not enough time has passed for effects of creep to appear. I don't know. The fact of the matter is that plastic deforms over time under constant load.
The question doesn't explain that the pin is loaded or how for that matter. Maybe you should add that in the question.
Whether creep happens, and the extent to which it happens, varies by material. Nylon is particularly bad for creep. So is PLA. ASA and PET (and possibly PC?) however seem to have minimal or no creep.
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20578 | Ender 3 S1 printing issue - round bottom
I got myself an Ender 3 S1 printer a couple of days ago and I tried printing the following headset stand.
The printing is still in progress. The top doesn't look too bad (unless you know how it could get better).
The problem is the "round bottom" part. The layers are really messy and looks like melted (see pictures below).
I tried multiple configurations with Cura and Creality Slicer. The best result, up to now, where with the following settings in Cura (it is worst with default profiles in Creality Slicer):
Eryone PLA+
Layer height: 0.12 mm
Initial Layer height: 0.16 mm
Initial Layer speed: 15 mm/s
Print speed: 60 mm/s
Wall speed: 30 mm/s
Travel speed: 110 mm/s
Initial Bed temp (otherwise there is not enough adhesion): 70 °C
Print Bed temp: 60 °C
Nozzle temp: 195 °C (tried with 200 and 210, 195 gives the best result so far)
Retraction distance: 0.8 mm
Retraction speed: 45 mm/s
Adhesion: Brim 3 mm (cannot be bigger because of the size of the model)
Doed someone know what caused this and how to prevent it?
What is "line height"? Do you mean "layer height"? How big is the nozzle, usually 0.4 mm, the height doesn't look like 1.2 mm. Maybe you meant 0.12 mm? Note that that is a very small layer height, or improperly tuned or an uneven bed, such layers may cause over extrusion on the layers, this is what you encounter.
@0scar, yes sorry, I meant layer height and 0.12/0.16mm, sorry for the typos. The nozzle is indeed 04.mm.
I have levelled the bed just before the printing by running an auto-homing, adjusting the z-offset at the center, manually adjusting the wheels at the 4 corners with a sheet of paper and then running the auto-leveling feature of the printer.
I'm a bit of a newbie, so, if it is over extrusion, is it normal that it only affects the curved sides at the bottom? Everything else is smooth.
So it ended up being a combination of multiple things.
To obtain the proper settings in the slicer, I started with the "standard" Ender S1 preset in Creality Slicer and then I changed the profile one at a time (from standard to super quality) doing small adjustments for each of the profiles.
I was then able to get an "OK" print of the 3DBenchy with the following settings:
0.12 mm Layer height
0.2 mm Initial Layer height (instead of 0.16 mm)
Nozzle temp: 195 °C
Bed temp: 60 °C (instead of 70 °C - I can use 60 °C because of the 0.2 mm initial layer height)
Retraction 1 mm - 40 mm/s
I then imported the profile into Cura, which has a bit more options.
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20591 | How to clean / remove frosting from build-surface
I recently got into 3D printing.
Printer Setup
Model: Ender-3
Board: 4.2.2
Firmware: Manufacture version of Marlin with BLTouch (Aug 2022 update)
Auto-level: CR-Touch
Bed Type: Stock --- Textured PEI or are they BuildTak ??
After doing some test prints and figuring out my leveling and z-offset.
I had some print residue on the bed, where you could clearly see the first layer fails.
This morning, I decided to clean the print bed with acetone after reading several other forums and watching some reputable youtubers.
After wiping the bed down with a cloth, I know have frosting on my bed.
I found this out from some other posts, but no post on how to properly clean the frosting.
I've added a picture, so hopefully that helps too.
Is this bed surface trashed??
Acetone should not be used for cleaning build surfaces. It attacks most plastics, probably including whatever Buildtak-clone is made of. It probably won't immediately ruin it, but it will degrade the surface texture.
The right agent for cleaning bed surfaces is IPA (isopropyl alcohol). If you have print material stuck to the bed texture from printing with the nozzle way too close to the bed, your best best for removing it is printing more of the same material on top of it, and hoping it adheres to the new print and pulls off with it. Not using aggressive solvents.
Is the bed surface ruined? Probably not ruined, but likely somewhat degraded. I've seen much worse though, so I'd expect it's still good for a few months of moderate use, if you take good care of it and don't keep using inappropriate cleaners or printing with the nozzle scraping the bed.
Yeah, it pretty much took the texture of the build surface right off.
I've been using IPA before and after each print, but read in a different post that acetone could be used to dissolve the material , like you said that was left from the nozzle being way to close to the bed. Luckily after some trial and error, I've got bed-leveling down now.
Thank you for the info!
After getting the surface as clean as possible, it's pretty smooth now. So I'm guessing that I might have to start using a form of adhesive.
I'll print another Benchy and see how she turns out.
Been there and still am. Not realizing the strength of Acetone I was utilizing it for my bed cleaning. Soon found out that it slowly destroyed the surface. I am now waiting for a costly replacement. In the mean time I am cleaning with Acetone and apply a coat of my own concoction made of scrap ABS and Acetone. I keep it in a tightly sealed jar and make sure it remain properly diluted by adding Acetone regularly. When its time to print I spread a thin layer of the concoction on the print area. I still get a descent finish and quite strong adhesion. Its not the perfect solution but it works.
No matter how bad you mess your bed surface up, you can always just put blue tape on it. Blue tape is at least as good as buildtak, and dirt cheap to replace. Amazon has rolls that are full 235 mm bed size so you don't even need to bother with aligning the seam.
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20596 | Black eSUN PLA+ has moisture damage straight out of the box. Is this normal?
I just recieved a roll of eSUN black PLA+ and I have found out it has moisture damage after using it for 2 days. I was previously using a roll of eSUN orange PLA+ and it worked really well. So I ran a stringing test just to make sure the settings were right for the black roll and the result was terrible. So I spent a full day messing with slicer settings as moisture damage was last on my list for the issue since the roll was brand new. But with no improvement I decided to dry out a sample of filament just to try and this was the result.
Left is filament straight from the roll, middle is dried out filament and orange as a control. So now I know the problem is this normal for eSUN filaments? Should I dry out filaments as soon as I take them out of the box? I didn't have this issue with my orange roll.
In my experience some variability between spools of filament is to be expected, even when they are the same brand. Settings and parameters that are optimal for one spool may not work as well for another. Moisture absorption is one of several possible contributors.
Yes this is plausible. Please weight your bobin and dry it then weight it again to know how much water you extracted.
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20597 | Ender 3 V2 Neo upgraded with Biqu H2 V2 not extruding
I'm doing something special with my Ender 3 V2 Neo these days. Gotten to upgrade to the direct extruder Biqu H2 V2. Nothing is out for the Neo version yet - like adapters and such - so I have modified an Ender 3 Pro mount to make things work.
Everything is now mounted and looks awesome. But, the new extruder won't extrude. I have set the Vrefs to around 1.05 V. The E-steps are set to 932 using Pronterface. I am using Marlin firmware.
My mainboard is marked with T8 and it is using the TMC2208 driver. I have checked my stepper cable and there is good connection with the main board.
I took out my stepper motor cable from the Biqu and tried with the stepper motor cable from my X-axis, and then the Biqu finally started extruding when I adjusted the X value.
So I'm kind of puzzled of this issue?!
Is my mainboard toasted? Or could the E-stepper driver be possibly dead?
Anyone with good ideas?
After a good question on if i had worked on the board with the power ON i went into myself and thought; damn, i actually just have done that. And by trying to move the x-axis with the steppermotor just to have NOTHING happen... i think my steppermotor driver is dead by my own doing... I will buy a new one and let you guys know!!
Well @0scar mentioned something here, I actually did move my stepper cables when the board was powered. I didn't really think about it when I did...
So, when trying to move the X-axis now with the stepper motor, nothing happened... I actually think the stepper motor driver is dead because I didn't follow the right instructions of having the board off when moving wires. Damn I feel stupid :-(
My nozzle is 220 °C just to be sure, but good that you addressed this as well. I will buy a new main board then and will update here if I get it to work :-)
However, you said that the extruder also wasn't working before you moved the wires about (and that was the reason why you moved the wires in the first place). So, either there is another (original) problem.. or you had initially plugged in the extruder - after upgrading to the new extruder - when the board was switched on... do you see what I mean..? What was the original reason for the extruder not working? We still haven't really found a reason for that...
In addition, @EirikJohannessendusty_outdoo, your last update to your question seems to be an answer, or response to 0scar's answer, and as such it should have probably been posted as an answer and not as an update to the question, because that has meant that you've ended up answering your question within the question, which sort of breaks the Q&A mechanism of Stack Exchange. Of course, the whole Q&A has been complicated by the original issue apparently not yet having been fixed - which is: why didn't it work in the first place? Unless it was also due to cables being moved whilst powered up.
I think that you need to continue through the process of elimination. You have proved that your x-axis driver works, by connecting it to the extruder stepper motor. Now you need to prove that your extruder driver works.
I would suggest to test whether your extruder driver is at fault or damaged, by connecting the x-axis stepper to the extruder driver and then trying to move the x-axis, in much the same way as you did with your extruder stepper motor connected to the x-axis stepper driver.
Whilst this isn't an actual solution to your issue, at least this way you can hopefully narrow down precisely where your issue is.
Although not the answer, but more a step into solving the issue, when you swap cables, always un-power the board, never hot-swap cables as this can destroy the drivers. You could possibly be dealing with a dead driver.
You proved by swapping the X-axis for the extruder that the extruder works on the X-axis driver (now you now that the extruder stepper works), so you either did something wrong in your config file or the driver is dead.
You could look into what differences you have configured with respect to the Marlin config for the Ender 3 V2 Neo to look for possible problems with your config file.
Furthermore, in order to extrude, your nozzle need to be at least 170 °C, else it will not extrude.
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21131 | Will active chamber heating with heating bed and PTC heater (forced convection by fan) be better than passive chamber heating with only bed?
1.Active chamber heating (fan forced convection +heating bed +PTC heater) vs 2.Passive chamber heating(natural convection+ heating bed)
In the book "3D Printing Failures_ 2020 Edition_ How to Diagnose and Repair ALL Desktop 3D Printing Issues" writen by Aranda, Sean, it is said less cooling rate could let polymer have more temperature and time to release stress. This is the reason why chamber heating is used. But
In the design 1 chamber above bed is already >50℃ with 120℃ heating bed.
In another design "120℃ bed with PTC supplyment which is cycled by a fan and the chamber can be up to >60℃". It forms forced convection, so the printed part may be cooled quickly even though the chamber has up to 60℃ temperature(the temperature difference between printed layer and ambient changes slightly).
So why we use chamber heating with fan forced convection design other than natural convection deign?
Printed material: ABS
Bed temperature: 120℃
Having forced convection allows to flow air on top of the heater so that more heat will be pushed into the chamber. Also, it makes the chamber uniform.
If you are barely heating the chamber (50 °C) the bed can already do it, while forced will cool down the part more quickly. Forced convection has almost only downsides, no advantages.
If you are heating the chamber to higher temperatures like 70-120 °C or more, the printed part has no problem about being cooled too much, and at the same time the bed set at 120 °C will not be able to heat up the chamber that much (or you need 2 cm thermal insulation around the chamber). Forced in this case has no downsides and only advantages.
My goal is heating the chamber to 60°C to get less ABS warping. I don't know if I need a fan to make chamber temperature more even. I don't know evenly cooling or less cooling rate with which I will get less warping.
For 60 °C you can just insulate the chamber from the outside with styrofoam, cork, or similar insulators. You will need 1 cm thick insulation if it's good. No need to circulate the air inside.
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20623 | Surface gaps in 3D print
The print needs to be 1 layer thick as it is a plane part. Even with supports, layer gaps like in image appear. It would be nice to have supports for it but the software is treating the object as if it was hollow therefore meaning infill makes no difference.
Is there a way to "support" inside of the model walls? (not infill)
-STL included now
Do you mean that you only want one wall/perimeter? (Instead of one layer) also, can you add a link to the STL file so we can slice it? Note that if the gradient of the part is too steep, you never get away with a single perimeter.
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20672 | Weird Pattern First Layer Extrusion
I'm working on tuning an old Ultimaker 2 Go, and I'm having some weird extrusion issues. The printer uses a Bowden extruder. Extrusion seems to increase and decrease. I don't think it is the filament quality, as I am using Prusament PLA that I am storing in a dark closet inside a sealed bag with silica gel. I also did multiple cold pulls until no debris. I do notice that sometimes the filament appears to bubble. The extruding motor also sometimes slips/snaps back while changing filament, but not during prints.
However, I am using 1.75 mm filament while the printer is designed for 2.85 mm. In order to do this, I followed some steps I found from All3D.
I also have a small PVC jig to hold the filament, but I think it turns pretty well and shouldn't be the issue.
Filament: PLA, Temp: 215 °C, Slicer: Cura
*Update:
I calibrated the e-steps and all of the axes, but the problem still remains.
I also printed an XYZ cube, and there is a line right under the letters X and Y. It also appears that the extrusion is more inconsistent outside of the letters. I'm pretty sure this issue is related to the weird first-layer pattern, or this is just a cooling issue due to varying cooling %.
Filament: PLA, Temp: 215 °C, Slicer: PrusaSlicer
It turns out that it was caused by the filament being ground at regular intervals. I solved it by lowering the printing speed (I did change the bowden tube to a 1.75 mm one though). Still working on fully tuning this printer.
You have a number of "red flags" in your process. Using filament of a size different from the design's filament specification would be one of them. Bubbles in the filament may mean moisture, regardless of the storage method. Reddit contains a number of posts from users who have presented before and after (dehydration) photos of parts created from new-from-the-box filament. You suggest that the motor does not slip during prints, but there's also reference that it happens in other actions.
In order to pin down a solution, address the filament size by using the correct filament. Use a dehydrator to ensure that the filament contains no moisture. Using correct diameter filament will also cover the slipping extruder.
Once you address these issues and tune the printer appropriately, you may discover that using the smaller diameter filament is going to be a compromise.
I used some several-year-old 2.85 mm PLA I had lying around, and the extrusion seems fine, even though it is really wet. It's super weird that the 1.75 mm didn't work properly, as I had successfully printed a benchy just the other week. I'm going to keep trying to see if I can get the 1.75 mm to work, as I only have a few meters of the really old 2.85 mm while I have several rolls of 1.75 mm.
However, the slipping extruder has always been an issue with this printer, regardless of the filament diameter or tension I try.
Would there be a way to solve this issue while using 1.75 mm? Adafruit provides a guide for how to do this successfully, (https://learn.adafruit.com/using-1-dot-75mm-filament-on-ultimaker-2), but doesn't have any mention for problems like this.
The first thought that pops into my alleged mind, after reading the linked site you've provided is to change the bowden tube to 1.75 compatible sized tubing. This will reduce or remove some of the compression artifacts and reduce the question count by at least one. In order to accomplish this, it might also be necessary to remove and replace the existing push-to-connect fittings for the 2.85 mm tube.
Ok, I will try a new bowden tube. Any suggestions for slicing differently? It also seems that it only occurs on full 100% layers, not layers with infill.
Before you move on to changing slicer settings, it would be advisable to calibrate your e-steps for that printer. This will ensure that when the slicer commands a specific volume of filament to be extruded that the result matches the command.
