text:
Upgrade hot-end to achieve higher temps (e.g. for PETG)
I'm struggling to get my printer to the temps required for modified PETG (the filament I have is Fillamentum CPE and recommends 255-275 °C), I currently can only reach 245/250 °C even if my target temperature is above that. The hot-end is fully ceramic wrapped and metal (no PTFE liner to worry about) and the printer is in a DIY heat shielded enclosure (non-heated).
The printer is an old (but gold) Wanhao Duplicator 4 (Rep 1 clone) with a MK8/9 extruder running a custom build of Sailfish. I know there is a firmware cap at 280 °C but that's fine, I don't intend to go above that.
Bar totally swapping out the extruder assembly what can I do to up the hot-end temperature, upgrade the power supply, heater cartridge?

What PETG do you have that recommends 255-275? Typical recommended range for PETG is 220-250 °C, though I'd say the minimum is more like 230 or 235. Have you tried printing it at temperatures you can reach and had problems that you think would be resolved by using a higher temperature? In my experience even at 250 PETG is a dripping mess.

I'm not sure I understand why you want to upgrade the extruder if your hotend can reach higher temperatures. Try going at 260°C and check the print speed, which you haven't mentioned. Maybe you are printing too fast for that temperature+nozzle (which is also not mentioned). Usually printing at the low-end of the temperature range involves slowing down further (and PETG is not fast to begin with).

@FarO I cannot reach higher temperatures, that is the issue. It doesn’t matter what my max temperature is, if it’s above 245/250 it will never reach it.

Are you sure the firmware limit is at 280 °C? A hotend should get hotter than 250 °C when heated static (no filament to cool it down).

@0scar Positive, I’ve seen it written in the firmware plus on occasion it does fluctuate up to 251/2~. Before the enclosure and the ceramic wrap I couldn’t even maintain 230~. It’s a very old printer, my guess was the power supply or heating cartridge isn’t spec’d to go that high, but I’m unsure.

Well if the hotend should reach higher, but it doesn't, I would surely measure the voltage of the PSU under load (that means, when the hotend and bed are cold and you turn on both to reach 250/80 C).

@FarO That makes sense, I’ll give that a try. I know the max temp as per the print spec is 280 so I think I should be hitting a little higher than I am. I’m not sure the heater cartridges are supposed to go that high, but from looking online it seems most 40/50W cartridges heat to around 300.

Are you sure you have a 24V PSU?

@FarO I am, it’s the stock power supply with the printer. 24V 14.6A

Most PETG reacts vey badly to temperatures above 255. The typical optimal PETG temperature ranges from 225 to 245. Above that it gets sticky...
If PETG is your goal, you might want to find a filament that is more friendly to your printer. They are pretty cheap, and now you have transitioned to an all-metal hot end, you should be good to go!

Its a modified PETG, the brand is Fillamentum and the temp range 255-275 is recommended by the brand. I have a few reels of it so I’m determined to print with it. Getting major inconsistent and under extrusion at 245.

Have you tried wrapping the hot-end in silicone?

Hot-end is already wrapped in ceramic, which I believe has much better thermal insulation properties than silicone.

I’m assuming that you have turned-off any cooling fans?

Correct, the extruded fan is on to stabilise the temperature but I have no control over this. Weirdly it does seem to be on quite aggressively considering it’s not even at the target temperature.

An extra layer of silicone might help buy you a few degrees - the ceramic coatings are often rather thin... I use self sealing tape and my head is also ceramic-coated - just be careful about the max temp it can handle. Are you using an infrared thermometer to measure temperature?

Upgrading the heater will not only require more power, but probably a new mainboard to in order to handle that power without catching fire. Are you experienced in electronics?

Fairly, I’ve wired in the cooling fan (as it doesn’t come as standard) into the motherboard and an auto levelling sensor.

This would be MUCH more dangerous: unless you can find a kit specifically for your machine, you would potentially need to do major surgery to the mainboard to re-route power and potentially replace power transistors and the like... It is not as simple as wiring in a fan! (The hot-end control circuitry and software is the core of any 3D printer.)

Loads can be easily taken from the board with an external MOSFET module, but that is rarely necessary for hotend heater elements. The current is determined by the resistance of the heater element.

Totally agree about the external MOSFET - that is what I meant by re-routing power. My concern here is that many of the cheaper mainboards are not engineered to handle higher current draws and/or higher voltages than their original configuration. The worst offenders have been known to spontaneously combust even when operated within their default spec. Now, obviously if you know how to rate the existing mainboard power drive capabilities you are ok to go for a higher power heater - but otherwise you run the risk of overloading things unless you resort to off-board/uprated components.


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Prints not sticking to centre of build plate, Phenom Peopoly
Recently prints aren't sticking to centre of bed - e.g if I print a grid of 25 identical models, the ones in centre will not attach to build plate.  Models near edges stick to build plate fine, on all 4 sides, plate is levelled fine.  No visible damage to screen, models on sides print fine and the models in centre stick to the FEP.  Previously printer worked fine.
Things tried:

Cleaning build plate with IPA and also with acetone to ensure
degreased.
Cleaning FEP with alcohol
Replaced FEP
Tried adding PTFE
spray (v small amount) to film to encourage less sticking, issue
persists.

Any ideas?

Have you checked your build surface to see if it's still flat? Repeated center-focused cleanings may have eroded the center of the plate enough to make a difference.

source: Stack Exchange

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

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How do I set up a 2 in 1 out extruder system in Marlin
Hi I recently upgraded my CR-10S motherboard to the SKR 1.3 with TMC2208 drivers, in addition, I added a 2 in 1 out extruder system, but I am unsure of how to set it up in Marlin. If anyone could provide me a list of the lines of code I need to comment / uncomment / change, or any other advice it would be greatly appreciated.

Just a follow up. What retraction settings do you recommend when using a 2 in 1 out nozzle? I’m having a problem with clogging and I think different retraction settings might help.

@JoeRacanati If you have a new question, please ask it by clicking the Ask Question button. Include a link to this question if it helps provide context.

You need to change the amount of extruders in the Configuration.h:
Set 2 extruders by defining:
// @section extruder

// This defines the number of extruders
// :[0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8]
#define EXTRUDERS 2

Define that you have a single nozzle:
// For Cyclops or any "multi-extruder" that shares a single nozzle.
#define SINGLENOZZLE

If you want to switch filament during a print, you need to write tool loading and unloading (tool changing) scripts for the slicer you use, also do print a filament prime/wipe tower that is large enough to purge the filament to prevent color mixing.
In case color mixing, you do not set the amount of extruders, instead you need to define that mixing is being used:
#define MIXING_EXTRUDER

furthermore, the amount of mixing stepper need to be defined:
#define MIXING_STEPPERS 2

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How can I contact FLSUN support?
If I have an issue with my FLSUN printer how can I contact customer support?

They have a webpage by now   www.flsun3d.com

I have had good luck contacting them via AliExpress https://flsun.aliexpress.com/store/2383013 even though I bought my printer on Amazon.


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Can I replace the cooling fan blade for the hot end on creality ender 3?
I broke one of the blades of the fan and that's making the x-box vibrate. Other than that it works fine and I can still print at a very low flow rate and a lot of noise. Will replacing the blades, not the whole fan work?
Found this and how to replace on thingyverse:
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:186979

It will work, but likely with reduced performances: designing blades is not an easy task and the ones you can print will not be as good as the ones designed for that specific fan.
Overall, do it for fun before you replace the fan anyway.
IF your fan has symmetrical blades (unlikely), another option is to break the opposite blade to balance the fan.

It's a standard part. You can find fitting replacement fans easily by searching for the dimensions and the voltage. It's better to use a molded part as it is smoother and lighter than any FDM printed one.

If you want to play then print new blades; if you want to print then swap the fan - but pay attention to: Voltage, current draw, rpm, fan thickness, etc.
Note: most fans are built to be disposable/replaceable. They are never built to be repaired, and as yet, nobody has succeeded in replicating the efficiency/balance/effectiveness of commercially available blades via 3D printing - and many in the Drone world have tried and died!
If you decide to replace, ideally you want EXACTLY the same fan as a replacement - even if it costs more than something similar. When you get seasoned, you can upgrade and improve, but until then, similar is not good enough...


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Do you need to manually level the bed with a BLTouch? Adhesion issues with Ender 5 and BLTouch 1.3
I've just installed a BLTouch on my Ender 5 Pro and updated the firmware to 2.0.5.3 and enabled BL touch. I can send a G29 which probes all the points correctly, I also get a readout of the results in OctoPrint terminal but when it puts a first layer down the filament does not adhere to the bed. I also end up with a large clump on filament stuck to my nozzle afterwards.
I've set the Z probe offset while the nozzle was in the center of the bed, and had a good grip on the piece of paper under it while setting it. I stored settings afterwards. I can't actually tell if the BL touch is even doing anything.
Do I need to manually level the bed before using the printer with a BLTouch? It currently has not been leveled since I assembled the printer. I guessed the BLTouch would handle this for me and I wouldn't need to level the bed ever?
These were the results from my G29:
-0.218, -0.148, -0.116, -0.088, -0.084
-0.194, -0.136, -0.115, -0.061, -0.020
-0.138, -0.035, +0.030, +0.091, +0.107
-0.008, +0.062, +0.129, +0.191, +0.261
+0.160, +0.261, +0.339, +0.411, +0.469

Bed leveling it not magic, you still need to level the bed out as good as you can.

yes
Even with auto mesh bed leveling, you ought and should level the bed to a good degree to make the leveling not only more efficient: the mesh bed level is to work out small dimples and hills in the bed, bot to work with a crooked or heavily misaligned bed.


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Print from card not showing on new SKR mini e3 v1.2 card
I am a newbie with a 3 months old Ender 3 Pro, my first one.  I purchased, installed and loaded a new SKR Mini E3 V1.2 mobo.  The LCD panel lit up as usual without problems.  I selected 'print from card' which showed the micro SD card had 2 files, FIRMWARE and test, as I recall.  Then I put the SD card into a micro-SD to SD card adapter, which I hoped to use, and plugged it into the card slot but it didn't work.  I fiddled with it a little, then removed the adapter and discarded it. I then removed the card and copied it onto my PC for safekeeping.  I also added 2 short, simple .gcode files to check out the printer.  I put it back into the printer and turned it on.  The panel came on listing several entries but Prepare, Control and Print from Card were missing. I opened and scrolled each item, even clicking on 'Initiate EEPROM' but without success.  I plugged and re-plugged the SD card, restarted the printer several times with no luck.  Put the SD card back into the PC and both original files plus the 2 .gcode files I added were still there. This exhausts my meager knowledge of things to do and I surely hope someone can help me out!

