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thread-18562 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/18562 | How hot is too hot for magnetic beds? | 2021-12-14T17:28:14.703 | # Question
Title: How hot is too hot for magnetic beds?
How hot is too hot for any given magnetic layer holding a steel bed surface? Are certain types or grades of magnets more or less suited for this purpose? How can I ascertain which kind I have if the manufacturer doesn't tell me?
I've heard that some magnetic beds should not be used for certain materials because those materials require a very hot bed for adhesion. But in the modern age where resellers and even manufacturers don't usually know what they are selling, what are the rules of thumb, and where are the limits?
# Answer
# Depends on the magnets used
Magnets demagnetize under heat and are fully demagnetized once their Curie temperature is reached. This Curie temperature depends heavily on the type of magnet, and it is not the point where they already suffer demagnetization but where they have none left. This means, that the useable temperature band is much lower - and in some cases, low temperature can negatively impact a magnet's holding force.
* Typical Magnet tapes and foils as one uses them for example kitchen magnets can start to fail as early as 65 °C and have Curie temperatures around 80-85 °C - making them unsuitable for printing high-temperature printing.
* The Chromium-Oxide magnetic tapes on cassettes are totally demagnetized at 113 °C.
* Neodymium-iron-boron magnets stuffer permanent damage over 100 °C and totally lose their magnetization at the Curie temperature of 320 °C
* Samarium–cobalt magnets only suffer damage over 250 to 550 °C and have a Curie Temperature of 700 to 850 °C,
> 7 votes
---
Tags: heated-bed
--- |
thread-3304 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3304 | What causes these round corners | 2017-01-01T22:41:58.273 | # Question
Title: What causes these round corners
```
Nozzle diameter = .4
Extrusion multiplier = 1
Extrusion Width = .45 <-- I feel like this could be reduced to fix it?
Layer Height = .3
```
I'm using Simplify3D.
# Answer
> 4 votes
If it's on each corner, and not the layer change corner, it's a combination of overshoot and the short "pause" of the printer when it changes direction.
You can minimize it, but it won't go away 100% (due to overshoot from direction changes), usually models with a slight rounded corners work great. If you, say, increase the jerk as an experiment and they get sharper (but you obviously have to deal with potential ringing artifacts) then it's due to that pause and acceleration after a direction change.
I would try lowering the temperature a bit to slow the flow/oozing of the nozzle and calibrate extrusion - just to keep the settings tight as possible to keep dimensional accuracy, but not under extrude obviously.
If it's where a layer change occurs, tweak and play with retraction settings - such as coasting and extra distance on restart (you can put negative values here). Once those are set, as an advanced tweak, try to max the z speed... Obviously this involves motor current, testing for skipped steps etc... but this would make the layer change a bit quicker, to further reduce oozing, due to the delay in layer changes if retraction settings don't fix it.
Usually, you can fix the corners with retraction settings but then it can mess up other parts of a model, since those settings are global... I wish slicers were more intelligent.
# Answer
> 1 votes
Oh thats simple. First you will see the "elephants foot" on first layers if you have the extruder over-extruding or do not have enough distance between the bed and nozzle.
> It's very common that the first couple of layers of a print is wider than you expected them to be. This is because you will generally want to make sure the first layer is nicely squished into the build platform so that it sticks properly. By doing this the plastic gets squished out into a thicker line than normal and thus the bottom of the print will bulge out a bit like an elephant's foot. You can decrease this effect by leveling your bed so that the nozzle is slightly further away from the bed and lowering the bed temperature a bit. It's hard to get rid of this effect entirely without sacrificing bottom layer quality and bed adhesion. It will be easier on small prints as they are less likely to warp and detach from the platform and you can therefore get away with not squishing the first layer as hard.
See this visual guide on more information
If you are seeing this on all layers. That means you have oozing. When your printer hits the end of the line. It has to slow down, stop and start the next vector. During this time if your printing very hot, you will ooze material at this intersection. Also the extra time over that spot mayhaps also warm the corner, causing more disruption. Best thing in this situation is to verify you cannot lower temps more. Add a fan. Also double check that you are extruding the exact amount you think you are. (distance of material and the material size average)
Here is another visual trouble shooting guide
I will note, I don't think thats too bad. If it needs to fit into something, just clip it.
# Answer
> 0 votes
Three factors that will impact the 'sharpness' of corners, first is your extruder speed, second is retraction rate and third is nozzle diameter.
By slowing down your extruder will be able to track the features of your model better. I generally try to print with extruder speeds of ~10mm/s which gives fairly good results. The nozzle diameter will be the most extreme limiting condition on how sharp you can get your corners. This I think is likely your issue.
Retraction rate *could* have an effect on the corner sharpness. I don't think that's the problem you're experiencing but worth mentioning. Depending on the specific geometry if your nozzle stops at a corner while it raises in Z if your retraction is too low additional filament can ooze out making the corners appear more rounded.
Typically a nozzle diameters are about 0.4mm which is pretty sharp, however if you have something larger that could effect it as well. Again, not your specific issue but something to keep in mind for future builds.
# Answer
> 0 votes
Enable "classic jerk" in the firmware and put it to 12 on both X and Y.
That helped me get perfect prints.
# Answer
> -1 votes
Your printer is over extruding.
It looks like PLA on the photo, the preset multiplier in S3D is 0.90 (not 1.0!)
The nozzle diameter should be the same as the extrusion width (both 0.40).
When you set the width to auto you get a bigger width. I don't really know why, but it was told me so.
If you print 1.75 mm you have to measure it and (the actual diameter is often around 1.78 mm, maybe less too). The multiplier of 0.9 is because PLA is softer then ABS for example. Maybe you should try other multipliers as well, maybe down to 0.85 in 0.01 steps.
I hope you can figure this problem out. I am experimenting by myself for days now to get it as sharp as possible. The goal is to get an edge with the diameter of the nozzle - not a bit more.
---
Tags: extrusion
--- |
thread-7683 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/7683 | Flashforge Adventurer 3 Filament feeder loud thumping noise, not enough filament extruded | 2018-12-17T17:46:24.213 | # Question
Title: Flashforge Adventurer 3 Filament feeder loud thumping noise, not enough filament extruded
My Flashforge Adventurer 3 is not printing properly. Filament feeder makes repetitive loud thumping noise and not enough filament is extruded. Resulting print (if completed) is not solid.
Results vary with filament. Flashforge brand (red) PLA works best. Any other filament fails completely unless I print at High quality, with head temperature at 235 degrees. Nozzle has been un-clogged repeatedly, but right from the start, when feeding filament in, it does not flow through properly.
I had used the included tool to clear blockages in the extruder several times before now, but after posting this question I tried again. Ordinary use of the tool made no difference. So I applied more force, and, pushed filament through by hand directly into the extruder and used a pin to try to clear the extruder. It now appears to be working adequately Not perfectly. I am able to print with default settings. It still thumps -or ticks- a bit. I am alarmed at the amount of force I had to use to clear the extruder blockage.
# Answer
> 3 votes
Advice from another source suggested thoroughly cleaning the feed gear on the bowden extruder. When I looked closely there were plastic flakes all over the mechanism. I used compressed air and a brush to clean it. I also discovered expert mode in the FlashPrint software, which enabled me to slow down the speed at which fill is laid down. Now I have good printing results with any filament.
EDIT AND UPDATE:: I have continued to have problems with PLA. For most of the last year I printed using ABS with no similar problems. I guess that PLA is simply rougher, scratchier than ABS and catches in the tube. I found a comment that putting olive oil on the filament fixes it. I used Vaseline. Things were fine for a while, but a retailer said this would lead to other problems.
So far, no permanent answer to this question.
# Answer
> 2 votes
My Flashforge Adventurer 3 showed similar symptoms at the start of a print. I found that the z-axis was out of calibration, causing the print head to touch the platform, meaning that the filament could not extrude. The solution was to calibrate by slipping a piece of paper under the extruder and adjusting the z-offset until it was just touching. Worked fine after that. Hope this helps.
# Answer
> 2 votes
After a couple of hundred hours of successful (mostly) prints, I heard weird thumping of the feeder and though it fed filament it would not extract it completely for a color change. Tried a number of tricks to fix that without success. Then I read here about just using compressed air to clean the wheels and the feed channel. Voila! Success. Maybe that won't solve it the next time but it cleared this problem.
# Answer
> 2 votes
I had this problem and thought I'd put my solution here.
The nozzle (at least my nozzle) is not actually an 0.4 mm nozzle. You can tell just by comparing it side by side to another one. Mine seems to be a 0.3 mm nozzle, despite being sold as 0.4 mm.
Once I set the `Path Width` in FlashPrint to 0.3 mm, my thumping noise (extruder skipping) and subsequent under-extrusion were **completely gone**.
# Answer
> 1 votes
PLA should not be printed at 235 °C. If your printer requires such high temperatures to make the filament very fluid, you have too much friction in your system, e.g. this can be caused by clogs or too low layer height printing the first few layers. Note that such high temperatures are also a cause for obstructions as the filament can carbonise creating clogs. On the other side, too low temperatures also cause too much friction or resistance.
The sound you are hearing is often referred to as "clicking" and can be caused by steps being missed or the extruder hobbed gear to skip back as a result of the friction/resistance.
Now that clicking is introduced, please look into this answer and this answer to answer your problem.
# Answer
> 1 votes
I had an identical problem, flashforge provided me with a setup that helped (mostly going much slower) but I still needed high temperature and had a lot of failures.
Eventually I dismantled the extruder hot end and found that there is a tiny metal ferrule that secures the plastic tube the filament feeds through to get to the hot end. This had failed and been drawn into the tube. The high temperatures and slow speeds were basically just softening the PLA enough to squeeze past the blockage.
I cut the piece of metal out of the side of the plastic tube and reassembled without it.
The printer now works fine at high speeds and with any filament :)
I’ve not yet seen adverse any effect from removing this ferrule, I guess the extruder may fail eventually at which point at least I know I just need a new extruder.
There are four plastic clips you need to push in with a screwdriver if you want to try this, I was able to open it up without causing any damage as the clips are quite strong.
# Answer
> 0 votes
I had a lot of thumps lately after I moved my printer location.
Turns out my printer wasn't level and the extruder was pushing harder (further down) on different places, causing thumps. This really shows because the calibration is only in 1 spot.
I used some printer paper and a bubble level then recalibrated. Not a single thump since.
# Answer
> 0 votes
Your nozzle might be blocked. Check that.
My printer worked fine for the first ~500 g ABS. Then I started to hear the clicking/popping when the print required high material flow. The hose connector that attaches to the top of the extruder ended up giving up the ghost and it released the PTFE tube, creating spaghetti in the printer before I got a chance to stop it.
So, I replaced the hose connector, but the printer was still popping when material flow was high. I followed the steps for clearing out the nozzle. I wanted to clear it until I could see light coming through the nozzle, so removed the nozzle and used heated needles to poke through. This is where I figured out that there was something stuck in the nozzle...
I looked at my broken hose connector, and sure enough, the clamping/retaining ring inside of the hose connector was broken and fragmented. It would appear that a chunk of the ring got lodged in my nozzle. I couldn't figure out a way to clear the nozzle so I just bought a new one.
# Answer
> 0 votes
I have had the same issue with mine. And the clicking was indeed calibration. When you're doing the paper part, I make sure I move the axis up one point from the bed allowing enough room for the filament to lay and adhere. If it still thumps after, check for a clogged nozzle (which you’ll have to do anyway if you have attempted countless failed prints from not being calibrated correctly) I can guarantee there’s a blockage at that point it’s just a given if you think about it. Also, I did read above that someone experienced the nozzle being in fact .3 mm instead of .4 mm.
I believe this to be true as well. All of their models seem to not be sized right. Therefore, path extrusion needs to be adjusted as well when all is said and done. Good luck
---
Tags: print-quality, filament, pla, extruder, flashforge-adventurer-3
--- |
thread-18572 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/18572 | Switching computers for 3D printer | 2021-12-16T18:43:21.593 | # Question
Title: Switching computers for 3D printer
Does anyone know how to move a project I'm working on in VSCode on my Mac onto a different Windows computer? It's a Marlin firmware file using Auto Build Marlin and I want to move it from my main Mac computer to the old Windows computer I'm designating for the 3D printer.
# Answer
> 1 votes
You could use version control to keep the project on GitHub, then you can clone the project to anywhere you like:
There's quite a lot of reading there, but you will end up with a more robust result than simply copying files across.
---
Tags: marlin, diy-3d-printer, firmware
--- |
thread-18568 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/18568 | Why do concrete 3D printers zigzag? | 2021-12-15T09:09:57.847 | # Question
Title: Why do concrete 3D printers zigzag?
Why do concrete 3D printers lay the concrete in a zigzag shape? I know pouring it in a straight line makes it unstable, but the zigzag shape reduces the contact of the top layer to the layer below. What is the advantage?
# Answer
Presumably to decrease material costs, speed up printing time and reduce curing time. The thicker the concrete, the more time it takes to cure. You need it strong enough for the next layer by the time the print-head comes around again.
When the concrete is poured in a zigzag it has a thicker/wider base, meaning it can be built higher and walls can be wider before they need a corner for strength.
Additionally, small sealed voids in the wall improve the thermal insulation properties of the wall.
Last - if the wall has vertical voids with a zigzag infill between vertical walls, then those spaces can be used to run wires for power/phone/network or water pipes, to hide and protect them instead of surface mounting them inside,
> 1 votes
# Answer
The zigzag is more rigid. You can push a square into a trapezoid without putting any of the sides in compression or tension. However, if you make a trapezoid with two triangles, the diagonal dividing the trapezoid. into squares resists an external force changing the shape of the trapezoid. Thus, the zigzag takes less material for adequate support than making squares as does cinder blocks.
Look at steel joist design.
> 1 votes
---
Tags: concrete-printers
--- |
thread-18575 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/18575 | Missing outer wall on some layers? | 2021-12-16T21:58:00.310 | # Question
Title: Missing outer wall on some layers?
It seems there are some missing lines on the outer wall on the Z-axis with my prints. I'm not able to pinpoint the problem. Does anyone have ideas about what might be wrong with my setup/settings?
Example:
Here are some settings that I think are relevant:
Printer: Ender 3 v1
Filament: Das Filament
Slicer: Cura
* Hotend temp: 215 °C
* Layer height: 0.2 mm
* Wall speed: 30 mm/s
* Travel speed: 200 mm/s
* Retraction distance: 6.5 mm
* Combing mode: not in skin (Max comb: 30)
Cheers
# Answer
In case others are interested in the solution, after playing with various settings, increasing the nozzle temperature fixed the issue. Using 217-218 I'm able to get a decent surface now.
> 1 votes
# Answer
The OP solved the problem by increasing temperature from 210 to "217-218". While it's good to have it working now, this likely suggests other problems with the printer thaat should be investigated.
If the change in temperature made the difference to get this print working, your extruder is just marginally able to push a sufficient amount of material through the hotend at the speed and temperature you're at. Normally I would expect an Ender 3 to do somewhat better, even with the stock extruder and hotend. Here are a few things you might want to check:
* Is the filament properly dried? If it's absorbed moisture, the vapor phase transition will absorb **at lot** of heat from the hotend, making the effective extrusion temperature significantly lower than the block temperature. In my experience, it behaves like it's 20-25 ˚C lower than what you have it set to. You can kinda compensate for this by increasing the temperature (keeping an eye not to go over the safe temperature for the PTFE lining, max of about 250 ˚C) but the right solution if this is your problem is to dry your filament.
* Is anything mechanically wrong with the extruder? A crack in the tension arm or weak spring can leave it very underpowered.
* Are the extruder hob gear teeth clogged with plastic shavings? This will also leave it underpowered.
> 1 votes
---
Tags: creality-ender-3, ultimaker-cura, z-axis
--- |
thread-18582 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/18582 | What filament would be best for Creality's Ender 3 v2? | 2021-12-17T15:33:32.567 | # Question
Title: What filament would be best for Creality's Ender 3 v2?
What would the best filament for an Ender 3 V2 be? I don't mind about the look but I would like for you to be able to bridge with it and for it to be reasonably cheap. If possible could you give several different options at different prices, different qualities and could you describe which website/company you can get it from.
# Answer
Sorry - no one here can tell you to buy brand X from website Y.
However there are an enormous number of options and eliminating some broad categories can help.
1. Presuming your printer is stock, it has a brass nozzle, and therefore anything "reinforced" or abrasive is not feasible. That excludes carbon fibre or nylon-reinforced filaments.
2. ABS is probably unprintable, unless you've added a heated enclosure
3. TPU might work, but it has properties that suit certain kinds of jobs, like flexible phone cases. If you're not printing those things, TPU is wasted.
4. PETG is also a maybe - I have no experience with it.
5. PLA is the best for printing on an entry-level printer like an ender3.
You can eliminate all 2.85mm and 3mm filament, because your stock nozzle is a 1.75mm
I've personally not tried TPU or PETG on my ender3v2, mostly because committing to a whole roll is an expense I can't justify.
If I were you I'd ask anyone locally who prints, "where do you get good filament?" and use that as a starting point. Ask your local library if they have a 3d printing service (this is astonishingly common) and where they source filament.
Some people only use the cheapest filament available, others have preferred brands, and others use only premium supplies. Figure out what your personality is.
Going cheap is reasonable if you're only toying about. If this printer is doing real work for people, consider stepping up to something better - cost of failed prints will outweigh the cost of better filament as your skills improve.
I would suggest exploring different styles of PLA, like the metallic-look or Silk mixes. You can also get great effects from Rainbow PLA, which mean you have to have fewer colours in stock. Lastly PLA+ mixtures exist, which are improvements on plain PLA.
> 3 votes
---
Tags: creality-ender-3, filament, filament-choice, creality
--- |
thread-18588 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/18588 | TronXY X1 Configure bed offsets | 2021-12-18T15:21:13.727 | # Question
Title: TronXY X1 Configure bed offsets
I have this printer with the 1.1.6 Marlin. The issue with it is when the printer starts printing the position of the hotend is offset
I am using Cura as the slicer. There, I tried this G-code to configure offset
```
G28 ;Home
G1 Z15.0 F6000 ;Move the platform down 15mm
;Prime the extruder
G92 E0
G1 F200 E3
G92 X5 Y-10
M206 X10
M206 X1 Y1
G92 E0
```
But they are not applied.
What could be the issue?
# Answer
> 1 votes
First, you need to make sure the slicer does slice the print object correctly, so beware of the option called "Origin at center" in Ultimaker Cura; this should not be checked for most printers (Delta printers have the center in the middle).
Second, please look into How to center my prints on the build platform? (Re-calibrate homing offset) to center your print to the build plate.
---
Tags: ultimaker-cura, tronxy-x1
--- |
thread-8271 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8271 | The BLTouch is hitting the bed on the double-probing | 2019-02-13T22:13:05.343 | # Question
Title: The BLTouch is hitting the bed on the double-probing
When double-probing, sometimes the BLTouch will hit the bed before the z-axis goes down:
1. The BLTouch deploys
2. The bed goes up
3. The sensor triggers
4. The BLTouch stows
5. The BLTouch deploys and crashes the bed before the z-axis goes down for the second probe
It happens only on the second probe of double-probing (slow speed) - the bed can't move out of the way fast enough. This happens in 2/16 probe points.
*Probe Accuracy Test result:*
* *Mean: 0.023075 mm*
* *Min: 0.018 mm*
* *Max: 0.027 mm*
* *Range: 0.008 mm*
* *Standard Deviation: 0.002584 mm*
# Answer
First, make sure to check if stow, deploy and the trigger are working correctly.
Second, check the pins files to make sure you put it in the correct pins. Black and White probe pin might need to go to Z-min or probe pin depending on. Make sure to check that.
Third, add "BLTOUCH delay". It might be triggering too slow or too fast for the next one to react. So after the first trigger, there should be a time for it to "re-setup" for the second. But if there is no time to do that then it won't trigger.
To add examples: If you have SKR 1.4 Turbo, then use BLTouch probe pins (black and white) on the board. IT will NOT recognize. You have to use Z-min endstop pins. Reason for this?:
```
#define Z_MIN_PROBE_USES_Z_MIN_ENDSTOP_PIN
```
If this has been used, Z-min probe will use Z-min endstop pin instead of Z-min probe.
> 1 votes
# Answer
In case someone still has this problem I have a solution for what happened in my case.
I am using a 3DTouch and I also encountered the same problem and it was solved by commenting `//#define BLTOUCH_HS_MODE`
> 1 votes
# Answer
I solved the same issue.
I had the same problem, just send the G-code `M502` to your printer through Cura or whatever it is you use. The reason is that you already did an auto bed leveling and you more than likely send the G-code `M500` which saves your auto mesh data so that you don't have to auto home for every print.
So `M502` restores everything to its factory settings after you reset don't forget to send `M500` to save the default settings or else your printer will be fixed up until the next time you turn it on and you'll have to start all over again hope this helps.
> 1 votes
# Answer
This sounds like the firmware setting for your BLtouch is not set up properly. Look at the line in Config H where it deploys the BLtouch. make sure nothing is commented out and that the 2nd deploy is shown.
> 0 votes
---
Tags: calibration, bed-leveling, z-probe, bltouch
--- |
thread-18597 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/18597 | Ender 3 board 4.2.2 BLTouch 3.1 crashes into bed during autoleveling | 2021-12-19T19:23:27.693 | # Question
Title: Ender 3 board 4.2.2 BLTouch 3.1 crashes into bed during autoleveling
I'm trying to install a BLTouch probe. I have an Ender 3 Pro with 4.2.2 board and I’m trying to connect a BLTouch 3.1 to it. I've bought a generic (but authentic) BLTouch instead of a Creality kit. I've plugged the 3-pin connector into the correct slots on the board (didn't have to rewire, pins seem to be in correct order), but I'm trying to connect the 2-pin connector to the Z-stop connector.
Wiring seems to be in order (although I'm not an expert), when I turn on the printer, the BLTouch flashes and deploys twice but when I try to autohome or level or deploy it through options, menu probe autohomes X and Y axis, but when it comes to the Z axis, the probe doesn’t deploy and hotend simply crashes into the bed.
I've followed this video when I was compiling firmware (I tried both the normal Marlin build and the nightly release).
*My configuration files can be found here. If someone would be willing to take a look.*
E.g. from my configuration (`Configuration.h`) file:
```
/**
* Enable this option for a probe connected to the Z-MIN pin.
* The probe replaces the Z-MIN endstop and is used for Z homing.
* (Automatically enables USE_PROBE_FOR_Z_HOMING.)
*/
//#define Z_MIN_PROBE_USES_Z_MIN_ENDSTOP_PIN
// Force the use of the probe for Z-axis homing
#define USE_PROBE_FOR_Z_HOMING
```
My guess is that I have to force the firmware to somehow recognize the correct signal pin, but then again, I'm out of my depth. I've seen this exact problem mentioned in many places all over the internet but never with a solution attached.
# Answer
> 2 votes
Are you using Creality's pre-built software?
In that case, you must connect the two pins to the BLTouch port. Altogether, you would have all five wires connected there.
Are you using your own Marlin build?
In that case, you must uncomment `#define Z_MIN_PROBE_USES_Z_MIN_ENDSTOP_PIN` in order to plug in those two wires into the Z end stop connector. Otherwise, you need to use the BLTouch port as mentioned above.
---
Tags: creality-ender-3, marlin, bltouch
--- |
thread-18600 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/18600 | Why is my 3D printer making a loud knocking sound after installing BLTouch? | 2021-12-19T22:12:18.153 | # Question
Title: Why is my 3D printer making a loud knocking sound after installing BLTouch?
Everything was working perfectly until I installed the BLTouch. After installing it every time I print it makes a loud knocking/clicking sound. Does anyone know how to fix this? I am using a Neptune 2 a clone of an Ender 3 with Marlin firmware.
# Answer
> 1 votes
The most probable reason is that your Z offset is too small, the nozzle is too close to the build plate, when molten filament has too much friction to flow out of the nozzle, the back pressure causes the extruder to skip back making loud thumping/knocking sounds. You could increase the Z offset for instance or redefine the bed height with `G92`.
---
Tags: marlin, troubleshooting, bltouch, elegoo-neptune-2s
--- |
thread-18604 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/18604 | Why is a 3D Benchy considered a good test print for FDM printers? | 2021-12-20T10:40:50.530 | # Question
Title: Why is a 3D Benchy considered a good test print for FDM printers?
the 3D Benchy is everywhere. It is one of **the** top test prints if you look away from a simple cube.
But what makes the Benchy a good test print at all? It does have almost no critical dimensions that would be measurable to see if the printer is calibrated correctly!
# Answer
> 17 votes
## the 3D Benchy isn't a specific calibration test
With the Benchy you don't see if your printer is calibrated in any axis, but it is a general use-case test for a model that can show you many of the issues you might face in a normal print. For all intents and purposes, it is more a general Benchmark item than a specific calibration test like a cube, stringing test, or temperature tower, where you go through iterations of a profile to dial in settings and printer properties.
## the 3D Benchy is a Benchmark for printer and settings
Most of the printing issues that can be seen on a Benchy are related to the print settings, though some are also related to the physical properties.
### Overhangs
The bow of the Benchy has a shape that is very conducive to seeing how much the printer can handle overhangs due to proper cooling and settings.
The arches in the sides of the cabin, as well as the back window, have a rather challenging overhang pattern (the extension needs to be larger and larger), and the front of the Benchy has a short bridge, which shows if cooling is happening properly.
The upper edge of the hull also is a little overhang, which shows how well small oversteps can be printed.
### Small Diameter
The funnel of the Benchy is of sufficient small crossection, that with bad settings it can result in printing layers upon one another too fast, which can result in bulging, misinformation, or totally blobing that area.
### Sharp corners
The front and back corners are rather sharp and can show the effects of ringing on the area next to them due to bad acceleration settings
# Answer
> 5 votes
Benchy is cute. That goes a long way in attracting attention.
The benchy is one of the earlier STLs that was freely available to download, dating from April 2015, and was released under the Creative Commons Sharealike licence, which clearly states the requirements and limitations/requirements.
Curiously, a printed Benchy can float in still water, provided no print problems crop up. It will also sit nicely on a shelf, with no risk of rolling off and makes a nice ornament.
Links:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3DBenchy and one of the earliest download sites https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:763622
---
I've had my printer for a year now, and have never printed a benchy.
---
Tags: calibration, knowledgebase
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thread-18587 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/18587 | Can't make Ender 3 V1 Level | 2021-12-18T08:29:54.370 | # Question
Title: Can't make Ender 3 V1 Level
I have an Ender 3 V1 with a glass Creality plate. I was having difficulty using manual levelling and my prints were struggling, so I ordered a 3DTouch. I have installed the 3DTouch and used Creality's BLTouch firmware. But my bed is still not level.
So my build is an Ender 3 V1 with:
* Extruder upgraded to all-metal extruder
* Glass bed upgrade
* 3DTouch Upgrade
* Capricorn Tubing
* Yellow bed springs
I manually levelled my bed using my 3DTouch. I used the `G30` command in `Pronterface` to probe each corner of the plate. At each corner, I would adjust the knob until the 3DTouch read 0.0. I did this iteratively multiple times until I thought it was reasonably level. The four corner values were something like 0.1, 0.0, -0.2, and 0.3 mm.
I have also put a straight edge with an Angle Finder Phone App. The bed is quite level. It reads 0, 1, or 2° depending on how I place the level. X-axis gantry has a 1° tilt.
Here is my current bed levelling mesh:
After doing this, I added `G29` after `G28` in my starting G-Code in Cura. I sliced a model from Thingiverse that had 5 squares and some lines. Here are the results:
I am using:
* Filament : PLA
* Bed Temp : 60 °C
* Nozzle Temp : 200 °C
Some miscellaneous notes:
* The bed was cleaned thoroughly prior to use
* I rotated the bed 90° and the print looked the exact same way
* I ensured that the bed soaked in some heat for some time prior to printing
* I have set my Z offset to -1.800 mm
* The frame and components seem to be square and tightened down. Nothing is shaking around and seems to be in order.
I would really appreciate help on this. I'm really not sure what to do next. I've been really excited about 3D printing and I hope I can find a solution to this.
**Leveling using CHEP's video**
So I have rebuilt my 3D printer using CHEP's video. I noticed that one or two things were off compared to how it was supposed to be. I will be doing some test prints to see if that actually fixed things. I am hopeful.
I did a mesh before any other changes, and the slant is very clear now. See below. I believe one of the plates on the gantry wasn't completely straight.
**Leveling after rebuilding printer**
Here is my latest mesh, after rebuilding the printer and then re-levelling its bed manually.
These are the results of the print. I had to change my Z offset to -1.60 mm. The broken line is my fault. It was caused by my finger. The focus is the corners. As I mentioned, this is after rebuilding my printer.
**Edit**
I would like to have more probing points than Creality's 3x3 grid. To my understanding, Creality's source code is not available, and so I will be rolling my own with Marlin 2.0. I downloaded the latest Marlin from https://github.com/MarlinFirmware/Marlin/releases, and copied the 4.2.2 Creality configuration from the default Configurations. I then changed the following:
1. I ensured `#define PDITEMP` is not commented so that I can do PID tuning of the nozzle.
2. Similar to 1., I ensured that `#define PIDTEMPBED` is not commented so that I can do PID tuning of the bed.
3. I commented `#define Z_MIN_PROBE_USES_Z_MIN_ENDSTOP_PIN` since I will be using the 5-pin BLTouch port that is on my 4.2.2. board.
4. I uncommented `#define USE_PROBE_FOR_Z_HOMING` since I removed my z-axis endstop and want to use my 3DTouch as the z endstop.
5. Uncommented `#define BLTOUCH` since the 3DTouch is a BLTouch clone.
6. Changed my x and y offsets in the setting `#define NOZZLE_TO_PROBE_OFFSET { -42, -8, 0 }`. I left the z-offset 0, since I will be using the tuning tool to adjust that and observe the squish. For the x and y, I measured the distance between my probe and the nozzle using a digital caliper.
7. I adjusted the probe margin from 10 to 15, since I have clips that previously would interfere with the 3DTouch. 15 should give more distance. `#define PROBING_MARGIN 15`
8. I enabled and set MULTIPLE\_PROBING to 3. I'm paranoid about the current accuracy, and am willing to see if that improves anything at the expense of a few additional minutes. `#define MULTIPLE_PROBING 3`. I think 2 should be fine for general use.
9. Uncommented `#define Z_MIN_PROBE_REPEATABILITY_TEST`. I want to test my 3DTouch and uncommenting allows the use of M48 to test it.
10. Uncommented `#define PROBING_FANS_OFF`, `#define PROBING_ESTEPPERS_OFF`, `#define PROBING_STEPPERS_OFF`, `#define DELAY_BEFORE_PROBING 200`. The documentation this may improve probing results. I'm all in.
11. Uncommented `#define NO_MOTION_BEFORE_HOMING` and `#define HOME_AFTER_DEACTIVATE`.
12. Uncommented `#define AUTO_BED_LEVELING_BILINEAR`
13. Uncommented `#define RESTORE_LEVELING_AFTER_G28`. This is to ensure the mesh is applied even after G28, which disables the mesh otherwise.
14. Ensures that this setting was 10. `#define DEFAULT_LEVELING_FADE_HEIGHT 10.0`
15. I set the following : `#define GRID_MAX_POINTS_X 7`. Ensures a 7x7 mesh grid is created. This could be more or less. 49 points is an improvement over Creality's 9, although a bit much. Worthwhile in my case.
16. Uncommented `#define EXTRAPOLATE_BEYOND_GRID`. I was actually wondering if this was causing some of the inconsistent prints near the edge.
