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thread-8231 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8231 | Connecting Anet 8 2004 display with Ramps 1.4 to Aux2 can't seem to figure it out | 2019-02-11T22:12:06.680 | # Question
Title: Connecting Anet 8 2004 display with Ramps 1.4 to Aux2 can't seem to figure it out
I've heard about switching out some connectors, but can't seem to figure out which ones and can't seem to find a diagram out there that is much help. Does anyone know which connectors I should switch to achieve this?
# Answer
This answer clearly describes that you need to switch pins 1 and 2. It also describes that the MKS board is similar to a RAMPS board.
First thing to look for is the layout of the AUX2 header:
The pin layout reveals that pin 1 is VCC and pin 2 is GND. These need to be switched to be able to connect the display on AUX2.
> 2 votes
---
Tags: ramps-1.4, anet-a8
--- |
thread-8227 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8227 | Boolean operation on two objects in Blender | 2019-02-11T20:45:07.587 | # Question
Title: Boolean operation on two objects in Blender
I'm trying to draw a strange cup, with a kind of empty handle (actually, it's not a cup, but it looks like one).
I need to print this object with a 3D printer, so I exported the model to 3D printing software (Simplify3D) to obtain relative G-code for the printer.
I can correctly export (in .stl) both parts separately (cup \[a\] and handle \[b\]), and obtain a good G-code. But when I try to match the two parts with a boolean operation, the result becomes chaotic.
I've added a (G-code) picture to show how the slicer creates strange triangles inside the cup; I really can't understand how to prevent it.
I'm designing the print using the Blender 3D software modelling tool.
I've uploaded my file for reference.
The file has the bezier curves from witch I do screws in the origin. the result that I'm trying to export in stl is on the side. Note: to have correct dimensions, I scale the model after 90° rotation on x-axis (base on bottom for printing), I then change the scale to 1:10 (bigger model), before exporting as stl.
I would obtain a sort of vase with an empty handle (the cylinder should work as an hole).
here what I do:
1. I convert curves to meshes
2. I screw the cup (360° y-axis)
3. I screw the handle (60° after rotation -30° on y-axis)
4. I solidify the handle
5. I add 2 operations to cup, (a) solidify, (b) boolean
6. to match the two solid I adjust the solidify (a) looking to boolean result of an intersection (cup to handle).
7. when I have the right overlapping I apply (a) solidify and then (b) union-boolean (cup to handle).
8. at the end I apply a difference-boolean modificator to cup/handle with cone, to create the hole.
I hope someone should explain me what I am doing wrong. I have made a somewhat simpler version here.
# Answer
Check your settings in the slicer software you use: if you look at the sliced print carefully, you see only one line in each layer that crosses the inner section. The lines are also yellow, not green. This strongly hints that these are movement commands, not actual print commands.
On the other hand, you might want to carefully check in blender: at times, the normals in places get swapped inside out and then mess up the whole geometry without being visible in blender. `Recalculate Normals` can fix that at times, other times choose the messed up vertices and `flip normals`.
Make sure not to include voids in the model.
## The model in question
Looking at the model, I also spotted that there was a lingering solidify modifier. Applying that resulted in this:
This is a particularly bad thing. Fixing is easy though: remove the offending inner vertices.
Atop that, the center points are a clustered mess of vertices - surely you want to merge them into just two vertices.
Applying the Boolean modifier *now* created a solid shell.
Before exporting, all other items had to be removed (deleted), then the export gives this nice model:
> 1 votes
---
Tags: g-code, stl, blender
--- |
thread-8229 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8229 | Infill is rough - how to enhance? | 2019-02-11T21:34:42.023 | # Question
Title: Infill is rough - how to enhance?
My i3 MK3 is printing very well for solid parts of an object, but it messes up with infill.
As you can see in the image, the infill is broken into pieces and bends to that the surface becomes rough and the nozzle touches it next time it moves there, which probably does not make things better.
I've read the Prusa problem page, where they suggest three solutions:
* change infill type
* flexible filament (I'm using PETG, so this does not apply)
* lower printing speed
I'm printing with 20% infill and I believe that this worked before at the same speed, so I'm tempted to say that both remaining options are options, but it should work without them.
It also seems to me as if the infill is thinner that ordinary walls. Is the extrusion speed lower in case of infill? Is there a way of changing the extrusion speed for infill?
Side note: my printer always tells me to upgrade to the latest firmware 3.5.1. Since I have just received the printer back from a warranty repair after the last firmware upgrade, I don't want to upgrade the firmware. Could the issue be related to firmware?
Infos requested from comments:
I'm basically using the Slic3r default settings for PETG. The only thing I adjusted is the temperature, since I'm using HDGlass PETG and there was a recommended temperature written on the spool. Relevant settings seem to be
* Filament settings
+ fan speed min 30 % max 50 %
+ bridges fan speed 50 %
+ enable fan below 20 s
+ slow down below 20 s
+ min print speed 15 mm/s
* Speed settings
+ Perimenters 45 mm/s
+ Small perimeters 25 mm/s
+ External perimeters 35 mm/s
+ Infill 200 mm/s
+ Solid infill 200 mm/s
+ Top solid infill 50 mm/s
# Answer
> 4 votes
From your comments can be read that you print infill at 200 mm/s.
Know that 200 mm/s is ridiculously fast (like high travelling speed), close to the limits of printing on certain machines (for an AtMega)! It is hard for the filament to keep up at this speed. A value of 60 mm/s would be a good value to start experimenting. Your infill is not rough, it just failed printing. I have printed kilometers of PETG, normal print speeds for my PETG are recommended at 30-50 mm/s by my manufacturer; I get good results at 50-60 mm/s. On my Ultimaker 3, 70 mm/s is also feasible.
---
*Note that the filament you use seems to have rather low printing temperatures (195-225 °C) as opposed to the PETG filament (co-polymer) I'm used to. The manufacturer does not specify advised print speeds (other than "high", but what defines "high"?), but this user posted some of his print settings for this material. The overall speed of 60 mm/s seems to support lower than 200 mm/s print speeds.*
# Answer
> 1 votes
I have dealt with this on infill as well on multiple MK3s.
However, it was not the speed itself, but the hot end having difficulty extruding enough to keep up with the infill.
Some things to try:
* Raise hot end temperature 5 degrees (melt filament faster)
* Lower infill speed, it will not affect your overall print time very much (surprisingly)
* A combination of the two above.
Good luck!
---
Tags: prusa-i3, infill
--- |
thread-8228 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8228 | Why can my printer display remaining time but OctoPrint can't? | 2019-02-11T21:01:57.003 | # Question
Title: Why can my printer display remaining time but OctoPrint can't?
The Prusa i3 MK3 displays the remaining printing time right from the beginning.
> Image: 3:38 remaining after 0% printing
From about 8 prints until now, I would say that this time is quite reliable.
Octoprint, however, does not display the remaining time initially and is then far off.
> Image: Octoprint saying something like "too uncertain"
> Image: Octoprint says 8.5 hours remaining
**Why doesn't Octoprint just take the remaining time from the printer and display that? Or can I change a setting so that it does?**
# Answer
Octoprint is a generic application that has to work with a rather wide variety of printers and printer firmwares. The time estimation that is shipped with Octoprint by default is a very basic method that doesn't rely on any specific printer features. This also makes it kind of useless in some cases, and not very accurate.
The estimate that the Prusa i3 Mk3 shows is not actually done by the printer, it is embedded in the GCode generated by Slic3r PE. There are M73 commands added that tell the printer how far along the print job is.
As for why Octoprint doesn't do this by default, the major reason is likely that this method only works for specific printers and slicers, and only works well if the slicer can actually do good estimates for a particular printer. This is the case for the Prusa because it supports this feature and the slicer is maintained by them and has enough information to make good estimates. But this is not the case for all printers.
The feature is also not entirely standardized as far as I understand, e.g. Prusa uses slightly different M73 commands to give estimates for normal and silent mode.
There are plugins that can read the M73 estimates, you could try that. I never tried them myself, this plugin seems to do what you want from a quick glance.
> 5 votes
---
Tags: octoprint
--- |
thread-8250 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8250 | Monoprice Maker Select v2 stops extruding after about 200-300 mm | 2019-02-12T17:57:02.127 | # Question
Title: Monoprice Maker Select v2 stops extruding after about 200-300 mm
I've done a fair bit of looking around for an answer and have yet been unable to find one.
So here is my problem, after about 200-300 mm of extrusion, the PLA stops coming through the nozzle. When I pull the PLA out it looks like this. There are teeth marks going up the PLA and end with a small divot. The head of the PLA is slightly thicker than the rest of the PLA; approximately 1.9 mm.
I first noticed this when I thought that only the bottom layer was being printed. I moved to printing a small bullet and I got about halfway through the print before it stopped extruding.
Next I raised the Z position to about 100 mm to give me some room to work and I manually moved the PLA through the extruder with the dial. No problems until I hit the 200 mm mark or so. I've done this test 4 times now and failed at the approximate locations: 208 mm, 280 mm, 250 mm, and 325 mm.
Settings:
1. Nozzle: 200 °C
2. Bed: 60 °C
3. Layer Height: 0.15 mm
Other things I have tried with seemingly no effect:
* Turning off/on print cooling
* reducing retraction to 2 mm from 6 mm
* yelling out in frustration
* reformatting the SD card (because who knows?)
* brand new filament, older filament, middle aged filament
# Answer
Looking at the tread pattern on the filament, I think it's getting stuck. Note that the teeth marks get closer together as you go up the fillament, and the last one is a big divot, that looks like the gear trying to grab at it, and being unable to move it.
Are you seeing any drops in nozzle temp? I had a cooling fan kick in and drop temps low enough to prevent extrusion before.
*Edit*
From the discussion in the notes, heat creep was identified as a possible culprit, and seems most likely.
> 3 votes
---
Tags: extruder, troubleshooting, extrusion, monoprice-maker-select
--- |
thread-8222 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8222 | Homing the 3D printer | 2019-02-11T12:07:57.223 | # Question
Title: Homing the 3D printer
I have just built my first 3D printer, and I am having some problems. It is a Cartesian based 3D printer, using Marlin firmware and Pronterface software. My problem is homing the 3D printer. I do not have a probe to calibrate the z offset but I have all 6 endstops. The problem is that the "ZMIN" endstop isn't precise enough and my hotend is always either too far from or too close to the heatbed. Is there a way to manually set the home position, so when I start the printer, It just starts printing and it doesn't have to home again; Or maybe some other way to set the correct offset. It would also be helpful if I could use just the "ZMAX" plug, and then manually set the minimum Z position using a piece of paper.
# Answer
> 2 votes
It is possible to "home a printer" without having endstops, technically, you don't **require** endstops, but it makes your job a lot easier if you want to print something!
Basically, when you don't have endstops or limit switches, you need to define where the head of the printer is located. E.g. you can set the nozzle at \[0, 0, 0\] (origin in \[x, y, z\]) and add the command `G92` to your print G-code file that it is at that position using `G92 X0 Y0 Z0` (or any other location you use, e.g. you could engineer a parking position and refer to that position instead, note that you also need to write the movement commands to get out of that location safely). Don't forget to remove the homing command from your start code in your slicer, replace `G28` with the `G92` command with appropriate X, Y and Z values.
Regarding the inaccurate repetitive accuracy of your Z min endstop, it might be worth to find out why this is causing such a spread in triggering, maybe you need to invest in some new endstop switches or look more closely to the heated bed attachment to the frame.
Using Z max as a reference point is e.g. used by Ultimaker machines. The heated platform lowers to Z max; the printer knows from calibration and geometry how far it needs to rise to get to Z=0.
# Answer
> 1 votes
You can reconfigure marlin to use the MAXZ endstop instead of MINZ in Configuration.h, and then reflash it to your printer.
https://github.com/MarlinFirmware/Marlin/blob/1.1.x/Marlin/Configuration.h#L877
Now this is highly unusual, as most printers only have MIN endstops. If you post a pic of your faulty MINZ endstop, we can probably figure out how you could fix it. Zipties come to mind as a likely solution.
---
Tags: marlin, diy-3d-printer, z-axis, homing
--- |
thread-8241 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8241 | Can a single line of Gcode have variable extrusion rate? | 2019-02-12T12:03:05.070 | # Question
Title: Can a single line of Gcode have variable extrusion rate?
Fairly long winded, but hopefully makes sense;
I understand that G-code is executed line-by-line, and in the main printing phase each instruction is effectively go to location XY (assuming staying within the layer) at a set speed with a set extrusion amount (not rate, as far as I can tell).
Imagine you were printing a single road width, say 10 mm long. If the single instruction says to move that 10 mm at a set speed and extrude 10mm of material (which is, I guess, not 10mm of filament), with infinite acceleration and deceleration of the nozzle and extruder gears, then a linear amount of material would be extruded per unit length along the 10 mm. However, given that there is some acceleration and deceleration, that extrusion must be non-linear.
My questions are as follows; \- Is it possible to counteract this within a single line of Gcode by having a variable extrusion rate? \- Can the machine do so regardless of the instructions given to it? \- Is this effect embraced somehow? \- Does the need to accelerate both the nozzle position and filament effectively cancel out? -Would/could you aim instead to split a single straight line of filament into multiple lines of G-code, some extruding (say in the middle), and some not (say at each end)?
# Answer
My understanding is that the printer firmware will define the maximum acceleration and speeds for each axis (X, Y, Z, and E). When executing a line of g-code that involves more than one axis, the acceleration for each will be limited such that they all begin and end, including acceleration together.
During the start and end of a line, when the print nozzle is moving more slowly, the extruder will also move slowly. In the middle of the line, the extruder will move faster. The amount of material extruded per distance will be constant over the length of the line.
Another way to look at it - suppose you could accelerate quickly on X with a high top speed, but slowly on Y. A move only in the X direction could happen quickly. A move only in the Y direction would be slower. If you want to move at a 45-degree angle, you will need to slow down X so that it doesn't get ahead of Y.
If you did want to intentionally vary the amount of extrusion per distance during a line, you would need to break it into multiple segments with individual lines of g-code.
> 1 votes
# Answer
Let's see...
> Is it possible to counteract this within a single line of Gcode by having a variable extrusion rate?
**No,** it cannot. G Code executes line by line. If you have a line : G1 X10 F100 F200 F300 some parseres will accept the first (F100), some will only accept the last (F300)
> Can the machine do so regardless of the instructions given to it?
If you program a **custom** G code parser to do so, you still couldn't because there is no time scale to which you would want the effect to apply. To do this you would have to introduce a new letter to your parser (let's call it K), which you could use to instruct the machine to scale the extrusion accordingly (e.g. G1 X10 F100 K0.24). The machine would then know to scale the F parameter by 0.24 over the course of the movement.
> Is this effect embraced somehow?
Uhm... no?
> Does the need to accelerate both the nozzle position and filament effectively cancel out?
Cancel out how? The filament stepper as well as the gantry steppers are step synchronized so that they operate at the correct feedrate, at all times.
> Would/could you aim instead to split a single straight line of filament into multiple lines of G-code, some extruding (say in the middle), and some not (say at each end)?
**Absolutely not.** Each line of gcode has to be completed by the machine before any other line can be considered. You can't have one motion governed by multiple lines of g-code, because there will be not way to control the timing of the execution of the lines.
> 1 votes
# Answer
While Trish directly answers the G-Code part of your question, my answer offers an alternative if you use Marlin. RepRap has a similar feature called pressure advance, but this answer is focusing on Marlin's feature.
According to Marlin:
> Under default conditions, extruder axis movement is treated in the same way as the XYZ linear axes. The extruder motor moves in linear proportion to all the other motors, maintaining exactly the same acceleration profile and start/stop points. But an extruder is not a linear system, so this approach leads, most obviously, to extra material being extruded at the end of each linear movement.
In short, corners result in being rounded instead of sharp due to the constant extrusion when laying down a line. One can mitigate this by changing the flow, though this might affect straight lines in other parts of the print, namely under extruding them. Marlin's answer to this is linear advance.
With linear advance, the extrusion rate changes as the print head speed changes. When the print head moves faster, more plastic has to be pushed out to lay a consistent line and as soon as the head slows down, the extrusion rate slows down to compensate. The print should then have a consistent line. This is all done using a new factor called k. From Marlin:
> K is now a meaningful value with the unit \[mm of filament compression needed per 1mm/s extrusion speed\] or \[mm/mm/s\].
One can determine the k value for their printer using Marlin's k calibration tool which prints out multiple straight lines and instructs the printer to print the start of each line slowly, then print fast, and end the line slow again. Each line has a different k value and the user chooses the k value from the line that is most consistent.
## Some caveats
Bowden style extruders require larger k values which, even then, linear advancing may not work. This is due to the bowden tube itself and the material between the extruder motor and the hot end. This is along the same issue as trying to print flexible plastics with a bowden extruder. While linear advance is better suited for direct drives, it's not impossible to use it on a bowden.
Setting up linear advance requires an extra set of tuning. While this primarily means tuning the k value, print speeds may need adjusting (potentially allowing for faster speeds even).
Older linear advance version, at least on Marlin, had the extruder motor a lot more active. Some people report that printing is noticeably noisier. This feature might also add an extra load to the CPU. These issues should not be a problem anymore, as of v1.5, but YMMV.
One needs to change the firmware/G-Code so that each print can use linear advance. If the printer is only using one material the firmware can be changed. However, if multiple materials will be used within the printer's lifetime, the G-Code will have to include the following command at the end of the start script ( more found here). This k value will be different for each material. An example of the command is as follows:
```
M900 K75 ; Set k-factor for PLA
```
The link also recommends setting the k factor value to 0 when turning the feature on in the firmware. This essentially disables the hard-coded value in the firmware.
Finally, slicer settings like pressure advance, Coast at end, extra restart length after retract should be disabled when using linear advance as they do a similar operation. On the flip side, these settings may work for your printer so you may not need to even use linear advance.
> 1 votes
# Answer
**Not on one line, but...**
On Hyrel systems, you *can, manually*, split one long move into several smaller moves, each with a different extrusion rate.
For example, let's start at X100 Y100, and move to X100 Y200. On a Hyrel, this would look like this (with an inherited F rate if not specified):
```
G1 X100 Y200 E1
```
We could change this by specifying our Feed Rate Multiplier:
```
M221 S0.9 ; set feed rate multiplier to 90%
G1 X100 Y110 E1 ; print 10mm
M221 S0.95 ; set feed rate multiplier to 95%
G1 X100 Y120 E1 ; print 10mm
M221 S1 ; set feed rate multiplier to 100%
G1 X100 Y130 E1 ; print 10mm
M221 S1.05 ; set feed rate multiplier to 105%
...
```
We can also vary all of the parameters between moves, including print speed, acceleration, deceleration, cooling, and UV curing.
And we do use "linear advance" as well, so extrusion ramps up with travel speed.
Note: I work for Hyrel.
> 1 votes
# Answer
# No
G-code is written line separated, starting with one command what to do, then who does it with what factors. For example `G1 X10 F100 E10` says this:
* `G1` Move...
* `X10` The X axis by 10
* `F100` Use the factor to 100 units
* `E10` Also: the Extruder by 10
To my knowledge any repeated or invalid expression is simply ignored (or overwritten). So `G1 X10 F100 E10 F200` gets parsed as either `G1 X10 F100 E10` or `G1 X10 E10 F200`, depending on how your firmware interpreter is set up.
> 0 votes
---
Tags: g-code, extrusion, fdm
--- |
thread-8235 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8235 | Wrong Z-Axis movement in G-Code | 2019-02-12T03:11:14.980 | # Question
Title: Wrong Z-Axis movement in G-Code
Alright so I bought a broken UP mini. There was only a defect on the board so I connected the components to a Duet 2 Wifi. Everything is fully operational and I can manually move all axes correctly using the interface as well as homing them.
The problem is that when I try to slice a model (I am using Slic3r) and upload the G-Code the bed will be raised instead of lowered during printing.
How do I change it so the direction of the Z-Axis goes correctly?
Additional information:
* The Z endstop is at the bottom
* When homed the Z coordinate is on 0 mm
* When placing the bed under the extruder the Z coordinate is 170 mm
# Answer
You could put the z endstop at the top, and flip the motor connector to make it move the other direction. This should make it home to the top near the nozzle, and then move downward during the print.
Otherwise, you'll have to tweak the firmware configuration and reflash.
> -1 votes
---
Tags: z-axis, slic3r, troubleshooting, reprap
--- |
thread-4259 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/4259 | Can I print in wax? | 2017-06-19T11:58:21.817 | # Question
Title: Can I print in wax?
I'd like to start 3d printing in wax.
Is there a reasonably priced 3d printer that is capable of it?
Am I right in assuming that all I need is to make my own filament and set extruder temperature correctly, or do I miss something?
# Answer
Yes, you can. But no, you don't need to make your own filament for it, there is one called Print2Cast that you can buy for about 50$/kg.
This filament has the following recommended slicing settings:
* **Extrusion temperature:** 140°C-150°C
* **Bed temperature:** 80°-90°C
* **Shells:** 2-3 (for most models)
* **Print speed:** 20 to 70mm/s
There are, however, a few more things to look out for when printing with wax, as it is very soft.
The most important issue is the grip of the extruder wheel. See if other people have used your printer/extruder with flexible filaments. If they were successful in doing that, there's a high chance a wax print will succeed as well.
Bed adhesion might also be an issue. MachinableWax.com recommend 6 coats of hair spray on a glass bed, letting each of them dry before adding the next.
Cooling is also important, as with many filaments. You'll probably have to experiment with that a little as either too much or too little can ruin your print.
> 8 votes
# Answer
Yes, with the proper equipment.
Printing wax filament (at 51 seconds): https://youtu.be/tibkVZB\_n9c?t=51s
There are also options for melting wax, filling a heated reservoir head, and printing with that. I recommend doing this with a cold ambient temperature, so that the wax solidifies quickly. There's no point in just printing a puddle. :)
> 6 votes
# Answer
Should be easy to do it in low temperatures, also check for moldlay filament.
Wax is indeed useful for lost-wax casting method.
> 2 votes
# Answer
One of the applications of 3d printing with wax is when making jewellery using the lost-wax casting process. I don't know if there are 'cheap' 3d printers for wax. One brand of 3d printers for wax is Solid-Scape.
> 1 votes
# Answer
Just make a silicone mold of any of your prints and pour you wax in the silicone,you silicone putty is pretty cheap so is wax ,no need to break the bank as printers have become less expensive and can do a pretty good job
> 0 votes
---
Tags: filament, print-material
--- |
thread-8272 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8272 | Connecting OLED 128x64 LCD; dogm_lcd_implementation.h is missing for patching | 2019-02-14T00:27:50.967 | # Question
Title: Connecting OLED 128x64 LCD; dogm_lcd_implementation.h is missing for patching
I'm trying to install a MKS 12864 0.96 OLED for my DIY 3D printer (see this other question).
It's not listed in Marlin's LCD section of `configuration.h` and according to some instructions, I need to do some modification to a file named `dogm_lcd_implementation.h` which is **missing** in Marlin 1.1.9!
Where is it? How can I install my LCD module?
# Answer
> 4 votes
### Question History
An answer on your previous question discusses patches for installing the LCD module in your Marlin printer firmware. Note that these patches are very old (around 2015). Many things have changed since then (as is acknowledged there). That answer does not work for recent versions of Marlin source code!
### Answer
Yes, your observation of the `dogm_lcd_implementation.h` file being missing in the 1.1.9 version of Marlin is correct. But, I believe it is not lost, all code and further development can be found in `ultralcd_impl_DOGM.h`. There are some older versions of the file wondering over internet, e.g. here or from this older Marlin cloned repository.
I believe that your 2<sup>nd</sup> patch:
```
/*---------------MKS OLED patch_2-----------------------*/
#elif defined(U8GLIB_SSD1306)
U8GLIB_SSD1306_128X64 u8g(23, 17, 16, 25); // SW SPI Com: SCK = 23, MOSI = 17, CS = 16, A0 = 25
/*---------------MKS OLED patch_2-----------------------*/
```
should be placed in `ultralcd_impl_DOGM.h` just under:
```
#elif ENABLED(MINIPANEL)
// The MINIPanel display
//U8GLIB_MINI12864 u8g(DOGLCD_CS, DOGLCD_A0); // 8 stripes
U8GLIB_MINI12864_2X u8g(DOGLCD_CS, DOGLCD_A0); // 4 stripes
```
and before:
```
#else
// for regular DOGM128 display with HW-SPI
//U8GLIB_DOGM128 u8g(DOGLCD_CS, DOGLCD_A0); // HW-SPI Com: CS, A0 // 8 stripes
U8GLIB_DOGM128_2X u8g(DOGLCD_CS, DOGLCD_A0); // HW-SPI Com: CS, A0 // 4 stripes
#endif
```
to create:
```
#elif ENABLED(MINIPANEL)
// The MINIPanel display
//U8GLIB_MINI12864 u8g(DOGLCD_CS, DOGLCD_A0); // 8 stripes
U8GLIB_MINI12864_2X u8g(DOGLCD_CS, DOGLCD_A0); // 4 stripes
#elif ENABLED(U8GLIB_SSD1306)
// SW SPI Com: SCK = 23, MOSI = 17, CS = 16, A0 = 25
U8GLIB_SSD1306_128X64 u8g(23, 17, 16, 25);
#else
// for regular DOGM128 display with HW-SPI
//U8GLIB_DOGM128 u8g(DOGLCD_CS, DOGLCD_A0); // HW-SPI Com: CS, A0 // 8 stripes
U8GLIB_DOGM128_2X u8g(DOGLCD_CS, DOGLCD_A0); // HW-SPI Com: CS, A0 // 4 stripes
#endif
```
Do note that there **already exists** an entry for `U8GLIB_SSD1306`! This has to be deleted, or you need to put the code in that section (un-commenting existing code)!
E.g.
```
#elif ENABLED(U8GLIB_SSD1306)
// Generic support for SSD1306 OLED I2C LCDs
//U8GLIB_SSD1306_128X64 u8g(U8G_I2C_OPT_NONE | U8G_I2C_OPT_FAST); // 8 stripes
U8GLIB_SSD1306_128X64_2X u8g(U8G_I2C_OPT_NONE | U8G_I2C_OPT_FAST); // 4 stripes
```
could be altered to:
```
#elif ENABLED(U8GLIB_SSD1306)
// Generic support for SSD1306 OLED I2C LCDs
//U8GLIB_SSD1306_128X64 u8g(U8G_I2C_OPT_NONE | U8G_I2C_OPT_FAST); // 8 stripes
//U8GLIB_SSD1306_128X64_2X u8g(U8G_I2C_OPT_NONE | U8G_I2C_OPT_FAST); // 4 stripes
// SW SPI Com: SCK = 23, MOSI = 17, CS = 16, A0 = 25
U8GLIB_SSD1306_128X64 u8g(23, 17, 16, 25);
```
---
Tags: marlin, diy-3d-printer, firmware, full-graphic-smart-controller
--- |
thread-8266 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8266 | False "Object does not fit into print volume" warning from OctoPrint | 2019-02-13T10:27:05.650 | # Question
Title: False "Object does not fit into print volume" warning from OctoPrint
Octoprint warns me that the objects do not fit into the print volume. I noticed that this happens after a power-off cycle. Since I was overly anxious until today, I always uploaded the GCode file again and it didn't complain any more.
Of course, always uploading the files again is also error prone. So today I gave it a try and simply started to print the object. As far as I can tell, it prints nicely.
> Image: Octoprint saying something like "Object does not fit into print volume" in German
**Is this a known bug in OctoPrint? Are my files really damaged after a power off cycle?**
The values (0.00, -3.00, 0.00) seem to be constant in this error message, no matter what object I want to print.
I'm using OctoPrint in the PrusaPrint flavor and I'm running version 1.3.10 (hopefully a recent version, since I usually update). I generate the G-Code with Slic3r.
# Answer
That's the purging that Slic3r PE adds, the broad line of filament at the edge of the sheet. That is outside the official print volume, which triggers this error.
The G-Code generated by Slic3r PE at the start of the file contains the following lines:
```
G1 Y-3.0 F1000.0 ; go outside print area
G92 E0.0
G1 X60.0 E9.0 F1000.0 ; intro line
M73 Q0 S174
M73 P0 R173
G1 X100.0 E12.5 F1000.0 ; intro line
G92 E0.0
```
You can see that it explicitly goes to -3 on the Y axis, and then extrudes two times on a line along the X axis.
The model size detection is labeled as beta in the settings dialog. It's not very reliable at detecting stuff like this purging line outside the boundaries.
> 10 votes
# Answer
This answer is correct, it's normal for Prusa printers to purge at -3 mm on the Y axis.
This answer is an addition that describes how to get rid of the error.
1. Open Octoprint web UI
2. Go to `Settings` -\> `Printer Profiles`
3. Find active profile, click on the pen icon next to it (`Edit Profile`)
4. Go to `Print bed and build volume`
5. Tick `Custom bounding box`
6. Enter -3 to `Y Coordinates` `Min` input box
7. Hit `Confirm`
> 6 votes
---
Tags: octoprint
--- |
thread-5257 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/5257 | Connecting Anet A8 to PC issue | 2018-01-10T16:00:19.173 | # Question
Title: Connecting Anet A8 to PC issue
I am still at calibration stage and need some info from the PCB. I connected the USB and ran Repetier. The PCB wants to talk at a higher baud rate than my serial port says it can do. I tried setting the serial port to its highest setting 125k and reduced the PCB baud in Repetier setting to 125k. No joy. PC port reverts to 9600 every time I check it. Thoughts?
PC running Windows 7 Home Premium 32bit.
# Answer
Sorted. Repetier Server was hijacking my com port. Uninstalled it and Repetier host worked fine. As I have no desire to monitor or control prints remotely I have no use for the server software.
Hope that helps others.
> 4 votes
# Answer
Are you sure that the A8 connects to a PC using a serial port? I don't know of any 3D printers that do that. Typically, 3D printers connect to PCs using a USB connection, and there will be a type-B USB socket on the printer.
However, there will be a USB bridge chip on the printer's controller board that connects the microcontroller to the USB socket. This bridge chip does have a serial port that is used to communicate with the microcontroller. Typically, these serial ports operate at 115,200 bits per second (115.2 kbps), although this may vary. Some USB bridge chips are capable of operating at 250kbps.
Often, the software running on the PC needs to know what speed the serial port on the bridge chip runs at, in order to send data at a suitable rate. Of course, the USB connection is capable of handling data at a much higher rate, but the microcontrollers used in many 3D printers are not capable of handling such speeds.
Note that the USB bridge chip on the printer may appear as a virtual COM port on a PC.
> 0 votes
# Answer
My A8 just started doing this.
I shut down repetier server, and voila, all is good! Since I will go do OctoPi eventually, I just uninstalled RS.
> -2 votes
---
Tags: anet-a8
--- |
thread-8280 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8280 | Slicer settings for easy support material removal | 2019-02-15T11:44:08.840 | # Question
Title: Slicer settings for easy support material removal
What are the best settings for Ultimaker Cura to have support material that's easy to remove for my Anet A8. I have printed an object with two different spools of PLA (same manufacturer just different color). The black print was printed with 200 °C, the grey one with 210 °C both a flow of 100 %. Thee black print seems like it has a little over-extrusion while the grey print has some under-extrusion artifacts despite the higher printing temperature. The grey support was really hard to remove and looks super messy the black one not so much...