Welcome to 3dPrinting.SE! Did you unmount the card before you pulled it from the printer?

Thank you Paulster2.  No, I don't think so--there is no entry I remember that says something like "unmount card'.  With the stock E3 board, there was an entry to the effect of "replace sd card', but not on the SDK board.  I am still trying to master 3D print terminology, which works to my great disadvantage and I apologize

authors: Мульти студия


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Bad quality at horizontal faces
I'm newbie at this stackexchange and I have a "FlashForge Finder"; lately there are many problems with the horizontal surfaces quality (Bottom and Top at the same time).
As some issue guides suggests, I changed: number of solid layers, % of filling and extrusion multiplier; I use "Flashprint", so some concepts must be translated from Cura in the options menu.
P.S: All filaments are PLA.
Without any change:

After all changes (the "best")

My settings for last black disk:

Are you sure the E steps calibration is correct? it looks like underextrusion. You should edit the question with print speed, temperature, at least.

I'll see it and report the results

It could also be a clogged nozzle.

"E steps calibration" is not a thing you're supposed to do. OP does seem to have underextrusion, but there are all sorts of possible causes and not enough information in the question to identify one.

Now, all settings are added for more information, and wasn't a clog because the piece is finished, with so bad quality, but with all layers.

I see you have extrusion flow at 125% and still have serious underextrusion. Do you perhaps have the wrong filament diameter set?

Finally, I solved all faillures today.
-When the bed is too close from the hotend:
I cheat the machine with a cutter patterns board over the bed at the first extruder calibration; the distance increases several times and then You can do it shorter.

-The another half part of bad quality [low maintenance of the hotend]:
As a good newbie, I didn't know the periods of maintenance and the hotend had much plastic waste the PTFE tube welded and burned at internal, so the only option was to replace it for another same or to upgrade to "All Metal"; I chosen to upgrade with the replacement and I'll more maintenance to this zone.

First attempt of trial piece:

...PANIC!
But then and FINALLY!

Almost all correct, I can continue with my printings.
THANKS SO MUCH TO ALL, for your apportations and patience.

Glad to see you finally got it working! Luke.

This could be caused by under extrusion, often caused by the bed being too close to the hot end / extruder nozzle. You could try to relevel the bed, or change the screws so that the bed moves down slightly. Often when levelling, you want to feel slight resistance when sliding a piece of paper between the bed an the nozzle. You should do this for all 4 corners. Be careful though, you dont want the bed too far away from the nozzle, or problems maybe arise with the print not sticking to the bed.
Hope this helps, Luke.

Last leveling was with the sensor, but I'll re-level the bed again and with manual check, thanks.

I just returned from the global readjustements and seems that it's the extruder distance, I tried with the menu settings, but after set "-0.2" the printer says me that this value is out of the interval [-0.5;5]
I'll search the manual option

@AJMM This value should not be negative, as the printer believes the nozzle is under the bed. This should be set to 0 as a minimum. Under extrusion is basically when the filament is pushed so hard into the bed, it doesn't come out properly. This is probably what is causing the problems.

@AJMM I would also recommend trying another 3D slicer such as Ultimaker Cura (https://ultimaker.com/software/ultimaker-cura). Also, where do you get your models from. If you make them yourself, try another CAD program, such as Fusion 360 (https://www.autodesk.co.uk/products/fusion-360/overview). It is free for hobbyists and non-commercial uses. See (https://www.autodesk.com/campaigns/fusion-360-for-hobbyists) for help. If you get them on the internet, try a 3d-printing specific model site such as Thingiverse (www.thingiverse.com).

I know all systems that You mentioned, but if I could use Cura, I do it.
In the other hand, FlashForge answer me and the extruder calibration interval is between -0.5 and -5 (all negatives, I thought that 5 was positive); after follow their instructions, now the distance between the extruder and the bed is so little (just the opposite), so I'll report the results to the official technicians and continue reading your aportations.
Thanks so much.

@AJMM I have found some values for Cura. You can download from the Ultimaker website (a quick google search should bring it up. If not, let me know and I will give you the link.) You need to add a custom FFF printer. Then set the x/y/z width to 140. Make sure that origin at centre is checked, and the GCODE flavor is Marlin. Set the printhead settings to: X Min: 37mm, Y Min: 55mm, X Max: 37mm, Y Max: 55mm. Then set the gantry height to 28mm. Set the number of extruders to 1 and the filament size to 1.75. the nozzle size should be set to how big the nozzle is. Usually it is 0.4mm.

@AJMM Apologies for this being in multiple parts. It is due to the character limit. then set the start GCODE to:                                                                                xgcode 1.0
;start gcode
M140 S0
M104 S{material_print_temperature} T0
M104 S0 T1
M107
G90
G28
M132 X Y Z A B
G1 Z50.00 F400
G161 X Y F3300
M6 T0
M907 X100 Y100 Z40 A80 B20
M108 T0
G1 Z.20 F400

@AJMM Then set the end GCODE to M104 S0 T0
G28 X Y
M132 X Y Z A B
G91
M18.

@AJMM In the project settings I enabled the visibility of the temperature setting and changed it to 220°C instead of the default 200°C and set the flow to 110% to smooth out prints. Check this website (https://labs.tomasino.org/flashforge-finder-with-cura/) for all these instructions. Hope this helps.

Don't worry for the message partitions, I understand You and thanksgive all this information so interesting; when my printer turns to "normal" (curious word actually :p ) I'll try this tutorial.

@AJMM I just thought you could try this so you can try another slicer to see if this fixes your problem.

Ok, yesterday I think that I finish with the extruder & bed troubles, but then appears "filament error" @#$%!, I tried again today and same error, so after search a bit, <<03-26-2018, 08:07 PM#7
tlawrence84 >> has the answer at https://3dprintboard.com/showthread.php?33060-Flashforge-Finder-not-extruding-during-print-fine-during-Load-Filament
As some comment says some days ago here.

@AJMM Are you sure the filament diameter/size is set correctly. For example, do you use 1.75mm filament, but the software believes you are using 3mm filament. The software may believe the filament is bigger than what you are using, leading to gaps. Also, is the filament sticking to the bed properly. Try printing with a raft. This way, even if the first layer isn't great, it will be fine when you reach the model.

I'm very sure of the diameter, I didn't change it anytime; but now I'm waiting an upgrade for change the PTFE system to all metal.
The bed, I think that now is correct, We will see in some days.
Thanks so..o much for all your help and suggestions, I take it in count for my diagnostics reflections.

[Terminator]: I'M BACK
Today I just received and mounted the hotend all metal upgrade, but it is a very heat day, I'll wait some hours to reach the 220ºC required on the printer.


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BLTouch with TH3D Ender 3 pro
I installed TH3D to my stock mainboard via this guide, but BLTouch does not work properly.
It does not check all 9 points before point it just go middle then check z then start printing. BLTouch normally needs to check all 9 points before printing or with autobedleveling but somehow mine do not work like this.

Hi, welcome to 3DPrinting.SE! Did you insert G29 in your start G-code script?

Hey, yes after a while I understand it and find a gcode that is suitable for ender 3 and bltouch now it seems working fine. Ty for your respond :)

After setting up the BLTouch in firmware, you need to activate the leveling function for every print by inserting the leveling G-code 'G29' in the start G-code script of your slicer. The code should be placed directly after command G28.
Note that you can test the working of the sensor from the printer display: sensor can be deployed, stowed, reset and tested.
An alternative is to use the G29 and M500 command once in a while (for beds that don't change, don't get handled by excessive force and/or are operated at the same temperature) or store the shape of the bed through the display interface and put the command M420 S1 in your start G-code instead.

authors: ธวัชชัย เหล่าแสลง


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Are there white filaments, that are not so translucent?
I find that white filaments are quite translucent and printing 5 layers of white filament onto 2 layers of black filament (at 0.2 mm layers, the white layers being 100% infilled and the underlying black layer covering about 85% of the whole area) produces a slightly grey color on the top.
Is that a limitation of the white colour (or the actual material used)?
Are there materials, that address this issue to some extent?
Adjusting layer thickness while keeping the overall height won't change things, right?

i've seen dramatically different results from different brands of filament. fwiw, some matter hackers white i bought about 2 years ago is MUCH more opaque than anything else i've bought.

PLA filaments are pretty transparent in their pure state. Other filaments, especially fiber-filled ones, are opaque in nature. But in the end, the color is determined a lot by the colorful pigments added and the amount of pigments directly correlates to the opacity. The more pigment is added, the more opaque it becomes. There are several screws for the color though: Ammount and type of pigments. For transparent filaments.
Not all pigments are the same. For example, white greatly differs between different brands. For example, my second-favorite brand's white is a little more in the "cream" color range, the filament sample that came with my TronXY X1 was very satin gloss and the first spool I ordered was a very white-opaque white. This all is because of the type of pigment used and the amount.
How can you tell the amount? From the print properties and the looks of a printed filament: a filament that is very laden with pigments tends to print hotter than one that has few to none, but it also blocks light much better. I have experienced up to 20 °C between a transparent and the very heavily pigment laden white filament for the sweetspot. The same white filament was completely opaque after 1.6 mm in walls but most prints are!
Remember: walls are generally thicker than roofs. If you really need to make the white covering fully, you'll need to make more white thickness, but thinner layers can help a slight bit as the included air in each layer helps a little.

With that said, unless the manufacturer provides very exact parameters (different temperature for different colors of the same material for example), there is no knowing unless I try the filament out.

@IsawU exactly, but as a rool of thumb: thicker roofs cover better. Try about 4 or 5 layers?

Most of the plastics used for filament are inherently transparent and largely colorless. Color is achieved by adding pigment. Translucent and transparent colors are easy, but opaque colors require large amounts of opaque pigments, and even then, their opacity has its limits - even with black filament!
You can probably find very opaque white filament, but beware - too much pigment will affect the raw properties of the filament itself, either in terms of print temperature or things like layer adhesion or stringing/clogging etc.