17. Uncommented `#define LCD_BED_LEVELING`. This is to unlock more options for ABL in the menu.
18. Uncommented `#define LEVEL_BED_CORNERS`. This should make moving between corners for manual levelling easier.
19. Uncommented `#define LEVEL_CORNERS_USE_PROBE`. This is to achieve exactly what I was doing with G30 in Pronterface. I changed to tolerance with `#define LEVEL_CORNERS_PROBE_TOLERANCE 0.03`
20. Uncommented `#define Z_SAFE_HOMING`, which is important for the BLTouch.
21. Changed my PLA profile according to what I have determined to be best with `#define PREHEAT_1_TEMP_HOTEND 200` and `#define PREHEAT_1_TEMP_BED 60`
I had to comment `#define BLTOUCH_SET_5V_MODE` for things to compile. I also had to modify `#define LEVEL_CORNERS_INSET_LFRB { 30, 30, 45, 45 }`, due to the margin I set as well as the offset of my touch. Otherwise, the above configuration was fine, in terms of compilation.
I'll post back with the results.
Here are the results for the M48 3DTouch test. Are these values good?
| Measurement | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Mean | 0.063667 |
| Min | 0.061 |
| Max | 0.068 |
| Range | 0.007 |
| STD | 0.002478 |
I reduced the speed of the probing in half in order to make the probing more accurate. This was done by changing from `#define Z_PROBE_FEEDRATE_FAST (4*60)` to `#define Z_PROBE_FEEDRATE_FAST (2*60)`. I also made the mesh grid 8x8 because might as well.
These are my M48 repeatability results. Interesting to compare to the above table which probed at double the speed.
| Measurement | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Mean | 0.005500 |
| Min | 0.002 |
| Max | 0.010 |
| Range | 0.008 |
| STD | 0.001908 |
I also changed the filament (brand new). Just as another variable to modify.
The following prints are the result.
The mesh before this print is as follows:
**Levelling the X-Axis Gantry**
As Oscar in the comments has mentioned, I have read some other forum posts that described the cause of uneven lines and similar inconsistencies as what I am noticing, as being due to the X-axis Gantry that moves up and down as not being level.
I used a digital caliper and measured the x axis gantry relative to the frame of the 3D printer. So for example, I put my caliper against the base metal extrusion and then against the x-axis gantry. I did this on both sides.
The side without the Z-Axis lead screw (right side) was above the side with the Z-Axis lead screw (left side) by about 1.7mm. I'm surprised that CHEP and some other build videos never mentioned to check this, but it does seem logical to consider. Making the brackets flush is NOT adequate. When I do make it flush, then one side is higher than the other. The build videos say to make it flush. This will make things OFF.
To adjust this, I took off the gantry, slightly loosened the bolts on both side plates, so that it was stiff enough that it wouldn't move easily, but could make subtle adjustments by twisting it hard enough. I then put the gantry back on the printer, did some measurements and corresponding adjustments. I then carefully threaded the gantry off and tightened the plates.
Currently, my left and right side have a difference of .17mm. I figured I won't get anything better by hand. I'll do another test print tonight. 1.7mm vs .17mm is a reasonable difference.
# Answer
One red flag:
> I have also put a straight edge with an Angle Finder Phone App. The bed is quite level. It reads 0, 1, or 2° depending on how I place the level. X-axis gantry has a 1° tilt.
"Level" in the sense of bed leveling does not have anything to do with being level relative to the earth's gravity. If your X axis is tilted but your bed isn't, there's your problem. They have to be **square** to each other, not level with respect to any external reference (you can operate your printer on its side or upside down for all it cares).
If you find that, no matter how much you try to tune the bed leveling, it keeps coming out different by the time you print, you probably don't have a problem with your bed but with the X axis gantry and Z motion system it's attached to. If the frame the Z carriages run up and down is not entirely square, or if the wheel tension is not right, the undriven side might not follow correctly with the driven side. This means sometimes positioning at the right (viewed from front) side of the printer will come out too high, and other times too low, depending on a lot of factors, the most obvious one being last direction of Z travel.
> 1 votes
# Answer
You need to check the X gantry, the Ender design is flawed by using a single Z screw on one side. Please check the rollers and check the belt tension. All the leveling graphs show that the bed is lower on the right side (or the gantry higher), it could be that the rollers on the right post (when facing the printer) are causing the right side to be lower.
> 1 votes
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Tags: creality-ender-3, bed-leveling, calibration, bltouch, 3dtouch
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thread-18591 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/18591 | Hot end temperature keeps dropping on my Creality CR-10 S4 | 2021-12-18T22:22:05.440 | # Question
Title: Hot end temperature keeps dropping on my Creality CR-10 S4
I have a Creality CR-10 S4.
What causes a "runaway please reset"?
I changed the heating element and the thermistor. When I heat the hot end, the temperature drops down to about 165 °C and I get a thermal runaway.
Could the fan go bad and it's going too fast?
# Answer
> 1 votes
There could be multiple reasons for the issue, but the most common issue is the temperature sensor. We can test it:
Disconnect the hot end from the control board and place the sensor on a warm plate and after some time place a candle closer to your sensor, with a 5 mm gap. If your board is able to display the variable temperature, then we can say the temperature sensor is fine.
Or if you're good with electronics and programming, use Arduino/ATtiny/Arm controller to measure temperature using the temp sensor of your 3D printer.
The next issue could be some component in your control board, it happened with my printer, in my case, resistor and two capacitors were at fault.
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Tags: hotend, creality-cr-10, heat-management, thermal-runaway
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thread-18614 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/18614 | Is it possible to export a model from TinkerCad.com, reimport it, and edit it again as a grouped collection of individual parts? | 2021-12-21T07:28:43.803 | # Question
Title: Is it possible to export a model from TinkerCad.com, reimport it, and edit it again as a grouped collection of individual parts?
I have this model, for instance, made in www.TinkerCad.com. It is made up of a bunch of grouped objects. I'd like to be able to back it up by saving it locally, then reimport it and ungroup those objects on the *imported* model. Is there any way to do this?
(Note: my motivation is permanent backup of my important models. TinkerCad deleted a few million accounts in May 2021 it looks like).
When I export a model from www.TinkerCad.com I get these options: `.obj`, `.stl`, `.glb`.
No matter which I choose for export, if I reimport what I exported, it is now one solid piece and it appears I cannot ungroup its elements to edit them anymore.
Also, if someone else opens up my .obj file in some other tool, like Fusion360 or Solidworks (neither of which I can use right now since I'm on Linux and don't have a license for Solidworks), will they be able to edit the individual components of my model like I did in TinkerCad to build it in the first place? (I think this is NOT possible on .stls, no?--but I don't know about .obj files).
# Answer
> 2 votes
STL and OBJ are formats that define a surface through trigons and a waveform respectively - to make the export work, TinkerCad runs a boolean union operation first. Without this, it would run into the problem of having bad surface geometry - a flaw that happens still when the boolean joining fails properly.
GLB is a container for gITF files and can store file hierarchies as well as cameras and animations. However, even if the structure would allow having all the bodies, TinkerCad does run a boolean union before it.
As a result, you'd have to physically separate parts of the item that are not to be joined from one another as in an explosion diagram. That way the boolean union would result in each part being separated and exporting as separate shells.
## Separating Shells into models
If you have an item from TinkerCad that has multiple separate shells, you can open the STL or OBJ in a program like Meshmixer and run a Separate Shells operation. Then you can export the parts from that program as separate files that can be imported into other CAD or 3D-Design software - or sliced directly.
## Re-CADing the models
If you have your parts exported and separated, it would be very beneficial to properly CAD them in a program that allows STEP files. For this you'd simply import them into a program and use the 3D Model from TinkerCad as a model to design around.
Fusion360 does allow to import STL and OBJ as a mesh, though isn't the best to edit it.
FreeCAD, an open-source alternative, does allow the import of STL and OBJ too and has a Linux distribution.
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Tags: file-formats, tinkercad
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thread-18617 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/18617 | Wires in BLTouch connector are loose, how to fold a crumpled pin | 2021-12-21T15:58:22.707 | # Question
Title: Wires in BLTouch connector are loose, how to fold a crumpled pin
I'm trying to install BLTouch on my Ender 3 Pro but I've been pulling the cables in and out so many times that crimp pins (I think that is what they are called, I mean the little metal bits crumpled on the end of the wire) are now almost completely loose and when I try to put the cable into the socket two of the cables are pushed out by pins in the board.
I've got a couple of uncrumpled header pins but I don't know how to bend them so that they clamp wires.
I've attached the part similar to what I have (I don't have a good enough phone to snap a photo of the original part I have).
# Answer
You need a crimping tool like this so that the pins will be crimped correctly to fix in the sockets and plugs.
> 1 votes
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Tags: bltouch
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thread-18207 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/18207 | Ender 3 V2 error message | 2021-10-06T18:22:51.557 | # Question
Title: Ender 3 V2 error message
I bought an Ender 3 V2 printer and printed successfully with PLA and PLA+. Ender 3 V2 is rated at \<= 250 °C but when I set temperature above 200 °C to print to PLA+, I get an error message "Nozzle is too lowperature" and the printer freezes (the term lowperature is actual and not a typo error).
I tried to raise the temperature gradually. I started at 200 °C and have gone to 205 °C and a little bit more. I started printing and I might get this message again or might not. Also, the temperature seems to change or lower while printing. It is not stable.
Any suggestions as to what causes this unstable behavior?
---
Following the above behavior, I was able to raise the temperature to 213 °C and I was printing for 10 minutes or so, then I got the message "thermal runaway".
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I managed to capture the event here
# Answer
This sounds like a bad thermistor. Try replacing the head thermistor, see if this fixes it.
As for the strange error message, it looks like the word Temperature is being drawn on the wrong line, and then "is too low" writes over it.
See the way the word lines up below:
```
nozzle temperature
is too lowperature
```
> 2 votes
# Answer
The problem was solved after the supplier replaced the motherboard. However after that I had to try various versions of firmware as different ones had different behavior to the printer. If you face a similar situation be aware of the cabling and connections when changing the motherboard. You may have to do the plugins twice to be sure that they are correctly attached.
> 0 votes
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Tags: creality-ender-3, extruder, printer-building
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thread-18590 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/18590 | Nozzle getting clogged all the time | 2021-12-18T20:28:30.537 | # Question
Title: Nozzle getting clogged all the time
Recently, my Ender 3D Pro has been unable to print any large models successfully with PLA as the filament starts to expand inside the Teflon tube, causing a clog after about an hour of printing. I am starting to suspect that the problem is heat creep.
* This occurs with the two brands of PLA filament that I use (3D Fila and Voolt 3D).
* The hotend that I am using is the one that comes with the printer, I don't know what it is made out of.
I have tried many things to patch this problem:
* Try to unclog it with the needle
* Replace nozzle (three times)
* Check if the Teflon tube is touching the nozzle
* Increase temperature from 200 to 220 °C
* Increase temperature from 200 to 215 °C
If the problem is indeed heat creep, I have plans to control the heat sink temperature with a Peltier and an extra thermometer. Any other ideas are appreciated.
# Answer
Since you mentioned "Check if the Teflon tube is touching the nozzle", it sounds like you've disassembled the tube from the couplings and put it back together. This is error-prone and in my experience the main/only likely cause of clogging in Creality hotends. Heat creep is unlikely unless you're operating in a very high ambient temperature or have a failing/failed fan.
The tube can't just be "touching" the nozzle. It needs to be compressed against it. There are various ways to do this, but what usually worked best for me (before I moved to a different setup) was to back the coupler out of the heat sink by at least 1-2 full turns, press the tube all the way in against the nozzle, then tighten the coupler back down to compress the end of the tube against the nozzle mating surface.
The end of the tube also needs to be clean cut, straight, and undamaged. If it's charred, bent, gnarled, whatever, cut it straight with a razor blade while holding it in a jig to make sure the cut is perpendicular. You can find several such jigs (PTFE tube cutting tools) on Thingiverse or make your own or buy one. I like to also take the razor blade and chamfer the outside of the tube end ever so slightly before inserting it. I do this by hand, but I've seen videos of it being done with a jig that looks something like a pencil sharpener, which would probably be the best way.
> 2 votes
# Answer
This sounds like heat creep may be the problem. For preventing heat creep to occur you should do the opposite, print at lower temperature, tweak retraction length and increase cooling of the cold end.
A Peltier element is not very effective cooler, use a bigger fan, or a fan with a higher flow rate. Note that the Peltier element required a large cooling body and a fan as well, so this adds a lot of weight to and limits space of the hotend. You should not go there, it has been tried before.
> 0 votes
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Tags: troubleshooting, nozzle
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thread-18619 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/18619 | Why do nearly all cheap 3D printers have a Bowden extruder? | 2021-12-22T01:55:03.193 | # Question
Title: Why do nearly all cheap 3D printers have a Bowden extruder?
It seems that a Bowden extruder is the most used in all cheap 3D printers by far compared to Direct Drive that is very rare under 500 USD machines. But I haven't understood the reason, since in terms of hardware a direct drive doesn't seem to have any impact on price more than Bowden (correct me if I'm wrong).
Why?
# Answer
> 7 votes
As I understand it, there's really no good reason for this except "momentum". At some point in the not too distant past, a Bowden extruder was seen as an "upgrade" over direct drive, which required a bulky toolhead that was seen as limiting speeds.
(This perception was at best accurate only for delta and CoreXY machines at the time even, I think. As it turned out, Bowden doesn't let you print faster, at least not at any quality, because the nonlinear/hysteresis effects of the Bowden tube on the actual amount of material extruded can't fully be compensated with linear advance/pressure advance once you reach moderately high speeds. You can overcome this with the Nitram Bowden but good luck finding a cheap 3D printer manufacturer willing to put in that kind of custom part!)
Anyway, all the cheap printer manufacturers jumped on Bowden as a feature, and they're slow to develop any new designs rather than just making incremental improvements and production cost optimizations to existing ones.
Since then, direct drive designs have improved greatly, and the mass of the good ones has gotten so low that it's hardly a consideration anymore except on the most extreme agility-seeking printers (designs attempting 50k-300k acceleration). Everything should be direct drive, especially since it makes things so much easier for beginners (no difficult-to-load tube, broken filament in tube, loose fittings messing up retraction, etc.)
Teaching Tech has a video, oddly named Why direct drive is not automatically better than bowden tube, where he basically concludes that it is actually better, and goes over some of the history I've touched on.
# Answer
> 4 votes
Using a bowden extruder allows the manufacturer to place heavy components lower down on the printer frame. This lowers the center of gravity and reduces the amount of movement that the hot end creates when it tracks across the bed.
This allows the hot end to move\print faster without having to reinforce the printer's frame or to include higher quality belts\motors or dampeners.
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Tags: extruder, extruder-driver
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thread-14902 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/14902 | Ender 5 SKR Mini E3 -- After Heating the Hot End Assembly Runs into the side of the printer | 2020-11-29T23:35:20.467 | # Question
Title: Ender 5 SKR Mini E3 -- After Heating the Hot End Assembly Runs into the side of the printer
So I got the SKR mini E3 for my Ender 5 after hearing all the positive reviews.
When it arrives I plug everything in, make sure it's secure and test the axis... they all worked correctly.
I then tested auto home... everything worked.
I then tested the heating... everything worked again.
Finally, I go to do a test print-- it heats up and then homes. When it is finished heating, the hot end assembly starts moving slowly until it goes into the corner and contacts the side of the printer. Obviously, I turned it off right away.
Currently, I am uncertain whether it is a firmware issue, a board issue, or something else? If anyone could please help me solve this, that would be greatly appreciated!
# Answer
> 1 votes
This issue is related to the way Creality has defined the origin of the printer. Usually, the origin of the printer is at the front left when facing the printer. Creality has chosen to set the origin in their default Creality configuration at the back right.
Vanilla Marlin (Ender 5 configuration) has the origin at the front left. When facing the printer this makes more sense. Do note that there are printers with the origin in the middle and in the back right location, but these are outnumbered by far in preference of the front left location.
This means that when you switch boards you need to carefully look at the settings of the endstops and the definitions of the being min or max endstops and inverting or not of the steppers.
# Answer
> -1 votes
So I found an answer on Reddit when I asked the same question: It actually had to do with the homing -- basically, it was starting at 220, 220 instead of 0,0, which resulted in when the print started for it to head straight into the corner. In order to counter this, I had to change some of the firmware. Everything works now. Thank you for your help!
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Tags: marlin, firmware, creality-ender-5, skr-mini-e3
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thread-13305 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/13305 | 3D Print something as flexible as a cloth with PLA? | 2020-04-02T14:34:53.207 | # Question
Title: 3D Print something as flexible as a cloth with PLA?
Would it be posible to design something that is as flexible and that can be printed with PLA that would work as a cloth? I did some research and found that there was a company named Electroloom but that didn't make it. I'm not looking for anything fine, just something that would work for wiping
# Answer
Maybe you would be better off with TPU or some other type of flexible material...
I have been able to print PLA and have it flex quite a bit, but that was an ~0.2mm single layer print, I guess maybe up to 0.3-0.4mm should still be a little bit flexible, but not much. Also since you want it to wipe things, maybe you should look if TPU even has all the properties required for that as Carl mentioned in the comments.
> 1 votes
# Answer
You can not 3D print that because there is no nozzle or method for producing filaments of the required size. A few microns at least. You might be able to spin molten pla like cotton candy and it might absorb; but I doubt it.
https://phys.org/news/2010-05-cotton-candy-machine-tiny-nanofibers.html
> 0 votes
# Answer
## printed PLA will not behave like cloth.
Hard PLA can not behave like cloth, and even a 0.1 mm sheet of PLA will behave like a plastic sheet, not like cloth. In itself, it will always be a hard material.
## printed PLA can be combined with fabric
Printing a hard plastic onto a thin mesh of fabric can create a compound material. For example, this has been used to create "scales" that are embedded on the fabric, for example with an octagon setup. These materials have limited bending areas and can, if designed well and made from small scales, almost fall similar to a stiff normal fabric, or have totally different behavior.
Only the printed on fabric will be able to absorb moisture, a hard lip printed onto the material will be able to push liquids and solids. If instead of PLA a TPE was used, the lip would deform to have contact and act as a wiper.
With clever design, this can even be used to imitate fantastical scales.
## Printed PLA scales can imitate cloth
NASA worked on a 3D printed scale mail, which offers a somewhat solid surface when under no extra load but shows special movement patterns when exposed to forces. For example, a curtain of these printed scales could, under force, always push itself to the left side and assume a shape that funnels an airstream to the right. These 3D printed scales are at times referred to as "printed chainmail" or "printed fabric", depending on how they fall and how large the individual elements are.
The result of inquiries into these print in place solutions range from designs that use techniques used in classic flexible jewelry band designs and European 4:1 Chainmail patterns that fall exactly like their metal counterparts over designs inspired by the NASA method that almost behave like a leather in a limited movement range to more exotic ones that imitate in one axis the movement of tank threads while being a little stiffer in the other
## There is spun PLA cloth...
PLA can be spun into yarn in a similar process to the making of other polymer-based yarns. The resulting thread is 0.01 mm and thinner and then can be weaved using traditional methods. In this thickness, it behaves exactly like cloth, but that is an order of magnitude thinner than the thinnest nozzle available on the commercial market (0.1 mm) and unprintable.
> 0 votes
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Tags: pla
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thread-18634 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/18634 | Melting 3D printed scraps: Burns up | 2021-12-25T16:02:05.993 | # Question
Title: Melting 3D printed scraps: Burns up
Every time I try melting a scrap piece of plastic it ends up turning brown, smelling, and smoking before even melting down completely. My entire home ends up filled with cancerous fumes and there's no way I'm baking any food in my oven ever again. I've tried different types of Nylon, ASA, and PLA and all of them turned brown before properly melting. I placed the scraps inside a glass jar inside an oven and tried both slowly increasing the temperature, and placing it into the preheated oven.
Absolutely disgusting.
I would like to melt it into blocks or cylinders or planes and further process it with my lathe, my CNC mill, bandsaw... whatever, like this guy:
# Answer
Plastic in general and 3d printer plastic specifically doesn't really melt so much as get softer in a range of temperatures (in a state refered to as "plastic" rather than liquid). Below that range, it is a solid. Above that range, it decomposes and ultimately burns.
If you want to make a solid block, you need to not only heat it to a specific temperature (which varies by plastic formulation), but also press it into a new shape.
> 2 votes
# Answer
PLA starts to char at about 220 °C. However, it also starts to soft at about 100 °C and becomes sloopy (and printable!) at 180 °C. Putting the oven to anything above 180 °C will, with the heating cycle an oven undergoes, result in air that is above the temperature it degrades into burning plastic.
keeping the temperature at or below 180 °C should prevent charring - you will have to take time though, as the plastic will flow only slowly on its own.
> 2 votes
# Answer
Your kitchen oven is for food. I'd strongly recommend using a different heating device for this. Your oven probably has oils in it that are contaminating the plastic, and the plastic will make your later cooked-food contaminated. I suggest cleaning your oven before cooking food, too.
Personally I've had good luck **softening** PLA with a hot air gun, essentially a workshop version of a hairdryer. I've not tried forming it into shapes though.
I've been putting all my offcuts, bad prints, brims etc into a 2L icecream tub, and when its full of spidery bits, a 20 second heat with hot air shrivels it all down to 1/4 of the volume.
However I've not tried to make use of the resulting lump for anything.
> 1 votes
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Tags: recycling
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thread-18646 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/18646 | Is it possible to change the orientation that filament is laid down for the top layer in Cura Slicer? | 2021-12-27T10:50:15.907 | # Question
Title: Is it possible to change the orientation that filament is laid down for the top layer in Cura Slicer?
In Cura Slicer, is it possible to change the direction that the filament is laid down when making the top layer?
For example, in the above picture the filiment is laid down at about 45 degrees to the X\Y axis. Can I make it 90 degrees?
# Answer
> 3 votes
Yes. Set "Top Surface Skin Layers" (roofing layers) to at least 1 and "Top Surface Skin Line Directions" to 0 or 90 as appropriate (instead of 45 and 135).
# Answer
> 1 votes
Based on the comment in Trish's answer, a custom solution might be possible using g-code, but would likely be quite tedious. I have a (retired) client whose career spanned more years than I've been alive. He traversed his development from manual machining through punched cards/paper tape and through CAD/CAM, but always created the g-code from the ground up.
One could, for example, locate a CAM program with which one is comfortable and set about defining tool paths and related configurations. Fusion 360 may have a slicer feature in the non-free portion; I've not pursued that aspect of the software.
One could also examine the g-code generated for a specific layer and make appropriate adjustments to the direction of travel, extrusion commands, speed, etc.
An Instructable exists which describes a method to create a hollow cube for 3D printing, but it's severely limited in scope, in my opinion. It has triggered another thought, to use the g-code generated for laser cutting/engraving as a foundation for the above noted manual creation.
For example, a g-code based laser (i.e., GRBL) could be commanded to cut lines spaced apart by the filament width when placed by the printer, often 0.4 mm approximately. LightBurn software (multi-platform, 30-day free trial, supports GRBL) would allow you to experiment creating the initial code, which would then require manual editing for temperatures and extrusion rates.
This would require substantial experimentation and substantial time and effort.
# Answer
> 0 votes
## Yes with a few tricks:
You could turn the item by 45°, then all layers are turned to follow the local X and Y-axis of the body itself, but not the global X and Y of the printer - there'll be a 45° conversion between the items local coordinates and the printers global ones.
Or you could choose a different upper layer pattern, for example concentric, for the upper and lowermost layer.
If you want to define a specific zig-zag direction, you need to go advanced mode, click the gear and enable "Top/Bottom Line Direction". This now allows altering the direction by setting an angle different from 45°/135°. The setting however is ignored if you don't use Lines or ZigZag
---
Tags: ultimaker-cura
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thread-14457 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/14457 | Ender 5 (Plus) - Gantry not square to frame, how to fix? | 2020-09-20T05:25:54.403 | # Question
Title: Ender 5 (Plus) - Gantry not square to frame, how to fix?
How would one go about squaring the gantry relative to the frame?
Referring to the image below, distance A and distance B are not equal.
Also would this account for the reason why when I attempt to print a circle it is not perfectly circular, and when I try to print a square, it is tilted?
# Answer
I had exactly the same issue and I was surprised with the lack of the information about this topic on the Internet. So, here is how I managed to make the gantry absolutely parallel.
1. Make sure your frame is square: If it's not square, try to loosen all the screws (don't forget about those holding the motherboard) and tighten everything again. Use a level and a carpenter's square.
2. Loosen the shaft couplings on the Y axis. Those:
3. Loosen these four screws:
4. Loosen these eccentric nuts:
5. Now your gantry should be completely relieved and allow you to make the adjustments
6. Move the gantry to the front side of the printer so that the wheels touch these corners: If your frame is square, it would mean that X and Y axes would be perpendicular to each other.
Don't push the gantry to hard to prevent wheels damage!
7. Now tighten the screws from the second step, trying to still hold the gantry touching the corners at both sides:
8. Then, tighten the shaft coupling from the first step, while still ensuring everything is perpendicular and parallel.
9. Finally, adjust the eccentric nuts from the fourth step. Make sure they all touch the profile and that they all have the same rolling friction.
10. Check everything one more time and you're done. Now your gantry is completely squared. Enjoy your skew-less prints!
---
> 3 votes
# Answer
> How would one go about squaring the gantry relative to the frame?
You first need to make sure that the cube/box frame is square. Once this is done, you need to check whether the gantry is still not perpendicular/parallel to the top frame. If not, you need to loosen the couplers at the front that control the Y movement of the printer. See if you can reposition the gantry to be square to the frame. If that doesn't work, you need to fiddle with the bolts that hold the wheels of the X-Y carriages so that the gantry will become aligned with the top of the frame.
> Also would this account for the reason why when I attempt to print a circle it is not perfectly circular, and when I try to print a square, it is tilted?
Yes, a skew gantry causes skew prints, i.e. squares become parallelograms, and circles become oval. There is another solution to fix this in firmware, but, the preferred method is to mechanically fix the issue.
> 2 votes
---
Tags: creality-ender-5, mechanics
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thread-17831 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/17831 | How to remove ABS from PEI Sheet | 2021-08-02T13:16:57.837 | # Question
Title: How to remove ABS from PEI Sheet
Recently building a new printer, I went with a Wambam PEX system. When I began printing ABS I found it did not stick very well and eventually purchased a new build plate and a PEI sheet since PEX isn't suited to ABS.
Not altering some of the setting while trying to get ABS to stick to the PEX I started printing on PEX which is gripping extremely well...too well. Bed temp may be a few degrees too high, nozzle was giving a little too much squish. I now have several skirts and now the base layer of a ringing tower embedded in the sheet. What is the best way to remove these? I was using acetone on the PEX sheet but I'm told not to use that on PEI.
Just looking for into to clean the PEI sheet, please do not respond on what I should have done, or how to use PEX with glue or whatnot.
# Answer
> 3 votes
Heat up your bed to the print temperature; maybe even as hot as 100 °C. This will soften the ABS and make it easier to scrape off. It will distort a print to remove it this way, but is good for cleaning.
**Less preferred method**: Acetone will dissolve ABS but may be rough on your PEI, even causing it to lose its bond. It also evaporates very quickly and is highly flammable. You don't want to breath the fumes. It is now considered a carcinogen.
# Answer
> 0 votes
Heating the bed didn't help much, but Someone suggested using the flush cutters which pryed it up just enough... to get the bigger chunk off.
# Answer
> 0 votes
Update here: even the 105 degrees of the heatbed wasn't enough. Put the PEI sheet in the oven, then the ABS wiped right off with a paper towel. I set it to 180 degrees, but I don't think it even got there.
---
Tags: adhesion, surface, build-surface
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thread-18660 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/18660 | Is PETG sensetive to moisture? | 2021-12-30T02:24:58.580 | # Question
Title: Is PETG sensetive to moisture?
Various filaments are sensitive to moisture to one degree or another. So far I've only printed with PLA. I can definitely tell the difference between fresh (just out of the package) PLA but I don't do much to store PLA between prints. I just keep a silica packet in the box.
I'm getting ready to unseal my first spool of PETG and was wondering if the same level of caution will be sufficient, or if PETG needs better humidity control.
# Answer
Here are some pics I took a while back of a test piece, single-wall cube with no infill, before (right) and after (left) drying PETG:
and again without flash:
As you can see, the undried filament produced significant cosmetic problems (albeit only visible with right lighting and camera angle). Whether these matter for your application, or whether they correspond to structural problems, I'm not sure. My experience with PETG has been that I don't hit serious problems that compromise the print from wet filament (like the runaway stringing you'll get with wet TPU), but that drying is still worthwhile.
> 4 votes
---
Tags: filament, petg, storage
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thread-454 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/454 | How to configure Cura to run the Z probe before heating | 2016-02-03T06:42:47.657 | # Question
Title: How to configure Cura to run the Z probe before heating
I'm using Cura as my slicing/printing software and I just started using the BuildTak printing surface.
The BuildTak is damaged by pushing a hot nozzle into it and my printer's (Robo3D R1+) autoleveling feature works by pushing the nozzle into the build surface.
Is there a way to configure Cura so that it runs the Z probe first, then heat up the nozzle?
My first sheet of BuildTak already has 10 small holes in it (at the homing position and at the 9 leveling touch points)
# Answer
> 10 votes
In Cura (and Slic3r), you can 100% customize what the printer does before printing your actual model through custom **start/end g-code**.
If you navigate to the `Start/End-GCode tab in Cura`, then select `start.gcode`, you can see what operations are run before each print begins. Lines prefixed with `;` are comments, and does not affect the printing in any way.
Basically, we want to manually tell the printer to do the auto leveling *before* heating up the nozzle by editing the g-code in `start.gcode`.
### G-Code generated with the default start.gcode:
If you try to slice some model with the default code found in `start.gcode`, you will get something like the following (depending on your printer):
```
; CURA AUTOMATICALLY INSERTS THESE TEMPERATURE CODES
M190 S70.000000 ; Set bed temperature to 70 degrees
M109 S210.000000 ; Set nozzle temperature to 210 degrees
; THESE ARE THE CODES FROM START.GCODE (for a ROBO 3D R1)
G28 ;move printer to endstops (the home position)
G92 E0 ;zero the extruded filament length
M565 Z-1 ;set z-probe offset
G1 Z5 F5000 ;move the printer 5mm above the bed
G29 ;run auto-leveling
; THE ACTUAL MODEL BEGINS HERE
;Layer count: 168
;LAYER:0
.
.
```
### Analyzing the g-code output
At the top of this code snippet, we can see that Cura automatically inserts g-code for heating up the bed and nozzle to their respective temperatures with the M190 and M109 g-codes. This means the printer always will heat up the nozzle before reading the `start.gcode`s that we set. However, if we manually override M109 code in `start.gcode`, the M109 at the top will automagically disappear from the generated g-code output! (Thanks, @TomvanderZanden!)
We could therefore use the auto-leveling command G29 before manually setting the nozzle temperature with M109; specifically, we want to add `M109 S{print_temperature}`, which reads the `Basic -> Print Temperature`-setting in Cura, and replace `{print_temperature}` with it automatically.
### Manipulating start.gcode:
In order to postpone heating the hotend till after probing, `start.gcode` could be something like:
```
G28 ;move printer to endstops (the home position)
G92 E0 ;zero the extruded filament length
M565 Z-1 ;set z-probe offset <----- ( YOU HAVE TO ADJUST THIS, READ BELOW)
G1 Z5 F5000 ;move the printer 5mm above the bed
G29 ;run auto-leveling
M109 S{print_temperature} ;set nozzle temperature, and wait for it heat up
```
And that's about it! You can then use these codes in your `start.gcode`. However, you probably will have to recalibrate your z-prove offset.