I calibrated all of the axes and updated the post with an image of the XYZ 20mm calibration cube.
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20778 | Ultimaker 2 Go - Converting to Use 1.75 mm Filament
I'm working on converting an Ultimaker 2 Go to use 1.75 mm filament. So far, I have replaced the bowden tube, replaced the feeder with this one: https://www.youmagine.com/designs/alternative-feeder-1-75mm-version#information, and changed slicer/machine settings.
An issue I am having is grinding at regular intervals, causing severe inconsistent extrusion. Messing with the feeder tension does not do anything. So, I am wondering if upgrading the hotend to an e3D V6 will solve it. Is there anything else to consider?
I also wonder if the problem has to do with the knurled drivegear. Would this work fine with 1.75 mm filament?
`
To be clear, you still use a 2.85 mm hotend with 1.75 mm filament?
Yes. It worked well for Adafruit, but I would think using a hotend with the "wrong" filament diameter would not be ideal.
Figured this out a while ago, but I thought I might as well update this.
So the issue was simply there was not enough tension, and that pretty much solved all the problems. I also did end up using an E3D v6 1.75 mm hotend.
Right now, I'm working on making it print faster. I am using klipper on a Raspberry Pi Zero W, and I'm playing with different fan ducts to improve part cooling.
Thanks for taking the time to post your answer, I've upvoted to prevent the question to pop up once in a while (and the answer answers the question!). Mayby you can post a question (and an answer) on your Klipper adventures in the hear future, we really need some people with Klipper knowledge.
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20702 | Managing Flashforge Guider 3 Plus printer on Ultimaker Cura
I seem to be having trouble managing the printer for slicing process in Ultimaker Cura. I use Flashforge Guider 3 Plus printer and added it to Ultimaker Cura manually (there was no Guider 3 Plus option for Flashforge printer in Cura). In the machine settings, I only set the printer dimensions and left the Printhead Settings as default. Machine settings will be attached below).
The slicing process went well. But what I found when I was going to print on my printer is as follows
Does anyone have any idea what's going on? And how is this problem solved?
Perhaps it's due to your G-code, it doesn't look like you modified that either. The start and end G-code for the Flashforge printers can be grabbed from the G-code file, just open it up using notepad.
I have a Flashforge Guider 3 Ultra, but haven't tested it with Cura yet. Found your article while doing research, it looks like most people just bear with their proprietary software "Flashprint". Having found some issues with it myself, I'll be testing how well Cura works in the next few days.
According to their own website (the FAQ), you can ask for the settings.
Can I use other slicers with Flashforge 3d printers, say Cura, Prusa Slicer, Simplify3D, etc.?
Yes, you can. Except for Flashforge Official slicer, Flashforge 3D printer is also compatible with other slicers. But you need to adjust some parameter setting in those slicers. Contact our support team for help.
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20704 | Printer stops extruding at same point on each pass
Issue:
I realized that the filament extrusion always stops at the same spot for a couple seconds then starts back, I know it's the printer and not the filament, I can see the gear literally stop for a couple seconds. The fan also stops during that time, I suspect it has caused the printer to activate it's thermal runaway protection shutdown a couple times. I have no idea what to google to fix it. Here is a picture:
As you can see it's like it stops before the curve, but to be clear, unlike all the questions I have read here, it starts back a couple seconds after.
For context:
Printer: Ender S1 Pro
Slicer: Cura 5.2.2
Maybe related?
I've had my printer for maybe 2 months, and I thought I finally had it setup, prints were consistent and never failing, then yesterday it's like every single setting fell apart at the same time.
The print is no longer sticking to the bed, and I constantly get a "AB Temp." shutdown. I switched the nozzle, no success. I always level it with a sheet of paper, but now I see that after the bed probe hits (as it does before every print), it causes it to raise the nozzle a couple tenth of a millimeter, which explains why it's not sticking. I fixed that by changing the Z-Index, but it's weird that it randomly changed? (by 0.3mm which is significant)
I have no idea how to fix the extrusion stopping randomly though, but I think when the extrusion and fan stop together, it suddenly changes the nozzle thermal properties, so its temperature shoots up, I think that's what's causing the "AB Temp." shutdown.
I print via USB-C so it's not a corrupt file, I have been printing this way many times, no issues. I'm stumped, thank you for your help!
Update:
This time I got quite far before thermal shutdown, it doesn't look random so I think the problem might be in the G-Code, at the same time, I don't get the pattern. Here are the pictures:
The error you encounter is related to a partly broken wire or problem with the seating of connector plugs in their sockets. The fact that the fan also stops hints to this. You need to check all cables and connectors, especially the thermistor.
Such problems arise after a few months of usage.
I checked the wires and the thermistor already, if you look at the pattern of when the extrusion stops (1st picture of the update) you can trace imaginary lines on the print (8) where the extrusion state changes, and you see that it the state only changes on those lines. Imo this is way too regular to hint at a lose wire, or any random issue for that matter. I would bet my hand the issue is in the logic somehow.
AB Temp errors are related to the cables and the connections, there are numerous of these problems posted, all resolved with a new cable.
I changed the printer's power outlet because I read somewhere that it can be caused by power issues (it was on a power bar with many other appliances), and now with its own outlet and printing from SD card, the issue is not there. I'll keep on troubleshooting to see if the outlet fixed it or the SD card.
In the end it was indeed the cable, the temperature reading cable in the ribbon wire to be specific. I replaced it and the AB temp never came back. The fan and extrusion problems were side effects I think, because when the printer thought the temperature dropped it stopped extruding and stopped the fan, but all those features were working normally.
Very nice to come back, vote and comment, all the best with printing!
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20737 | Ender 3 Pro: X-axis moves too much during printing
I got an Ender 3 Pro yesterday and have been having a problem with all of my prints. Whenever the extrusion stops and the X-axis moves, it moves too far. For example, I tried printing a Benchy with 2 skirt lines, and the lines were the right size but too far apart (I measured it and they turned out to be 5 mm apart).
To be clear, this issue only occurs when I'm printing something. When I use the 'move axis' function on the X-axis, it moves appropriately.
Is this a problem with the G-code/slicer or the printer?
What is causing this and how do I fix it?
Update: I've attached a picture of this. I threw the original Benchy in the trash so I made another one. I'll keep experimenting and see if I can fix it.
Is this a problem with the G-code/slicer or the printer?
The issue came from the way I assembled my printer, not from the G-code or slicer that I was using.
What is causing this and how do I fix it?
It turns out that I put the belt on the X-axis upside down, and that was causing it to move incorrectly. I detached the belt from the 2 points that it was clipped onto, then re-applied it correctly and tightly, and now I can print things properly.
Thanks for posting the answer! You can accept the answer after 48 hours! Many thanks for sharing your experience, this may help others in the future! If I correctly understand the issue, were the belts 180° turned at the ends?
So the belts were riding on the smooth side, rather than notched in the pulleys? Oh well, don't feel too bad. On the woodworking forum people occasionally post that their table saw isn't cutting well, and they have the blade in backwards...
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20760 | Gaps in walls Cura
I'm new to the 3D printing world and I'm using the default options of Ultimaker Cura to slice and print a couple of cookie cutters.
I have a model that looks alright, but when I slice it, some walls are missing for the Preview object.
Here you can see how the model looks pre and post-slicing.
Can you help me with this? Do you know what I have to do to avoid these gaps in my sliced object?
I have a Artillery Sidewinder X2 which I use together with Ultimaker Cura. I print in PLA at 200 °C. The print bed is set to 60 °C. The layer height I set to 0.2 mm, the line width [0.44 mm] from the nozzle. The Printing Speed is set to 25 mm/s for walls and 50 mm/s for infill. My retraction is 3 mm
What Cura version?
Ultimaker Cura 5.2.2
And how thin are the features that are getting lost when slicing?
Can you share this model file, that you are trying to print?
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20767 | Perfect, no seam print on original sample "3-cat.gcode" from SD card added to Ender 3 S1 Pro. How does Creality do this?
Everywhere you can read how to try to "hide" the seam, but nowhere there is an attempt to eliminate this problem.
And the proof that it is possible is the prepared G-code added to the Ender printer on the SD card. (the exact name of the file is 3-Cat.gcode)
This little figurine has no seam at all! The print is so perfect that I can't believe it.
The question is why slicers don't create such G-codes so that the seam is hidden inside the printed object, not on its wall.
I have printed this figurine six times already, in different colors and different brands of filament.
All prints are perfect!
What do you think about it? Can this be done in a slicer? (I can add this file somewhere but I don't know where.)
Seam in diferent retraction distance (retract on layer change turned on):
Can you include a link to the file so folks trying to answer can analyze it to see what it's doing?
Sure, added above.
where can i upload the file so that the moderator won't delete it? -.-'
We need information on the used slicing parameters, you should also share your own sliced G-code for the knobs above. Being a circular object with no corners you can never hide the seam, you can mitigate the effects but it will always be somewhat visible, even on well tuned Ultimaker printers.
This answer adresses the seam in the cat model. While it appears that there is no seam printed in this model, it most certainly is printed, but it is cleverly hidden in a sharp corner for you not to see the seam. Furthermore, by clever use of printing the infill first and then the outer perimeter, it appears that there is no seam. There isn't a definite start and stop (no retraction from infill to outer perimeter) and continues inner perimeter printing after the outer perimeter.
You can load the model in an online G-code visualizer to see for yourself. The Creality Cat is a specific showcase to show it's capabilities, but cannot simply be applied to all geometries, a sphere is difficult to print perfectly.
It's done by tweaking the retraction setting in your slicer.
In Cura the main setting affecting this is under 'Travel'.
In the 'Travel' settings is 'Enable retraction', and 'Retract at layer change'.
This will retract the filament and you won't get a seam.
tested on a small cylinder, the seam is still visible. :(
I would expect retraction to be on by default in any reasonable profile. However, the parameters might not be very good.
I turned on "retraction on layer change", printed the same test model 6 times (with retraction distance 0.4, 0.5, 0.6, 0.7, 0.8 and 0.9) and I don't see any difference in the seam... either CURA is broken or I'm retarded...
Getting a seam that's not ugly is a matter of having proper retraction and Z-travel settings that don't let the nozzle ooze when starting/stopping an extrusion. These differ for every printer, but the settings in the Creality-sliced file are 0.8 mm retraction length, and 40 mm/s retraction (and unretraction) speed. These are a very good baseline to start tuning from for a direct drive extruder. Otherwise I don't see anything remarkable about their slicing. You can open it up in a gcode analyzer like https://gcode.ws or https://gcodeanalyser.com to see where their seams are and check if anything else looks special to you.
Faster Z moves will also help and let you turn off "retract at layer change" if you like, which can help. They have not done this in their file; it's sliced with a painfully slow 5 mm/s Z travel speed. Cura doesn't let you access this directly but it reuses the Z-hop speed, even if Z-hop isn't enabled, as the Z travel speed for layer changes. Increasing it won't help much without also increasing the Z acceleration in the printer firmware, though, since the moves are so short they don't have significant time to accelerate. I use 80 mm/s with 750 mm/s² for Z on my Ender, but I'm not sure if that's achievable without TMC 2209s stepper drivers in Spreadcycle mode. In any case, you can get completely acceptable seams without fast Z travel as long as you have "retract at layer change" on.
Thank u for reply. I don't understand why we are writing here about changes in the hardware or software of the printer... as I wrote earlier, the model added to the printer on the SD card is printed seamlessly, there is no seam at all. I added a link to this .gcode file (but the moderator removed it. BTW how can I add it to make it acceptable to the moderator?)
I currently have layer change retraction turned on and I tried to print a small model with a retraction distance of 0.4, 0.5, 0.6, 0.7, 0.8, 0.9... and I don't see any differences in these models in the seam...
@Rigid: The second paragraph is more general information about the way seams can bulge, and as I said in the final sentence, is not needed to match what Creality did. "In any case, you can get completely acceptable seams without fast Z travel as long as..."
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20860 | Inner layers separating specially on the top
I've been facing an issue with my 3d printer for the past couple of months: My inner layers are not sticking together when I print something vertically.
I'm trying to print white PLA at 200ºC with the following Cura settings on an Ender 5 Pro:
Here's the result:
I've tampered with my settings a bit, but still, it doesn't seem to make any difference.
I'm pretty convinced it's a setting issue... Any idea?
Make sure to check your temperature sensors. Examine their position and ensure they are in the correct place (no shifting or bending). Lastly, if you have made any changes in the filament brand or model, you may have encountered this issue. Filaments that have been exposed to air or have become stale do not produce reliable prints.
You did not mention your line width...
From the print effects I do reckon that you are printing your model with a line width of 0.4 mm from a 0.4 mm nozzle. Due to the physical properties of different filaments, this can result in lines that are actually more narrow than demanded, resulting in delamination of walls like shown.
To work against all those problems, it is usually best to demand the printer to print lines about 10 % wider than the nozzle, e.g. 0.45 mm.
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20880 | Increase the measuring points on Ender 3 S1 Pro
I have a Creality Ender 3 S1 Pro with the factory board and firmware. Is there any option to increase the number of leveling points? Since it is not an open Marlin code, I have no access to the firmware source to modify it.
No, you need to change this in the firmware. It has to be changed, built and uploaded. Marlin is a free firmware, and there are lots of tutorials, forks and configurations for the Ender 3 S1 Pro to use as a start. We even have a rough step by step guide for working on that.
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20890 | How to connect Arduino Uno R3 to Bigtreetech SKR Mini E3 V3
I can't seem to find wiring diagrams anywhere, so I am asking here.
Which pins do I use to connect my Arduino Uno to my Bigtreetech board?
I am connecting the Arduino to use it as an ICSP programmer, so that you can flash the BigTreeTech board. I have a V3 board version.
First, make sure that you have flashed your Uno to be an ICSP programmer.
Then you just connect up the SPI pins of the two boards.
The pins on the Uno that you must use, are these, circled in yellow (you can ignore the red circles):
The pin out is as follows:
The pins on the BigTreeTech board are shown on the right hand edge/side of the board, half way down, where it says SPI1:
The SPI pins on the v3 version of the board are still in a similar location, but in a different order (along with 2 other pins, that can be ignored):
Connect these pins on the Uno, to the "like-for-like" pins on the BigTree - no crossing over of wires is required. So, connect:
MOSI to MOSI
MISO to MISO
SCK to SCK
RESET to RESET
VCC to VCC
GND to GND
On the V3 board ignore the additional NSS and 3.3V pins on the SPI1 connector
References
BigTreeTech Board layout v.1.2
BigTreeTech Board layout v.3
Arduino as ISP and Arduino Bootloaders
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20897 | I am pulling my hair out, why does my text start a few layers in to the top of my base?
This is kind of hard to explain but I have a 2 mm disc that has text on the top, it's a stamp effectively. I want my text to start right on the top after the top layer of the base (if that makes sense), but it's starting the text a few layers down into the top which is making the infill lines a right mess
The text seems to start a few layers down in the top of the base, and it's causing it to look a mess as it's going around it all.
You should have tagged this with the slicer you're using. Presumably that's Cura, and this is likely the "Skin Edge Support Thickness"/"Skin Edge Support Layers" feature.
Because you have some infill layers before the top layers, Cura is putting lines underneath the edges so they have something solid to build on. Otherwise you'd be likely to get top surface gaps or features on top that easily break off.