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Cannot configure default E step for extruder on TH3D
I installed the TH3D firmware to my Ender 3 Pro yesterday and today I am trying to configure the extruder rate because I am not using the stock extruder on my printer but have swapped in a BMG extruder. I edited these values and upload it to my board
#define CUSTOM_ESTEPS
//#define REVERSE_E_MOTOR_DIRECTION
#define CUSTOM_ESTEPS_VALUE 415

But these values do not change when I start to print something and because of that I need to edit it manually by going in to tune menu and editing flow to 415. How can I fix this issue?

Initializing
After changing your firmware, you always need to overwrite the old values in the SRAM and EEPROM with those from the Firmware. Which you do with M502 & M500:

Installing firmware does not by itself alter the EEPROM, so these settings needed to be seeded into SRAM via M502 and then saved into EEPROM via M500.

You could also run a G-code that has only these two lines:
M502
M500

Altering the EEPROM
Via command
Alternatively, you could access the printer via a terminal and send the command M92 E415 to overwrite the SRAM directly, then M500 to save the new setting to EEPROM. The associated G-code that only alters the E-steps/mm would read
M92 E415
M500

Via Software
Or you use a terminal that supports direct alteration of the EEPROM, like Repetier Host.

Okay but what is the order should be. I am newbie and trying to understand. So am I going to send M502 to printer then sending my edited values printer then sending M500 to save values? is this the order? it is a bit confusing for now looking how to execute those commands and will try after I figure out hopefully. Thank you for your help.

@Burak0015 Please follow the link on the M50x G-codes, you see that the order is loading from firmware first (M502) and than saving the values (M500).

Hopefully I did it, I connected printer via usb and send gcode via Cura. I sent gcode M502 ; reset!
then I uploaded my values via arduino then I send gcode
M500 ; saved!!
hopefully it is correct.

@Burak0015 No, you first upload the firmware using Arduino or PlatformIO and then send M502 followed directly by M92 E415 and M500

what do you mean by send M502 followed directly by M92 E415 and M500? is it  must be one g-code like m502, m92, E415 or Can I send them one by one?

@Burak0015 Those are 2 variants: Install Firmware, send M502, then send M500. OR send M95 E415 then send M500.

Okay I will use first one  Install Firmware via arduino then send M502, then send M500 Thank you very much

authors: هدوووي العياد


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How can I extend silicon hotbed wires safely?
I'm in the middle of building a D-Bot printer, and have run into a bit of an issue when it comes to the heat bed wires.  The heated bed is an aluminum plate with a silicon heater attached to it, and the heater wires are not long enough to make it through the drag chain when the Z-axis is fully extended.
The silicon pad is 120 V AC / 750 W and will be turned on/off by a Fotek SSR.  The heater wires are cloth-covered and are probably 22-24 AWG. (Gauge is not labelled)
I suspect I'll need to extend the wires by putting in some sort of coupler at the top of the drag chain, but I'm not certain if there are specific requirements for the wires for an AC powered heat bed.
To this end, I was wondering:

Is there a specific wire gauge that I should use for the heater wires, and should it have a specific cladding?
What type of connector would be best for connecting the wires together securely in this case?

Thanks in advance!

Remember to set your firmware to operate that SSR either in bang-bang mode, or with a PWM frequency lower than 5 Hz if you use PID control. SSR often operate at zero-crossing, therefore you can toggle switch them up to 120 times a second. With 5 Hz PWM the resolution of the power setting would be 120/5=24 power steps.

Actually half that value, since you have to toggle them back: 5 Hz = 12 power levels

Would it be possible to completely replace the wires? You don't really want a soldered or crimped joint in the part which is subject to repeated flexing in the drag chain if you can avoid it.

750 W at 120 V is 6.3 A. 22-24 AWG is on the thin side for this. I would recommend 18 AWG or thicker. You don't need a specific style of insulation for this (other than something that is rated for the voltage and temperature the wire will need to withstand, but most commonly found wire should be good).
A good way of connecting the wires would be to solder them. If you do not want to solder, there are many products on the market for connecting wires. A butt connector that you crimp could be a good option, or you could use a WAGO clamp. Whatever option you end up using, be sure to provide adequate strain relief as the connection point (be it soldered or with a connector) is more likely to fail from fatigue.

Comparing the wire with a 20 G wire, the core seems about the same size, so I might actually be OK there.  (I don't have any 18 gauge wire handy right now for comparison).  Would a 1-2" length of 20 G wire pose a problem?  (I suspect it'll still be a bottleneck, but maybe if I minimize the length before going to a larger gauge, it won't be as bad.  Unfortunately, I''m not certain I can get at the contacts in the pad without destroying it.)

750 W at 120 V is around 6.3 A.
You can use a voltage drop calculator  to find out how much power is lost in the wires, and therefore their temperature increase.
I did it for you. With 10 feet (2x5 feet) 20AWG wire and 6 A current, 7 W are dissipated on the wires.
It's 0.7 W/foot which is ok for silicone wires, also because the bed doesn't operate at 100% except for the initial heating up (and then the heat goes to the air around, which is fine anyway).
If you use another website, you can see that 20 AWG with 6 A current produces, in free air, around 10 degrees temperature increase. Silicone insulation will worsen that, but silicone holds well over 100 °C...
Use thicker wires if you can, or go on if you cannot.
The most important thing is to very effectively join the two, so that no extra resistance is introduced. I would place them next to each other and physically solder them. Then heat shrink tube around the joint.
See for info what not to use for the joining

Using a soldered connection that uses a low temperature solder in a device that has both a heated bed in the vicinity and could have a repetitive movement applied to it makes a bit hesitant to recommend that for this application. Even if that movement is only vibration. Solder does not play well with even the slightest repetitive flexing. I would recommend a normal butt connector is used over a self soldering version for this application.

To add to the answers here, use a finely stranded wire for the bed. It does better with being constantly flexed. Finely stranded wire is hard to source, except it is usually what is used for wall warts/AC adapters. They come in the heavier gauge you want, just check the writing on the wire.


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Y-min stay triggered
I have a FLSUN i3 220x220x240 with:

an 2004 LCD (RepRap Discount Smart Controller)
an MKS-gen-L-v1.0 printer board running Marlin firmware 2.0.5.x
3D touch sensor,
a filament runout sensor.

Everything works fine but for the mechanical Y-min switch: it stays triggered.
(M119) YMIN worked under Marlin 1.1.2; everything is connected correctly and is physically working.
I don't know what to do... Does maybe someone have an idea of what I can do?
These are my config files:

configuration.h
configuration_adv.h
pins_RAMPS.h

Please help us  help you! a photo of the printer would help. Does the trigger signal change if you manually trigger it (which would hint that you wired the switch up as Normal Closed not Normal Open. Also, we'd much prefer to have the text of your configurations uploaded on a site where we don't have to download it, for example, pastebin.com - this makes reading the source code much easier.

@Trish if i trigger by hand  no response Y (not defect tested) X ,Z  and FILLAMENT SENSOR repond normal on closed and open (test m119)

I changed pins 14 to 15 and 15 to 14 no difference. Also, if I change Y-min pin to X-min then Y-min trigger and X-min won't trigger! but, when I put the plug in theY-max is working!

sounds like the pinning on the board and the firmware placement for these pins is mixed up. Another possibility might be shoddy soldering that the pins are not properly connected

This MKS-GEN-L board is in essence a plain RAMPS board, and as such it uses the same pinout apart from some specific pins. Do note the include of the RAMPS pinout in the MKS-GEN-L at the end of the file.
From your comment you have changed the pins 14 and 15, in doing so, you need to plug the Y-min endstop in the Y-max socket after uploading the modified firmware. With the unmodified firmware (no pin switch), if the Y-endstop works in the Y-max socket, this means that you have a hardware issue. The pin labeled 14 is connected to the Y-max instead of the Y-min. If you did the pinout switch and left the endstop in the Y-min socket, then you can conclude that the 15 pin is not connected to the Y-min socket. Basically you don't have a 15 pin that is exposed. Could be that there is an issue on the board with the traces or the soldering.

it worked still messing with the mesh gritpoints right now...

authors: Cake_Seller Слава Україні


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Installed bed leveling probe, now Z homing moves to center
I installed a BLTouch bed leveling probe on my printer which uses Marlin 2.0.5.3.
Now the printer seems to be of two minds when it comes to finding the origin. Homing XY moves to the lower left as it always has, but homing Z moves not only to Z=0, but also to the center of the build plate. The printer knows this is (100,100,0) and is not mistakenly thinking it is (0,0,0).
This causes some issues such as now the nozzle wipe at the beginning of a print happens right in the center of where the print is supposed to be.
Is this expected behavior?

what did you do besides mounting the bed leveling sensor? Which distribution of marlin did you install? Which slicer do you use? Did you hook "Origin is in center"?

I'm not sure what distribution you're referring to, I built it myself from source. I do not have BED_CENTER_AT_0_0 enabled. I mounted and wired up the sensor but have not calibrated the Z offset yet.

This is a consequence of enabling Z_SAFE_HOMING:

Z Safe Homing prevents Z from homing when the probe (or nozzle) is outside bed area by moving to a defined XY point (by default, the middle of the bed) before Z Homing when homing all axes with G28. As a side-effect, X and Y homing are required before Z homing. If stepper drivers time out, X and Y homing will be required again.
Enable this option if a probe (not an endstop) is being used for Z homing. Z Safe Homing isn’t needed if a Z endstop is used for homing, but it may also be enabled just to have XY always move to some custom position after homing.

My default Cura start G-code contained this sequence:
G28 X0 Y0 ;move X/Y to min endstops
G28 Z0 ;move Z to min endstops

I changed this to
G28 ;safe homing
G90 ;absolute positioning
G0 X0 Y0 ; move to bottom-left corner for nozzle wipe

However any oozing will still happen at the center of the build plate, which is a problem.

Note that G28 X0 Y0 and G28 Z0 are incorrect instructions, from the wiki: The X, Y, and Z parameters act only as flags. Any coordinates given are ignored. For example, G28 Z10 results in the same behavior as G28 Z.

you should possibly retract the filament before probing Z to prevent oozing

I had the same problem, solved it by inserting
// Move X and Y to 0 after homing
process_subcommands_now_P("G1 X0 Y0 F5000");

at the end of G28.cpp, just before ui.refresh();
This moves the print head to X0, Y0 and leaves Z untouched after the homing procedure. This way any oozing that might happen while the extruder heats up will be outside of the bed.