### Adjust z-probe offset:
Normally, auto-leveling is done with the nozzle heated for a reason: when the nozzle is warm, it expands slightly, moving closer to the bed. You might therefore have to adjust your Z-probe offset with the M565 command (as demonstrated in the snippet) to account for the increase in nozzle length when warm.
### Remember:
Remember that when editing g-code in this manner, you will take full control of how the printer operates. You could therefore very well do something unintended, so keep the power switch close!
# Answer
> 0 votes
As pointed out in Markus's comment to Tormod's answer, `{print_temperature}` needs to be replaced by `{material_print_temperature}`, so the code now becomes:
```
G28 ;move printer to endstops (the home position)
G92 E0 ;zero the extruded filament length
M565 Z-1 ;set z-probe offset <----- ( YOU HAVE TO ADJUST THIS, READ BELOW)
G1 Z5 F5000 ;move the printer 5mm above the bed
G29 ;run auto-leveling
M109 S{material_print_temperature} ;set nozzle temperature, and wait for it heat up
```
---
Tags: software, ultimaker-cura, slicing, calibration, z-probe
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thread-18643 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/18643 | Some problems with printing on my Ender 3 | 2021-12-26T17:36:48.280 | # Question
Title: Some problems with printing on my Ender 3
This week I got an Ender 3. When printing the models, I get some inaccuracies on them. I tried printing a low-polygon chess rook, and it isn't printed accurately. It has these additional plastic printed that shouldn't be there:
It also isn't symmetrical:
On the top there should be 4 identical cuboids, but on the 2 of them there isn't plastic inside and also they are slightly wider:
This is the STL file and also the G-code file sliced by Ultimaker Cura: files
My specifications:
* printer: Ender 3 (nothing is modded, no parts have been changed)
* slicing software: Ultimaker Cura
* slicing settings:
+ layer height: 0.12 mm
+ printing speed: 30 mm/s
- initial layer printing speed: 20 mm/s
+ brim adhesion
+ quality: 0.16 mm
+ fan speed: 100%
I have properly calibrated the Esteps/mm and I have levelled the bed correctly.
I would really appreciate your help, I'm new to the 3D printing world.
---
To follow up advice from comments, I've tightened the X-axis belt and printed the calibration cube, I think now it should be good:
I'll print the rook model once more and maybe the symmetry will be good now.
# Answer
So I've been trying to fix that problem and I've managed to do it. I have tightened the X axis belt and went through all configuration files on https://teachingtechyt.github.io, that fixed my problem. Thank you for helping me to solve this issue.
> 3 votes
---
Tags: creality-ender-3, print-quality
--- |
thread-13940 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/13940 | Expansion in bottom skin after first layer | 2020-06-24T10:22:15.940 | # Question
Title: Expansion in bottom skin after first layer
I'm having an issue where prints with narrow tolerance come out fused. This makes it pretty much impossible to print anything with narrow parts. It seems to be mostly (maybe only) an issue in the bottom skin layers. Once it gets through those, the rest of the print goes smoothly and tight tolerances are not a problem.
Here's an example where I've tried to print some hinges:
It's a test print where each hinge has a different tolerance, so the left and right are expected to look different. Below each real image is a preview layer from Cura showing how it's supposed to look.
The first layer appears OK. The second layer looks a little messy, and the gap between inner and outer circles has shrunk. By the third layer the hinge on the right is completely fused.
The printer is an Ender 3 Pro with a glass bed (flat glass, no special surface), BLTouch, and Marlin 1.1.9. The slicer is Cura 4.6.1, and for this test print I used the default for "Super Quality - 0.12 mm" at 200 °C and 60 °C bed with no changes. The filament is Mika3D PLA.
Some things I've tried to fix this:
* Calibrated e-steps (currently set at 95.88) - no noticeable difference
* Calibrated flow rate (got 97.859 % but returned to 100 % for this test) - no noticeable difference
* Varying temperatures from 190 to 230 °C by 5 °C increments - no improvement from 200 °C
* Set "Initial Layer Horizontal Expansion" to -0.1 mm, -0.4 mm, and -1.0 mm in Cura. - no improvement.
* Set "Initial Layer Flow" to 90 %. - no improvement.
* Obsessively leveled and re-leveled the bed. - no improvement.
* Moved the Z-offset up and down to get more or less squish on the first layer - no improvement.
* Tried various brands and colors of PLA - problem is consistent.
* Reduced build plate temperature to 45 °C after initial layer - no improvement.
What else is there to check?
**Edit 2020-06-26:**
At `R.. GitHub STOP HELPING ICE`'s suggestion I returned the e-steps to default (93), re-leveled the bed, and adjusted the z-offset tighter. I made 10 attempts with varying z-offsets, and here's the best one:
The first layer looks better! But the second and third layers are just as bad as before, in fact maybe worse. The circle on the right completely fused on only the second layer. And the top surface is just as ripple-ey and messed up as before.
Here's a closeup of the fourth layer to show how bad it is:
So although the re-calibrated e-steps may have been *a* problem, that clearly wasn't the only problem. What else should I be looking at here?
**Edit 2020-06-27:**
At `Davo`'s suggestion I double-checked all my slicer settings. Flow is set to 100% everywhere, wall thickness is 0.8 mm for two walls (so 0.4 mm each), and nozzle diameter is correct at 0.4 mm.
At `R.. GitHub STOP HELPING ICE`s suggestion I double-checked my filament diameter. It is set to 1.75 mm. On the actual filament, my digital caliper measures 1.74 to 1.76, within the expected tolerance. So that doesn't appear to be the issue.
At `0scar♦`s suggestion I tried a print with 0.2 mm layer height. Here's the first layer: Looks like the same over-extrusion.
Then I tried reducing the flow multiplier to 90% (for both "flow" and "initial layer flow") and printing at 0.2 mm layer height: Better, but it *still* looks over-extruded!
I don't know what else to try.
# Answer
> 5 votes
I think this is resolved. After looking at every conceivable source of over-extrusion and coming up negative, `R.. GitHub STOP HELPING ICE` suggested that it might be a mechanical problem in Z axis movement, like in this question.
I checked by leveling the bed and zeroing the Z axis at 0.05 mm above the bed, using a feeler gauge. I gave it the instruction to move the Z axis up by 0.2 mm (to simulate a single layer), then checked it with a 0.25 mm feeler gauge. It did not fit. I raised it .01 mm at a time, and I was not able to insert the gauge until it hit 0.5 mm!
I printed a 20 mm test cube and measured the Z height:
At 19.58 mm, it was short. Only a little bit though, which is consistent with Z problems only occurring in the first few layers for some reason.
Based on the advice in the other question, I fiddled with the eccentric nuts on the left and right side of X axis gantry, adjusting them to be tight enough that turning the wheels moves the gantry up and down, but loose enough that I can still turn the wheels if I hold the gantry in place.
I checked again with the feeler gauge, and this time the 0.25 mm gauge fit just fine at 0.2 mm. Cool! I printed another test cube and measured:
OK, at 20.06 mm it's not perfect, but it's a lot better. I printed the hinges again:
Again not perfect, but so much better. And the specific problem of uncontrollable expansion in the 2nd and 3rd layers is totally gone.
# Answer
> 3 votes
OK, let's start with your pictures. Putting aside the expansion in the XY plane, layer 1 looks seriously underextruded (gaps between the lines, even) while layers 2 and 3 look severely overextruded. It would be possible to achieve this with a reduced first-layer flow setting, but you haven't indicated that, and moreover, in addition to looking underextruded, the first layer's lines don't look very flat - they look a lot thicker than 0.12 mm. I suspect if you can take a caliper with resolution greater than 0.1 mm and measure the thickness of the first layer, you'll find it's at least 0.2 mm thick, maybe more.
So, what's happening? You're overextruding by **a lot**, but have lowered your bed enough to (more than) compensate, giving the excess material in the first layer a whole 0.2 mm or more of vertical space to expand into, preventing it from being pressed against the bed and taking up the horizontal space it should. Now, as soon as you start the next layer, the big problems start. Since the nozzle has only moved up by 0.12 mm, you only have 0.12 mm of vertical space, and the overextruded material gets squeezed out horizontally. Some of it goes down into the gaps between the lines of the first layer. But by the time you get to layer 3, there are no gaps and things go really bad.
What's the source of the overextrusion? Your "esteps calibration". This is not a number you need to calibrate. It's a function of the extruder gear, and for the Ender 3's (including the Pro's) factory gear it's 93.0 (\*).
After you fix the overextrusion by putting esteps back to the right value, you're going to need to re-level your bed. If you use the paper method, make sure there is significant tension on the paper and it does not slide freely under the nozzle at Z=0. If prefer using real metal feeler gauges and moving the nozzle to Z=0.1 to level. (You mentioned that you have BLtouch, which I'm not familiar with, but as I understand it you still need to calibrate it due to possible difference in sensor height and nozzle tip height.)
---
(\*) Note that for compressible filaments like TPU and to a lesser extent PETG, compression of the filament in the gear will alter the effective steps per mm of (uncompressed) filament moved. However, rather than modifying your firmware esteps setting for this, it makes a lot more sense to model that as either a flow adjustment percentage or a narrower filament diameter (since essentially that's what it is -- the filament becomes narrower at the point of measurement), since slicing software supports adjustment of these per-material. So, don't touch esteps unless you replaced extruder hardware.
# Answer
> 2 votes
There is a problem with Z-axis' uneven movement. I worked a lot on fixing this and the solution I came up with was to reduce flow in Cura post-processing. You need to measure the movement of the X-axis in the vertical direction on the first layers and calibrate flow. Hope this helps as it helped me.
# Answer
> 0 votes
I had the same problem with my Ender-3 V2.
You need to check if the feeder bracket is square like explained in this YouTube
If that is not the problem maybe you need a custom bracket to change the spacing between the Z-motor and the frame like this, this or this
I have improved mine a lot using:
---
Tags: pla, creality-ender-3, calibration, glass-bed
--- |
thread-18665 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/18665 | What caused the blackening of this filament? | 2021-12-30T18:32:01.627 | # Question
Title: What caused the blackening of this filament?
About 5 hours into a print last night, the filament stopped extruding leaving the model unfinished.
On investigation, I saw that the filament had stopped feeding. I can see marks on the filament left by the wheel that feeds it through the tube. The marks stop with a black mark. Does the black mark suggest a reason why the printer stopped printing?
I am using an Anycubic Mega S with 3dJake EcoPLA.
# Answer
2 possibilities occur:
* Grease/dust has contaminated your filament somehow, and the extruder's drive wheel is not gripping it. The rest of the printer would have "air-printed" Maybe the filament was pre-dirty and this is the point it stopped.
* Stoppage - something blocked up the hotend and the filament resisted being pushed in. Perhaps the hotend cooled down and filament solidified, or there's a real blockage in there.
If you had a camera on the printer, you might be able to review timelapse footage and see if anything happened.
Right now I'd suggest you discard that length, refit the same filament, and print something small, just to make sure its still working. You might choose to aim any timelapse camera directly at the filament drive wheel or just watch it.
> 1 votes
---
Tags: filament, troubleshooting, extruder
--- |
thread-2709 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/2709 | Prints are now sticking too well to the bed. What to do? | 2016-08-30T18:51:04.977 | # Question
Title: Prints are now sticking too well to the bed. What to do?
I'm a beginner. I've a Printrbot Play with a heated bed add-on. I'm using it exclusively with PLA.
It worked great initially, but then I took the nozzle out and put it back in, and the Z calibration was lost (and I didn't know the calibration was a thing). As a result, I started having issues with the piece warping up and not sticking to the bed in the corners and around the edge, when the piece was large and flat.
I've installed the heated bed. I used Kapton tape. All these made it perhaps a little better.
Finally I started tweaking the Z axis calibration (the fine adjustment for the initial distance between nozzle and bed) and that made it perfect. No warping anymore.
But now I have the opposite problem. When printing pieces with large flat surfaces that are siting flush with the bed, it's next to impossible to tear it off at the end.
I went back to using plain blue tape instead of Kapton, but it's still sticking too well to the bottom of the piece. I tried to pry it off by pushing a knife under the piece, but that has put a few scratches on the bed. Obviously I don't want to continue doing that.
What can I do? How to prevent warping, while also making sure the piece does not stick too hard to whatever is underneath?
---
**EDIT:** The accepted answer was very good and I don't want to mess with it by adding my own "answer". So here it is:
I ended up adding a glass plate on top of the bed, with a heat conductive layer between bed and plate (it's a funny looking, rubbery, chewing-gum-y material that conducts heat). Now I just apply glue stick on the glass and print. Works great. Large pieces come off on their own sometimes if I let them cool down to 30 C or lower.
I had some issues with the Z calibration sensor due to the plate, eventually got solved, but that would take too long to explain here.
# Answer
**Options to check** (in order of probability of occurenece and success):
1. Z-calibration
Maybe you should perform calibration again. It's possible that nozzle is now too close which causes the filament is spread on the heatbed, which causes that the bottom surface is "too flat". It means all separate filament tracks are spilled and they create "glass flat" surface. You did mention that the model sticks too much even to kapton. It suggests z-calibration.
2. Temperature calibration
Check if the temperature is not too high. Reducing it a bit can reduce sticking. If filament is too soft then material sticks usually better (causes the same as in #1)
3. Heatbed cleaning
If your HB is scatched (even not visible scratches) then it's possible that previous printouts left little grains in such scratches. Cleaning HB could then help. Are you using glass? if yes - change glass side to check this option. Eventually replace glass with new one.
4. Heatbed surface
If your heatbed is scratched then filament can penetrate such scratches and increase sticking.
5. Filament
Did you change filament vendor? If not then maybe your filament had changed during a time/humidity/sun/cigarete smoke. This is very doubtful option but who knows.
**What methods you can use to detach model**
1. Paper knife
I also have the same problem when I use paper glue stick. Some vendors produce such sticky glue that I affraid to break a glass (which I use of course). When this happens I use a paper knife. Glass is scratchproof enough. **Be careful - if your model suddenly detaches releasing knife... just be careful**. Unmount HB or unmount glass first of course.
2. Hammer
I know people use hammer to detach sticked model. I would suggest this method only for big and relatively simple elements. Especially for solids (fully filled with the material, without any grid/honeycomb inner structure). One short hit in the same surface as the HB. Be careful of course and unmount HB or unmount glass first.
3. Fridge
As HB material and filament have most likely different thermal shrinkage factor it might help. And guess what - unmount HB/glass first ;)
> 6 votes
# Answer
I have only experienced PLA "super sticking" if the print bed is allowed to cool too much. I would suggest running a mild preheat to your bed when you find a print has stuck and the bed is cool. (What you set the temp to for the preheat would depend on the filament in question but start low and work up and you may find a sweet spot/release point for your particular PLA)
I have never encountered PLA "super sticking" printed with rafts on (regardless of printbed temperature).
Rafts will give you a sacrifical grid of PLA between your actual finished piece and the bed itself. That way you can "pry" the printed object from the bed and have more leaway for increased leverage without damage to your actual piece(use a plastic razor blade common in cell/tablet screen replacement kits and you generally won't scratch your printbed/printbed coating/tape). The lattice/net of the raft would also, generally, have less, in contact with the printbed surface area than a finished piece and thus have less holding power.
> 4 votes
# Answer
Pour some 70% IPA along the edge of the model with a Q-tip, it will pop out right away. For larger models aaply IPA from a wash bottle. This method also works well on other plastic to glossy surface bonds, like, for example, hot melt glue to arylic sheet, see this -\> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9kdiZMqfmM
> 2 votes
# Answer
Several factors to consider, but don't get discouraged, it is definitely something you can solve. Consider this...
**Z height:** Lower Z squishes first layer more and increases sticking, higher Z results in less plastic contacting the print surface and reduces sticking. Tweaking your Z-height can help you dial-in your first layer adhesion.
**Print Temperatures:** Higher extruder and bed temps during printing will tend to increase sticking. Lowering temps will reduce sticking. Run several tests, just a few degrees can make a difference and finding the right balance can take some trial and error.
**Removal Temperatures:** There is typically a warm bed removal temperature that works best, when the bed has cooled but not all the way.
**Anti-warp "tabs":** If you're making your own models, you can add a breakaway tab to the ends of parts that are prone to warping. This improves surface area for hold down where you need it, but takes minimal post processing to remove.
**Dry your filament:** Warping is generally much worse when filament absorbs water from the air. Some filaments such as polycarbonate are VERY prone to this, but even PLA warping can be reduced by drying the filament. To dry your filament you can use a low temperature in your oven, make a drying bucket, or my favorite, put it under a vacuum with a vacuum pump.
**Removal tricks:** Various methods of rapidly cooling the edge of the print with canned air, alcohol, etc. can really help. Thin metal spatulas can work wonders.
**Try PEI on your print surface:** PEI is awesome. Many common filaments stick very well while it's hot and release easily when it's cool. Check out the way Lulzbot attaches their PEI print surface to all their printer beds. It's a pretty easy and cheap mod. The other factors I listed still matter, but PEI makes it MUCH easier.
> 2 votes
# Answer
I suggest that you make a support not that much massive (this kind of problem is often cause of a massive part printed directly on the bed). You should place some easily destructible material between your part and the bed.
I don't know your part, but even if you have a plane under it, don't stick it to the bed. Let a gap, like, 5 mm minimum, which you will fill up with support. Of course, your support must be something light.
For example, try to use the meshmixer supports (meshmixer is free) or some lattices supports if provided with your software's printer. As they're supports and not the part, you can destroy it more easily, without the preoccupation to save it, just caring about your bed.
Of course, it depends on the amount your "sticking" problem, if small things are sticky too, this won't save you.
For non-used to supports people, support is often a solution to main deformations and sticking problems. Deformations because it dissipates the heat better, sticking because it's much less massive material to remove.
> 1 votes
# Answer
When I started, I got a lot of failed prints due to loss of adhesion. It still happens but much rarer. Dialling in settings improved that, but downside is that parts stay stuck to my glass bed really well even when completely cooled off.
I now use a 30mm paint scraper to peel the brim up as far around the model as possible. I only use a 5mm brim width now, and that seems workable.
I then use the same paint scraper as a chisel right at the end of a part, and push it into the bed so the blade is flexed. Then I tap the handle end with a rubber mallet. This generally either pops the part off completely, or at least lets the blade slip underneath where I can push it further by hand.
I'd prefer perfect adhesion, but would rather have over-adhesion than under-adhesion.
> 0 votes
---
Tags: pla, adhesion, post-processing, warping
--- |
thread-18148 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/18148 | What is the operator precedence in OpenSCAD? | 2021-09-27T23:02:39.057 | # Question
Title: What is the operator precedence in OpenSCAD?
OpenSCAD User Manual's section on operators does not mention precedence. Quick Web searches found nothing. I assume the usual order of exponentiation, then multiplication, then addition does hold, but how does e.g. a conditional operator or unary minus interact with these? Is there an official document describing the precedence of operators in OpenSCAD?
# Answer
Within OpenSCAD expressions, the order of precedence is:
| Operators | Description |
| --- | --- |
| () \[\] | group, vector, or range |
| () \[\] . | function call, indexing, member lookup |
| ^ | exponentiation |
| ! + - | unary operations |
| * / % | multiplication |
| \+ - | addition |
| \< \<= \>= \> | ordering |
| == != | equality |
| && | logical AND |
| || | logical OR |
| ?: function() let() assert() echo() | ternary operator and unary pseudo-operators |
There are no bit-wise operators, and neither comma nor "=" are operators.
Source: openscad/src/parser.y
> 6 votes
---
Tags: openscad
--- |
thread-18629 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/18629 | Issue milling a circular contour with CNC – 3018 Pro | 2021-12-24T17:07:13.920 | # Question
Title: Issue milling a circular contour with CNC – 3018 Pro
I have a 3018 Pro CNC and being trying cutting a contour of a simple circular part:
G-code:
```
(TestKnobContour)
(T1 D=1 CR=0 - ZMIN=-3 - flat end mill)
G90 G94
G17
G21
G90
(2D Contour1)
Z15
S5000 M3
G54
G0 X10.8 Y0.1
Z15
G1 Z5 F10.0
Z1 F10.0
Z-2.9
X10.792 Z-2.938 F10.0
X10.771 Z-2.971
X10.738 Z-2.992
X10.7 Z-3
X10.6
X10.562 Y0.092
X10.529 Y0.071
X10.508 Y0.038
X10.5 Y0
G2 X9.851 Y-3.634 I-10.5 J0
G1 Z-2.75
G2 X8.983 Y-5.436 I-9.851 J3.634
G1 Z-3 F10.0
G2 X3.301 Y-9.968 I-8.983 J5.436 F10.0
G1 Z-2.75
G2 X1.351 Y-10.413 I-3.301 J9.968
G1 Z-3 F10.0
G2 X-5.735 Y-8.795 I-1.351 J10.413 F10.0
G1 Z-2.75
G2 X-7.299 Y-7.548 I5.735 J8.795
G1 Z-3 F10.0
G2 X-10.452 Y-1 I7.299 J7.548 F10.0
G1 Z-2.75
G2 X-10.452 Y1 I10.452 J1
G1 Z-3 F10.0
G2 X-7.299 Y7.548 I10.452 J-1 F10.0
G1 Z-2.75
G2 X-5.735 Y8.795 I7.299 J-7.548
G1 Z-3 F10.0
G2 X1.351 Y10.413 I5.735 J-8.795 F10.0
G1 Z-2.75
G2 X3.301 Y9.968 I-1.351 J-10.413
G1 Z-3 F10.0
G2 X8.983 Y5.436 I-3.301 J-9.968 F10.0
G1 Z-2.75
G2 X9.851 Y3.634 I-8.983 J-5.436
G1 Z-3 F10.0
G2 X10.5 Y0 I-9.851 J-3.634 F10.0
G1 X10.508 Y-0.038
X10.529 Y-0.071
X10.562 Y-0.092
X10.6 Y-0.1
X10.7
X10.738 Z-2.992
X10.771 Z-2.971
X10.792 Z-2.938
X10.8 Z-2.9
G0 Z15
M5
X0 Y0 Z0
M30
```
Candle shows that everything is fine for this G-code:
However, I am getting weird results (see top right):
What can I do for troubleshooting?
# Answer
I've ran the code on my own CNC machine. I slightly adapted the code as my machine doesn't understand the movement without the instruction code:
```
Z1 F10.0
Z-2.9
X10.792 Z-2.938 F10.0
X10.771 Z-2.971
X10.738 Z-2.992
X10.7 Z-3
X10.6
X10.562 Y0.092
X10.529 Y0.071
X10.508 Y0.038
X10.5 Y0
```
is changed to
```
G1 Z1 F10.0
G1 Z-2.9
G1 X10.792 Z-2.938 F10.0
G1 X10.771 Z-2.971
G1 X10.738 Z-2.992
G1 X10.7 Z-3
G1 X10.6
G1 X10.562 Y0.092
G1 X10.529 Y0.071
G1 X10.508 Y0.038
G1 X10.5 Y0
etc...
```
As I used an engraver bit, I made sure the depth was touching the wood (engraving) when running at the lowest depth. The contour it drew was a perfect circle.
The code is therefor working as it should (carve a circle, in the photo above, the circle started at the hole in the top left and followed a clockwise path), the result from your milling exercise shows that the final segment of the circle is not giving you a circle segment, instead the milling path is sort of straight. I've seen such paths where the steppers are not powerful enough to mill through the material. As a result they skip steps, and in this case it results in a sort of straight path. You should try running a dry run (in air), or in softer material (this will determine if the code is producing a cirlce in your machine as well), and add more passes to milling the knob (for the final product).
> 2 votes
# Answer
It is hard to be sure from the picture. When I wrote this answer, material you were cutting looked like clear plastic. When I reviewed it now, the material looks more like aluminum. It doesn't really matter, since the melting point of aluminum is well within the range of both high speed steel (HSS) and carbide.
What follows is a list of possibilities and things to check.
1. check the mounting of the spindle. Does it hang rigidly as you push the tooltip in x, y, and any point in the circle, or does it tip more in one direction than another? This could be caused by a loose mounting screw.
2. Are you actually cutting, or are you melting the material? It is very easy for a tool, especially a tight spiral 4-flute tool, to heat above the melting/softening point, and to then push through the material rather than removing it as chips. Using a tool with fewer flutes at a slower speed can sometimes help. You may also want to cool it with some water -- not enough to make a mess of the machine, but enough to help cool the tool. This happens easily with plastic, and also with aluminum. I have several times had to peel bits of solidified aluminum from inside the flutes of a carbide cutter.
3. It doesn't look like backlash. The 45-degree angle is curious. To see if it varies with or without load, try putting a marking pen in the collet and draw similar circles. It doesn't look like a primary software or hardware problem, since the inner circles were round. Only the outermost circle has the flat spot.
4. If the departure from a circle is only under load, reduce the load. Step the tool into the work by 1/2 of what you are doing now. How does that change the result?
5. Chips remaining near the cut can join in the melt. Try blowing compressed air on the cut while it is cutting, both for cooling, and to remove chips.
Some things it is unlikely to be, if the shape was intended to be a complete circle, and if the outer pass is the last pass performed:
* Skipping steps due to insufficient stepper motor torque
* Belt slipping (or lead screws skipping)
* Loose belts or backlash in mechanical shaft connections.
> 2 votes
# Answer
Parts of the circle are at different heights. When I rendered your 30 or so actual G1 and G2 lines, here's what I got. It looks like a circle from above, but form the sde you can see depth changes. What are those coordinate lines with no G0 ot G1 or G2 or G3 command for?
=============================
Okay, here's a simple gcode I just made by hand do to something similar. Granted, I used all nice round numbers, but this is an example of what I think you're looking for. You'll have to change it as needed; perhaps more paths if your tool is less wide; more iterations at deeper depths, or even different coordinates. Enjoy.
```
G0 X30 Y30 ; move to start XY
M3 T12 S50 ; spindle on 50%
G1 Z-0.5 E1 ; down to depth1
G2 X50 Y50 J20.0 E1 ; arc
G1 X30 Y30 E1 ; corner
G1 X30 Y35 E1 ; move inward
G2 X45 Y50 J15 E1 ; arc
G1 X30 Y35 E1 ; corner
G1 X30 Y40 E1 ; move inward
G2 X40 Y50 J10 E1 ; arc
G1 X30 Y40 ; corner
G1 X30 Y45 ; move inward
G2 X35 Y50 J5 E1 ; arc
G1 X30 Y45 E1 ; corner
G1 X30 Y50 E1 ; move inward
G0 Z 10 ; move up to clear
M3 T12 S0 ; spindle off
```
=================================
Or, if I've made a mistake and you want simple circles:
```
G0 X30 Y30 ; move to start XY
M3 T12 S50 ; spindle on 50%
G1 Z-0.5 E1 ; down to depth1
G2 X30 Y30 J20.0 E1 ; arc
G1 X30 Y35 E1 ; move inward
G2 X30 Y35 J15 E1 ; arc
G1 X30 Y40 E1 ; move inward
G2 X30 Y40 J10 E1 ; arc
G1 X30 Y45 ; move inward
G2 X30 Y45 J5 E1 ; arc
G1 X30 Y50 E1 ; move inward
G0 Z 10 ; move up to clear
M3 T12 S0 ; spindle off
```
> 1 votes
---
Tags: g-code, cnc
--- |
thread-18681 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/18681 | What is the difference between Linear Advance and Pressure Advance? | 2022-01-03T20:44:23.857 | # Question
Title: What is the difference between Linear Advance and Pressure Advance?
I've been trying to do some research on Linear Advance (LA) on Marlin and Pressure Advance (PA) on Klipper, and from my understanding the technology behind each is different, although also similar. If I understand what I have read correctly, then:
LA will alter the extruder acceleration movements so that the extruder can keep relatively the same pressure while printing. The effect of this would be prettier corners and z-seams
PA also seems to alter the extruder flow rate based on the movements. This should also prevent under/over extrusion in the print similar to LA, but where does it differ from LA?
Is my understanding of these correct? I currently have an Ender3v2 with a direct drive setup and am curious if LA or PA would be considered better today (2022)? From what I understand, my 4.2.7 motherboard is not compatible with LA due to its stepper drivers, and I am trying to determine if I should move from Marlin to Klipper and use PA, or whether I should upgrade my motherboard and use LA in Marlin. I may need to upgrade my motherboard anyways as I was also wanting to add some additional temperature sensors and fan controls for a heated enclosure I plan to build down the road.
Any thoughts/advice or reviews and/or current comparisons of the two technologies would be appreciated.
# Answer
> 10 votes
Both are implementations of exactly the same concept, even up to the units of the tuning constant being seconds (mm/(mm/s)). The difference is in the implementation details, and particularly how they deal with a mathematically and physically nasty/demanding part of the concept.
In order to compensate for pressure making the filament/filament-path behave like a spring, LA/PA offset the E-axis position by a fraction (K) of the pre-LA/PA E-axis velocity. Mathematically, as an operator acting on the function that's the E-axis position at time t, the basic LA/PA transformation is:
I + K\*D
where I is the identity, K is the spring constant, and D is the (time) derivative.
Anyone with a mathematical background in functional analysis or PDEs will recognize this as an unbounded linear operator (at least with respect to most norms, due to the derivative term). Casually speaking, it shifts bad behavior of a particular derivative "down one level". Instantaneous changes of acceleration (starting to accel/decel) become isntantaneous changes of velocity. Instantaneous changes of velocity ("jerk"/junctions) become instantaneous changes of **position**. (Insert horrified face here.) In short, the result is not physically realizable.
There are two ways to deal with this impossibility:
* The Marlin way (Linear Advance): E-axis acceleration and jerk limits are applied in such a manner that the result of the LA transformation is still within those constraints. This makes printing **a lot** slower. Essentially there's no longer any E-jerk, and E-acceleration is limited by K time E-velocity.
* The Klipper way (Pressure Advance): No changes are made whatsoever to the kinematic timing. Print speed is exactly what it would be without PA. Instead, a smoothing convolution with a triangle wave is applied on top of the result of the PA transformation (I + K\*D) to make the E-axis position function back into something physically realizable. This introduces a new type of error into the extrusion, but if the time window of the smoothing can be kept narrow enough, the error is expected to be small enough not to matter. Unfortunately, the more extreme your print acceleration, the longer the window needed to keep the result of PA physically realizable, so there are still limits. If you don't tune them right, the extruder will just start skipping.
In my opinion, the Marlin behavior is easier to get started with, but hopelessly slow to actually use unless you start cranking up your acceleration and jerk limits. And this ends up being comparable to the manual tuning you have to do with the Klipper PA smooth time window. But in the end, Klipper's approach will always win on print performance, because the smoothing lets you cheat and do moves that wouldn't be possible with Marlin.
---
Tags: creality-ender-3, marlin, klipper, pressure-advance, linear-advance
--- |
thread-18694 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/18694 | Adaptive infill density in small region | 2022-01-06T20:14:00.940 | # Question
Title: Adaptive infill density in small region
I'm using Ultimaker Cura to slice my 3D models, and I often have a problem with object with dimensions over multiple orders of magnitudes.
Basically, if I set an Infill of 20 %, the infill is calculated for the entire region, regardless of whether for each z-stack, the region is actually a closed one, or multiple separated ones.
As a result, the fragility is increased in those tiny regions that have no filling, because overall, the infill percentage is respected, but out of unfortunate yet inevitable statistics, the parts with no infill ended up colocalizing with the regions that needed infill the most.