While you can turn off the skin edge support, what I would do if you find it undesirable here is to increase the number of bottom layers slightly so that there are no infill layers in between. It looks like you only have 2 layers of infill, and having them there is just making problems; you'd do better to make the whole part print solid.
i tried but creality slicer isn't a tag, but i think its a clone of Cura
isn't that the same as doing 100% infill ?
@Lee: Not exactly. 100% infill in theory would still have the skin edge supports, because you still have "skin over infill". In practice that might not happen because of a Cura bug where it replaces your selection of "100% infill" with "999999 bottom layers" on most printers, so it would no longer be "skin over infill". But I wouldn't rely on that.
Your problem has to do with the top layers of your part surrounding the raised text. The infill for your raised text continues a bit because it's not yet close to the top.
The print becomes a mess because the inner walls for the raised text don't hit any infill material like the top layers in this Benchy:
To remedy this, you can try several different things.
Connect Infill Lines. Assuming you use the Cura slicer, you can use the Connect Infill Lines option which is specifically designed to create extra support for top layers.
If the option isn't visible yet you can find it in the additional Infill settings:
Increase infill density. You can increase the infill density ans check if the corners hit (or are very close to) the infill after slicing. In the example below, I raised the infill density from 10% to 25% and all corners are well supported by the infill.
This is often not the best solution because it will severely increase the print time and used material.
Change infill pattern. You can play around with different infill patterns to see if another pattern is more favourable for the unsupported walls. I changes the infill pattern to Lines in this example and it supports the top layers a tiny bit better.
If all else fails, you can add another piece and set the Per Model Settings for the overlapping regions. I added a simple cube and increased the infill density for the overlaps to 50% and got this result:
Of course there are al lot more things you can try but these are some options that have worked for me in the past. Hope it helps!
i'm using creality slicer and it has most of t he infill greyed out
@Lee Why not use the original instead of a clone with less features? Cura will work fine for your printer!
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20904 | Best materials for printing mountains
Can you suggest me some good material choices for printing some mountains models for educational and fun purposes?
My goal is to mantain the best accuracy without spending too much, I have many models to print: they don't need to be super-resistant.
I was thinking about High-Detail Resin or simple PLA / Recycled rPLA.
I also checked Rigid Resin and Color-Changing PLA.
Here are some examples of my models:
Material is not really going to affect the accuracy unless you're using very exotic things like lightweight foaming materials where the expansion is variable. You don't even have overhangs. So accuracy is pretty much entirely a function of the process, the quality of your machine, and the settings you use.
Resin will generally have higher resolution than FDM if that's what you're looking for. With FDM you can increase resolution somewhat by using a smaller nozzle, but that will make large prints like this very slow. Within the broad classes of resin or FDM, though, which specific resin or which specific polymer or color or brand you use is not going to make a difference. Pick the one that meets your aesthetic needs.
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20935 | Resin printer LCD breaks if layer is too big
I've recently gotten into Resin 3d printing with a refurbished Elegoo Mars 1 but I've run into a weird bug where the printer would not expose any resin to the LCD.
I tested it by taking off the build plate and basin and looked at the LCD when it was exposing the layers. I've tried updating the firmware and tested about 20 odd prints of various sizes and detail. With those I saw that prints with large individual layers essentially stopped the LCD entirely (The exposure would flash on the LCD for a second then the LCD would not turn on again until I completely restarted the printer). What is more bizarre is that the first test print I did worked perfectly and still does for some reason (which was the tugboat and a random miniature).
For specific printer details I have an Elegoo Mars with the C type motherboard. There are no burn marks on the wiring or circuits and the LCD screen was replaced recently with a brand new one. And nothing is misaligned or unplugged. I even double checked that the LCD was still functional with the test exposure tools on the printer.
From my observations it is a data streaming issue with how it is connected with the USB drive. But that is a software issue that I am not capable of knowing.
Any ideas on what could be wrong or if this has happened before?
EDIT: Discovered that the Firmware needed to be updated to the latest version. Also, after testing out several very different print files the original print file that was having this issue was corrupted in some way as rebuilding it and printing the new version more or less worked. I also did another go around with cleaning everything and making sure that both the plate was level/tightened, FEP replaced, and that there was no IPA leftover on either.
Just a few suggestions. Maybe try updating the firmware. Even if it is up to date, reinstalling it may help fix a corrupted firmware. Maybe also put the slicer on an entirely different laptop or computer and slice it from there. It could very well just be a slicing bug.
I never thought about using my laptop. I'll try that out in the morning along with reinstalling the firmware
I've tried updating the firmware...
aaand here is most likely your problem. Your Firmware update most likely did not handle properly, resulting in a corrupted firmware. Reinstallation of the firmware might be in order.
You might want to test a different USB drive, in case it is a problem with just that specific dongle. Sometimes a USB stick might be ill-formatted or too large to allow running an update.
To verify it is a problem with the USB driver, in many machines one could also slice a model, connect to the printer via a cable and print directly from the computer's slicer. If the problem is the USB port, then this should print properly, but it is not always an option.
Sadly, the mars doesn't have the capability or port to be connected directly to a computer.
The firmware also refuses to update. It will say that it does but the version doesn't change.
UPDATE: I dug deep into several other websites and found out that I had to partition my newer 32gb usb with a FAT32 4096 partition and only put the .SH4 .CBD and .TXT files in the root. Then the firmware finally updated.
Ah yes, the classical "That can't be, the stick's too big!"
@IllogicalConsistency - you should post the info in your comment as an answer. It may help others who are also having similar partitioning issues (and necessary files) with their SD cards. Solutions should not be posted in the comments as comments are ephemeral in nature and tend to be deleted over time.
@IllogicalConsistency - I meant that the comment should be posted as a new answer rather than an edit to this existing answer. As an edit, it looks like an attempt to reply. Sorry, if I wasn't clear. Also, please take the [tour] in order to better understand how the Q&A mechanism of Stack Exchange works. Thanks.
If the user, Illogical Consistency (who suggested the edit) posts their own answer, then this wiki answer can be deleted
From this (rejected) suggested edit:
I had to dig deep into several other websites and found out that I had to partition my newer 32gb usb with a FAT32 4096 partition and only put the .SH4 .CBD and .TXT files in the root. On then would the firmware update properly.
From this comment:
I dug deep into several other websites and found out that I had to partition my newer 32gb usb with a FAT32 4096 partition and only put the .SH4 .CBD and .TXT files in the root. Then the firmware finally updated
4096 what? Sectors, bytes, kB, MB...? A number without units is pretty meaningless. Also, what websites - any links, or references?
Test for backtick: ```
Resin particles or residues can accumulate on the LCD screen, hindering its proper operation. Check that the connection cables are not loose or damaged.
Before performing a firmware update, I suggest making a backup.
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20938 | Model is cut off when printing despite showing correctly on slicer
My printer is the Creality Ender 3 V2 Neo printer. Firmware is factory new.
You can see the problem below:
As you see, the long rectangle on the bottom is getting cut off when printed. Outline shown in red shows the path the printer is really taking. (you can ignore the gray area, it is only there because both long rectangles are part of the same .stl file)
Here is another view of the sliced print:
Additionally, you can see in this other picture:
The print started quite a bit from the left edge
The start G-code, which prints lines on the left, printed lines closer to the left edge than where the print started
Here is the start G-code:
; Ender 3 Custom Start G-code
G92 E0 ; Reset Extruder
G28 ; Home all axes
G29 ;
G1 Z2.0 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 Z2.0 F3000 ; Move Z Axis up little to prevent scratching of Heat Bed
G1 X5 Y20 Z0.3 F5000.0 ; Move over to prevent blob squish
Slicer settings:
How can I fix this? Is this due to the slicer? Due to the firmware? In either case, how do I change it?
If I look at the printed middle rectangle, it appears that the printer is printing way too far to the right, or, your slicer used an incorrect bed size.
You should look into question How to center my prints on the build platform? (Re-calibrate homing offset) or Recalibrating Home-position to center the print area and try to re-print the object again. Furthermore, as far as can be interpreted from the low res images, your printer may need some better leveling as some parts are too high and some too low.
Regarding the bed leveling, I raised the print head on purpose to peel the print off easier (since I was just testing). Then, after reading those links, my biggest question is: but why do the lines on the left (from the start g-code) print correctly? Does the printer use 2 coordinate systems, 1 for the start g-code, and 1 for the actual print?
@Milichip we don't know, maybe you could share some of the G-code (including the start of the rectangle) from the print, not just the start code. Or post a link to GitHub or a text sharing site. Also look at your settings in the slicer for the bed size and post these as well as the actual print area and bed size. If you have a prime line, this effectively reduces the print area, not much, just 0.4 mm.
Here is the g-code of the entire file (I didn't know you could just open it with a text editor): https://pastebin.com/geJRm4BG , I have also added a screenshot of the slicer settings in my original post
Your firmware and slicer operate on different sizes.
You need to update the firmware to update the bed size (and the 0-Offset) from the factory setting to the actual size. There is no way to alter the Maximum sizes via a direct connection.
I don't see how that can be true, considering the gcode that is being printed does make use of the left part of the build plate (altough only to clean the nozzle by printing 2 straight lines). It may be missing 5mm from the very edge, but that is not the problem in this post. Could you elaborate in a way that explains the current behavior?
if you demand the printer to go beyond the X or Y max position, the printhead will stop there, resulting in a clean cut.
That's not what I mean. If you look at the photos, you can see that the print started a little ways off from the left. However, the slicer shows the print would've started closer to the edge. In other words, yes, it makes sense for the right side to get cut off, but only because the left side started 2cm from the edge, for some reason. However, the "start g-code" lines started very close to the edge, which proves it is able to print there.
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20957 | terrible quality on Ender 3
Sorry this is kind to embarrassing to post compared to other images but this is our first attempts. It starts out roughly acceptable then does this waffle thing. I tightened the belts and leveled the plate.
I have a Creality Ender 3 which I use together with UltiMaker Cura slicer. I print in PLA at 220 °C. The print bed is set to 70 °C. I use a print cooling fan at 60 %. The layer height I set to 0.[?] mm, the line width [line width/extrusion width] from the 0.4 mm nozzle. The Printing Speed is set to ? mm/s for walls and [?] mm/s for infill]. My retraction is [?] mm/off at [?] mm/s.
Problem seems to be solved, thanks everyone. I dropped the temperature to 200 and fan speed to 100% and print looks much better.
Hello MK. Your question is lacking detail and as such is hard to answer without knowing a couple of things about your printer setup. Please [edit] and fill in the [placeholders] in the template I added and then remove the leading <!-- and trailing --> afterward. This will turn it visible and help us help you find the actual problem.
agarza is correct in saying that we need more details. As stated in the answer, what slicer are you using? Please [edit] and add that detail, at the very minimum (along with others mentioned in the above comment, if possible). Thanks.
not so fast, young grasshoppers. Not everyone works from home. I'll get the details when I can!
still trying to figure out some of these settings. Are they all in slicer somewhere? Is there a page describing how to fill out this template?
(for now trying to print with 100 % fan speed and lower temperature)
Yes, these should all be in your slicer. On the top right side, there should be a drop-down menu that will have additional settings. If you can readily see the setting, use the Search settings feature within that drop-down to find what you are looking for, i.e. layer height, infill, retraction, etc.
We've closed the question for you to fix. At the moment it is very unclear. The template has not be filled out properly. It is also best to add more and better photos, it is very difficult to see if the print starts out fine. If so, this is not a filament diameter problem but filament entanglement or heat creep (220 is possible but is on the high side for PLA).
I am really not a fan of these strict closing rules enforced by some folks on StackExchange. Clearly the question is by a newbie (that'd be me) who is struggling to ask the question properly. Closing it while I'm trying to figure out how to fill out the template is quite discouraging. Anyways, the question was clearly asked well enough since I got help I needed. I dropped the temperature to 200 and prints look much better.
As someone who has been on SE for over 14 yrs, you know how the site functions. You should also be aware that just because a question is closed doesn't mean that you are unable to edit your question; closure if so no more answers can be posted.
@agarza oh believe me i know how it works. I have been respectfully disagreeing with closures of this type for about 12 out of these 14 years :)
200C is still really hot for PLA, i get best results with white PLA at 112C. RTFM.
Hmm, we all seem to have worked ourselves into a bit of a pickle with this question... However, I'm sure we can sort this out (as we seem to be on the home straight) :-) 1st, thanks for adding the slicer info. 2nd, 0scar hinted at a possible solution in his comment on the filament answer (which seems to have helped you). 3rd, Maybe you could tidy and add the missing/unknown data (marked with "?") to your question. 4th, it gets reopened, 5th, you move your solution to an actual answer and then accept it. 6th, And/Or 0scar posts his comment as a fully fleshed out answer. Something like that..?
I'd be happy to update but I couldn't find these settings in Cura; if these are configured on printer , they are all at defaults..
FYI, as you sliced this in Cura you must have used a profile. The slicer is probably in simple mode (aka recommended mode), you need to set it in "advanced/custom mode" to see all options. You can use the search box to find the options, you can make these visible when hidden. But, I think we now know that this is heat creep. If you can, post a better image from the side of the Benchy. If you permit, we can clean up the question for you!
the poorly printed benchy got destroyed. I'll take a look at advanced mode settings. But almost 100% sure it was heat creep. Seems to be printing much better (though benchy still has some weirdness, might have to drop temp a bit more).
This is a severe under extrusion problem.
What slicer are you using? It could be a filament diameter setting issue.
Are you using Cura? I don't know about the most recent version but older versions defaulted to 2.85 mm filament diameter which is the diameter the Ultimaker printers use (as Cura is developed by Ultimaker) but the Ender 3 uses 1.75 mm diameter filament.
Have a look at this question where a similar issue is discussed.
Questions don't belong in answers, please comment on the question if you have questions, you have sufficient reputation to do so. The print looks as if it starts okay (but it is hard to tell from this angle), but gets worse over height, this hints more to heat creep than wrong filament diameter.
i don't see selection for filament diameter. There is nozzle setting which is 0.4mm (which i think is correct for Ender 3)
Yes, the temperature might have changed on its own while printing from 220 to 200, I've seen it happen before. Why does it happen?
You've probably checked this already but offering a basic issue I've had before on my Ender 3 with the filament not unraveling cleanly from the spool hanger (gets caught on the post or bound up on itself).
When this happens it would produce a similar result to your picture...started fine and then turned into wispy/burnt layers before ending entirely.
When this has happened I just need to untangle the filament, clean the nozzle, cut a clean starting point on the filament, and empty the Bowden tube of the old filament.
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21032 | How do I remove filament from the hotend of a direct-drive printer?
I have PrintrBot Simple Metal and over the course of today's use, I managed to get a piece of filament stuck in the hotend, just below the extruder gear. There's not really much to grab at, and my tweezers aren't that strong. How should I go about getting the filament out of the hotend? If it matters, I'm using 1.75mm MH Build Series PLA.
Though I solved my problem, I would still like for members of the 3D community to share solutions that work for them.
Cold Pull
The technic is nigh the same as for a bowden machine:
Do NOT cut the filament!
First heat the hotend to your filament's print temperature or about 20 °C lower
Then pull at the filament, possibly using a pair of grooved tongues.
If you want to get rid of residue, especially after printing a high-temperature material, you might want to purge the nozzle too.
But the filament is short...