What would be better settings?
Could it be that the material is so much different despite same manufacturer? The black one seems to flow much better than the grey one. Both have suggested temperature of 210 °C
BTW the thing is 33x25 mm in size. It's rather tiny that makes printing it somewhat awkward...
I have finished another print with a brim and a different support setting (Cross with 50 %) and at 195 °C and an infill rate of 100 %. The support came off much better, the under-extrusion is minimal on the layers however for some reason the top layer does get messed up with open spots and the little nob at the corner was just a a mere stringy stumb that fell off instantly and the walls of the holes came out spongy while the layers of the ring and the long side are smooth and fine...
# Answer
Cura has some settings for the support structure which may help. Somewhere in the full Preferences menu is a setting for "gap at top" or equivalent wording. If you increase that gap slightly, the support material will be less strongly bonded to the part. Be careful, since a huge gap could lead to bridging problems.
> 5 votes
# Answer
From the picture, I suggest printing with 200 °C, as the grey print lost its cohesion at a higher temperature.
## Why higher = worse
A filament is a solid that turns into a highly viscous fluid under heating and the more you heat it, the less viscous it gets. However, it also has a very high surface tension, which means, that as it extrudes and if it is not pressed down immediately, then the filament goop will thin as the head moves, resulting in under extrusion and stringiness. Print temperatures from manufacturers have to be seen with a grain of salt, as the measurements are calibrated to their test printer, which is not your printer.
## Support Structures
To get good support structures, the support needs to:
* have enough surface to not topple over
+ in case of thin towers, use a brim
* The density should be enough to carry but not enough to stick too well
+ I have had best experiences with 5 to 10% support
* don't support angles that don't need it
+ 45° is safe, 70° is on the very hard side. I go with 50 to 60° usually.
In a related manner, make sure that the `minimum layer time` is set to at about 5 to 10 seconds, which allows the single tip to cool down a little and get better prints
## Print Geometry Analysis
The part you want to print is quite complicated with the different Z-heights to start at. It might be possible to increase printability by including "sacrifice blocks" of material about 1 or 2 layer heights below the print, pretty much including a support structure into the print design itself. This way the bottom might get better supported.
> 3 votes
---
Tags: print-quality, ultimaker-cura, anet-a8, troubleshooting, support-structures
--- |
thread-3015 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3015 | Z axis top brackets, of P3Steel, differ between v1.x/2.x and v4 | 2016-11-03T21:36:24.987 | # Question
Title: Z axis top brackets, of P3Steel, differ between v1.x/2.x and v4
I have been studying the differences between version 2.x and version 4 of the P3Steel frames \- in particular the AC08 bracket at the top of the frame which secures the top of the smooth bars and threaded rods of the Z axis on both the left and right sides. Here is the laser cut parts, for version 1.x, showing the part labelled as AC08:
Version 1.x/2.x has the AC08 bracket with two holes, one for the threaded rod and one for the top of the smooth bar (from the lasercut image):
However, in version 4, the corresponding top Z axis bracket only has one hole for the smooth bar and just an indentation for the bearing which holds the top of the threaded rod (from Twitter):
Here is a close up of the diagram from the google docs repository, listed in the v4 section on the RepRap Wiki page for the P3Steel, which shows the bearing assembly just apparently "resting" against the indentation:
Here is the bracket shown with the bar and threaded rod (again, from google docs):
Does anyone know why the top of the threaded rod is not secured by a hole, as it was in version 1.x/2.x? It just does not look particularly well secured.
Under the list of version 4 changes, see 2. Frame versions, it is mentioned:
> The extruder no longer hits the Z axis top bracket
Is this the reason why the change has been made?
# Answer
> 5 votes
I've just seen this right now, I'm Alvaro Rey, the designer of the p3steel v4 mod. The change was made, because with previous versions with the extruder homed, if you go up in the Z axis, the extruder motor could hit the Z axis top plate. So, in order to avoid that, I just changed the design.
The bearing in the z axis is not necessary but some people prefer to use it, in order to avoid wobble in the threaded rod.
Anyways, I designed a printer part to fix the bearing in the Z top plate.
# Answer
> 3 votes
*This is mere supposition on my part, and not a definitive answer. This was posted prior to Alvaro's answer.*
---
In response, or - rather - with respect to, to the comments under the question by tjb1 and Tom, I have been reading around the topic, and found some interesting articles.
The excerpt below from "An exploration of the topic", backs up Tom's argument about constraining the rods at both ends being bad practice, and explains why it is so. Whilst acknowledging that a loose, or floating end, is still an issue that needs to be dealt with, the article also states that constraining the end is not really a solution, as it can create more problems elsewhere (I have added the bold highlighting to the relevant text):
> Wobble is pretty simple. Because the lead screw is mounted rigidly to the motor, it needs to be perfectly straight and square to the axis its trying to move. If it's not, as the motor rotates, that offset will be converted into an elliptical motion instead of turning in a perfect circle. In big CNC world, as the axis is normally bolted to a huge/heavy table which refuses to yield to this movement, it results in breaking your motor or motor coupling (weakest point in the connection). This is what flex couplings are designed to fix – if you can’t guarantee a perfectly square mating between motor and axis, you use a coupler with flex so that any movement can be soaked up in flexing the coupler and the lead screw/rod moves in a nice circle without busting your motor or mounts. This is true when you have a good solid supported connection on the lead screw like you’d see on a ‘proper’ CNC. **However on the Solidoodle, as the top end of the Z-Axis is ‘unsupported’ and its only connection to *anything* is to the table via a tiny little nut, its free to ‘flop about in the breeze’ so to speak.** Even a small 0.1mm offset from center can result in a much much greater ‘wiggle’ at the top of the screw clearly visible to the eye. Throw in even a 0.05mm bend in the rod, and it gets further amplified.
>
> Adding better support to the axis, through a taller nut, multiple nuts, or **supporting the end, would reduce the influence of this wobble. You do however, risk moving it to something else entirely** – for example, making the lead screw rigid would mean that the forces would end up moving the motor itself, potentially causing fatigue issues with how its bolted to the sheet metal case (mine already moves a fair bit and its ‘stock’... making the screw rigid would see the motor having to absorb all that movement instead of half of it disappearing in movement of the screw...). Solving the motor movement by securing it ‘better’ to the case would mean that the movement now gets soaked up in the motor shaft and bearing, leading to premature stepper motor death.
Thus, when first posting this question, I had originally presumed that the earlier versions of the model would be superior: Due to the fact that the earlier versions secured the top of the z-axis screw mechanism, then that would reduce the amount of "flapping about" of the loose end, which in turn would result in *less wobble*. However, I had not bargained for the negative consequences (such as the increased motor wear, mentioned above).
So, is the reason that the top brackets of the z-axis, in the version 4 of the frame, lost their threaded rod/leadscrew top-end constraint, therefore to prevent premature motor wear, at the expense of exhibited wobble?
---
Tags: prusa-i3, p3steel
--- |
thread-8288 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8288 | Extrusion test cube resulted in one wall being thicker | 2019-02-16T17:14:12.037 | # Question
Title: Extrusion test cube resulted in one wall being thicker
I calibrated my extruder according to the mattshub tutorial and printed the extruder calibration test cube with 2 perimeters of 0.4 mm. So the walls should all be 0.8mm thick but only 3 are close to 0.8mm and one is about 0.93 mm thick. The pictures are one turn, walls following each other are side by side:
## Update 1
I printed a solid, smooth calibration cube with 1 Perimeter of 0.45 mm, 0 top/bottom layers and 0 % infill, as suggested and got 0.56 mm, 0.65 mm, 0.79 mm and 0.54 mm
I believe that the thickest side is the one where the layer ends and retraction is done in the corner before layer change. Maybe retraction settings?
## Update 2
After setting the Extrusion Multiplier to 70%, I got wall thicknesses of 0.89 mm, 0.86 mm, 0.81 mm and 0.96 mm on a 2 Perimeter print of the same object.
## Update 3
*Fudging* with the steps per millimeter changed them from 428 to 306. The resulting one perimeter test was 0.59 mm, 0.46 mm, 0.42 mm and 0.39 mm, pretty much spot on safe for one wall being fat and one thin...
I print at 215 °C with 5 mm retraction to increase strength and get stringing in check.
# Answer
## Why not that test print?
You don't want a print constraining your walls to 0.8 mm, since you don't want to print with 1 nozzle diameter for better print quality. Atop that, slicing can induce errors that increase the thickness of walls without us noticing it in the slicer view. Two sources of error (once for each wall) means an additional 10% error, which would bring the wall as you got perfectly into the expected area: $0.8\text{ mm}\times 1,1\times 1,1=0.968\text{ mm}$
## Let's Troubleshoot!
You might not have calibrated the extrusion multiplier correctly, or the steps/mm might be off, or other print settings shoot us way off. Let's make sure to find the source.
### Filament extrusion multiplier
* use a solid cube as a base, for example, https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:38108
* set `line width` to 0.45 mm to counteract errors from die swell and get a better print result in general<sup>1</sup>
+ $d\_\text{line width}=0.45\text{ mm}$
* set the number of walls/perimeters to 1
+ $p=1$
* set `infill` to 0%
* set `top layers` to 0
* set the `extrusion multiplier` to 100 %
* print the cube (or half of it, Z-height does not matter too much) with no top and infill and 1 perimeter
* re-measure the walls
Done that? Math time to calculate the correct multiplier for the filament! The average wall is easy:$$d\_\text {average}={\frac{\sum\_{i=1}^4 d\_i}{4}}$$ $$\frac{d\_\text{line width}\times p}{d\_\text {average}}=\text{Extrusion multiplier}$$ Remember, that the result is not in % but a float point number! 1 is 100%. So you fill in that value times 100 into the `extrusion multiplier`.
After this, repeat the whole process with 2 perimeters.
<sup>1 - further reading: Why is it conventional to set line width \> nozzle diameter? & Slicer line width vs. extrusion multiplier for layer adhesion?</sup>
### Steps/mm
Make sure to test the extruder *against the heated extruder*, then repeat the calibration as your tutorial explained.
For some tests, let's *fudge* to some degree: Trying a *filament dependant* value of steps per millimeter can help to try to find *other* sources of errors easier - it makes them at times more pronounced. So we just multiply our steps/mm with the extrusion multiplier that we calculate the way outlined below. For 428 steps/mm and the numbers from Update 3, this gives about 306 steps/mm. **This is not a proper calibration**, but a means for troubleshooting. After fudging with the parameters reset the extrusion multiplier to 100%, we just want to check what influences our thickness.
### Other print settings
* 215 °C is way hot. Even if it can increase print strength in solid prints, it is usually better to print at 200 °C and less.
* Reduce retraction, possibly to 4 mm or maybe even 3 mm.
Lower temperature and less retraction should get prints more consistent, as pressure changes in the nozzle are more consistent. Remember, we are playing with the settings here.
## And now **Properly**
### Back to Calibration!
After all the fudging and probably making everything worse, we got to make sure to properly calibrate, those settings will be WAY OFF, in fact, we might go back to the original steps/mm or higher:
* Note the current steps/mm as $s$.
* Mark the 150mm from the extruder intake. remember if you marked on the close or far side... or simply cut the filament as exact as you can.
* Heat the hotend
* send a `G1 E100 F100`
* Measure the distance to the extruder intake afterwards as $d$ to get the actual extruded filament $e$. Make sure to measure the same side of the marking!
* $(150-d)=e$
* $\frac{s\times 100}{e}=s^\*$ as the corrected steps/mm
* send `M92 E###.##` with ###.## taking the $s^\*$
* send `M500` to store the value to the EEPROM
### Extrusion/Flow Calibration
Now, go back to print a single filament extrusion multiplier calibration, as above. It should be somewhat close(er) to 100% now.
## Slicer Fault?
Note that **not all Slicers are equal**: some slicers are better and more consistent in the results than others with the stock settings, and even with the same settings results may varry. For example the line width for the same settings with Simplify3D and Cura or Slic3r Prusa Edition can differ. The reasons for this are hard to find exactly, but they are most likely rooted in the different slicing processes and optimisation. Sometimes it is some setting that might be overlooked that results in line width variations.
The Slicer world changed a lot betwene 2015 and 2019, and even if you got fed up with one slicer years ago, now it might be worth a shot to test it again. See if you might get better results with other slicers, as for whatever reason, your slicer might cause the issiues, whih allows you to hunt down setting dependant items.
> 5 votes
---
Tags: extruder, calibration, tevo-tornado
--- |
thread-8293 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8293 | mjpg_streamer, Octopi, Kubuntu | 2019-02-17T03:50:02.237 | # Question
Title: mjpg_streamer, Octopi, Kubuntu
Running my Flsun 3D Cube from a Kubuntu PC using Octopi, and trying to get my webcam to work with it. I've followed the instructions on Github for mjpg\_streamer to the letter. Everything I've read says, "Sure! The Raspberry PI directions will work with Linux, you bet!" but they don't, at least, not for me, a beginning level Linux user.
I know that my webcam works with Kubuntu since I can load it and view it using VLC, but I've been unable to figure out how to get Octopi to read the stream from VLC (the documentation could use some improvement) or even confirm if the stream works.
Back to mjpg\_streamer: when I issue the command
```
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=. ./mjpg_streamer -o "output_http.so -w ./www" -i "input_raspicam.so"
```
I get
```
bash: export: 'mjpg_streamer': not a valid identifier
bash: export: '-o:' not a valid identifier
bash: export: 'output_http.so -w ./www': not a valid identifier
bash: export: '-i': not a valid identifier
bash: export: 'input_raspicam.so': not a valid identifier
```
I don't know what I don't know, and I don't know how to proceed. The goal is to view my webcam in Octopi/Octolapse on a Kubuntu PC. (Windows with Yawcam, no brainer; Linux, not so much.)
# Answer
Going to post the answer here for posterity and for those, like me, trying to cope with Linux after making a career in Windows.
I'm running Kubuntu 18 because I didn't want to have to buy an operating system or install a bootleg copy of Windows. The most important thing for a Windows user to know is that the readme.md file is important. Think of it as a .chm file, or a series of linked help documents. What you want to know is THERE, not on the github page.
Using the following command in the mjpg-streamer-experimental directory got me where I needed to go.
```
mjpg_streamer -i 'input_uvc.so -d /dev/video0 -r SVGA -f 30' -o 'output_http.so'
```
e.g. webcam, 800x600, 30fps to http (port 8080 is the default) The MD files break it down. I also found two web pages very useful:
http://skillfulness.blogspot.com/2010/03/mjpg-streamer-documentation.html https://wiki.ubuntuusers.de/MJPG-Streamer/
In OctoPrint the streaming setting is then:
```
http://127.0.0.1:8080/?action=stream
```
In my case, I use the network IP rather than local host so I can monitor the print from my upstairs PC. For snapshots:
```
http://127.0.0.1:8080/?action=snapshot
```
I'll admit that Octolapse doesn't work for me yet because I'm still trying to work out ffmpeg, but that's another issue. **EDIT:** got that done, too. Useful command:
```
whereis ffmpeg
```
> 1 votes
---
Tags: troubleshooting, octoprint, flsun-3d-cube
--- |
thread-6462 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/6462 | Layer 1 won't adhere anymore | 2018-07-24T18:19:00.927 | # Question
Title: Layer 1 won't adhere anymore
I have a new Tevo Tornado, which I have completed two good prints with, a 20x20 test cube from the supplied SD and the spool holder also from the SD. I say this to note that the printer was capable of producing a good print.
Print 3 was a design I created in Fusion and it printed badly, very disappointing holes missing. Stringing gaps between material just rubbish. I downloaded a simple print from Thingiverse just to see if it was my poor design skills or the printer and that came out just as poorly: lots of strings between details. Both of these were sliced in Cura. As that doesn't have a tornado driver, I downloaded one from the support group and the prints have not even started properly, see pictures for example.
I might be going down rabbit holes here but this is what I have found and tried:
* 1 relieved bed - done to ridiculous degree of accuracy, cold gross levelling then bed and nozzle at PLA working temp using feeler gauges. I have done 0.1 mm, 0.15 mm, 0.2 mm
Now I have added to the suspicion the z axis coupler see images below:
YouTube videos, that I have seen, show couplers that are not a spring - any thoughts? I would certainly appreciate the time anyone has to impart their knowledge.
**EDIT 1**: (Additional information posted as comment, now moved to question)
*The print bed is brand new from Tevo the unit has only done a few prints most aborted, and I also thought perhaps a residue from the feeler gauges had contaminated the bed, but I have cleaned it with alcohol wipes and also tried putting prints on to unused parts of the bed. You are right the g-code from the test print was from an unknown slicer, no doubt tuned by the manufacturer the part I designed in Fusion was sliced by cura. I have since tried the original test piece and it fouls the extruder nozzle almost straight away.*
*The main differences and there are not many between the set up parts, are that the Cura code does a G92 E0 G1 F1500 E-3.5 before starting layer 0 (both set z0,3). The test piece just does a G92 E0 G1 F7200 the feed rates are different the cura print sets M204 S500 and the test sample sets no acceleration. I assume there is a default in the Marlin firmware.. there is no doubt some globs of PLA stick like in dots between the strings, but the extrusion between direction changes do not kind of like join the dots where dots stick and joins don't.*
*I am going to change the coupler because, well, I don't know what else to do. Replacing it with a better one can't help. Other things I have thought about - PLA temps - I have gone up the whole range according to the manufacturers bandwidth in 5 degree increments no difference I have also done some bed changes but neither hotter nor colder (it's 30°C and humid at the moment, so maybe a materials property issue, but then again no difference in conditions between a successful first test and all the messes). I am storing the PLA in a gel bead box to reduce humidity. still basically stumped!*
**EDIT 2**: (Additional information posted as comment, now moved to question)
*Thanks for your observation, it's a new bed and I clean down with alcohol wipes ( isopropyl) I don't think I have ever put a finger on the bed - very aware of that. While I don't know what I am talking about on the one hand I am semi convinced it is not the bed, anyway I am going to get a glass bed in part to deal with the protruding screw head issue.*
# Answer
Update and close
I have changed the coupler on the z axis and levelled the bed put a print on to test, skirt and first layer look good so I think we can call this one closed and thank you very much for your comments.
---
so over the weekend I have run a couple of prints, one very successful the other a complete fail, I would however judge the layer 1 adhesion issue to be largely solved by the replacement of the coupler, which was slightly fiddly. What I did notice was in purchasing a new coupler the design used by Tevo has to sets of perpendicular grub screws one for the lead screw and on to locate in the stepper motor shaft. The stepper motor only has in flat face so picking up on this is important and the factory had not - sloppy ! Secondly the lead screw has no faces so I *dremeled* two peep faces
Once the lead screw was dressed the locking down of the coupler was simple and secure. Took about 30 minutes to fix after days of misguided bed levelling and slicer tweaking.
Old and new coupler new one bought as a pair from amazon £6 could have for them cheaper but I wanted next day not to wait.
> 1 votes
# Answer
The "springs" connected to the stepper motors aren't a problem. They are special shaft couplers which allow some relief if the motor mounts are not strictly perpendicular to the lead screws. They are very rotationally stiff and allow just a little bit of misalignment between the shafts.
The first two prints were from the SD card. You didn't talk about slicing from an STL file, so it is possible that they were pre-sliced for this machine. Every G-code file has introductory code that initializes some aspects of the operation. Check the "preamble" code at the front of the files you have sliced. Are there commands that look different? Is the Z parameter for the first layer different from the pre-sliced files? Are there G-codes missing from the files you sliced?
If you are trying to understand what the G-codes do, this resource may be helpful. Some possible commands could be commands to limit acceleration, jerk, speed, or introduce offsets. Also check that the temperatures are being set correctly in the G-code you generated.
If you had sliced the files on the SD card, then double check that the parameters were the same. Try re-slicing the object and comparing the G-code that is generated.
> 3 votes
# Answer
Based only on your title, and not on the content of the question, I would guess that maybe your print bed is not clean any more, and this is causing bad adhesion.
There are lots of bed surface material options - I guess you have some specially engineered high stick surface on this printer so you should check the manufacturer's specific direction regarding the print material since there is a risk (eg with PETG) of excessive bond strength requiring the use of a release agent in some cases.
I use kapton tape on my bed, and always wipe over with acetone or isopropyl alcohol before printing. Soap/water might also be effective - the problem which you're maybe facing is the oils deposited from touching the bed with fingers.
> 2 votes
# Answer
What it may useful to improve your prints, are the following elements, according to my personal experience with the Tevo Tornado: 1) level the bed when it's warm. 2) print a cylinder that should measure 100 mm, afterwards measure it with a caliper: regulate the steps per mm according to the difference (many guides for calibration are available, for example: https://youtu.be/Wk3qYOB4E9I) 3) print this object to be installed on the z axis and regulated with an M5 screw and nut: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2827664 4) Print a test for temperatures, like this: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2131069 I hope it helps. Happy printing.
> 0 votes
---
Tags: z-axis, layer-height
--- |
thread-8297 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8297 | Hooking up an optocoupler in a 24V Machine, is a 2 kOhm resistor sufficient? | 2019-02-19T03:11:42.517 | # Question
Title: Hooking up an optocoupler in a 24V Machine, is a 2 kOhm resistor sufficient?
I am going to buy an inductive probe for my Creality Ender 3 to enable ABL (Automatic Bed Leveling). And now, I have one last question left on my mind:
I am going to buy a Vishay Optokoppler Phototransistor SFH610A-1 DIP-4 Transistor DC.
Is it sufficient to put a 2 - 2.2 kΩ resistor between the input of the octocouplers LED side and the 24 V Output of the probe, to lower the current and voltage enough to work with the octocoupler? Or do I need something else?
On the transistor side, I will simply attach the 2 wire Z-endstop cable, +5 V on Collector and GND on Emitter.
# Answer
> 1 votes
### TL;DR
Yes, a 2 kΩ resistor is sufficient to limit the current to about 12 mA through the optocoupler. With a maximum current specification of 60 mA you require at least 400 Ω; any resistor in between the values should be suitable for this optocoupler component when used at 24 V. More information is found below.
---
Having a glass bed and using an inductive probe may not work optimally. In such cases a 3D touch sensor is a very good alternative. For inductive sensors, remember that these sensors optimally detect steel, aluminium is harder to detect (about 60 % less than iron; a glass sheet in between the bed and the sensor requires you to acquire a sensor with a large detection range, e.g. 8 mm or more. To optimize the detection distance such sensors need to be powered to the maximum voltage they can handle (usually 36 V) or the highest voltage you have available (e.g. power supply 12 or 24 V). To protect the board, that is only allowed to receive up to 5 V, an optocoupler is an excellent way to guarantee the separation of voltage levels.
Considering your questions, it is fair to assume you are not an experienced electronics tinkerer, purchasing an optocoupler module is the best alternative, you just screw the wires into the respective input screw terminals as shown in this answer.
As the optocoupler separates two circuits, you can safely use 24 V on the one side and the 5 V on the other side, you do not need an additional resistor when you use a module board. If you plan to buy separate components to build your own circuit, you need to look at the maximum current that the optocoupler can handle on the input side (that will be 24 V). From the documentation from the optocoupler one reads that it is limited to 60 mA. A **maximum current** would therefore require a resistor of:
$$ R=\frac{U}{I}=\frac{24}{60\times10^{-3}}=400\ \Omega $$
My 12 V optocoupler module uses a 1 kΩ resistor implying a 12 mA current. In your case allowing 12 mA of current yields a 2 kΩ resistor.
---
Tags: z-axis, electronics, creality-ender-3, bed-leveling, inductive-sensor
--- |
thread-8307 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8307 | Magnetic heatbed options - can I trim these to size? | 2019-02-20T14:20:06.850 | # Question
Title: Magnetic heatbed options - can I trim these to size?
I'm looking at options for removable heatbed surfaces for my Prusa Mk2 clone, which has a MK42 bed, 250x210mm
I have a removable spring steel plate at the moment, but it is not dependably flat - there are often issues with patchy filament adhesion or oversquashing, as it has bumps in it.
I'm looking at a magnetic solution instead.
Does anyone have experience of this type of stick-on magnetic surface?
1. Any drawbacks?
2. Can I trim it to size? I can't see any which are 250 x 210
# Answer
## Adhesion and sizing
First of all, the product you link is very likely a BuildTak clone or a similar product. My Ender 3 came with a similar one and I have changed to a different one after I ripped it off accidentally to mount a similar one. I have yet to find a sheet of this material that you can't cut to size, as it is pretty much only a polymer with a strong tape on one side and a rough surface on the other. So trimming is not a problem at all.
## Mounting
To mount your new surface, you need to get a surface onto your heatbed that has
* good contact on all the area
* securely holds the bed in place
* is as flat as possible
So you surely want to get a metal sheet that is as flat as possible to mount your surface on. If your bed is heated, your mounting method needs to transfer the heat as good as possible, so a direct contact to the heated bed would be good. This, however, rules out most thin magnets, as these magnet sheets demagnetize under heat, limiting the usability for higher temperature materials, for example, ABS. The original Prusa uses a spring steel bed and high-temperature magnets embedded in the heating platform to work around this.
> 2 votes
---
Tags: heated-bed
--- |
thread-8306 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8306 | CubePro Duo Filament Cartridge Replacment Problem | 2019-02-20T14:13:03.410 | # Question
Title: CubePro Duo Filament Cartridge Replacment Problem
So I just got this CubePro Duo and the guy we bought it off had 3 filament cartridges to go with it, two installed and one spare. The one spare was white PLA while the two installed were colored ABS so I wanted to try out the white PLA for printing so I followed all the instructions on the printer up to put the cartridge in and now its stuck on "Material Validation" step and just isn't doing anything. I followed everything as closely as I could and even started over again in case I did something wrong but it still won't "validate" the material?
I have no idea what's going on and I would really appreciate some help, thanks in advance!
# Answer
The CubePro Duo is a discontinued 3d-systems printer. It uses their standard proprietary cartridges to prevent to use other filaments. In comparison to other printer filaments, their filaments range between 100 and 150$ per spool, which is listed as "1 kg" (though if that is with or without casing is not clear).
From what I could find out about the cartridges, they should contain some kind of identification method to the printer. That it is stuck in Validation means, that it might not be able to read this. So let's try installing the cartridge again, following the handbook p.17!
* Take out the cartridge
* boot the machine
* wait for the machine to ask for filament
* remove the thumbscrew so the filament spool inside the cartridge can turn
* pull out the 30 cm
* cut 5 cm off the end
* insert the material into the Bowden tube of slot 1
* push the material till you get some goop coming out
* mount the cartridge into the slot, make sure it is clamped in tightly.
This should start the validation of the material, at which point you might get told that the colors don't match the print defined colors. Should the cartridge not be validated again but works on the ABS cartridges, the validation method might be broken on this cartridge. Should it not recognize either, the firmware or the detector might be broken.
> 1 votes
---
Tags: filament, print-material, cubepro-duo
--- |
thread-8313 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8313 | PLA wood filament: a special treatment? | 2019-02-21T01:42:44.600 | # Question
Title: PLA wood filament: a special treatment?
PLA wood has a beautiful natural texture that I wanted to try. But when I used it in my second print, it clogged the nozzle (solved). I know this filament is composed of 70 % PLA and 30 % recycled pine wood fibers.
* Are there special indications for this kind of filament?
* Should I modify the temperature, or other settings?
# Answer
## PLA and wood fibres = wood filament
Most wood filamet consists of about 60-70 % PLA and 40-30 % wood fibres. This basically implies that PLA temperatures should be used. It can be printed with standard 0.4 mm nozzles, but it is adviced to be printed with a larger diameter nozzle. A larger nozzle will less likely to cause nozzles to clog (more area for the fibres to pass through).
## Basic printing advice
Start experimenting with relatively large layer heights (0.25-0.3 mm layer heights). Printing speeds should be held high to ensure relative short residence times in the hot end (in the range 50-80 mm/s). Short residence times prevent degradation by heat resulting in clogging. It is best for wood fibres filled filaments to not have the filament to stagnate (e.g. pausing). A higher retraction speed and distance might be needed because the filament usually is a little more runny compared to plain PLA.
## Beware
After printing, you should retract the filament from the hotend so that during next printing jobs heat up cycle, the filament doesn't degrade and clogs the nozzle. Alter the end script G-code and also use priming scripts at the start and/or do not forget to use a large skirt of multiple lines or a considerable length. As always, you shouldn't leave the printer unattended, regularly check the printer and shut down the printer when there is something wrong, e.g. not extruding. Also note that wood filled filament is reported to be abrasive to brass nozzles, a (hardened) steel nozzle or a Ruby nozzle should mitigate wear problems.
## Basic settings
These settings have proven to work, but are not a guarantee, these settings should provide a reference to start experimenting on your own printer:
* Temperature: 190-205 °C
* Layerheight: 0.25 mm
* Speed: 50 mm/s
* Minimal layertime: 8 s
* Bowden type extruder
+ Retraction speed: 40 mm/s
+ Retraction distance: 5.5 mm
* Direct extruder
+ Retraction speed: 25 mm/s
+ Retraction distance: 1.3 mm
> 14 votes
---
Tags: filament, filled-pla
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thread-8316 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8316 | CubePro Alternative Slicer | 2019-02-21T13:09:38.600 | # Question
Title: CubePro Alternative Slicer
So, having bought this cube pro duo 3d printer a few days ago I have come to see how significantly limiting the default slicer software that comes with the machine is. For the prints that I am doing I've been looking around at alternative slicers however the cube pro has its own file format for builds and I'm not sure if any other software has the option to export those specifically and I also have no idea id the CubePro can read any files other than its own. On top of this whenever I download some other slicer it gets to the printer setup and there's a whole bunch of settings and parameters for the printer that I haven't been able to find, stuff like Firmware or Nozzle Diameter (Something that id expect to be easy to find).
In particularly a software called IdeaMaker is what I'm interested in since I've seen that you can make custom supports and that would be very useful for what I'm doing.
Does anyone know what I can do? Or is this a case of there's nothing I can do without some serious modification that I'd rather not do?
Any help is appreciated thanks! :D
# Answer
> 2 votes
As far as I understand, the CubePro 3D printers use their own format: .cubepro or .cubex.
It appears that a:
> .cubepro file format and found out that it only does a Blowfish ECB encryption of the .bfb file
This implies that you need to find a slicer that outputs `.bfb` tool path files (similar like G-code files) and a tool to encrypt the tool path file. The dubious CodeX tool and this alternative can do that for you.
---
Tags: software, slicing, firmware, cubepro-duo
--- |
thread-358 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/358 | Which resolution is needed for bricks compatible with Lego? | 2016-01-20T18:40:21.680 | # Question
Title: Which resolution is needed for bricks compatible with Lego?
I found a story about someone 3D-printing equipment for their Lego minifig, using an Ultimaker. (Article is in Dutch, but accompanied by photographs).
I noticed that what they made weren't the actual connecting bricks, but the tools used by the minifig. And that even so, some filing and a dremel were needed afterwards to make them fit properly.