As you can see in this famous Llamacorn, some closed regions have no infill at all (right side), and the left arrow shows how the infill is calculated based on the entire structure rather than the local one.
Any adaptive option hidden somewhere?
Do I need to tweak the model directly?
# Answer
Actually, the right region does have a calculated infill; it just happens to be at the edge of the inner wall.
I have drawn a thin black line along the infill lines for this layer and you can see that there is a small infill line.
Cura has a feature called "Support Blocker" that allows you to change the settings for certain areas of your model. You could make those particular areas have an infill of 100 % if you like.
Chuck Hellebuyck has a video on his YouTube channel that explains how to set this up. It's not that difficult and will take some time to get the area just the way you want it. The information for the "Support Blocker" starts at timestamp 2:01.
Another idea is to try rotating the model on the build plate to "force" an infill line to be generated where you need it. The only problem with this is that you may spend more time trying to get all the areas filled the way you want them.
> 2 votes
---
Tags: ultimaker-cura, infill, print-strength
--- |
thread-18687 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/18687 | Ender 3 Pro extruder motor failing constantly | 2022-01-04T16:50:37.240 | # Question
Title: Ender 3 Pro extruder motor failing constantly
I have had my Ender 3 Pro for about 2 years now and it has been working amazingly!
Since November it's struggling very much while printing. I am quite sure the problem lives on the extruder motor.
About 1 of 5 prints come out ok. The main problem is that the first 2-3 first layers are all good. But as the prints develop, under-extrusion problems come. It's not a clog, because I can push the filament and it flows smoothly. It's like the motor cannot push the filament to the feeding line.
Thing's I tried so far:
* Upgrading the extruder from plastic to aluminum (verified the tension, not too loose, not too tight)
* Changed hotend (PTFE, nozzle, block, etc)
* E-steps calibrated
* Tried switching MicroSD
* 3 different brands of filament
I noticed that the motor is getting pretty hot. I mean, you can't have your hand in there for more than a second. My theory is that this overheating softens the filament and it cannot feed. Is this possible? The aluminum extruder also gets pretty hot. There is no clicking sound or anything weird while printing, the first layers come out perfectly ok.
# Answer
> 2 votes
There are a few probable causes I can think of based on your description. That it only starts happening after the printer has been running for a bit makes me think it's a heat issue.
The first problem I'd check out is that extruder motor getting that hot. It should be warm, but not so hot it's uncomfortable to hold. Either the stepper is defective, or you have the current to it set too high. There is a small screw on the motherboard beside each motor driver that allows you to adjust the current to each stepper. Find a guide for your printer to adjust it properly. You'll likely need a multimeter to do it right.
The current being too high on the extruder could also cause the stepper driver (a chip on the mainboard) to overheat. When those overheat they go into thermal shutdown and will stop driving the extruder for a moment until they cool off enough to resume. If your printer has a fan for the mainboard, make sure that is functioning properly as well. Those chips *do* normally get hot enough they are uncomfortable to touch, so to check if that's the problem you'd need a thermometer and to check what model they are to see what their maximum operating temperature is.
If fixing that doesn't solve it, it could be the heatsink on your hotend is getting hot enough that filament starts melting there, you can get a clog that stops the extruder from pushing filament out properly, but still feels like it can be extruded by hand. Make sure the heatsink on the hotend has sufficient cooling. After a bit of printing try touching the top of the heatsink - if it's uncomfortable to touch, you have a problem there.
-
# Answer
> 1 votes
> I noticed that the motor is getting pretty hot.
That's not normal. Replacement motors are cheap and easy to find, so I'd swap out the motor before doing anything else. If the new one also heats up the same way, there might be a problem with the main board, but I'll bet a new motor will solve the problem.
---
Tags: creality-ender-3, extrusion, overextrusion
--- |
thread-18678 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/18678 | Ender 5 Spool Holder | 2022-01-03T05:07:46.020 | # Question
Title: Ender 5 Spool Holder
I switched my Ender 5 to a direct drive extruder and it works great but I need a better place to put the filament spools; probably something elevated (or even just higher than the stock spool holder) that will create an easy path for the filament to go to the extruder. I've tried to find some spool holders on Thingiverse but most of them require a shelf above the printer which I do not have. Do you have any suggestions for how to fix this?
# Answer
You don't need a shelf - your printer is built out of 2020 aluminum extrusion so you can mount stuff directly to it easily.
Something like this will work: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3840176 Or this one, that has like a dozen different options for attaching it to something: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3020026
You'll need a couple of bolts and drop in T nuts to fasten it.
> 1 votes
---
Tags: creality-ender-5
--- |
thread-15447 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/15447 | Understanding of the auto bed leveling process (BLTouch) | 2021-01-26T10:14:19.153 | # Question
Title: Understanding of the auto bed leveling process (BLTouch)
I just installed my BLTouch clone (Marlin 1.8) on my Anycubic i3 Mega Ultrabase and finding confusing information about the `Z_PROBE_OFFSET_FROM_EXTRUDER` or the `M851` command.
I understand `M851` command does the same as `Z_PROBE_OFFSET_FROM_EXTRUDER` in the Configuration.h. (see marlin docs)
So according to Marlin, this value is the distance of the nozzle to the distance of the triggering point of the sensor.
If I manage to measure that accurately, Marlin could probe the bed, knowing distance of probe to nozzle, add a margin for perfect distance (around paper thickness) and my bed would be forever perfectly measured with every autolevelling process and perfect distances could be calculated.
Instead, I find tutorials around the `M851` (e.g here telling to manually level the bed, then take the current Z-value of the extruder and put that into the `M851` value. In my understanding it makes little sense, as it has no reference to when the sensor triggers, its distance to the bed.
Sure, maybe this way it can get an understanding of slight derivations in the planarity of the bed, but it would not have automatically "levelled" my bed, just compensated for imperfections.
I am confused by the amount of tutorials that suggest so. Whats the case now? Is Marlin not really able to really level to my bed?
# Answer
What may be confusing is the use of the naming of the mechanism "Auto Bed Levelling", or short ABL, does not make your build plate to level itself with respect to the frame of the printer<sup>1)</sup>. Hence you are instructed to always tram (level is rather misleading as it doesn't involve bubble levelling, instead it is meant to tram the bed with respect to the X- and Y-axis) the build surface as good as you can.
The ABL process could better be described as "Height adjusting to scanned bed geometry" or something like that, as that is exactly what is being done. The `G29` command scans the bed surface and (depending on the firmware options) it generates a mesh or a plane through the measured points. When printing, the nozzle will follow the bed height geometry and fades this out over about 10 milliliters (depends on setting). So, if you do not tram the bed correctly, you will end up with a skew bottom of the print as the fade out will cause the printer to print eventually parallel to the X- and Y-axis.
Note that specifying the Z-offset in the firmware is rather useless, you cannot measure this beforehand. It is far better to do this later using `M851`.
This answer describes in some more detail how the offset is generated and applied to the scanned surface.
---
*<sup>1)</sup> It is possible to actually level/tram the bed (e.g. in Marlin firmware), but that are different processes. E.g. a tramming assistant is available when using the `G35` G-code. And, automatically, (for specific printers) possible on build plates that are moved up/down by several lead screws (look into `NUM_Z_STEPPER_DRIVERS` in Marlin's Configuration\_adv.h file). But still, this maintains a certain level, it does not scan the complete surface, that can be achieved by the ABL process.*
> 2 votes
# Answer
Just thought that BLTouch could automatically measure the nozzle height. If it goes down slowly till nozzle touch the bed and then push down a little more then it will see sensor isn't moving anymore then it means nozzle already pushes the bed down. Beds are usually have springs and shouldn't hurt to push it a little (~1mm) by nozzle. Not sure if such function is implemented. Just an idea. This procedure doesn't need to be used every time. Could be an option after changing the nozzle or other adjustments affecting the nozzle height.
> -2 votes
---
Tags: marlin, bed-leveling, bltouch
--- |
thread-18639 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/18639 | Y-axis on KP3S Kingroon only moves in one direction | 2021-12-26T06:33:02.953 | # Question
Title: Y-axis on KP3S Kingroon only moves in one direction
I recently got a KP3S Kingroon 3D printer and have been trying to set it up.
After a couple of test prints, the Y-axis seems to only move in one direction. At first, I thought it was a motor issue, but when I go into the manual move directions for the Y-axis it seems that both inputs lead to the motor spinning in the same direction.
We have ruled out endstops as a possible issue. I think it might be a hardware issue but lack the skills to confirm the exact issue.
```
Send:17:40:57.724: @moveRel Y10.00
Send:17:40:57.724: N31 G1 Y10.00 F6000
Send:17:40:57.728: @updatePrinterState
Send:17:41:00.824: @moveRel Y-10.00
Send:17:41:00.824: N35 G1 Y0.00 F6000
Send:17:41:00.828: @updatePrinterState
Send:17:41:07.445: @moveRel Y10.00
Send:17:41:07.445: N43 G1 Y10.00 F6000
Send:17:41:07.449: @updatePrinterState
Send:17:41:09.482: @moveRel Y-10.00
Send:17:41:09.482: N46 G1 Y0.00 F6000
Send:17:41:09.486: @updatePrinterState
```
Even though it states that it is increasing and decreasing by 10 it only decreases by 10.
I have updated the firmware to Marlin. I tested switching X and Y inputs and believe the breakdown occurs at the Y input signal.
attached is a picture of the mother board.
I am unsure of how to best fix this?
# Answer
The answer might just be replace the mother board.
If I understood everything correctly there are 5 things to check to break down the problem:
* the motor,
* the cable,
* the stepper connection,
* the software input, and
* the firmware.
Using Repetier I disproved that the software was broken. By switching the X stepper and Y stepper cables, the motor and connection cable were proven to work. By flashing new firmware it was shown that it was without question that the firmware was the issue.
The backup extractor (E1) is not operational on this board. So it is either the stepper of the mother board.
> 2 votes
# Answer
The question body has changed to rule out broken endstops. As a generic answer for steppers only going into a single direction, if an axis of a 3D printer only moves in one direction it usually implies that the end stop of that axis is triggered. If triggered, the firmware doesn’t allow the stepper to move to the direction of the end stop.
Check the end stop lever and cables. Optionally connect a USB cable and send the G-code `M119` over a terminal.
If the endstops are functioning correctly (reporting “open” or “triggered” corresponding to the state of the endstop), a Google search on the World Wide Web shows that people that had these exact problems had issues with the controller board, replacing the board helped their issue. If this is a recent purchase it is advised to contact the seller for support rather than fiddling with the board or the firmware.
In case the board has a spare unused stepper driver (not very unlikely if you have this controller board), the firmware could be altered to use the spare for Y movement. E.g. `E1` could be used for `Y`.
> 0 votes
---
Tags: y-axis, hardware, linear-motion
--- |
thread-18700 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/18700 | Anycubic firmware update fail and screen blinks or update firmware never ends | 2022-01-07T22:41:56.950 | # Question
Title: Anycubic firmware update fail and screen blinks or update firmware never ends
I spend many hours tonight with a friend figuring out what's happening and solving my Anycubic Vyper firmware update. I had various issues :
* While updating with the current version (2.4.5 as of today) I had many issues from no file update (the firmware update program display a list of file with 000 values on their right showing that nothing is processed and the checksum at the end having done nothing
* Partial update leading to corrupted graphical interface freezing or blinking with locked actions/menus.
* Never-ending update process blocking in "ICL" files (waited more than 40 minutes)
# Answer
> 2 votes
I solved this by searching clues on the internet (a Reddit topic) that lead me to the following configuration that worked for me (update completed, with sound at the end and all is functional in about 1 minute)
* Format MicroSD card in **FAT32**, with allocation size of **4096 bytes**
* Use a small SD card (I failed many times with a 16GB one). It worked **with a 8GB one** for me. (this tip is not said in the Reddit topic but made the job for me)
---
Tags: firmware
--- |
thread-18683 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/18683 | Z-axis lead screw not turning to adjust height when using auto leveling? | 2022-01-04T02:15:19.423 | # Question
Title: Z-axis lead screw not turning to adjust height when using auto leveling?
I have a 3DTouch with my Ender 3 3D printer with the Creality 4.2.2 Board. It is running a custom build of Marlin 2.0.9.2. As I have been watching my prints, I noticed that the Z-axis lead screw does not turn at all as the print head traverses the bed.
With the 3DTouch and a mesh of the print bed, the Z-axis lead screw should very slightly turn to move the X-axis gantry up or down to compensate for deviations and irregularities in the print bed as the print head moves around.
I will add that these print head movements travel across a decent portion of the bed. My bed definitely is irregular, and so I would definitely expect the Z-axis screw to adjust the x-axis gantry appropriately.
Here is my start G-code in Cura:
```
; Ender 3 Custom Start G-code
M140 S{material_bed_temperature_layer_0} ; Set Heat Bed temperature
M190 S{material_bed_temperature_layer_0} ; Wait for Heat Bed temperature
M104 S160; start warming extruder to 160
G28 ; Home all axes
G29 ; Auto bed-level (BL-Touch)
G92 E0 ; Reset Extruder
M104 S{material_print_temperature_layer_0} ; Set Extruder temperature
G1 X0.1 Y20 Z0.3 F5000.0 ; Move to start position
M109 S{material_print_temperature_layer_0} ; Wait for Extruder temperature
; G1 Z2.0 F3000 ; Move Z Axis up little to prevent scratching of Heat Bed
G1 X0.1 Y200.0 Z0.3 F1500.0 E15 ; Draw the first line
G1 X0.4 Y200.0 Z0.3 F5000.0 ; Move to side a little
G1 X0.4 Y20 Z0.3 F1500.0 E30 ; Draw the second line
G92 E0 ; Reset Extruder
G1 Z2.0 F3000 ; Move Z Axis up little to prevent scratching of Heat Bed
; End of custom start GCode
```
Here are my `Configuration.h` and `Configuration_adv.h` files.
I wasn't able to paste my entire configuration file here, so I have provided it in the link above.
What have I done wrong?
To be more concise, here is a list of everything I changed in the default configuration file.
1. I ensured `#define PDITEMP` is not commented so that I can do PID tuning of the nozzle.
2. Similar to #1, I ensured that `#define PIDTEMPBED` is not commented so that I can do PID tuning of the bed.
3. I commented `#define Z_MIN_PROBE_USES_Z_MIN_ENDSTOP_PIN` since I will be using the 5-pin BLTouch port that is on my 4.2.2. board.
4. I uncommented `#define USE_PROBE_FOR_Z_HOMING` since I removed my z-axis endstop and want to use my 3DTouch as the Z endstop.
5. Uncommented `#define BLTOUCH` since the 3DTouch is a BLTouch clone.
6. Changed my x and y offsets in the setting `#define NOZZLE_TO_PROBE_OFFSET { -42, -8, 0 }`. I left the Z-offset 0, since I will be using the tuning tool to adjust that and observe the squish. For the X and Y, I measured the distance between my probe and the nozzle using a digital caliper.
7. I adjusted the probe margin from 10 to 15, since I have clips that previously would interfere with the 3DTouch. 15 should give more distance. `#define PROBING_MARGIN 15`
8. I enabled and set MULTIPLE\_PROBING to 3. I'm paranoid about the current accuracy and am willing to see if that improves anything at the expense of a few additional minutes. `#define MULTIPLE_PROBING 3`. I think 2 should be fine for general use.
9. Uncommented `#define Z_MIN_PROBE_REPEATABILITY_TEST`. I want to test my 3DTouch and uncommenting allows the use of `M48` to test it.
10. Uncommented `#define PROBING_FANS_OFF`, `#define PROBING_ESTEPPERS_OFF`, `#define PROBING_STEPPERS_OFF`, `#define DELAY_BEFORE_PROBING 200`. The documentation this may improve probing results. I'm all in.
11. Uncommented `#define NO_MOTION_BEFORE_HOMING` and `#define HOME_AFTER_DEACTIVATE`.
12. Uncommented `#define AUTO_BED_LEVELING_BILINEAR`
13. Uncommented `#define RESTORE_LEVELING_AFTER_G28`. This is to ensure the mesh is applied even after `G28`, which disables the mesh otherwise.
14. Ensures that this setting was 10. `#define DEFAULT_LEVELING_FADE_HEIGHT 10.0`
15. I set the following: `#define GRID_MAX_POINTS_X 7`. Ensures a 7x7 mesh grid is created. This could be more or less. 49 points is an improvement over Creality's 9, although a bit much. Worthwhile in my case.
16. Uncommented `#define EXTRAPOLATE_BEYOND_GRID`. I was actually wondering if this was causing some of the inconsistent prints near the edge.
17. Uncommented `#define LCD_BED_LEVELING`. This is to unlock more options for ABL in the menu.
18. Uncommented `#define LEVEL_BED_CORNERS`. This should make moving between corners for manual leveling easier.
19. Uncommented `#define LEVEL_CORNERS_USE_PROBE`. This is to achieve exactly what I was doing with `G30` in Pronterface. I changed to tolerance with `#define LEVEL_CORNERS_PROBE_TOLERANCE 0.03`
20. Uncommented `#define Z_SAFE_HOMING`, which is important for the BLTouch.
21. Changed my PLA profile according to what I have determined to be best with `#define PREHEAT_1_TEMP_HOTEND 200` and `#define PREHEAT_1_TEMP_BED 60`
# Answer
> 0 votes
My firmware actually was working just fine, in terms of probing with `G29` before a print and then the Z-axis would adjust during the print.
The way I tested this was by putting an object underneath my probe at only a few of the probing locations at the start of the print `G29`.
The purpose of this was to simulate very significant deviations in the bed.
Then, when the print was printing its first layer, I would observe the Z-axis and the nozzle, and the printer did definitely make a very obvious motion near the probing points where I put the object underneath the probe.
Looks like when I am printing, it just doesn't seem to make any adjustments at all. I would expect it to make adjustments during the print since my bed is not perfectly level, but I guess it's how things are.
The purpose of this post was to evaluate whether or not my firmware was correctly interfacing with the BLTouch and applying the mesh to my print, and it seems like it is. The question of why it isn't making more noticeable adjustments for my print bed during normal printing is another question.
---
Tags: creality-ender-3, marlin, bed-leveling, z-axis, 3dtouch
--- |
thread-18704 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/18704 | 3D printing using only binary tensors representing parts | 2022-01-09T04:15:25.280 | # Question
Title: 3D printing using only binary tensors representing parts
I need to 3D print several composites. The constituent materials are photopolymer resins. The composites are very similar to a Rubik's cube. Considering it that way, each voxel (every small piece of the Rubik's cube) is either entirely printed by material A or B.
I have the binary files ready for the parts. More specifically speaking, I have 3D binary tensors corresponding to each composite topology. In my tensors, each of the elements represents a voxel, and their values (binary) indicate the material that should be assigned to that specific voxel. For instance, a 1 or 0 value located at the I, J, K position of the binary tensor simply means that in that composite, the voxel located at that I, J, K position should be printed with material A or B entirely.
I believe for 3D printing these composites, the Stratasys Objet500 Connex3 printer would be a good choice. However, I have no idea how to prepare my files for 3D printing the structures. If it was a CAD file, I could use slicer software, but I do not know how I can print the structures using these binary tensors. I would appreciate any help regarding this matter.
# Answer
> 1 votes
It appears that your question is directed to solving the problem of converting your file of parameters to a 3D printable form. I'm far from an OpenSCAD wizard, but I suspect that your parameters file could be read into a properly coded OpenSCAD document to create the necessary STL to be printed.
Your reference of I, J, K is better considered as X, Y, Z and requires an additional value to determine material A, B or nul. If your voxels are uniform size as I expect, the coding is likely not to be particularly complex (for more skilled individuals).
pseudocode:
```
read entry
translate by x, y, z
check for print material a
create voxel
repeat to EOF
export STL
```
repeat for material b
It's important to note that a typical STL file requires the object to be a fully manifold creation. If the STL appears, for example, as a QR code, some of the voxels will be floating and may not produce. This is also dependent on the printer selected, as an SLS printer would be able to produce such a design, which would fall apart once removed from the print chamber. These are aspects not covered in the question.
# Answer
> 0 votes
Stratasys industrial machines generally use proprietary software to prepare the print files for printing and don't use common slicers like Ultimaker Cura or Prusa-slicer.
The software that is suggested by the manufacturer for both arranging and preparing prints on their machines of the Objet type is GrabCAD, a free software. The project is owned by Stratasys, so it is pretty much on point to all of Stratasys' machine's capabilities.
---
Tags: 3d-models, 3d-design, slicing, software, stl
--- |
thread-18707 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/18707 | Why does part of the model come away from supports during print? | 2022-01-09T15:17:20.523 | # Question
Title: Why does part of the model come away from supports during print?
I have been trying to print the same dinosaur model for several days and all my attempts have failed in the same place. On every attempt, the tail falls off the supports. Sometimes there is a little black fleck at the point of failure.
I've varied the print temperature +/- 5 °C. I've tried cooling at 60, 70 and 100 %. I've tightened the extruded gripper thing. I've dropped the print speed to 40 mm/s. On my last attempt, I increased flow to 105 % but no joy.
I got the furthest with infilled support, despite the tail falling off.
I'm using an AnyCubic Mega S with PolyTerra PLA. Model is printed with 25 % infill, printing temperature is 210 °C, 0.2 mm layer height, 3 walls @ 1.2 mm, 50 mm/s, 100 % cooling, default Cura support and raft for adhesion. I have inspected the nozzle and it is clean.
Does anyone know what I could do to prevent the tail from coming away from the supports during print?
*Edit*
The model is the carnosaurus from https://www.myminifactory.com/object/3d-print-dinosaurs-pack-200076.
I've been printing it as orientated in the file -- balancing on its tail almost vertical. Is this orientation unusual?
I wonder if this way up is best suited to resin printing and whether I'd have better results if I laid the dinosaur flat.
**Update**
I decided to print something else. The new model, which I'd printed successfully three times before suffered from the same layer adhesion problems.
I re-printed the carnotaurus last night with a new, 0.25mm nozzle. It came out perfect. I suspect the original problem was down to the nozzle after all but haven't had chance to test another 0.4mm nozzle.
# Answer
If part of the print is only attached to the buildplate through support structures, and it keeps coming off, the support structures are either not adequately adhering to the print, or they're geometrically insufficient, in the sense that they only attach at small points around which the print sitting on top can tilt like a lever with forces from the printing and eventually work its way off. If that's the case, you might have to fool around with the slicer's support generation settings until it gives you ones that look like they're geometrically reasonable.
If the problem is just poor adhesion between the part and the support structure, you probably just need to adjust some settings in the slicer, like the Z distance between the support and the part, and any options that might be affecting integrity of printing the support. For example Cura has an option, on by default, to skip retractions in the support structure. This causes both heavy stringing and underextrusion of the supports, so that they're weak and don't adhere well.
> 1 votes
---
Tags: filament, support-structures, anycubic-i3-mega
--- |
thread-18611 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/18611 | Can't "Send To" Thingiverse from Tinkercad.com | 2021-12-21T05:47:16.610 | # Question
Title: Can't "Send To" Thingiverse from Tinkercad.com
Anyone else seeing this issue? Anyone know a solution?
While editing a part on TinkerCad.com (this part, to be specific), I click the "Send To" button in the top-right --\> click Thingiverse --\> I see this screen:
I then click on "Authorize". I'm already signed into Thingiverse, so I click "AGREE & AUTHORIZE APP" --\> and I get this error window:
It states:
> There was a problem authenticating you with Thingiverse
>
> Close this window and return to Tinkercad.
>
> Privacy settings |
> Privacy/Cookies
Anyone know what could be the issue? I've tried in Google Chrome, on Firefox, in Chrome with incognito mode, and even with a **2nd pair of separate TinkerCad and Thingiverse accounts!** I get the same result each and every time.
Note: I used the Google sign-in for the Thingiverse account. Maybe I need to use the independent account login?
---
Side note: this question is on-topic:
> Websites (could come under Software and/or Tools)
>
> ...
>
> * Issues with web based tools \<=== this one is my question
## I just sent in some support request tickets to both sites
Update 22 Dec. 2021:
I posted a help support ticket to both TinkerCad here (choose "Tinkercad Account" from the "Please choose from the options below" dropdown menu) and to Thingiverse here (click link --\> choose "Other" from dropdown menu for "What does your support request pertain to?"). I'll add an answer here if I get any useful response or solution from either of them. My support tickets on each site essentially contained the following information:
> ## Subject:
>
> Can't "Send To" Thingiverse from Tinkercad.com
>
> ## Body:
>
> Please see a full description of my problem here: Can't "Send To" Thingiverse from Tinkercad.com
>
> Essentially, no matter what I do I get into an infinite loop of trying to click the "Send to" button to send a model to Thingiverse, and it repeatedly fails with the error shown in the attachment. Again, see the full description at the link above.
>
> ## OS:
>
> Linux Ubuntu 20.04
>
> ## Browser:
>
> Chrome Version 96.0.4664.110 (Official Build) (64-bit)
# Answer
Tinkercad replied to my Zendesk ticket I opened (see the question), and as a a result, they seem to have fixed the issue! The "Send To" --\> Thingiverse feature seems to be working again!
I sent my request on 20 Dec. 2021:
> ## Subject:
>
> Can't "Send To" Thingiverse from Tinkercad.com
>
> ## Body:
>
> Please see a full description of my problem here: Can't "Send To" Thingiverse from Tinkercad.com
>
> Essentially, no matter what I do I get into an infinite loop of trying to click the "Send to" button to send a model to Thingiverse, and it repeatedly fails with the error shown in the attachment. Again, see the full description at the link above.
>
> ## OS:
>
> Linux Ubuntu 20.04
>
> ## Browser:
>
> Chrome Version 96.0.4664.110 (Official Build) (64-bit)
I got this response on 3 Jan. 2022:
> Nicole Smith (Tinkercad)
>
> Jan 3, 2022, 7:16 PST
>
> Hi Gabriel Staples,
>
> Thanks for writing in to let us know about the issue. I'll pass on the information and see what we can figure out.
>
> Regards,
>
> Nicole
> Tinkercad
Then this on 5 Jan. 2022:
> Nicole Smith (Tinkercad)
>
> Jan 5, 2022, 15:40 PST
>
> Hi Gabriel Staples,
>
> This should now be working again.
>
> Regards,
>
> Nicole
> Tinkercad
Sure enough; it seems to be fixed!
Next time you have an issue with TinkerCad, submit a help request here (I chose "Tinkercad Account" from the "Please choose from the options below" dropdown menu).
> 1 votes
# Answer
The best solution for the problem is to download your Tinkercad designs and upload them to Thingiverse.
Some people had the same issue and as far as I know, the Tinkercad people are not going to solve it.
> 1 votes
---
Tags: tinkercad, thingiverse
--- |
thread-18711 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/18711 | Gap between offset walls in print in Cura | 2022-01-10T03:32:05.927 | # Question
Title: Gap between offset walls in print in Cura
I've been printing a lot of things with 1 mm offset walls to fit lids.
However, in Cura, it's been slicing them but not compensating for the offset creating gaps since the shell thickness (0.8 mm) is less than the offset. This results in gaps and occasionally allows corners to warp.
IMO it should be creating a layer that sits below the inset wall, filling the gap (i.e. making a thicker wall on the last layer before the inset wall). I've looked through the settings in Cura and couldn't find anything to do this.
I could increase the wall thickness but this will result in unnecessary extra printing time/filament.
# Answer
> 2 votes
Look at the "Skin Removal Width" options in Cura. You might need to unhide them if they're not shown by default. As I understand it, the *intent* is that the "Skin Expand Distance" feature right next to it is supposed to re-expand the skin areas after shrinking them in a way that results in fewer tiny awkward-shaped regions that are slow to fill; however, as you've found, regions narrower than the wall line width can be lost completely. Setting the "Skin Removal Width" to 0 (and optionally doing the same for "Skin Expand Distance" since it should no longer be needed) will likely fix this.
---
Tags: ultimaker-cura
--- |
thread-17889 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/17889 | BLTouch clone will not deploy, stow, or deploy when homing or auto leveling | 2021-08-09T08:36:16.537 | # Question
Title: BLTouch clone will not deploy, stow, or deploy when homing or auto leveling
I have 2 printers, an Artillery Sidewinder X1 and an Ender 3 that both have BLTouch sensors installed. This post is about the one (BLTouch clone, the probe is a Smart v3.1 sensor) installed on my Ender.
**My problem:**
I recently upgraded from Creality's original motherboard to the BigTreeTech SKR mini E3 and touchscreen. Once I had plugged everything in, I flashed the latest firmware with edits made only to suit my BLTouch. I am using the `Zmin` endstop pin rather than the dedicated BLTouch pin and I double-checked both my wiring and my firmware to make sure my changes were correct. I powered on the printer and everything worked. I even printed a test calibration cube. I was happy with myself for getting everything to work first go and screwed the lid back over the motherboard.
Upon restarting the printer, I tried homing it and the probe would not deploy, and if I did not switch the power off, the extruder assembly would drill into the bed. Using the 'Deploy', 'Stow', and 'Test' buttons do nothing. Running `G29` or tapping the ABL button on the touchscreen will return similar results to pressing home or running `G28`, where the probe will not deploy (or stow if I manually pull it down - note that it does not go into error mode when I do that) and crash into the bed.
**Things I have tried already:**
* Running `M420 S1` \- returns `failed to enable bed leveling, invalid mesh`
* Running `M500` and `M502` after it to clear EEPROM
* Double checking that the servo pin is connected to the right socket on the motherboard
* Swapping the BLTouch out for the one that belongs to my other printer
* Using a multimeter to check the connection between the BLTouch and the servo pin
* Enabling `BLTOUCH_DELAY 500` and `BLTOUCH_FORCE_SW_MODE`
* Flipping the servo connector
* Using the whole BLTouch connector instead of plugging the Z wires of the BLTouch into the Z endstop port and changing the firmware accordingly.
**Wiring Diagram**
I used this diagram to wire the sensor:
---
*So I am just about at my wit's end with these BLTouch (clone) sensors - with 3 separate posts on this forum regarding them, my own posts even showing in the 'Similar questions' box at the time of writing this post, but amongst all the frustration I have experienced, I have learned a great deal along the way, from the core workings of the firmware to the design of the motherboard.*
*4 months later and I still never solved the problem. It seems likely that is a wiring fault or something wrong with the firmware but I have checked the wiring countless times with a multimeter, testing the BLTouch with another printer and using pre-compiled firmware sent to me by BTT support. I am writing to BTT to see if I can get a replacement board but if you have any other ideas I would love to try them.*
# Answer
> 0 votes
You have written in the comments that
> I did not do anything with to the wiring or firmware when it stopped working
And that you tried
> Swapping the BLTouch out for the one that belongs to my other printer
And
> testing the BLTouch with another printer
It seems from these statements that the answer to your question is: something got damaged in the SKR board. Replacement is probably the only way.
There are however some home made optical/servo proves you can use instead of the BLTouch. They deploy a pin via a servo and use optical endstop for detection. They are reliable and require minimum wiring so that you can reuse the damaged SKR.
You can also try the quickdraw probe by Annex Engineering.
---
Tags: creality-ender-3, bed-leveling, bltouch, z-probe, skr-mini-e3
--- |
thread-18720 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/18720 | How to properly run a PID Tuning and update the firmware? | 2022-01-11T14:08:14.693 | # Question
Title: How to properly run a PID Tuning and update the firmware?
The Firmware Step-by-step guide remarks to only mess with PID-Tuning settings in the firmware when you *know what you are doing*. Apparently, defining those settings in the firmware is a somewhat involved process, so this begs the question:
**How do you acquire the PID-tuning settings properly and update the boars of a printer so it retains these settings** through power cycling?