If the filament is too short already, purging it is the solution:
try to cut the filament to just after the extruder gear
Heat the hotend to printing temperature of the stuck filament
insert any other filament that has the same or lower melting temperature behind and (using pliers) make sure that it will line up with the filament path.
Push the stuck filament through.
Best perform a purge now.
Purging
I mentioned above purging. Purging is just pushing extra filament through. As it melts and gets pushed out with extra force, it takes with it all the residue and old filament. You pretty much purge the old material from the system. It might be easier for you to use a different color, as then you can see when you have purged the previous filament fully.
If you still need to clean more or want to swap the nozzle, you can let the hotend cool down to about 20 °C below the printing temperature of your now-loaded filament and return to a cold pull.
I generally have good enough success by performing a cold pull and then purging some centimeters more after the filament is of even color.
Nozzle geometry warning
Core-Heating nozzles are very complex and doing a cold pull in them is very hard to impossible. It is best to not cold-pull and instead just purge forward if possible.
I guess what I did was a cold purge.
@TheTridentGuy more likely a normal purge (purge is forward and works best with print temperature, pull is backwards and works best if you are a little under print temp)
Sorry, I meant just purge.
No problem^^ we all are here to learn. True, you discovered purging before I came around to help, but it is indeed a classic cleaning method. I usually coldpull and then purge (with a bowden setup) so my nozzle is clean after filament swaps.
Ok, so I finally figured out a way to get it out:
I heated the hotend to the melting temp. of the filament, and then used another piece of filament to push it through. Just make sure that the other piece of filament is connected to the spool you want to print from :).
Thanks to @Trish for teaching me that this is called a purge.
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21043 | Under-extrusion in Certain Locations
Recently, I've been noticing what looks like under extrusion. My first thought was a clogged nozzle, but it only occurs in some places:
My printer is a PrintrBot Simple Metal, using MH Build Series 1.75 mm PLA and the model was sliced with Cura 5.1.0. What could be causing this, and how should I fix it?
Slicer settings:
infill density 10 % (pattern: cubic)
layer height: 0.2 mm
print speed: 50 mm/s (travel: 150 mm/s)
print temp: 200 °C (bed: 0 °C)
retraction: enabled (Z-hop: disabled)
cooling: enabled (fan speed: 100 %)
I'm not printing faster than usual, and I watched some of this print print, and there were no obvious issues like a clicking extruder. I find it strange that it occurred regularly along the edge of one piece, but the piece next to it was perfect. It seems to occur around two sharp corners. The other piece didn't have those sharp corners.
Another doubtful theory by me:
I've had some issues with a loose plug recently. Could this be causing a drop in temperature?
Are you printing fast? What temperature? Please share some settings.
@Oscar I added the print settings: I'm not printing extra fast, and my print temp seems fine for PLA.
Is the extruder skipping? Should be easy to observe, look at the gear that pushes the filament. Do you hear a click every time the gear rotates backwards?
@anttix I had the honor of watching the shown part print. The extruder gear wasn't skipping.
There is one topic discussing the under extrusion of this printer. This printer uses an old (PEEK) hotend, which underperforms. From what I read, the original hotend is not the best around and the stepper is weak. Replace the hotend for a more modern design, or buy a new printer to save the hassle and frustration. For the price of the Simple you can get two entry printers with better extruders/hotends.
Are there any settings I could change to provide a quick fix? It doesn't seem like a hardware issue.
I suspect it is a hardware issue, a weak stepper and an underperforming hotend. Stepper could be given some more current probably, but for fixing this you need to be up for some tinkering to install new parts, hence the hint to buy a new one and sell this one to a tinkerer.
But it only happens in specific places. Another piece printed right next to this, and is perfect, albiet a little ghosting.
@Oscar could a more powerful power supply help?
No that won't work.
Solved! Finally...
So after having this issue off and on, an extreme case appeared. It turns out that filament was resisting coming off the spool, and when the extruder and hotend (the Simple is a direct-drive) pulled away from the spool it created tension in the filament, effectively pulling it out of the hotend, though only just enough to cause this issue. In this specific case, it seems that the long edge before the side of the piece was pulling the filament.
Shoutout to @metacollin and @DragonDon for their answers. I'm still calibrating my machine, so they'll useful.
If the motion of the printhead (on a direct drive printer) is pulling the filament to turn the spool, and this is affecting its ability to push the filament through the hotend, this can be mitigated with a reverse bowden tube running from a fixed point near the spool to the filament intake on the toolhead. If you don't want to do that, adding bearings to reduce the rolling friction of the spool may suffice.
Thank you so much for posting this, this was my issue too! What a silly problem that I never would have considered. Thank you so much!
Ultimately, your printer is pushing out less filament than the gcode is telling it to (which you know, but its worth focusing on the exact problem).
If your stepper motor isn't missing steps, then that leaves just a few possibilities:
The extruder's hobbed gear is slipping against the filament
The extruder's hobbed gear (or whatever is being driven by the extruder motor) is slipping on the motor shaft.
You got a bad spool with short lengths where the filament diameter is substantially out of tolerance (in the negative direction).
#3 seems extremely unlikely though is still possible. The filament need not be noticeably under spec, it just needs to narrow enough that the hobbed gear can't grab onto it well enough and you get slippage.
#2 is also unlikely but its so easy to check, might as well.
#1 is what my money is on.
Now we have to think of what could be causing filament slippage. This occurs when the hobbed gear's ability to grab the filament is overpowered by the resistance to flow through the nozzle.
This can either be from too little grip, or something causing unusual and intermittent resistance to flow that causes the hobbed gear to shred the filament.
If there is too little grip, you simply need to tighten the screw that has the spring that pushes the idler arm and idler pulley against the filament more pressure means better grip for the hobbed gear).
Your hobbed gear might have gunk between the teeth preventing it from gripping well and merely needs to be cleaned with something sharp.
Your idler pulley might have be broken, check for any play or unsmooth rotation on the shaft
Once you're certain grip is nice and strong, that leaves something causing resistance to flow:
There might be a spec of debris with an irregular high aspect ratio shape in your hotend. It can't exit through the nozzle, but it also can't completely block it either, and is constantly moving around and only becomes a problem some of the time.
One of your hotend's thermistor wires might have an intermittent short, or the thermistor itself has cracked. Low/short circuit resistance ends up getting interpreted as really high temperature, so no power is sent to the heater until a good enough thermistor connection returns. This can result in the hotend getting too cold for short periods. This option seems plausible since there seems to be a rough correlation between the print head position and when it happens, which is consistent with a broken conductor issue. The connection goes bad when the wires are positioned in certain ways, basically.
And it could of course be any combination of these things cooccurring and all contributing.
Unfortunately, under extrusion has so many potential causes that you just have to start going down the list from easiest to hardest thing to fix, and hope the problem is more towards the easy end.
The odd thing here is that it's only happening in specific spots. If it was a random fluke, It would happen all over the print instead of just on one side.
@TheTridentGuysupportsUkraine: When it only happens in certain spots, normally that means the condition causing underextrusion is dependent on the sliced geometry. It could be that there's a long move just before the underextrusion where the motion has enough length to accelerate to a higher speed than you have the flow for. It could be that there's a retraction/unretract just before, and your retraction speed or acceleration is bad, causing filament to slip or the E motor to skip steps while adjusting the filament position, offsetting the amount extruded. Etc.
Another very possible cause is oozing during a travel move just prior to the line that's underextruded. In this case, the missing material was extruded, just in the wrong place. This can be a result of poorly calibrated retraction settings and/or "combing"/skipping-retractions.
@R..GitHubSTOPHELPINGICE Thank you! This is the point I've been trying to make. Turns out condition causing underextrusion was the filament resisting coming off the spool and the extruder moving quickly away from the spool.
I would strongly follow Teach Tech's calibration guide. It's entirely possible that there are a number of things out of whack, contributing to the overall print quality. In this case, I'd look at doing a PID tune and seeing if your print temps are consistent.
Also, as the filament is fed into the nozzle, that lowers the temp, and if your temperature is not consistent, it might be lowered to a point where it starts to solidify, this would account for the results you get but again, could be a number of things. Even wet filament.
The filament you are using has a temp range of 205 +/-15. That means anything from 190 to 220. Even in your pic you can see the issue starting at lower layers.
Calibration is clearly the first thing to do before anything else.
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21042 | Get 2D object from a 3D object's face in OpenSCAD
Basically I am working on automating the generation of upper and lower shells of device enclosures. These enclosures have a rather irregular shape that was generated e.g. with hull(). I currently have a hollow enclosure object that I would like to split into an upper and a lower half in order to print them on a 3D printer. This is easily done by intersecting / diffing them with a large cube object. But I would like to also have a lid at the split position so both parts have a mechanically solid fit.
My approach would currently be to get the 2D surface of the cut plane and modify it to get an outer part for one shell and an inner part for the other shell. But I do not know how to get this surface object in the first step of the process.
Any ideas how to do this in OpenSCAD? Or even better proposals?
EDIT:
A possible workaround is as follows:
I model the inner hollow structure by combining the necessary room for the components. The enclosure is constructed by applying minkowski() { inner(); sphere(r=wallThickness); } to it. The overlapping lid parts are then generated by applying the Minkowski operation with a sphere half the wall thickness in size. Problem is, this creates a non-vertical overlap as you can see in the example by setting cutHeight = 10 instead of -20. I know that having a vertical lid (i.e. perpendicular to the cut plane) may on the other hand lead to problems when the wall thickness is too thin.
$fn=32;
wallThickness = 5;
lidHeight = 5;
cutHeight = -20; // or 10
module inner()
{
translate([0,0, cutHeight])
hull() { // example only, may be an arbitrarily irregular shape
translate([0, 0, 20]) sphere(40);
translate([20, 20, -10]) cube(50,center=true);
}
}
module shell(wall)
{
minkowski() {
inner();
sphere(wall);
}
}
module lower_enclosure()
{
union() {
intersection() {
difference() {
shell(wallThickness);
shell(0);
}
translate([0,0,-500]) cube(1000, center=true);
}
intersection() {
difference() {
shell(wallThickness/2);
shell(0);
}
translate([0,0,-500 + lidHeight]) cube(1000, center=true);
}
}
}
module upper_enclosure()
{
rotate([180,0,0])
union() {
intersection() {
difference() {
shell(wallThickness);
shell(0);
}
translate([0,0,500]) cube(1000, center=true);
}
intersection() {
difference() {
shell(wallThickness);
shell(wallThickness/2);
}
translate([0,0,500 - lidHeight]) cube(1000, center=true);
}
}
}
lower_enclosure();
translate([0,110,0]) upper_shell();
Any chance to make a sketch? Know that if you are creating lids, you need a rim so that it stays on top, the inner rim needs to be smaller than the hollow enclosure objects inside. It sound like you modelled the whole thing in OpenSCAD, so you can use that code for the lid? You can post your current code for reference.
@0scar: I model the inner hollow structure by combining the necessary room for the components, say hull() { translate([0, 0, 20]) sphere(40); translate([20, 20, -10]) cube(50,center=true); } with the cut going through the XY plane. The enclosure is constructed by applying minkowski() { inner(); sphere(r=wallThickness); } to it. So, my current solution is now applying the Minkowski operation with a sphere half the wall thickness in size which generates the lid, and then combining this with cutting above and below the plane for the overlap. Problem is, this creates a non-vertical overlap.
You can use the openSCAD projection() function.
With cut=true, this slices your model at the Z=0 plane.
3D to 2D Projection documentation.
projection(cut = true) example002();
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21090 | Stringing across hollow shapes used for cutting
I am having this issue with stringing when printing these small clay cutters. The stringing is across any small cut out area. I have calibrated the temp, retraction distance, retraction speed, and E-Step. Maybe I need to calibrate flow as well for this issue?
Printer: Ender 3 S1 Pro
Filament: PLA
Settings:
Temp:195C
Retraction distance: 0.3mm
Retraction speed: 45mm/s
Retraction minimum travel: 0mm (so retraction can happen over the small areas)
Is there anyway to optimize the path of the hot end? The stringing perfectly follows how the hot end jumps over the different cutter areas.
And just for reference, 0.3mm for retraction distance seemed low from what I've been reading online, but this is the retraction tower I ran and how I got that number:
Just today I got my filament in a dryer and it has been running all day, so the filament should be dry.
I'm willing to try any calibration again or literally anything! Thank you
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21148 | Prusa MK3s+ potential extrusion problem
I've recently tried printing something I've printed multiple times but this time it isn’t printing much at all. It seems to inly be printing a very small film of filament rather than a solid layer in places and even on the solid base layer the first time I tried printing it. I'm not sure whether it could be an under extrusion problem or I might even have to raise the z calibration. Has anyone seen this before and does anyone have any possible solutions? Would be much appreciated I need to set this print going ASAP
I figured out that it was due to the Z axis calibration on my Prusa MK3S+ so I started a "First Layer Calibration" and reset the variable previously used to get a more accurate calibration
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21136 | Prusa MK3s+, Prusa PETG 1.75mm filament
I encountered a case of pillowing throughout several layers that was very severe, however, I managed to fix it through adjusting the temperatures but I was wondering if anyone could tell me if there any any other cases of this and if they have found a trustworthy way to solve the problem if it occurs repeatedly as it has slowly started to re-appear in different prints after I have rectified the problem, and I haven't altered any of the previous settings I altered to fix it.
I am now encountering this problem again and I really don't know what can cause it, I'm unable to dehydrate my filament anyway due to a lack of means to do so and I used a brand new spool to print this piece that has had pillowing yesterday (July 6th)
Can you include a pic? "Pillowing" and "bubbling" are very different things the way I normally use the terms, so it would help to distinguish what you mean.
How many top layers do you use at what thickness per layer?
it was a 5 layer print as it would be taking some abuse, I'm using it as an insert for draws to keep tools tidy
Without an example photo, it's difficult to be certain, but moisture in a filament spool can cause undesired effects in a print. Even a new-in-the-box, vacuum-sealed-plastic-bag spool can present these effects.
Consider to perform a dehydration on your filament and create another test print.
The filament is in a controlled environment without possibility of hydration to occur but I do understand where you're coming from. I have now solved the issue and the same spool is printing fine. I appreciate the help
What was your solution?
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21166 | Ender 3 filament retracts on its own
While printing flat surfaces the filament would begin to retract by itself, even if the printer is actively extruding it. I've been remedying it by occasionally pushing the filament by hand, has anyone had this issue in the past or has any idea how to fix it?
Slicer: Cura v.5.4.0
Retraction: off
Flow rate: 75% (calibrated after installing new extruder)
Printer: Ender 3
Leveling done via BLTouch (Z offset calibrated to be 0.1 mm from print bed)
E steps calibrated properly
Hotend temp: 200 °C
Print bed temp: 50 °C
Filament type: PLA
Filament brand: Creality grey 1 kg
You have given us statements but have not asked a question or told us what settings you are using. Without additional information, this "question" could be closed.
Sorry about that, added details now and asked a proper question. If there are any details that I left out let me know and I'll update ASAP
Probably a typo, please clarify the version of Cura that you are using.
When properly calibrated, the flow modifier is about 100 %. It is better to adjust the steps per mm rather than editing the flow modifier.
This can happen if your nozzle is too close to the bed (too low Z-offset). Check your first layer thickness. It should be a slightly squished bead. Not a smeared line.