Hi and welcome to SE.3DP. Could you expand upon your answer a little, by explaining what the additional code does and why it solves the issue?

This is pretty cumbersome, while adding G1 X0 Y0 after G28 or G29 would do exactly the same (in your start G-code script), but it doesn't require any firmware changes. It is Z_SAFE_HOMING causing Z to home in the middle of the bed (as instructed by the configuration file) for safety so that the probe hits the bed surface at any time.


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Severe regression in print quality after adding Z probe
I installed a BLTouch on my printer (Wanhao Duplicator i3) with Marlin 2.0.5.3 and enabled AUTO_BED_LEVELING_BILINEAR.
However, the results are disastrous when I print. The first few layers do not adhere to the build plate at all. It is much worse with the probe than when I was leveling by hand.
In my Marlin configuration,  I left the probe's Z offset from the nozzle at 0. Then I went through the Z offset calibration process to set Z=0 to barely touching the build plate. Then I ran the bed leveling process.
How can I diagnose what's going wrong?
When I run G30 X100 Y100 to probe the center of the bed, I get a measurement of Z=1.18. I'm assuming that represents the true Z offset between the probe and the nozzle tip?

Here's another thing I tried. I probed with G30 X100 Y100 which output a measurement like this:
Recv: Bed X: 100.00 Y: 100.00 Z: 0.06

I tweaked the Z offset with M851 Z... repeatedly until a probe yielded Z: 0.00 (the offset was -1.07). Then I ran G29 to run bed leveling, which gave me this grid:
Bilinear Leveling Grid:
      0      1      2      3      4      5      6      7      8
 0 -0.403 -0.313 -0.258 -0.210 -0.178 -0.138 -0.128 -0.085 -0.058
 1 -0.285 -0.223 -0.178 -0.145 -0.103 -0.060 -0.050 -0.023 -0.045
 2 -0.178 -0.128 -0.080 -0.083 -0.078 -0.053 -0.045 -0.048 -0.038
 3 -0.103 -0.058 -0.028 -0.030 -0.018 -0.015 -0.018 -0.000 -0.030
 4 -0.020 +0.015 +0.015 +0.002 -0.000 -0.013 -0.035 -0.060 -0.088
 5 +0.030 +0.055 +0.037 +0.020 +0.035 -0.015 -0.023 -0.073 -0.140
 6 +0.060 +0.082 +0.087 +0.020 -0.000 -0.055 -0.103 -0.160 -0.210
 7 +0.097 +0.102 +0.082 +0.055 +0.002 -0.035 -0.105 -0.138 -0.265
 8 +0.145 +0.130 +0.102 +0.077 -0.045 -0.108 -0.183 -0.193 -0.263

You can see at (4,4), the center of the bed is 0.0.
Then I saved the mesh and Z-offset with M500. I confirmed repeatedly that G28 puts the nozzle just touching the build plate and not pushing on it.
This strategy seems to be work alright. I'm not sure if it's the correct way to do it. I'd welcome any feedback. If anything, I think I should probably raise the nozzle a fraction of a millimeter higher off the bed.

Did or didn't you redefine the trigger to nozzle offset by using M851 Zxxx (where xxx denotes the offset)?

Well, according to this guide yes I used that command, but computed offset was 0.05.

What is a computed offset? You need to use the one that has been determined using the guide you referenced. It should be a value of about 1 to 2 mm, if it is 0.05, the trigger point is too close to the bed, you should then lower your sensor ( I guess you mean -0.05, because if it is a positive value, the trigger point is at the wrong side, and cannot be reached unless the carriage flexes).

"I tweaked the Z offset with M851 Z... repeatedly...", you only need to do that once.

Your leveling grid tells me: LEvel your bed! All the numbers should be within about 0 +- 0.1

This bed is high at the front left (assuming 0,8 is front left) and lower at the other corners, this requires a better leveling.

Even with Auto Mesh Bed Leveling, you need to level the bed as good as you can. Your leveling grid show it varies between -0.403 and +0.145, that is about 0.55 mm or about 2-3 layers of filament (0.2 or 0.3 mm per layer). That can't be compensated for reasonably.

Re-level your bed so that the corners only have an absolute error of at max 0.1 mm around their average 0 - that's half what I consider the standard layer 1 height of 0.2 mm, regardless of other settings.
Make sure the 0 of the extended probe is a sliver under the nozzle, just to prevent piercing your bed on probing
G28 should bring the nozzle a hair sliver above the bed - if you move the head in X or Y direction (by hand after disabling the steppers, or move the carriage using the LCD) it should not make contact.

If the probe is correctly configured it can do even worse oriented beds, but the question is if you want a printed part with a skew underside. But practically, or reasonably as you state it, it is unwanted.

Thanks. I'm working on this still. I leveled the bed better, however, on printing the nozzle crashed into the bed. Is the right order: disable auto leveling, move nozzle to Z=0, level bed, home all, probe new auto level grid, save? If so, how does it determine when it reaches Z=0, if G28 doesn't deploy the probe?


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Printing dental temporary crowns
If the right filament material is available, it seems practical for dentist to 3D print temporary crowns. Multiple images of the tooth to crown could be used for a 3D scan. Custom software or settings would probably make the software finish in less time. A 3D-printed temporary crown would probably take less work to get it to fit properly. Anyone know of development to do this? This probably would take a series of clinical trials to get FDA approval.

https://all3dp.com/2/dental-3d-printing-all-you-need-to-know/ is a beginning

Summarize this articles information on crowns and you've answered the question.  Not sure about FDA approval.

Checked with dental office and found out that some dentist in the U.S. are already using the technology in the above link.

You ask about "filament", so I assume you expect fused-filament technologies. These are however not accurate enough, besides being prone to gaps and crevices which are problematic in crowns. The smallest viable nozzle, 0.2 mm, is still too rough for that.
Dental 3D printers need to be very accurate, so the most common technologies used are stereolithography (SLA) and digital light processing (DLP).
Crowns can be made using resin printing. It is possible to use also CNC machining of porcelain, but it's not part of 3D printing.
More info can be found on https://all3dp.com/2/dental-3d-printing-guide/

Filament would have been for a temporary crown, but the machined porcelain eliminates the need for a temporary crown; a nice improvement.

Note that SLS (solid Laser Sintering also is a viable method for dental crown


text:
Printer keeps pausing and restart during print process
I'm using Marlin bugfix 2.0.x with my custom printer. Sliced a test cube with PrusaSlicer 2.2.0.
My printer starts printing process but randomly stops for one second and then continues.
Where I can start to find what's wrong?

Help-us-help-you! What printer? What's your settings? We need to know more!

Some versions of Cura had a bug that caused speed of light to be written into the gcode where there was a missing speed limit, and that overflowed the Marlin firmware and turned into an extremely slow move (behaving like a pause). Maybe PrusaSlicer had the same bug. Look in the gcode file where the pause is happening for odd feedrates.

Mine is a custom printer based on RAMPS 1.4. I updated Marlin firmware to bugfix-2.0.x and it seems it starts to pausing just a second during print process. I'll check the gcode file asap.


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Why does printing outer walls last cause corner curling?
In an old question I just self-answered, I had ongoing problems with corner curling that went away due to my switching to using Cura's Outer Before Inner Walls (outer_inset_first) setting. Now, since there are sometimes reasons to prefer not to use that setting, I'm trying to figure out how it makes the difference.
My initial hypothesis was that the inner walls are pressed outward slightly beyond their nominal position, due to skin and infill overlap settings, and that when there's not sufficient room for the outer wall material, the path of least tension at a corner is for it to curl upward (whereas along straight edges it's just remaining in a straight line). However, disabling infill and skin overlap did not significantly improve things. Could it just be slight remaining bulge at the corner of the inner walls? I'm using Marlin with Linear Advance calibrated to avoid that, and visually there doesn't seem to be such a bulge, but it at least seems vaguely plausible.
What are some other plausible explanations to invesigate?


text:
PLA Warps despite every effort to prevent it
I am using a Creality Ender 5 with a tempered glass bed. I could say that I am a seasoned 3D printing hobbyist but I am really out of ideas in this case. Currently I am using a grey colored PLA that was working rather fine (not as good as my Hatchbox, but that ran out). I set my bed temperature to 60 °C as always, even used a raft to improve adhesion. Since the print I am trying to accomplish is not very tall, and I detest even the slightest warping, I disabled the cooling fan for most of my print, and crank it to half way up in the middle. I am using a custom printed nozzle shroud, but it doesn’t matter in this case because the print warped before halfway to a point that I have never encountered even back in the day when I would use cooling fan on every layer. It is truly terrifying and I need some advice. Thanks!
Some stats:

Bed: 60 °C
Nozzle: 200 °C for 1st layer, 185 °C for the rest
Fan: 50 % at layer 50, 0 % all before
Raft: yes
Resolution: 0.2 mm

PLA doesn't shrink much, but the difference between first layer and consecutive layers is pretty large, more than I've seen (usually it is about 5 °C), maybe you should bring the first layer temp closer to the normal printing temperature or vice versa and ditch the raft in favor of a brim.

See my question https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/q/13892/11157 and the linked question - have you tried switching to outer walls first? I don't understand why but it helps a lot with this for me.

@R..GitHubSTOPHELPINGICE It does make some sense, I will try it out.


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Problem with temperature readings after Marlin upgrade
I have an Ender-3 that I've been using daily for almost 2 years.
Yesterday, I updated the firmware to Marlin 1.1.9.1, using the configuration files provided for the Ender-3.
I printed out a few small pieces, everything went well.
And today, after 2 small printings of less than 15 mn, during the first layer of a printing, the printer head met one of the clamps of the bed, and the printing quickly stopped with an E1 error.
I turned off the printer, did various things (dinner, watching tv), and when I turned it back on, bed and nozzle cold, it refuses to tell me anything else than 156 °C for the nozzle, and 209 °C for the bed (the two temp_sensors of the nozzle and the bed TEMP_SENSOR_0 / TEMP_SENSOR_BED are at 1).
I did a reset of the EEPROM via the menus, turned the printer off and on, unplugged it from the mains, reuploaded the same Marlin: nothing to do.
I doubt both sensors died at the same time. Or that the card was fried, in which case it would have been rather worrying because it would have been very directly related to the Marlin upgrade, made without frills or crazy customization (I just adjusted the display fonts, enabled thermal runaway protection, disabled power failure recovery, and lowered the maximum shutdown temperatures for the bed and nozzle by 5-10 °C).
Would you be able to help me with that?
P.S.: I have reloaded my original firmware that I had saved, and when the printer has finished booting, I have the temperatures 157 °C (for the nozzle) and 211 °C for the bed displayed and the message Err: max temp bed" at the bottom of the screen.
It's very annoying.
So I ask myself: what's wrong? And above all: why did it come to this?