I'm told that to make something connect properly with real Lego, the machine needs to be tuned very precisely.
So, what resolution is needed to print bricks that will connect with normal Lego bricks?
# Answer
It's really more about calibration than resolution -- a poorly calibrated printer will have dimension errors that prevent mating with true LEGO bricks or other printed bricks.
Also, "resolution" is an incredibly loaded term for 3d printers, because it can mean a lot of different things. But we don't need to get into that right now. There are really two big things to worry about: layer height and extrusion width.
Layer heights of 0.1mm or 0.2mm should be fine. Coarser layers may run into surface finish issues that make the bricks difficult to put together or take apart. There probably isn't much reason to go finer than 0.1mm for this application. Almost all FFF printers can do 0.1mm layer heights as long as it is reasonably well-tuned.
**Any typical household FFF printer with a "normal" nozzle size can print fine enough for the bricks to work. It just needs to be tuned well.** The smallest "must have" feature in a standard lego brick is the 1.6mm thick wall around the sides. The typical minimum printable feature size for an FFF printer is 2x the extrusion width, because the slicer will place a path on the inside edge of the shape and the outside edge of the shape. (Some slicers will allow single-extrusion features, but this is not generally recommended because it makes weak parts.)
So, how wide is the extrusion width? It's adjustable, and different slicers auto-recommend different values, but as a safe rule of thumb it needs to be between 1x and 2x your nozzle size. There are some volume calculation quirks in different slicers that may encourage larger or smaller sizes, so sometimes people recommend \[extrusion width = nozzle size + layer height\] particularly with Slic3r. This is very system-specific.
Assuming you have the most common stock nozzle with a 0.4mm orifice, and also set the extrusion width to 0.4mm, the slicer should put four strands in the walls of the LEGO brick. That's good.
Where it gets tricky is if you have an extrusion width that does not evenly divide into 1.6mm. Say you are printing with an extrusion width of 0.6mm. There is enough room in the wall of the part to place two full 0.6mm perimeter strands... but then a gap 0.4mm wide will be left in the center. You can't put another 0.6mm strand into that 0.4mm gap. Different slicers handle this different ways. Some will leave an empty space between the walls, and you get a very weak print. Some will mash an excessive amount of plastic into the gap, causing poor print quality as excess material builds up more and more on each layer. Some will push a smaller-than-commanded strand to try to properly fill the volume.
So, the general advice with small features is to make sure your extrusion width goes into the part's minimum thickness a reasonable number of times.
* \[Feature size / extrusion width \< 2\] is BAD
* \[Feature size / extrusion width = 2\] is GOOD
* \[2 \< Feature size / extrusion width \< 3\] is BAD
* \[Feature size / extrusion width \> 3\] is GOOD
Although these will vary somewhat by slicer -- older slicers like Skeinforge tend to have more issues with this than newer slicers. What you should do in practice is check your slicer's print previewer to see whether it is leaving a gap between the strands. Then adjust extrusion width and perimeter/shell count to try to get an intelligent output. There's some trial and error involved.
> 18 votes
# Answer
I have notes about printing Lego bricks here:
> https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3424550
The upshot is, you want to align the wall thickness of your brick model edges to match an exact multiple of nozzle thickness of your printer. This is more important than using an STL file that exactly matches real Lego dimensions, because your slicer and printer are unlikely to be able to match those dimensions anyway. And because of that, you'll need other adjustments to the bricks to help them fit well with each other and with real Legos.
Additionally, while it is well-understand that Lego bricks use a 1.6mm "Lego Unit" for their standard edge thickness, it's less-well understand how they use an additional .1mm "Play Factor" to help bricks to fit together better. Based on my tests, this play factor is removed from *both sides* of an edge, such that a standard Lego edge wall should be 1.4mm thick.
Put this all together, and I've found you want to aim for 1.2mm edges when using a .4mm nozzle, and 1.5mm edges when using .5mm nozzle.
Alternatively, a .4mm nozzle can do real 1.4mm Lego edges by only using 1 line for the outer walls, and filling in the remaining .6mm of thickness. Personally, I *never* want to use just 1 line for a wall, and 1.5x the nozzle diameter is also the bare minimum I'd trust for filling in to work well, making this plan a challenge, too.
The thingiverse piece I linked to is actually a customizable brick *generator*, that will let you make fine adjustments and help you create brick STL models based on your printer, your slicer and settings, and your material, that will print well and fit with other bricks.
> 2 votes
---
Tags: resolution, bricks
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thread-8325 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8325 | Printrboard Rev. D. 3.3 V source | 2019-02-22T22:19:48.703 | # Question
Title: Printrboard Rev. D. 3.3 V source
I am looking for a 3.3 V power source in the Printrboard Rev. D pins.
I think there should be one somewhere... I do not know how to read the schematics that well.
Also, I am going to connect an HC-06, which draws 45 mA or less during operation. So, I need to know if it safe to get the power from the 3.3 V rail (if I find it).
So, the questions are:
* Which one is the 3.3 V pin?
* And how much current can I draw from it?
# Answer
On the schematic, the 3.3v is marked as "U7" and pointed out here:
The 3.3v is marked as pin #2. You can find the three pints from U7 here on the board (blue circle):
I'm not exactly sure if the pins are accessed from the other side of the board, or even if they are marked at all on there. You can always check them with a multimeter to see what their output is. More than likely the bottom single pin is the ground and the top two are one or the other (5v & 3.3v).
As far as amperage draw, I'm thinking 45mA is not a lot of draw, but I'm not an expert. I'd think it *should* be able to handle it, but again, I really don't know.
> 1 votes
---
Tags: electronics
--- |
thread-8323 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8323 | RF100 Settings after reinstalling firmware | 2019-02-22T17:25:40.657 | # Question
Title: RF100 Settings after reinstalling firmware
I have an RF100 v.1 printer with stock software (again) onboard.
After my attempt of changing firmware, the X-axis motor decided to stray printhead away out of the borders of the printer and somehow motor wires broke out of the adapter. I fixed the wires and reverted to stock firmware, though now whenever I auto-home or press "Home" button on Ultimaker Cura, printhead goes wild top and left reaching borders and starts buzzing like crazy.
current condition:
1. Head is TOP LEFT with X=100 and Y=100 on the table being under head Z=0;
2. screenshot
Even with these beautiful tiny settings, I cannot print anything because printhead goes too far TOP RIGHT by itself. Ideas?
# Answer
> -1 votes
Everything was fixed by thorough googling and flipping the whole wire-set of the motor. It started to twirl in a right direction. Sorry for the time
---
Tags: ultimaker-cura, firmware, homing
--- |
thread-8320 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8320 | Printrboard Rev. D - RX1 and TX1 (second serial port) / Marlin | 2019-02-22T03:30:26.623 | # Question
Title: Printrboard Rev. D - RX1 and TX1 (second serial port) / Marlin
I am trying to make Marlin use the RX1 and TX1 pins that are in the EXP1 connection. I am connecting those pins to the TX, RX of an Arduino.
The Configuration.h file has a SERIAL\_PORT define, normally configured to be 0, but supposedly changeable.
**What should be changed in Marlin to make it used the Serial1 port (if possible at all)?** I am using the latest code provided in Printrbot's Marlin repository
From the Configuration.h file:
```
// SERIAL_PORT selects which serial port should be used for communication with the host.
// This allows the connection of wireless adapters (for instance) to non-default port pins.
// Serial port 0 is still used by the Arduino bootloader regardless of this setting.
#define SERIAL_PORT 0
//#define SERIAL_PORT 1
// This determines the communication speed of the printer
// This determines the communication speed of the printer
#define BAUDRATE 250000
//#define BAUDRATE 9600
```
# Answer
> 0 votes
I was able to resolve this issue:
1. I moved to Marlin 1.1.9 (the final release of the 1.1.x versions).
2. I made a fork, for those who would like to see the changes. Also summarized below.
3. The RX1 and TX1 pins are well identified in the question. I connected those directly to the HC-06 bluetooth module (using a voltage divider for the RX pin in the bluetooth, as it is a 3.3 V logic module).
**Changes in code:**
Marlin/Conditionals.LCD.h: commented out:
```
// this line conflicted with the bluetooth/serial1 options
// #define USE_MARLINSERIAL !(defined(__AVR__) && defined(USBCON))
```
The rest are the configuration options already provided by Marlin in Marlin.Configuration.h:
```
define SERIAL_PORT 1
define BAUDRATE 115200 // Note: this baudrate MUST match the one set in the bluetooth module. That's done using the AT commands. There is plenty of information on how to do that.
define BLUETOOTH
```
As a result of these changes I am able to print with my PrintrBot Simple 2014 (Printrboard Rev. D) with Bluetooth over a distance of ~3.5mts, behind a wall. I haven't tested it exhaustely, but it does print.
---
Tags: marlin, firmware, electronics
--- |
thread-8334 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8334 | Anet A8 stops printing | 2019-02-24T18:00:25.323 | # Question
Title: Anet A8 stops printing
I have an issue with my Anet A8 printer and how it interlocks with Ultimaker Cura.
I want to print this file named `Loki_hörner_v2.stl`and Cura slices it fine, but when it comes to printing all the preheat happens, but then it stops, not going on at all. What might be wrong here?
# Answer
Special characters like `Ä` `Ö` or `Ü` in the stl-filename resulted in Ultimaker Cura creating a comment of the filename in the g-code that read like
```
;MESH:Loki_hörner_v2.stl
```
This apparently could not be parsed by the Anet A8, leading to an error and halt.
> 5 votes
# Answer
### Avoid naming `.gcode` files with non-ASCII characters
*(this includes EASCII)*
I know of no firmware on a printer that can handle files that have characters not present in the set of 95 non-control American Standard Code for Information Interchange characters by default. Marlin, for example, can't process the characters `ä` `ö` `ü` & as these all are missing in the ASCII.
### Avoid having more than one `.`
Nowadays the `.` is no longer a fully reserved character in file names, so a file can be named `0.5mm Gauge Block.stl` on Windows without problems.
Ultimaker Cura will **cut** the name at the `.` before the extension when generating the `.gcode`. This is mainly done to prevent tons of errors that could crop up in firmware that might not be able to deal with it. Remember that this behavior can lead to overwriting files - our `0.5mm Gauge Block.stl` would generate `0.gcode`, as would `0.1.5 Penholder.stl` (that follows a version naming convention).
### Avoid reserved characters
Also note that some characters are reserved in file naming and will lead to other errors (mainly when trying to create the files in the first place), including, but not limited to, `/` `\` `:` `?` `*`.
> 4 votes
---
Tags: ultimaker-cura, anet-a8, troubleshooting, print-failure, bug
--- |
thread-8328 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8328 | Why does my printer create notches on the Y surface? | 2019-02-23T17:25:40.430 | # Question
Title: Why does my printer create notches on the Y surface?
Here is an extreme example of notches caused by the printer. They go along all sides but are the strongest on the Y faces. They also happen quite randomly sometimes they are tiny sometimes they are strong.
I have tightened the belts already and while that reduced the ghosting on the X face a lot, it did nothing on the Y and actually never helped with the notches. This test cube has notches and ripples too but not that strong (the skirting on the bottom of that cube is my fault I set the bed level a little too low).
All models have been sliced with Ultimaker Cura and printed on an Anet A8. Flow = 110 %, layer height of 0.1 mm for the first example and 0.2 mm for the cube, printing temperature = 195 °C, no change on jerking and acceleration from default settings. Cube size = 20x20x20 mm.
The printer has frame support https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1672959 but no other upgrades yet.
# Answer
I see two problems with your printer: your filament seems to overheat in some areas, and you overextrude a little. My suspicion is, that your heating behavior is not well tuned and it overshoots the target temperature, leading to an overcooked filament, then the temperature drops below the temperature you need, leading to a wavy pattern and brown lines.
## fixing
I suggest running a PID-tune cycle to get better heating behavior and then recalibrating the printer's extruder.
> 3 votes
# Answer
I noticed that thermistors provided with Chinese kits are not up to specs. Do yourself a favor and go to mouser or digikey and order a proper thermistor that is rated for the temperature range in question.
> 0 votes
# Answer
While you may very well be having temperature issues, I see two other issues:
First, I think the "notches" are z-wobble. Z-wobble is often caused by bent z-axis threaded rods.
I have a very similar Geeetech I3 printer. A lot of my z-wobble was cleaned up by removing the threaded rods and making them more straight. You can find videos to help you do that, just search for "threaded rod straightening".
The other thing I did was decouple the nut on the threaded rod from the x-carriage assembly, allowing it to float in the X-Y plane as it pushes the x-carriage up. The x-carriage ought to be guided up by the smooth rods/bearings. Unfortunately, if the nut is fixed to the x-carriage, the bent threaded rods are strong enough to over-power the smooth rods/bearings and make the whole assembly wobble.
The other problem I see is that your printer seems to be extruding too much filament. That is likely causing the little pyramid flair at the base of your print. If you tell the printer to extrude 100mm, it ought to extrude 100mm, not 110mm. Again, a search for "extruder calibration" will tell you how to do it. For me it involved extruding, measuring, a bit of math, adjusting some variables in Marlin, compiling and uploading the with Arduino IDE. Repeat until 100mm extrudes 100mm.
> 0 votes
---
Tags: print-quality, anet-a8
--- |
thread-8327 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8327 | Upgrading to higher torque extruder motor creality ender3 | 2019-02-23T10:05:14.200 | # Question
Title: Upgrading to higher torque extruder motor creality ender3
So according to E3D customer service, the V6 is designed to have higher back pressure than the MK8. This leads to underextrusion with PLA and all kinds of problems unless you increase the temp by 30 - 50 °C so it will heat the filament faster and reduce the back pressure. They recommended getting a geared extruder such as the titan when I contacted them. Why none of this is mentioned on the V6 product page I have no idea, but I am not about to spend the cost of the V6 again on an E3D extruder unless it is truly the only option. I would imagine one could just replace the stock extruder motor with higher torque.
* Does anyone know the max amperage motor you can replace the stock extruder motor with?
* Is a 2 A NEMA 17 too much?
* Will a 2 A stepper give any more torque than the stock one (I know it is rated at a higher oz-in but does that actually translate to more torque)?
* Finally, where are the specs for the Ender 3 stepper drivers listed?
# Answer
> 1 votes
So the 'obvious' answer to this problem is to run a slower print speed, so it isn't so much as a case of information being missing, as there being a non-trivial trade off between speed, quality and cost.
Using the E3D products as examples, a double length NEMA17 can indeed deliver twice the kg×cm as a standard one, and a slimline a little less. E3D suggest that 'standard' A4988 drivers are capable of supplying 2A, but this is right at the limit of their performance (and you would certainly want to consider heatskinking/forced cooling).
E3D also list a standard stepper motor with a 5.18:1 reduction gearbox. This should give a good 4x increase in driven torque, and if you can find just the gearbox, that might be the cheapest option. You don't need such a high reduction, but this is limited by the physical size available.
In the absence of any better specs, a physically similar motor *might* be a good reference. You can check this by comparing various parts from different manufacturers. Regardless of the current capacity, more torque generally means a larger sized part.
---
Tags: creality-ender-3, motor
--- |
thread-3185 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3185 | Extruder clicks | 2016-12-13T10:36:31.993 | # Question
Title: Extruder clicks
I have Prusa i3 derivative with MK8 extruder and Marlin 1.1RC8 as firmware. I already reduced the default speeds as well as the accelerations. But sometimes when trying to print with BQ PLA filament (220°C), mostly during filling areas, my extruder clicks. The below screenshot of Slic3rs Layers view shows the clicking "lines".
What settings I need to change to avoid the overextrusion in this case?
# Answer
I've tried to reduce the "Extrusion multiplier" from 1 to 0.95, but that caused gaps. Now I've minimized the clicking by setting the Slic3r option "Infill before perimeters" on the "Print Settings \> Infill" page.
> 2 votes
# Answer
Extruder 'clicking' is an audible indicator that the teeth on the hobbed gear are slipping... determining if this is a symptom or a problem is where things get tricky.
Not so sure about adjusting feed rate - as this will impact the entire print and may introduce other problems. Measuring the dimensions of a sample print with a set of calipers is a good way of identifying over/under extrusion.
General maintenance items perhaps?
* Thermistor: Nozzle temperature measurement is dependent upon the precision of the thermistor and how well it is attached... 5% drift at 220 degrees may be as low as 210 degrees or as high as 230 degrees. Use a thermocouple on a multimeter, non-contact probe, etc. to verify your nozzle temperature.
* Temperature: Nozzle temperature 'sag' of +/- 5 degrees is normal. Monitor nozzle temperature during a print to see if it stays within this range (see: Speed below).
* Speed: Printing fast is awesome... when you have a hotend that can keep-up with the demands of melting incoming filament. Too fast, and the filament may not be properly melted; increasing the pressure needed to force it through the nozzle. Support material and infill typically print faster than the rest of the model - you mentioned hearing clicks "...mostly during filling areas."
* Alignment: Make sure the hobbed gear, idler bearing, and filament are properly aligned. Filament that wanders around in the feed path is much more likely to slip and/or buckle.
* Teeth: Make sure that the teeth of the hobbed gear are clean and clear of debris. 'Gunk' in hobbed gear teeth reduce grip on the filament.
* Tension: Increase the tension between the hobbed gear and idler bearing if possible; worn hobbed gears may need a little extra help holding-on to the filament.
* Stepper: Heat generated by the stepper motor can be passed down to the hobbed gear... softening the filament and causing it to slip. Stepper quality, capacity, and duty cycle can greatly effect how much heat is generated; 200+ degrees is entirely possible. Passive cooling (heatsink) is a good idea, active cooling (fan) is better.
A loose heat-break, nicks in the filament path, variations in filament width, etc. are all possibilities as well.
Also, Simplify3D created a great reference for solutions to common 3D printing problems (if you haven't seen it already).
https://www.simplify3d.com/support/print-quality-troubleshooting/
> 4 votes
# Answer
Try reducing to just two perimeters, and let that blue area be calculated as infill. This may give you a zig-zag infill instead of a straight, oversized bead.
> 3 votes
# Answer
The only time that I've observed clicking from the extruder on my Anet-A8 is on the first layers when I have the head height set too low - the nozzle is unable to extrude at a high enough rate to allow the filament to progress as requested.
If you have a somewhat repeatable scenario, you could try reducing the filament feed rate to 90% or so, and see what effect that has. I have already observed with one of my reels of filament that 90% feed rate gives me a less over-filled solid area, so maybe the default feed rates are a little on the high side (or this filament is of excessive diameter).
> 2 votes
# Answer
One trap I've seen that causes the extruder to click, and over or underextrude is that the extruder control is in the wrong mode.
The extruder can be set into relative or absolute mode. If absolute extrusion values are sent while in relative mode, then the system will be trying to push more through than the nozzle or hot end can handle. You'll get blobs, clicking, ooze and it will damage the extruder and hot end.
Have a look at the G-code - and see what the "E" numbers look like - it they look relative (the same or close numbers repeatedly) or absolute (numbers slowly incrementing). Cura defaults to absolute - but initially was NOT sending the G-code to put my controller into absolute extruder positioning.
Note also - this is separate from the XYZ absolute/relative positioning modes.
* `M82` will put the extruder in absolute mode.
* `M83` will put it back into relative mode.
> 2 votes
# Answer
I had this issue and it turned out to be the extruder cog rubbing on the inside of the hole in the heatsink, causing the stepper to slip.
> 0 votes
---
Tags: extruder
--- |
thread-8268 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8268 | Main board heated bed connectors aren't powering up | 2019-02-13T17:44:40.477 | # Question
Title: Main board heated bed connectors aren't powering up
Flsun 3D Cube; Marlin 1.1.1; main board: Makerbase MKS Gen\_L V1.0; running from either Repetier or OctoPrint.
I was recently obliged to replace the main board when it stopped powering the heated bed. I got the new main board - same make, version, etc - got everything setup just as it was before, but the bed still doesn't heat. Multimeter shows zero across the board's heat bed contacts, whether using G-code from the terminal (in both Repetier and Octoprint), G-code in the print file, or the control panel on the front of the printer. The thermistor works: if I shine a heat lamp on the bed, it registers the temp change.
Bad board? Something in the Merlin config I missed? Is the board smart enough to not power it on if the bed heater itself is bad?
# Answer
Considering:
> Multimeter shows zero across the board's heat bed contacts
this implies that
* If you measured **resistance**, the heated bed has no resistance. Basically this implies that the bed has a short. This might be the reason why it is not working. If you would power it as such you create a short. Instead of replacing the board, you need to replace the heated bed. Typical values for a heated bed of about 200 x 200 mm are in the order of 1.2 Ω (measurements between 0.9 and 1.5 Ω are reasonable to be expected).
* If you measured **voltage**, the heated bed does not receive power for heating, or the power does not reach the bed (not turned on or broken wire?). It would then be wise to measure the resistance (of the bed and the wires). If the resistance is in the order of about 1.2 Ω (see above) for the bed, you could try to connect the heated bed directly to the PSU to see if it gets warm, if so, please disconnect immediately to prevent damage. From this experiment you can find whether the heated bed is broken (or the cables), or that the board is not functioning correctly, this is, however, strange as you tried 2 boards. A possible suspect could be the MOSFET that schedules the powering of the heated bed if you use an external MOSFET board that it.
* If you measured **current**, then you found out that no power is delivered to the board, but you also might have broken your board in the process, as measuring current is a (close to) 0 Ω connection and has to be done *in line* of a circuit.
> 2 votes
# Answer
Since the bed was warm when you connected to 12 V that means the bed and the wiring are good. It sounds like your multimeter is not too accurate, with a reading of 0.5 Ω (or you measured accidentally some other circuit), but no worries.
Since both boards do not power the bed, it seems like it could be a firmware setting. To help with that, a look at your config file, and possibly the `pins_ramps.h` file can help.
As a first check, your `mks_gen_L.h` file should look like this;
```
#if HOTENDS > 2 || E_STEPPERS > 2
#error "MKS GEN L supports up to 2 hotends / E-steppers. Comment out this line to continue."
#endif
#define BOARD_NAME "MKS GEN L"
//
// Heaters / Fans
//
// Power outputs EFBF or EFBE
#define MOSFET_D_PIN 7
//
// CS Pins wired to avoid conflict with the LCD
// See https://www.thingiverse.com/asset:66604
//
#ifndef X_CS_PIN
#define X_CS_PIN 59
#endif
#ifndef Y_CS_PIN
#define Y_CS_PIN 63
#endif
#include "pins_RAMPS.h"
```
Now all you need to confirm is that your bed is hooked to D7.
> 0 votes
---
Tags: electronics, flsun-3d-cube
--- |
thread-8353 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8353 | how to split a 40" model into 5 parts to print seperate | 2019-02-26T20:07:07.140 | # Question
Title: how to split a 40" model into 5 parts to print seperate
I currently have a model in fusion 360 of cylinders with the largest being 40" diameter in a specific pattern as seen below. My printer is a Ender-3x with the build plate dimensions of 8.7" x 8.7" x 9.8"
I need to break this model into 5 pieces of exactly equivalent length so I can print same piece 5 times to equal a full cylinder
# Answer
> 1 votes
You've got several options:
## Generate full-size STL, cut via software later
If you just have an STL, you can use software such as Meshmixer to modify it. In this case, a plain `plane cut` would suffice.
## Modifiy the design file
A better way is to go into the design file (in your case fusion) and modify it there. In your case, it's rather easy:
* add a construction plane
+ choose the right constraints, e.g. an angle to the XZ plane or a distance to the XY plane
* choose the model
+ `Edit > split model`
+ choose the construction plane you made
* rinse and repeat
If you want to get rid of parts that became superfluous after this, use the `remove` option, not the `delete` option, as the later tries to make sure that the object never was made in the workflow.
---
Tags: 3d-models, stl, fusion360
--- |
thread-8319 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8319 | Infill failure when printing larger prints | 2019-02-21T20:14:21.833 | # Question
Title: Infill failure when printing larger prints
I'm new to 3D printing an I just got a Creality Ender 3 and I think I'm getting some good results with small prints. However, now that I'm trying some bigger prints and I'm running into infill material excess. In the picture below I just printed a solid cube with 20 % infill and that's the result. I have been playing with settings a lot but I'm really running out of ideas. These are the settings I have:
* my bed, fortunately, came in pretty flat. My first layer is always very good indeed
* bed level method: paper method
* Slicer: Ultimaker Cura
* material: PETG (Amazon basics)
* layer height: 0.2 mm
* nozzle temperature: 230 °C, but also tried 220 °C and 210 °C
* bed temperature: 90 °C
* flow: 98 %, but also tried all the way to 90 %
* cooling: 0 %; the issue got a lot better with some additional cooling but I see a lot of people printing with no cooling
* infill density: 20 %
* retraction: on, 5 mm
* retraction speed: 40 mm/s
* first layer print speed: 30 mm
* print speed: 50 mm/s
* wall speed: 50 mm/s
* infill speed: 50 mm/s
Let me know if you want to know more settings, but I think these capture most of it.
If you guys have any suggestion on things I can try that would be of great help.
## UPDATE
After playing with some settings these are the changes I think I'm settling on:
* Flow: 105 %
* Coasting: On, 75 %
* Cooling: 60 %
* Retraction speed: 50 mm/s
Here is a picture of when the infill issue starts:
## NEW ISSUE
Now I'm getting a lot of stringing. Actually, I don't even know if it's stringing since I ran a test and came out basically perfect. Not a single stringing. I'm getting a lot of material that get dragged when the nozzle moves to one place to another and a lot of material accumulates on the nozzle and slowly drips everywhere during the print. Here is a video I made (not sure if it helps at all)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlIB1WW8z84&feature=youtu.be
I think I'm getting close to have good prints but I really can't figure this out.
# Answer
I have seen this a lot with people I have helped out in the past. sally infill or the lack of and weakness in the print is due to an extrusion issue. it looks like you are under extruding. this is why you do not see this in smaller prints. In the larger print you are giving the print head enough time to screw up. You need to look at the tension of the filament on the extruder to make sure it isn't skipping. You also need to do a estep calibration on the extruder. I usually extrude 100mm of filament and measure it to see if it is short. if it is short then it is under extruding and doing a larger print and printing a larger area will reveal short comings in extruder infill.
> 1 votes
---
Tags: troubleshooting, creality-ender-3, infill
--- |
thread-8350 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8350 | MakerBot JSON-RPC Command List | 2019-02-26T18:14:11.010 | # Question
Title: MakerBot JSON-RPC Command List
I'm currently trying to implement a data collector on my Replicator+ by utilizing JSON-RPC. Is there an **official** reference for this? MakerBot used to host a wiki site, but that seems to be gone for their "troubleshooting" pages.
# Answer
It took some digging, but I was able to start scripting a wrapper in C# for the RPC commands.
I still don't understand what every method does to the machine or necessarily what the results are, so a number of the methods are marked as obsolete until I can test them.
> 2 votes
# Answer
## The Mystery of Makerbot-Wiki
According to the Wayback machine, the wiki.makerbot.com went offline on 31st December 2012:
> Over the past three amazing years, MakerBot owners and enthusiasts around the world have shared knowledge with us and with each other. As we welcome thousands more MakerBot owners and users into the MakerBot family, we want to make sure that everyone always has the best information regarding our company and products, and that it's easily accessible.
>
> Here’s one thing we're doing to help: on December 31, as we close out the year, we will also turn off the lights at wiki.makerbot.com.
>
> The MakerBot wiki has served us well, but lately we've seen an increase in spam and a decline in community activity. Instead of continuing to maintain two separate sites, we're going to consolidate them.
>
> What that means is that, as of December 31st, the MakerBot wiki will no longer be available at this address. An archived version of the wiki as it stands today will be available at http://makerbot.com/support/archive and more former wiki content will be available at http://makerbot.com/support, which already hosts PDFs of some of the most useful Thing-O-Matic and Cupcake documentation. You may see some short periods of downtime as we finish moving this content.
>
> An archive of forum discussions will be available, but users seeking discussion with the incredibly knowledgable MakerBot community should head over to the MakerBot Operators Google Group. Requests for help and questions about MakerBot products should, as always, be sent to mailto:support@makerbot.com.
>
> Thanks for your contributions over the past few years to the MakerBot wiki. We hope you'll all continue to share your expertise with us and other MakerBot users for many years to come.
Before that, the makerbot wiki did tell that the Documentations had been moved:
> Note
> This wiki is intended for historical MakerBot documentation and community-supported projects. The new home for MakerBot documentation is http://www.makerbot.com/docs/
---
## JSON-RPC
There is a late 2013/early 2014 github that seems to work on the JSON-RPC and which might help - and still showed some activity past the lockup of the wiki.makerbot.com. It is only very poorly documented. The earliest activity was in 2012 with the main bulk in 2013.
The JSON project predates the start of work on the makerbot-gen5-api in 2014. This might mean that it might be documented there to some degree, But it might also be present in the generation 4 API.
> 1 votes
---
Tags: makerbot, replicator+
--- |
thread-8263 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8263 | Ender 3 print is skipping and dragging up base print lines | 2019-02-13T07:05:09.907 | # Question
Title: Ender 3 print is skipping and dragging up base print lines
I have only been able to get my prints this far. They just can’t stop skipping pulling material up towards the nozzle which then melts pulls of another random bit. At first I thought it was motor skipping, so I strengthened the spring, but even after that and calibrating the bed, I couldn’t figure out exactly how to fix this issue. Hopefully someone has some idea what is wrong.
# Answer
So, contrary to what people were saying, my problem came from my spring that controlled filament flow. There was too much tension and it caused motor skipping. I did get rid of the overlap with the blue tape, but otherwise I had to clamp down my spring and that fixed the issue.
> 4 votes
# Answer
I would get rid of the blue tape and go with glass and hairspray. Glass gives you more of a flat surface. You are printing with the aluminum build plate which over time c an warp. The glass with give you a much flatter and level surface to print om. Blue Tape is actually not a great surface to print on. Hairspray using a chemical compound that actually is related to a PLA makeup. This compound in Aquanet Hairspray will bond to the PLA and release when cold. Using both the glass and hairspray will give you and even build plate and a clean smooth surface that it will stick to better than blue tape.
> 0 votes
---
Tags: creality-ender-3, print-failure
--- |
thread-8371 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8371 | Creality ender 3 buildplate jamming | 2019-02-28T16:05:29.863 | # Question
Title: Creality ender 3 buildplate jamming
I bought a ender 3 a short time ago and yesterday i noticed a print failed. It seems like the buildplate jammed while trying to move along the y-axis so i replaced the v-shape wheels that keep it on the rails. However it still seems like my buildplate jams with every print en so my print layers move when the buildplate doesn't move making the layers not connect at the right places. Is there anyone who had this problem before and might know how to fix this?
# Answer
that sounds like layer shift... you might have one of these issues
* overtightened the carriage wheels.
* a loose Y-belt.
* something getting into the bed's cable, resulting in drag.
> 1 votes
---
Tags: diy-3d-printer, creality-ender-3, build-plate
--- |
thread-8372 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8372 | Sealing PLA & oil-based art supplies? | 2019-02-28T19:07:38.633 | # Question
Title: Sealing PLA & oil-based art supplies?