When the nozzle is too close to the bed, the filament can't come out and the extruder skips steps. When a bowden extruder skips steps, the filament is actually retracted a bit because of the tension built up in the tube.
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21168 | Switching power ON with RPi loses connection with MCU (Ender 3v2/Klipper/Mainsail)
TL;DR: When powered off (default state) the Pi powers the Ender's MCU through USB and all is well, but when I switch on the power through G-code I get
Lost communication with MCU 'mcu'
I'm quite certain I'm not the first one to have this happen, but searching hasn't gotten me the answer yet, probably due to the fact that searching for the error message only gives unrelated answers. My Ender 3v2 (4.2.2 mainboard) is set up such that my Raspberry Pi 3 B+ switches on the power supply through a relay controlled by GPIO.
Macro (which seems to run fine as it does the switching):
# Turns on printer
[output_pin printer_power]
pin: rpi:gpio17
# Printer power ON
[gcode_macro POWER_ON]
gcode:
SET_PIN PIN=printer_power VALUE=1
# Printer power OFF
[gcode_macro POWER_OFF]
gcode:
SET_PIN PIN=printer_power VALUE=0
gpioinfo pin 17:
line 17: "GPIO17" "klipper" output active-high [used]
I use the commands POWER_ON and POWER_OFF in the slicer G-code, where they are either first or last. (edit: don't power off the printer through the slicer if you want to see succesful prints in your overview - practically it works fine but it's much better to let the printer auto power off from idle, see https://github.com/jschuh/klipper-macros for example)
When I use my slicer to send a file to the printer it starts and runs for about three seconds as it starts homing axes, and then the error
Lost communication with MCU 'mcu'
appears and the printer hurts itself in its confusion, but when I use the commands through mainsail it works just fine.
I hope someone knows how to avoid this, might just be an electrical issue (immediate instructions/power draw on startup?) that I need to circumvent somehow.
Fixed it.
As expected and completely reasonable, the MCU needed some time to wake up, clocked it at 6-7 seconds so gave it a total 10 seconds in code. Found the most graceful way of doing it was in the same macro, also included a nice little beep to let me know the game is afoot. I also added an ATX power supply to the rig in the mean time so that is switched first, and I only turn on the 24V PSU after the MCU woke up because control before power.
# Switches 24V PSU through physical relay gate 1
[output_pin 24V_power]
pin: rpi:gpio17
# Switches 12V PSU through physical relay gate 2
[output_pin 12V_power]
pin: rpi:gpio27
# Switches power ON
[gcode_macro POWER_ON]
gcode:
SET_PIN PIN=12V_power VALUE=1
G4 P9000 # Give MCU time to wake up
SET_PIN PIN=24V_power VALUE=1
G4 P1000 # Give 24V PSU time to wake up
BEEP_STARTUP
# Switches power OFF
[gcode_macro POWER_OFF]
gcode:
BEEP_POWEROFF
SET_PIN PIN=24V_power VALUE=0
SET_PIN PIN=12V_power VALUE=0
Included the extra bit because it might help a stranger, as the original question is simply answered by adding:
G4 P10000 # Give MCU time to wake up
directly after the power supply turns on, either after the macro in the slicer or in the macro as I did, and before any action from the MCU is requested. Note that this time can vary based on your MCU, and I refrained from tuning this further to prevent errors down the line.
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21213 | Why are flat sections printing rough?
This is not a duplicate of Ender 3 first print some area is smooth but some is rough? -- that question has vertical, curved surfaces that are rough. My vertical, curved surfaces are fine; it is horizontal flat surfaces that are rough.
Second, I apologize for the dust on the prints in the video. I've been trying approaches on this for a week and dust has collected since that time.
I have an Ender 3 Neo and am using 1.75 mm Comgrow PLA filament. I'm using Cura as my slicer.
My problem is that all of my prints are fine, except some (the larger) horizontally flat sections print sandpapery to the touch. The walls are fine and smooth. Curved sections (such as a rabbit) are fine and smooth -- it is only horizontal surfaces that have this problem, and then only the larger ones.
By rough, I mean there are visually distinctive diagonal lines (which are on all my prints, smooth or not, so I assume are normal), but dragging my finger over them is like dragging it over fine-grained sandpaper.
My tests consisted mostly of Incarna Tokens.stl -- this is the picture above. It's a mostly rectangular container to hold pieces for a board game, with a flat bottom that prints rough and walls.
What I've Tried:
Original prints were with the default settings for the "Creality Ender-3 / Ender 3-v2" at Cura's super quality (0.12 mm) and had the problem.
Releveling the bed. I did this several times, using this Creality Service tutorial video: lower nozzle to 0 mm, adjust Z-offset until I could feel it rub against the nozzle but could still push and pull the paper in any direction. I then turned off the motor and manually moved the extruder to each corner, where I repeated it while turning the corner dials to raise/lower that corner. Things actually got worse.
I then tried the method again, but instead of turning off the motor, I used the motor to move the extruder to each corner. I got different results for the corners, which I don't understand. But adjusting using this method got prints going fine again... except for the horizontal sections which were still rough.
I tried adjusting the Z-offset and reprinting just on the center (not adjusting the corners) up by 0.05 mm and 0.1 mm, which only succeeded in making the prints stringier, and down by -0.05 mm and -0.1 mm, which just made them worse. I took this as evidence that my leveling with the paper was correct (enough).
I tried printing at each of the corners. No change, all prints came out the same.
I removed the filament and cleaned the nozzle with the needle provided with the printer. The pin came out with some tiny black specks but nothing that said "clog." Prints afterward were no different.
I adjust settings in Cura. Based on various things I read, I lowered print speed from 50 mm/s to 40 mm/s, I changed the flow to 97 % and then 95 %, I changed line width from 0.4 mm to 0.3 mm, I changed bed temperature from 50 °F to 60 °F (nozzle temperature stayed at 200 °F), I lowered fan speed from 100 % to 50 %, and I did combinations of these things. None of these had a noticeable impact other than the print speed and line width making it take longer.
I turned on ironing in Cura. This worked, but only sort of: 2/3 of the horizontal surface did not have diagonal lines and was completely smooth, a strip around the edges (the ironing offset) had diagonal lines but was still smooth, but 1/3 of the print still had diagonal lines and remains rough. If the ironing completely worked it would solve my problem (I don't care about diagonal lines at the edges), but it only seems to be a 2/3 solution or so.
I adjusted ironing settings (following some page that I can't find anymore). I turned on monotonic ironing order, increased the line spacing from 0.1 mm to 0.2 mm, increased ironing flow from 10 % to 15 %, and increased ironing speed from 16.66 mm/s to 30 mm/s, then 50 mm/s, then 70 mm/s. None of these solved the problem that about a third of the print remained rough.
I measured the prints for X/Y dimensional accuracy. I don't have calipers or a precise tool, just a ruler and my eyeball, but they seemed fine. I also printed xyzCalibration_cube.stl -- a 20 mm cube -- to test the Z accuracy, which to my eyeball, is also fine. Vexingly, even back to entirely default settings / 0.12 mm print speed, the calibration cube is smooth on all sides, including the horizontal top, which still has the diagonal lines but feels smooth to the touch like I want.
I printed some other prints. The default rabbit print the Ender comes with (no horizontal flat surface, just curved surfaces) prints fine. Small horizontal surfaces (the cube, all of these Gloomhaven standee prints) print fine -- diagonal lines but smooth to the touch. Larger horizontal surfaces (like Dahan_Tray_thin.stl) continue to print rough. I checked the large surfaces to see if they start smooth in a corner and then get rough, but no, the roughness is consistent across the entire surface.
I theorize, but do not have any experience to back it up, that this happens because the larger flat area means more elapsed time between layers, but even if that's true I don't know how I would counteract it. Looking at the closeup pictures, it seems like the line ridges are raised, but then why doesn't it happen on smaller prints?
So I turn to you. How do I stop my large horizontal prints from being sandpapery?
You have used links that force a download (which some users may not like). Please [edit] the links to the page that the file is on so individual users can download it themselves if needed. It would help a lot if you were to include photos of your printed models so we can see what is happening.
@agarza Thanks for reading this. I have adjusted the links to the files pages instead of the direct downloads and added pictures. Hope this helps.
Many Ender3 printers have a curved surface. Leveling is not going to fix all problems here. That is why you might have difference in thickness. Only a mesh bed leveling sensor is going to help here.
It looks like while ironing, the head extrudes a little too much material in the process. That way the extra material oozes out through the sides. You say that you tried increasing from 10% to 20%, so I would try it with 3 or 0%.
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21290 | Longer LK4X Printer 3D touch sensor not contacting build plate on position 1
I was trying to manual-level my printbed when the 3D Touch sensor quit contacting the build plate,causing the nozzle to crash into the print bed,how do i fix this(like it should be at y0 but its at negative y (x=0,y=0 is frontleft on my printer)
No changes have been made to the printer or model
What is your question? There are only statements with very few details.
Oh! I want to know how to fix this issue. It is preventing me from leveling the plate,
Please [edit] your question to include any and all information that could help in finding a solution. What firmware are you using? Did you update the firmware? Make any changes to the printer. Without further information, the question could be closed for lack of details.
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21323 | First layer issue with new filament
My settings were fine but after switching to a new brand of PLA I seem to be getting issues with the first layer.
My previous filament had a print temp between 200 °C and 230 °C. My current settings have the first layer printing at 216 °C and then reducing to 202 °C for all the other layers. On the new filament, I see it has a printing temperature of 205 °C to 220 °C.
I am using the heatbed steel sheet by prusa3d.com that originally comes with the printer I have (prusa-i3 mk3). This heatbed attaches magnetically and has a smooth surface. I do also have a second heatbed, unopened, that originally came with the printer as well. This second one has a textured surface and is unused.
Considering the difference in the ranges of the filaments and my current settings, I suspect that the change I need to make would be to reduce the first layer's temperature and increase the temperature for all other layers. Does that seem correct? What else might I try?
It might be useful to know what kind of buildplate/bed you have. Please [edit] your question to include this information.
AFAIK, having a too-low temperature on the first layer is what causes adhesion problems; and it looks as though that is what you are experiencing.
I updated with your suggestions @agarza. I will try a higher temperature for the first layer.
I'm sorry, it's 60 °C for the bed. I also wipe with isopropyl alcohol before each print
So I changed a few things. I increased the first layer higher very slightly, increased the bed temp on first layer as you recommended, and also increased the print temp 3 degrees. These changes so far have had a positive effect on the first layer in the print I just started
This first print had lumps but it got past and had an otherwise reasonable quality at the end. Second print with no changes had almost zero lumps and a 9/10 finish
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21341 | How come certain parts of my model don't print?
I use Elegoo Cura.
The blade and other parts of my print do not get sliced, and I don't know how to fix it
This is what is meant to be printed:
And this is what the print looks like, with the holes inverted, handle gone and the entire blade gone:
Appreciate any help.
Cura is terrible. The option "Print Thin Walls", which is disabled by default for some reason, should help though.
@towe no? that's inverted surface error
The model has surfaces that are inverted. This is most notable with how the hole in the grip is turned into a cylinder, or the cutout in the blade being turned into a block.
To fix this, you need to fix the model.
I downloaded it from Cults3D and I have no idea how, I will try to find another model.
Bad model, as Trish says. Now onto how to fix it.
Install Blender and open it.
Go to Edit > Preferences > Add-ons.
Select the Mesh: 3D Toolbox plugin and install it.
Restart Blender.
Import your STL (File > Import > STL). Press N to bring up the sidebar if not already visible, find the 3D Print tab and select it, and open the Clean Up subsection.
Select your model in the main view (left-click it so it has an orange outline) and click Make Manifold.
The process may take a while, and Blender will be unresponsive throughout. After it completes, you'll see a message on the bottom: "Modified:" and some numbers of elements fixed. Repeat Make Manifold until "Modified:" shows only zeros.
Make sure the repaired mesh is selected (orange outline). Pick File > Export > STL, and make sure you check Selection only then save the fixed mesh.
As of now, this is the easiest, most comprehensive, and most successful auto-repair option for meshes. That's not to say it's extremely successful—if the mesh is a hot mess, it may not help, it may even make things worse. In that case, you're up for a manual repair—you may need to look into more advanced repair tips, like from CG Boost's YouTube video "How to Solve Common Sculpting Problems in Blender".
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21372 | Z-axis Calibration Fault in Prusa i3 MK3S
When I give the print command from Pronterface this how it's printing. The Z value is 10.00, can't solve the issue even after first layer calibration being carried out.
More details are required for a sensible answer.
The material is PLA. I have clearly put forward the necessary details if you are in want of further details, please specify the information you need.
Take a look at this answer to see what minimal details are required. Also, please [edit] and add any additional info to the question and not in the comments. Thanks.
... solve the issue event after... - Should that be ... solve the issue even after...??
Reading your question, it seems that the Prusa i3 mk3 (which I also have) is set up for z=0 to be the proper height.
I do not use pronterface, so I don't know what special failures it may be causing. If the Prusa is calibrated for z=0 to be at bed level, and the printer is printing at z=10, and shows z=10 on the UI, then it is likely that it is being programmed for z=10. The question is, why?
Because the printer is calibrated, and is reporting that Z=10 at the point of failure, I do not suspect a mechanical problem with the printer.
I have sliced objects that were not properly touching the bed, which has caused this kind of offset. Perhaps you could check that the object appears to be flat on the bed before you slice. I had one case where a very thin spike stuck out of the mesh and lifted the object up (in the virtual slicer space) so that only the spike touched the bed, and since the spike was so small, it generated no extrusions.
There may also be calibration functions of pronterface to allow for adjustment to printers that are not properly calibrated. Since I don't use pronterface, I don't know it, but I would suggest reviewing all the deep and hidden menues for something to tweek.
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21402 | Ender 3 - Prints above bed, but the purge/start line is perfect
I'm trying to print after letting the printer taking a break for a few months. Haven't touched anything, but it starts with the purge/start line and it looks good. When it tries to print my model the nozzle is 1 mm above the bed. Tried with both pla/petg, different Cura slicer configs (both default and CHEPs) but nothing makes any difference. Have anyone experience this?
Picture of the purge/start layer, looks ok:
This is when it starts printing the rest, you can see that the nozzle is a few milimeters above the bed:
I've tried level the bed (with the bed and nozzle heated) but does not help.
First 50 lines of G-code:
;FLAVOR:Marlin
;TIME:3655
;Filament used: 3.24955m
;Layer height: 0.28
;MINX:93.425
;MINY:80.447
;MINZ:0.28
;MAXX:141.575
;MAXY:154.549
;MAXZ:7
;Generated with Cura_SteamEngine 5.2.1
M140 S50
M105
M190 S50
M104 S200
M105
M109 S200
M82 ;absolute extrusion mode
; Ender 3 Custom Start G-code
G92 E0 ; Reset Extruder
G28 ; Home all axes
G1 Z2.0 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 Z2.0 F3000 ; Move Z Axis up little to prevent scratching of Heat Bed
G1 X5 Y20 Z0.3 F5000.0 ; Move over to prevent blob squish
G92 E0
G92 E0
G1 F2700 E-5
;LAYER_COUNT:25
;LAYER:0
M107
;MESH:Bodacious Lappi (2).stl
G0 F6000 X98.561 Y101.407 Z0.28
;TYPE:WALL-INNER
G1 F2700 E0
G1 F1073.8 X98.219 Y101.649 E0.0218
G1 F926.6 X96.942 Y101.649 E0.0988
G1 F848.1 X95.665 Y101.65 E0.18294
G1 F969.7 X95.231 Y101.371 E0.21267
G1 F1200 X95.065 Y101.043 E0.22979
G1 X95.065 Y95.95 E0.46694
G1 X95.231 Y95.534 E0.4878
G1 F1073.8 X95.596 Y95.255 E0.51171
G1 F924.9 X96.873 Y95.255 E0.58886
G1 F846.6 X98.15 Y95.256 E0.67315
G1 F969.7 X98.557 Y95.495 E0.70034
Weird. The initial line is extruded at Z=0.3 while the first layer starts on Z=0.28 and the only non-motion things that happen is switching the blower off, and messing with extrusion parameters. I really can't tell what is wrong, but it's definitely none of the trivial stuff. ...Put M90 before M82 in the startup G-code. Not sure if it will help, but worth a try.