Sounds like you board or thermistors might be fried.
Start by measuring the resistance of the thermistors - should be around 100 kOhm at room temperature.
Sidenote: Marlin 1.1.9 has been utterly obsolete for quite some time now, though that doesn't affect your issue.

@towe: at the same time ? Why would this happen ? As the printer runs flawlessly since 2 years with stock firmware. Because if they have died, and I buy new ones, I don't see anything I did wrong and this will happen again and again, especially as I won't be able to use the stock firmware anymore.


text:
How to get a quality print of a thin single-walled shell?
I would like to 3D print a small thin tub/mold for an epoxy resin. I have tubings inserted into holes, and I need to fix these tubings securely with epoxy (see picture below). The space is very limited, and the whole assembly must have a smallest possible footprint, so I have to confine the epoxy from spreading to the sides - that's why I need a tub. The tub itself must have as thin walls as possibly for the same reason.

The wall thickness is constant, so theoretically the nozzle could just make one single loop to print a layer, and then move to the next one. Kinda a spiral motion. It seems to be so simple! How do I get the slicer (I use Ultimaker 2 with 0.4 mm nozzle, CoPA material, and slice in Cura 4.6.1) to produce single outline walls?
I tried so many things, but I couldn't get this.
With the default settings for 0.2 mm layer a 0.4 mm wall (or thinner) will not be printed at all (left - 0.35 mm wall, middle - 0.4 mm, right - 0.45 mm):

Occasionally even the 0.45 mm-thick wall gets excluded from the print, which is really bizarre:

If I make the wall thicker, then the slicer tries to pack two discontinued lines next to each other, which is even worse. Cura has an option 'print thin walls', but this results in jerky, discontinued tracks.

At the moment I print 0.45 mm walls with the 'print thin walls' option turned on, this is the closest to what I need that I could find so far.

This may look fine in Cura, but the result is pretty ugly due to the additional nozzle movements... I really don't understand why the printer has to do them. It prints the outline, then jumps to the 'corner' and deposits a blob there. I can carefully remove these blobs with a scalpel, but come on, this is a disposable part and I need a ton of these!!!

If that helps, here is a link to a sample STL file with 450 μm walls.

I noticed after answering that you're using an exotic material. Switching to PLA might make things easier. But that's unrelated to your slicing problem.

If you try Prusa slicer you will see that it provides information about thickness of walls to be used in the model for optimal printing. It should be in the page about the number of perimeters.

@R..GitHubSTOPHELPINGICE I have to print from an acetone-resistant material. I tried PLA, and it indeed looks better, but it's not chemically resistant.

@RKiselev: If only PLA were affected by acetone, 3d printing folks would be very happy, but alas PLA is not soluble in acetone or any other easy-to-handle solvent and shouldn't be chemically affected by it either. Have you tried unpigmented "natural" PLA? It's probably just messing with the pigments or additives the manufacturer added for strength/printability-improvement/whatever. Another great option if you need something that won't react, that's easy to print, and that's easy to remove if you need to remove it, would be TPU.

@R..GitHubSTOPHELPINGICE I decided to do a quick check with the PLA that I have (Ultimaker material, PLA black). As you can see in the picture, after just 5 min in acetone the part became gummy and very deformed. Additionally, the acetone itself darkened and became turbid. I don't have a natural PLA to try it, but I expect a similar behavior. This chart also says its not compatible.

@RKiselev: Thanks for that paper link! It's very useful and answers an open question I've had for a long time. I'm trying to reproduce your result, and indeed I got almost exactly the result you did for blue Hatchbox PLA, but little or no damage so far to unpigmented/clear 3D Solutech PLA (not particularly marked as natural/no-additives afaict).

And after much longer (not timed but about 20-30 min) the clear PLA softened and deformed somewhat, but not as bad as the blue. It'd be interesting to study this further but I think your choice to use a different material here is sound.

Did you ever report this issue on the Cura bug tracker? It's very odd that this happens when the wall that should be there is significantly wider than the wall line width, and it'd be nice to get them to track down the root cause and fix it.

After a lot of experimenting and trying several different things I finally discovered the 'vase mode'. In this mode the 3D printer makes a hollow object with a single-layer outer shell.
The corresponding setting is called 'spiralize outer contour' in Cura 4.6.1. In this mode the printer does not make distinct layers and prints the whole shell in one continuous motion (video), exactly as I need it. The print is done faster, and the quality is dramatically better!

The downside is that only one model can be built in this mode. If you place several models on the build plate, they will get connected by a wall. However, there is a workaround in Cura: under 'Special modes' set 'Print sequence' to 'One at a time'. Ultimaker will print several model one after another provided they are not tall and you leave enough space between them (dark area in the picture below). I could print up to 12 models at once, which is enough for me.

Vase mode was what I was going to say, however it has limitations. You can't print any other geometry with it, and the shape will be limited. That said the better solution I would say is to use a SLA printer, or something like it that can print higher quality.
Actually you really don't need vase mode for this, as your issue would be retraction settings, and large nozzle.

@StarWind0 thanks for the great suggestions. Unfortunately, that's not my printer, so I'm not going to mess around with the nozzle. I used to work with SLA before and it is indeed awesome, but we don't have this technology now.

You can create your own slicer profiles and not change the machine you are borrowing or the owners settings.

Cura is exceptionally bad at printing details comparable in size to the configured line width. Lower your wall line width to something like half the wall thickness (i.e. 0.225 mm) and see if that works. With a standard 0.4 mm nozzle I've had success printing tiny details with 0.2 mm line width or smaller. For example:

And here's your model printed at 0.225 mm line width:

I also had to slow down the print speed considerably to get first layer adhesion with such thin lines. I did 40% via the printer UI, relative to 30 mm/s base rate, so effectively 12 mm/s. After first layer increasing speed was no problem.
Important: You also need to set the "Outer Wall Inset" (wall_0_inset) setting to 0. This is a broken Cura feature that's supposed to compensate for wall line widths less than the nozzle width, but the math is incorrect and not actually needed, and if it's left at the default it will reproduce exactly the same "missing wall" issue you got with full wall line width.

small note: printing such slim lines Works considerably better with flat-nosed "e3D-style" nozzles, as they have a considerable edge to smooch the plastic into position.

@r-github-stop-helping-ice I tried this, but I've got a meshed discontinued structure, that is the printed was depositing way too little material. I solved this issue by printing in the 'vase mode'.

You don't need to use vase mode. But vase mode will work.
I'm not familiar with Cura, I use PrusaSlicer, but I'm sure there are equivalent settings.
What you want to do is model the part in two pieces. The first piece will be the same height as the base. The second piece will be the top half. It can all be one model, but it helps to think of it as two.
In the bottom part, add your hole, and print it with however many solid layers as is required to make the base thickness.
For the top part, make it solid, and print it with 1 perimeter and 0 % infill and 0 top and bottom layers. You can decide the wall thickness by tweaking the extrusion width.
If you want to make the part perfect, you can size the bottom hole by taking the dimensions of the upper portion and subtracting whatever extrusion width you will use from the surfaces.
You can print as many of these as you want as close together as you can because it isn't using vase mode.

I recently wanted to print something with small walls as well and this site helped me out.
Basically just set horizontal expansion to 0.04 and Cura does a better job.

Thanks for your answer but we are looking for comprehensive answers that provide some explanation and context. Very short answers cannot do this, so please [edit] your answer to explain why it is right. Additionally, we prefer answers to be self contained where possible. link only answers are frowned upon (as links tend to rot) & will be rendered useless if the linked-to content disappears. If you add more context and detail from the link, it is more likely that people will find your answer useful.


text:
Why is glass a widely recommended option for the print bed?
Glass is really bad at transferring heat. Therefore using it with heated bed seems to be a strange solution since it will not be transferring heat from bed to the print.
However every article I see says it is actually good solution for printing.
The reason I am concerned is that I have pretty large bed (500x500 mm) which is pretty hard to keep flat. And in this case glass would be a good top surface that will keep bed rather flat. But same time I am concerned that it will kill the benefit of heated bed (PCB style) and will require higher bed temperature to get glass surface to equal temperature.

similar but not duplicate: https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/11309/removeable-glass-bed-vs-removeable-springsteel-beds

Actually for an electrically insulating material glass a decent thermal conductor.  Compare it to plastic and rubber.

@PerryWebb not sure where you get that information. You can check the link in my post to a comparison of material thermal conductivity. It is rather bad thermal conductor and the reason why it is used as an insulator in construction industry (glass wool).

If you compare glass to metals, it is a poor thermal conductor.  In general good electrical conductors are good thermal conductors, and good electrical insulators are poor thermal conductors.  However, compared to other electrical insulators, glass isn't too bad of a thermal conductor.  Often, fine particles of glass are added to plastic in plastic encapsulated electronic components to promote thermal conductivity.

I suggest to look at a similar question, but just the glass question here:

Glass is a very smooth surface
Glass shrinks when cooling to a degree it pops the print free on itself
Glass is virtually impossible to scratch with metal scrapers
Glass stays fairly flat under heating
Refurbishing of the bed isn't needed but for applying your adhesion solution (Woodglue, Gluestick, Hairspray, 3DLac, ABS-Slurry... pretty much ANY glue can work
Glass is one of the few surfaces upon which almost all materials can be printed without risking ruining your print surface on removal

PETG is one of the few that demands some sort of extra adhesion material with glass, most others don't need anything.
POM and some other materials love to rip PEI apart
I had a huge PLA-print stick so well to a BuildTak that I had to cut the sheet off the bed to get it off

The problems are fairly evident on the other hand:

Glass is brittle and shatters on impact or thermal stress.
Good glass can become rather expensive if you want a super flat sheet in non-standard sizing and a specific type.
Large glass sheets need a very even heater to prevent thermal stress.