I will be printing an item that's usually made out of resin, but my version will be made out of PLA. Here are some questions I have:
1. Usually, people seal the resin with brands such as Testor's, Liquitex, or Mr. Super Clear, to create a layer that prevents paint or materials from bleeding into the resin over time. Is this necessary for items made out of PLA? Will the same sealant brands work?
2. On these resin items, people steer clear of oil-based art supplies, like oil pastels, because the they will also stain the resin. Does the same concept apply to PLA?
3. Sometimes, certain dyed fabrics or synthetic materials will stain resin. Do these materials also have the potential to stain PLA?
Thanks for the help!
# Answer
> 1 votes
I have worked with PLA and paints before. I use mainly acryl-based paints as well as spray lacquers.
## Sealent is not necessary.
While a sealant is not necessary, you might prefer to use a spray on, smooth drying lacquer to get a smooth surface. PLA does not "soak in" paints or colors like resins.
---
Tags: pla, post-processing
--- |
thread-8368 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8368 | Extruder clicking issue with MKS Board v1.5 | 2019-02-28T14:08:01.427 | # Question
Title: Extruder clicking issue with MKS Board v1.5
So I know there have been several clicking Extruder threads but have not found any solutions to the one I am having.
Background: I have a custom Prusa like 3d printer fitted with an MKS board (v1.5) and an MK3 Extruder.
The issue: **While i can extrude fine when ordering some extrusion, as soon as i start to print an object the extruder just starts "clicking".**
What I have tried so far:
1. Changing motors: I have tried using a new motor which I know it works and the problem persists.
2. I have adjusted the stepper driver voltages, and the problem persists.
3. I have changed the PSU and the problem persists.
4. Changing the whole board: I have changed the whole board with a brand new one and the problem persists.
I am out of options here. So now the only logical explanation is that the both boards (the old and new) have exactly the same problem, i.e. the extruder stepper driver is bad in some way. Yet again, it works fine when simply extruding...
Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks.
# Answer
There is one reason why extruders "click": the material can't be melted and advanced fast enough.
There are two likely reasons why your extruder works when used manually, but not during a print:
**1. The temperature is not hot enough for the speed (volume per second) demanded by the print.**
Have you verified that you're using the proper temperature, and that the head is reaching the proper temperature?
**2. There is too much resistance on the delivery.**
Have you verified that the Z positioning is not too close, causing back pressure and interfering with the deposition?
> 2 votes
# Answer
Perhaps the print extrude speed is much higher than the manual extrude speed.
Often times the jog functions presented in printer host software are set to reasonably low speeds, while the actual maximum allowed speed is much higher. If you are using pronterface, there is an option above the jog controls to set the speed. Note it's current value, and raise it until either the extruder clicks as your print does, or until it simple stops increasing speed. If you can make it click with more speed, then your max E speed limit is too high. You can either lower it with M203 in your starting gcode, or reflash the firmware with a new value. Alternatively you could limit the speed in your slicer and trust that it will not exceed the machine's capabilities.
If you cannot make it click with more speed in a manual extrude, then the firmware limits are fine (you can still check them with M503) and the problem is elsewhere. Perhaps the filament getting caught, or a motor wire damaged and making partial contact.
> 2 votes
---
Tags: extruder
--- |
thread-8373 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8373 | Installing bowden tube into E3D V6 | 2019-02-28T19:08:22.303 | # Question
Title: Installing bowden tube into E3D V6
I'm struggling with an upgrade I made to my Creality CR-10. I upgraded the extruder to an E3D V6 hotend. The extruder mount and cooling fans are installed and working, however, I'm doing something wrong with installing the bowden tube into the hotend. Inevitably after I print a few layers, the extruder jambs and the issue is always the same: the bowden tube has backed itself out a few tenths of a millimeter, and the filament has mushroomed into the vacant space and hardened so that the filament cannot go forward or backwards.
I've tried several things to fix the issue including:
* Trying various pneumatic fittings from various suppliers
* Recutting the end of the bowden tube to attempt to make it more flush
* Replacing the bowden tube
* Three different E3D heat-breaks from different supplier
* Various ways of inserting the bowden tube including: pushing it after the fitting was screwed in, pushing it into a fitting that was back out a couple turns and then screwing the fitting in
The only thing that has (partially) worked was when I would ductape and hot-glue the bowden tube into the fitting so it couldn't back out. However, since I'm still tweaking things, I inevitably have to disassemble things and I'm back to square one.
I'm trying to figure out what mistake I am making to keep causing this issue. As an example, originally I used the pneumatic fittings wrong and thought I was supposed to pull the plastic part out to release the tube, rather than simply pushing it in to release the tube. (Needless to say, I wrecked a lot of fittings that way.)
What else might I be doing wrong to keep causing this issue? What are other culprits to this issue happening repeatedly? Are there firmware settings that may help (or be aggravating the issue)?
# Answer
> 7 votes
You may need to secure the pneumatic coupling in the closed position with a small plastic clip (which should be supplied with the hot end).
You can print your own, providing that your printer will work for long enough (a paper clip might do the trick):
Thingiverse: Bowden Tube Clip v3
**Addendum:**
Some pneumatic couplers are sprung, so that you have to depress the coupling ring in order to release the tubing. In this case, no clip is usually required. Other pneumatic couplers (such as the one on an E3D V6) are unsprung. This makes it easier to secure and release the tube using the supplied clip. The disadvantage is that you may lose the clip. Sprung couplers sometimes lose their springiness, in which case a clip can be used to secure them in the closed position
It's "swings and roundabouts", really. You can to choose between the awkwardness of sprung couplers, or the risk of losing a clip. Either way, print some spare clips. You may need them one day.
# Answer
> -2 votes
This sounds more like a problem with heat creep. When you installed the new hotend, did you reuse the old cooling solution? You might need more heatblock insulation and / or cooling power.
---
Tags: extruder, bowden, e3d-v6
--- |
thread-8387 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8387 | Extruder retracts filament while moving from default start line to actual object location | 2019-03-01T20:32:51.040 | # Question
Title: Extruder retracts filament while moving from default start line to actual object location
I am new to 3D printing and recently got a second hand RF1000 and am busy calibrating it. For this I want to print a basic calibration cube. I noticed the print doesn't always start with enough filament in the nozzle. To make sure the starting point for all prints are the same I added this G-Code in the CuraEngine settings:
```
G92 E0 ; start line
G1 F300 E-0.5
G1 X230 Y22 Z0.35 F5000
G1 F800 E13
G1 X20 E25 F1000
```
This works however after this the slicer automatically adds G-Code to move the extruder to the skirt location. This should be fine however I noticed that during the last part of this movement it retracts filament. This causes the start of the actual print to fail. What causes this and how can I change my settings to prevent this?
Thanks for any help or advice you can give!
Below is the G-Code from start until the end of the skirt.
```
;Generated with Cura_SteamEngine 15.01
; Default start code
G28 ; Home extruder
G1 Z15 F100
M107 ; Turn off fan
G90 ; Absolute positioning
M82 ; Extruder in absolute mode
M190 S60
; Activate all used extruder
M104 T0 S210
G92 E0 ; Reset extruder position
; Wait for all used extruders to reach temperature
M109 T0 S210
G92 E0 ; start line
G1 F300 E-0.5
G1 X230 Y22 Z0.35 F5000
G1 F800 E13
G1 X20 E25 F1000
;Layer count: 199
;LAYER:0
M106 S127
G0 F9000 X80.200 Y80.200 Z0.200
;TYPE:SKIRT
G1 F1800 X119.800 Y80.200 E0.44818
G1 X119.800 Y119.800 E0.89636
G1 X80.200 Y119.800 E1.34454
G1 X80.200 Y80.200 E1.79272
G0 F9000 X80.600 Y80.600
G1 F1800 X119.400 Y80.600 E2.23185
G1 X119.400 Y119.400 E2.67097
G1 X80.600 Y119.400 E3.11010
G1 X80.600 Y80.600 E3.54923
G0 F9000 X81.000 Y81.000
G1 F1800 X119.000 Y81.000 E3.97930
G1 X119.000 Y119.000 E4.40937
G1 X81.000 Y119.000 E4.83944
G1 X81.000 Y81.000 E5.26951
G0 F9000 X81.400 Y81.400
G1 F1800 X118.600 Y81.400 E5.69053
G1 X118.600 Y118.600 E6.11155
G1 X81.400 Y118.600 E6.53257
G1 X81.400 Y81.400 E6.95359
G0 F9000 X81.800 Y81.800
G1 F1800 X118.200 Y81.800 E7.36555
G1 X118.200 Y118.200 E7.77751
G1 X81.800 Y118.200 E8.18948
G1 X81.800 Y81.800 E8.60144
G0 F9000 X82.200 Y82.200
G1 F1800 X117.800 Y82.200 E9.00435
G1 X117.800 Y117.800 E9.40726
G1 X82.200 Y117.800 E9.81017
G1 X82.200 Y82.200 E10.21308
G0 F9000 X82.600 Y82.600
G1 F1800 X117.400 Y82.600 E10.60693
G1 X117.400 Y117.400 E11.00079
G1 X82.600 Y117.400 E11.39465
G1 X82.600 Y82.600 E11.78850
G0 F9000 X83.000 Y83.000
G1 F1800 X117.000 Y83.000 E12.17330
G1 X117.000 Y117.000 E12.55810
G1 X83.000 Y117.000 E12.94290
G1 X83.000 Y83.000 E13.32771
G0 F9000 X83.400 Y83.400
G1 F1800 X116.600 Y83.400 E13.70345
G1 X116.600 Y116.600 E14.07920
G1 X83.400 Y116.600 E14.45495
G1 X83.400 Y83.400 E14.83069
G0 F9000 X83.800 Y83.800
G1 F1800 X116.200 Y83.800 E15.19739
G1 X116.200 Y116.200 E15.56408
G1 X83.800 Y116.200 E15.93077
G1 X83.800 Y83.800 E16.29747
G0 F9000 X84.200 Y84.200
G1 F1800 X115.800 Y84.200 E16.65511
G1 X115.800 Y115.800 E17.01274
G1 X84.200 Y115.800 E17.37038
G1 X84.200 Y84.200 E17.72802
G0 F9000 X84.600 Y84.600
G1 F1800 X115.400 Y84.600 E18.07661
G1 X115.400 Y115.400 E18.42519
G1 X84.600 Y115.400 E18.77378
G1 X84.600 Y84.600 E19.12236
G0 F9000 X85.000 Y85.000
G1 F1800 X115.000 Y85.000 E19.46189
G1 X115.000 Y115.000 E19.80142
G1 X85.000 Y115.000 E20.14095
G1 X85.000 Y85.000 E20.48048
G0 F9000 X85.400 Y85.400
G1 F1800 X114.600 Y85.400 E20.81096
G1 X114.600 Y114.600 E21.14144
G1 X85.400 Y114.600 E21.47191
G1 X85.400 Y85.400 E21.80239
G0 F9000 X85.800 Y85.800
G1 F1800 X114.200 Y85.800 E22.12381
G1 X114.200 Y114.200 E22.44523
G1 X85.800 Y114.200 E22.76665
G1 X85.800 Y85.800 E23.08808
G0 F9000 X86.200 Y86.200
G1 F1800 X113.800 Y86.200 E23.40045
G1 X113.800 Y113.800 E23.71281
G1 X86.200 Y113.800 E24.02518
G1 X86.200 Y86.200 E24.33755
G0 F9000 X86.600 Y86.600
G1 F1800 X113.400 Y86.600 E24.64086
G1 X113.400 Y113.400 E24.94418
G1 X86.600 Y113.400 E25.24749
G1 X86.600 Y86.600 E25.55081
G0 F9000 X87.000 Y87.000
G1 F1800 X113.000 Y87.000 E25.84507
G1 X113.000 Y113.000 E26.13932
G1 X87.000 Y113.000 E26.43358
G1 X87.000 Y87.000 E26.72784
G0 F9000 X87.400 Y87.400
G1 F1800 X112.600 Y87.400 E27.01305
G1 X112.600 Y112.600 E27.29826
G1 X87.400 Y112.600 E27.58346
G1 X87.400 Y87.400 E27.86867
G0 F9000 X87.800 Y87.800
G1 F1800 X112.200 Y87.800 E28.14482
G1 X112.200 Y112.200 E28.42097
G1 X87.800 Y112.200 E28.69712
G1 X87.800 Y87.800 E28.97327
G0 F9000 X88.200 Y88.200
G1 F1800 X111.800 Y88.200 E29.24037
G1 X111.800 Y111.800 E29.50747
G1 X88.200 Y111.800 E29.77457
G1 X88.200 Y88.200 E30.04166
G0 F9000 X88.600 Y88.600
G1 F1800 X111.400 Y88.600 E30.29971
G1 X111.400 Y111.400 E30.55775
G1 X88.600 Y111.400 E30.81579
G1 X88.600 Y88.600 E31.07384
G0 F9000 X89.000 Y89.000
G1 F1800 X111.000 Y89.000 E31.32282
G1 X111.000 Y111.000 E31.57181
G1 X89.000 Y111.000 E31.82080
G1 X89.000 Y89.000 E32.06979
G0 F9000 X89.400 Y89.400
G1 F1800 X110.600 Y89.400 E32.30973
G1 X110.600 Y110.600 E32.54966
G1 X89.400 Y110.600 E32.78960
G1 X89.400 Y89.400 E33.02953
G0 F9000 X89.800 Y89.800
G1 F1800 X110.200 Y89.800 E33.26041
G1 X110.200 Y110.200 E33.49129
G1 X89.800 Y110.200 E33.72217
G1 X89.800 Y89.800 E33.95305
G0 F9000 X90.600 Y90.600
```
# Answer
**The problem is that you prime the nozzle, but don't reset the filament length.**
With your last priming action:
`G1 X20 E25 F1000`
You deposit a line that is followed by a move to the start of the skirt:
`G0 F9000 X80.200 Y80.200 Z0.200`
The printing of the start of the skirt is done by:
`G1 F1800 X119.800 Y80.200 E0.44818`
Notice the `E` term in your final priming line and the skirt print command; it goes from **`E25`** to **`E0.44818`**, as these specify absolute movement, this results in a retraction of about 24.5 mm. What you should do is implement a `G92 E0` after your last priming command to fix this incorrect retraction behavior.
---
<sub>*Please also do note that you are using a very old version of the CuraEngine, maybe it is possible to update to a newer version as well; depending on the slicer you use.*</sub>
> 4 votes
---
Tags: ultimaker-cura, g-code, extrusion
--- |
thread-7609 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/7609 | "Missing" rows on 64x128 LCD after flashing Marlin 1.1.9 onto Monoprice Maker Select v2 | 2018-12-09T23:52:58.267 | # Question
Title: "Missing" rows on 64x128 LCD after flashing Marlin 1.1.9 onto Monoprice Maker Select v2
I've successfully flashed Marlin 1.1.9 onto a Melzi v3.5 board (the stock board for my Monoprice Maker Select v2 (v2.1?, a white-labelled Wanhao i3 Duplicator).
Initially after the flash succeeded the LCD displayed was "garbled". The right side, in particular, had lots of pixels out of place. I was able to resolve this by experimenting with some delay variables. Prior to the flash the LCD was 100 % working; to my knowledge no damage happened while I had the machine apart.
Here's my changes to `Configuration.h` from Marlin 1.1.9, excluding anything to do with X/Y/Z/E, etc (irrelevant stuff).
```
#define MOTHERBOARD BOARD_MELZI
#define SDSUPPORT
#define REVERSE_ENCODER_DIRECTION
//
// LCD for Melzi Card with Graphical LCD
//
#define LCD_FOR_MELZI
// Increase delays to fix garbled LCD
#define ST7920_DELAY_1 DELAY_NS(0)
#define ST7920_DELAY_2 DELAY_NS(100)
#define ST7920_DELAY_3 DELAY_NS(200)
```
The display is much better, however there are about 4x rows of pixels through center of the display running left to right that *mostly* don't display. There are little sections--perhaps 20x pixels (maybe 3%) that do appear to be displaying.
Here's a photo of the problem:
Are there any other typical culprits? Based on what I've read it sounds like this is a recent(ish) issue with Marlin, and perhaps would be solved with an older version or a different firmware.
Here's a photo, if you look closely you can see the 'dead' rows, with about 6x pixels work
**PS.** While troubleshooting I added shielding to the LCD's ribbon cable (foil wrapping the cable, grounded, and wrapped with electrical tape). It didn't help, but I left it on.
# Answer
> 2 votes
Possibly unrelated to the firmware? This happened to me when I tightened the mount screws on the LCD, after I backed them off a bit it was fine.
---
Tags: marlin, wanhao, monoprice-maker-select
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thread-6188 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/6188 | Subtract of two STL files in Slic3r software | 2018-06-17T12:24:57.687 | # Question
Title: Subtract of two STL files in Slic3r software
I have a question about Slic3r software.
I would like to subtract two parts. For example, I have an STL model, when I right click on the part, I can select **Settings...**, and in the **Settings** window, I can select modifier and I can select slab.with selecting proper thickness. Now we have two parts where one of them is inside of another. My problem is subtracting those two parts.
How can I subtract this part from another?
# Answer
> 4 votes
Given my limited familiarity with all the CAD tools that exist, I would fall back to something that I know does binary operations on volumes -- openScad.
One can create two objects, one from each of the two STL files, and subtract one from the other. One can also compute intersections, unions, and other operations.
There are probably other programs that also do this, but openScad allows for doing in programmatically, so that once you have it right, you can update the objects without needing to redo the finicky part of the operations.
slic3r may do this, but I haven't seen such features in my multi-year use of slic3r for slicing.
When in doubt, IMO it is better to script something. It is virtually never that I do something only once, especially in 3D printing where rapid prototype leads to rapid change and improvement.
# Answer
> 0 votes
I am assuming your trying to perforate, hollow or cut your design in a specific shape that is the same as the inner 3D object or vice versa?
Do this with 3Ds max its just really easy there for such operations.
Please load into Autodesk 3Ds max and perform Boolean.
This is the link on how to use the Boolean tool, Boolean Compound Object
There are other software like magics where this can be done but as you seem to be trying this for the first time. I will suggest only 3Ds max.
# Answer
> 0 votes
Don't try to do it in the slicing program, instead create a new STL that is the difference. The slicing program shouldn't be used to modify STLs.
Plus, this is a pretty quick and easy thing to do. You can do a difference operation using OpenSCAD (as mentioned above) or atomiccompiler.com if you don't want to install new software just for one operation.
# Answer
> 0 votes
If the objects are manifold and has no issues, Blender can perform boolean operations. I would prefer blender over OpenSCAD as OpenSCAD crashes (at least for me) if there are issues with the mesh; over 3DMax because it is free, fast, and smaller to download and works in my choice of operating system.
Import STL files by File, Import, STL. If that option is not enabled: File, User Preferences, Add-ons, search for STL and enable that option.
Simply select the main object with right click, on the right panel find modifiers with wrench icon, click add modifier and select the operation (difference) and the other object. If the result is not satisfying, try Carve in the solver options. If there are problems in the result it is generally because of issues with the STL files. Use a tool fix those issues and try again.
Once you are happy with the result, you can export by selecting your object, going into File, export, STL and select Selected only option so that the negative object will not be merged with the carved result while exporting.
# Answer
> 0 votes
Meshmixer will perform boolean operations between two STL objects faster than OpenSCAD.
Import the primary .stl, append the second .stl: the one you want to take away from the primary. In the Object Browser window select the primary and then hold the Ctrl key down and left click on the second, a window pops up giving you a boolean difference option.
---
Tags: slic3r, stl
--- |
thread-8397 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8397 | Using hardboard for 3D printer enclosure; what is the temperature rating of hardboard? | 2019-03-03T23:37:04.290 | # Question
Title: Using hardboard for 3D printer enclosure; what is the temperature rating of hardboard?
I am looking for the temperature rating for hardboard. I want to use that as the base for my printer enclosure.
It has proven incredible hard get a ball-park figure from Google.
So, what is the maximum safe temperature for a hardboard panel at long term? (considering a print job can easily take 6 hours).
PS: if you have used a hardboard to build your enclosure, your experience might be helpful.
# Answer
> 5 votes
Hardboard is called *Masonite* here in the States because that is the trade name of the product. If you look up the Material Safety Data Sheet you will see Masonite it states the following (Section 5):
> Auto-ignition Temperature (°C): \>200 degrees Celsius
In Section 7, it states:
> These boards are flammable but difficult to ignite.
Furthermore in Section 10, it states:
> **Conditions to avoid:** Avoid sources of radiant heat and flame; and avoid sparks and sources of ignition in all electrical equipment, including dust extraction equipment. Avoid excessive build up of dust from boards.
The hot end works of printers are neither radiant heat, nor flames, nor sparks. Yes, you'll have a buildup of heat within the working confines of an enclosure, but if you are only using it for a base there should be absolutely no issues. If you were to build an entire enclosure from hardboard, you could put a thermal probe inside with the printer to ensure it doesn't get too hot, but realistically, it will never get hot enough within the enclosure to light the hardboard on fire.
# Answer
> 4 votes
Masonite or hardboard is a high-density board without a resin. It is listed at around 200 to 275 °C for its autoignition temperature. Just for comparison, let's look at similar products.
Medium-density fiberboard (MDF) is similar to hardboard but bonded with a resin, offering a smoother surface and is listed at 200 to 275 °C, so pretty close.
The heavier High-density fiberboard variant is listed with about the same temperatures of about 200 to 275 °C.
Oriented Strand Board (OSB) is listed at 200 to 260 °C.
## Conclusion
All the materials have very similar autoignition temperatures, so none of them particularly shines over the other. Using a proper fire safety procedure is highly encouraged, even though the ambient temperature in the enclosure should not reach even close to the 200 °C unless the printer has a freak accident and catches fire itself.
* A smoke detector is a must.
* Some kind of cooling method that keeps the inside at a temperature down is highly encouraged. A simple temperature activated fan might help in this.
* Lining the inside of the box with a thicker aluminium or copper tape can help to even out the temperature over the surfaces faster, preventing the formation of hotspots that might otherwise reach dangerous temperatures. Copper tapes are more expensive than Aluminium tapes but have a better heat transfer coefficient.<sup>1</sup>
* Including an automatic fire suppression system could be an option.
<sup>1 - The RS Catalogue was just chosen for ease of navigation. McMaster Carr does list special heat shielding tape in both thin and aluminium as well as copper and aluminium foil tapes. I am not affiliated to either.</sup>
---
Tags: enclosure
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thread-8382 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8382 | Isn't using the Extrusion Multiplier like cheating? | 2019-03-01T13:56:00.977 | # Question
Title: Isn't using the Extrusion Multiplier like cheating?
One thing I never understood is the so-called **Extrusion Multiplier (EM)** or **Flow** setting in slicers like Simplify3D (S3D) or CURA.
The description for this setting reads...
* S3D: *Multiplier for all extrusion movements (...)*
* CURA: *The amount of material extruded is multiplied by this value. (...)*
I always believed that this parameter is just an ugly way to fix an underlying miscalculation or misconfiguration, because using it feels like doing a calculation, getting the wrong result and "correcting" it afterwards by a multiplier - *isn't that cheating*?
---
But, recently I thought a bit harder about this setting, now I am not sure anymore. One of the main reasons is, that S3D suggests different values for the EM, depending on the type of plastics used, **0.9 for PLA** and **1.0 for ABS**.
This somehow implies that there is a *physical property* that justifies the EM, but I cannot think of one because 1 m feeded would lead to 1 m extruded - no matter what kind of platics used, right?
# Answer
No, the Flow rate or Extrusion multiplier is to compensate for different materials and temperature ranges.
## Where does the factor come from?
Let's say we calibrated our nozzle for work at 200°C with PLA, so 100 mm extrusion are correct and want to print ABS. ABS behaves differently and we get bad prints. What is wrong? Well, they do behave differently in the heat, and print at different temperatures. One easily noticeable difference between the two is the heat expansion coefficient.
Now, I had to scrounge through research papers and Material/Technical Data Sheets for PLA, so take that one with a grain of salt. But we can clearly compare the various plastics heat expansion coefficients:
* PLA: $41 \frac{\text{µm}}{\text{m K}}$ <sup>a TDS</sup>
* ABS: $72 \to 108 \frac{\text{µm}}{\text{m K}}$
* Polycarbonate: $65 \to 70 \frac{\text{µm}}{\text{m K}}$
* Polyamides (Nylons): $80 \to 110 \frac{\text{µm}}{\text{m K}}$
Those are just three randomly picked plastics that clearly are printable. If we heat one meter of them by one Kelvin, they'd expand by that length (a couple micrometer). We heat the later three printing materials to about 200-240 K over the room temperature (~220-260 °C), so we'd expect these the materials to expand by the following ranges:
* PLA: 6.97 to 7.79 mm <sup>(1)</sup>
* ABS: 14.4 to 25.92 mm <sup>(2)</sup>
* Polycarbonate: 13 to 16.8 mm <sup>(2)</sup>
* Polyamides (Nylons): 16 to 26.4 mm <sup>(2)</sup>
<sup>1 - using 170 K and 190 K temperature difference for its normal print temperature range of ca 190 to 200 °C
2 - first: low expansion at 200 K increase, then high expansion at 240 K</sup>
You have calibrated your printer for *one* of these values somewhere in there. And now you get a different filament that has a different color and a different blend or even you swap from PLA to ABS or switch from one brand to another - the result is: you get a different heat expansion coefficient somewhere in that range and you have almost no chance to know it. The heat expansion coefficient, in the end, has an effect on the pressure in the nozzle and this the speed the material leaves the nozzle, which impacts die swell and so the overall printing behavior.
Remember that heat expansion is not the only thing that is happening in the nozzle. Other big factors are for example the viscosity of the polymer at its printing temperature, its compressibility (which depends for example on chain length or embedded fillers), the geometry of the nozzle, the length of the melt zone... they all play a role in how exactly the print gets to come out.
We can sum all those up under a general "behavior in the nozzle" tag, and as a result one gets vastly different flow/extrusion multipliers, like the 0.9 for PLA/1 for ABS in Simplify3D.
## Other Factors?
There are also other factors that play a role.
The distance between the extruder and the melt zone and how the filament behaves there are somewhat obvious: A ductile filament can bunch up some in a Bowden tube while in a direct drive there is much less space for that.
The extruder can have an influence depending on the geometry of the drive gear and how much it *bites* into the filament. The depth of the deformation is again dependant on the hardness of the filament and the geometry of the teeth. Tollo has a great explanation how this has an effect on the need to alter the extrusion multiplier.
## gaining the factors
Most of these are determined by trial and error using a factor of 1 and dialing up manually until proper printing is achieved on the machine, then putting that factor back into the software.
As a side note: Ultimaker Cura has (in its filament database) the ability to save flow rates into each different filament, but does initialize all with 100 % default.
## TL;DR
It is a way to adjust to the relative difference between the behavior of filaments (using one of your filaments as the calibration) and *not* cheating.
> 20 votes
# Answer
In addition to the very detailed answers above, I would like to mention that the hardness of the filament plays a role too.
Most feeders are spring loaded, therefore it depends on the **hardness of the filament** how far the teeth of the driving gear do sink in. The deeper they sink in, the smaller the **effective diameter** of the driving gear becomes.
Therefore the E-steps/mm are not the same among ABS (~100 shore D) and PLA (~83 shore D).
This would lead to a higher value (of E-steps/mm) necessary for PLA as for ABS, contrary to the values mentioned in the OP (EM of 0.9 for PLA / EM of 1.0 for ABS), where the extrusion multiplier is higher for ABS than for PLA.
> 7 votes
# Answer
That's one way to look at it, I guess. I think a more accurate way is to consider it an "ad-hoc calibration" where one realizes that their printer isn't extruding enough/too much and the EM adjusts the flow to extrude the correct amount.
The underlying calculation, at least the main one, would be the steps/mm set in the firmware. If it's off, one fix is to figure out how much it is off by and change the EM to that. The better solution is to determine the actual steps/mm and flash the firmware so that the EM can be set to 1.
> 3 votes
# Answer
To address the 'cheating or not' aspect directly. There are several other parameters (steps/mm, nominal filament diameter) which have a direct equivalent impact on the end result (at least ignoring small 2nd order effects like the retract distances).
As a purist, you might argue that these could all be rolled up into a single calibration parameter in the slicer, and it is a waste to allow the user to pick how to manage the differences (but this is not a very modern UI approach).
The clearest reason for 'permitting' the use of extrusion multiplier is that *during a print*, extrusion multiplier is one parameter that can often be adjusted on the fly. If you end up needing to perform on the fly calibration, it absolutely makes sense to transfer this parameter from the machine to the slicer rather than perform the extra calculations to determine a new nominal filament diameter. It will probably be easier to remember a specific spool needing 95%, rather than 1.7nnn mm.
> 2 votes
# Answer
The extrusion multiplier is just to compensate for amounts of flow. A material like PLA is very fluid when at 190-200C, so to extrude slightly less then 100% would reduce zits on the print, slightly increase tolerance, reduce stringing and also reduce risk of heatcreep. Materials like ABS and Nylon aren't as liquid when at temperature, so they don't require any alterations to the flow rate during printing. Flow rate can also be adjusted to improve first layers, although too much can cause "elephants foot", or too much first layer squish, similar to having your bed leveled too close.
> 1 votes
---
Tags: extrusion, simplify3d
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thread-8388 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8388 | Ender3 printing tilted layers | 2019-03-02T05:11:23.023 | # Question
Title: Ender3 printing tilted layers
I bought an Ender 3, and after assembling it following the description and some YouTube videos and after correct leveling, I printed the test dog gcode on the micro SD card that comes with the printer. PLA 1.75 mm. Attached the image of the printing result. What went wrong? I didn't change or modify any settings what so ever, I just assembled the printer, and printed the test dog. Please help me, I am a beginner in 3D printing.
# Answer
> 3 votes
This is an extreme case of repeated layer shifting in the Y-carriage, which can come from some pieces related to the carriage. Luckily for you, they are easily fixable.
* The Ender3 Y-carriage has an eccentric nut to adjust the force the wheels press down on the V-slot. Adjust it (most likely loosen them a little) so it moves smoothly when the motors are off, but keep it tight enough so it does not tilt.
* The belt in the Y-carriage might be loose. Tighten it till it gives a nice ring when struck.
* Check if the gear on the Y-motor is tightened down correctly. If it slips or wriggles, the backlash results in the layers shifting.
* The Ender3 has the cables to the gantry and the bed running across each other and quite open. Make sure nothing can be caught in them.
* Make sure the gantry is parallel to the bed and stays so in moving upwards - adjust the wheels as needed.
+ To ensure this, make sure the lead screw is orthogonal to the gantry. Level the bed afterwards. You might need to adjust the motor mount, possibly by shimming.
# Answer
> 0 votes
Ender 3's have a reputation to be not quite square on the base. Make sure that your X, Y, and X axis' are all perfectly squared.
---
Tags: print-quality, troubleshooting, creality-ender-3
--- |
thread-8343 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8343 | Filament moving around and not sticking to bed | 2019-02-25T22:08:24.473 | # Question
Title: Filament moving around and not sticking to bed
I have only just set up my Anet A6 today. I am trying to print a calibration box, but the print is moving around the bed while trying to print. Any ideas how to fix this? The documentation is very vague.