Let's for simplicity assume there is a Marlin Firmware or a derivative using the same command codes is installed, so we can assume all the commands from the Marlin G-code repository work.
# Answer
## Step 0: Terminal connection
To do any work on the settings of the board, you'll need to run a Terminal - for setting that up, please see the relevant question here.
## Step 1: What do we have?
The second step is dissecting the settings that are set already. To do so, send `M503` to read the relevant settings from the SRAM of the board and display them in the Terminal of your choice.
## Step 2: Try a PID Autotune
To run a PID Autotune, just start by sending this for your first hotend to enforce a 3-cycle PID tuning for the 200 °C region:
`M303 C3 S200`
For your second hotend, you'd send `M303 C3 E1 S200` \- the E-value is 0-indexed and defaults to 0 for the first hotend, so E1 is the second hotend.
For your heatbed (and PLA) you send `M303 C3 E-1 S60` as -1 is the function dependant value for the heated bed.
## Step 3: Setting the PID settings
After having obtained the PID settings from running the tuning cycle, we need to send those to the chips. To do so use `M301` for a hotend and `M304` for the heatbed, using the given values from step 2 as parameters.
Note again, that if you have more than one hotend, you absolutely need to have an E-value if you try to set the second hotend, as the default value is, again, E0 for the first hotend.
## Step 4: Saving
To properly save the values into the EEPROM - provided it is enabled - is to just send one command to finalize:
If your EEPROM is not enabled, you'd need to take the line you wrote for Step 3 and insert that into your pre-print G-code, thus overwriting the PID settings in the SRAM before each print.
> 1 votes
---
Tags: marlin, knowledgebase, pid
--- |
thread-6387 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/6387 | Multiple unattended prints using extruder to sweep build plate? | 2018-07-12T08:55:15.740 | # Question
Title: Multiple unattended prints using extruder to sweep build plate?
I read something the other day about a guy who found a way to knock over completed prints with the printer head itself, then slide them to the edge of the build plate, where they fall into a box/basket. This allows printing several Eiffel Towers while you sleep for example. It doesn't work with skirts (duh), and the adhesion has to be just right not to wake up with a pile of spaghetti, but it still sounds useful.
Well, now I cannot re-find the description I read; does anyone know what this process is called? Is there an easy way I can perform such an end-of-print action on my CR-10 with a cura plugin? If such a thing takes a touch of end-time custom gcode, is there a proof of concept rough draft or demo I can start tinkering with? Any more info is helpful.
# Answer
You could cool down the heated bed (with e.g. `[M109][1] R28`) and cool down the hotend (with e.g. `[M190][1] R40`). This will usually release the print from the plate, perform the actions to move the head (e.g. go to the largest X, Y position `G1 X{max} Y{max}`, move down `G1 Z10` to then move to minimum X, Y `G1 X0 Y0` position such that it sweeps the print to the origin) that it knocks it into the basket and start printing again by copy pasting the whole G-code beforehand a couple of times. Note that this all depends on the product you are printing. You should at least use the end code scripts for the specific tasks to cool down, and start scripts to heat up again.
You can write a Cura plugin to implement a new GUI item to copy the G-code multiple times or create a post processing plugin.
> 5 votes
# Answer
I would advice against it, or at least have some detection for when the object won't budge:
Leaving a printer unattended needs special care too (fire alarm springs to mind but not only).
> 3 votes
# Answer
### Another method - shake it off
Taken from Automatic 3D Print Removal using G-Code, by Make Anything
In order to shake the completed print from the bed, you can use an *ending script*, like so:
See the video at 2:45 for an explanation of the scripts, both starting and ending. Note that the starting script does *not* include a wipe (for purposes of a purge), as a brim is used, which acts as a purge.
The code is:
```
G1 X105 Y195 Z50 F3000; Move up and back
; Make some (alert) sounds
M300 S3520 P200 ; A7
M300 S4698.63 P200 ; D8
M300 S5274.04 P200 ; E8
M300 S6271.93 P200 ; G8
G1 X105 Y195 Z1 F3000 ; Lower
G1 X105 Y1 Z1 F2400 ; Remove print
G1 X105 Y30 Z1 F8000 ; Shake it out
G1 X105 Y1 Z1 F8000 ; Shake it out
G1 X105 Y30 Z1 F8000 ; Shake it out
;M106 S0 ; Turn off fan
;M104 S0 ; Turn off extruder
;M140 S0 ; Turn off bed
;M84 ; Disable motors
```
The guy is using an Anycubic i3 Mega, but this technique *should* work with most other printers.
---
### A note on the motor sounds
With respect to the alert sounds at the start of the ending script, there is a video for making the motors emit sounds and tunes, see I Taught My 3D Printer How to Sing ( and Dance! ) \- using `G1`, `G4` and, principally, `M300`.
An example can be seen here, the mii channel theme but it's played using a 3D printer ♪ ♫.
See also Writing G-code: Audible Alert at end of print.
> 2 votes
# Answer
For fun, from Thingiverse - Automatic Print Ejector - The Punching Machine.
There's even a video: MatterHackers Punch-Out!
<sub>Hover for a (slightly annoying) image:</sub>
>
> 0 votes
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Tags: ultimaker-cura, g-code, build-plate, automation
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thread-18533 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/18533 | Evenly spaced bulges and one spot of localized underextrusion | 2021-12-09T14:34:14.443 | # Question
Title: Evenly spaced bulges and one spot of localized underextrusion
I am having two separate issues. One is specific to this particular model, the other is on all my prints, but more pronounced on 90° vertical walls.
The first issue is a localized area of under extrusion only in one area of the print. This issue is specific to this model. The second issue is evenly spaced horizontal bulges that appear approximately every 5mm during the first 30-35 mm of the print. This is a two-piece Christmas tree I designed for my wife and I have been printing both pieces together on the build plate.
I am printing on a mostly stock Voxelab Aquila with Voxelab Gold 1.75 mm PLA. I have changed the stock extruder to the aluminum extruder after the plastic one cracked, and am running a Satsana style shroud with stock fans. I am using CHEP's Cura 4.11 Ender 3 profile for .2 mm (good) - CHEP Cura Profiles, printing at 200 °C and 40 °C bed temp. I have lubed my Z screw with white lithium grease, checked that belts are tight and no screws or physical connection points are loose. I checked to make sure that the eccentric nuts are snug but not binding the gantry. I have calibrated my extruder E-steps and changed the value to 96.
Can someone offer me some guidance on where to go from here?
# Answer
> 2 votes
The horizontal bands are 5mm apart, which is a common pitch for the screws often used for the Z axis.
I would look for something that binds, moves, slips, or touches once per screw revolution. The movement repeats along the screw, so if it is a screw defect I would look for a scratch or bump that affects the screw along its axis.
If you don't see that, check for how the screw is constrained at both ends. If they are loose constraints, does the screw wiggle while it is turning?
Move the nut to one extreme and rotate the screw. Does it appear to have any bend? Even a small degree of bending that doesn't bind the axis can add a small load to the drive.
The Z-azis error you are looking for is subtle. It is probably 10% (or less) of the layer height.
# Answer
> 0 votes
Try setting the z-seam to *random* in your slicer. In Slic3r it is *Seam position* under *Advanced* near the bottom of the *Layer and perimeters* page of the *Print Settings*.
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Tags: print-quality, troubleshooting, underextrusion
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thread-18718 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/18718 | 3D Printing with malicious intent | 2022-01-10T22:01:24.123 | # Question
Title: 3D Printing with malicious intent
I have a bit of an odd request. I am studying the vulnerability of 3D printers and would like to know if there is a way to disable the limit switches on, for example, an Ender 3 in the G-code.
Ideally, the exploit would be used by plugging in the malicious code via SD card into the 3D printer. I have found ways to change the nozzle temp and things like that, however, nothing on the limit switches.
If I were the manufacturer, I wouldn't implement the function, so if it's not possible it will not be a surprise. If that's the case, what would be some other options for tearing this thing up?
# Answer
> 9 votes
## Ethics and justification:
If you have physical access to the device you could just... physically damage the device. Running arbitrary G-code is just more complicated
Most printer farms have a strict no outside G-code policy for good reason. Because direct physical access to the printer does not provide any security.
This is also a problem for CNC Mills and other equipment. The firmware is not there to protect you. If you ask the system to put the spindle into XYZ\_POS, the device's job is to deliver your 300 dollar end mill into the part as expediently and directly as you have told it. It does not hold your hand.
As a result, it's probably best that **no one** run pre-compiled G-code. You should use an STL and generate your own G-code. Not only does it allow you to properly tune the print for your specific printer, but it prevents nasties from breaking your printer.
Do not test this on a system you do not own. You will face civil and criminal liability for any damages as a result of performing this on printers that are not your own. Additionally, I would question the value of your research provided that physical access to a device automatically makes it vulnerable; let alone running arbitrary code from an untrusted source.
To help your research: Most "secure" facilities prevent even touching a machine with external code. All code has to be generated on trusted and isolated machines by trusted persons. There is no guarantee that the "trusted" person can't manufacture a job that will crash their 300,000 dollar CNC mill and cause damage - but there are serious repercussions for doing so.
## It's extremely difficult to "tear up" a printer by turning off the endstops.
You can disable physical endstops with a simple command `M121`.
However, this only does so much.
With `M121`, the printer is only really vulnerable before it has been homed. Most printers will auto home when starting a print, or refuse to print until they are homed. If issuing `M121` then arbitrarily trying to ram it past an endstop, it will continue until it counts steps to the software endstop value `[XYZ]_MIN_POS` to `[XYZ]_MAX_POS`.
Older printers didn't have software endstops and would keep going until they were stopped or turned off. But this wouldn't *explicitly* cause damage as physical limitations would prevent it. Outside of old designs that do not physically limit the Z position - and crashing the nozzle into the printer.
Nowadays - the printer would crash into the axis limit and then stop because it would hit the software endstop (and funnily enough, be homed as a result - I have done this as an experiment on my own printers)
This would not damage the printer - just be annoying for a short time until it hits the software endstop.
You can however make it work like an older printer provided it does not have stall or crash sensing (like Prusas have by default) by issuing `M211 S0`.
This turns off the software endstops. And should allow it to continually try to reach the value programmed in the G-code. It should continue to count until it gets to XYZ\_POS then finally stop.
Will this cause damage? Maybe. If the Z-axis is high and it can physically push its way into the printbed hard enough it can cause damage to the hotend. However, generally, most printers are designed (these days) that the Z-axis cannot go too far into the print bed and cause (too much) damage. Modified printers can be vulnerable if they modify the bed but do not physically limit the Z-axis from going down too far. Additionally, when the printer autohomes on print it usually will set zero to the endstop before the payload can be run, giving a home and only allowing excursion to the axis positives. When this happens, no damage can really occur outside of overheating the steppers/drivers and possibly damaging belts.
There are also some firmware protections to help protect the end-user (e.g. Prusa Crash Detection) - depending on the printer these may need to be circumvented as well.
How you can really tear up a printer? If you have physical access to it - you have total control over it. Simply being physically near it is enough for you to just throw it out a window. It's arbitrary to try to run any code. But if you're trying to research how a threat actor can mess up someone's printer?
Thomas Sandladerer made an excellent video on these vulnerabilities (specific to 3D printers) here:
In his video, he's speaking directly on the threat of running pre-formed G-code from public sources. (Something that you should not do - something that **no one** should do)
## Conclusion:
In security, physical access to a system by an untrusted person or running untrusted code on a machine is not allowed.
For this vulnerability to be exploited, it requires a person to do things that they should not be doing - running generated G-code from an untrusted source. This includes from "friends" or even family.
I won't tell you how to "really tear up" a 3D printer as there are a plethora of horror stories out on the internet of printers catching fire let alone the threat of running some random code on your printer. How to do it is publicly available. You just have to figure it out yourself.
The lesson here is simple: **Just don't run pre-compiled G-code.**
# Answer
> 3 votes
## Physical Access is worse
If you really want to brick a printer, physical access allows to destroy any printer physically.
If you really want to mess it up only via a remote command later, you would not just run arbitrary G-code, you'd replace the firmware with one that *looks* and *feels* the same but contains neither Thermal Runaway Protection nor a Maxtemp. This way, the machine would just try to heat to arbitrary temperatures as commanded - making it possibly a fire hazard. In the worst case, installing bad Firmware is as simple as inserting a prepared SD and having the printer run a *firmware update* to your modified version!
You see, Physical Access means any malicious person can turn a printer into what accounts to a timebomb, but as 0scar points out, it takes no malicious intent to mess up a printer - just being bad at maintaining or using it.
## Network Access suffices
Let's for the sake of argument assume all we have is remote terminal access to the printer. No necessarily video feedback, just terminal access, for example via Octoprint. This is sufficient to send arbitrary G-code, and some combinations can be outright devastating - which is why remote print servers are usually password secured and should **never** be public access!
### With the right Terminal, Altering the EEPROM is easy
If you have remote access and can use a terminal that allows directly altering the EEPROM, changing fundamental values like the position of the endstops or the size of the printer quite easily. Repetier Host for example can do that, but usually uses a direct physical cable - which gets us back to *Physical Access is worse*.
### You worry about the wrong command
Now, the worst command that with bad intent is very likely to destroy printers is the `M500` command to save altered values into the EEPROM. This can result in problems if G-code before the command contains code that changes basic settings that are not firmware locked.
For example, `M301` with nonsensical values can force very bad PID-setting that could result, depending on how they are set up, in massively overshooting the target temperature, regularly tripping Thermal Runaway Protection or just bad prints. With Particular bad settings and with disabled TRP, one might actually turn the printer into a fire-hazard.
Due to the problems `M500` (and `M301`) can cause, Prusaprinters/printables does not allow to upload any g-code that contains this command, but the best protection against this command is to **NEVER** run G-code that you didn't compile yourself.
Besides the `M500` and M301, even the totally normal group of `M201` to -`M203` can really mess up a printer in not necessarily a permanent fashion without `M500`... unless they are used to destroy the printer outright. Which can totally be done by setting ludicrous speeds and acceleration, then telling the printer that its printhead is at a height well above the bed (besides that it was just a few millimeters away) and slamming down with maximum force to pierce a hole into the bed. But as many of the feedrate commands (like M203) are used in normal prints, it's hard to spy such commands - and thus nigh impossible to spot beforehand.
## Blocking Malicious G-code
Some companies, fearing accidental `M500` or other setting-altering commands, have disabled EEPROM. This however makes maintenance much harder, but prevents altering critical settings at all - they are now fixed in the firmware and have to be altered by recompiling and uploading an altered firmware. If done properly and combined with proper physical access control to the ability to upload firmware (e.g. sealed maintenance panel) can pretty much prevent malicious G-code to have any effect.
# Answer
> 2 votes
## Potential threat?
I can imagine that this is a potential threat for printers that are operated in an environment where there are lots of people using the printer where there is access to the SD card (e.g. schools, libraries or maker spaces). It would literally take a file on the SD card to be run the next time the printer boots to change settings through G-code. As you can imagine, it is quite easy to change the coordinates of the origin - this has been discussed in previous questions - but also speeds, endstop state and acceleration values for instance.
## Would it destroy a printer?
Yes, it can. Lead screw motion is stronger than belts, the latter will just skip, but lead screws may do some serious damage depending on the printer construction (I've had my unintentional fair share of that). But, the most obvious problem is the time that is needed to fix the problem; re-calibrating and repairing.
## Limited to malicious intent?
No, managing an Ultimaker 3 Extended for a staff association I can talk from experience that it doesn't take malicious code, or intent, to mess up a printer. Working from home due to COVID-19 measures (my work needs those who can work at home to stay at home, in order to allow those who operate machines and test equipment to go to work and comply with the x people per y square meter rules that the government laid out) I have been away from the UM3E to find it in a terrible state a year later. It appeared that there have been people, that had no experience in slicing, using the wrong type of materials for slicing with respect to that was loaded into the machine... (we operate non-Ultimaker materials, so the material is not recognized by the RFID reader). The printer is now under lock and key...
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Tags: marlin, safety
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thread-18567 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/18567 | How to tell if I have TMC2208 or A4988 Drivers on Creality Silent V4.2.3 Board? | 2021-12-15T05:54:41.370 | # Question
Title: How to tell if I have TMC2208 or A4988 Drivers on Creality Silent V4.2.3 Board?
I have a new Creality Ender 2 Pro with a Creality 4.2.3 mainboard. I'm attempting to compile Marlin to fix a bug. How can I tell what driver chips I have on this board?
I've narrowed it down to likely `A4988` or `TMC2208_STANDALONE` or possibly the `TMC2225`. Strangely Creality only has documentation for the 4.2.2 and the 4.2.7 boards (not 4.2.3)
4.2.2 =\> TMC2208
4.2.3 =\> ?
4.2.7 =\> TMC2225
Some say you can tell the driver just by listening to the noise it makes. Here is a video of the printer running. The motors are nearly silent to my ear.
Resources
# Answer
According to 'The-EG' comment in this GitHub issue, Add Creality Ender 2 Pro config #633, you can often determine the stepper drivers by one of a few ways:
1. Listen to the sound. The 'TMC22\**' will sound much quieter
2. Look for a marking in Sharpie on the SD Card reader
```
C = HR4998
E = A4988
A = TMC2208
B = TMC2209
H = TMC2225
```
3. Remove the heat sync
https://github.com/MarlinFirmware/Configurations/pull/633#issuecomment-995480295
After removing the heat sync, it appears that the Chip is actually a `MS35775`
> 3 votes
# Answer
MS35775 appears to be TMC208 compatible. You can find the data sheet on relmon.com here is the overview:
* 2-Phase stepping motor peak current of 2A
* Step / dir interface 2, 4, 8, 16, or 32 microstep
* Internal 256 micro steps
* Quiet mode
* Fast mode
* HS Rdson 0.29 Ω ,LS Rdson 0.28 Ω
* Voltage range 4.75 ~ 36V
* When the motor is still, it will enter into the power saving mode automatically
* Internal resistor mode is optional (no need for external sense resistor)
* Single wire UART bus and OTP control
* QFN28 package
> 1 votes
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Tags: stepper-driver, creality
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thread-18727 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/18727 | Temperature problems | 2022-01-12T03:04:26.857 | # Question
Title: Temperature problems
For some reason whenever I turn on my printer, my nozzle says that it is at 120 °C even though it is not set at anything and my bed says that it is set at 180 °C even though it is not set to anything. I replaced my hotend and the problem is still there. Does anyone else know why this?
# Answer
> 1 votes
This is a common problem that affects many printer types, and is caused by the fact that most controller boards do not have over-voltage protection on thermistor (temperature sensor) inputs. If the thermistor wires come into electrical contact with the heater wires (with the printer switched on and the heaters running), this can ruin the analogue to digital convertor (ADC) circuits on the printer's microcontroller. The only solution is to replace the controller board.
This problem typically occurs when users are performing essential maintenance on their printers. For example, when trying to remove filament that has accumulated around the hot end during a print failure. Never try to remove filament with the printer switched on (and never use a wire brush to do so). If you need to pre-heat the hot end to soften the filament, always switch the printer off before attempting to remove the filament, and try to ensure that the thermistor wires are not damaged in any way.
There are controller boards that have over-voltage protection on thermistor inputs, although this is still fairly uncommon. The BigTreeTech SKR 2 (not to be confused with the SKR 1.4 V2) has such protection.
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Tags: temperature
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thread-18713 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/18713 | Copper-infused PLA for spur gears | 2022-01-10T17:37:45.637 | # Question
Title: Copper-infused PLA for spur gears
I am currently printing PLA infused with 80% copper powder. So far I mainly used it because it looks and feels really nice and post-processing is almost limitless, however recently I have thought that metal-like filaments might actually be a good idea for gears (in case I don't want to use polycarbonate or carbon fiber PLA).
I have been researching about the material properties of copper-infused PLA and found a few studies about the "strength", however, those seem to have exclusively focussed on how much weight can be suspended on a hook where it showed pretty good results. The only other info I found was an unsourced "it is more brittle", however the objects I printed so far do not feel more brittle.
Does anyone have any experience with spur gears printed from copper-infused PLA? Are there any advantages over regular PLA? Any downsides (I could imagine higher abrasiveness is not really helpful)?
# Answer
> 2 votes
With the right material, you could print the gear and then sinter it, resulting in actual metal gears. However, 80 % metal-filled PLA is at the lowest border to achieve this, and a lot of that technology is patented.
## Filamet<sup>TM</sup>
Filamet<sup>TM</sup> is a Virtual Foundry product that contains around **80-92 %** metal powder of 100-400 µm particle size, suspended in a carrier. The carrier material is supposedly PLA or at least functionally similar. The resulting filament is highly abrasive, requiring stainless steel<sup>1</sup> to print more than short sections. The high metal content also gives the material a *memory* of its spooled-up shape. This demands extra special treatment during printing to prevent snapping the filament in the shape of a pre-heater to get it spooled off properly. The same company also offers similar products for ceramics. After printing, the models are burned-out and sintered in an oven at very high temperatures. This sintering is done in a crucible filled with carbon and alumina, burning out the PLA carrier while retaining the shape. Their material-making process is patented (patent itself) and covers all their metal, ceramic, and glass materials.
<sub>1 - or something even more hardy, like an Olsson Ruby by 3DVerkstan</sub>
## MetalX<sup>TM</sup>
The MetalX<sup>TM</sup> system by Markforged uses a special printer and proprietary *Bound Powder Metal Filament* that contains an unknown plastic binder. A lot of this machine and surrounding peripheries are patented and information spare. Among others, their method of creating composite filaments and their binder material, support material & sintering process are only described in patents. From their advertisement I could deduce the following process: The MetalX printer prints the item with unknown print settings, resulting in a raw item containing metal and the binder. After wash-cleaning using a liquid known as Opteon<sup>TM</sup> SF79 (Datasheet) to remove the specialty binder, the sintering happens in a free oven at 1300 °C, leaving behind a metal product. Free oven means here, that the printed part is not embedded in a filled crucible like with Filamet<sup>TM</sup>.
---
<sub>Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with either Virtual Foundry, Markforged, 3DVerkstan, any of their products or affiliates.</sub>
# Answer
> 1 votes
At a guess, copper really isn't that strong so you're likely to see minimal improvements, if any.
The PLA carrier plastic is still PLA, with a low melting point.
The copper won't "fuse" with the PLA, it will still be flakes of metal embedded in a tiny pocket inside of a plastic structure.
However this is all speculation, and your best option for an answer is to print some gears and methodically test them against plain PLA, and perhaps a metal gear if you can. Try and use identical setups/bearings/pressures and times.
Perhaps a high torque and a high-speed test, in both lubricated and unlubed, for PLA, copper-PLA, and a straight metal gear? That would be 12 tests in all and clear out all questions.
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Tags: filament, print-material, print-strength, filled-pla
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thread-18181 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/18181 | My FlashForge Creator Pro has started to spontaneously restart mid-print, begin vibrating, printing along one axis repeatedly, etc | 2021-10-03T03:08:30.477 | # Question
Title: My FlashForge Creator Pro has started to spontaneously restart mid-print, begin vibrating, printing along one axis repeatedly, etc
I've changed SD cards, printed from USB connection, upgraded/reloaded firmware and attempted using different software packages. Nothing has worked yet. When connected via USB, I get a "disconnected" error after a few minutes into the print. Also, the LED lights now either don't work at all or will randomly go out after a few minutes - usually indicating that the print failure is imminent. I've had the printer for about 4 years without issues. I don't want to replace the motherboard only to find out it's the power source or vice versa. Help?
# Answer
> 1 votes
I recently had this problem and narrowed it down to the part cooling fan (on the side of the extruder head). I diagnosed the problem by noticing that the printer would reboot shortly after the second layer started, only on PLA prints. Of course, the part cooling fan is not usually started until after the first layer. It was shorted and when the printer got to the second layer it would overload the power supply and cause a reboot. Took a while to determine this, but it is worth looking at if somebody else is having this problem.
I would guess that any shorted fan, even the extruder fans, might cause a similar issue, however, I don't know this for sure.
# Answer
> 0 votes
I had a similar problem with my Ender 3 that started after relocating the power supply to a (3D printed) bracket to give additional clearance from the edge of the bed (it was touching the magnetic build sheet, potentially causing prints to lift or warp at +X +Y corner).
What I found was that the brackets I had printed allowed enough movement of power supply to make the 24V output connection intermittent, even despite tightening the slip-on terminal. I solved the problem by printing another bracket piece that constrains the top of the power supply as well as the bottom (in the originally printed bracket); I haven't had a random restart during a print since then.
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Tags: electronics, hardware, flashforge-creator
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thread-18738 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/18738 | Unusual printing after upgrading | 2022-01-13T01:39:19.150 | # Question
Title: Unusual printing after upgrading
So I've just done a full upgrade to my machine in by no means a beginner but this issue is stumping me, and a few other veterans that I've asked.
Steps Completed:
* E-Steps extruding a perfect 100 mm in/out
* Bed is perfectly Leveled to 0.1 mm
* Auto leveler Z offset also set so that it's 0.1 mm from bed /16 point grid
* Unassembled and rebuilt both Z stepper motor assemblies and confirmed that the height is equal across all four quarters with the gantry.
* Tightened off both nuts and spacer nuts of the gantry so there is no more wiggle or shifting
I get a relatively good first layer, then for the next 7 it as in the picture barely touches the print, then after 8 layers, it starts to print perfectly fine again.
I'm assuming it's something with my Z steppers? After the initial 8-10 layers are completed it starts to look like it's supposed to. I adjusted the z offset thinking that was that issue to have it for the same thing while having the obvious 1st layer being too close.
Same settings and filament from pre-upgrade, other than retraction settings update nothing was touched on Cura.
I've run both calibration cubes, Benchy's, and bed leveling squares.
The problem only seems to happen after the 1st layer which comes out smooth.
Extruder: Sherpa Mini Direct Drive
Hotend: Dragonfly BMS / 0.6 mm tungsten nozzle
Firmware: Marlin 4.xx something
Filament: basic PLA
Temperature: 200 °C
Bed: 50 °C
Speed: 75 mm/s
# Answer
> 1 votes
Swapping the Z Fade to 10 completely eliminated the issue.
Auto Bed Leveling Z Fade Setup & Info
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Tags: creality-ender-3, ultimaker-cura, diy-3d-printer, creality-ender-5, creality
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thread-16586 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/16586 | Prusa MK3S not extruding during printing but extruder working | 2021-06-22T07:39:28.510 | # Question
Title: Prusa MK3S not extruding during printing but extruder working
I didn't have any printer-related problem for the past 6 months, but now all of a sudden my Prusa MK3S stopped extruding during printing.
This is very strange as I can easily load\unload filament and control the step motor via Settings\Move axis\Extruder. When I did so, the filament got extruded normally.
However, when I try to print something or do First Layer Calibration, nothing comes out of the nozzle. I tried changing the Live Z (maybe nozzle too low) and it didn't help. I once managed to extrude *something* by increasing the temperature and the flow (in the printer's menu) to a ridiculous value of 999. Obviously, this isn't the best way to solve the problem.
Is there an easy way to fix this? I only had this problem yesterday and with some midrange-priced PETG
Edit: I tried different filaments, default slicer profiles, reinstalling slicer (prusa slicer) and drivers. None of these methods really helped.
# Answer
> 1 votes
1. It doesn't seem to be heat creep. See What are ways to avoid heat creep?
2. Have you measured the actually temperature of the heater block? You may have a failing sensor (thermistor) or sensor circuitry. Optically is the best way to measure. The least expensive way is with multimeters that come with a temperature sensor, such as a thermocouple (lowest cost about $20 U.S.).
# Answer
> 0 votes
As it turned out, rebuilding the extruder actually helped. I took it apart to the point where both fans were loose as well as the extruder motor and the hotend. I didn't find anything wrong after a quick look so I put it all back together.
Then i ran the first layer calibration and for some reason it worked. I know it's neither the most satisfying solution, nor the most informative one, so sorry about that. Either way, thank you for the suggestions, I still have no idea what caused the problem.
That being said, I hypothesize that something was wrong with the hotend. That is because when I had this probem, molten filament wouldn't exit the heated nozzle on its own. Now when I heat up the hotend, the filament comes out (without the motor working)
# Answer
> 0 votes
I have the exact same issue. I still haven't figured out what is going on, but my next step is to work backwards.
I brought my machine in for repairs at our local shop, and the end result was "heat creep" . It worked for a few prints, then stopped. It jammed on me and in the process of removing the jam, I broke the leads to the heat block. When I decide to go back in, I will see if when I reassembled the extruder, I knocked off enough thermal paste to make a difference... :(
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Tags: prusa-i3, extruder, extrusion, prusaslicer
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thread-18742 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/18742 | Using a shorter heatbreak on the Anet A6 | 2022-01-13T09:12:26.117 | # Question
Title: Using a shorter heatbreak on the Anet A6
I need to replace my heatbreak on my Anet A6 since I pushed out the PTFE tube when my filament got clogged...
The current heatbreak has a length of 40 mm, but, the shop I'm buying from only sells the 30 mm or 35 mm (the 40 mm is out of stock).
Can I just install a 35 mm heatbreak? Or even a 30 mm? Or is the 40 mm crucial in the design of the Anet A6?
# Answer
> 0 votes
This hotend design is called a Mk8 type/style hotend, based on the Mk8 Makerbot design. You should get the 40 mm length heatbreak, this option gives you some extra space, a shorter heatbreak will result in changing the Z-endstop height or raise the bed (if the endstop is fixed).
The 30 mm will for sure be too short and result in a gap in the heat conducting element, the 35 mm might work. You can source the heatbreaks from typical online market places for about a dollar you get 5 pieces, order these while you try if the 35 mm version works for you (depending on endstop and bed).
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Tags: anet-a6, heat-break
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thread-16793 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/16793 | Creality Ender 3 Pro - Z travel issue with TH3D firmware | 2021-07-25T13:07:20.683 | # Question
Title: Creality Ender 3 Pro - Z travel issue with TH3D firmware
*TLDR - I’ve just driven myself insane trying to fix what I thought was a physical problem with my Z-axis, but it seems to have been solved by switching from the TH3D firmware to the Creality firmware. I’m hoping someone can help me see where I went wrong here, so I can learn from it. Have I missed something obvious?*
My printer is a Creality Ender 3 Pro. I have a BLTouch. I recently upgraded to the silent 4.2.7 board and compiled my own firmware using TH3D Unified 2 using their instructions. This is my `configuration.h`.
This “worked”, but after that upgrade, I had severe print problems. (See the photos below) These are supposed to be 20x20x20 calibration cubes (the big one is 200%). They are significantly taller than they should be. It may be hard to see in the photo, but this is because the Z spacing on the bottom layers seems to be too high. But, at the same point on each print (even the bigger one), the problem seems to just stop - and layer spacing is correct again for the end of the print.
I tried everything to figure out what this was and I was convinced it was a physical problem with my Z-axis. I read lots of questions on here but nothing quite on topic. I printed on different parts of the bed and got the same result. I re-calibrated my Z steps, but these turned out to be pretty much at the firmware default anyway. I tightened every bolt and eccentric nut I could find that related to the X-axis gantry, but nothing made any difference. Same problem, every time.
Out of desperation, I eventually switched to the official Creality firmware for the Ender 3 Pro 4.2.7 board with BLTouch - and the problem was fixed:
Does anyone have any ideas about what caused this? Have I overlooked something obvious? I’d ideally like to go back to the TH3D firmware but it’s seemingly not an option.
https://pastebin.com/MYs8sYGj
# Answer
> 2 votes
Looking at your prints, the problem is possibly related to the fade out height of the BLTouch functionality.