Borosilicate?
Borosilicate glass ("labware" glass) is more resistant to thermal stress but also does not pop free from the print the same way as normal glass does. It is also more sturdy but MUCH more expensive. It also comes with its own problems:
Some people have experienced spalling in combination with PETG, as it created a perfect airtight seal, making an adhesive as a separation layer mandatory. This behavior was also reported for normal glass, which is why an adhesive material is strongly suggested for this material.

Maybe you could add hinting to borosilicate glass, more expensive, but very capable of handling thermal stress. This effectively removes the third bullet from your cons list ;-)

@0scar implemented - though also note that Borosilicate is comparatively really expensive.

Pane glass is cheaper than aluminum, and practically ubiquitous.

@user77232 depends on the size and quality of the glass and the special shape...

Also, glass being a good insulator, it will keep warm with less effort and even the heat out across the pane.

@FarO I've printed kilometers of 2.85 mm PETG on glass beds, that works excellent, so I don't understand why not to use it, glass works very well for PETG according to my experience (but I do use 3DLAC for adhesion, is that where you are hinting at?), what doesn't work well is PEI, PETG almost fuses to it...

@0scar I refer to PETG adhering too much to plain clean glass, search online "petg chipping glass" and you'll find videos and webpages. Of course if you use any agent in between or you keep the first layer severely underextruded to reduce adhesion you are fine. I also plan to use borosilicate glass in my next printer.

@FarO Thanks for the update, as I'm lazy sometimes I don't put an agent under every print, I have never had spalling glass sheets, so I guess this is related to cheap glass only, not borosilicate glass as I have never had to deal with it?

@0scar also I just read that the issue is particularly pronounced in borosilicate. Normal glass may be better. I will surely find a way to leave dirt on it, to reduce adhesion. Glass cleaner with vinegar, or water with salt, ...

authors: Артем Кравчук


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Bumps in outer wall
First of all, I'm quite new to 3D printing. After printing some temperature towers, stringing and bridging tests, I wanted to print the Bechys to see everything working together. I'm getting some strange "bumps" in the outer walls. It looks like for 2-3 layers, the filament gets lifted up.

I first thought, the infill is printed too far in the outer shell, so I unchecked "Infill Before Walls" in Cura. Surprisingly the outcome did not change and the "bumps" where in the exact same spots as before.
I am aware of a part cooling problem, but my stock cooler already sits at 100 %. I don't think, the extruder temperature is too hot, with it being only 200 °C. As you can see, the printer only has a one sided cooling solution with a very small fan conduct.

Print settings:

Printer: Anycubic I3 Mega S
Slicer: Cura
Material: PLA
Extruder Temp: 200 °C
Bed Temp: 60 °C
Print speed: 45 mm/s
Travel speed: 100mm/s
Layer height: 0.2 mm
Layer width: 0.4 mm
Nozzle: 0.4 mm
Infill: 10 %
Retraction distance: 4.5 mm
Retraction speed: 40 mm/s

So I am suspecting it must have something to do with the way, it is sliced. Does anyone have an idea?
Update:
I started the print again with aligned seams. Now you can clearly see the artifact. At the point of the seam the print is warped inwards and upwards.

I did some more prints and tried to increase retraction distance up to 10 mm and retraction speed up to 60 mm/s, but I also did not manage to improve the print. I also tried to enable the "retract at layer change" option and to disable "Z Hop When Retracted" but without success.
I set the travel speed down to 45 mm/s with no change in print quality.

Please slice with layer change aligned and post an image (20 layers should suffice), so that we can see if this is related to layer changes or not.

Hi welcome to 3DPrinting.SE! What can be seen on the bottom photo is that your nozzle is a little too far from the bed, and you aren't using enough part cooling (see the overhanging bow).

@0scar I am aware of the part cooling but it already sits at a 100 %. I think I will do an upgrade shortly. I have already done a temperature tower, bridging and stringing tests. The benchy was just to see everything together. How did you determine, the bed being to far away from the nozzle?

If the fan is already at 100 %, then you print too hot or the cooling fan doesn't provide enough flow, many print fan ducts constrict airflow, we cannot see what you are using. Your first layer doesn't look that well, there are many channels, but it is hard to tell from the photo. Sometimes 200 °C is just too hot, most PLA can be printed from 185 °C. The last photo looks as if the nozzle has overpressure at the end of the outer wall or oozed out filament at the start of the outer wall.This could be a retraction issue.

Thanks for the help so far. I'm going to play around with the retraction again and see if that helps.

Over the course of a few testprints I increased the retraction distance and speed. Unfortunately the outcome is exactly the same. Could the printer feed to much filament or would I notice that otherwise? Are there other retraction parameters that could cause this issue?

Nice results (not pretty, but helpful). Please try slowing down your non-printing moves to the same speed as your printing moves, and let us know if this helps. ;)

Unfortunately reducing the travel speed didn't change anything.

You might be overextruding a bit, causing some extra ooze when the nozzle stops for a layer change.

@mrei The heater block should probably have some thermal insulation on it. See if you can find a silicone insulator made to fit it, otherwise: Efficient and easy way to thermally insulate the heat block of the hotend?

I agree with Andrew, that heater block gets cooled by the part cooling fan, which has an awkward position. Otherwise, I see that all the errors are at the start of the lines, and there is some underextrusion around it, hinting that you have to tweak your retraction distance.

There are a few issues that could cause this. Roughness in your z-axis lead screw as pointed out by @TheLamestUsername is a leading contender I would say. I'd also extended that answer to include checking the belts for your X and Y axes as well as making sure that the rods the gantry slide on are smooth since the fault appears to be in about the same X-Y location as well in the one image.
However, there are a few alternatives as well. Check/confirm that the material that you're using doesn't have a lot of absorbed moisture in it. This can cause little bits of steam to 'pop' when they're extruded causing some bubbles
Because of how the material is folding at the location in the "updated" image this looks to be an issue with the starting and stopping. All of the layer's problems appear to be happening when the gantry moves up to the next layer. Essentially more material is coming out of the nozzle there (I think) than is what should be. Confirming material diameter with some calipers can help if there's just an offset (not too unlikely I don't think).
If the diameters are dead on I'd suggest reducing the nozzle temperature by a few degrees. The sensors used to measure the temperature aren't usually all that accurate, though their precision is often pretty good. While you may have it set at 200C that might not be the actual temperature. Calibration of the thermal sensors can drift over time, so while it might have been good on the last roll it may have drifted slightly. Or the material might be of slightly different composition. Try lowering the nozzle temp by 2-5 degrees and see if that has any effect.
You may also have a retraction setting that can be modified. Pulling the material back ever so slightly when it finishes the one layer as it moves to the next could alos reduce some of the extra material that's coming out.

The fact that the bumps were in the same spots on multiple occasions points to z-axis problems. Turn your printer off and manually turn the z-axis all the way from bottom to top. If there are any tight spots, there is some z-axis binding. If there are no tight spots, skip to the last paragraph.
Try taking off the z-axis by removing the set screws (pictured below). Remember which side was pointing up for a later step.

Once you do that, clean the screw thoroughly with a brush, cloth, solution, or a combination of those. Put the screw back in the opposite way this time.
If you get no bumps, then it was indeed the z-axis
If the bumps are still there, try lowering your temperature some more(200 is still a little high compared to what I do for PLA), and calibrate your e-steps if you haven't already.


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Ender 3 display stopped working, how to test if need to replace
My Ender 3 LCD display was working ok, I went to turn it on recently but is not showing any signal of life anymore...
I have tried unplugging and plugging again, is there a way to test if the screen still works?
What is the issue? Or should I just buy and install a new LCD?

This is hard to answer, it depends on your skills if you can can repair it or not. As you haven't changed the firmware, it is unlikely that this is a software issue. If the display doesn't light up, the power to the module may be broken.
If you have an Arduino Uno or similar you can try to upload a sketch and connect the display to see if it works, there are plenty of sites explaining how you should do that (software sketch and hardware connections) based on the pins exposed on the EXP port. Note that you can forget the EXP port that controls the SD card.
Personally, I would just buy a new controller, they are cheap (found on those typical Chinese vendor or auction sites).
What you can do is check whether the printer board still works, if you connect a USB cable directly to the board and connect it to a PC, you could see if the printer responds using a printer application such as Pronterface (part of the PrintRun suite).

Can you tell if the fans are turning on for your Ender 3? If not then the problem may be with your power supply or main board. If you can hear your power supply is on (listen for the fan near where you plug in the 120/230 V power plug), then the issue may be with either your main board or LCD screen.
If this post on reddit is accurate, the Ender 3 uses a standard Reprap 12864 LCD module. If you have a breadboard and a 5 volt power source, you can try connecting pin 1 to the power supply and pin 2 to the ground. If the LCD turns on then the issue is most likely with the main board.
Alternatively, @0scar♦ suggestion is good too, a cheap LCD screen can potentially save a bunch of diagnostic time.
Pin Diagram for 12864 LCD Panel:


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Showing dimension of a model in FreeCAD
I had a simple model imported into FreeCAD and I'd like to know the dimension of the bounding box for the model, how do I do that?

Not using FreeCAD, so not an answer: I like to use my slicer for that.


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Is there a slicer that can set the print speed for each layer as a function of the layer area?
Is there a slicer that can set the print speed for each layer as a function of the layer area? Larger areas give the layer a longer time to cool off before the next print layer.  When the layer areas start to get small (usually at toward the end of a print if so) the layer may need a slower speed to cool off.

Most slicers have a feature in their cooling settings to "slow down if layer print time is below xxx".
Setting this to a higher value should ensure that small / short layers aren't printed too fast, so that cooling is still reliable.
Shorter layers are slows down linearly to reach the specified minimum time - unless a "minimum print speed" is also set.

@lowe Found this setting.  This does what I'm after.

@lowe yes, all I needed to do was increase the default layer time.

Most slicers have a feature in their cooling settings to "slow down if layer print time is below xxx".
Setting this to a higher value should ensure that small / short layers aren't printed too fast, so that cooling is still reliable.
Shorter layers are slowed down linearly to reach the specified minimum time - unless a "minimum print speed" is also set.