Basically I am very new to 3D printing. I purchased an Anet A6 and have set it up stock. I am trying to just print the box directly from the demo models on the SD card. I'm using the standard filament that comes with the printer. I'm not sure what type it is.
All settings are default.
# Answer
> 3 votes
If the printed material moves with the nozzle, you might have several problems at hand, e.g.:
* adhesion,
* nozzle to bed distance and
* overall level.
Nozzle to bed distance needs to be the thickness of a plain A4 or Letter paper. This needs to be at the same distance (when pulling the sheet of paper you need to feel a little drag) at the complete area of the bed. This is sometimes difficult as not all beds are perfectly flat from itself. Finally, you need to pull some tricks out of your sleeve to get the filament to adhere to the bed. Many example can be found, popular ones are using blue tape, glass bed, glue stick, PVA based spray (e.g. strong hairspray or dedicated spray cans like 3DLAC or Dimafix, etc.), or a combination of these. You just need to experiment some more what works best for you, but it is good to start with a correctly levelled bed with the proper nozzle gap. Sometimes, increasing the bed and filament temperature with 5 °C for the first layer also helps.
# Answer
> 2 votes
Also check your speed settings. 1st layer should always be printed 50% of the normal speed, if not less. (my choice is 20mm/s)
If your overall printing speed is really fast, collision with already printed lines may be the issue. You can try either slow down movement/print or avoid/retract over peripherals.
Any hairspray containing **neodecanoate copolymer** is a great adhesion, and very cheap :)
# Answer
> -1 votes
Chances are, you're not levelled close enough. try levelling your bed when it's heated around 60C (or as high as you can get if your machine's FW won't let it go that high) with a piece of standard printer paper. you should get a bit of resistance, and play around with the paper for a bit, find a happy medium. Try spreading glue stick on your bed, or spray it with hairspray. If you have BuildTak or some form of PEI, wipe it with some 99% rubbing alcohol. Lastly, find a fairly simple model on thingiverse.com or myminifactory.com, and slice it using either Raft or Skirt as build plate adhesion. I prefer a skirt because you can actively be checking how your bed levelling is, and adjust it. And make sure your first layer flow or extrusion multiplier is slightly higher is about 110-120%. This can get you good sticking almost every time.
---
Tags: troubleshooting, adhesion, anet-a6
--- |
thread-8210 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8210 | Is PETG filament food safe? | 2019-02-09T14:23:58.727 | # Question
Title: Is PETG filament food safe?
I've been trying to find a 3D printer filament which would not release any chemicals if in contact with heated water for a substantial amount of time. So far, I've easily ruled out both PLA and ABS, as they're not considered food safe from what I can find. I have found PETG filament, which seems to be food safe.
My question is: "Is there's anything special you'd have to do to make sure the print is food safe, or as in my case, to make sure it's safe for usage in a mug?".
I will be using a steel extruder as brass ones may contain lead.
# Answer
Many manufactures list their filaments as being food safe, but I would not treat this as "gospel truth". Apparently, the FDA considers PETG to be safe for food contact, but they are probably thinking about injection-moulded and vacuum-formed parts. Unfortunately, an initial search of the FDA's website did not yield any definitive information.
Even if a particular filament is genuinely food safe, that does not mean that a 3D-printed part made from it will be food safe, since there will be an abundance of nooks and crannies where bacteria can lodge and reproduce. You would have to sterilise a utensil before and after every use to be absolutely safe.
Anyway, good luck with making a water-tight mug with an FDM printer. You will probably have to seal it to make it water-tight, and then it will be the food-safety of the sealant that you will need to worry about. I would give it a miss, if I were you (at least, for other people's use). Items intended for one-time use would be OK, I suppose.
> 8 votes
# Answer
As far as PET-based filaments go, most of them are FDA approved. So yes, "food safe". It's the process of 3D printing that ruins that. all the little layers trap just about everything and are hard to clean. If you wanted to boil your part, that might work, but you'd be better off buying a food-safe coating spray for your parts.
> 0 votes
---
Tags: filament, safety, food, petg
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thread-8380 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8380 | Prusa i3 Mk3 - Top layer wrinkles (not on buildplate) | 2019-03-01T08:02:50.363 | # Question
Title: Prusa i3 Mk3 - Top layer wrinkles (not on buildplate)
Recently started using my kit Prusa I3 Mk3 and noticed that with large horizontal surfaces a wrinkling pattern is emerging.
As you can see in the image the wrinkles seem to run parallel, the surface is 10 mm above the build plate with all bridges fully supported.
Has anyone seen this before? All other areas seem to be doing well.
This print uses PLA filament @ 235 °C hotend temperature and clearly shows a wrinkled pattern on the top layer
---
If it helps, I haven't changed the settings from the normal Prusa Slic3r 0.15 profile.
*The problem reduced to an acceptable level by reducing the temperature to 205 °C but keeping the fan speed 100 %, I am printing PLA. I might reduce the fan speed if I feel troubled by the result.*
# Answer
*Waves in printed surfaces with FFF are observed at either the bottom layer (common) or the top layer (less common).*
## Waves in bottom layer
Rippling/wave generation/wrinkling is a common problem for first layer to occur and has a direct relation to the print nozzle to bed distance; a too short of a distance or over-extrusion can lead to this effect. However, this effect is less commonly observed in top layer finishes. Bottom layer waves are described in more detail in this answer.
## Waves in top layer
I have seen this defect before. It is caused by a *combination of incorrect **hotend temperature** and **print cooling fan** settings*. Please reduce the hotend temperature and reduce the fan cooling. The image below clearly shows the differences of such measures.
> 5 votes
# Answer
Might just be that you are bridging without collapsing but still have some visible sag. Things to try:
1) increase the support/infil density. If slic3r has a configurable setting like Cura does, you only need to increase the density for the last couple mm prior to the top layer.
2) increase the top plate thickness (number of extruded layers). This often allows the first extruded layer to sag, but the final layer or two to be quite flat.
> 4 votes
---
Tags: prusa-i3, troubleshooting
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thread-8410 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8410 | Premium heated bed upgrade options? | 2019-03-05T18:02:36.683 | # Question
Title: Premium heated bed upgrade options?
The stock heated bed which came on my Creality printer is significantly warped beyond any simple leveling with the screws. Lets say I want to upgrade the stock bed to a premium heated bed, does such a thing even exist? None of the beds I see list any specs or tolerances regarding flatness or deviation.
What should I be looking for to ensure I am looking at a superior bed?
# Answer
If you are only trying to upgrade the "flatness" of the bed and are okay with the heating times you can just put a peice of glass on top. Otherwise you can look into getting a milled tool plate which will be much flatter than a rolled or stamped plate, but you will have to attach your own heating element to this.
> 1 votes
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Tags: heated-bed, diy-3d-printer, bed-leveling
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thread-8413 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8413 | Stepper does not move smoothly | 2019-03-05T21:01:38.830 | # Question
Title: Stepper does not move smoothly
I have a problem with the y movement of my machine.
When i select y+1 in repetier, it moves, but with a very strange noise.
I have a video to show the problem here
I have:
Set the voltage of the stepper drivers to 0.6V
Set the voltage of the power supply to 12V
Tightened the belts (but not too tight!)
Does anyone know what this is? Is it a problem with my belts or are my stepper motors too weak?
# Answer
> 1 votes
Fixed. One of the two was movign in the wrong direction. Problem solved!
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Tags: stepper
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thread-8406 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8406 | Cause of slicing artifacts layers not connecting diagonal errors | 2019-03-05T00:40:17.067 | # Question
Title: Cause of slicing artifacts layers not connecting diagonal errors
Sometimes my meshes turn out with artifacts Which can be seen in the bottom image. What is the cause? The first image shows my mesh which its generated from. I've tried multiple slicers. This tends to occur sometimes. Any help appreciated. Is there something going over my head???
# Answer
> 1 votes
The artifacts you spot in your slices do not come from the slicer, they are actually present in the STL file you export.
I suggest checking your model for problems like vertices that share a position or edges that are parallel but not joined. Use the `remove doubles` function in blender to merge up these vertices. Then make sure that your surface consists of only squares and triangles to aid the stl generation.
# Answer
> 1 votes
The issue was solved by disabling coasting in the options within the slicer
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Tags: print-quality, 3d-design, slicing
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thread-8412 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8412 | Steppers don't work as expected while printing | 2019-03-05T20:06:50.780 | # Question
Title: Steppers don't work as expected while printing
I have a problem with my steppers of a RepRap 3D printer I'm making.
I assembled the machine and performed the endswitch calibrations. when the machine is not printing, the steppers are moving as expected. But, when I start printing, only the z-axis moves. it is also moving very fast; X and Y axis don't move. I'm using a RAMPS 1.4 board, NEMA 17 steppers and A4988 stepper drivers. My configuration file can be found here.
Does somebody know what could be the problem?
# Answer
I've looked into your configuration file of your firmware but cannot find anything that describes this odd behavior. You have used some conservative settings regarding printing acceleration. What cannot be assessed is the amount of steps required per millimeter movement of every axis, that is left for you to re-check.
Note that when the steppers are working as expected when the printer is at idle and you command the printer with an external printer software (e.g. Pronterface from the PrintRun software suite, Repetier-Host, OctoPrint, etc.), the problem could well be caused by the slicer and/or the options used for slicing the print part.
> 1 votes
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Tags: diy-3d-printer, reprap, stepper
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thread-8416 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8416 | Ultimaker Cura 3.6 choosing to fill in narrow walls with diagonal striping | 2019-03-05T22:57:50.920 | # Question
Title: Ultimaker Cura 3.6 choosing to fill in narrow walls with diagonal striping
I'm playing with printing some Lego-like bricks. I'm using brick models where the wall thicknesses are aligned to match an exact multiple of my printer nozzle (.4 mm nozzle = 1.2 mm brick walls, vs the standard 1.4 mm), with other adjustments to the interior ridges of the brick so they should still fit with real Legos.
I'm seeing an odd effect when slicing in Ultimaker Cura 3.6. My settings for Wall Thickness/Wall Line Count are 1.2 mm/3 lines. And yet, in the layer view, I see *one* wall line, with diagonal striping between those walls:
Part of it could be the interior ridges creating some thicker walls in places, but if you look at the piece on the left, there are no ridges (it will be a plate, rather than a brick, and Lego plates don't use ridges). Yet it still has the striping. I re-measured the STL in 3 different modelling programs (Meshmixer, 3D Builder, Tinkercad) and all show the walls as exactly 1.2 mm thick.
I then noticed I can remove this by putting something small (even .001 mm is enough) in the "Horizontal Expansion" setting:
This is more what I wanted, and it cuts the print time almost in half. I can also fix this by setting enough bottom or top layers to handle the whole piece with a wall thickness of 1 line...
... but why was it necessary? What is going on here?
# Answer
> 3 votes
All slicers have their own peculiarities, and one of Cura's peccadilloes seems to be that It likes to generate an even number of shells for narrow structures, even if an odd number of shells would work nicely. Slic3r and Simplify3D have no problem with this, and will automatically generate an odd number of shells if they will fit the model.
Cura, on the other hand, will reduce the number of shells and generate infill. If you have set the infill percentage to less than 100%, it will try its best to fulfil that requirement, and in your case, generate zigzag infill. However, if you set the infill to 100%, it will, in effect, create an additional shell, although it is really infill that follows the direction of the walls as far as Cura is concerned, since there is no space to generate the specified infill pattern pattern.
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Tags: ultimaker-cura, slicing
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thread-8424 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8424 | Slicer software capable of working with large filaments | 2019-03-08T06:23:17.393 | # Question
Title: Slicer software capable of working with large filaments
I'm starting work on a very large 3d printer that uses very large filament. The idea is to house the entire thing in a shipping container and print things as large as cars.
Filament will be some type of epoxy that is to be extruded out of a large 25mm nozzle. A second smaller nozzle using the same material will be used to do finer edges. A third nozzle will be used to produce supports of a different material.
I know this is quite different than most 3d printing applications. I am wondering what slicers I should look into using that are adaptable enough to work with these constraints, or if such software exists.
# Answer
> 1 votes
After checking it up, Ultimaker Cura (and possibly most other slicers capable of multi-extruder setups) is able to handle multiple extruders of varying nozzle size and seems to be ok with 25 mm Nozzles or something ludicrous such as 200 mm filament. You should aid its slicing in some way:
* Dedicate one nozzle to the support structure, that's easy.
* Design your parts with 2 shells:
+ One is the main body with corners cut to the main nozzle's extrusion diameter.
+ The other is the corners and details.
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Tags: filament, software, slicing, extrusion
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thread-8443 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8443 | Anet A6 stock power wires.. the live, the zero and the ground. Which is which | 2019-03-11T07:41:45.090 | # Question
Title: Anet A6 stock power wires.. the live, the zero and the ground. Which is which
As an electrician newbie I have a question..
## Short question
My power plug is attached to the wall outlet and three wires are at the end of it.. the blue, the brown and the green/yellow oen.
How to determine which is the live, zero and ground wire WITHOUT depending on the colouring? I want to know this to always be able to check the wiring, if I don't trust it.
Also, I have these sub questions that follow from my situation:
* Why does the test screwdriver lit up when connected to the apparant zero line?
* How can I determine the live/zero line using a multimeter
## Situation
My tools:
* a test screw driver
* a multimeter
* the ANET A6 manual
In the manual it states that
* brown is the live wire
* blue is the zero wire
* green/yellow is the ground wire
I know that in some countries this colour coding is the standard and can be trusted. I just want to be able to check it.
So, my first hypothesis would be.. if I put the test screw driver on the live (brown) wire, lay my thumb on the end, the internal bulb would glow. This did not happen. It did happen when I put it on the zero (blue) wire. So I am a bit confused by this.
My second trick was using the multimeter. Using the positive and negative probes to determine the polarity and therefore decide how the current was flowing. But there was no sign of polarity... duh.. because I was of course on AC, which is always Alternating.. hence no sign information from a multimeter. So, how CAN I use a multimeter to determine the live/zero line? Maybe measure the current from live/zero to ground? Is that a safe option?
PS: my first post on this forum.. so please correct me where needed
# Answer
As it is alternating current, why are you interested to know which is which? (I'm referring to the blue and the brown wire, the green/yellow has an obvious purpose)
E.g. a CEE 7/4 plug can be flipped around in the CEE 7/3 socket. When you flip the plug (180°), the brown and the blue switch places, it is all depending on how the electrician in your home attached the brown and blue wires in the socket and depends on the socket and plug you use.
The only benefit would be that when you cut the power with a relay, you may want to have the power on the side of the relay, not the printer; but again, that does not matter when you flip the plug 180°. Note that some plugs inhibit rotation, so it also depends on the plug and socket you use and where you are located.
> 1 votes
# Answer
This picture shows the correct wiring for a British 13A mains plug:
The green/yellow wire must **always** be connected to the earth terminal (at the top of the plug). This is most important, and will prevent electrocution if something goes wrong.
The brown (live) wire should be connected to the fuse, and the blue wire to the remaining terminal. It is true that, since alternating current is being used, the device will likely work if the blue and brown wires are swapped, but it is better to stick with standard practices to avoid confusion.
I would not use a "test" screwdriver to determine which terminal is "live" in this instance, simply because it is unnecessary. **The live terminal is always the one that the fuse is connected to.** This is done for safety reasons since the device is automatically disconnected from the live side of the circuit if the fuse blows.
How to wire mains plugs is really beyond the scope of this stack. Watch appropriate YouTube videos if you want to make a competent job of it. The only advice that I will give is to always use a proper fuse of the correct rating for the device. Never use something like a paper-clip. Also, don't use the 13 Amp fuse that comes with the plug. The fuse is there to protect the cable, rather than the device. Most printers will draw less than 5 Amps, and will be supplied with a 5 Amp cable, so use a 5 Amp fuse.
Also, **never work on a plug while it is connected to the power socket**. This is most foolhardy, even if the socket appears to be switched off.
> 2 votes
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Tags: anet-a6, wiring
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thread-8430 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8430 | Is it safe to use a 3D printed icing smoother? | 2019-03-08T16:51:49.983 | # Question
Title: Is it safe to use a 3D printed icing smoother?
I want to 3d print my own icing smoothers, but I'm not sure if its safe to have plastic from a 3D printer in contact with cake icing. Is there any harm in this?
# Answer
Only certain plastics are safe enough to be used to contain or manipulate food. ABS and PET-G are such materials. The 3d printing process however is not food safe because, it creates crevices in the printed part into which bacteria and other contaminants can cling to. A printed part would need to be coated in a silicone rubber to render the surface both inert (can't grow anything) and smooth (no crevices). Further, the type of plastic you use must be able to be sterilized in boiling water. PLA softens in boiling water. PET-G variants can as well (think clear plastic bottles). This is why most food handing utensils are either glass or stainless steel.
If you are going to use a 3d printing process to produce parts that are to be used for food, you also have to consider containment from the machine itself. The brass nozzle, the teflon tube, the extruder gears etc. The filament itself may not have come from the factory as clean as it would need to be to be used around food.
If you are able to coat the heat resistant part in silicone and you only use it a few times (ensuring that it is properly washed and sterile) then it can be used for food prep purposes.
There is a difference between food grade and safe for contact with food.
> Acrylonitrile/butadiene/styrene copolymer identified in this section may be safely used as an article or component of articles intended for use with all foods, except those containing alcohol, under conditions of use E, F, and G described in table 2 of 176.170(c) of this chapter.
Abstract from: https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/CFRSearch.cfm?fr=177.1020
> 5 votes
# Answer
As mentioned, FDM 3D printed parts are flawed for food service and prep use regardless of the material, because of the small gaps between lines where bacteria can grow, and because your printer isn't used in a way to keep it from introducing contaminants into otherwise clean material.
However, there are some ways around this.
### Single-use
I'm pretty comfortable using my printer to make items for **one time use**. If I wanted an icing smoother with a fancy shape for a special cake that I'm not likely to need again soon, I'd go ahead and do that. I would apply all the icing at one time, and then I'd *discard the piece*, rather than try to clean and save it. Also note that I'm not talking about a commercial kitchen; this would be for a cake I'd eat myself with friends, rather than sell.
The big thing I've done this way so far (I've had my printer less than a year) is make shaped cookie cutters. I'll print the cutters, use them, and then throw them away. If I want the same shape again some time, I'll re-print.
### Lining
The other thing you can do with food prep items is print them with the intent to use liners. For example, here is a 3D-printable taco train, where a train car has grooves to hold tacos (yum!). It wouldn't be good to put a taco directly in here, but you could use napkins or similar food-safe liner to separate the 3D part from the food. In the case of the icing smoother, you might be able to print the part and wrap it in aluminum foil.
> 6 votes
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Tags: safety, food
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thread-8442 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8442 | Controlling a 3D printer with another Arduino device over serial | 2019-03-11T04:13:25.093 | # Question
Title: Controlling a 3D printer with another Arduino device over serial
If this is a silly question I apologize but I am trying to establish a serial connection between a 3D printer (Ender 3) and an Arduino Nano over the USB port.
I am able to connect the 3D printer to a serial monitor on my PC and send G-code to it and control the printer. I am also able to connect my Arduino to the serial monitor and also send and receive strings.
When I connect the Arduino directly to the 3D printer using a USB cable and separately powering the Arduino the 3D printer does not seem to respond to the G-code being sent over serial.
What am I missing?
# Answer
This isn't really a 3D-printing issue as much as it is about Arduino, USB, and how serial connections over USB differ from a generic UART serial connection.
For a UART-based serial connection, there are only two devices, and both devices are peers - either can send data to the other with no real restrictions as long as the speeds are set correctly.
USB allows multiple devices to be connected, and is much more complicated. One device must be a "host", which manages everything. The other devices can be much simpler as they don't need to be a host. Typically, your PC is the host, and your keyboard, mouse, memory stick, Arduino, printer, etc. are all just attached devices.
If you've managed to connect your Arduino's USB port to your printer's USB port, the problem is most likely that neither device has hardware or software to be a host, so the USB connection won't work.
There was a "USB Host Shield" for Arduino, but is is no longer in production. Perhaps you can still find one somewhere, or somebody else makes an equivalent.
There is also an Arduino "USBHost" library, which is compatible with the Arduino Due only.
> 2 votes
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Tags: arduino, usb, serial-connection
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thread-8452 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8452 | Any video tutorial for 3D printing | 2019-03-12T14:09:50.113 | # Question
Title: Any video tutorial for 3D printing
I am new here and would like to work on a project to 3D print a precision prototype. What is the most affordable way to do it? How do I go about it?
# Answer
> 2 votes
\[The question ask asked is vague, but since you are new it is understandable.\]
If you want to build a precision prototype then you have to decide on the level of precision that is necessary. There are different types of 3D printers and services available which give various levels of precision and functionality.
Fused Filament Fabrication/Fused Deposition Modeling - This is typically a means of producing functional prototypes using plastic filament. In terms of precision it is currently the lest precise, but the most cost effective.
Binder Jetting - This is basically crazy glue with food coloring which is inkjet printed onto a white powder layer by layer (vast oversimplification). Useful for producing prototypes with colours for product mockups but not for functional parts. This is mid the mid point in terms of price and precision.
Stereo Lithography / Photo polymerization - Lasers cause a liquid resin to harden and stick to each other. Also notable for being the first form of 3D printing, this is the highest precision that is easily attainable. The cost varies based on the provider but it is usually the most expensive option.
Depending on your needs you may find that it is cheaper to develop a single prototype part (just one part not an entire machine) by sending out to a contract manufacturer as opposed to purchasing a 3D printer.
Here are some examples of what to do when:
* If you want to develop a diamond engagement ring for a customer: Send out to a contract manufacturer, for Stereo Lithography
* If you broke part of the cupboard and its easy to design a new one: Consider purchasing a sub $400 USD FFF machine and learn to use it.
* If you are developing a new line of designer sneaker: Send out to a contract manufacturer for Binder Jetting.
* If you are doing miniature figurines for a stop motion animation television series: Invest in a Binder Jet machine and learn how to use it.
In my experience, people don't buy a 3D printer until they have held a 3D printed part in their hand or have seen the machinery in person. If you are new, start with a contract manufacturer and when you start spending so much on them that it is equaling the cost of owning a machine, then invest in your own system.
# Answer
> 0 votes
These two videos seem to give a good, general, entry-level introduction to the various technologies and processes that are involved in 3D printing:
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Tags: 3d-design, diy-3d-printer
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thread-8455 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8455 | What does a stand alone "T" index value do? | 2019-03-12T20:19:13.720 | # Question
Title: What does a stand alone "T" index value do?
I'm using IdeaMaker for slicing my print objects. IdeaMaker start strings have a \>T0\< standing alone on one line and then \>T1\< on the next line. What does this accomplish?
# Answer
T stands for "Tool" and has its origin in the origins of `.gcode` being for other automated machine controls. Depending on the machine, everything could be a tool for `.gcode`, like an actuator or pump or a spindle motor or a drill.
In 3D printers, the T-controlled tool is usually the **extruder motor**. Convention has it that the indexing always starts at 0, so T0 and T1 are your first and second Extruder respectively. It is the way to choose which tool is used.
As a side note: E is not originally intended for extruders but for the feed rate of lathes.
> 6 votes
# Answer
I'm not sure what it's doing in your case, but the "T" code is there to select the extruder number. T0 would be the first and T1 would be the second extruder in a multi-extruder setup. I found the information at the end of this cheat sheet.
> 2 votes
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Tags: marlin, g-code, ideamaker
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thread-8447 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8447 | Prusa I3 mk3 - Not your average inconsistent first layer | 2019-03-11T12:38:14.827 | # Question
Title: Prusa I3 mk3 - Not your average inconsistent first layer
Over the last two days I have tried everything I could come up with to fix the following issues.
It all started with bad bed adhesion.(pic.1) Solutions for these problems are readily available, so I calibrated my Z-axis (did the whole wizard from start to finish again) and started a calibration print over the whole buildplate, getting an interesting result.(pic.2) As you can see some area's are squashed nicely whilst others come off directly.
I then started looking for alternative Z-levelling solutions and came across an alternative calibration file (link1), at first glance the results seemed allright, -0,8mm seem to provide the best results (pic.3) however notice the darkened area to the left (could be the high temp of this test? 225c?).
To validate the number I did a full print on -0,8 and this is where it gets weird, the result shows a non uniform transparancy (pic.4) the mechanical properties are also a lot less. I used my caliper to check the printer and all seems to be well within expected ranges. The bed is also flat, checked with a ruler for deformaties.
Printing with the first spool of Prusa fillament, do notice some changes in the Z-level calibration print, the edges now bend upwards, this is done with the same Gcode and spool as previous (pic.5).
Any advice on what to do next? Printing on 210c with fan off for the first layer, test square on 225c, all PLA. Cleaned the bed with Acetone (99% pure) before each attempt.
Picture 1: Picture 2: Picture 3: Picture 4: Picture 5:
EDIT: So Mick mentioned cleaning the nozzle which helped with the inconsistent first layer. In the end it was me being unaware that Aceton doesn't help with grease, a thorough scrubbing of the buildplate with soap and really hot water helped.
# Answer
> 2 votes
If you repeat a test and the problem occurs in the same location, then you probably have a problem with your bed or build plate. However, picture 3 suggests to me that you may have a partially clogged nozzle. Manually extrude some filament. It should fall straight down. If it curls as it comes out of the nozzle, then you have a partial clog. Brass nozzles do wear out, so if you've put some hours on your printer, it might be a good idea to fit a new one.
Edit: I meant picture 3, not picture 4.
# Answer
> 1 votes
The Prusa i3 is coated with a PEI sheet. PEI and other build plates stick to the build but don't like to be dirty. Fingerprints can build up and create an interference layer of fats that lessen the adhesion to a point the pieces spontaneously pop off.
A good cleaning is often needed. For PEI Isopropylic Alcohol is a fast cleaner, but if you can remove the build plate soap and water work too - but take care not to go too hot as PEI can get damaged. For BuildTak and similar, Acetone also can do the job.
When using Gluestick to create a deliberate destroyable adhesion layer (for filaments fusing with PEI that can result in chipping out chunks) clean the surface afterward with a little water. In the choice of gluestick, make sure you get a PVA based one.
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Tags: prusa-i3
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thread-8466 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8466 | What is Thermal Runaway Protection? | 2019-03-14T12:58:11.420 | # Question
Title: What is Thermal Runaway Protection?
What is Thermal Runaway Protection (TRP) and why should I enable it?
How does one do so in Marlin?
# Answer
> 17 votes
# What is TRP and how does it work?
Thermal runaway protection is basically self-explaining; it is protection against the temperature getting out of control. Essentially, the firmware checks whether the measured output of the thermistor (*What is a thermistor? A thermistor is basically a temperature sensor; it is an electrical component (more specific: a resistor) that has a large reduction of its resistance when heated; it is frequently used for measurement and control as you can link the resistance to the temperature via a table or a curve*) is within an expected range for a certain target value within a certain time frame when heating the hotend or the heated bed.
E.g. When you request the hotend or heated bed to a certain temperature, the heater elements are being scheduled/switched on to increase the temperature. If the temperature increase as a result of scheduling the hotend or heated bed are not met in time (settings in the firmware configuration), the printer will halt and heating of the heater elements will stop. The printer needs to be reset after such a failure.
## What triggers TRP?
Common problems that trigger the thermal runaway protection are:
* a faulty thermistor,
* an incorrectly placed thermistor (e.g. not making good enough contact with the heater block),
+ including falling out
* a loose heater cartridge,
+ including falling out
* faulty connectors,
* faulty or partially broken wires,
* basically, anything that interrupts either heating or the measurement of the signal.
## Why should TRP be active?
Thermal runaway protection is mainly meant to prevent fire hazards by stopping the heater cartridge when it might have fallen out of the heater block and is trying to set the whole surroundings on fire.
To illustrate the point: This happens if Thermal Runaway Protection is disabled, and the associated story. Luckily this one did not result in a loss of life and home, but it could have - and the owner was able to do some forensic examination on what caused the fire.
## How to activate TRP in Marlin firmware?
Please make sure that you have the configuration lines in the Thermal Runaway Protection section (466-485) of your Configuration.h file uncommented *(no // in front of the lines starting with #define THERMAL\_...)*.
```
//===========================================================================
//======================== Thermal Runaway Protection =======================
//===========================================================================
/**
* Thermal Protection provides additional protection to your printer from damage
* and fire. Marlin always includes safe min and max temperature ranges which
* protect against a broken or disconnected thermistor wire.
*
* The issue: If a thermistor falls out, it will report the much lower
* temperature of the air in the room, and the the firmware will keep
* the heater on.
*
* If you get "Thermal Runaway" or "Heating failed" errors the
* details can be tuned in Configuration_adv.h
*/
#define THERMAL_PROTECTION_HOTENDS // Enable thermal protection for all extruders
#define THERMAL_PROTECTION_BED // Enable thermal protection for the heated bed
```
Note that Marlin 2.x has an additional protection for the heating chamber:
```
#define THERMAL_PROTECTION_CHAMBER // Enable thermal protection for the heated chamber
```
This should generally be enough to enable TRP on your printer, fine tuning can be done by changing the time constant and the temperature increase in the file Configuration\_adv.h in the section:
```
//===========================================================================
//=============================Thermal Settings ============================
//===========================================================================
```
However, it is advised to not change these values unless you are absolutely certain; e.g. if your heating cartridge is not powerful enough and you are getting printer halts. When getting false-positive printer halts according to the Marlin firmware you could:
```
* If you get false positives for "Thermal Runaway", increase
* THERMAL_PROTECTION_HYSTERESIS and/or THERMAL_PROTECTION_PERIOD
```
## How to test if TRP is active on my printer?
To test if thermal runaway protection is enabled on your printer, you can disconnect the heater element of the hotend or the heated bed while printing a print or sending temperature commands to the printer over USB using a terminal to send commands directly to the printer. You can disconnect the heater element while the printer is cold (before start) and also when the heater element is heating up. No heating of the nozzle will take place, so after the period defined by the time constant set in the firmware, the printer will halt if thermal runaway protection is enabled. Power down the machine and reconnect the wires, it is not advised to put them back in on a running machine, as one might touch the open wires; when the printer halted, you should power down or reset the printer anyways. If the printer did not halt, power it down as quickly as possible - TRP is disabled.
## Further Considerations
Besides activating thermal runaway protection, it is always a good idea to install a smoke detector and a fire extinguisher in the surroundings of the 3D printer: the smoke detector over it, the extinguisher within arms reach of the door leading to the room.
# Answer
> 4 votes
## What is Thermal Runaway?
Let's look at a Thermal Runaway Test (#2) performed by one Chris Bate.
In this video the experimenter drove the heating element non-stop until disaster. The Nichrome wire in the heating element melts at about 1,400 °C. Only once it melts, will the circuit will break and the current stop. The aluminum heating block however, melts at 660.3 °C; long before the nichrome melts.
## Thermal Runaway Protection
Thermal runaway protection is a piece of code in the firmware of the printer that checks to make sure that once power is being applied to the heater, the thermistor's resistance is changing within a specified frame (time and amount). This is the basic form of a control loop.