If you look closely at the 20x20x20 mm cube:
* half the print is fine (top half of the original correct cube)
* the bottom "half" (not really half as it is stretched) is porous (grey, indicating more space allowed than the correct layer height per layer should be).
If you look closely at the 40x40x40 mm cube:
* the first "quart" of the 40x40x40 mm is also incorrect (also stretched),
* the rest, 3/4 of the top of the print is fine (correct layer height).
Your `configuration_backend.h` config file doesn't look strange, so the underlying problem could well be more complicated.
A possibility is that there is no reference found to the `DEFAULT_LEVELING_FADE_HEIGHT` in the linked firmware file. A more in depth answer on enabling/setting the fade height is found here.
> ```
> M420 S1 ; Enable compensation using current grid/mesh
> M420 Z10 ; Gradually reduce compensation until Z=10
>
> ```
It is good to have a fade out height, if zero, the imperfections of the bottom travel all the way to the top of the print; the solution is to use bed geometry (`M420 S1`) and fade out over 10 mm (`M420 Z10`).
# Answer
> 2 votes
If you check TH3D's site, as of January 12, 2022, there's an updated Unified 2 firmware(Unified 2.36a) that is meant to correct this problem.
Announcement is here: Unified 2.36a is now live! | Firmware Update
> ### Release Notes:
>
> **Bugfixes**
>
> * Disable ABL fade height by default
> * Fix EZBoard V2 DIY Config Driver Type Setting
>
> **Other Changes**
>
> * Update URLs in config files to support articles
> * Improve EZABL mount wording for more user clarity
---
Tags: creality-ender-3, marlin, firmware, bltouch, th3d
--- |
thread-18748 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/18748 | Print is rotated perfectly on bed, while straight in the slicer. X-axis moves slowly while printing a straight Y-axis line | 2022-01-14T10:16:19.663 | # Question
Title: Print is rotated perfectly on bed, while straight in the slicer. X-axis moves slowly while printing a straight Y-axis line
I have a weird problem that I can't seems to find an answer for.
I'm using SuperSlicer with my Ender3 + OctroPrint setup.
The prints on the bed in SuperSlicer is perfectly straight
However, it seems that when my printer is moving in a straight Y-axis line, there is some kind of linear multiplier on the X-axis because it moves slooowly to the side causing the print to be pretty perfectly rotated on the physical bed as seen in Octoprint and also on the real physical bed (luckily my physical bed is slightly to large so I don't go outside of it).
I know there is some kind of setting for this which is used for Z-offset with probe, but I can't seem to find it, and it seems weird that it has been set for the X and Y axis. I don't know if that is what really causing this, because I've never touched those settings on this printer before
Anyone got an idea?
# Answer
> 1 votes
The print is **not rotated at all** on the print bed, the OctoPrint image is exactly the same as the image of SuperSlicer.
What you see is the skirt being printed misleading you into thinking the whole print is rotated! As the rectangles in the corners are aligned in the middle of the rectangles, the skirt is made of 4 skew lines.
If this print prints outside of the bed (in your case the bed is large enough to not cause problems) you are facing the issue that the print bed is incorrectly centered (the hotend to be precise). To have your prints print in exactly the same position as you slice them in the slicer, you could look into How to center my prints on the build platform? (Re-calibrate homing offset), this describes how to determine the offsets from the end stops should be set to get the center of the slicer in the center of your printer.
---
Tags: creality-ender-3, marlin, troubleshooting, octoprint
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thread-18750 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/18750 | Editing stl files for unwanted multiple parts | 2022-01-14T17:27:54.760 | # Question
Title: Editing stl files for unwanted multiple parts
I have a Creality CR-10S5 and am printing a large ocean liner model in sections. The problem I am coming up against is that when the person built the model, the 100's of portholes extend into the interior of the model. I've had issues where the long end of the porthole on the interior of the model as it is printing starts to bend upward and has interrupted the path of the extruder and it starts printing about an inch to left on the X-axis.
I was wondering if anyone knew of an easier way than bringing it into Meshmixer or Fusion and individually cutting these long porthole extensions I will call them away from the inside of the model. I've tried using the hollow out feature but they still remain. I've thought about cutting them along a plane in Fusion but that would slice the entire model.
# Answer
If you have no other components to the vessel intruding into the volume of the model, consider to create a suitably primitive shape centered in the hull. By creating a boolean union, the new primitive will "absorb" the empty space and terminate the noodles. The result will be a hollow model, more or less as the original, but with a thicker wall.
> 1 votes
---
Tags: 3d-models
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thread-18740 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/18740 | Ender 5 BlTouch Install | 2022-01-13T04:30:29.410 | # Question
Title: Ender 5 BlTouch Install
I just installed a BLTouch on my Ender 5 but I'm having trouble installing/editing the firmware. After watching a few YouTube videos, I figured going to the GitHub BTT Marlin repository (because I have a Bigtreetech E3 mini V2 board in it) would be easiest. After leveling the bed without issues, I attempted a print but it started way too high (20-30 mm above the bed). I know there is some type of offset I need to change but I don't know where it would be. My first thought was editing some of the configuration files in VS-Code before installing it on the printer but I downloaded the pre-compiled firmware.bin on GitHub that was already set up for the Ender-5 with a BTT E3 mini V2 board and a BLTouch. Is there anything I can do on the printer or in OctoPrint or should I start from scratch and edit the original Marlin files?
# Answer
> 1 votes
After some research, the BlTouch can be wired to the mainboard two different ways; the 2 pin wires (that were black and white in the kit I bought) are able to plug into the probe spot with the 3 pin wires or they can replace the z-end-stop. I ended up replacing the z-end-stop wires with the 2 pin wires and downloaded pre-compiled firmware from GitHub.
---
Tags: bltouch, creality-ender-5, bigtreetech
--- |
thread-18743 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/18743 | CR-10 Smart with weak infill | 2022-01-13T14:11:38.770 | # Question
Title: CR-10 Smart with weak infill
I had a hard time printing some parts as the brim was printed very well contrary to the first layer, wall, and especially infill. I noticed that filament lines were too thin when printing walls, infill, and the first layer. So the first layer was not sticking to each other.
I suspected that the slicer was the first to investigate, so I printed a model which I already printed before from SD Card and the newly printed part has the exact problems.
Suspecting that filament thread gets cooled very soon so we tried:
1. Printing with more Nozzle Temp (225 °C).
Result: Walls adhered better but still not strong in addition to weak infill.
2. Then turned on Fan Automatic Control
Result: more nice walls with still weak infill.
Setup:
* Creality CR-10 Smart 3D Printer
* Cura Slicer
* Material eSUN PLA+ White
* Nozzle 0.4 mm
* 10 % Infill
* 30 % infill overlap percentage
* 0.32 mm infill layer thickness.
# Answer
> 0 votes
To solve this problem, I tweaked the following:
1. **Infill Pattern**: Some patterns tend to be more solid than others, going back to **Grid** instead of **Cubic** ensuring that there is a solid base for infill to avoid layer shift in infill as **Cubic** infill is printed in a slanted angle.
2. **Infill layer height**: It seems that the CR-10 Smart is unable to print 0.32 mm infill layer height.
3. **Lowering infill speed**: going from 75 mm/sec to 50 mm/sec as 75 mm/sec infill speed was too much for the extruder as it was unable to keep up with the speed so you will start to notice under-extrusion on the inside of your part, This under-extrusion will tend to create weak, stringy infill since the nozzle is not able to extrude as much plastic as the software would like.
Attached below the difference between 0.16 mm infill layer height on the right, the model is sturdy and strong. 0.32 mm infill layer height on the left, the model is weak and stringy.
On my try to print a large scale print the same problem occurred, very weak infill, which drove me crazy !
Addressing the real problem "Under-Extrusion" .. testing extruder I noticed that there is a crack on the feeder box
In my opinion it's a bad decision to go for plastic for the feeder, their design uses the lever to shift the plastic box which has the idler pulley (fixed on it) to relieve the pressure on filament.
The crack on feeder weakened the grip on filament, causing slippage making the filament to be extruded too thin, which made the filament too weak to stick to each other.
Changing extruder to aluminium kit feeder with tight grip on filament ensured that filament is pushed correctly without slipping and also stopped stringing while nozzle is heating.
Print on left after applying the fix.
Hopes this save someone's the trouble.
---
Tags: ultimaker-cura, creality-cr-10, infill
--- |
thread-18752 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/18752 | Topology problems | 2022-01-15T01:40:40.400 | # Question
Title: Topology problems
My model is purely quads, (I know about tris/quads for .stl files and other formats, etc.) but when I import it in slicer software (Ultimaker Cura), it changes the topology (and that repeating triangular shape is very visible on the print). Is this just how 3D printers work, or can I change the settings somewhere to make it go away?
# Answer
STL does not know quads: STL only knows trigons, defined by three vertices and the normal that belongs to this trigon, though there are extra properties that each trigon can have (such as color). When saving a quad as STL, it has to be converted into two trigons next to one another. The problems appear when some quads have a single point that is not contained in the plane created by the three others: What works as a bend quad, can be solved as two different Trigons: ABC+CDA is jsut as valid as ABD+BCD - but one has a high ridge, the other has a low valley.
To fix such topology issues, you need to convert to trigons *first* then export as STL. To correct such errors after exporting, a 3D modeling software that can alter Vertex Edge and Surface level details is needed. Blender is such a solution and free, though with a somewhat steep learning curve.
You might be able to fix your surface by carefully merging vertices until your surface does not have the ridges you encounter - because they are already in your model.
> 1 votes
---
Tags: print-quality
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thread-15084 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/15084 | Dual extruder with gear shifting | 2020-12-22T09:56:57.327 | # Question
Title: Dual extruder with gear shifting
I am planning to upgrade my printer with a second extruder. Since my printer is a Tronxy X8 it's frame is not exactly vibration resistant, so I'd like to keep the print head weight down. At the same time I really don't want a Bowden setup.
I came up with the idea of making a dual extruder driven only by a single stepper with a gear shift setup that switches the stepper between the two extruders.
The idea seems simple, but googleing didn't turn up anything else.
Is there anything I am missing that would would make such a setup unfeasible?
Did anyone else build something like that?
A clarification, because it came up in an answer:
What I imagine is this:
One stepper motor is connected to a gear shift system that is either connected to Extruder A or Extruder B, depending on the gear. When shifting it just connects the stepper motor to the other extruder. So it is still similar to a regular direct driven dual extruder system, except that it only uses a single stepper to drive two extruders, each connected to it's own hotend.
# Answer
That is perfectly viable these days in Marlin firmware, there are options for setting this up using the configuration file, e.g.:
```
// :[0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8]
#define EXTRUDERS 1
...
...
...
// A dual extruder that uses a single stepper motor
//#define SWITCHING_EXTRUDER
#if ENABLED(SWITCHING_EXTRUDER)
#define SWITCHING_EXTRUDER_SERVO_NR 0
#define SWITCHING_EXTRUDER_SERVO_ANGLES { 0, 90 } // Angles for E0, E1[, E2, E3]
#if EXTRUDERS > 3
#define SWITCHING_EXTRUDER_E23_SERVO_NR 1
#endif
#endif
```
> 1 votes
# Answer
You'll need a custom firmware.
Yur custom firmware will have to react to the "Change extruder" command differently than a normal firmware: instead of just swapping to a different extruder, you'll need to perform some operations to alter the gearing (possibly a solenoid?), and possibly include some kind of "break" to make sure that the filament is not slipping back without the extruder attached. However, there already is a setup that pretty much does this: the Prusa MMU2 uses something similar. The MMU does use a Bowden setup, but you could use Bowden and direct drive in combination, especially if both motors run in sync.
> 0 votes
---
Tags: extruder, dual-nozzle, multi-material, drive-gear
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thread-18757 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/18757 | Why does the first layer only adhere to bed if I increase the temperature by 10 °C and drop the speed by 75 % | 2022-01-16T16:50:03.837 | # Question
Title: Why does the first layer only adhere to bed if I increase the temperature by 10 °C and drop the speed by 75 %
I'm running a stock Ender 5 pro with the filament that came with it, and using Creality Slicer 4.8.2, but I'm only able to get reliable bed adhesion if I increase the bed temperature from 50 to 60 °C for the bottom layer and decrease the print head speed by about 75 % from the default profile for the Ender 5.
The machine is absolutely stock, and is fresh out of the box except for bed levelling.
I used the default bed leveling print and that came out well, so I'm reasonably certain that it's not a bed leveling issue. The problem seems to be with models that I've made myself in blender and exported as STL files.
In all cases the raft that was generated by the Creality software has printed out perfectly, but the print has only partially gone down when it came to the model itself.
# Answer
Your bed is too low - raise it by turning the knobs underneath.
The first layer should not look like strings sitting on the bed as per your photo. Instead it should be a wider strip that looks somewhat like an electronic circuit trace, or like someone has pushed wet paint out of a tube that is being wiped across the surface.
My method is to head the bed with "preheat" in the menu, and let it sit at printing temp for at least 5 minutes. This avoids the heater being at temp but the top of the glass bed being cool.
Then start your job. As the brim or skirt is printed, actively watch it in person and twiddle the height knobs a quarter turn at a time. You want the "end view" or cross sectional view of the printed filament to be like this:
```
_____<==>_____
```
and not like this
```
______0______
```
and definitely not like this
```
0
_______________
```
If the head starts scratching the bed, you've gone too far so lower the bed back down again (effectively raising the print head a little)
---
Here's a print in progress trying to show a better brim. Notice eachgstrand is ovalised and mushed down. That brim will come off in one piece afterward.
> 4 votes
# Answer
Assuming Creality's stock firmware still doesn't have Linear Advance enabled, there's a fairly hard requirement to go slow on the first layer. This is because, as the toolhead accelerates up to higher speed without advancing the extruder extra to compensate for the backpressure in the filament-path/nozzle, you'll have an interval of underextrusion, giving less contact area for the extruded material to cling to the bed at the same time there's added force pulling it in a direction parallel to the bed surface. This becomes less critical to adhesion starting with the second layer, since the new material is bonding to itself rather than just trying to stick to a bed.
Having the bed hot will help it stick better and maybe even help reduce the pressure at the nozzle by reducing the heat loss, so it might work around the problem. But in general, you don't want to be in a situation where a few degrees of temperature difference are the cutoff between a failed print and a successful one.
Anyway, do all the usual stuff to improve bed adhesion, and especially make sure your bed height is as close to perfect as you can get it, if you want moderately fast printing to work. But don't be surprised if you need to upgrade to a version of Marlin with Linear Advance (or to Klipper) to get successful high-speed first layers.
> 1 votes
# Answer
Looking at the image, the deposited filament lines do not connect. If we consider that you have the correct filament width in your slicer and the correct amount of steps per millimeter for the extruder or no problem with extruding is present, your initial bed to nozzle gap might be too large, level with a thinner piece of paper or subtract a few tenths, see this answer for redefining the Z-height. Alternatively use a slicer option called “Z offset setting”, see this answer.
> Why does the first layer only adhere to bed if I increase the temperature by 10 °C and drop the speed by 75 %
If the nozzle gap is a little too large, the filament doesn't get squished enough for proper adhesion. This is seen as non-connecting filament lines. It looks as if the nozzle is under-extruding, but if that has been checked, a larger initial gap has the same effect. If you increase bed and or hot end temperature and slow down, the filament gets time to adhere properly, even when the gap is larger.
> 1 votes
---
Tags: adhesion, creality-ender-5
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thread-18765 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/18765 | Ender3 V2: What stops the Y? | 2022-01-18T01:23:40.587 | # Question
Title: Ender3 V2: What stops the Y?
As there is no limit switch on the operator end of the Y (Y-), what stops its travel when the print is done?
# Answer
There only need to be one physical endstop on each axis, if the printer has the dimensions of the printer programmed in.
The Ender3 has its dimensions defined in the firmware, so once homed and then moved to 0 (the end stop and 0 can be different!), the printer won't move willingly out of the orthogonal-space that is positioned between $$\matrix {0\\0\\0} \to\matrix{maxX\\ maxY\\ maxZ}$$.
Where these are can be manipulated with the right software, as the printer in running operation takes the values from the EEPROM - which can be directly altered by for example a terminal akin to Repetier Host.
> 1 votes
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Tags: creality-ender-3, endstop
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thread-18769 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/18769 | Replacing PTFE tube in Mk8 heatbreak | 2022-01-18T20:23:38.553 | # Question
Title: Replacing PTFE tube in Mk8 heatbreak
I am trying to replace a Mk8 heatbreak on my printer. But which orientation do I need to put into the heatblock? The left image or the right image? Note that this specific heatbreak is missing a PTFE tube.
I quickly looked at the other questions on this forum but could not find a clear result with images.
# Answer
The PTFE liner should be in contact with the nozzle, and is normally cut half a millimetre over-size to ensure that it remains in contact.
> 1 votes
---
Tags: heat-break
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thread-18761 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/18761 | Plastic bottles to filament | 2022-01-17T15:44:07.930 | # Question
Title: Plastic bottles to filament
Is there a machine (for hobbyists) that will make filament based on the type of plastic I put in. I will sort the plastic before I will put it in the machine.
I have seen the filabot but this uses only plastic from previous prints not plastic types Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET or PETE) or High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE) (these are the #1 or #2 plastic types listed at plasticoceans.org).
To reiterate:
* I am asking if there is a machine that can turn a plastic bottle into usable filament.
* I want to know if there is a machine (currently on the market) that will make filament, based on the type of plastic I put in.
---
I *will* sort the plastic *before* I will put it in the machine... so,
```
sorted waste in ---> sorted filament out
```
# Answer
> I am asking if there is a machine that can turn a plastic bottle into usable filament.
I've seen several projects (one example, and another) where plastic bottles are sliced into long tapes, and the tape is then fed through an extruder. It's a somewhat simpler process than shredding bottles and then melting and extruding the shreds; since the tape is already a long strand, you're really just reforming it into a round filament suitable for use in a printer. Forming the tape from the bottle requires little more than a razor blade and a handful of hardware, and you can pull the tape through the extruder instead of forcing shreds through with a screw.
Some of the drawbacks are that the process can't use the top and bottom of the bottle, and getting consistent results still requires some automation. Also, the process as shown only creates filament from a single bottle, so the length of the filament is limited by the size of the bottle.
> I want to know if there is a machine (currently on the market) that will make filament, based on the type of plastic I put in.
The Filabot extruder that you mentioned will accept and extrude a wide variety of plastics, and the same should be true of any commercial or DIY extruder as long as it can get hot enough to melt the material you're supplying. Also, you can only extrude thermoplastic materials; thermoset materials won't work. By definition, thermoplastic materials are those that become soft and malleable when heated, while thermoset materials don't. So you can make filament from PLA, ABS, PET, PEEK, and many others. The material you supply might not always work well for FDM printing, though, or might work better in some printers than in others. For example, filament made from a PET soda bottle will be harder and more brittle than the PETG that's preferred for 3D printing, so you might have better luck using it in a printer with a direct extruder rather than one with a Bowden setup.
> 5 votes
# Answer
There are 2 parameters you need to have good control over when printing any filament:
* Melting temperature
* Diameter
Of these, the melting temperature is directly correlated to the chemical composition of the polymer blend in the filament while diameter control is part of the manufacturing process.
And for 3D printing, we need to take a look at the usability of the material itself. For example, pure PET is not easy to print at all and as used in bottles might be unprintable. PETG (a glycol modified PET) on the other hand is much easier to print - and most filaments sold under PET actually are PETG or PETT.
# Troubles of recycling
The melting point of a *blend* of polymers is often difficult to gauge before doing experiments and in case of recycled material, there are problems with recreating the exact same blend when using small batches unless you use exactly one material as the base for your manufacturing. This brings us to the big problem: errors in the base material. These come in several types:
* Misidentification
* Contaminants
* Degradation
Let's address these piece by piece:
## Misidentified base material
Misidentification is when you chuck material into the wrong bin and then process it as if it was the stuff the bin was for. For example, if you'd chuck a chunk of ABS into the PLA bin, your blend will not come out as PLA but as some kind of higher melting composite of the two. The exact details of the result depend on the mixture and how well you mix the processed raw material, but in effect, you just made some kind of PLA+.
This can be overcome by testing and good training as well as knowing the base material well. For example, there is an Austrian company that takes back ski-shoes. Only the hard shells of a particular manufacturer (which used a red ABS) are shredded, pelletized, mixed with some virgin ABS and color for stability and uniformity, then turned into filament, and then printed into flutes.
Another ski-shoe manufacturer takes back their own shoes and recycles the shells back into the current manufacturing, but is silent on what their shells are made from but that they are a long-chain polymer.
When trying to differentiate between PET and PETG, you can not do that unless you do a chemical analysis of every bottle - which leads to a huge problem in reprocessing: PETG melts well before PET and clumps it up, acting as a contaminant (see here for more details)!
## Contaminants
Contaminants are a problem that comes with a bad base material. in general, there are two types of contaminants: Chemical and Physical.
Physical contaminants can be avoided by removing them before and after shredding. In the case of Skishoes (that's why I chose that example) is, you'd remove the soft shells and the metal latches, disposing of them in separate ways. Then the plastic shells are roughly sized up, cleaned, and dried before further processing. Most physical contaminants can result in partial clogging during filament production, resulting in an uneven filament. Uneven filament or such containing non-melting particles can result in print failure, for example from being stuck in the extruder or clogging of the nozzle.
Chemical contamination is arguably worse. PET bottles for example: what if the user before used to store chemicals in them that can't be separated from the polymer easily? In the best case, the contaminating raw material is removed, in the worst, it ends up in the stream. This introduced contaminated plastic ends up melting somewhat evenly into a larger portion of the recycled plastic, altering the properties in hard to predict ways. As a countermeasure in industrial PET recycling, the batches are huge and get well mixed before the new plastic product is made. By diluting the chemical contaminants on a vast batch, the effects of the contaminant are vastly reduced and evened out. This is also why even in the case of the recycled ABS-shoes-into-flutes, they mix in some degree of virgin ABS pellets - to buffer against chemical contamination.
## Degradation
Not all polymers are suitable for recycling and some of them alter their properties depending on their surroundings. What actually happens depends on the material in question, but let's look at PLA as one example.
While PLA doesn't exactly *break down* in nature unless put into a high-temperature environment, prolonged UV exposure can bleach out the contained coloration and some blends do become more brittle, others do not encounter this. Angus/Makers Muse had several prints exposed to the harsh Australian sun for up to several years and concluded the worst enemy of PLA over time is the UV light.
A different type of *degradation* can happen from the environment. The one side of this is cold embrittlement, which means parts become more brittle in cold. This had some experiments done on by Stefan/CNC Kitchen. The other side of this is softening, for example by sitting in a hot car. Usually, this type of degradation is not lasting but could result in embedding contaminants into the mix by embedding them in the plastic, so see there.
# Is it a good idea?
Well, from an ecological standpoint, it certainly is a good idea to recycle plastic. But with all the troubles to get any good filament, will it be viable under all viewpoints? You certainly can't sell filament which is of very varying quality unless you make it dirt cheap. Also, all this machinery takes a lot of power and initial investment before you can produce your first spool - which means it might not be economical or profitable.
# economical viability
So, let's go back to the main question:
> \[Is there\] a machine that can turn a plastic bottle into usable filament? \[...\] \[Is it\] currently on the market?
Yes, you can certainly extrude plastic from bottles into filament shape, and the tools are out there - for a price. However, not all bottles might be useable due to the chemical composition and you will need to make larger batches to reduce chemical contamination.
On an industrial scale, the process consists of several steps: sorting, cleaning, shredding, pelletizing, mixing, extruding, and finally spooling the filament.
Of these, the steps of shredding, pelletizing, and the combo of extruding & spooling need dedicated machinery. Even if hobby projects exist that manage to do this with well-known polymer blends, e.g. recycling 3D prints, such is usually heavy industrial machinery. In hobby-grade machinery, quality control is often problematic, as filament diameter control is the crux, and the price tag to get even filament without readjusting the machine every few minutes is high.
The Shredder might be the cheapest part, only costing several thousand euros professionally and a couple of hundred in hobby grade. A proper pelletizing machine that turns the shreds into pellets for the filament extruder has a price tag of about 10 000 € and I have not yet found a hobbyist kit. A basic inquiry on the absolute minimum investment into a professional filament manufacturing stream without pelletizer came up with about 14 000 GBP (ca. 16 800 € / 19 000 USD) plus shipping, while hobbyist kits for only one of the two seem to come up with price tags between 500 and 3000 €.
This brings the minimum investment using hobby-grade machinery to roundabout 3000 € but without a pelletizer, while an industrial setup comes out starting at about 25 000 GBP (ca. 30 000 € / 34 000 USD).
### Cheaper options?
There are machines out there that turn PET bottles directly into filament by cutting them up directly before entering a filament formation system. This setup is called Pulltrusion, and it turns a plastic strip into an almost-cylindrical, folded-over filament.
While no industrial size machine of this is available, Stefan/CNC Kitchen just released a video investigating the device to manufacture such filament and then tested the print properties of such a filament. Joshua/JRT3D operated the machine in question and manufactured the samples. The base machine is the PetBot engineered by Roman Naskashev, which is commercially available for about 400 € assembled plus shipping and import taxes from Russia. Joshua also managed to re-engineer a similar machine using the same method from a 3D printer, so the price point for a self-made machine might be lower.
Each bottle weighs about 20 grams, but neither the mouth nor the bottom can be used, resulting in not 100% useability. The process also means, you can't get any deposit for the bottle back. Assuming an useable portion of about 50%, this would in Germany result in a price of 25 cents per 10 grams, so about 25 € per kilogram - which for PET filament would be quite competitive. Some bottles have larger useable portions than others, and others might not require a deposit, making these a very good price, to maybe even free filament.
Do note that the manufacturing path creates a filament that is not solid but contains a void, which is accounted for by increasing the flow multiplier, and it does require a higher temperature than PETG: with settings of 265 °C for the nozzle, 80 °C for the bed and a 130 % flow rate, 30 mm/s extrusion rate, Stefan could use an otherwise PETG profile to gain good results.
However, the higher base temperature requires an All-Metal hotend, which is part of why PET is hard to print with many machines. Other problems are the PET's crystallizing properties, which makes the melting properties at times hard to predict and can induce clogging. Also, Layer adhesion can be problematic.
The biggest problem is the tiny production size of each spool: even if one would manage 15 grams per bottle in filament, this means that one needs to change the spool 66 to 100 times more often, making larger prints nearly impossible unless one comes up with a good solution for splicing the short pieces.
### Final conclusion
While the tools are available, the price tag for a full recycling chain of raw material into filament, either as a hobby or industrially, can be kind of high. This means it might not be economical unless you can manufacture large batches *and* beat the price point of fresh filament.
However, with small batches and the proper tooling, it might be somewhat viable **depending** on bottle size and deposit system.
> 2 votes
# Answer
The source of the plastic doesn't matter a lot.
What matters is the plastic's composition and chemistry and how well shredded it is.
Issues are:
* Is it a thermoplast that can be remelted?
* Is the working melt temperature range compatible with your printer and/or the filament forming machine?
* Is the plastic chemically compatible with the components of the machines and the print platform you are using in the 3d printer? (If it isn't, it either will stick when it shouldn't or won't stick when it should.)
* Is the plastic shredded enough for the filament reforming machine to use it?
* Is the flexibility of the remelted plastic suitable for 3d printing, or does it need volatile plasticizers added to make it soft enough to handle as filament?
Other factors may also be a problem. For example, PLA, TPU, and PETG are fairly temperature stable, but other plastics have high thermal expansion rates that can cause warping during 3d printing. There are a few ways to compensate for that however.
If the plastic is contaminated with other plastics or non-soluble inks or labels, this must be removed first, or the results may be weak or not melt evenly or leave debris in the extrusion nozzle.
Not only must the plastic be chemically compatible, but also there are tuning parameters such as temperature profiles, cooling speed, and extrusion speed that have to be calibrated to the plastic to get good filament.
If all of these things are OK then it might be possible to use a machine to reform plastic from any source into filament.
> 0 votes
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Tags: filament, recycling, plastic
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thread-18767 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/18767 | Printer crashed into model | 2022-01-18T13:08:10.140 | # Question
Title: Printer crashed into model
So first of all I want to say, that I'm fairly new to 3D printing. I'm currently calibrating different things because I've got a little problem with rough walls. The last thing I did was increase the belt tension for X and Y a little bit. I now wanted to print a calibration cube with these new settings. Therefore I sliced the cube with Cura and started the print. Around 20 minutes into the print, I heard this weird sound and immediately stopped the print. Somehow the printer crashed into the printed cube. The adhesion to the plate was a little too good so the head got completely stuck.
I moved the head up and removed the print. It's pretty obvious looking at it, that for some weird reason the printer dropped the nozzle around 5 mm down. I tested all motors and axis, but everything seems to work alright. So the next thing I checked, was the G-code. I measured the height of my cube and found Z to be around 13.2 mm when it crashed. I don't know much about G-code, but I checked every Z movement between 12.7-13.5 mm and didn't find any value to be out of this range.
I have no idea what to check next. But I guess there has to be a major problem with my printer if this just happens. Maybe some of you have more ideas about what to check.
Printer: Anycubic i3 Mega S
Firmware: Standard
Slicer: Cura 4.13
# Answer
It seems, after checking the G-code file thoroughly, there was indeed an error in the G-code, that I didn’t find when I checked it the first time.
The Z-Axis suddenly moves from `Z13.3` to `Z9.175`. I have no idea how something like this can happen.
> 3 votes
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Tags: z-axis, calibration, print-failure, anycubic-i3-mega
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thread-8662 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8662 | PLA chemical resistances? Especially HCl, other acids | 2019-04-11T14:39:30.423 | # Question
Title: PLA chemical resistances? Especially HCl, other acids
I'm interested in 3d printed reaction chambers, but can't find any good information on chemical resistances of PLA, just vague claims that it "might not be" "because it's biodegradable" or that it depends on additives (likely true, but it would be nice to know if there's hope of finding PLA without problematic additives if the PLA itself is okay). Is there any published research or even anecdotes (which could suggest it's worth spending effort to investigate further) on this topic?
# Answer
The paper Chemical Compatibility of Fused Filament Fabrication-based 3-D Printed Components with Solutions Commonly Used in Semiconductor Wet Processing, found by user R Kiselev in the comments on another question, has results for this, and finds (this is summarized; details in paper) that PLA has fairly good resistance to HCl at 37%. It did not fare as well against other acids or solvents except IPA.
> 2 votes
# Answer
As @T. M. notes in his comment, there are many good charts of chemical compatibility with various agents. Very few (I found none) include information about PLA. By all means, use search engines to find some information.
But, no data source is as true to your specific needs as is testing your candidate materials with your agents.
As a first test put the agent in a tall thin jar or test tube. Use a few test filaments so that the ends are dipping into the agent. Check for signs of dissolution, swelling, softening, or any relevant change in the material's characteristics. Examine the candidate filaments right away, then after minutes, then hours, and if any material survives, perhaps in days.
Print test objects. Test them with your agent. Try until you find something that works.
The online material compatibility tables will help you eliminate materials before testing them. If it says a material is incompatible, it probably is incompatible. If rated as highly compatible, it should be tested because the formulation of a filament may not match the material tested for the compatibility tables. If you are running out of options, try the intermediate compatibility plastics.
Bottom line, use the online information to help direct your search, but you should do your own tests.
> 3 votes
# Answer
See this as well:
Chemical Resistance of 3D Printing Filament by Ravi Toor
> Summarised chemical resistance per material below (***H**= High Resistance, **VH** = Very High Resistance*).