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How to find pure PLA filament?
Prompted by discussion in comments of a recent question whether PLA is suitable for parts that need to be in contact with acetone, I did some casual experiments and found that my clear/"natural" 3D Solutech PLA is mostly but not entirely resistant to acetone, while my blue Hatchbox PLA is quickly softened and deformed by it. This got me wondering: how do you go about finding PLA that's actually PLA (and nothing else)? Just "clear/natural" in product description does not seem to suffice.
I know this is close to a shopping question, so please make suggestions on how it could be improved if it's too close. It'd be great if there were keywords that worked, but an answer is probably going to be more along the lines of how to go about inquiring with manufacturers or where to find places where manufacturers might advertise that their products as pure.

There's only two ways to make sure it is pure PLA without color and additives:

Make it yourself. Order PLA-pellets for manufacturing and put them into a filament extrusion machine
Contact your manufacturer and ask them to do the above for you.

Note though that the pure PLA might have undesirable attributes for pritability that are fought with fillers and additives.

If acetone resistance is what you are after, try PETG:
"While the chemical resistance of PETG is one of its most desirable characteristics, it is also one of the reasons why smoothing PETG prints is challenging. Since dissolving PETG with a solvent, smoothing via solvent application (like acetone smoothing for ABS) is not a very good option."
See 2. Chemical Resistance in https://3dinsider.com/how-to-smooth-petg-prints/

According to https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Joshua_Pearce/publication/326697946_Chemical_Compatibility_of_Fused_Filament_Fabrication-based_3-D_Printed_Components_with_Solutions_Commonly_Used_in_Semiconductor_Wet_Processing/links/5b684c8c45851584787f2b5b/Chemical-Compatibility-of-Fused-Filament-Fabrication-based-3-D-Printed-Components-with-Solutions-Commonly-Used-in-Semiconductor-Wet-Processing.pdf PETG fares very poorly against acetone. It may be a matter of additives, but then we're back to the same issue...

But as noted in the question, it was prompted by the acetone topic, but my question here is really not an XY question for "how do I get acetone-resilient filament?" but genuinely "how do I get real PLA?", with motivations like actually being able to test the properties of PLA rather than some manufacturer's PLA-ABS-plasticizers-etc. frankenfilament. Also, PETG is a huge pain to print with. I am running a quick informal test soaking some in acetone to see what happens, though. :-)

And indeed it turned gummy in under 30 minutes.

Leaving my answer to document your results.


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3D Printed Sphere, How to Remove Roughness
I have a model of an eye that I custom made in Blender 2.83 that when printed only creates roughness on the printed object near where I had the supports.  The supports are not the cause of the roughness (at least not completely) since the supports don't even touch the parts of the print where the majority of the roughness and bumps are (refer to my photos of the print)
The roughness is only near the bottom part of the sphere as it prints upwards (refer to photos)
What I'm looking for is a technique or any suggestions for printing this without the roughness so it's smooth like in the rest of the print.  I'm also curious what is causing the roughness.

Eye Model in Blender

Blender Scale Ratio: 0.001
Blender Units: mm

Eye Model in Prusa Slicer
Layer Gif

Prusa Slicer Main Settings (Higher Res)

Variable Layer Heights For Smoothness

Eye Model Prints Photos
Eye Model Small Version 3D Print (Notice it's smooth on top of print)

Eye Model Small Version 3D Print Trouble Area

Eye Model Small & Large Version With Support (Notice roughness on the sphere)

Example of Support Used On Small Print

Smooth on inside of print

--------- Print Details ---------
Printer: Prusa i3 MK3s
Filament: PLA Galaxy Silver (Prusa Reserach)
Slicer Software: Prusa Slicer
Print Temperature First Layer: 205 degrees
Print Temperature Other Layers: 190 degrees
Notes: The suggested temperature for the filament is 205-215, I've adjusted after careful calibration given my environment to a lower temperature to reduce stringing.  I created a tower at different temperatures and discovered 190 was the perfect setting to reduce stringing in my case with this material.  Refer to my screenshot below.  I do not think temperature has anything to do with this since the print is smooth inside and near the top without any issues.
Temperature Tower Test For Filament Photo:
(Note stringing in the cone test areas at 225 to 205)

--------- Prusa Slicer Settings Photos ---------
Filament settings

Extruder Settings

Support Settings

Printed upside down it would look already much better

While Trish is completely right that the roughness can't be completely eliminated (you can't print a perfect spherical surface with discrete layers), the situation can be improved dramatically. The most telling photo in your question is the one of the removed support structure.
The part of your sphere that's seriously rough is all severe overhang. In this region, the outer wall of layer N+1 barely overlaps the outer wall of layer N, if at all, and without support would be printed mostly or entirely over thin air, failing to attach to anything and sagging/curling down randomly according to tensions in the extruded material, air currents, etc.
Now, with support material that's not entirely the case. Every so often (looks like a 2 mm grid) there are support lines under the overhanging outer wall. These will anchor it every so often and keep it from curling or sagging too much, but they don't actually constrain it to the place the slicer wanted the wall to go, and they don't provide a surface for the extruded material to press against to get the desired (e.g. 0.4 mm wide by 0.1 mm thick) extrusion cross section; instead the cross section will tend to be circular as a result of tensions within the molten material.
In order to get a decent surface over support material, you need what slicers call "Support Interface" or "Support Roof" (these are the names Cura uses; I suspect it's similar in Prusa Slicer). This feature builds a top surface as part of the support material itself for the supported part of the model to rest upon and press against. Of course that can make support harder (potentially a lot harder) to remove, and depends on tuning the Z distance between the model and the support as a tradeoff between quality and difficulty of removal, but it should get you much better results.

I was doing some research and there is water soluble supports that prusa creates.  Do you think this would work well if I used these supports eveywhere? It's located here https://shop.prusa3d.com/en/special/169-primaselect-pva-soluble-support-500g.html (what you are saying would work well possibly with this)

Yes, with dual extruder and soluble supports you can use a zero gap between support and model, and get much better results.

From my experience, supported material will often not look significantly better than what has already been achieved.
Better cooling may help, but printing the sphere in two pieces would be optimal.

He also needs to improve cooling. If the material cools down quicker there is also fewer artefacts

The roofs help a lot, I used them in other cases and the results are quite nice.

You can't print them smooth
The short answer is: with FDM you can't make curves that go into the Z-direction. The better question is: Why?
Let's look at why it is rough: the roughness is from the layer height and the thickness of the perimeters (walls). At some point, perimeters of the given thickness have to be placed in a way that does not cover up fully anymore. Let's look at this example of stacking. At first, how looks a sphere close to the equator? well, the stacking is rather easy there. Think of each printed wall as a rectangular crossection and you get this pattern:

As we move further up along the print, the overlap between each subsequent layer gets less and less. Somewhere in the middle we are at this situation:

Till at the top of the dome this happens: The steps appear coarser and coarser and in the end create a very visible and feelable stepping pattern. Also, the top layer might get skipped because it is not a full layer height, depending on the slicer settings..

Mitigating?
But there are ways to mitigate the sphere problem to some degree.

reduce layer height a lot on the areas that are curved such heavily, though this has a direct effect on print time and can impact the quality.
Don't use an FDM printer but an SLS printer with layer heights that are fractions of the layer heights possible with FDM
Cut up your sphere. An example cut up is here, but there are other options. If your print orientation is not mandatory, you can even cut your sphere up and reorient it to achieve this, mitigating both the layer problem as well as making support use 0:

Post-Processing
The only true way to get rid of the layer lines is post processing. In this case I strongly suggest to use a filler and then sand off the excess material.

I commented this on the other answer as well, but do you think adding supports everywhere with something like this (https://shop.prusa3d.com/en/special/169-primaselect-pva-soluble-support-500g.html) would help? it's a water soluble solution for the supports.  I actually have ordered the upgrade kit for multiple filaments already for my printer so this might work.  What do you think? (Thank you again for your answer, it was very detailed and helped me understand the issue).

different question, but yes, if you'd have a dual extruder or the MMU, you could.

"Also, the top layer gets skipped because it is not a full layer height." <- this is slicing-choice dependent. For example Cura in the default mode slices using the cross-section at the middle of the layer, which would yield a top layer that doens't get skipped. Cura in "exclusive" slicing tolerance mode intersects the top and bottom cross-section of each layer and would give an empty layer, like you say.

I’ve noticed the best way to get it smooth without support is to make the printer print the inner parts of the model first. That way it gives the hanging layer something to hold on to. I turn my window ac unit up to high aim it at the printer so it cools the filament quickly. Next you’re going to want to mess around with the extruder heat. Try to get it as low as possible but watch out for the good gooey bad gooey range. If the first overhanging layer is close to the bed turn the bed heat off. Then tinker with the flow try to get it low but not super low I go as low as 70


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BLTouch ender 3 pro doing a very hard end stop
I am very new to 3D printing and after finding the bed on my Ender 3 Pro to be very uneven I decided to install a bl-touch module and new firmware from TH3D. I use Cura and it works fine but it only probes the the center as U put in the G28 G29 commands. Instead if I enter only the G28; HOME ALL AXES command, it performs the 12 point test.
At the very end of it however, it does a HARDSTOP against the x axis bracket and if i leave in the G29 command it will keep running until I think it may damage the belt.
I did find an old post from 2015 with the same problem and he found a fix in the marlin firmware but the firmware has been updated several times and I am unable to find anything similar. Additionally, I am not sure what firmware I have since the TH3D site just says "latest firmware " as of 21/06/2020.
Any help will be very much appreciated.
Thanks, Paul.
Reference videos below:

Dear Paul, please [edit] your question to use proper sentences and capitalization. I can barely make out what you want to ask, what you did and what you tried so far. Also, please link to your firmware.

This reads very hard, but I guess you imply that the probing gets past the boundaries of the bed. Please provide information on the bed size and definition in the config file. Most probably your endstops offsets are incorrect see this question.


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Ender 3 print bed damage

Just got an Ender 3 a week ago. This is my first 3D printer. On the 5th print the object ended up tearing away the surface of the print bed such that it's no longer usable. Trying to work out if this is something that I did wrong or if this is faulty material or a combination of the two?
To set the print head I watched a few tutorials and carefully followed the instructions checking the height with a piece of paper at each corner and in the center and repeated this until it was set.
I watched a couple more tutorials on how to remove the pieces from the bed. I have been removing the top sheet from the print bed by detaching the paper clips. Using the supplied putty knife I've worked around the edges tapping gently with a rubber mallet to get the putty knife under the piece and loosen it before it pops off.
Afterwards I've used the putty knife to scrape off any other residue to make sure that the surface is smooth.
The first 2 prints were with PLA and then the next 3 with PETG. The damage happened when removing a piece printed with PETG.
My specific questions: Is my approach to removing a print incorrect? If so, what would the correct approach be? Did this cause the damage?