The default purge line is supposed to be thick. So thick that it's actually problematic for some materials. Thus, it's possible for it to come out "thin but adhering to the bed just fine" if your distance from the nozzle to the bed is significantly too high. You probably just need to adjust your bed height.
Don't know if you fixed it yet but this happened to me today. There's an eccentric nut on the right. Tighten it so it doesn't wobble but not so tight that it doesn't move.
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21415 | What factors go into pushing the first layer speeds of an FDM print?
When searching for "how to increase first layer speed" and "how can I get faster first layers", the only results I get from both Google and DuckDuckGo are articles talking about printer basics.
You know the type: "make sure your bed is levelled, make sure your bed is cleaned, print the first layer slower", the articles aimed at beginners that are trying to get a print to finish.
I'm instead looking to increase the first layer speed, as I have seen several CoreXY machines being able to print the first layer at speeds clearly higher than 30mm/s.
I have a Sovol SV06 with the SV06+ hotend. So not a CoreXY... Are the faster first layers intrinsic to CoreXY? Or are there steps I can take on my SV06 to have better bed adhesion for faster first layers?
EDIT
Here's an example of what I'm talking about. A functional print being created on top of a first layer that was placed down so quickly.
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21448 | Cylinders have an inconsistent diameter
I'm using the new Elegoo Neptune 4 Pro printer. I have the issue with both Cura and PrusaSlicer alike (I'm a Cura user).
The issue is simple, instead of printing a perfect circle, the final print will have a diameter range of around 0.3 mm. For example, if I print a 15 mm diameter cylinder, the longest diameter will be 15 mm but the shortest will be 14.7 mm.
I measured these with my caliper and I simply turned the cylinder around in the calipers; the cylinder will push up against the calipers as it reaches the thickest part of the cylinder and then come down as it goes to the thinner part.
It's not visible to the eye; it looks like a very nice and perfectly round cylinder. But I can feel it with the calipers. The height is dead on 25 mm as designed.
However, I don't get this result from the holes inside that same print. The holes are perfect circles and measure the same diameter roughly no matter what angle I measure them (at least I believe so, measuring the holes can be a bit tougher).
Calipers are accurate and go to two decimal places for mm.
I've tried:
Tightening up the belts (a lot - caused the deviation to go from 14.7-15 mm to 14.53-14.8 mm, still roughly a 0.2-0.3 mm difference)
Bed leveling
Vase Mode
Arc Welder (even though it technically shouldn't do anything)
Axes calibration
I remeasured and found that the thickest part of every cylinder is not directly on the Y-axis, instead, it's diagonal. The bottom right and top left of the cylinder is the thickest portion while every other angle is roughly the same.
I found the same was true for the cube I made. Measuring from the bottom right to the top left resulted in 26 mm, but the bottom left to top right resulted in 25.67 mm.
Calibrated the the Y-axis (the only one that was off), issue persists. Again, this 0.3 mm deviation exists in the cubes printed as well, and always diagonally. Bottom Right to Top Left is always about 0.3 mm larger than Bottom Left to Top Right. Looked at an old calibration cube I made with my Ender 3V2 previously and the same measurements were only off by about 0.03 mm.
This is very strange, I think I may simply return this printer for a replacement.. I have no idea where to begin investigating this issue.
I took some measurements. I found that the right and left sides of the printer (which are separate pieces of aluminum) were roughly 0.2-0.3mm in difference from their distance to the aluminum center piece.
Now, without taking the entire printer apart, I can't say for certain that this measurement even matters, its possible that things aren't attached the way they seem from the outside.
However, the measurement perfectly aligns with the error margin on the prints. It also correlates to the X/Y axis misalignment, as the measurement indicates the bed X-Axis is slightly tiled up on the right side by 0.2-0.3 mm. Had it indicated it was tilted up on the left side, the print errors wouldn't have made sense as the diameter would have increased/decreased on the wrong diagonals.
They agreed to a replacement after I sent pictures of the inconsistent diameter and measurements on the printer itself. I will update on if the issue is gone on the new printer once I have it.
Have you calibrated both X and Y axes?
@agarza I heard the axes did not need to be calibrated. But after a few more tests, I believe I should. I'll try it and get back.
If you are just looking to print things that don't require precision alignment then no, calibrating the axes is not required. But you would be better off calibrating for better-quality prints.
@agarza Well, I finished calibrating and the issue remains. There's about a 0.2-0.3mm variance in the smallest and largest diameter measured on a single cylinder.
Is your hotend properly tight on its carrier plate and the plate on its axis? I.e., if you try jiggling the nozzle, does it move at all?
@towe Everything is nice and tight from the factory. Bed doesn't wiggle, hot end is firm. Also made sure the motors didn't have wiggle to them, everything was nice and solid.
If you print a larger circle - as large as your bed -, does the error stay the same (i.e. 0.3mm) or does it scale alongside the print?
The only other thing causing symptoms like that should be a slightly misaligned X vs. Y axis (them not being at exactly 90° to each other). You can try printing a "+" or "□" shape and measuring the corners to check that.
@towe Good idea, I'll try that and also check that the stand is properly aligned to the printer.
@towe I removed then reinstalled the top portion (holding the X-Axis gantry) while making sure to keep them level and the variance decreased to 0.21mm from the previous 0.3mm, showing that may very well be the problem. I also looked over the facts, and a slightly tilted X-Axis is the best explanation for these diagonal issues. I'll reinstall again later, but it's possible the holes were drilled just every so slightly wrong and is a factory defect, as it shouldnt be possible to misalign it during assembly.
Remember this isn't accurate CNC! Small variations in the 0.2/0.3 mm range are very common, there are many uncertain parameters in the positioning and extrusion (even change in filament diameter may be of influence). As already stated, whether this error is consitently scaling with the diameter of the print (hinting to changing the steps per mm) or a printing variance should be easily found by printing a larger object. you can look into skew compensation which is a default feature in Marlin firmware. Print https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2563185 and measure diagonals.
@0scar I don't expect CNC accuracy, but this thing can't print a circle. My Ender 3V2 never had this problem. 0.2-0.3mm variations are due to plastic expansion/contraction, which is common in printing holes. But this is very different, my last Ender 3V2 printed circles and squares without randomly oscillating diameters.
3D print circles from STL data are not actual circles, they are n-gons, and as such have, with low resolution, at times massive differences between the flat-flat and peak-peak measurements.
@Trish The issue appears in all prints. I also make sure to have lots of vertices to get the smoothest cylinder possible from my print.
It's all but confirmed that the printer was defective. I got a new printer and loaded up the sample G-code it comes with, but the bed's belt snapped 10 minutes into the print (it was only finger-tight). This makes two Neptune 4 Pro printers in a row I've received with defects.
I can only imagine that their quality control is terrible or I have terrible luck. They're also not replying to my emails for the next week due to a week-long holiday. This is an entire month wasted on defective printers.
After some shenanigans, I got a new belt on it. The belt didn't snap as I thought, instead, the metal that was crimped on it failed to hold the belt and it slipped out. This was when I noticed that the Z-axis movement was very noisy. To my surprise, I find that the lead screws were entirely unlubricated.
I printed new cylinders/cubes. The measurements are inconclusive, which probably means the machine is fine. On a 15 mm cylinder I found nearly a 0.2 mm variance, diagonally. This time, the bottom left to the top right (opposite of the last printer). A 30 mm cylinder showed a definite 0.4 mm variance on the same diagonal.
I tried readjusting the X-axis, but nothing changed. I pulled out a cylinder that my old Ender 3v2 printed (25 mm diameter), the variance was <0.1 mm, a perfect circle (ignoring the Z-seam).
This printer has not been worth the time spent on it, let alone the hassle. What a shame. The printer is fast and has beautiful quality prints otherwise. But it's worthless if they can't properly align the axes at the factory.
Take a builder/carpenter/machinist square to your machine frame and double check the bed rail (y axis) is perpendicular to the gantry (x axis). The only way I can think of for this sort of distortion is if they aren't actually perpendicular and your prints are skewed diagonally.
Thank you. I believe that the x and y axes are indeed not perfectly perpendicular. I've been speaking with support for over a week now.. But once I have a new machine, I will update on if I have the same issues with the new one.
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21740 | How to add a multi-color flush logo to a flat surface?
I've been banging my head against the desk for two days so it's time to ask for help. This is the second thing I've ever tried to design in Fusion 360, so very much a newbie.
I'm trying to make some coasters for my dad for Christmas. What I've done.
Created a sketch
Created a square
Added some fillets
Extruded
Right-clicked on the top surface and created a sketch
Imported SVG of logo and positioned it
Extruded the stuff on the logo that should be white by -0.4 mm into a new body
Extruded the stuff on the logo that should be red by -0.4 mm into a new body
This is what it looks like in F360.
I now export to STL and open in OrcaSlicer. First problem I notice is that not all the bodies that were created are paintable. For example, I can pain "NEW YO" but the "R" and "K" just don't show up. Second problem is that this is what my first three layers look like (sliced at 0.20 mm). I'm assuming my error is on the F360 side but I just don't understand what it is. I've watched several videos on YT about doing this, but they usually are doing a single color and are either embossing or debossing it. I want it flat.
After that it goes to infill and the rest looks fine.
Welcome Graig. I suggest using a question for a title. For example, 'How to add a multi-color flush logo to a flat surface?' or anything that describes your main question better.
I always print upside down in such cases, you can print the colors first, an then the rest of the coaster or casing, see e.g. this card box. If you look closely to the STL of the logo, you see them stitched with a very thin layer to connect all the parts. Reading your question I don't quite grasp the problem. If it is either STL generating of slicer related problems. How do the stl's look in an STL viewer? Please add images.
Try extruding the to-be-colored parts 0.01mm above the surface too. This smells to me like Z-fighting, two different surfaces at same height, floating point error (essentially randomness) decides which will be on top.
Do two extrusions in F360.
The first will be a 'cut' into the coaster. This removes the volume from the the coaster that will be your lettering and graphics from your stencil.
The second will use the same profile and depth. Except this time it will be a 'new body.' This will fill the volume that was removed in the first operation.
Looking at 'Bodies' in your F360 expandable tree in the upper left corner, your coaster should be one. Every letter and graphic that is isolated and not touching another letter or graphic should be another body after the last extrusion.
If you have a dual extrusion printer the coaster can be one extruder. All other objects can be the other extruder.
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21458 | Is there a filament that exhibits less deformation than PETG (when subjected to stress for a particular application)?
I've printed a "clamp" in PETG which locks a power switch down (the "On" position). After a few days, the print is not working anymore. So I was wondering if PLA (or any filament) would be able to stay in place without deformations due to stress.
Hi, welcome to 3DPrinting.SE! Please visit [help] and take the [tour]! It's important to recognize that queries about "the best" often invite subjective responses, as they are inherently debatable and can draw opinions rather than factual answers. A more objective approach might be to reframe the question: "Is there a filament that exhibits less deformation than PETG (when subjected to stress for a particular application)?" For a comprehensive response, it would be beneficial to provide details regarding the exact clamping stress/print you're considering.
Hi, thanks for the explanations but I'm not asking which filament is better. My question is which filament is least prone to deformation if put under stress at room temperature. I'll edit my question.
This would be a design flaw rather than the wrong filament choice.
@Kilisi That sounds like the start of an answer! ld be great if the question had more details on the design.
@Kilisi yeah probably, I’ll post more details on the part when I have time. Thanks to both of you
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21494 | Prusa i3 MK2 thermistor connector reference
I think my heat bed thermistor is broken (infinite resistance measured) on my Prusa MK2, so I bought a new one, and I'd like to know which connector I shall use. Where can I find the references of this connector, please ?
Regards,
A better, in-focus, photo might be required
Those are JST SYP 2 pins female.
Please don't forget to mark your answer as the accepted answer, although you may have to wait 48 hours.
The thermistor is just a resistor. Polarity doesn't matter. Connect it wherever the old one was connected. Typically it connects to a pair of male pins on a RAMPS board, so a 2-pin female connector with standard 2.54 mm (0.1") pin spacing is called for, unless your printer uses a different board.
For a visual reference, look at the extruder RTD connection on your printer.
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21507 | Ender 3 printer won't auto home
After building my Ender 3 printer, installing the CR touch auto bed leveling kit, and the Ender-3 Marlin2.0.6 CR-Touch or BLTouch firmware for it. I turned it on and tried to auto home but it just made a little noise and then displayed "Homing failed printer halted please restart". So I tested the end stops with a multimeter and they all seemed fine. I did some research and found the CR touch firmware could be the problem and installed some newer firmware (Ender-3Marlin2.0.6HW4.2.2GD) and nothing has changed. What should I do?
The reason I was having this problem was because of a file I had extracted that was on the sd card.
I noticed an orange dot at the end of the extracted file, so I thought it was probably flashing and interfering with the firmware. After I deleted the extracted file and flashed the firmware it ran perfectly.
Where was the "orange dot", and how did you see it? Was it in the filename, or inside the file when viewed with.text editor, or did you see it in some other manner?
Also, please don't forget to mark your answer as the "accepted answer" (you may have to wait up to 48 hours). Thanks.
This answer doesn't make much sense to me. You got it homing, but not working with the CR Touch? Shouldn't that be the crux of the question, i.e. getting it to home with the leveling sensor?
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21511 | How to approximately change the density at a specific point in G-code
So let’s say I have the G-code file for 3D printing a cube, and I have a density function F(x,y,z). How would I change, in G-code, the density at each specific point in the cube, so it has the general distribution of the function?
I’m thinking of just changing the extrusion rate proportional to the density, but I would like something more accurate.
Could you please explain how a change in density relates to 3D printing?
I apologize. I meant, if I wanted to 3D print, in GCode, a cube of a specified length which has a density distribution described some function F(x,,y,z)
Why do you want to do that? And what is the density? Is this related to the infill or the actual density? A G-code is sliced geometry containing the information of the selected options during slicing, if you change the extrusion modifier, your geometry will also change if applied to the walls.
@0scar, I mean the actual density. I want the density of the cube to vary according to the function. I just thought it would be a fun project. Are you saying that if I change the density at the walls, I will have to change the shape of the cube?
If you change the extrusion modifier, the lines get wider, so you need to apply this to the infill only, otherwise you'll get a distorted print object.
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191 | What criteria do I need to be aware of when buying a 3D printer for personal use?
I'm interested in designing & 3D printing as a hobby (e.g. printing chess sets, small toys for family etc.)