If the control system is implemented mechanically then it is called a thermostat, usually via a bimetal strip.
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Tags: marlin, firmware, safety, knowledgebase
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thread-8461 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8461 | Anet A8 Wrong Hotend Temp | 2019-03-14T01:12:50.903 | # Question
Title: Anet A8 Wrong Hotend Temp
My Anet A8 reads as 120ish degrees Celsius, but it is set to 200 degrees. I don't know if it is reading the wrong temperature because it still pushes out plastic when I force it. It will climb up and then go back down. I don't know if the hot end it broke or if the thermistor is broke.
# Answer
> 2 votes
## You are sitting on a fire risk!
If you are using the stock/original firmware, you should ***immediately stop printing***. The stock firmware of the Anet A8 has no thermal runaway protection (*see also this answer*), this means it will keep heating until the thermistor senses 200 °C, even if it cannot do that for some reason or another.
When a hotend temperature does not read the correct value, your thermistor in the hotend may not be making correct contact (as you say that it goes up and down). Please ensure that the thermistor is correctly positioned, it makes good contact and the wires correctly fastened.
Similarly applies to the heater cartridge, which can fall out and causing a fire if not properly fastened. Ensure the heater cartridge is properly positioned and held in the heater block.
Fluctuations in temperature sometimes are induced by a wrongly positioned fan duct (but generally not that much). The reason why this is not the case here is that you can still push the filament through while it reads about 120 °C; *this temperature is generally too low to push filament through*. Apparently the hotend is still hot enough to push filament through while registering a low temperature.
# Answer
> 0 votes
Without any other information, the highest odds are that the fan is blowing on the hot end. If the temp drops when the fan is on, and rises when the fan is off, then simply re-position the fan nozzle. If that's not the problem, check the thermistor. If that's not it, check the termination (tighten the screws) of the hot-end wires at the control board.
Next, check the control board. If there's any indication that it's the board, one potential solution is to add a MOSFET (see the link). Even if the control board isn't the problem, I would add the MOSFET.
---
Tags: anet-a8, hotend
--- |
thread-8470 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8470 | Are there printers that don't have thermal runaway protection? | 2019-03-14T15:27:39.700 | # Question
Title: Are there printers that don't have thermal runaway protection?
This question asks about the reasoning behind thermal runaway protection and how to turn it on. However, how do I know if my printer does not have protection in the first place? Either because it is shut off by default or, if such printers exist, is not a feature of the printer.
For example, the Creality CR-10S, a popular family of printers, has TRP not enabled (or deactivated) for some reason. Since there are a handful of printers (Creality, Tevo, Anet, Prusa, Ultimaker, etc) that seem pretty ubiquitous in the community and are recommended for beginners, it seems like it'd be handy to know whether or not any given printer has this safety feature.
# Answer
At the time of this writing (March 2019), many (if not most) cheap printers from the Far East are not delivered with Thermal Runaway Protection enabled as Marlin had this feature disabled as default for a long time (it was for certain so in April of 2018).
I know that Anet printers (A8 from experience) and the Creality Ender-3 printer (experience from another member) come with TRP disabled in the firmware when shipped from the factory. Thomas Sanladerer did a test on his machines and found that it was disabled on the Creality CR-10, Anet E-10 and A-8 had it disabled while the Mini Fabrikator v1 did have no Mintemp/Maxtemp but Thermal Runaway. Even the quite expensive BCN3D Sigma R17 had it disabled in April of 2018 on default.
Among the printers that come with Thermal Runaway Protection enabled are the PrusaResearch builds of the Original Prusa i3.
To test if it is enabled on your printer, you could disconnect the heater elements prior or during printing, see this answer or the process explained in Thomas Sanladerer's Video above or from the start of his safety tutorial:
> ## How to test if TRP is active on my printer?
>
> To test if thermal runaway protection is enabled on your printer, you can disconnect the heater element of the hotend or the heated bed. You can disconnect the heater element while the printer is cold (before start) and also when the heater element is heating up. No heating of the nozzle will take place, so after the period defined by the time constant set in the firmware, the printer will halt if thermal runaway protection is enabled. Power down the machine and reconnect the wires, it is not advised to put them back in; when the printer halted, you should power down or reset the printer anyways. If the printer did not halt, power it down as quickly as possible.
> 4 votes
---
Tags: safety
--- |
thread-8480 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8480 | Error:Printer halted. kill() called! | 2019-03-16T20:13:59.513 | # Question
Title: Error:Printer halted. kill() called!
When printing cube.gcode using Pronterface I get:
```
Print started at: 23:07:31
```
After 8 seconds I get:
```
Error:Printer halted. kill() called!
Error:Printer halted. kill() called!
```
What is the reason? How can I see logs?
Additional information:
I connected only three motors, and set the following in Configuration.h of Marlin Firmware:
```
#define TEMP_SENSOR_0 999
...
#define TEMP_SENSOR_BED 999
...
#define X_MIN_ENDSTOP_INVERTING true // set to true to invert the logic of the endstop.
...
```
(Also for min max for XYZ)
In 8 second X motor and Z motor were running.
This is the link to G-Code print file (cube.gcode).
I'm using Marlin 1.1.x on a Arduino Mega 2560 + RAMPS 1.4 without endstops.
# Answer
> 3 votes
Your G-code file contains the `G28` command to home the printer, as you do not have endstops, execution of this command fails. If you do not use endstops, you should never home the printer, instead you must position the print head at the origin yourself (generally this would be at coordinate \[x=0, y=0, z="paper thickness"\]) and remove homing commands from your G-code file.
---
Tags: marlin, troubleshooting, pronterface
--- |
thread-8301 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8301 | OpenSCAD 2018 Command line | 2019-02-19T10:26:43.260 | # Question
Title: OpenSCAD 2018 Command line
First, I'm using Linux Mint 18.3 (Sylvia). Until now, I've been using OpenSCAD with the GUI and never experienced issues. Now I try to start OpenSCAD from the command line, but it always opens an empty file, even if a file with the specified name exists.
Since I have a rather big script, I'd like to generate the STL's via the CLI. Due to this error, I can not even do any tests for parameter passing.
What I'd like to do is to issue a command (flom the command line or in a shell script) that says "Set objectID to 1, render and export the result to stl".
Here is my M(N)WE:
```
// test.scad
objectID = 2;
if (objectID == 1)
difference(){
cylinder(d=20, h=50, center=true);
cylinder(d=16, h=50.2, center=true);
}
else if (objectID == 2)
difference(){
cube(50, center=true);
cube([35,35,70], center=true);
}
```
Any help will greatly be appreciated.
# Answer
I could finally solve the issue. Calling `openscad` from command line with parameters does NOT work with the AppImage I used. It works fine with a "standard" installation, though.
Thanks for your support.
> 3 votes
# Answer
You can specify variable values from command line using:
```
openscad ...\
... \
[ -D var=val [..] ] \
... \
... \
filename
```
See the OpenSCAD Manual.
> 4 votes
---
Tags: stl, openscad, linux
--- |
thread-8486 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8486 | How to remove firmware warning | 2019-03-17T11:54:34.550 | # Question
Title: How to remove firmware warning
I'm operating my Prusa i3 MK3 through Octoprint. Basically, this means I can start prints from remote. However, there's the firmware version warning which requires me to press the knob and confirm that message.
I now found a line of G-Code in Printer Settings / Custom G-code which is probably doing this:
```
M115 U3.6.0 ; tell printer latest fw version
```
I'm not very familiar with G-Code yet, so before I remove that line, I wanted to know whether that's all I need to do or if there's something else to consider.
# Answer
Removing that line will not affect your printer, except that it will get rid of the warning displayed on the screen.
> I wanted to know \[...\] if there's something else to consider.
You should probably upgrade your firmware to the latest version to benefit from a couple of bugfixes and performance increases.
> 5 votes
---
Tags: prusa-i3, slic3r, firmware
--- |
thread-8436 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8436 | How neodymium magnet affect (if any) on extruder motor | 2019-03-09T23:12:47.037 | # Question
Title: How neodymium magnet affect (if any) on extruder motor
I saw on a popular site simple indicators for attaching to the axle of an extruder motor (Prusa printers). Those gadgets are spinning due to movement of motor, both clockwise (pulling filament) or counterclockwise (retracting). But all of those things are attached to motor axis by small neodymium magnet (**round, 8x3 mm**). I searched informations how such magnets affects for stepper motors and I read that magnet field can significantly change magnetic field of the motor. On presented movies for gadgets which I saw, the motor seems to have no trouble with rotating but AFAIK neodymium magnets have really strong magnetic field and I am curious how its centric orientation due to motor axis:
* inhibits rotation
* if yes, how much it raises the temperature of motor?
* how it affects for electronic of filament sensor?
Currently I use Prusa i3 MK3 printer and during long (~10h) printings an extruder motor is enough hot and I don't want make it hotter. I want to print and attach such "rotation indicator" but the fact of used magnets made me started to thinking about magnetic field of motor. Or maybe those changes are so marginal to think about them?
# Answer
The best way to know is placing the magnet on the shaft; if you see that motor starts shaking or stops this mean that you affects the motor operation, but I think if any magnet interference can be deprecated due internal coils of the motor during operation.
The motor works with some coils in the rotor and some magnets in the stator (motor frame). But the shaft is to far from the coils to be affected for the magnetism of one small neodimiun magnet which needs at least 7mm to trap another small metal objet or for induction sensing and 2mm as maximum for creating electrical flows (generation); this values are afected if the magnet is placed over other metal part reducing his atraction field, and the armor is too big for an small magnet 8x3mm.
You can attach some indicator with a double sided adhesive tape (3M) if still are worried about affecting your extruder.
If your motor extruder is heating during extended usage periods you should adjust the motor current, for example: you motors is rated 0.5A you should calibarte the current for 0.48A or 0.45; this could reduce the torque force of the motor by a little. Or maybe the current current :D is calibrated above 0.5A thats way you are getting over heating.
> 1 votes
---
Tags: extruder, motor
--- |
thread-8490 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8490 | OpenSCAD "not valid 2-manifold" useful information | 2019-03-17T22:47:37.623 | # Question
Title: OpenSCAD "not valid 2-manifold" useful information
OpenSCAD suggests that "object may not be a valid 2-manifold" but it looks perfectly fine in OpenSCAD and in Meshlab.
Have looked through the file several times, and cannot find any point or line intersections, they all overlap in 3D.
Is there some useful software for diagnosing this? It seems to me it ought to be trivial to for example highlight the offending volumes, rather than just print a general error message with no details whatsoever.
**Edit**: slicing it in Cura works fine also.
# Answer
Occasionally, a model created in OpenSCAD will have, as you suggest, overlapping segments. Often enough, this will generate the message you receive. OpenSCAD has an implied union function when it comes to independent objects, but if you wish to clear those errors, experiment with explicit union statements where you have joining objects. It may be necessary to join only one pair at a time to clear the error.
> 3 votes
---
Tags: openscad
--- |
thread-8482 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8482 | After some time stepper motor is hot | 2019-03-17T02:26:19.157 | # Question
Title: After some time stepper motor is hot
I have three stepper motors. One Nema 17 - 2.4 ohm, the second smaller noname from color printer - 9.5 ohm and third the smallest noname from cdrom - 10.5 ohm.
I have connected them to arduino mega 2560 with ramps 1.4(set to 1/32 micro stepping) and drivers drv8825. See my previous question.
After some time (less than one minute) the first is cold. The second motor is hot. And the third is very hot. I can not even touch it.
What can I do to fix it.
# Answer
> 8 votes
> The second motor is hot. And the third is very hot. I can not even touch it.
This is to some degree, completely normal and expected. From the datasheet for a typical NEMA 17 stepper, the rated temperature rise is 80 °C above ambient and the maximum operating temperature is 130 °C (implying an ambient temperature of 50 °C). It is normal that stepper motors (in general) get a bit hot.
"Too hot to touch" is still relatively cold. 60 °C is already too hot to touch, and that's only a 40 °C rise above a 20 °C ambient temperature.
You can reduce the temperature rise of the motors by reducing the current they receive. The stepper driver has a small potentiometer that can be turned to adjust the current, but keep in mind that doing so will also reduce the torque of the motors and thus they might skip steps if you reduce the current too much.
*Technical details:* Note that stepper motor drivers used in 3D printers are *constant current* drivers, and the little potentiometer controls the current. If you had not paid much attention to this potentiometer, the drivers might all have been set for the same constant current of $1.0\ \text A$. The stepper driver would (to achieve the same constant current) send a higher voltage to the higher resistance motors. This would imply a power dissipation of $2.4\ \text W$ in the Nema 17, and a power dissipation of $10.5\ \text W$ in the small stepper. $2.4\ \text W$ in the Nema 17 would only heat it up by about $20\ °\text C$ above ambient. A dissipation of $10\ \text W$ in the small stepper, which also has much less surface area to dissipate the power, would heat it up by a lot (and probably, given that you didn't fry it, the current was set lower -- or a technical peculiarity limited the current given that the motor likely also has very low inductance).
# Answer
> 2 votes
Unless you have changed the factory stepper driver settings, they will all be set to deliver the same CURRENT to the motors. Stepper drivers operate as constant current supplies, so the voltage supply does not determine the power sent to the motor.
The power dissipation in a circuit is the current squared times the resistance. $P = I^2 R$. Because the current is constant, the 10.5-ohm motor will dissipate over four (4) times the power of the 2.4-ohm motor and will get much hotter more quickly.
# Answer
> 0 votes
## Problem statement
Your RAMPs board is supplying your drivers all with similar voltages, with the basic settings calculated for a NEMA 17.
So, we got different Resistances R, so why do they heat differently?
## Physics background: energy transformation and dissipation
Resistance can be described as "friction of electrons in the conductor" to some degree. When electrons flow through a wire, then a current $I$ is trying to equalize a potential difference $U$. A flowing current transforms the kinetic energy of the electrons ($\propto U$) into an electromagnetic field and heat from the resistance. The electromagnetic field then is used to spin a rotor together with the magnets in the motor, which transforms the energy in the field into kinetic energy again. The end result is, that the kinetic energy of the electrons is transformed into the motion of the motor and heat.
## Can we get the Current?
### OR: "What if there was no driver?"
How does Resistance figure into all this? Well, Ohms Law is there: $U=RI$. With it, one can solve how much current I flows through an aperture of known resistance R and voltage U. The operation of the circuits that contain a CD stepper motor is usually 5 V, while 12 V is used for NEMA 17 and the typical steppers from Printer/scanner combos.
Those results wouldn't match the currents they are operated on as the motors are supplied via a motor driver chipset. We can look up the spec sheets to get a short glimpse of how they might dissipate heat in both constant voltage and constant current setups. Most stepper driver adjusts the voltage so we get constant current but there might be some cases one wants constant voltage. To estimate their heat generation, one needs...
## Joules Formula of electric Heating
### Constant Voltage case
Joules Formula of electric heating is written as $H=I^2Rt$, which gives us Energy in Joules. We can make it easier on us and drop the time to get the derivate power of electric heating. $P=\frac{H}{t}= I^2\ R= U \ I=\frac {U^2} {R}$
* $P={12\ \text V}\times {0.4\ \text A}=4.8\ \text {W}$
* $P=\frac{144\ \text V^2}{9.5\ \Omega}=15.14\ \text {W}$
* $P=\frac{25\ \text V^2}{10\ \Omega}=2.5\ \text {W}$
if we throw **12 V** at the poor small stepper though...
* $P=\frac{144\ \text V^2}{10\ \Omega}=14.4\ \text {W}$
<sup>How did the small one survive this torture? I have no idea!</sup>
### Constant Current case
Now, that is pretty much "constant voltage" but the stepper drivers used try to give always a set constant current to the motors. For most motors I have found, this is apparently in the area around 0.5 A, which gives us a better estimation
* $P={0.25\ \text A^2}\times {2.4\ \Omega}=0.6\ \text {W}$
* $P={0.25\ \text A^2}\times {9.5\ \Omega}=2.375\ \text {W}$
* $P={0.25\ \text A^2}\times {10.5\ \Omega}=2.625\ \text {W}$
If they all are operated at the same, set current (with adjusted voltage to match that), we get about a factor 4 for the heat generation on the middle and 4.3 on the CD stepper. Even with a higher current, the factors for heat dissipation are what is really interesting here.
## Heating and temperature
Another small part of the answer is the mass of the motor and when it was touched. The thermal energy $E\_T$ in a whole object is *not directly* equal to the temperature $T$ of the object, it is just proportional to it but also the specific heat capacity $c$ of the body... all in all we get for an amount of energy $Q$ deposited in an object $\text Q = \text m\ \text c\ \Delta\text T$.
Assuming that c is equal for the motors, one can do a quick estimation with typical weights via $\Delta\text T \propto \frac H m$
A typical NEMA 17 motor weighs about 280 grams while the typical CD-drive stepper (PL15S-020-PNA9) weighs 19 grams.
You see, the smaller steppers not only dissipates more heat, it also heats up faster than the chunky NEMA 17. The reason why after a short time the smaller one with not that much more heating than the big one felt considerably hotter is, that there is less mass that needs to be heated up: it might be already at its maximum temperature while the middle one still is heating up.
## All in all
This is *not* a marlin issue but one from your material choice. Getting all similar motors makes motion control all the much easier, but you are not necessarily in danger of burning the motors.
To cool the motors...
* figure out what current I the smaller motors want to be operated on and adjust your setup to that, so to stay safe.
+ there are potentiometers for this on most boards.
* mount a heatsink on the motors, increasing their effective thermal mass and their ability to dissipate the heat to the room around by increasing the surface area.
---
Tags: marlin, diy-3d-printer, troubleshooting, ramps-1.4
--- |
thread-8497 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8497 | How to increase the amount of probing points for a BLTouch sensor in Marlin firmware? | 2019-03-18T21:40:27.017 | # Question
Title: How to increase the amount of probing points for a BLTouch sensor in Marlin firmware?
I have a new BLTouch that is setup (using Marlin 1.8.7) but I want to increase the probing grid from a 3x3 to something like a 5x5. I am using bilinear leveling with a 3x3 grid.
How would I go about changing that?
# Answer
> 12 votes
You need to change the constant value(s) in your Configuration.h file of your Marlin version from:
```
// Set the number of grid points per dimension.
#define GRID_MAX_POINTS_X 3
#define GRID_MAX_POINTS_Y GRID_MAX_POINTS_X
```
to:
```
// Set the number of grid points per dimension.
#define GRID_MAX_POINTS_X 5
#define GRID_MAX_POINTS_Y GRID_MAX_POINTS_X
```
This shows that to go from a 3x3 grid to a 5x5 grid you only need to change one value. Do note that you can set `GRID_MAX_POINTS_Y` to any value other than `GRID_MAX_POINTS_X`; replacing `GRID_MAX_POINTS_X` in the line with `GRID_MAX_POINTS_Y` to 4 would yield a 5x4 probe grid:
```
// Set the number of grid points per dimension.
#define GRID_MAX_POINTS_X 5
#define GRID_MAX_POINTS_Y 4
```
---
Tags: marlin, bed-leveling, z-probe, bltouch
--- |
thread-8500 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8500 | Printer fails to print a cube | 2019-03-19T11:43:28.750 | # Question
Title: Printer fails to print a cube
I'm trying to print a calibration cube from PLA using a 70 °C heated build platform on a Prusa i3 Pro W. This results in:
Please explain why it prints like this.
# Answer
> 7 votes
There are multiple issues that cause this result.
First, your nozzle is to far from the bed. This can be seen by the curly deposited filament on the build plate (I guess that is the brim or the skirt). Please properly level the bed and position the nozzle at a distance of a plain A4 paper as best as possible (should be doable as you have a glass sheet that are usually very flat as a result of the production process to make glass).
The second problem you face is layer shift. You see that the squares are printed further and further to the left, the print head does not return to original position. Layer shift is usually caused by improper belt tension or a loose grub screw of the belt pulley. This answer describes layer shifting in more detail. This question may be helpful too, the answer contains some references to layer shifting.
# Answer
> 0 votes
The layer shift can also be caused by the stepper motor "skipping" when it hits an obstruction. The obstruction can be a loop or ridge of filament sticking up higher than it should be.
As Oscar suggests, the first step is always to make the first-layer-thickness be right. This is often called "bed leveling", but really it is making sure that the bed defines the z=0 plane that the firmware is expecting. If it isn't planar, if it isn't constant Z (ie., it tilts in any direction), or it isn't at zero, problems follow.
It seems to have mostly shifted in X, so start with that motor and belt. Have you adjusted the tension correctly? Is the motor current set correctly?
Other things can also cause trouble, such as:
1. A poorly mounted extruder that favors one direction
2. Bad slicer parameters that command movement faster than the printer's ability
3. Bad configuration parameters which call for acceleration or velocities beyond the printer's ability.
Are the slicer settings matched to the printer? If this is a commercial printer, are you using a profile from the manufacturer? If this is your design, or heavily modded, have you tried de-tuning the slicer parameters and/or the configuration parameters?
Any debugging proceeds from the first step, so adjust the Z=0 plane and see if you can print a uniform, single layer print covering the while bed. When that is good, you are most of the way to victory.
---
Tags: prusa-i3, troubleshooting, adhesion
--- |
thread-8504 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8504 | Can I schedule prints to start at a specified time? | 2019-03-20T07:54:06.297 | # Question
Title: Can I schedule prints to start at a specified time?
I want to know if it is possible to schedule a 3D Print to start at a specified time so that I don't have to press start.
My 3D Printer has an Arduino mega based RAMPS 1.4 control board & is connected to a Raspberry Pi 3B running OctoPi 0.15.1
# Answer
There are a few options to delay starting using either the OctoPrint environment or directly use G-code for this.
The use of G-code is probably the most simple for you to implement. The `G4` command defines a "dwell" or pausing period for the next command to start:
Depending on the firmware you use, you can use the `P` or `S` parameter to specify the pausing period.
To pause the print job (for 1 hour) you need to insert the following line as the first line of your G-code print file:
```
G4 P3600000 // One hour pausing; defined in milliseconds
```
or (if your firmware supports)
```
G4 S3600 // One hour pausing; defined in seconds
```
Other solutions may include the adaption of the OctoPrint controls menu structure or use of the REST API of OctoPrint. These options are more difficult to implement.
> 6 votes
---
Tags: octoprint
--- |
thread-8506 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8506 | Why does the print speed change at specific height? (Using Ultimaker Cura slicer) | 2019-03-20T12:43:03.293 | # Question
Title: Why does the print speed change at specific height? (Using Ultimaker Cura slicer)
I'm trying to figure out why the print speed changes at one point in this model.
I'm using Ultimaker Cura 3.6 and, as shown in the picture, I set the speed to be the same across the entire print. Is there a setting I'm missing?
0scar is right. Changing the minimum time per layer to 1s (from 3s), makes the entire print print at the same speed, as per settings. However, it's probably a bad idea:
# Answer
> 6 votes
Not being able to see the rest of the model (from the first image), if looks as if the light green sliced area displaying a lower speed for the top of the cylinder, is the only part that need to be printed to that height (now confirmed in the second image). This speed reduction is done by the slicer and is not specifically caused by Ultimaker Cura (other slicers do result in similar behavior). Note this is a good thing! Lets explain.
Filament needs an amount of time to cool before the next layer is deposited onto the previous layer. When the layers get small (surface area) and there are no other layers the print head shifts to, the print process is slowed down to allow the filament to cool down; hence you see a decrease in print speed. If you deposit too fast, the last part of your print will become too hot and will deform.
A print parameter that influences the behavior is the `Minimal Layer Time` parameter in Ultimaker Cura, please read the hint information of this parameter:
---
Tags: ultimaker-cura, speed
--- |
thread-8488 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8488 | Auto bed leveling: systematic slope | 2019-03-17T19:16:10.417 | # Question
Title: Auto bed leveling: systematic slope
I have a heavily modified DiscoEasy 200 from Dagoma, see picture:
The heatbed is mounted on 4 springs, on top of the original plate. I made sure the X carriage was parallel to the table. I then tried to level the bed manually, with the 4 springs: I pushed the nozzle into each corner of the bed, and used the paper-gauge method to adjust the springs so that the bed would always be at the same distance of the nozzle. I then setup the Z-offset on the machine and tried to print a mainstream bed leveling test from thingiverse. I use a 4 points auto bed leveling.
And I have a systematic problem. **Every time** I try the bed leveling test, it seems the right side of the bed is lower than the left one. The front and rear right corners seem to be lower than on the left side. I tried to expand the springs of the front and rear right corners, but the auto bed leveling at the beginning of my prints re-introduces the problem.
The right side seems to be ~100 µm lower than what it should be. It's not a lot, but it's enough for prints to fail.
I can't figure out what the problem is. Do you have any idea? it's driving me crazy to not understand where the problem comes from.
# Answer
> 1 votes
Did you check if your bed is parallel to the gantry?
It can happen that after leveling one side and moving to the other the adjustment there puts the first side out of alignment - I level my bed by doing some couple turns
# Answer
> 0 votes
As I understand your question:
1. You manually go through a leveling process and have it set up well.
2. You allow the printer to "auto-level".
3. You print, and the right side is too low by about 0.1mm.
Is it possible that the filament (which is on the left side) pulls up on the extruder when the extruder is on the right side? A small tug could lift the extruder making it appear the same as if the bed were too low.
If this seems possible, check for the extruder being vertically loose or wobbly. I've had filament pull forces cause slight head offsets on a home-brew printer.
---
Tags: bed-leveling
--- |
thread-8493 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8493 | How to fix bulging first layers of print? | 2019-03-18T08:37:50.953 | # Question
Title: How to fix bulging first layers of print?
The bottom 1-6 layers of my prints always bulge, like an enlarged elephant foot effect. I've tried all the fixes for elephants foot to no avail. I'm using: XYZPrinting DaVinci Jr 1.0 Pro with their own brand filament (1.75 mm), nozzle: 0.4 mm, tried various layer heights 0.1-0.3 mm, with temperatures 190-205 °C. It has a non-heated bed, using tape as an adhesive.
Problem can be seen here:
# Answer
> 1 votes
You specify that 1 to 6 layers are expanded.
Does that match with the number of bottom perimeters you ask for? If so, then I would suspect over-extrusion.
If not, it could be a combination of two problems:
1. The head is too close to the bed, and
2. The head has too much vertical compliance or springiness.
In this scenario, the head being too close puts additional upward pressure on the head. The springiness allows the head to displace upward, but it is still too close. Being too close, the extruded bead is spread out too far. With each additional layer, the head is relatively less close, and the effect reduces until eventually the head is not displaced by the extruded bead, and the object prints normally.
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Tags: print-quality, troubleshooting
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thread-8510 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8510 | Exhaust air solution | 2019-03-20T21:27:36.937 | # Question
Title: Exhaust air solution
Can you think of a preferably cheap solution for me? I need a machine that pumps air out of my 3d printing enclosure, about 4 meters of pipe length. (From enclosure to window) What kind of pump or fan can pump air out of the enclosure (4m pipe length) at the lowest possible price and low volume?
I need it for cooling purposes and for better general air quality in my room after opening the printer enclosure.
It doesn't need to be top notch equipment, just enough for my purposes.
# Answer
Air flows from places of higher pressure to those of less.
## Minimal setup
I propose to look at a very simple setup which works for short lengths of pipe:
* Choose if you want a radial fan of a direct passing fan. get one, measure the intake and the outlet side holes
* cut a fan inlet-sized hole directly into the back of the enclosure.
* mount your fan onto it, most likely with some kind of foam to keep the airstream in.
* get a flexible air vent hose (I have seen ~$10/10€ for a 100mm one) and measure the inner diameter.
* print an adapter from the fan outlet to the vent hose.
* mount the adapter, then the hose, use clamps to secure it.
* lead the air vent hose to the window and out or into a wall through.
Even if the airstream doesn't seem to be very fast, you could test it with smoke to see that it will blow out the air on the other end of the hose. The large diameter lets quite some air out with just a "gentle" airstream. This is not a very efficient system though, as we build up a pressure in the pipe the fan wors against.
## efficiency gains
To gain efficiency, we should move the fan away from the machine and closer to the outlet. That means, we need to increase the fan power. If you can get your hand on, for example, an in-pipe motor, that would be a solution, but usually an expensive one. If you are good with electrics, you could use a blower from an electric cloths-drier. You might get a clothes-drier to strip the motor from really cheap, for example from a renovation, recycling facility or Craigslist, e-bay or any other auction or classifieds-page.
Or you build your own from an electric motor (you could use your machine's power supply here), a housing made from wood and an impeller, which you can get as a "Dryer Blower Wheel" spare part for under $50. If you connect the power for its motor through a regulatable resistor, you could even control its spinning speed.
To cope with the suction, we need to use aluminium flex pipe on the arm between machine and exhaust.
## go big
If you want to go *industrial* like if you want to run a laser cutter, you will need to go industrial in the vent size too. You use pretty much the same diameter aluminium flex pipe and a much stronger motor than the drier one, and you don't mount the motor directly to the machine back but somewhere downstream as it's rather loud. For what to look for in that case, I found a very good article here. Note though, that this is not a small setup, but you could possibly vent a whole batch of printers through one pump, using some airstream cutoffs to control which ones get currently evacuated.
> 2 votes
# Answer
Well you can get a centrifugal fan and put it at either end of the pipe. You didn't specify a pipe diameter so I'll assume it's 1 inch. Just hook the pipe up to the exhaust. You will have to design and print an adapter.
> 1 votes
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Tags: diy-3d-printer, enclosure
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thread-8513 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8513 | Printer is Confused-Printing in Air Literally | 2019-03-21T03:38:17.487 | # Question
Title: Printer is Confused-Printing in Air Literally
So I got my 3D printer (Anet A8) a few years ago and put it together. I couldn't figure out how to use it. Then about a month ago I decided to try again now that I am older and got it to work. I know more than I did by far. I have printed about 15-20 different times now, but then this problem occurred just now that I have never seen before. I tried looking up what it could be and google results in nothing and this exchange leads to one thread that is close to what I am having difficulty with but doesn't really help. I got the stl file from the internet on thingverse, so I am fairly certain they must have clicked the center and arrange when in the cad software to make the item, which is a phone stand. So my print all of a sudden starting printing in air. Here is a picture and thanks for the help.
# Answer
> 8 votes
Here's the pattern.
The problem is, you didn't slice the g-code using support. It won't print right without it.
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Tags: extruder, software, anet-a8, hardware, print-failure
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thread-8519 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8519 | Stringing during travel on first layer with Ultimaker Cura | 2019-03-22T01:14:22.780 | # Question
Title: Stringing during travel on first layer with Ultimaker Cura
I'm using Ultimaker Cura 3.6.0 and I am getting some annoying "stringing" on the first layer. This isn't new to 3.6.0 as I have seen it on pretty much every version I have used.
What appears to be happening is that as it is laying down the first layer, it doesn't retract as it moves from one area to another. This leaves a trail of filament which then shows up as an unattractive line embedded in the print. (ignore the other extrusion issues in the example below)
A similar thing happens on the top layer. It ruins the look of the nice smooth bottom I get from a glass bed.
I don't have stringing issues elsewhere on my prints.