I've only seen that kind of damage when either z-offset or lack of leveling drove the nozzle into the bed.  Did you're first layer look normal?

Agree with others. You'll need to replace the mat (but it's not that hard or expensive). But the mats should last much longer than a week. This looks like the nozzle was much too close to the print surface. When next leveling, give it just a hair (literally!) more space.

Odd - my ender3 came with a glass bed, the most that needs is a wash occasionally.

Your print surface is destroyed
So, you managed to rip off your print surface in the center. Happened to me too. the corners of my scraper were too sharp, cutting the surface. Another time I did pierce the surface with my nozzle. Damage happens. Replacement surfaces for the Ender3 start at about 5 bucks a piece. So get yourself some spares. Clean your bed before applying the new one.
Removal process
To properly remove a print from the bed, grab your scraper blade and do the following:

Sharpen the edge only on one side.
Soften the corners, they should be slightly rouned.

Make sure the scraper is kept sharp.
When removing prints, be slow! Push the scraper against the bed with the bevel upwards. Apply careful pressure till the tip moves just a little. Move to a different spot till the blade slips under a little, then work the scraper left and right. You'll hear a sucking sound, that's the print coming free. It gets much easier if you let the bed cool down.
For very tall prints with a relatively small area, you might not need the scraper at all.
PETG has a tendency to stick too much with glass and fuse with PEI. We don't know if the Build-Tak clone Creality uses contains PEI. I suggest to grab gluestick to add a safety layer for printing PETG.

In addition OP likely has the bed too high. Prints (including PETG) come off the Ender 3 print surface easily if it's leveled correctly.

If I have the bed well heated and let it cool after the print, the thermal mismatch tends to release the print from the bed.

I agree with @R..GitHubSTOPHELPINGICE, these types of issues occur when your bed is too high. If you're tired of leveling the bed manually you can consider an automatic bed leveling kit.

You must have a small bed.  400 x 400 mm PEI sheets cost considerably more than $5.

@PerryWebb an Ender3 has 235x235 mm - which is what OP has! replacement sheets (NOT PEI) for that machine cost about 15-20 € per 3 on amazon. 400x400 PEI is entirely something different.

@Trish Yes, PEI sheets are much easier to find and a much lower cost at that size.

@PerryWebb yes, the answer is very specific to the machine and its bed, I clarified it some I hope

PETG sticks to the bed much easier than PLA or ABS.  I've found it harder to release from the bed.  Note this reference indicates PETG can cause bed damage.
https://www.matterhackers.com/news/how-to-succeed-when-printing-with-petg-filament#:~:text=Other%20Print%20Bed%20Surfaces&text=It's%20not%20uncommon%20for%20PETG,permanently%20bonds%20to%20the%20surface.
If you aren't printing directly on glass, you can use a lower bed temperature to see how it affects the adhesion.  Note this reference indicates you don't need a heated bed for PETG on an adhesive surface.
https://all3dp.com/2/petg-print-bed-temperature-all-you-need-to-know/
With a PEI sheet on a glass bed at 50C, I'm getting good adhesion without it being too much.


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Creatorbot-3D Kickstarter assembly instructions
I disassembled my printer a couple of years ago for a move and now I'm getting back to it and can't find the manual detailing the assembly anywhere and the google drive link is gone. Does anyone have a copy of the PDF somewhere?

Being curious - what is your main concern? The order of doing things? The mechanical part, screwing, etc.? Or electronics andb cabling?

In the comments for the Kickstarter, there is a Google Drive link that is still active here.


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Auto bed leveling with stepper motor lock
I have a botObject printer that was discontinued that I want to run using a RAMPS 1.4 board. The bed leveling was done by the print nozzle being pushed down on the spring loaded bed and then the stepper will turn the cam to lock it, this will be repeated at 3 positions on the bed. I want to use one of my extruder outputs to drive the stepper but still need a limit switch to home the cam. I am not a programmer so need assistance with the setup in Marlin

So the Z axis steppers push down the bed with the nozzle until they skip, at which points the bed leveling screw is locked in place?
That must be the most idiotic ABL approach I've ever seen lol

Hi Willem, welcome to 3DPrinting.SE! @towe you already answered a similar question here! P.S. I would ditch this system, there are way more simple methods to level a bed, e.g. using an inductive, or touch sensor.


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Can PETG be used as support material for PLA?
Printing supports, either complete, or partially from PVA have not always resulted in successful prints according to my experience with the filament (used in a dual extruder Ultimaker 3 extended). But, when it works well, the surface finish is perfect as there is no gap between the PVA and PLA.
From my experience with PVA, I conclude it is prone to clog, the filament is very hygroscopic, resulting in popping sounds when printing if too moist which most probably also impacts on clogging. The clogs lead to failed support structures as the extruder grinds through the filament and as such failed prints.
I was wondering if PETG can be used for supports or for the interface layer of supports for printing supports for PLA prints? For example:

This is a sliced view of a print in line color (left or top on small screens) and material color (right or bottom on small screens); black PLA and cream colored PETG. This print contains a larger gap that needs support. Can you make the support from PETG, either the support as a whole or just the top interface.

How does PLA-PETG or PETG-PLA bond or stick considering the 2 different print temperatures?
What are the concerns using a single nozzle?

Have you considered using PLA for the supports, or is there some other criterion than excludes that as an option? Presumably you would use PVA as a support material because it is easily removed - does PETG offer the same ease of removal in your workflow?

@AndrewMorton Yes, the concern is the finish. With PVA you can get very smooth finish of the first layer above the support interface layer.

PETG works as support material for PLA, see video

In theory, PLA printed on top of PETG will be fine because PETG softens and gets sticky at higher temperatures.
Printing PETG support on top of PLA may cause remelting of PLA, but if PETG is kept quite cold (220 °C) the issue will likely be minor. As shown in the video, it works.
PLA/PETG may still be better than using PLA/PLA because of this difference in extrusion temperatures that, for example in bridges where PLA is printed on top of PETG support, should result in very easily removable supports.
The type of supports used should be tested: tree supports could minimize the contact surface between the two and thus minimize marring by the hotter PETG being deposited onto the PLA at the expense of more PETG and normal supports could be used on a limited surface, so they can be removed easily. If the two materials really don't adhere much to each other, you may even be able to fake dissolvable supports, which increase the contact surface but provide a far better finish for bridges and bottom surfaces.
Using a single nozzle may require experimentation. In my experience, I print PLA at 230 °C so it wouldn't be an issue, and 220 °C would also work, but if PLA is printed cold, below 215 °C, you may need to heat/cool the nozzle. In any case, switching filament (especially PETG -> PLA) requires quite some filament to be discarded, so there is time for the heating. It is however to be kept in mind that cleaning of the nozzle between PLA and PETG (or in fact after any material swap) is difficult: some residue can remain in small gaps or low flow areas of the hotend and will be blended into the stream for quite some time after the swap, resulting in hybrid materials of unknown properties.1
As I said, experimentation is needed for this kind of task: my experience, with a 2012-era hot end, may not even be representative of the behaviour of modern hot ends.

1 - this effect is easily noticeable even with similar materials if switching from dark to light color filament, especially if not doing a cold pull to remove most of the material from the melt zone.

That video is really nice!

While it is most certainly possible to use PETG as a support material, you might run into some trouble when the first layer of PETG goes down on top of the PLA. Since PETG prints so much hotter than PLA, the PETG may bond too aggressively to the PLA causing it to become very difficult to remove after the print has finished. I would say the hassle involved in using PETG to print supports outweighs any perceivable benefits as opposed to using PLA.


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How round are filaments?
I am planning to install a filament diameter sensor to my printer, but that sensor measures only one diameter. If the filament is not round, an additional error will be introduced.
How round are common filaments? How bad can I expect a filament to be? I mean what are bad values actually measured?

Haven't you measured it yourself? I can imagine that this depends on manufacturer. I expect premium filament brands to have a tighter quality assurance than non branded or cheap filament brands.

I can also use my values as reference and hope that future filaments won't be worse than that


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Will I brick my Ender 3 if I try flashing without a bootloader?
I have a recently purchased Ender 3 Pro, and it may well already have a bootloader on it. I don't have the various adapters to flash one yet.
Is it destructive to try flashing over USB without the bootloader? Does it fail in a non destructive way?
I have watch some tutorials which claim that it's fine to just try it, but I'd like to be more sure about that.

My understanding is that if there is no bootloader, you can't flash over USB; you need an ISP programmer attached to the board. So if you're able to flash over USB, that means there is a bootloader, and updating via the bootloader should leave the bootloader in place and just overwrite the rest of the firmware. I'm not sure how strongly this is enforced, though, so you may want to wait for supporting comments/answers from others.
Of course it's always possible to damage your printer in ways that require replacement of the board or at least some parts on it if you flash bad firmware, so you need to be cautious anyway.

That did not answer the question, which was, would the board be damaged if an attempt was made to flash new firmware to a board without a bootloader. To say you cannot flash without a bootloader is something we know, so it would be better to answer the question. I would like to know the answer because until my Arduino arrives I could always try flashing and see what happens. But I would like to know if I will damage the board.


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3D printing source material and superglue
I've seen there are several different types of source material for 3D printing. My question is: Which of those would hold up under regular Loctite superglue or plastic model glue?
I'm asking because I want to try 3D printing, and I have a project in mind. But I don't want to spend too much, so I'm looking to get a small 3D printer. I want to make a clock, and I can design the step down gears to make in a small printer, but I'd need a large base for so many smaller gears. I want to print pieces of the base, and superglue them together.

CA glue works on PLA, especially if you're gluing parts that fit together rather than small surfaces that just touch, but I'd encourage you to consider alternatives just because there are so many more ways to attach things when you have freedom to design the parts, and non-glue approaches admit disassembly, repair, etc.
Some possibilities include:

snap fits
parts sliding into grooves
threaded holes and bolts
threaded interfaces.