Conducting a Google search has brought up a range of small, cheap printers, but beyond that I don't know how to differentiate them.
E.g. selling points include:
"liquid light-sensitive resin"
"partially assembled" with "very few parts and minor configuration"
"Wi-Fi enabled"
My question is, which features are going to benefit a small-scale, new enthusiast to 3D printing?
PS. The software I intend to use is Windows 10 3D design
PPS. I'm not a graphic designer by any means, just a new enthusiast.
I am not sure that this is a good question. Perhaps you should ask about the significance of a specific feature rather than requesting a list of all possible options?
I was in your shoes a few years back, and I strongly recommend against buying a 3D printer as a completely new enthusiast. If possible, I would suggest joining a FabLab near you to give it a try on a rented machine before buying.
When I started researching what machine to buy, I tried to absorb as much information as possible... Luckily here in London, we have iMakr, and they run free weekly courses and information sessions. If you are not near enough to London or NY, try hooking up on 3DHubs.com, they have a really helpful forum.
Thanks @SilverQuettier for mentioning FabLabs. I hadn't heard of them before (well, as a new enthusiast I haven't heard of much yet...), but there are some near to me (Leeds, UK)
First Questions you need to answer are:
Fused plastic filament extrusion or Cured Resin?
Fused plastic is easier and cheaper to start with. Resin is slower and more expensive...
What size things do you want to make.
Most medium size printers will print something the size of a shoe. For small things and parts that fit together, this will be ok.
If you want to print full masks or lampshades in single pieces, you will need larger. (larger = more expensive).
Budget.
This will help with the question of kit version over complete machine.
Checkout imakr.com for prices in UK and US.
First off, decide on the price range of your printer, then build space and specifications but also more importantly if the printer is UI friendly.
Here are few things to consider from my point of view
Printing technology
The first thing that you need to take into account is printing technology. The most common[citation needed] right now is Fused Filament Fabrication. "Liquid light-sensitive resin" is being used in Stereolitography and Digital Light Processing - the SLA printers I found are less common and more expensive than FFF ones.
Price
Need to decide on budget. You can buy printer for 60k USD and 400 USD. Quality is somehow linked to price but that's not a rule. You can buy a shitty printer for a lot of money.
Printing area
Bigger allows you to print bigger things. You need to ask yourself how big things you really want to print. Remember that 3d printing is quite slow process - how often you will want to print big things that will take 60hrs+ to finish?
Printing materials
What kind of materials you want to print with? Some materials will need higher temperatures so check the max hot-end temperature, some will require heated bed.
Assembled or DIY kit
You can usually get kits for self-assembly cheaper than Ready-To-Print machines. However, it will require additional skills (i.e. soldering), tools and time to assemble. I am not sure if I would buy DIY kit for commercial use, but as an enthusiast I immensely enjoyed putting my Rostock Max together.
Reviews and reputation
It is generally safe to buy printer that already has some users. Beware of new magical Kickstarter printers which will "change the 3d printing forever".
Reddit /r/3dprinting suggests that your new printer should meet 3 criteria:
Printer passes the youtube test - has lots of youtube evidence that this particular printer is working.
Printer is out of the pre-order phase. This means that all pre-orders have been delivered.
Printer has a reputation of working well among current users.
I found it to be a very good set of rules.
Upgrade capabilities
That's very user-dependent, but this point is very important to me. I want to be able to change and improve certain parts of my printer. Check if you can switch the extruder, replace the hot-end etc.
Support
I think one of the most important points. See if you can find a forum for your printer and how active community is. It will be immensely helpful if something goes wrong (and it will).
Also, company support is very important. What will happen if you need a replacement part or your printer will stop working altogether?
This list is definitely not complete.
There are many more things that might be taken into account like configuration (delta or XY), multiple extruders, closed cases etc.
I think the list of masteusz is a good one but before you can decide on what you need you have to get a better understanding of how 3D printing works, like Silver Quettier said. Please be aware that printing a object is yet not as easy as printing on paper. The machines that print 3D are more like industrial machines than that they are like your inkjet printer at home.
For the curious beginner I would suggest to first concentrate on modelling and printing technique.
Modeling
You can of course download things from ThingyVerse or YouMagine but you might be more interested in making things than printing them. I don't know Windows 10 3D design. I personally find Sketchup Modeling software a good entry-point because they have a large set of video tutorials and while you learn you can add more complicated extensions to the program. There are also extensions that help you make your model 'watertight' and 'ready for print'.
Of course you can find heaps of tutorials on Youtube for other modeling software like freeCAD or Fusion but you might find it a bit overwhelming.
Printing
As suggested in the comments, you could start with letting your objects print by others. It's worth to set aside a small budget for that.
They easiest to design for is SLS printing. You don't have to worry about overhangs etc. Buying a SLS printer is not an option but you can have it print at multiple printingfarms like Shapeways.
You soon enough find out that making a print 'light' and hollow will save a lot of cash. Shapeways will tell you if there is anything wrong with your design too.
A bit harder is FDM printing where layers of threads are stacked. Because overhangs need support, most of the time extra plastic is printed that has to be removed later. Plastic is not expensive and insides can be printed hollow, so cost is not so much a thing you have to worry about when designing.
On 3Dhubs you can find experienced people who own a printer and want to print for you. They can tell you what is printable and what not. If you have a hub near you this is a good option to get familiar with the technique.
If you did that a couple of times you can decide to go to a fablab or makerspace where you lent/rent a printer. Make yourself familiar with slicing software like Cura before you go. There are many settings like for filling the space in the object and for making support for parts that 'hang in the air'.
When you buy a printer you probably print mostly with PLA and ABS and all printers can print that.
Even when you own a printer you might sometimes want to print a part at Shapeways because of the material options or to make something that is impossible to print.
3DHubs gives you the possibility to experiment with a large range of printer and materials. Print quality though is often influenced by the experience level of the person printing it so don't deside what printer to buy on these results. 3DHubs has a good printer-guide.
On the other hand, having a printer yourself makes it a lot easier and more fun to print objects you have downloaded. Also, making something, seeing the result and then adjusting it, is a more organic way to learn and create designs.
Welcome to 3D printing ;)
The number one most important thing about a 3-d printer is the Extruder/PrintHead component. If these are buggy, the printer is worthless. Seems like most printers are pretty good with everything else. The place that they die is in the Extruder/Print Head assembly.
The second most important thing is quality of the plastic parts. One nice thing about that is you can usually reprint the plastic parts by going to thingiverse.com and downloading them.
So, I'm on my 2nd printer. I returned the first one to amazon and may very well return the second one. It is a frustrating game. On thing I notice is that VERY FEW printers have a LOT of ratings. Some might have 4 stars, but only 8 votes... The latest one I have had 200+ votes but a 3.5 rating. If you have 200+ votes and anything below 4.2, you've got an inconsistent and potentially crappy product.
So, to sum up, Get details on the extruder. Does it cool properly, is the design such that the filament is properly driven and pushed? Is the hot head the only hot part, or is the tube getting heated too. Does the extruder throat near the hot head have a Teflon tube inside it?
Read the ratings on Amazon, read the bad reviews and then look at the pictures of the product to verify them.
Best of luck.. I'm about to return #2 printer and perhaps part out #3. Not quite sure yet..
One of the biggest questions you should ask yourself is: What is your end goal?
Is it to get your printer and immediately print something (pre-assembled).
Is it to learn about 3d printing by constructing a kit, encountering all kinds of potential issues getting it working, then once it is working getting everything all dialed in and then getting good prints.
The 2nd option requires less initial investment but may take considerable time and frustration. (I did this 6 months ago)
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637 | Why won't makerbot accept an STL file from Blender?
Our library system just put a 3D printer in one of the branches. I have used SketchUp on the library computers for a number of years just to do artsy things. Suddenly, I have the opportunity to actually print something. (I'm really not sure why the libraries have SketchUp installed. But, I have enjoyed using it.)
There is a plug-in available for SketchUp so that it can export STL files. But, the security on the library computers will not allow me to put a file into the SketchUp plug-ins folder. And, the tech guy at the library doesn't think that the IT guys at the library will update all the copies of SketchUp at all the branches just so someone could do 3D printing.
After doing some searching on this website, I found out that I could export a COLLADA / dae file from SketchUp. I would then import that dae file into Blender (The portable version on my flash drive). I could then export it as an STL file.
The process appeared to work. I could see my test object in Blender.
I gave the STL file to the branch manager who tried to open it in the Makerbot software so that it could be sent to the printer. But, it gave him a message about the file not being recognized.
I am not familiar with all the details in the importing and exporting processes that are going on. Is there someone out there that can give me some help?
One problem is that, I am using the library computers. I cannot alter them. I can use what portable versions of software are out there, like Blender.
Have you tried installing SketchUp on your flashdrive? There is a free version available
If you are able to, can you post a download link for the stl file?
If they are going to offer 3d printing capability, it seems like there would be a convincing argument for having at least one of their public computers configured to export to it. Perhaps the one physically closest to the printer or the office of whoever accepts files?
Here is what I suggest you try. If you have a file that you can view/edit in blender I would export it as both STL and OBJ formats. Then take those files and upload them to Netfabb (https://netfabb.azurewebsites.net/) and get a "repaired" file. Have the library try again with the repaired STL and OBJ files. If this doesn't work try to get the exact error message/dialog that the makerbot software is giving them as well as the version of the software that they are using.
We tried your suggstion.:MakerBot error message reads "This file could not be loaded. It may be an unsupported file format."
Netfabb error message reads
""Failed could not load mesh. (invalid .STL file)"
Okay that indicates that it is almost certainly an issue related to the translation of the file. Did you try with an OBJ file as well? I made a quick box in SketchUp, imported into Blender, Exported the STL and then when I imported it into Netfabb, I got the same error. I tried the same process and when I exported an OBJ it was accepted by Netfabb. Try this and let me know what you find.
Sounds like Blender's STL output has issues?
@RyanCarlyle I think it may have something to do with the Sketchup -> DAE - > Blender - > STL workflow. I have great success exporting STL files from modified OBJ/STL as well as native blender formats. It just seems like this is one of those weird combination of things that doesn't seem to work right.
It's strange, because an STL is pretty much just a list of triangle vertices with minimal metadata or encoding, and Makerware/Desktop is usually pretty tolerant of typical mesh issues like flipped normals. (It will load them, anyway.) Is blender outputting a binary or ascii STL? Maybe ascii would work if that's not already what it's using?
@RyanCarlyle You are right. I went ahead and went through the above process and when I exported my STL from Blender I selected Ascii and it succeeded in Netfabb. I can't test it in Makerware but I can only assume it would behave similarly. It still doesn't quite make sense that a binary STL works when it is created from a Blender file but not from a DAE. A real head scratcher... At least we have a solution for those that have a slicer that can't handle OBJ files.
OK - So, I had to leave and come back. Thanks for all the comments. No. I did not try an OBJ file. But, as soon as I was driving off I realized that there was some message about the file being too small when we tried to use the MS netfabb website. So, a little light went on in my head. When I returned, I opened the Blender file and scaled it up in two new files. I was able to fix them with netfabb. So, I will now give the files to the tech guy in the library. It is my unfamiliarity with Blender that caused this. I have only dabbled with it, unlike SketchUp. I will let you know what happens.
Thanks to all. The tech guy in the library was able to open the STL file with the scaled-up Blender objects with makerbot. It was still tiny when it was opened. But, he was able to scale up the object more and set the exact dimensions in makerbot. So, even though this is a long process, it seems to work. We didn't print the object. It was just a test file to get the process working.
Makerbot will accept obj files also.
Is there an error while importing the obj file?
Also you can see errors of your imported file in your makerbot
It will be marked in black.
Please make sure your object is a watertight mesh. As I have seen its easy to make a surface model in sketchup. A 3D Printer cannot print something in surface.
You can also try importing to netfabb to check if the part has errors in it.
If you want a better modeling software, I suggest you to check out OnShape.
Its a cloud based cad software. Its free as well. (10 private files, beyond that everything is public. 100$ per month i think)
www.onshape.com
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709 | Print sketchup files (STL) on makerbot
One of the local libraries has a new small Makerbot 3D printer. I have been submitting Sketchup files converted to STL files for printing.
The tech guy who runs the printer for patrons is having trouble getting a project of mine to come out to be the right size. I need this item go be 2 inches wide. The tech guy sizes the item on the screen to 2 inches. I watched him do it. But, the item is printed with a base of 2 inches, and the item itself comes out smaller.
Does anyone have suggestions about this? I can get more info if someone can give me the right questions to ask. The tech is open to taking suggestions. He wants to get the printer running smoothly for patrons.
I submitted a file with my own base with supports made in Sketchup. But, the tech guy said he needs to set the printer to create it's own base and supports.
Additional info:
When I printed it by letting Makerbot create the base and supports, it came out to be 1 3/4" as shown here:
https://flic.kr/p/EashnD
Printer: Makerbot Replicator with Smart Extruder (not Plus).
(I am now at the library with the technician.)
Here is a screenshot of what I am trying to print. It is a replacement clip for a messenger bag. So, it has to be 2 inches across.
https://flic.kr/p/EtdM6s
Here is the printer:
https://flic.kr/p/E5F1M6
I used a website to convert the DAE file exported from Sketchup to an STL file. It was GreenToken.com.
If I open the object's STL file in Tinkercad, the object appears two inches wide. And, if I open the file in one of the 3D printer websites in Tinkercad, the object appears two inches wide (in cm).
The security on the library's computers do not allow me to apply plug-ins to Sketchup. The library's Tech staff is going to eventually put the plug-in in there.
If it is resized to 2 inches wide in the MakerBot software to be sent to the printer, why is it printing the generated base 2 inches wide and not the object? Are there some settings the tech guy in the library is missing in this set up window?
Additional notes:
The library now has the latest version of SketchUp on Macs. They are working on installing the STL plugin. (Security issues)
My process for producing an STL file to print is now this:
I create something in SU and export it as a DAE file.
I have found that meshconverter.com produces better STL files than greentoken.
I then upload/fix the STL file at the netFabb website.
I then import the STL file into TinkerCad to view it. If there are problems in the file, I can see them. And, I run it through netFabb again. I can also modify the file in TinkerCad. It is no where near as sophisticated as SketchUp. But, it doesn't claim to be.
I have found that there is a way to export the STL file to 3D printer hubs through TinkerCad. You can see the prices, the material available and the location of the company/person doing the printing. You can contact the printer ahead of time and they can look at your file to give you advice.
Update
I just wanted to add that the netFabb website does not export STL files after it fixes them. It now gives you a 3MF file format when you upload an STL file. I am not sure why this happens. But, this has put a big wrench in my process. I can no longer fix SketchUp STL files with netFabb. When I bring them into TinkerCad, I see errors in the object. It seems like there are issues with complex curves.
How far off are the dimensions? Which Makerbot printer is this?
Also, can you upload a render of your model?
What are you using to do the export to STL
I use this with great success https://github.com/SketchUp/sketchup-stl
I'd second KevinMorse 's suggestion with using the Sketchup-STL pluggin. I've used it for years now with a MakerBot Replicator (1st gen). The trick with sketchup is making sure the right units are output. The pluggin mentioned above allows you to specify the units regardless of the SketchUp template. When you export using this pluggin, select the output in metric millimeters to have everything jive with MakerWare/MakerBot Desktop (MakerBot's slicing engine). Let us know if this helps.
tbm0115 and Kevin: Thank you very much for this. As things develop, I will add to this post.