I thought at one time I had seen a setting to control it, like "retraction during travel" or something, but now I can't seem to find anything that sounds like it in the dizzying array of settings.
Does anyone know of a way to get rid it these lines?
# Answer
Yes, if you are using the `Combing Mode` option, please ensure it doesn't do this in the skin, for a leak/string free first layer, it is required to set the `Combing Mode` to `Not in Skin`.
When the mode of the option is set to `Not in Skin`, combing is "off" for the skin; this implies that the material will retract and move in a straight line to the next print area. When material is retracted (and when properly tuned for your printer), the nozzle will not leak filament causing those (deposited) travel movement lines as indicated by the OP.
> 7 votes
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Tags: retraction
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thread-8520 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8520 | Is there proof that 3D printer made nanoparticles are dangerous? | 2019-03-22T01:37:37.800 | # Question
Title: Is there proof that 3D printer made nanoparticles are dangerous?
**Facts:**
1. Breaking down (or melting) plastic creates nanoparticles.<sup>1</sup>
2. 3D printers melt plastic.<sup>2</sup>
3. Therefore, 3D printers make nanoparticles.<sup>3</sup>
4. Nanoparticles are evil.<sup>*\[citation needed\]*</sup>
Wait, What?
---
<sub>1. Plastic waste disintegrates into nanoparticles</sub>
<sub>2. How do 3D printers work?</sub>
<sub>3. Characterization of particle emissions from consumer fused deposition modeling 3D printers</sub>
---
*I know* that 3D printers make nanoparticles. But is that actually a safety concern? There are multiple products on the market today that will suck up your nanoparticles for you. However, I can't see an obvious danger in the particles themselves. Who decided that these nanoparticles are bad for your health? 3D printers put out plenty of heat too, but nobody thinks that's dangerous.
So my question: **Does anyone know of sources/research articles of the possible harmful effects of nanoparticles created by 3D printing?** I'm looking for real scientific research. Thanks.
# Answer
> 7 votes
At the time of this writing (March 2019), I don't think theres any study on the health effects of nanoparticles emmitted by 3D Printers. The general consensus seems to be right now that those particles are potentially harmful, as they build up in the lungs, and therefore precautions should be taken.
The reason why nobody has yet determined if and how harmful they are, might be that those adverse health effects are probably long term, and hard to isolate. Plastic is everywhere today - it's not that easy to just study harmful health effects caused by 3D printers.
But we can say for sure that plastic in our bodies isn't ideal and can cause damage, so we should avoid it.
# Answer
> 1 votes
Perhaps FDM 3D printing does emit nanoparticles during the process of printing, but the syllogism does not prove it or even suggest it.
Parenthetically, your headline is not actually addressed by the body of your question. As an answerer, I have been misled by other questions which seemed clear enough from the headline, but where the question body actually posed a completely different question.
Double parenthetically, your final question does align with your headline. The discussion of 3D printing and the assertion that it is dangerous is not actually relevant to the question at all. It might be better to remove the references to 3D printing and post this in another SE group focused on human health.
The first point, that breaking down or *melting* plastic produces nano-particles is not supported by your reference. The reference refers to the mechanical breakdown of particles in a simulated oceanic environment and does not mention melting. The reference is silent on the possibility of melting producing and emitting nanoparticles.
In an FDM 3D printer, the melting takes place in an enclosed capsule, the hot-end. The plastic is heated to the point where the viscosity is low enough that the pressure of the unsoftened plastic filament pushes the softened material out of the hot-end through the nozzle. Upon exiting the nozzle the temperature falls, and the plastic begins to recrystallize.
I have seen no evidence of outgassing during printing with dry filament, other than an odor. Usually melting joins separated objects, pellets, and larger particles in a unified liquid state.
Without specific testing, one can not say there is no risk of nanoparticles emitted by FDM 3D printing. Ventilation remains a useful method of reducing local exposure to nanoparticles and odors. Airborne risks are one of the many risks to be considered, but I have no evidence that they are more serious than the burn risk, the fire risk, or the risk of a stroke from high blood pressure induced by failed prints.
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Tags: safety, health, plastic
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thread-8351 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8351 | Ender 3 Distorted Calibration Cube | 2019-02-26T18:43:25.330 | # Question
Title: Ender 3 Distorted Calibration Cube
Issue: My Ender 3 is creating distorted prints with layer separation and deformations.
Can anyone point me in the right direction?
Setup:
* Ender 3
* TH3D EZABL Auto Bed Leveling
* 1.75 mm ABS filament (245 °C)
* Heated Bed (100 °C)
* Sliced in Ultimaker Cura (with 1.75 mm filament diameter and 0.2 mm layer height)
What I have tried:
1. Tightening Z axis screw
2. Tightening Y axis belt
3. Tightening X axis belt
4. Switching to a different spool of ABS
5. Printing a temperature tower (same problem across different temperatures)
6. Turning off the auto bed leveling.
Update:
1. I've measured the temperature of the hot end, it is reading around 205°C +- 20°C
2. As per suggestion from the TH3D support team, I tuned the PID of my hot end. Unfortunately the results did not turn out much better (,) and the support technician is suggesting(a long with many people from the comments) that I should try to replace the thermistor. As per suggestion from @Trish, I measured the impedence of the thermistor and it does seem to be somewhat off from stock (118kΩ vs 100kΩ). Will update again once the replacement arrives.
3. As requested, here are some more photos front, back, left side, right side. The cube isn't hollowed out just to save material while I calibrate the dimensions.
4. I printed the same cube out, rotated 90 degrees. I got similar results though: front, back, left side, right side.
5. **Swapping the nozzle out solved the issue**! Thanks for the help everyone!
# Answer
> 2 votes
**Resolution**: After many trials and errors, I finally replaced the nozzle with one that that was not partially blocked by filament at its entrance.
---
**Likely cause**: A careful examination of the old part hints, that the repeated blockage in the nozzle seems to have been caused by a gap between the PTFE tube and the nozzle, which has considerably moved backwards under the stress of printing as one can see *here* in a photo of the PTFE tube.
---
It took me about a month and I went down a few rabbit holes until @user77232 made a great suggestion to check the nozzle and see if it needs to be cleaned. Thanks for helping me out everyone!
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Tags: ultimaker-cura, troubleshooting, creality-ender-3, bed-leveling
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thread-7981 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/7981 | Do firmware updates affect print speeds? | 2019-01-15T19:23:05.987 | # Question
Title: Do firmware updates affect print speeds?
I flashed the TH3D unified firmware (R2.7) yesterday and so far everything works. I printed the 20 mm cube using the same G-code file I used for my very first print ever. However, with TH3D firmware I noticed that the print head was ridiculously fast compared to the previous firmware. The new cube has layer shifting and more noticeable ghosting so I know it's not just my imagination/faulty memory.
The slicer should have everything moving at 60 mm/s but I feel like the printer is going like 80+ mm/s. I only uncommented my printer model and a couple of features of the firmware; nothing involving speed (mainly the mesh bed leveling). Is it possible that the new firmware thinks 60 mm/s is a different speed than the original?
---
<sup>Note: This question isn't about print quality. While the cube had flaws, it was just testing that the printer would actually print. And, of course, I can just dial things down. This question's scope is just about the input of the G-code and the output of an actual speed of printer head facilitated by the firmware.</sup>
# Answer
> 3 votes
I agree with @silver, but also wanted to point out that maybe the acceleration values on the old firmware you had were different from the default in TH3D R2.7.
The current settings can be retrieved using the M503 command, which should return the values from the eeprom:
```
Maximum Acceleration (units/s2):
M201 X1000 Y1000 Z100 E10000
Acceleration (units/s2): P R T
M204 P400.00 R1000.00 T1000.00
```
You can then lookup the default settings for your printer model and use M201 and M204 to set the new values. Then M500 to save the new settings to the EEPROM.
# Answer
> 0 votes
Yes, the limits are often subject to some "interpretation" in the limiting algorithms, even if they are totally unchanged values. Eg, your speed may remain higher around corners if the momentum calculations were optimized to take into account print head weight and extrusion instead of only per axis speed curves.
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Tags: firmware
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thread-8531 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8531 | How do I calibrate temperature control in a Repetier firmware? | 2019-03-22T18:33:23.050 | # Question
Title: How do I calibrate temperature control in a Repetier firmware?
I have built a 3D printer using RAMPS 1.4. I am trying to raise the hotend temperature over 180 °C. But I can hardly get to 100 °C in 60 minutes. I applied power directly to the heater and I was able to get to 220 °C in about 15 minutes. What am I not doing right? Currently I think the PID isn't correctly calibrated. How do I do that with the Repetier firmware?
P.S. I tried PID tuning but end with an error on timeout.
# Answer
When applying a voltage directly to the heater element, it should heat up very fast. You could measure the resistance of the heater element. A 12 V heater element of 40 Watt should have a resistance of about 3.6 Ω; you could test that with a multitester. If the resistance is a lot higher, the heater cartridge could be a 24 V heater element. Operating such element on 12 V would imply that the power output would only be 10 W. Heating of the hotend is much slower at low power output.
Incorrect PID settings can indeed prevent the heater to heat up fast enough to trigger errors during tuning. The trick is to heat up the element a little prior to performing the tuning, or upload new PID settings to the firmware prior to tuning.
PID settings can be set not only by uploading a modified firmware version (configuration file), but also by sending commands to the printer over serial terminal connection (e.g. Repetier host, OctoPrint, Pronterface, etc.) or stored in a G-code file and executing it ("printing"). The G-code command to set the PID values is `M301`. The relevant parameters are:
> Hnnn heater number
> Pnnn proportional (Kp)
> Innn integral (Ki)
> Dnnn derivative (Kd)
> 3 votes
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Tags: ramps-1.4, hotend, repetier
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thread-8545 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8545 | Temperature fluctuations, is it normal? | 2019-03-25T10:20:22.043 | # Question
Title: Temperature fluctuations, is it normal?
I have an Anycubic i3 Mega-S and when I'm printing something (especially when it's hotter) the temperature increases and decreases by around 3 degrees during the print. Is this normal?
I was worried this is a loose thermistor and if it comes out during a print my house will probably catch fire! I have no idea how to tighten it though.
# Answer
All printers will have some fluctuation and it's not a concern. This is similar to the fluctuation you'll see in your home temperature around the thermostat setting. There are a couple reasons. One is that the feedback loop (thermistor to control board to heater to extruder block) will always have some lag. Another is that most systems have built-in "hysteresis," i.e. set the "turn off heat" a couple degrees above the "turn on heat" thresholds. This avoids "chatter" from on to off right at the setpoint.
Some thermistors (e.g. my AnetA8 clone) can be held in place with a setscrew. If yours doesn't have a similar capability, use Kapton tape to hold it in. This tape is designed for high temperature operations so it won't age or collapse, and it has good holding strength.
> 4 votes
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Tags: prusa-i3, hotend, anycubic-i3-mega
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thread-2621 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/2621 | What are the advantages and disadvantages of an all-metal hot end compared to one with a PTFE heat break? | 2016-08-09T15:33:03.320 | # Question
Title: What are the advantages and disadvantages of an all-metal hot end compared to one with a PTFE heat break?
Related to an issue I had in this question, where the PTFE tube feeding my filament to the metal tip of the extruder clogged and became discolored: what are the advantages and disadvantages of changing out my extruder (Mk10 on a FlashForge Creator X) for an all-metal solution like the one advertised here (by Micro-Swiss).
I understand that the conversion would allow me to print higher-temperature materials (like nylon), but I'm also trying to figure out the trade-offs with regard to printing PLA/ABS parts.
# Answer
> 17 votes
This is a good question to make a comparison table. All-metal hotends Vs. PTFE liner hotends.
All metal:
* Works well for high (+250ºC) temperatures filaments like nylon or PC.
* No need to replace the PTFE liner (pretty obvious).
* Retraction performs worse.
* Plastic can get stuck to the inner walls. This can lead to clogging, more likely when changing from ABS to PLA (higher temp plastic to lower temp plastic).
PTFE liner hotend:
* Limited working temperature. Above 250 PTFE will start to degrade.
* PTFE tube needs to be replaced more or less often, depending on the use of your printer.
* Retraction performs better.
* Plastic is less likely to get stuck in inner wall (PTFE is very nonstick).
* When using PTFE liner, the plastic is melted very close to the nozzle. Unlike other techniques, in FFF/FDM 3D printing this is more desirable. E.g. to avoid 'heat creep', for a better flow control and more accurate output dimension.
Of course there are more points to compare. Please comment to add any other useful point.
# Answer
> 10 votes
Yeah, Yeah... Old topic I know, but still an ongoing topic for new and old hands alike.
"**All metal or PTFE lined**" along with "**Bowden or Direct drive**" Those are the questions!
This is a very unusual hobby, quite literally every possible modification, upgrade, printer setting, slicer setting, bed adhesion issue... Basically anything that can be altered at all **IS SUBJECTIVE** to the individual!
Forget printer brand, filament brand, model, clone, genuine etc. Just what works for one person and gives outstanding prints may not work as well or at all for someone else with an identical setup. There are just too many variables - Ambient temperatures, air pressure, humidity, geographic location, age of filament before you buy it, shipping and import method of filament, batch to batch variation of filament & the list goes on an on!
Compared with the laundry list of setup and printing problems to choose from these questions are surprisingly easy to answer!
Firstly: **Bowden or Direct drive extruder.**
A. Personal preference of the builder/user.
B. Suitability for your majority printing work.
I'm not starting an argument about which is better because **neither one is**! They both have advantages and disadvantages.
Bowden = faster overall printing speed before undesirable aberrations start to become noticeable
Direct = Slower printing speeds, but more suitable for flexible materials and easier/faster setup especially for newbies.
Personally I use a Bowden setup, mostly because I need good quality large format prints in the shortest time possible, i occasionally use flex filament but not often enough for a direct drive printer to be worthwhile investment (*and with a little tweaking can still get very good results!*)
Secondly: **PTFE lined or all metal**
This comes down to one question alone!
Do you intend printing **exclusively** with materials that require hotend temps above 250 °C?
If the answer is "No" do not waste your money on an all metal hotend!
Buy a couple of good quality plated brass nozzles and high quality Bowden tubing or heat break liner (and still have change for lunch and a pint or two on your way back from the shop)
Why?
Simply because getting them to work properly for lower temperature printing is nothing short of an absolute "pain in the proverbial"!
On more than one occasion I have been sucked into the hype that all metal is an "upgrade" from PTFE and quite simply it just isn't! Most of the companies that market them as an all round upgrade want only one thing your hard earned £££! So instead of marketing them as the correct hotend for high temp printing they market them as a general upgrade part. Which isn't the case!
Now if you think that you may want to try out a little ABS or nylon, even an occasional high temperature print here and there then a much better solution is to buy high quality professional PTFE liner such as the Capricorn XS series.
For normal printing below 250 °C will last 3x or longer than a standard PTFE liner and is also safe to use up to 300 °C for short periods and costs just a few £s more than your regular liner!
# Answer
> 9 votes
In general, metal extruder without PTFE feeding is useful when printing with materials that require high temperature to melt: 300<sup>o</sup>C and above. Polycarbonate with recommended printing temperature at up to 310<sup>o</sup>C is a good example.
PTFE melting point is around 320<sup>o</sup>C, but it may become soft at much lower temperatures, according to RepRap wiki: http://reprap.org/wiki/PTFE
From the other hand, all-metal extruder lacks advantages that PTFE ones can provide, the most important of them is the ability to have longer retracts without risk of clogging the filament tract. This is mostly important for users with Bowden-type extruders as well as for printing with soft or stringy filaments.
# Answer
> 3 votes
In addition to the filament printing temperature limits of PTFE-lined hot ends, and higher risk of jamming with all-metal hot ends, there is a significant potential print speed difference. PTFE is an insulator and putting an insulator between the heater and incoming filament will considerably slow the speed at which it can be melted. In very rough terms, a 1.75mm filament extruder with a 4x2mm PTFE liner can only extrude about half as fast as an otherwise-identical all-metal hot end. (On the order of 3-4 mm^3/sec PLA through the PTFE-lined hot end vs 7-10 mm^3/sec PLA through an all-metal hot end. It does depend on a lot of factors like nozzle size though.)
This is perhaps not too important for relatively slow printer styles like a Mendel/i3, but filament melting rate is the primary practical limit to print speeds in high-performance printers like Deltas or CoreXY machines.
# Answer
> 3 votes
Something not being considered here is where the PTFE liner terminates relative to the tip.
On the latest V6 J-head that I recently purchased on ebay, it only runs to the top of the M6 Stainless heat-break, about 25mm away from the tip. I use this on my Mendel Max, with both PLA, and ABS. No real problems, running at about 70mm/s, but I have had heat-creep jamming problems when the nozzle became blocked, which I put down to cheap grade filament.
On the Wanhao i3 mini, that I recently dismantled, with a similar looking hot-end, the PTFE liner runs all the way to the brass tip. This particular printer only works with PLA. I am yet to put it through its paces, to discover the benefits/negatives of this difference.
# Answer
> 3 votes
Nowadays you don’t need all metal hot ends if using Capricorn PTFE tubing rates at 340 °C. Works great, runs smoothly, problem free and prints nylon without a glitch.
# Answer
> 2 votes
Just bought an all metal heat break, and I either have to upgrade my existing fan (technically possible, but currently infeasible), or reinstall a PTFE-lined heatbreak.
Printing with a Tevo Tarantula. From what I've heard, basically, for PLA and other low-temp plastics, don't use all metal heat breaks. You need a PTFE breaker in there.
# Answer
> 0 votes
My Tevo Tarantula had an all metal hotend included and I never ran into any issues only printing PLA and PETG, most of the time I was even able to pull out the filament while the printer was cold.
After I upgraded to an E3Dv6 clone with PTFE lined heatbreak I started to have issues because of the filament getting stuck where the Bowden tube and the heatbreak connected, so I recently replaced it with an all metal heatbreak again and the issues instantly went away.
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Tags: extruder, fdm, hotend
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thread-3710 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3710 | Should you use hairspray on a metal bed 3D printer? | 2017-03-10T23:27:48.510 | # Question
Title: Should you use hairspray on a metal bed 3D printer?
I've heard that using hairspray is useful for keeping the 3D objects from peeling off of the bed, but every example I have seen where someone uses hairspray, they use it on a glass bed.
Is it okay to use it on a metal bed as well?
# Answer
I have been using a sort of a very strong hairspray called 3DLAC for about 2 years directly onto the aluminium heat bed of the Anet A8 printer I have.
Basically, all those sprays contain copolymer constituents, PVA (PolyVinyl Alcohol), Vinyl or Acetate. These are also found in certain glue sticks or wood glues. For me this spray works perfectly! On day one I assembled the printer, the paper tape tore and I was too anxious to wait for new tape to arrive. This worked so well that I have not changed it for that printer.
Cleaning is very easy as PVA or any of those constituents are solvable in water, so a moist cloth or paper towel over the plate is all to clean it. Furthermore, you do not require to spray before every print.
To answer your question if you **should** use a PVA based spray like hairspray directly onto the metal build plate is a matter of preference, but you definitely **could** use it as I have been doing it for about 2 years.
---
**To address the comments**:
I spray the heat bed platform whilst it is attached to the printer. I do pull it forward and gently spray the bed or just the location where the print is going to be build. Note that you do not need to do that for every print. I recently did notice very little spray on the X guide rods (maybe I have been careless once or twice), but that has not been a problem for my Chinesium iGus ripoff plastic bearings. It is very easy to clean with a damp cloth. It also works great on the glass bed of my Ultimaker 3E, but I usually (unless when I'm lazy ;) ) remove the slate of glass before printing. You could consider shielding the rods with a piece of paper, but it has not been necessary for 2 years.
> 6 votes
# Answer
I have a home-brew printer with a 9.5 mm (3/8"( thick solid aluminum heated bed. The bed is bare, with no additional tape, plastic film, or glass. For PLA I use purple Elmers glue stick or Aqua Net hairspray directly on the aluminum. For ABS I use acetone/ABS solution.
Yes, it is OK to use hairspray on an aluminum metal bed.
> 1 votes
# Answer
The adhesive that you use is determined by the type of filament that you are printing. For most types, PVA (White glue) will allow for adhesion to the build plate. Filaments like PETG will tear off the glue when it comes off the bed. PLA however does not. ABS requires ABS slurry, and Nylon sticks to PET film.
> 0 votes
# Answer
Do you mean bare metal or metal with some film on top? You can apply hair spray to bare metal, but you will have troubles cleaning it off. Solvents do not evaporate hair spray, they only turn it into thick sticky goo you will need to clean off. I recommend that you try glue stick or even beer (seriously) before hair spray.
You should also know that *any* adhesive is required only when your printer has bed leveling issues. After I finally dealt with bed leveling, I print ABS, and even ABS/PC mix (nasty) without any adhesive, on a bare kapton film over a metal bed. I rub it with alcohol before printing.
> -1 votes
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Tags: pla, heated-bed, adhesion
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thread-8564 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8564 | Can I use Araldite to stick PLA to metal frame? | 2019-03-27T13:03:24.617 | # Question
Title: Can I use Araldite to stick PLA to metal frame?
I have a PLA base, that the MOSFETs are sitting on. I don't want to drill through the base of the printer, I was thinking of using Araldite to stick the PLA base to the metal frame. The PLA base will be stuck to the base of the 3D printer upside down.
Do you think this will work long term? I don't want the plastic falling off and the MOSFETs hitting the metal base.
# Answer
Araldite is a brand that refers to a range of structural epoxy, acrylic and polyurethane adhesives. Among the vast number of products marketed under the name are also "metal repair" paste and what seems to be silicone based glues. Depending on what Araldite you have on hand, all of these types can be useful for PLA and any other 3D-printing material, as I had elaborated here. I suggest grabbing either an epoxy or PU variant or some kind of silicone for this use. You should make sure several things though if you go with epoxy or PU:
* make a small sample print and clamp down one side, then put a small weight on the other side. Apply the glue in the center of it. If it sags considerably during the bonding, the heat of the glue curing is warm enough to soften the print. If this happens, you should take precautions to prevent it from deforming during the bonding, e.g. not apply too much pressure onto the bond.
* The MOSFET can get rather hot. Make sure that the clamp holding the MOSFET still holds the item as it gets hot, as PLA starts to get malleable enough to deform under stress at 50 °C and usually fails quickly at about 100 °C.
Silicone-based glues depend on an area to force ratio to stick but offer a flexible bond that is somewhat thermal resistant and very gap filling.
> 3 votes
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Tags: pla, post-processing
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thread-8055 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8055 | Slic3r top layer issues, small gaps, weird extruder paths | 2019-01-24T20:29:24.273 | # Question
Title: Slic3r top layer issues, small gaps, weird extruder paths
When slicing with Slic3r Prusa edition the top layer of most models turns out pretty bad. There are usually small gaps or weird patterns. This does not happen with Ultimaker Cura, it will have a nice smooth top layer. Is there anything settings wise that I can do in Slic3r to get the same quality of top layer as Ultimaker Cura?
# Answer
To have a very smooth finish on top layer, I usually act on these settings :
in Print Settings :
```
Layers & Perimeters :
Horizontal shells : 3 / 3
Infill:
Infill, Top/bottom fill patterns : Archimedean Chords ;
Speed:
.for print moves :
Top solid infill : 20 (mm/s)
Advanced:
Extrusion width, Top solid infill : 0.2 (mm)
```
= This gives very slow movement in a circular way, the small extrusion creates an ironing effect, thus very nice finish.
Considering your slicer behavior, have you tried changing number of top shelves & Infill type ?
> 1 votes
# Answer
Maybe slic3r just has a more realistic rendering, and that is already the complete answer. If you print out the parts, the cura sliced part is not really that smooth.
I was curious about this myself, and printed the same part without optimzing, using curas and slic3r defaults. Indeed the artefacts shown in slic3r show up in both prints.
The part in the first image was sliced with slic3r (1.42 alpha). The part in the second image was sliced with cura (3.1 as shipped with ubuntu). Additionally to the same diagonal top-left bottom-right effects, which the cura print shows, there are also some strings going from the center to the bottom-left and top-right corners.
I did not optimize anything about the top layer.
> 1 votes
---
Tags: ultimaker-cura, slicing, slic3r
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thread-8568 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8568 | 4pin fan on RAMPS board - direct? | 2019-03-28T04:58:13.313 | # Question
Title: 4pin fan on RAMPS board - direct?
The question is simple - I have a RAMPS 1.4 running Marlin 1.1.9 with the three MOSFETs being used (end, fan, bed), but I'd like to have a couple other Marlin-controlled fans. One of them would be a 4-pin, 6000RPM cooler I got from a dead graphics card. Seeing how it runs perfectly at 12V 350 mA if I keep the control pin disconnected (and ignore the sense pin too, of course), Could I connect 12V and GND directly to the PSU (or RAMPS 12V header) and the CONTROL pin to one of the pwm servo control pins like D11? Or do I need a resistor?
I could add some info about the fan if needed, but it's a FirstD 4-pin, 12V 0.35A fan that can run up to 6000 RPM.
# Answer
> 4 votes
Yes, this should work.
According to this 4-pin fan specification, such fans use a 5V PWM signal. You would have to make sure the PWM frequency on the pin you use satisfies that 21-28 kHz range specified in the document.
According to 3.3 and 3.4 in the document, you may not be able to turn the fan off completely when using the PWM input signal.
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Tags: ramps-1.4, print-fan, fans
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thread-8563 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8563 | Does PLA block wifi signals? | 2019-03-27T12:04:42.583 | # Question
Title: Does PLA block wifi signals?
I printed a raspberry pi case from PLA. This case.
I fitted it to my raspberry pi and now the wifi keeps dropping out. When I take it out of the case there is no problem.
The filament I am using is Black, 3D Hero 1.75mm.
Has anyone experienced anything like this before, if so how did you work around it? Is it common with PLA is there another material that wouldn't cause an issue?
# Answer
> 4 votes
Typically the black pigments in polymers are mineral based. If you are having true WiFi issues then it sounds like your filiment is using black iron oxide also called magnetite for the black pigment. This is the same material they use in radar absorbing paints which would make sense as to why you are having radio related issues.
# Answer
> 2 votes
It could be several problems
* Shielding from the material
* Heat
* Mechanical load from the casing
* A metal screw next to the antenna
To learn more about the problem, comparing different configurations is the only way to got (As you guessed, it might be shielding, so you could see how the same shape works when printed in white PLA). Since comparing wifi signals is very prone to random changes, it is important to get better information than "random drops". Signal strength is a much better indicator.
A wifi signal test is shown here, comparing a bare PI with one in a aluminum case https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26OxCwEHoTk Indeed the aluminum case reduces the signal strength, as it was to expect.
For a faster comparison you can use the command 'iwconfig'. It usually shows a signal strength (Tx-Power)
```
> iwconfig
wlp4s0 IEEE 802.11 ESSID:off/any
Mode:Managed Access Point: Not-Associated Tx-Power=20 dBm
Retry short limit:7 RTS thr=2347 B Fragment thr:off
Power Management:off
```
A possible workaround might be to add an external antenna. The raspberry pi actually has solder points to add an antenna connector. https://www.mictronics.de/2017/10/raspberry-pi-3-with-external-antenna/
However it might be simpler to produce several iterations of casings and compare the signal strength, depending on availability to SMD soldering.
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Tags: filament, pla
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thread-7952 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/7952 | Problems with bed leveling of Creality CR-10 Mini | 2019-01-11T23:08:59.233 | # Question
Title: Problems with bed leveling of Creality CR-10 Mini
So I've had my CR-10 Mini for some months now, and I've been continually having strange problems with bed leveling. Basically, after leveling the bed and printing a part, the bed is no longer leveled for printing again.
Just now, I auto-homed, leveled the bed to where there was a pretty good amount of friction between the nozzle and a piece of paper, and started a print. The first layer didn't look like it was getting squished just that little bit that it should be, so I stopped the print, auto-homed again and checked the leveling with the paper. Low and behold, there was **no friction at all** between the nozzle and the paper. I re-leveled again and restarted the print, and then the first layer went down OK.
So what I'd like to know is why the heck am I having so many leveling problems?!? I've checked to make sure all my set screws are tight, my belts properly tensioned, and the rollers on the bed adjusted to slide smoothly but still have a good amount of grab. Help?
# Answer
> 4 votes
The Creality CR-10 Mini is a **portal printer** using a **single Z lead screw at one side** of the portal to move the whole X axis gantry. This implies that the X gantry needs to be very stiff when raised and lowered from one side and also have a minimum of play on the rollers (especially on the lead screw driven side).
I have seen many complaints from experience of people complaining that the gantry is not stiff enough, or that there is too much play on the rollers on either side of the gantry to result in a skew gantry. Consistent leveling is very hard on such machines. A colleague of me added an extra stepper (and split the original stepper connector) to have it raised and lowered from both sides. Do understand that this is also not optimal, missed steps on one of either sides can also cause the X gantry to become skew. A better solution is to create a belt driven extra lead screw that is powered by one stepper, you will not experience a skew gantry as the gantry is integrally moved.
# Answer
> 2 votes
I know this is a bit late, but I just saw it. I have had my Mini for about 2 months now. I noticed a similar problem and found that when I level the bed, I need to hit all 5 spots (4 corners and center) about 4 or 5 times. Just the slightest adjustment on one corner can throw another corner off. It's tedious, but worth it once the bed is level.
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Tags: bed-leveling, creality-cr-10
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thread-8583 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8583 | Replacement Nozzle options | 2019-03-29T20:39:57.667 | # Question
Title: Replacement Nozzle options
I was working on what should have been a simple nozzle clog, and due to my own clumsy handling it looks like I'll now need a completely new nozzle for my 8 month old printer. Fortunately they're not too expensive: $10 for a replacement direct from the vendor. Unfortunately, the vendor is out of stock.
So now I'm looking at alternatives. I believe I could get a 5-pack for $6. Wow. But I wonder: what's the quality gonna be like on those nozzles. Really... that's the question of the moment: what can I look for to be sure I'm not buying junk? Even if they are junk, at 1.20 each does it matter, or is the risk to more than the nozzle itself?
Also, while I'm here and since I'm gonna have to spend some money, what options can I look for in this area that could provide a meaningful upgrade for my printer? Is the cleaning kit worth the extra 5 bucks? What about brass vs copper vs hardened steel? If I only ever print PLA, is the all-metal hot-end for $10 worth the trouble?
# Answer
With regards to the nozzle material, it boils down to two factors: thermal conductivity and wear resistance. Brass and copper are better at conducting heat, but they have very low wear resistance: use them with abrasive filaments (PLA infused with metal, fiber glass or carbon fiber, as an example) and they won't last a roll. On the other end steel is not a good thermal conductor, and hardened steel is even worse, meaning the filament will get colder within the nozzle, possibly requiring a slower extrusion speed or a higher temperature, but they are quite resistant to wear. There are other options, like the famous ruby nozzle, which is very wear resistant and, being made mostly of brass, provides a good thermal conductivity, but it's expensive.
Another factor is the shape of the nozzle: some have a very short tip, others a longer one and that also influences the thermal conductivity and the flow rate, but also take into consideration the long ones don't play very nice with very sticky filaments like PETG.
It is a matter of compromise between material, price and versatility, I don't think there is a single best choice.