>
> **Water** – PLA (H) PETg (VH), CF-PETg (VH), ASA (VH), ABS (VH), ePLA (H), ONE PET (H)
>
> **Acids** – PETg (VH), ASA (VH), ABS (H)
>
> **Bases**– PETg (VH), CF-PETG (VH), ASA (VH)
>
> **Alcohols** –PETg (H), CF-PETG (VH), ASA (VH), ABS (H)
>
> **Hydrocarbons** – N/A
>
> **Ketones** –N/A
>
> **Ethers** –N/A
>
> **Fuels** –PETg (H), CF-PETG (H)
>
> **Salts** – PLA (H), ASA (VH), ABS (VH), ePLA (H)
>
> **UV** –PLA (H), ASA (VH), ABS (H), ePLA (H)
>
> **Oils** – PLA (H), PETg (VH), CF-PETg (VH), ASA (H), ePLA (H)
> 2 votes
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Tags: pla, material
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thread-18776 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/18776 | Is there any print quality difference switching from brass to steel nozzle? | 2022-01-19T23:59:00.180 | # Question
Title: Is there any print quality difference switching from brass to steel nozzle?
Brass has better thermal conductivity compared to steel or hardened steel but it has also far less wearing resistance especially compared to hardened steel that among brass and normal steel has the worse thermal conductivity.
Basically all 3D printer use brass despite is softer and also more expensive metal than steel.
Shouldn't the lower thermal conductivity impact only the time needed to bring it to the established temperature? Is there any noticeable difference in print?
# Answer
The thermal conductivity will certainly affect the time necessary to bring it to temperature, but will also require adjustment to flow rate with respect to speed of travel. The increased time for heat to travel to the nozzle is reflected in the increased time for heat to be "restored" as the filament transfers it from the nozzle to the bed and to the air.
If you make no other adjustments than waiting a bit longer to heat, you may see print quality changes. You might not, if, for example, the current temperature is a bit higher than needed. Unchanged, the effective temperature change required is compensated by the wider range of temperature allowed by the filament.
> 1 votes
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Tags: extruder, extrusion, nozzle
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thread-18736 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/18736 | Alternative to PA12 | 2022-01-12T17:02:34.663 | # Question
Title: Alternative to PA12
Looking for alternatives to Nylon PA12. I need a material that is extremely impact resistant, durable and can be left outside. PA12 performs like a dream but it warps intensely on thick parts, so I'm stuck with ASA for now which is rather weak.
I've tried different PA6 blends, Taulman 910, CF and GF filled Nylons, they are brittle and all inferior to ASA. I tried looking for Taulman 230 or 618 but they don't seem to be produced anymore and are out of stock everywhere except eBay.
# Answer
You ask about alternative and I will provide two, but for you rinformation both Taulman 618 and 230 can be easily bought in Europe therefore they must be still in production. Also, I'm not sure which kind of problem with PA12 you have, but if it's adhesion and warping, you can get good adhesion with PA12 if you print on garolite (fr4) boards. If they are thick enough they will avoid warping too, check here:
I don't know exactly which performances you expect for your part, but based on the specifications for Fiberlogy PA12 related to impact strength, tensile strength and softening temperature and HDT, I would say that you have two options.
If you are looking for a **nylon-like filament** for its strength and properties but you want it to print easily, like a PETG, you are looking exactly for Polymaker CoPA. It does not warp during print, it does not require a heated enclosure (in fact, they specify that the ambient temperature must be below 50 °C!).
See various reviews here.
Another option are **Polycarbonate blends**, where polycarbonate is mixed with other materials to make it easily printable, are a good choice. Polycarbonate is strong and routinely used for parts exposed outdoor.
Obviously you need a hotend reaching 300 °C for both alternatives.
I haven't tried Polymax PC personally, but the reviews and the experiences in various chats groups I follow are particularly good. It can be printed even on printers without enclosure, or at most placed inside a cardboard box to avoid air drafts.
Just remember however that polycarbonate is not resistant to some oils and some greases, that's why it's not used for parts in contact with bearings and so on. It becomes brittle, it cracks and breaks. It is likely not your case.
You can find two useful reviews about Polymaker Polymax PC here and here. Prusament PC is a similar blend with similar properties and printability.
Let me paste the second review if you doubt about its strength.
> This is bar none the most printable for the strength polycarbonate. Absolutely no warping printing at 100mm/s at 110C bed temp and 295C print temp laying down PVA gluestick on glass.The printing experience doesn't even feel like an exotic engineering filament because of how easy it is to work with. Layer adhesion is very good. I print primarily at 100% infill with parts that are routinely 10" wide by 4" tall with no curl up issues. There is some shrinking upon cool down in the x,y axis, but it is to be expected with a thermal plastic (~0.6-1%). Now on to the strength. This stuff is strong. Printing a 1.5"x1.5" square tube insert, I misjudged the thermal shrinking (assumed too much) and the insert pressure fitted into the tube. Long story short, after trying to back out the part I eventually resorted to whacking on the insert with a hammer. For 30 minutes, I religiously swung with a might that only Thor would understand on this black Mythril-like object stuck at the end of my tube insert. Sweating profusely I gave it one mighty cloud-parting swing to the side of this object of torment. It broke the damn hammer handle in half. My heart crushed, the sun fading, and my neighbors watching from their windows I retreated a defeated man to my kitchen drenched in the sweats of my failure. Too sickened to muster the courage to inspect my handiwork, but too curious to look away, I set the object on my kitchen counter and began the awful process of inspecting it. Like a strange autopsy by cell phone light, I stared blankly at the effects of my entire human worth condensed into hammer swings. Not a single dent. Not one. "Impossible!"- I told myself. But the evidence of my lack of human value lay before me for all to bear. Sitting there, mocking me, a single scratch. Set there presumably by the object itself to torment me.
Two Youtube reviews follow.
> 0 votes
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Tags: filament-choice, nylon
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thread-18778 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/18778 | I painted an uncured UV resin print, now it feels sticky through the paint | 2022-01-20T06:48:30.530 | # Question
Title: I painted an uncured UV resin print, now it feels sticky through the paint
I know that you are not supposed to cure resin prints in the window, but mostly it has been working OK for me. I mostly print minis and props for D&D.
Last week I printed some walls and was a bit impatient to see what they would look like, so I painted them 1 hour after they'd finished. I´m coming to regret that decision since as of writing they still have that newly printed sticky wetness feel to them. I had calculated with the paint sealing the partially uncured resin in but this doesn't seem to be the case at all.
Does anyone have any ideas that might work? Will they eventually cure enough in the paint layer that the stickiness will go away? Would another layer of paint help? Or leaving them out in the sunlight for a few days? Or do they go into the trash bin? I also considered if some kind of lacquer would help, though I don't want them to be shiny.
# Answer
> 5 votes
## Scrap the prints
You didn't cure the print, and your paint might interact with the resin in such a way that it might never cure. The paint also will prevent UV rays from accessing the resin.
With this prospect, the only diligent way to go is to treat the item as potentially dangerous and discard it in the proper way.
Layering paints that have not cured fully is also an accident waiting to happen, so better **don't**.
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Tags: resin, post-processing
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thread-4129 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/4129 | Maker Select Plus 3D Printer Head Size Settings for Cura | 2017-05-23T10:48:00.637 | # Question
Title: Maker Select Plus 3D Printer Head Size Settings for Cura
I want to print multiple objects in a single G-code file on my Maker Select Plus 3D Printer.
On the Cura "Machine\>Machine Settings..." menu, what are the correct settings for "Printer head size" in the upper right quadrant?
My best guess is below:
Note 1: I'm particularly concerned that I got the min and max directions correct. For instance, I just swapped my Y min and Y max values because when I tried them the other way, the print head impacted the first object when printing the second.
Note 1.5: I added 10 mm to my settings because I was concerned that Cura wasn't accounting for the width of the raft that I usually use when I print.
Note 2: From what I've read online before posting this question, this printer may be physically the same as the WanHao Duplicator i3.
# Answer
### TL;DR
The settings that you seem to need can be found here: Print One At a time settings? CURA:
> You actually can!
>
> Providing that none of your object is too tall (taller than the Gantry clearance). Also the objects cannot be too close from each other (when you activate the option and move objects on the bed, you see a gray box around them showing this limit).
>
> The reason you cannot use it at the moment is probably because you didn't filled the printer head size parameters (Menu "Machine -\> Machine Settings..."). You will have to measure them, but on mine (Australian clone of the i3) I use those values and it works fine:
>
> * Head size toward X min: 30
> * Head size toward Y min: 70
> * Head size toward X max: 60
> * Head size toward Y max: 50
> * Printer gantry height: 35
>
> Those are "conservative" values (a little bigger than the actual values). It means I'm losing a little bed space, but I prefer that to the risk of having the print head knocking out previous prints if one of the measurements is too low :o).
>
> PS: The option will automatically disable itself if some object dimension are too big to avoid collisions
To be fair, the rest of the thread is people debating whether you can successfully achieve *sequential printing*, or not, with the Wanhao Duplicator I3.
However, the setting above seem to be the settings that you are looking for. Apart from *Head size toward X max*, they also correlate, pretty much, to the settings that you have already determined. As the poster notes, their settings are, somewhat, on the conservative side, which would explain the difference.
---
### Extra detail
If this is so that you can achieve *sequential printing*<sup>1</sup>, then this may not be suitable for your printer, unfortunately. Sequential printing works best for printers with a long nozzle with nothing (fans, X-axis gantry, etc.) around it, for example a delta printer with a low hanging nozzle would be ideal. Your printer type has a wide head with attachments, as well as an X-axis gantry, and so the clearance is less than that of an (ideal) delta.
See WanHao Duplicator i3 Printer Head Size Settings for Cura for more details.
If you wish to go ahead and still try it, then from the same link:
> The way to measure is lower the nozzle to the bed.
>
> Then measure the space taken up around the nozzle by the heater block, fans, mounting, the motor, and finally, the distance between the X axis rods and the bed "WHEN the nozzle is touching the bed".
>
> That gives you some idea of the clearance you have where an ALREADY printed object can exist on the bed and NOT get slammed into the gantry or moving head when printing a second sequential part.
>
> Just a visual with a moving bed printer and it's not promising. Not impossible, but in a 200mm square build area, you might really only get 4 objects at a time in the 4 quadrants.
>
> Even that is height limited because the gantry will slam into it at a certain height.
>
> Maybe some weird staggering pattern.
Also, of use, for obtaining your own measurements, from Ultimaker - Cura 14.07 Printer Head Size:
> If I'm not mistaken all measurements are taken from the nozzle tip. So, for the first one, measure the size of your head from the nozzle tip towards the direction in X to where your machine homes.
and
> There's a tooltip when you mouse over these settings which describes what they mean.
>
> Gantry height is the vertical clearance between the build plate and your x-y gantry (on the Ultimaker, these are the 6mm shafts which hold the head).
>
> If you print two objects - one after another - then the first object must be shorter in height than the gantry height. Otherwise, the gantry would crash into the first part while printing the second part.
In more detail, paying attention to the placing of the objects can aid with any issues that you have with a low gantry:
> If you place multiple parts in a diagonal line across the build-plate so the gantry and head never intersects earlier parts after printing them, you can set the gantry height to an artificially high value, to ignore it, without problems.
>
> I place pieces along a diagonal from right-front to left-rear, to avoid conflict when the head homes after finishing the print. I can fit 3 to 4 small but tall pieces on the build plate that way for sequential printing.
The purpose of these *Printer head size* settings is to enable Cura to determine the order in which the objects are printed:
> ... none of those settings are important as long as you only print one STL file at a time. It's when you want to print multiple objects "one at a time" that these numbers have a purpose - it allows Cura to figure out which order to print them in and if it can do them one at a time or if it has to print them all at once.
---
### Footnote
<sup>1</sup> *Sequential Printing* is where one object is *completely* printed, before moving on to the next object, instead of the usual method of printing all objects *simultaneously* one layer at a time. This method can give superior quality prints, but not always. The main advantage appears to be reduced "stringing" of filament between objects, and a cleaner surface finish, due to reduced print head movement between objects. The process is detailed in Multi-part printing.
> 5 votes
# Answer
Like the OP, I'm confused by this as well. I figured I'd need measurements from the center of the nozzle to the left, right, front, and back of the print head, as well as a height from the print surface to the gantry while the head was homed. I've carefully measured, but things aren't going quite as I expected. In trying to understand this, I see examples like the one here:
* Head size toward X min: 30
* Head size toward Y min: 70
* Head size toward X max: 60
* Head size toward Y max: 50
How is 70 a minimum and 50 a maximum? What do these numbers really mean?
Also, I see the shading in the slicer (presumably one is a shadow, the middle one is a minimum, and the darker one is a maximum?) and changing my values don't affect these shadows in the way I'd expect.
> 0 votes
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Tags: ultimaker-cura, prusa-i3, print-preparation, monoprice-maker-select-plus
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thread-18781 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/18781 | Creality Ender 3 Pro: Problem with Z-axis inaccuracy (squashed layers?) | 2022-01-20T17:18:40.103 | # Question
Title: Creality Ender 3 Pro: Problem with Z-axis inaccuracy (squashed layers?)
Creality Ender 3 Pro – Z-axis inaccuracy problem.
Before opening this new thread, I did read this question (Perhaps there is another question on this site I did not see!) Browsing through comments on that question, I don't really see any clear, verified solution for errors in the Z dimension when printing.
I recently bought a Creality Ender 3 Pro (migrating from a Kingroon KP3, to which I had migrated from a Printrbot Simple Metal).
Today I did a print of a small "testing" object which has a series of rectangular walls (1.5, 2, and 3 mm) running along both X and Y axis which are exactly 10 mm tall (in the STL file). I printed this with both the Ender and my older Kingroon. Kingroon had slight inaccuracy with the 2 mm wall (came out 2.2), but all other dimensions were correct. The Ender had perfect widths for all walls. But the accuracy of the wall height was TERRIBLE- instead of 10 mm, it was only 9.4!
I should mention two other observations:
1. Very often I print with rafts to avoid the "elephant foot" dimension problem. Each time I specify a raft with the Ender, the raft is more or less impossible to snap off!
2. During the print there are occasional "clicks" at the extruder feed gear (more or less throughout the print process). The only time I encountered that type of symptom previously was with the Kingroon on the very first layer if the height was not quite zeroed correctly and so it was trying to print too close to the bed (The whole leveling/height adjustment on the Kingroon was a constant challenge and needed to be redone each day).
In any case, these two symptoms could also point to improper Z movement during the print job. I should note that to create the G-code file for the Ender I used Cura with the default settings for the Creality Ender 3 Pro machine. Also, during setup I did follow the instructions on a video to "square" the frame.
That earlier thread I mentioned emphasized problems/inaccuracy was in the first few layers.
But in my case the "wall height of 10 mm" (which came out as 9.4) is not the overall height of the object from the bottom, but rather a measurement from the top of the floor of the object to the top of the walls. So this if well above the first few layers.
I have not yet tried monkeying with the eccentric "tightness" adjusters to the wheels on the two sides (I am a bit cautious about those adjustments because there does not seem to be a way to measure/quantify changes made or even be sure you return to the original state. Hence my use of the term "monkeying").
Also, unlike checking movement on X and Y, I cannot simply raise and lower the Z gantry manually to check for smoothness and freedom of motion).
# Answer
Well, lacking any other suggestions, I took a deep breath and "monkeyed" with the blind eccentric adjusters for the wheeled assemblies for z-movement.
I say this as plural since there is one on the left side (power side) and one on the right side.
As I feared, because you cannot freely slide these, it is really difficult to tell if you are tightening or loosening the "movement".
Based on the *potential* cause as I identified in the original question,my goal was to slightly loosen them up.
On a positive note, I was able to measure the symptom by using a caliper to check the height of the horizontal gantry above the bed when "homed"(0) then up 10, 20, 30 etc in a non-printing environment. Indeed the height measurements verified that the progression of height did *not* correspond with the requested/reported movement as shown on the screen.
The variation was much worse on the (slave) right side... Counting on nothing more than dumb luck as I tried adjusting the two sides, I ended up with acceptable performance.
So for now I am done screwing around with it.
If anyone has a great suggestion as to how to better know whether the wheels are getting tighter or looser when making this adjustment, it could help anyone needing to make the adjustment.
> 2 votes
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Tags: creality-ender-3, z-axis, calibration
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thread-18786 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/18786 | What is the minimum density that could be used for support? | 2022-01-22T02:20:36.853 | # Question
Title: What is the minimum density that could be used for support?
Printing support structures often are really a mess to remove especially with higher densities. The default support density in Cura is 15% that is extremely hard to remove without damaging something, in various test using very low density around 5% and interface option I have got better results with PLA.
I'm wondering what is the absolute minimum value that could be used without invalidating the whole support purpose?
# Answer
> 1 votes
In theory zero, if you use support walls (Support Wall Line Count \> 0) and top surface (Support Interface). Whether this works will depend on your part's geometry. If the support interface surface covers the whole support area, and has enough layers, it should work fine. However, if it's supporting steep inclines where the interface is only part of the support area in a particular layer, the interface may get printed partly or fully "in thin air" inside the support region. Fixing this requires bringing back some support density.
However you might want to explore why they're so hard to remove and why your part is coming out easily damaged. Unless it's something inherently delicate (like tabletop minis or similar) breaking when removing supports suggests you have a part strength (layer bonding) problem. One thing that will both improve this and make supports easier to remove is turning off Limit Support Retractions, so that supports don't have stringing all over the place and don't cause underextrusion in the next line of the main part printed right after them.
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Tags: ultimaker-cura, support-structures
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thread-18792 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/18792 | Fluid resin gets trapped inside my prints | 2022-01-22T13:20:06.707 | # Question
Title: Fluid resin gets trapped inside my prints
I have been printing a few props for tabletop gaming: a statue, some walls, wine barrels... and I've noticed that resin gets trapped inside. If it stayed firmly inside I wouldn't care too much, but a few times now a model has cracked a tiny amount and liquid resin has started flowing out.
I know the obvious solution is just to make the model solid, but I assumed that since all the slicer tools have an option for hollowing with infill there is a solution to this.
I haven't tried too many things yet, because I am a little anxious to fiddle too much with the printer setting. I went from having 0.5 mm walls to 0.8 mm but it still happened. I have tried hex-grid infill and pillars. I also increased the exposure time by a second (from 8 to 9), but this was only to see if the object would be stronger and thus prevent the cracking.
I have considered increasing the Z-lift distance just to have the object longer out of the resin bath to drip off better.
# Answer
## Don't hollow most miniatures below the 40 mm-scale
Tabletop miniatures are quite small in scale. Often they have very thin details. As a result, hollowing them out is not advisable in the first place and you will have the best results by printing them solidly. Most wargames use something between the 16 mm to 34 mm scale, but the problem is still present at the 40 mm scale. So bite the bullet and print solid for small items - it also gives the model a little weight to stay where they shall be on the table.
Only if you start to print things like small busts or vehicles that have quite some hollow pace, you could conceivably manage to include the needed geometry, as elaborated below, and then hollow out the models accordingly.
## Hollow prints properly
In case you do have a hollowed print, you need to include two vents to allow the exchange of air and prevent cupping:
First, you need a vent for air to enter the model. This is best placed at the very top of where the included volume will wit on the printer and needs to be accessible to air once the model is raised out of the vat. For safety two bores to let in the air should be present.
The second vent is somewhat optional unless the print takes *really* long. If you include it, it needs to be at the very lowest point of the included volume to prevent trapping resin inside and allow it to drain the resin out of the model hanging from the print bed. Should the volume have separate lowest points, you'd need to include multiple drainage vents.
All vents also need to be sizeable enough to allow the viscous resin to drain from them. About 3 mm² (~2 mm diameter) is the absolute minimum for low viscous resin. High viscous resins require larger holes of about 10 mm² (~3.5 mm).
Also, no point of the model's interior volume should neck down to below those dimensions or you face the risk of having resin clog those neckings - which is again why you don't hollow small miniatures.
Further listening (especially for larger prints) is here from Angus/Maker Muse, who shows a way to hollow out with a hollow base but skipped the drain vent, and Mark Rhodes, who prefers to use 5 mm holes where possible.
## Avoiding holes?
There are ways to avoid holes altogether, **if** you can orient the item in such a way that at all times one *side* of the print is open. Let's take for example a crate or barrel:
We could hollow the item and remove the face we want to be on the table later. This way we shape the item into a cup. We could add air access or resin vent, but we could *also* just put the missing wall to be facing in X or Y and then angle the item ever so slightly to give the item good resin drainage and totally avoid the need for an extra hole in a surface we want to retain. This is how you'd print a cup without a hole, as I had explained in Why cupping is bad for SLA
Or, you could time your return to the printer to right after the print is finished, you turn the print around so the resin that was trapped inside starts to drain down to the print platform and over that into the vat.
> 2 votes
---
Tags: 3d-models, resin
--- |
thread-18795 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/18795 | Lower side of print rough on personal protection print | 2022-01-22T17:39:18.053 | # Question
Title: Lower side of print rough on personal protection print
I’m new to 3D printing and printed a few things that came out fine on my Ender 3. But when I print something like a cat protection baton, Kubota self-protection or anything that will have a “floating surface” it comes out rough.
# Answer
> 3 votes
FFF 3D printing doesn't work with "floating surfaces". It comes out rough because the filaments are being extruded in space and sagging away from their intended position as the filament is hot and liquid (as in a low viscosity).
To fix this, you need tell your slicer to add support structures so that it is not "floating", and then break away (and possibly sand) the support structures when the print is completed.
Alternately, you can manually add support structures to the part before slicing. If the "floating surface" is horizontal, one or more thin wall vertical supports would allow the area to be bridged. There needs to be at least be one vertical support at each end of the bridge. You may need to add more in the middle if the span is too long and sags.
---
Tags: creality-ender-3, print-quality, support-structures
--- |
thread-18798 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/18798 | What is the thickest sensible layer height that an Ender 5 will print at? | 2022-01-23T19:27:30.450 | # Question
Title: What is the thickest sensible layer height that an Ender 5 will print at?
I'm going to 3D print a series of scaffolds and armatures that I'm going to use as the skeleton\structure for clay sculptures as an alternative to using twisted wire, because I can print dozens of identical ones off faster than I can twist them out of wire.
They don't need to look pretty, they just need to be able support a little weight.
What is the thickest sensible layer height that I can uses to get them printed off quickly?
# Answer
Your maximum layer height is related to the nozzle diameter. Typically, a printer is sold with a 0.4 mm nozzle diameter, unless otherwise specified. One expects to be able to print safely to eighty percent of nozzle diameter, which would be 0.32 mm layer height. Quote from linked Prusa site.
> **Layer height vs nozzle diameter**
>
> Layer height should not exceed 80 % of the nozzle diameter. If you are using the standard 0.4mm nozzle, the maximal layer height is about 0.32 mm. However, with a 0.6mm nozzle, it’s possible to achieve up to a 0.48 mm layer height.
> 5 votes
---
Tags: creality-ender-5, layer-height
--- |
thread-18790 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/18790 | How do I verify the bed temperature on an Ender 5 | 2022-01-22T11:43:49.257 | # Question
Title: How do I verify the bed temperature on an Ender 5
I have an ender 5, and I'm not certain that the bed is getting up to temperature. Or maybe I'm not understanding what it should be like when it gets up to temperature.
If I use an infrared thermometer, where should I aim it, and what should it be saying in comparison to what the screen on the printer says?
For example, if the screen says 50 degrees should the thermometer read 50 degrees, or should it read something different because that's an internal temperature or something not a surface temperature?
At the moment the bed seems "nicely warm" when the temperature on the display says that I should burn my hand if I touch it.
# Answer
## Sensor mounting
An Infrared Thermometer prefers a non-reflective surface to accurately read the temperature reliably - glass is reflective for Infrared light under many angles and can in the worst case result in measuring anything *but* what you want to measure. To that degree, a piece of paper tape (Painter's tape or Washi-tape works fine) can act as a mounted measuring point.
A contact temperature sensor can be mounted touching the plate in a location easily by putting it in contact using some tape.
## Sensor positioning
However, do note that the temperature sensor of the printer is not mounted on the top of the build platform but at the heater element under it. This means two things:
There is a temperature differential between the heater (which would be quite hot but not scorching in an instant of touching it) under the aluminium bed, the top of the aluminium bed, and even more if correlated against the surface of your build platform.
On the other hand, to verify your sensor setting, you need to measure under the bed at the heating element or at the interface between the heater and the aluminium bed. For example, you could use a spot right next to the heater as your probing point. This is incidentally quite close to where the temperature sensor should be mounted anyway.
## Bed temperature control
Depending on your setup, the temperature difference between heater and the build surface could be up to about 15 °C and I would deem that an acceptable number. In accounting for the wanted build surface temperature, one can adjust the set heater temperature accordingly, as shown in this experience I had:
On particularly a cold day in late 2021 the heating in the room was not gaining enough heating water from the central unit set to a lower setting than it ought to. As a result, the room was down from the usual temperature to a rather cold ca. 12 °C. On that day I had to increase the bed temperature by a couple of degrees to gain proper bed adhesion, but it fixed itself once I figured out to fix the setting on the central unit.
> 2 votes
# Answer
The actual numerical reading doesn't really matter - as long as the first layer goes down, and stays down through the entire print.
I've noticed that the center of the bed is ~2 degrees C under the set temp, and the edges could be 15 degrees low.
So "verify by effect" - if the bed seems too cold and you're getting lifting, then raise the temp and use that new value. Write it on the side of the filament spool too.
---
If you're looking for a hardware solution, some of the IR cameras or camera add-ons for cellphones may be suitable.
FLIR is one such device - be aware they're not cheap! Some photos at https://toms3d.org/2019/05/02/testing-5-different-heated-beds/
> 1 votes
---
Tags: heated-bed, creality-ender-5
--- |
thread-18592 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/18592 | Will a 12 V Stepper motor work at 24 V? | 2021-12-19T06:25:30.280 | # Question
Title: Will a 12 V Stepper motor work at 24 V?
I have a Prusa MK2.5 which runs at 12 V, the Prusa MK3 runs at 24 V.
I noticed that on Prusa's webpage, they list the stepper motors as being compatible with both the MK2 *and* the MK3 even though they run at different voltages.
My question is: are stepper motors typically tuned for specific voltages (like most fans are), or are these stepper motors compatible with *both* 12 and 24 V systems?
# Answer
The steppers have two voltages in the specifications: nominal voltage and maximum voltage for the electrical insulation between windings.
The nominal voltage is basically never that high. The motors from Prusa are likely rated at 4-5 V operating voltage: the voltage you apply from the control board is higher, but as soon as the current reaches the value you set, the chip starts cutting intermittently the voltage, so 12-0-12-0-12... and the average value never goes above those 4-5 V.
The second value, the insulation, is the one you must NEVER exceed, even when operating intermittently, but it is likely 30 V or more.
> 3 votes
# Answer
Without having the exact model number of the motor to check the data sheet, this can't be answered. Glancing at the link you supplied, I didn't see either a data sheet or a model number I could use to get a data sheet.
Typically stepper motors overheat when they are run at too high of a voltage. However, the advertised voltage for the motor could be the lowest voltage at which it works.
For a real answer, you'd have to look at the manufacturer's datasheet for the motor, which should include minimum and maximum voltages and graphs showing current vs. voltage vs. force graphs, and possibly duty cycle graphs.
Also, in some cases, if you run a motor at a higher voltage than it is rated for, it may produce back EMF that is larger than the motor controller is prepared for, and it could burn out the controller. However, if the controller is designed for 24v, this is less likely of a problem.
Note also that there are conversion kits, where you place a small board between the controller and the motor that fixes the voltage for the motor.
> 1 votes
---
Tags: electronics, stepper
--- |
thread-18457 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/18457 | Does the color of a filament effect its physical properties? | 2021-11-26T18:13:46.740 | # Question
Title: Does the color of a filament effect its physical properties?
When choosing which filament to use for a particular print does the color of the filament have any impact on it's performance, or is it purely a cosmetic choice?
For example, are there any side-by-side comparisons available that demonstrate that differences do\don't exist between different color filaments from the same company\range, such as a particular filament needing a hotter bed because the pigment changes it's properties?
# Answer
Depending on the pigment size and other additions, the melting temperature and crystalline/amorphous structure of prints vary vastly.
Titanium white, the most common white pigment in the industry, needs to be applied in large doses to get a good coloration. This means that the brighter the white, the larger the percentage volume of the item is made up of the *pockets* in the polymer structure that contains the pigment, resulting in a more brittle structure.
Carbon black on the other hand is one of the most effective black pigments known to man and can be used very sparingly. It also is an almost perfect UV-absorber, making such prints heat up much more than those of other colors. It also can protect the polymer itself from aging if the polymer chains degrade under UV light. ABS for example does undergo degradation in UV light.
Some polymers also contain some kind of filler to adjust melting temperatures:
I have encountered PLA spools from two different manufacturers in the almost exact same color before printing. However, the one brand printed well already at 190 °C, the other required 200 °C to print decently. The two filaments *also* looked vastly different after printing: the hotter printing one showed a much higher gloss after printing, which hints that they had a quite different makeup besides the PLA - either something in the one was making melting easier but reduced gloss or something that increased gloss also rose the melting point.
Another thing I found was, that the clear PLA I got from china once printed best at 110 % flow of other PLAs in combination with only 185 °C, making me believe that something in the treatment to achieve the translucent filament also results in altering the flow behavior.
> 2 votes
# Answer
Yes in some cases it does.
It is widely known in communities which are pickier about properties that white filament requires a percentage of pigments much higher than other colours, therefore white filaments are typically weaker (or significantly weaker) than most other colours.
Another exception is black: ABS is not UV resistant, but if you use black ABS, the UV will not penetrate and, unless the surface is continuously scraped away, the UV resistance of black ABS is better than other colours.
I remember some mentions in the Voron discord chats that red (at least from some manufacturers) is better than some other colours from the same manufacturer, but I don't remember the details. You can join the chat yourself and search (before asking!) in the #filament chat.
I remember reading that pure ("natural") filaments are however not always better than filaments with colours added, but I cannot remember the source. It could be that some little amount of extra additives (the colour pigments) offer the polymer something to "grab", so better than nothing. My guess, but I have no support for it.
> 1 votes
---
Tags: print-material, print-strength
--- |
thread-6922 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/6922 | Bowden tube clog | 2018-09-15T22:04:02.290 | # Question
Title: Bowden tube clog
There's PLA filament clogged in my Bowden tube, is there a best practice for cleaning it out or do I need to replace the whole tube?
Also, the couplings are totally stuck, so I guess those would need replacement too or are there ways to get stuck couplings off?
Click here for a video.
# Answer
> 4 votes
As a short-term fix, grab a twist drill bit that is on the order of 1.5 mm diameter (assuming a 1.75 mm tube). Using a hand drill, slowly and gently drill out the clogged filament. Obviously you want to try to avoid scarring the teflon lining, so better to use the thinnest drill that will work.
With a little training and a little luck, you'll get the clog cleared. I would recommend removing the nozzle first so that the chips don't fall into the nozzle.
# Answer
> 3 votes
If you are able to force the filament from the interior of the bowden tube without causing damage to the tube, you will be able to determine the cause of the clog. My bowden tube clogged recently, but it was because I left the system idle with old filament inside. The filament broke from brittleness and the edge of the broken pieces managed to wedge against the tube.
I was able to use a "healthy" piece of filament along with great force (pliers pushing close to the tubing end) and remove the damaged filament.
Once removed, the new filament slid easily within.