@TwoJuncos Have you been able to resolve your issue or are you still looking for more help?
tbrn0115: Thanks. The library now has the latest version of SketchUp on Macs. They are going to install the STL plugin, too. I have found a better converter website: meshconverter.com. It seems to produce better STL files than greentoken. I use the netFabb cloud software to cleanup/fix my STL files. Sometimes, when I import an STL file (from SU) into TinkerCad, I can see that some areas are messed up. netFabb fixes them.
tbm0115 You can look at some things I have created here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/ken-a/ The orange hinge was created completely in SU and run through meshconverter.com and netFabb. The red woodpecker/tree profile was made in Inkscape, imported into TinkerCad (SVG file) where I added the base and rings made in SU. The yellow cup with leaves was completely done in SU. Unfortunately, it is too tall for the printer. The library is working on printing the red woodpecker.
tbm0115: Note: The red woodpecker profile/pencil holder has been giving the library's printer a problem. The base created by the printer keeps separating from the base of the object at the start of the print. From looking online, the tech guy found that the glass plate needs some type of sticky material to keep the object in place. He read that hair spray might solve that issue.
Note on the clip for the messenger bag: I found that the plastic used by the printer is not strong enough for the prongs on the clip. The tips of the prongs keep breaking off even though I have modified the design several times. The plastic is too brittle. I have found some online 3D printing websites through TinkerCad that use more flexible plastic.
When exporting from SketchUp you have options for what units you want to export the STL as. Pronterface and Slic3r use millimetres so for these you should export as millimetres.
You can run into issues when designing a part in inches and then pulling it into printer software which might be expecting millimetres. In this case you may have to scale the part by 25.4 in all three axes.
As an example, if you have a 1" test cube and you export it as mm the STL will have six faces that look like this
facet normal -1.0 0.0 0.0
outer loop
vertex 0.0 25.4 25.4
vertex 0.0 0.0 0.0
vertex 0.0 0.0 25.4
endloop
endfacet
You can see there are no units anywhere. If you import this into a program that is expecting inches you will get a test cube that is 25.4 inches cubed. Scaling by 25.4 can fix this OR you can just tell SketchUp to export as inches.
It appears that you have scaled the object after the raft and supports were added. As you can see in your photo of the raft, the clip is approximately 7/8ths (1.75/2) the size of the raft.
Edit: As a side note, STL files don't actually have a concept of units. Each axis is defined in arbitrary units. That's why when you export and import it you have to set the scale appropriately.
ArkTekniK; Thanks. I can tell you that the tech guy at the library opened the file in the Makerbot software, selected the object, brought up a menu that allowed him to size it by entering numbers and selecting either mm or cm. He then added the raft and supports somehow when I wasn't there.
I´m using sketchup 8 and I had the same error under makerbot, and some times with slic3r. After testing some programs to fix mesh I realize that some faces are inverted on STL file, so this can be detected on preview under pronterface, or simplify3D. before sending to print is needed to check this point; not all STL from a repository is working or is with the right size. If you detect a GRAY surface is time to invert that face to get que correct fill.
My advice is to use a micrometer (i.e., sliding dial caliper) accurate to within .001" and measure the printed object. If it is 1 7/8" for example, you would open the STL file in Makerbot software and use their scaling tool to scale the object to 1.0666666...., which is what you get when you divide the desired size (2") by the actual printed size (1.875").
I have found that it is much simpler to do that than to reinvent the wheel and try to figure out what each software engineer was thinking on each program and each conversion process and try to make it work right every time. Chances are that the same conversion factor might work right for any file originating from the same source and going through the same conversion software package. Also,
3D printers in general don't like edges that aren't completely "welded", or continuous seams. With Sketchup if you keep zooming in on an edge you almost always get seams that are stitched at intervals determined by Sketchup algorithms. They are "unwelded" seams. Some 3D printers can handle them. Many don't. I have used various 3D software packages, including Sketchup, and the best one so far has been Rhinoceros 3D. It handles multiple complex curvaceous planes and can radius adjoining curved edges and can "weld" them. Aeronautical and boat building companies use it for CAD/CAM applications.
...
The STL file converter you mentioned is probably taking the Sketchup file and "cleaning it up" so Makerbot likes it. You would almost have to know exactly what algorithms each developer uses. to try and 'fix' it mathematically
Like I said, do your own measuring and scale accordingly.
BTW, it's better in my opinion to let Makerbot do the rafts and supports. Their engineers typically do a pretty good job. Where I have had issues is on things with a shallow angle (almost horizontal) hanging out into empty space. If you can re-orient the object in the makerbot software so those types of angles are minimized, the print is alot cleaner.
Makerbot automatically puts in rafts, and supports at preset intervals so the plastic won't sag. You can override Makerbot automatic settings, but I don't recommend it until you've printed dozens, or even hundreds of objects. If you're not confident that you know more than the designer of the Makerbot printer, leave the rafts and supports up to the engineers. The Library tech aide doesn't have the skillset to change the raft and support presets. I have messed with them and ended up with piles of stringy plastic on the rafts. I have had some success, but Makerbot algorithms are superior.
A "sliding dial caliper" is not a micrometer.
Not true, technically. All micrometers fall in the family of 'calipers' https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/micrometer .Most dial, digital and verniers are technically "not" micrometers, because a "micrometer" is one millionth of a meter.
For the purposes of this thread, any relatively inexpensive caliper, either digital, dial or vernier (including the barrel and "C" clamp style micrometer), would be more than sufficient to get the accuracy desired.
Not endorsing these products. These are inferior quality and wouldn't work in most machine shops, but for this thread, any of these would work if used and taken care of properly:
https://www.harborfreight.com/catalogsearch/result/index/?dir=asc&order=EAScore%2Cf%2CEAFeatured+Weight%2Cf%2CSale+Rank%2Cf&q=digital+caliper
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988 | Bronze Filament Problem
I made a torus that was 1 on the x and y axes, and 3 on the z axis in Blender. It is supposed to be a bead for a beaded necklace. It was exported to Cura as an .stl, then printed on a Lulzbot Mini. It worked fine in plastic, but when we tried it with bronze filament the nozzle clogged and it didn't start printing.
Is there something I need to add to the model that will provide instructions for the printer? The person who operates the printer says that most, but not all, of the models he prints in bronze have a border around them when they print, and this one didn't. I don't know if that makes a difference.
Since we do not know more about the printer and its settings it is most likely that the issues lies within the printer and the temperature/print speed settings. Fill materials do print differently than just colored plastic of the same type. Find valid print parameters for the type of filament that you can modify as needed for the printer that is being used (a good first gauge are the offsets the printer has for other type of filaments (thermistors might be offset for example) added to the 'literature values' of the new filament).
It might also be, that the nozzle was not clean when changing filaments and hence the clogging occured. Have you/your printing guy tried a 'cold pull'? How should I clean my extruder when changing materials?
Usually nozzle clogging comes down to knowledge about your printer and experience with the filament.
We print a lot of stuff in a variety of materials, and I think it is likely what you are experiencing is a problem caused by some combination of the following: Object size overall, object detail size, wall thickness, or span width/thickness.
Blender gives pretty clean stls, but the last-mile needed to get output is primarily a materials engineering problem.... (and saying thias, I am assuming you got a valid stl that the printer was able to read and rip...)
A first thought: Try loading your stl into one of the services that price online. Shapeways does, and Cubify does or did... and you can download the driver software for the Form2 even if you don't own the printer.
Bring your stl into these apps and look for error messages. The Shapeways ordering app does a nice job of showing issues, particularly ones like wall thickness and manifold faces/vertices (another possibility I did not mention above) very quickly.
I'd offer to look at your stl if it is something you can share... and/or you can ask your output guy for a sample stl he has printed with some success before. Bring that stl file into Blender beside your model and compare.
I do not recognize a "border" around stls, but all of the printers have preferences for the support sprues that support the model as it is built.... possible that he means these?
In any case, shout if I can help. We have used a lot of materials, but some of them take tweaking -- most often with detail size (how small of a detail you can recreate on the rpinted surface) and step size (how small the steps are inbetween printed layers in additive rinting systems.
Or... just chuck it onto a CNC with a big ole' block of bronze and machine it down! That's pretty old school, but it works, too... just by removing material rather than adding.
Here's a torus at Shapeways I uploaded....
Sorry -- error messages you'd get from a different service might be helpful in diagnosing your issue -- but might not be applicable, either. I was just thinking of ways to confirm your stl file's validity in the wider 3D printing world.
The border that the operator is most likely referring to is called a brim or skirt and is typically handled by the Slicing software that the operator uses to convert the 3D solid model into the machine code for the 3D printer to run.
I'd recommend double checking the settings in Cura for a brim/skirt. This function will make the machine print a small outer layer a few millimeters away from the part itself. The outer layer gets the filament flowing and hopefully will dislodge any clogs the machine might have.
Yes. And with a new or difficult material, it might be worth using the printer's LCD menu (if present) or control software to manually extrude some filament before even trying to run a part file at all. On some printers you have to do this by commanding it to heat the nozzle and then finding the menu where you can move the extruder (or it is geared, disables the steppers and turn it by hand). On others, there's a move filament or manual extrude setting that achieves temperature and movement together.
Yeah, I've manually extruded filament on my Replicator before and most often it's been a good indicator that my drive gear needs to be cleaned. For instance, I'll manually extrude the filament using the LCD, but it takes a little force at first to get it going. However when the print starts and the stepper motor makes such small increments, it's not able to catch onto the filament. So, I disassemble the extruder to clean the drive gear and all is good.
| Stack Exchange | 2025-03-12T15:57:23.536939 | 2016-04-13T19:30:52 | {
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1271 | 3D printing with blender
I have an object that I want to print in 3D. But I have a few questions about it. What are the things that I have to watch out for when 3D printing?
I know how to change the metric size etc. Some people said that it's best to set the thickness to a low amount and not make the object solid (to leave the inside empty/hollow) in order to save money when printing.
Is this true or does it not matter?
Also what if I want two parts of an object to be separate colours or materials? Do I have to change this in Blender?
Any advice and information would be helpful, thanks.
Information about the printer you are using would be very helpful. Obviously a solid object uses much more material than a hollow one, so you need to find out how the printer interprets your models (do small tests?). Does the printer support multiple materials at the same time? If not, you'll need to pause the print at the right time and swap materials to change colors. You could set colors in blender as a guide, but this won't magically swap spools for you with a basic 3D printer. You may be able to set a stop point programmatically in case you forget, but again, this depends on the hardware.
You are correct about the walls. Using a Solidify object modifier is probably your best bet. A low Thickness: value (0.1 is probably good) helps keep the walls thin but strong. You can monitor the thickness while you adjust the value from Wireframe view.
Additionally, and this is probably the most important thing to know, your mesh must be clean. By clean, I mean it must all be one piece. No separate cubes, cylinders, etc. that you added while modeling, just one solid piece. Think about it this way. If you have added a cube and part of that cube is inside the rest, it might look good from the outside. But the 3D Printer isn't printing the outside, it's printing everything. So that wall, albeit hidden, that is present on the inside of your mesh will be printed.
Bad:
Good:
Lastly, if you have parts of your mesh that can't be printed from the bottom up, or wouldn't stand by itself, consider adding supports. You can always cut these off later.
Leg added because it wouldn't stand by itself:
I have attached 2 images if you look up, i have another question. How should i place my object for printing? Should i put the text side face down so that it has something to stand on?
@Ulus That would probably be best. If my answer helped, please consider accepting it.
Thanks again, for answering. Also i dont want the object to be solid inside, so would it be best to place a hole behind it? (I saw people do this in video tutorials )And if so where would be the best place? Please let me know if you have an idea i would be pleased :)
@Ulus A hole? The solidify modifier will ensure that it is just walls. Do you want to be able to stick something inside through a hole? If you do, perhaps in the middle-back of the blocky mesh, underneath the center handhold.
Hm ok, i guess extruding and re-sizing the duplicated mesh to the inside will also work, then i will use a Boolean modifier to make a hole with a cylinder, that should work :)
What are the things that i have to watch out for when 3d printing?
non manifold geometry : geometry that can not exist in the real world.
It's a good idea to check if the dimensions of your mesh are correct before exporting:
Turning on mesh analysis allows visual inspection of problems such as intersecting faces, sharp edges ,edges with thickness below a threshold and other criterias.
the inspection tool will color the faces with those problems.
And lastly you can make selections by traits, such as loose geometry, interior faces or unconnected vertices.
note that those are just tools to help you find the problems , none of them will fix the mesh for 3d printing.
| Stack Exchange | 2025-03-12T15:57:23.564111 | 2016-06-06T13:33:48 | {
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3284 | Reprap prusa i3 Y and Z axis swapped when printing GCODE files
I'm having an issue with my new Prusa i3. (This one: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01DLIRDFW/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1)
For some reason the Y and Z axis are swapped when I print Gcode files, even though all the axis move correctly when I manually move them with the interface on the LCD. Also, if I try to print an STL file, the Z axis moves in one direction more than it is actually limited to, and then does the same again in the opposite direction when the print starts.
Anyone know the solutions?
Sounds like your slicing program is not set up right.. Or more likely your printer isn't.
I would use Pronterface
I use simplify 3d, but the best free software is Slic3r.
Try those then report back. Honestly I think you might not have it wired correctly. With pronterface tell it to move X. Then try moving it and manually holding the endstop. Then if it does not stop try going tho incorrect way with that endstop still pressed. If you find that your reversed you will need to correct this with your firmware. If I knew this was a ramps board you could reverse the wires, but lets do it in firmware as I am not buying you a new board.
After that you should work. Software wise we just made sure your interface and your slic3r work and talk the same language. Those two I know will not be doing anything funny. After that report back if it is still not working.
UPDATE I've managed to get it to connect. I'll do a test print now
Okay, I've managed to get my printer to connect to Pronterface, but the Y and Z axis do not move the correct distance in accordance to what distance I control them to move. For example, if I command the Z axis to move forward by 10mm it moves way further and tries to go over the limit. The Y axis moved too little of a distance. What is causing this?
@solluu The Z axis generally moves up and down, not forward (or backward). Are you sure you're using the right names for the axes?
That's solved the issue :) Thank you so much for your help! All I need to fix now is a blocked endcap lol.
Hmm yes I should have included documentation of which direction is which. Glad it is working.
| Stack Exchange | 2025-03-12T15:57:23.667258 | 2016-12-27T20:34:45 | {
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5110 | How to design a worm-gear in FreeCAD?
I want to print worm gears for my robot arm. I would like to design it in FreeCAD. Normally, I would use involute gear for regular gears. However, this tool cannot be used for worm gears. I can't find any add-ons for this.
Is it possible to produce a worm gear automatically? If not, how can I make it manually?
As far as I know there is not a workbench capable of producing the design you want with a single click "new worm gear". But it is a rather simple affair to create the part you want from scratch.
What you want to do is to sweep a sketch along a helix. It is a very similar process to the one you would follow to create a thread documented in the official tutorial (it's the "method #3" on that page). This is how it should look like:
Since helices are subject to a few limitation in FreeCAD, I recommend to read the section called "tricks to success" and the following tips, as it is very likely you will incur in problems otherwise.
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