Usually very cheap nozzles are not machined very accurately, meaning the hole might not be perfectly round or centered, but unless you require a high level of precision they can be considered "good enough": don't get me wrong, I'm not saying those are low importance factors, but you probably won't notice a great difference unless you are using very good filament and printing at high-res.
It will be very difficult for you to damage your printer using a non high quality nozzle, but replacing the nozzle incorrectly (no matter the nozzle quality) can cause damage to the heat block: try not to snap the nozzle thread like I did...
**UPDATE**
As pointed out in the comments, there are a couple of factors you might have to take into consideration when buying new nozzles: the nozzle body length (there are nozzles with a much longer threaded body, usually referenced as *volcano*) and nozzles with different thread sizes (M6 for the vast majority, some use M7, very few use a customized system).
> 3 votes
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Tags: nozzle, monoprice-maker-select-plus
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thread-8585 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8585 | Minimum MOSFET rating for MK3 heatbed | 2019-03-30T21:40:57.987 | # Question
Title: Minimum MOSFET rating for MK3 heatbed
My printer (Prusa i3 Mk3 rework clone, with a 200 x 200 MK3 ALU-heatbed, RAMPS 1.4) has a car relay for heated bed control. It works just fine using bang-bang on Marlin, but I would like to replace it with a MOSFET anyways. The specialized MOSFET heating modules are way too expensive in my country, so I was thinking about buying a MOSFET that's good enough to handle my 12 V 10 A bed with Marlin's PWM.
Would a MOSFET like the STP80NF70 be enough (0.01 Ω at vgs 10 V, 68 V 100 A) or would one of the bigger ones, e.g. in TO-3P encapsulation be needed?
It would go in a proper heatsink and ran at 12 V with an optocoupler
# Answer
> 3 votes
and welcome to the Stack Exchange 3D Printing site.
Let's look at the specs compared with the requirements.
How much power is used by the heated bed? You have specified 120W (12V, 10A). That information makes it easy! On my homebrew printer it is higher, but that seems like a good high limit for a typical i3-style design.
So, the MOSFET you propose, assuming you completely turn it on, will dissipate 0.01 ohms * 10A^2, or 1 watt. This will warm the part, and you probably should attach it to a heat sink, which could be as simple as the existing extrusions. There is a much more complete answer to this exact question on the Electrical Engineering Stack Exchange site: Dissipating 1W on a TO-220 without heatsink?
I doubt the PID frequency is higher than 40 KHz. Since the Vgs rating you referenced is specified with 10V on the gate, you can't drive that directly from an Arduino pin. You need another driver transistor (NPN or FET) to drive the power FET gate. The turn-on time for the power FET will be determined (in the simplest circuit) by the pull-up resistor to +12v connected to the output of the transistor and the gate of the FET.
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Tags: prusa-i3, heated-bed, mosfet
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thread-8586 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8586 | What is the correct process to make a correct resin casting for jewelry? | 2019-03-30T23:43:48.853 | # Question
Title: What is the correct process to make a correct resin casting for jewelry?
I have a 3D printer and I have printed some models with castable resin. When I burn one of these models in the oven and then do the metal casting, the surface of the metal piece is not smooth.
I did a test with a pan. I put a model of wax and a model of castable resin to heat in a pan, and the wax model melts, but the resin model don't.
The resin I have is the following:
What is the correct process to make a correct resin casting?
Thanks for your help.
# Answer
Factually, the correct process is to heat up the mold hot enough to evaporate the positive.
In investment casting the process to remove the wax or plastic positive is called the `"Dewax"` and `"Burnout preheating"`.
The answer to your question depends on the material you use to generate a negative mold of the positive product. E.g. many silicate based materials require up to about 1100 °C to fully burnout all residue before pouring in the liquid metal.
> 2 votes
# Answer
## Traditional lost molds.
The reason many jewelers use wax for making the molds for lost mold casting is, that it has (compared to plastic molding materials) a very low melting and boiling point, allowing to create molds with much lower temperature equipment.
A variant of green sand casting is done with materials that very quickly decompose in contact with the molten metal or that burn out after setting fire to them. Very common in this context is foamed styrene. Styrene melts and burns easily so it is easy to use in this way.
PLA has been used in some experiments as a positive and then molten out in a baking oven. It and other printing filaments are usually thermoplastics, so melting them out is similar to wax.
## Resin is not soft wax or a thermoplastic.
No, in fact, most resins are a duroplastic, meaning that they don't melt.
If you print a positive from resin and then make a mold from that for lost mold casting, you go the traditional way. But most resins don't melt out the way wax does, and on contact with molten metal don'T evaporate the way wax residue does. You got to properly *burn* out the remains of the cured resin at a higher temperature and for a longer time than the wax as the melting point is much higher - use a proper burning oven. A proper burning oven in this relation reaches something like an email oven (1100 °C) or a clay burning oven (up to 1800 °C)
Putting the molds with the opening down into one of these ovens at high temperature should help a lot. Make sure to put a spacer and a tray below to allow better airflow and get the resin out.
## Chemical Club.
Besides heat to destroy the resin, most resins could be solved by very highly aggressive chemicals. Which chemical works highly depends on what the resin actually is - if it is epoxy resin it would be the highly toxic CH<sub>2</sub>Cl<sub>2</sub> while polyester resin is soluble in isopropanol and sulphuric acid.
## Cold alternative?
If your product is to be made of a two-component resin or a ceramic that can be shaped cold and that sustains form, then you might also look at silicone molding. This is not an alternative for most metal castings. Among the very few exceptions is pewter, as PunishedPropsAcademy and Evan&Katelyn showed in their video and there are high temp silicones around that could be used repeatedly for pewter.
> 1 votes
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Tags: 3d-models, uv-printer, resin
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thread-8577 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8577 | School grant proposal | 2019-03-28T23:36:54.243 | # Question
Title: School grant proposal
I've been asked to come up with a grant proposal for a new 3D printer. My question is:
> What supporting components and training would be most beneficial to support educational use in a K-8 school? In other words what things am I missing in my list below?
Specific suggestions for things on my list that I may not have thought of are welcome too. A specific tool, etc.
The suggestion was to include a base proposal with stretch goals that include everything needed.
My current ideas are:
* 3D Printer - option of a Prusa Mk3 or a Railcore 300ZLT. Possibly add another Prusa Mk3 kit as a stretch goal for students to assemble.
* Replacement and optional parts such as a hardened nozzle.
* Training and professional development
* Filament - a variety of kinds such as PLA, ABS, flexible, conductive, etc.
* Dry box or supplies to make one.
* HEPA filter.
* Enclosure - heated and/or soundproofed.
* Maintenance tools or supplies. Lubricant, etc.
# Answer
The question changed after I answered, so I'll answer the new question.
My answers are based on seeing the results of 3D printing deployed in a nearby school system, and my own experience as a FIRST Robotics mentor in my son's school system.
Current question's answer
---
**K-8**
You are ambitious. At the K level, I can see a group project to change a design (such as bracelets), and print the result. This would be done by an adult operating the design software and managing the printer.
At some point, maybe G4-G5, the students would be in more control, with assistance at hand to help jump past barriers that appear (software bugs, clogged nozzles, ...). By G8 the students should be able to handle the whole workflow if they have come up through the program.
It would be great if there were a version of Logo for 3D printing. Maybe there is.
**CAD**
You will need some form of CAD software to make 3D printing useful. Depending on the students, and assuming a small budget, you could look at OpenSCAD (or SolidPython) and OnShape.
OpenSCAD uses a simple language to specify and transform geometric shapes and to perform union, intersection, and subtraction functions. SolidPython is built atop OpenSCAD works with Python IDEs. With the Python language, loops and conditionals are more natural. OpenSCAD is pretty simple, but some people prefer Python. Designs are not "drawn", but are programmed.
OnShape is a cloud-based, traditional 3D design and modeling tool. Free user licenses are available with the caveat that all designs are publicly accessible and copiable, but others may not change your copy. It will be familiar to users of AutoDesk and SolidWorks systems, although the dialect will be strange.
Both produce STL files for 3D printing the designs.
**What is the purpose of 3D printing at the school?**
Other training really depends on how 3D printing is integrated into the core curriculum. If 3D printing is part of a class in the static analysis of structures, then the class would be providing the training about strength.
IMO, the best training is accomplished by giving students access to the equipment with a mentor available to answer questions. Each student comes to 3D modeling and printing with their own curiosity and motivation, and those are best served by smoothing their chosen path with information and advise.
**What can go wrong?**
The worst outcome is where money is raised, equipment is purchased, and no one is available to make it work. Or, it works great until the inevitable problem arises, and no one can resolve it. I've seen this happen in a large, well-funded school system. The students get frustrated, and the program loses credibility. The well-off students buy their own equipment and carry on, while those who can't dismiss 3D printing. 3D printing becomes another failed adventure.
**Typical Problems**
Working in any school system is complicated. CORI checks are required. Special certifications and permissions are needed to work on school property. Insurance and liability are raised as problems which block progress. Often nothing is possible without a teacher-on-staff taking personal responsibility and directly supervising activities.
Scheduling prints which take over a few hours may be impossible.
Most problems can be overcome with strong support from teachers and administration.
**Training Required**
The most important persons to be trained are the teachers and/or mentors. They will train the students, and the students will train themselves and each other.
The teachers/mentors should be familiar with the general operation of the CAD software, know how to operate the 3D printing devices, and be able to resolve all common problems. Keeping the equipment available is important. Going down for a month is a long time in a school semester.
If 3D printing is integrated into a specific part of the curriculum, the teacher of that curriculum will provide the subject matter training that is being demonstrated through printing. The physics teacher, the math teacher, or the art teacher will use the 3D printing to teach their domain.
**Supporting Components**
Look to the chemistry department for a fume hood to use for ventilation and a fire-proof enclosure.
Consult with the responsible authorities in the school to determine if special ventilation is required for occasional classroom use. Whatever they say, it may not be enough because of parents' fear of plastics.
Have spare parts on hand to quickly bring a printer back online. The ideal spare part is an extra printer -- plus other parts to restore the broken one when it fails. Consider the latency in the supply chain for replacement parts.
Have a purchasing flow authorized that allows spare parts and operating supplies to be purchased quickly. In some school systems, it can take months to purchase materials because such purchases are handled on a semester-by-semester basis. That won't work when you really need a spool of a special color by yesterday. If necessary, look to PTA-like organizations because they may be able to operate more quickly.
Consider using PLA in the classrooms. There is friendly web content about PLA being sustainable, "natural", and biodegradable, rather than the ABS stigma of being petrochemical.
If the upper grades have a community service requirement, allow the 3D savvy students to volunteer as 3D printing mentors to the younger grades.
---
Previous answer
If your question is about what equipment to buy, it would be off topic as being a question of opinion and recommending specific vendor's equipment. I am answering the question about determining what should be in a proposal.
Like any consideration of acquiring a 3d printing capability, there is some data that must be known before you can determine such a list of equipment.
First, what will the capability be used for? In a school context, it could be used as part of a curriculum, probably not on the topic of 3d printing, but perhaps something else. Or, it could be part of a school machine shop or hobby shop. It could be used by a robotics club, a rocket club, or a theater club. Based on how it will be used at the school, you can determine the next data.
Second, what will be capability be used to print? Based on that, you can judge which devices meet the need.
Third, based on the "what", and a sense of "how much", you can judge the type and quantity of supplies you will need. Supplies for the first two or three years should be included in the proposal.
Fourth, estimate the amount of special staff time that should be needed, find a sponsor within the school who will commit to that time, and estimate the funds required to compensate them.
Finally, roll up a sales document, ideally based on a rubric from the granting agency, which included the benefits, allignment with the grant guidelines, and the costs. Validate the proposal, especially the cost and the staff requirements, with whoever invited you to submit a proposal.
... and remember to actually submit the proposal by the deadline.
Bringing 3d printing into school is a great addition to other educational and engineering tools. With the right support from the existing school staff and a clear vision of how it will fit into the school activities and existing culture, 3d printing succeed in a school setting.
> 2 votes
# Answer
Your question doesn't have a lot of detail on how you use your existing printer (and I had to dig into the comments even to find out that you already have one: the question sounds like the grant would be for your first printer), so this is necessarily going to be generic suggestions, not all of which will apply to you.
# CAD software and training
Getting the kids to download something from Thingiverse and print it out is great for the younger ones, but to really enable them to think as engineers, they need the tools to design their own things. Giving them access to real CAD tools, and the teaching support to use them, is hugely preferable. Fusion 360 is common in education (and with hobbyists) as the bargain option, but if they really want to see what's used in industry, Solidworks, Creo, or NX could be a worthwhile investment. You need to account not just for the software licence itself, but for training up your existing staff and/or hiring in some new skills. Even if you have volunteers from a local engineering company, there'll be the cost of background checks (DBS in the UK) or whatever process you need for volunteers.
# Exotic filaments
I'd say it's better to establish a budget for filaments and then spend it over the course of the year, instead of buying some interesting filaments up-front. Odds are, one of your students will come up with a project that wants a particular type of filament, but you won't know which until they do. Having a budget keeps your options open, while buying exotic filaments up-front creates a big risk you'll just never find a use for the particular ones you chose.
# Self-assembly printers
Unless you're planning to buy a new printer every year, assembling the printer is only going to be an activity for one cohort of students. Having your printer club put together the new printer can be a great add-on (and look good on your proposal), but only go for it if you need the printer anyway.
That said, since you already have a printer, you might consider one of the RepRap-based plans where you can print most of the parts. You might find that the bag of bits needed to make a RepRap is cheap enough that you actually can have the kids build one from scratch every year.
# Noise and smell abatement
3D printers can be quite noisy and contribute to indoor air pollution. If you don't have a dedicated space for them, this may lead to having to agree to restrictions later on: e.g. no printing during class time, no printing while room is occupied, print room has to have the window open (so can't be used on rainy days). Depending on how budgets are in your school, maybe you can spend all your money now, and later on get an extra allocation from an H&S budget to fix any problems (e.g. by adding ventilation). But it might be easier to be honest up-front and include anything you'll need to make your printers good neighbours now.
# Hardware for printed parts
Some kinds of projects benefit from hardware that you can't print. For example, my old school ran a project where each student designed and built a clock, using an off-the-shelf clock mechanism and whatever material was lying around in the lab: sheet acrylic in various colours, plyboard, and softwoods. If you have any similar projects in mind - RC cars, kitchen timers - it might be worth thinking about specialised components now. Pin badge backers are always popular. Even if you aren't, a handful of threaded inserts, bolts and screws, hinges, rods, sandpaper, and primer will hugely increase the range of functional parts you can create.
> 2 votes
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Tags: desktop-printer
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thread-8369 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8369 | 3D printed part sticking to the support layer | 2019-02-28T14:43:50.433 | # Question
Title: 3D printed part sticking to the support layer
I am using a Flash Forge Creator, and when I print big parts (only in this case) I have about 25% of the bottom of the printed object sticking very hard to its support layer. And I spend a lot of time removing it with a cutter.
Is there any clue or good practice to avoid that?
I use ReplicatorG for my printing settings.
# Answer
> 5 votes
I finally found out two causes:
1. The 3D printer has default settings for ABS, and since there is no printer bed settings in ReplicatorG, the bed temperature was set to 110 °C instead of 60°C. I fixed the setting directly on the printer itself.
2. It seems that one side of the printer bed was little closer to the nozzle than other sides (relatively to the extruder) and this added a pressure on the support layer. I found this by observing the structure of the support layer that was little more compressed in one side. That was easy to fix by iteratively tightening/loosening the screw of that side and observing the support layer (and canceling the print if it is not homogeneous).
I installed Ultimaker Cura and Slic3r to try them and I found that Ultimaker Cura was not adapted to my printer (I did not found a complying model), Slic3r seems to be okay but I was not able to fit my big part inside of it. I am trying to use the maximum available space for my part, perhaps I need to change some settings for Slic3r and anyway it is already working on ReplicatorG.
# Answer
> 3 votes
According to the manufacturer:
> ... you are able to choose your favorite software such as FlashPrint, Simplify3D, Cura and more.
Not being familiar with ReplicatorG, I know that other slicer software can set the distance between supports and print (in terms of the amount of layers). You could look for such a setting in ReplicatorG, or use a different slicer such as Ultimaker Cura or Slic3r; which are free and able to make such adjustments.
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Tags: pla, support-structures, flashforge-creator
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thread-8594 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8594 | Best way to deal with Resin Printers in your living space | 2019-04-01T18:37:48.310 | # Question
Title: Best way to deal with Resin Printers in your living space
I know I did something stupid. I just had to have a SLA 3d printer. The issue being I live in a one bedroom apartment. In the months of owning it I have made lots of amazing pieces, I also for the first time in my life have not only allergies, but sever allergies. I thought I had the flu, and has been most of the last 2-3 months. After making the connection to the symptoms appearing after I got the printer, I sealed the resin vat and removed all cleaning station items from my living space. I had thought I had done "enough" by sealing the printers door, and making sure I could not smell any chemicals, and getting a chemical grade air filter.
It's been 2 days, and I'm instantly recovering from my symptoms, and have discontinued allergy medication.
Other than not own this type of printer, what kind of setup do I need so that I can safely use this printer? Does anyone sell enclosures or setups for businesses or homes that will solve this issue?
I can move the cleaning station to my balcony, as it also has a sink and space. Placing the printer even in an enclosure outside would be hard due to the humidity and extreme pollen we get here.
# Answer
> 7 votes
First things first: Resin is very aggressive. It can very easily make you hypersensitive, even to the fumes of it. So step 1 is easy:
## Limit exposure
Wear gloves when working with resin. As you live with your printer in the same room, bottle up the resin right after use and only open it during use to prevent buildup over time and exposure. To further reduce the exposure, leave the room while printing if possible and ventilate the room after bottling the resin again. Possibly even wear breathing protection during operation.
## Enclose and seal the machine
To keep the vapors away from you, the machine needs to be enclosed airtight. Any lids need to get a seal, non-opening joints of the frame need to be sealed with a sealant like silicone. Often it is hard to retrofit an enclosure to seal up the workspace.
If you want to enclose the full machine, I suggest using glass sheets and silicone sealant for the whole inside. Brace the construction from the outside with L-profiles along the corners and joints. The most tricky part will be the opening hatch and wiring/ducting access hole. The opening seal needs a sealing lid all around that gets compressed on closing the machine up and some kind of lock to keep it this way. The air filtration and wire access are just hard to make because of their circular shape. You might want to use a wooden or metal base plate, so it is best to put ventilation through the base. In case of wood, afterward coat the inside surface with a thin layer of an airtight material, such as epoxy resin or silicone.
## Low presssure operation by ventilating the machine
The next best thing to isolating the machine workspace from the air completely is to make it a low-pressure operation. This means that you evacuate the air from the machine. The imperfect seals now work against a high pressure outside and low pressure inside, meaning that the flow in any non-sealed spot only knows one direction: into the machine.
### Ventilation outside...
Fred's answer provides good basics on how to do this in general by using parts for Laser evacuation. This is also the most space-economic way.
### ...and filtering.
But there are (partial) indoor solutions even, based on ventilating the air from the printer into a multi-stage air filter could reduce or eliminate the amount of chemical exposure. This is not a slim piece of foam, it is a boxy setup with about 3 to 6 stages of filtering. Among dry-filters, a paint-filter in combination with an active coal one should eliminate a large portion of irritants from the stream, but might still need to be vented outside to reduce exposure even more. A 'wet' air filter, where the exhaust of the machine is pearled through a basin of a cleaning liquid (often water or a solvent like isopropylic alcohol) like in an aquarium could help to catch even more chemicals but is bulky.
# Answer
> 9 votes
One of the options you have would be to create a negative pressure in your working area. This would be accomplished by installing a fan with the flow direction to the outside. The inside portion of the fan should have ducting that terminates near your printer. You could place your printer in something elaborate, or in something as simple as a large cardboard box and attach the ducting to the box.
As the fan operates, air would be pulled from an open window elsewhere in the room and travel into the cardboard box. It would carry fumes from the printer to the fan and out of the building.
I have a CO2 laser which generates large amounts of smoke. Part of the installation includes a powerful blower not placed in the window, but with ducting from the machine and to a panel in the window frame. I used scrap plastic to make a baffle that accepted the ducting while blocking the rest of the window.
Squirrel-cage blowers provide powerful airflow but you may not need something as expensive as a laser cutter blower. A boat bilge blower might be sufficient to provide clearing airflow for your printer.
Additionally, a small bilge blower such as that shown above will use smaller diameter ducting, which would be easier to find and less expensive. The bilge blower in the picture provides for an in and out attachment, while the not-really-a-laser-cutter blower in the picture does not. A true laser cutter blower has ducting attachments for input and output.
One characteristic of this type of clearing system is that outside air will possibly change the temperature of the room/building. During the winter, the rest of my house got noticeably cooler while the exhaust fan was operating.
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Tags: safety, sla, enclosure, resin
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thread-8610 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8610 | Why are there so many print speed parameters in slicers? | 2019-04-04T03:14:38.240 | # Question
Title: Why are there so many print speed parameters in slicers?
The expert mode of Slic3r PE has almost a dozen speed values:
I understand that ultimately print speed at a particular temperature correlates with bond strength, so things like bridges and the first layer having different speeds are reasonable.
What about the rest? Why does infill have 3 variations? How are the different categories listed impacted distinctly from any other form of layer/path bonding?
# Answer
There are multiple parameters because of the trade-off at print speeds. Slow printing will have less ghosting and a better overall quality, but it takes way more time.
Fast printing will be fast (oh thank you, Captain Obvious), but you will get stronger ghostings and poorer line quality overall. Maybe some strange artifacts.
But you don't need a good print quality in areas that are not visible at all, but you do need it for the outer shell. Also, is the travel mostly just something that you want done as fast as possible but maybe not so fast that that the whole printer starts shaking?
So, you want to set different parameters for different parts.
Next reason: most slicers are used for a large variation of printers, and every printer is a litte bit different—even the same printer type with different addons (like a vanilla Anet A8 vs. a beefed up Anet A8). For the slicer to be able to be used by all these printers, it is necessary to be able to set multiple parameters.
To get deeper into your question about the different infill speeds: if you print a solid infill you will also need to give the printed material more time to cool down, because it is packed tightly and there is not much surface area for heat to get away. If you print these areas too fast you will end up with a part that is too warm and warps and deforms all the time while the next layers were printed on already, inserting even more heat into the part and isolating the warm parts from the outside. You can observe similar behavior when printing overhanging areas with thick walls: there the part will stay in a semi-solid state, and deforms all the time.
But how fast you have to go depends on the cooling system you have on your printer.
> 2 votes
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Tags: slicing, slic3r, speed
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thread-8561 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8561 | Adhesion issues using AmazonBasics PLA | 2019-03-27T01:17:56.050 | # Question
Title: Adhesion issues using AmazonBasics PLA
I am a neophyte at 3D printing. My Ender 3 is now 4 days old and I modified it out of the box with a glass bed. My first print was a fairly complex item, but a mere 90 x 160 x 3.5 mm. Used the sample filament that was included with the 3, first print was a keeper.
Today I was trying to use the AmazonBasics PLA 3D printer filament. I am not amused. I'm using the identical setup and glass bed as before but poor adhesion prevented a print.
I cleaned the glass with acetone followed with 90 % IPA... No joy. Another cleaning using a dishwashing detergent and IPA, boo hiss!
The glass bed is a Creality for the Ender, purchased separately For the first print, no adhesive was used, just the glass (cleaned the glass prior to the first print as described).
Your suggestions are solicited.
# Answer
> 0 votes
*Answer taken from OP's question*
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\****Fixed it!\****
Reset bed height to clear nozzle by 0.04 mm. Printed on raft. I appreciate the answers.
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Tags: filament, pla, troubleshooting, creality-ender-3, adhesion
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thread-6716 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/6716 | Serious safety concerns with living in same room as PLA 3D Printer? | 2018-08-23T06:02:36.050 | # Question
Title: Serious safety concerns with living in same room as PLA 3D Printer?
I have an Ender 3 which I primarily use for printing with PLA. I haven't branched out to other materials yet. :)
I've done some research into PLA fumes and airborne particulates which seemed to mention that PLA is mostly safe, but ABS is rather dangerous to print without proper ventilation. However, I understand that there isn't much research on the topic and that there haven't been many studies.
I have been keeping my printer in my bedroom, far isolated from flammable materials, which I sometimes leave on to print while I'm asleep. Should I be concerned with my health safety with respect to airborne particulates emitted by printing with PLA?
**Other questions ask about ABS, but here, I'm asking specifically about PLA.**
# Answer
> 13 votes
Fire is the most obvious risk - firmware can now detect some of the more obvious failure modes such as a detached thermistor, but loose or failing connections can still overheat. A smoke alarm is a fairly obvious (but not necessarily effective) protective measure.
The risk from particulates in particular is *probably* low, but marginal health risks like this are extremely hard to analyse, and will likely take many years to manifest. The closest analogue would be to look at commercial plastics workers since they are exposed to both heated plastic, and any potential dust generated.
You could also compare the risk to other 'hobby' activities such as soldering, painting, woodworking.
# Answer
> 17 votes
**You are probably pretty safe printing PLA**
1. Regarding emissions, the following recent report, Emissions of Ultrafine Particles and Volatile Organic Compounds from Commercially Available Desktop Three-Dimensional Printers with Multiple Filaments, indicates that PLA is a pretty low emitter (1/20th of nylon) and most of what it out-gasses is Lactide which is low on the harm scale. That said, everybody's nose sees things a bit different and people tolerate smells differently. Note also that we used to think lots of things (like asbestos) were harmless that we know differently now. Note also in the figure below from the report that all PLAs are not created equal. Dremel PLA produce way more nasty stuff than FlashForge PLA did. I am also sure additives, colorant, and fillers can change this a lot as PLA filaments aren't not all PLA.
2. Regarding the fire safety issue. Note that there is a BIG difference between a kit and a "product". Since you are the manufacturer of the printer for a "kit", the packager of the "kit" is not responsible for the fire or electrical certifications of the final product. This does open the door to some risks. The biggest risks are electrical safety; but, fire safety can be an issue as well. I would say that the risk is likely higher to you personally when the printer is NOT in your bedroom as if it catches fire when you are sleeping, you will likely catch the fire faster if it is in your bedroom.
3. From a practical standpoint, I have heard several people complain that they can't sleep when the printer is printing when the printer is in a separate room.
# Answer
> 5 votes
I have been printing daily for 2 months with PLA and have noticed respiratory problems! I feel like slight pneumonia symptoms! I also have very sensitive lungs that react to things that would not bother normal people.
# Answer
> 3 votes
Having asthma, I'm very sensitive to air quality and when i first started 3D printing i quickly noticed a sore throat, feeling out of breath, headaches and well the smell.
One thing many beginners overlook is material oozing out of the extruder in places other than the nozzle itself. This causes a dirty extruder head which 'burns' that material and thus creating a ton of air pollution and a nasty smell. As a fix, i took my extruder head apart and reassembled it with PTFE tape on all the threads. The oozing and burned smell of material is now completely gone, my initial health issues have also gone away.
This does not take away the fact that ultrafine particles are still being generated, but you will not notice this problem in an acute way. If you print daily use a fume extractor, your lungs cannot clean out this size of particles. The health effects will be similar as living near a busy street or highway.
One last thing few people mention: cleaning up parts. When you file or sand down parts this creates a lot of very fine dust, and since plastics are electrostatic this becomes very hard to clean up. I now use an extraction fan whenever I'm cleaning up a printed part.
# Answer
> 0 votes
Standard manufacturing practices contraindicate leaving a manufacturing device unmonitored while it's on. That being said, your workshop should be well ventilated anyways since you're probably using acetone, isopropyl alcohol, and other substances that you shouldn't inhale.
If you can not move to a well ventilated workshop, consider installing a fume hood or at least a range hood in your current workshop
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Tags: pla, safety, health
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thread-3853 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3853 | Which is more durable to sunlight/weather - PLA, ABS or PETG | 2017-04-13T14:23:07.440 | # Question
Title: Which is more durable to sunlight/weather - PLA, ABS or PETG
The backstory: I'm installing a pigeon net in my home. Because of the shape of the opening I'm installing the net in and the material on the sides it's difficult to anchor the net using the normal means but I can print clips that will hold the net in place.
The clips will be outside and will be exposed to the weather and direct sunlight, the weather here is relatively hot (up to 30C) with a lot of sun most of the year and rain in the winter.
I only have PLA, ABS and PETG available, anything else will take too long to arrive.
I don't care about the parts changing color and mostly I don't care about them deforming a little bit - only about breaking.
If the parts have to be replaced after a year I'm ok with it, less then that will be annoying, longer will be better.
So, under those conditions, which of the 3 materials is more durable?
# Answer
Ok, I tried all 3 materials.
PLA failed after less then one day, I believe it deformed from the constant pressure and fell out (I didn't find the part but I didn't really search for it, there's some tall grass below the window)
ABS lasted about a year, it fell strait down and I found the part, it looks ok if probably deformed by just a few mm so it doesn't pressure fit anymore.
PETG still going strong as I write this
> 24 votes
# Answer
PLA would be a non-starter for outdoor use as it's biodegradable and can breakdown in sunlight. Albeit slowly, but won't be useful for long term project.
ABS would be a good choice for longevity, as it can last in outdoor situations for quite a while. Its glass transition temperature is above 100 degrees celsius so it'll last in most climates. As for strength ABS is one of the better choices out there, also it's slightly softer than PLA meaning it will flex before breaking, PLA is much more likely to shatter. ABS is well known for warping while printing though. Not a huge problem though, if you're used to printing with it.
PETG not a bad choice either. It has a glass transition temperature around 80-90°C. So if you're building in a hot place with direct sunlight with some reflection, you could have deformation issues, though not that likely. It is stronger than ABS and it's also easier to print (less warping issues). PETG is also supposedly 'food safe' meaning if the outdoor animals start pecking at it, it'll probably not kill them... I wouldn't recommend trying to taste it though. Finally PETG is a bit closer to PLA in terms of brittleness so it may shatter before flexing. ABS is less brittle than PETG.
If it were me I'd go with ABS despite its issues with warping while printing. If you're newer to printing, then probably better to go with PETG.
> 13 votes
# Answer
I might be late to the party, but I have a suggestion. Why not use ASA filament, it's the kind of plastic used in car cup holders, lawn rakes and sprinkler heads, it is both heat and cold resistant, as well as solar stable and weatherproof. As far as printing with it it is similar to printing in ABS as far as I am aware, I might be wrong though. I personally am surprised how often this kind of question pops up and literally No One mentions ASA filament. I think I might buy some because I like the idea of printing something that can be left outside.
> 9 votes
# Answer
We use PLA in an outdoor environment, non-direct sunlight. PLA seems to be just as strong as day one. It has been about six months now.
Of course, you must seal coat to protect from moisture.
> 3 votes
# Answer
What colour was your PLA? PLA will soften around 60C and a dark colour will easily get hotter than that in direct sun on a 30C day. Clear PLA seems to have much, much better temperature resistance, but any sort of PETG will kick it's butt in that regard.
> 1 votes
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Tags: print-material, material, outdoors
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