Your PTC fittings may not have to be replaced if the tubing is not damaged inside and if the existing spacing meets your requirements. A PTC fitting has a ring of teeth which gouge and/or grasp the outside of the tubing preventing removal. It is frequently necessary to push the tubing into the fitting, then compressing the release ring followed by pulling the tubing.
The PTC fitting at the end where only the filament exits is probably a stock fitting. The fitting which has the bowden tube extending through it has been drilled and may be challenging to find. Your best source for such a fitting is the original manufacturer.
It's clear in the video that the threaded portion of the two fittings are different.
# Answer
> 2 votes
I haven't tried this, but it's possible to melt filament inside a PTFE bowden tube; some have even used this for splicing filaments. The examples I saw were over a flame but controlled heating would probably be better. If you do this, weld the clog to another piece of filament then push or pull once it's started to cool.
# Answer
> 1 votes
Most standard filaments soften at 200 °C, meaning a pot of near-boiling water should soften whatever is stuck, allowing you to either fuse another strand of filament to it or use it to push it out of the tube.
---
Tags: pla, ptfe-tube, bowden
--- |
thread-16035 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/16035 | BLTouch not covering the whole bed area | 2021-04-05T11:23:43.170 | # Question
Title: BLTouch not covering the whole bed area
My problem is that the BLtouch doesn't probe the whole bed, in which the probe starts from the left edge and stops at the middle of the bed. I'm using Marlin 2 software and this the code in the configuration.h file:
```
#define BLTOUCH
/**
* Touch-MI Probe by hotends.fr
*
* This probe is deployed and activated by moving the X-axis to a magnet at the edge of the bed.
* By default, the magnet is assumed to be on the left and activated by a home. If the magnet is
* on the right, enable and set TOUCH_MI_DEPLOY_XPOS to the deploy position.
*
* Also requires: BABYSTEPPING, BABYSTEP_ZPROBE_OFFSET, Z_SAFE_HOMING,
* and a minimum Z_HOMING_HEIGHT of 10.
*/
//#define TOUCH_MI_PROBE
#if ENABLED(TOUCH_MI_PROBE)
#define TOUCH_MI_RETRACT_Z 0.5 // Height at which the probe retracts
//#define TOUCH_MI_DEPLOY_XPOS (X_MAX_BED + 2) // For a magnet on the right side of the bed
//#define TOUCH_MI_MANUAL_DEPLOY // For manual deploy (LCD menu)
#endif
// A probe that is deployed and stowed with a solenoid pin (SOL1_PIN)
//#define SOLENOID_PROBE
// A sled-mounted probe like those designed by Charles Bell.
//#define Z_PROBE_SLED
//#define SLED_DOCKING_OFFSET 5 // The extra distance the X axis must travel to pickup the sled. 0 should be fine but you can push it further if you'd like.
// A probe deployed by moving the x-axis, such as the Wilson II's rack-and-pinion probe designed by Marty Rice.
//#define RACK_AND_PINION_PROBE
#if ENABLED(RACK_AND_PINION_PROBE)
#define Z_PROBE_DEPLOY_X X_MIN_POS
#define Z_PROBE_RETRACT_X X_MAX_POS
#endif
// Duet Smart Effector (for delta printers) - https://bit.ly/2ul5U7J
// When the pin is defined you can use M672 to set/reset the probe sensivity.
//#define DUET_SMART_EFFECTOR
#if ENABLED(DUET_SMART_EFFECTOR)
#define SMART_EFFECTOR_MOD_PIN -1 // Connect a GPIO pin to the Smart Effector MOD pin
#endif
/**
* Use StallGuard2 to probe the bed with the nozzle.
* Requires stallGuard-capable Trinamic stepper drivers.
* CAUTION: This can damage machines with Z lead screws.
* Take extreme care when setting up this feature.
*/
//#define SENSORLESS_PROBING
//
// For Z_PROBE_ALLEN_KEY see the Delta example configurations.
//
/**
* Z Probe to nozzle (X,Y) offset, relative to (0, 0).
*
* In the following example the X and Y offsets are both positive:
*
* #define NOZZLE_TO_PROBE_OFFSET { 10, 10, 0 }
*
* +-- BACK ---+
* | |
* L | (+) P | R <-- probe (20,20)
* E | | I
* F | (-) N (+) | G <-- nozzle (10,10)
* T | | H
* | (-) | T
* | |
* O-- FRONT --+
* (0,0)
*
* Specify a Probe position as { X, Y, Z }
*/
#define NOZZLE_TO_PROBE_OFFSET { -43.5, -9, 0 }
// Most probes should stay away from the edges of the bed, but
// with NOZZLE_AS_PROBE this can be negative for a wider probing area.
#define MIN_PROBE_EDGE 20
// X and Y axis travel speed (mm/m) between probes
#define XY_PROBE_SPEED 800
// Feedrate (mm/m) for the first approach when double-probing (MULTIPLE_PROBING == 2)
#define Z_PROBE_SPEED_FAST HOMING_FEEDRATE_Z
// Feedrate (mm/m) for the "accurate" probe of each point
#define Z_PROBE_SPEED_SLOW (Z_PROBE_SPEED_FAST / 2)
```
I have tried changing the \> #define MIN\_PROBE\_EDGE 20 value but nothing change.
Also this is the configuration\_adv.h code:
```
#if PROBE_SELECTED && !IS_KINEMATIC
#define MIN_PROBE_EDGE_LEFT MIN_PROBE_EDGE
#define MIN_PROBE_EDGE_RIGHT 15
#define MIN_PROBE_EDGE_FRONT MIN_PROBE_EDGE
#define MIN_PROBE_EDGE_BACK MIN_PROBE_EDGE
#endif
```
I also have tried changing these values but unfortunately, nothing seems to work.
# Answer
> 0 votes
I found that I had to reset the mainboard and upload the new code so that the new changes could apply.
---
*Answered by OP, copied from a comment on the question…*
---
Tags: marlin, bed-leveling, bltouch, z-probe
--- |
thread-18810 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/18810 | Cura Slicing software failing to slice properly | 2022-01-27T11:50:01.997 | # Question
Title: Cura Slicing software failing to slice properly
Sometimes Cura will slice a model and have failed lines of code. After discovering this problem I have tried re-slicing and then the code will come out fine. The first picture below is the failure point in the code from the first time I ran Cura's slicing. The second picture is the exact same model that I ran a second time through Cura and it came out fine. Is there any settings/reasons as to why this is happening?
Note, that I am also using an Ender 3 v2. For the time being I suppose I will have to look at the full code ahead of time to spot failure points.
# Answer
The random appearance of the commands makes this appear as a writing error. I have had these happen in three cases:
* When I sliced an object and then saved to the SD card but removed the card before saving finished, the resulting file was corrupt and at times wouldn't even print.
+ Solution: Wait for Cura to tell that saving finished, then use eject before removing the card.
* When I sliced and saved, waited for completion, and yanked the card too quickly after that without using eject.
+ Solution: use the eject card button.
* When I used an adapter with a bad fit or connection to the SD card.
+ Solution: reseat the SD card or use a different adapter.
> 2 votes
---
Tags: creality-ender-3, ultimaker-cura
--- |
thread-18816 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/18816 | Meshmixer or Blender thickness feature | 2022-01-28T16:59:56.010 | # Question
Title: Meshmixer or Blender thickness feature
I ran the thickness gave these errors. Now what should I do to fix the errors with Blender or Meshmixer? Blender thickness analysis: !
With meahmixer: enter image description here
# Answer
> 1 votes
The blue error flags are usually trivial. You should be able to click on the blue ones while in Analysis, Inspector and have the model correct those locations. Consider to do one at a time, as you can then Control-Z (undo) to back out if the repair is damaging.
The other flags usually point to a much more severe problem and are likely to remove portions of the mesh. For those, use the select feature to surround the openings, then F to fill. Unfortunately, such a repair may convert what might be a contour into a flat surface, but the options in the Fill feature may provide some relief.
After performing the fill, run the inspector again.
If this is not satisfactory and you are using Windows 10, 3DBuilder will often create repairs that fit the original model quite well.
---
Tags: 3d-models, stl, blender, meshmixer
--- |
thread-18821 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/18821 | Plug simple stepper motor NEMA 17 on E2 slot of the main board on Creality CR10 | 2022-01-29T21:46:59.037 | # Question
Title: Plug simple stepper motor NEMA 17 on E2 slot of the main board on Creality CR10
I have build a Syringe Pump with a simple stepper motor (NEMA 17), and now I want to actuate it through my 3D printer.
I successfully replaced the main extruder with it and it worked, although I had to still warm up the hot end as Marlin doesn't want to actuate the extruder at cool temperature.
Anyways, I am realizing that my Creality CR10 v3's board has a slot for a second extruder, so I would like to plug the syringe pump there.
I did it but when trying to control it through OctoPrint, I have an error saying that my printer reported a default.
I guess it's not plug-and-play, and it's probably complaining about the absence of second thermistor and so on , right?
What should a complete newbie like me do to be able to control E2 with just a stepper motor connected to it?
# Answer
> 2 votes
To prevent extrusion at cold temperatures, you should enable the feature called "allow cold extrusion" using G-code `M302 S0`.
Using a spare stepper slot requires building new firmware and uploading it to your board. The most obvious choice is using Marlin firmware, as this is the software that runs on your current board. You need to add an extra extruder in the configuration file.
---
Tags: extruder, creality-cr-10, extruder-driver, paste-extruder
--- |
thread-18814 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/18814 | G29 UBL G-code - every request levels bed? | 2022-01-28T11:52:32.673 | # Question
Title: G29 UBL G-code - every request levels bed?
1. Every time I issue a `G29` command the printer runs through all its multi-point/probing bed leveling routine.
Is this normal? or can I issue one `G29` command with suffice *to rule them all!* :-)
2. When I issue `G29 S1` to save the topology to the printer makes a buzzing noise with output :
```
READ: echo:busy: processing
busy: processing
READ: echo:busy: processing
busy: processing
READ: echo:busy: processing
busy: processing
```
Below is my Start G-code for reference to this issue.
<pre><code>; reset BL Touch twice
M280 P0 S160
M280 P0 S160
; set Acceleration settings
; M204
; set JERK X/Y to 8s
; M205 X10
; set E-Steps for 3DPW Grey PLA E-Steps test results
M92 E106.6
; save those settings
M500
; home all axes
G28
; set temporary nozzle temp to prevent oozing during homing and auto bed leveling
M104 S120
; perform auto leveling
G29 P1
; extrapolate leveling
G29 P3
; set fade height to 10mm ***NOT sure this is needed with an almost flat bed out by 0.2mm ?!
; G29 F10
; Saves the bed topology results into slot one.
; G29 S1 ; ***NOT*** a god idea - makes a bad bussing noise and never completes
; save for future use
M500
; Loads mesh #1 for the current print job IF previously saved !
; G29 L1
; set target extruder nozzle temperature and wait (if heating)
M109 S[extruder0_temperature] T0 ; wait for extruder temp
; use absolute positioning for the XYZ axes
G90
; move to the Y=20mm position on the bed = FRONT
G1 Y20 F3600
; move to the X=200 mm position on the bed = MIDDLE
G1 X200 F3600
; purge nozzle
G1 E25 F300
```
</code></pre>
# Answer
The TH3D article "Storing Bed Leveling Mesh & Updating Your Slicer" I think can help.
A summary of that write-up:
1. Send a `G28`
2. Preheat the machine to your normal print temperature. Let the printer sit at temperature for 5 minutes to let everything expand as it heats
3. Send a `G28`
4. Send a `G29`
5. Send `M500`
After doing these steps the mesh is now stored in the printer EEPROM.
Then: Update your slicer to use the stored mesh
1. Load your slicer and open up the settings where the starting G-code is stored
2. Replace the `G29` with `M420 S1` (2.5 If you want to use ABL fading use `M420 S1 Z10` – This will fade ABL compensation until it is off over the first 10 mm of the print.)
3. Slice up some files!
My Cura start G-code.
```
M75 ; Start Print Timer and Engage Fil Sensor if USB Printing
M84 E ; Disable E Motor for probe accuracy on direct drive systems
M117 Antiblob retract...
G92 E0 ; Reset Extruder distance to 0
G1 E-2 ; Retracts filament to prevent blobs during probing
G92 E0 ; Reset Extruder distance to 0
M117 Homing All...
G28 ; home all axes
M117 Heaters Recovering...
G4 S10; wait for heaters to recover
M420 S1 Z2; Retrieve saved mesh, Z fade 2mm
M900 K0; LA
M117 Purging extruder...
G92 E0 ; reset extruder
G1 Z2.0 F3000 ; move z up little to prevent scratching of surface
G1 X0.1 Y20 Z0.3 F5000.0 ; move to start-line position
G1 X0.1 Y100.0 Z0.3 F500.0 E15 ; draw 1st line
G1 X0.4 Y100.0 Z0.3 F5000.0 ; move to side a little
G1 X0.4 Y20 Z0.3 F500.0 E30 ; draw 2nd line
G92 E0 ; reset extruder
G1 Z1.0 F3000 ; move z up little to prevent scratching of surface
M117 Printing.....
```
Hope it's of help.
> 1 votes
---
Tags: troubleshooting, g-code, bed-leveling, bltouch, fdm
--- |
thread-18819 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/18819 | Ender 3 Pro: Flow rate drops after time | 2022-01-29T10:33:00.080 | # Question
Title: Ender 3 Pro: Flow rate drops after time
I have to **set my print flow setting extremely high** (up to 180 % and more) as otherwise, I get an under extrusion. I have also noticed that from time to time I have to update that setting to an even higher value.
**Question:** Is my feed motor broken? Or do I wideness the slow death of it? Or is the calibration getting lower after a while (I would not know why/how this is possible, but still)?
I am using:
* Cura as slicer (correct 3D printer selected)
* Ender 3 Pro
* 0.4 mm Nozzle
* ERYONE PLA Filament 1.75 mm PLA 1.75 mm 3D Printing
Similar Question: Why is my 3D printer over extruding when I have set the flow rate very low
**Edit:** @Oscar pointed me to have a close look at the extruder and found a very used feeder-weel: Could that be my problem?
# Answer
> 3 votes
If the feeder gear has worn out, the feeder gear doesn't grip the filament, and hence slips. You would then need to compensate for a larger extrusion length, as you encountered, by e.g. bumping up the flow modifier.
Looking at the feeder gear, I don't know exactly where the filament is being gripped, but, there sure are parts of the teeth missing and some parts are shiny brass colored indicating wear, you need to replace the feeder gear.
It has been reported that some of these feeder gears are crimped onto the stepper shaft, but from the photo you posted a hint of a grub screw can be seen, which would simplify replacement.
**Quick fix:**
Losen the screw on the feeder gear and **adjust the height** of it. This way the filament is being fed by not-worn-out teeth (set it above the groove you can see in the question picture). A replacement of the gear is recommended anyway!
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Tags: creality-ender-3, extrusion, underextrusion
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thread-18825 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/18825 | How to fill big holes that Meshmixer couldn't inspect? | 2022-01-30T13:38:28.893 | # Question
Title: How to fill big holes that Meshmixer couldn't inspect?
How to fill these holes in mandibular jaw in order to 3d print it?
# Answer
> 1 votes
I have not used meshmixer, but both blender and meshlab have features to repair non-manifold meshes, including a way to manually fix large holes.
With both of these packages, you can have it select holes, and then either attempt to fill them automatically (which frequently gives terrible results), or manually select a few edges of a specific hole and add a few triangles at a time until it is fully covered (which gives much better results if you choose edges carefully).
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Tags: 3d-models, meshmixer
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thread-18828 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/18828 | How to center prints with Octoprint and Prusa Mini? | 2022-01-30T17:47:53.890 | # Question
Title: How to center prints with Octoprint and Prusa Mini?
Octoprint is printing in the top right corner of my Prusa Mini. What is causing this and how can I fix it?
# Answer
I had the wrong dimensions set in PrusaSlicer, under **Bed Shape**:
I needed to change **X** and **Y** to 180:
> 3 votes
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Tags: octoprint, prusa-mini
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thread-18826 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/18826 | Will my 3D printer significantly get quieter after upgrading from Creality board 2.5.2 to BTT SKR Turbo 1.4 | 2022-01-30T14:51:02.653 | # Question
Title: Will my 3D printer significantly get quieter after upgrading from Creality board 2.5.2 to BTT SKR Turbo 1.4
I have a Creality CR10 v3, which includes a board v2.5.2 with built-in TMC2208 stepper motor drivers.
I have read that it is still 8-bit (I thought that advertising a "silent board" meant it was 32-bit) and that upgrading to a 32-bit will improve a lot the background noise.
I don't really understand how noise is generated in the first place, but I have the strong feeling that a big percentage of the noise is in fact the result of the fans!
These are the ones bothering me when I work in the same room as the printer.
So will the upgrade from a creality board to BTT SKR Turbo 1.4 (already in my possession) with TMC2209 or TMC2226 (not yet in my possession) drivers help?
Will I be able to remove some of the fans, or will I keep the same noise from these fans?
How to make sure that I am not already in the best noise configuration I can hope for with a CR10 ?
Side question: will any of the hacks found online (dampers, for instance) really help ?
# Answer
> 2 votes
"Silent" board means TMC steppers. It has nothing to do with whether the microcontroller on it is 8- or 32-bit, and a 32-bit microcontroller will not in general get you any sound-reduction benefits. What it would let you do is build Marlin firmware with more advanced options switched on. (Note: this doesn't apply to Klipper, which is happy running advanced stuff on a slow 8-bit board because the main logic runs on a full CPU like a Raspberry Pi.)
If you want to reduce fan noise, you'll need to buy quieter replacement fans or look for passive cooling (big heat sinks, heat pipes, etc.) to use in place of one or more of the fans.
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Tags: creality-cr-10, stepper-driver, skr-v1.4, tmc2208, tmc2209
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thread-4762 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/4762 | Wavy walls with Ultimaker Cura | 2017-10-18T20:04:26.710 | # Question
Title: Wavy walls with Ultimaker Cura
I've printed a 2x2x2 cm test cube with Slic3r (left) and Ultimaker Cura (right) and my Prusa i3 derivative machine with tight belts. The print settings should be quite equal (0.15 mm layer height, 40 mm/s outer wall speed, default accelerations/jerks). Though the top surface of the Ultimaker Cura-cube looks much better than the Slic3r-cube,
the latter has much flatter vertical walls than the first.
The front wall of the Ultimaker Cura-cube was printed from left to right which could explain the wavy result as some kind of vibration caused by the sharp y-stop at the left front corner.
But what setting could have influenced this? Should I try to manual setting of lower accelerations in Ultimaker Cura?
# Answer
This defect that you see is called "Ringing" and is described in detail here.
In summary, these waves are seen when the print head makes a sudden change in direction in combination with high speeds and high accelerations. As the waves dampen in amplitude the further you get from the sharp corner, this is related to print settings rather than vibrations transmitted through the belts.
Apparently, the settings for Ultimaker Cura differ from the settings in Slic3r, there is no other explanation as the hardware is exactly the same. Reducing print speed and acceleration in Ultimaker Cura will reduce the ringing defects.
> 2 votes
# Answer
Those wavy lines could be artefacts caused by closely-spaced infill, but they could also be resonance patterns caused by noisy stepper motors and over-tight belts. Since you have said that you have your belts nice and tight, I would suggest reducing the tension on them and see what happens. I know that some pundits say that it is not possible to have timing belts too tight, but I disagree with that. Belts should obviously be tight enough to eliminate free play in the system, and you may have a lot of latitude in the tensions that you can use, but if you make them drum-tight, they will transmit motor vibrations very effectively to the build plate (and onto your models).
If your stepper motors are noisy, you may want to invest in some vibration dampers. They can reduce noise and vibration significantly. Another solution would be to use more sophisticated stepper motor drivers, such as the TMC2100.
RepRapWiki: TMC2100
> 5 votes
# Answer
It is difficult to see with the lighting and the shiny green, but try printing a more complex object, like the usual XYZ cube. Does it look like this one? which means big waves after a change of direction, but then getting smaller?
If so, it is "ringing" or "ghosting", which means that the acceleration you set is too high for the mechanics of your printer and the machine vibrates too much.
Does it look like this one? Which means, exactly aligned vertically, and everywhere, not only after changes of direction?
Then it is NOT ringing, it is due
* too tight belt (almost always!)
* poor quality belt
* poor bearings or idlers (not common)
I also had it and it was the belt, too tight. Loosen it, it can be much looser than you think before you get issues.
Check How to fix evenly spaced vertical print pattern to get more information about the second issue.
There is another potential cause for wavy walls, however I'm mentioning it for completeness, it is not the case of the question.
If the waves repeat horizontally, but are not aligned vertically, and the extruder is a direct drive, it could be caused by the issue explained in this video, which shows that the dual gear of direct drives introduce periodic changes in flow, which are visible sometimes.
> 0 votes
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Tags: ultimaker-cura
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thread-16015 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/16015 | What could cause these slight waves on the print? | 2021-04-02T23:06:15.860 | # Question
Title: What could cause these slight waves on the print?
The model of the test part is perfectly smooth and exported/sliced in very high resolution, yet there are slight waves on both axis. These waves are not visible in simulation. Converting to arcs via Arc-Welder does not change anything. No stuttering due to the high resolution of G-code (as it's a 32-bit board).
As there are no stops, and speed is uniform - I expect no ringing. What could be the cause?
Ghost4 printer, SKR-PRO board with Marlin bugfix-2.0.x.
# Answer
> 1 votes
This looks like an issue which repeats EXACTLY layer after layer. I already explained how to solve it in https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/a/18835/2338 but I answer it again, limiting to this case.
Waves which are exactly aligned vertically, and everywhere, not only after changes of direction, like in
are NOT ringing or "ghosting", they are rather caused by
* too tight belt (almost always!)
* poor quality belt
* poor bearings or idlers (not common)
I also had the issue and it was the belt, too tight. Loosen it, since it can be much looser than you think!
Check How to fix evenly spaced vertical print pattern to get more information.
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Tags: marlin, print-quality
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thread-18837 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/18837 | 60 watt heater into 40 watt heatblock | 2022-02-01T09:56:35.697 | # Question
Title: 60 watt heater into 40 watt heatblock
This might be a dumb question, but can a 60 watt heater be used on a 40 watt unit?
Simply put, I was wrong in thinking that more power was simply stuffed into the same dimensions.
It extends about 5 millimeters beyond my heating block. Can it be used in general or will it lead to some consequences?
# Answer
I'd expect the heater sticking out as pictured to cause problems -- the exposed part of the heater will tend to overheat (it's not conducting heat away into the heat block) and isn't protected by the thermistor and software PID acting as a smart thermostat.
It *might* be possible to install the heater in a more centered position, so less of it protrudes beyond the block, but this is likely to leave the wire end sticking out instead. I'd have to recommend either getting the correct heater, or upgrading your entire hot end to accommodate the larger heater (which involves also verifying the driver circuitry on your control board can handle 50% higher current, resetting your nozzle offsets so you don't print off the build surface on prints that run close to Ymin, and likely modifying or replacing your part cooling fan and/or its shroud).
> 5 votes
# Answer
> Can a 60 W heater be used on a 40 W unit?
Yes, you can, I used various heater cartridges with different powers ranging from 40-80 W.
Where you need to look out for is that heating is not too fast that you get overshoots such that it triggers alarms, see PID tuning 50 W cartridge in Marlin. It is best to PID tune the hotend heater once you replaced it with a new cartridge.
> It extends about 5 millimeters beyond my heating block. Can it be used in general or will it lead to some consequences?
Try to center it better, do note that the heat is produced by a wound resistor wire, it usually doesn't extend all the way to the end of the heater cartridge.
*Image taken from Vsec Temperature Sensor Manufacturer*
> 5 votes
# Answer
One simple consequence is that you're going to have a hard time finding a sock that fits properly. If you cut one, or have one that has a hole where the heater protrudes, it will physically fit but then not do its job preventing radiative/convective heat loss and transfer to your printed part, or preventing stray material from sticking to the heater. You could make a custom one with molded RTV silicone, of course.
> 3 votes
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Tags: heat-management
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thread-18073 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/18073 | Tronxy X5SA not working properly after Marlin firmware installation | 2021-09-14T11:35:36.120 | # Question
Title: Tronxy X5SA not working properly after Marlin firmware installation
Yesterday I installed Marlin firmware, 2.0.x bugfix version on my Tronxy X5SA (v6).
I did it in the way explained on GitHub, with Visual Studio Code, Platform IO, Marlin auto build. I applied the recommended modifications in the Tronxy example.
The firmware compiled successfully (the bugfix sources as the 2.0.9.1 source gives me an error - I may open another question for it), and is starting successfully on the printer. But, I have these 2 issues:
1. When the printer starts, the bed stays in a low position (about 20 cm from the nozzle) and I cannot get it lifted up to reach the Z sensor. When I want to lift it up, I can only lift it by 10 units, then it's on 0.00 and it does not move up anymore. I was used to doing the Z offset manually with the Tronxy firmware, by lifting the bed with the firmware tool. Here, I cannot do it. When reaching 0.00 it does not move up. I could not identify a parameter for it in the config file and/or tutorial.
2. I tried to start a print, nothing happened. Even the nozzle/bed warmup didn't work, nothing was heating up. I tried manually to enable bed/nozzle heating, and it worked.
3. Home position setting. Seems the home position is not correct with X-axis, despite the fact that I did set the printer dimensions in the file. How do I fix it?
As you probably already understood I cannot get anything to work properly so far with my printer and Marlin.
Maybe one of you already faced the same situation with that printer and Marlin, or you might maybe know a good place where I can find a tutorial matching my setup that I can apply the same. So far I was not able to find a thread helping me to get this fixed.
---
I downloaded the file corresponding to X5SA from GitHub, `configuration.h`, and used it. I just applied the recommended changes from the page of X5SA example (with the calculation) to it.
The reason why I used the bugfix source is that I was not able to compile version 2.0.9.1. It ends up with an error message I was not able to fix. Only the bugfix version did compile.
# Answer
1. Sounds like you need to home the printer, otherwise, it has no way of knowing, where the actual "zero coordinate" is. The printer will "never" go beyond 0 for safety reasons.
2. Do you have the cables plugged into the correct ports on the motherboard?
3. What do you mean by "home position is not correct"? Bed dimensions have no influence on homing since homing put the printer to XYZ 000. And zero is always on the endstop.
Also, if you can post your config - `Configuration.h` and `Configuration_adv.h`, it would be helpful.
> 0 votes
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Tags: marlin, bed-leveling, firmware, z-probe, tronxy-x5sa
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thread-18846 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/18846 | Can you snap fit 3D resin printed parts? | 2022-02-02T16:37:04.620 | # Question
Title: Can you snap fit 3D resin printed parts?
I would like to create something like a treasure box model. I want to print two parts: one is the base and the other one is the lid. However, I want them to snap fit together like LEGO pieces when pressed against each other, creating a perfect seal.
For example, something like this egg where it has two sided, but when pressed against each other they "click-in".
**Is there a mechanism to attach two printed part?**
(Note:I am using Solidworks and a Formlab resin printer)
# Answer
The mechanisms for "click-in" joining are varied. It's important to note that they are not resin-printer specific, although one should make considerations for the material from which the parts are made.
Some resin printed models will be brittle and would require that the click-in feature be constructed with minimal distortion, while others could be printed with more flexible resin and tolerate much greater distortion, but may also release more easily.
From a Pinshape site:
Note that in this image, the joint requires a matching spherical portion to accept the male portion. This is presented as a sample, not as a complete answer.
The upper most portion of the male segment is a cylinder of slightly larger size than the main body. The top of the cylinder has a taper which enables the receiving hole to force the sides inward, beyond the matching notch in the receiving hole.
The underside of this larger cylinder can be bluff, making removal difficult, or can be tapered to match, allowing for easier removal.
Consider that the cylinder can be stretched out, flattened in such a way that the cross sections of the male portion and the receiving hole are slots rather than cylinders.
The pages at hubs.com provide greater insight to designing snap-fit joints in 3D printing. The following image represents fairly closely the above dissertation regarding deflection:
Much more detail regarding design can be found on the linked site.
> 0 votes
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Tags: 3d-models, 3d-design, resin
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thread-18848 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/18848 | What is the quality setting in Ultimaker Cura do? (Super, Dynamic, Standard, Low) | 2022-02-03T00:40:18.170 | # Question
Title: What is the quality setting in Ultimaker Cura do? (Super, Dynamic, Standard, Low)
In the Ultimaker Cura print settings menu, there is a dropdown menu labeled "profiles", with Super Quality, Dynamic Quality, Standard Quality, and Low Quality. What do these settings do exactly? If I set it to Super Quality for example, it changes things like the layer height settings, but I am able to then change those settings back to whatever I want and profile remains on Super Quality.
What are these quality settings? I know this is probably an obvious question but I am basically a beginner and for some reason can find little info on google.
# Answer
> 1 votes
According to the Ultimaker Support website, these are called "Quality settings". You could think of them as "resolution" settings.
There are 3 different adjustments made when changing these settings:
* Layer height
* Initial layer height
* Line width
A smaller layer height will produce a smoother surface. Initial layer height can create a stronger adhesion to the build plate. Line width will determine how much plastic material will be extruded.
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Tags: ultimaker-cura
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thread-18705 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/18705 | Fusion 360 + Snapmaker original for printing | 2022-01-09T07:49:57.263 | # Question
Title: Fusion 360 + Snapmaker original for printing
* Total beginner, not a single print yet
* Snapmaker original
I saw a couple of tutorials telling one to design whatever needs printing on Fusion 360 and then export it to STL, import on Luban<sup>1)</sup>, and print.
For CNC, I could import a post-processor and the resulting G-code worked fine without having to deal with Luban.
I know Fusion 360 doesn't have the *exact* machine on the library, but I'm wondering if I could get away with something similar or if there is a post-processor that I could install.
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*<sup>1)</sup> Snapmaker Luban is a free, open-source slicing software tailor-made for Snapmaker machines.*
# Answer
One way to completely avoid Luban is to use OctoPrint, and the OctoPrint plugin for Fusion 360.
Loading the G-code from the USB flash drive can lead to weird behavior, where the Z-axis gets a bit lost. Online printing with luban or OctoPrint worked better so far.
Whatever you do, don't turn off the option in Fusion to start from the home position and set up a reasonable one. Mine went from the homing axis straight to print, including a gash over the plate that was in the way...
> 2 votes
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Tags: fusion360, snapmaker-original
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thread-18845 | https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/18845 | Control a 2D printer like a 3D printer | 2022-02-02T14:40:15.290 | # Question
Title: Control a 2D printer like a 3D printer
Probably barely on-topic, but I'm wondering if there's any way to control a 2D inkjet/laser printer similar to 3D printer. Specifically:
* Shifting the XY axis by a certain amount
* Controlling the paper feeder by small increments
* Dispelling ink at defined amounts
2D printers have a very high resolution and can be useful for some things, which is why I'm asking.
# Answer
> 1 votes
## No
* Most 2D printers use very different motor setups - 3D Printers use steppers, Paper printers usually use simple motors and encoders.
* Printers take input in special data formats. These can be pretty much normal Text files of what characters to print but a print job sent from the printer driver also contains specific orders and might not even be readable to humans. This file of instructions and pattern to print then is *processed* into the actual movement of the printhead and paper only in the printer itself.
* 2D Printer software is super locked down. You can only get the firmware of a paper printer in formats that are absolutely nonreadable. Compare how hard it was for Itkin and Balmas to reverse engineer just the fax protocol of modern printers. Then, amplify that by a few notches because the fax protocol has a known standard it needs to uphold but the printer itself does not.
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Tags: 2d
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