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Should I print in a well ventilated area?
With hot plastic being laid down layer after layer, I am worried about fumes. Should I only print in a well ventilated work space? Should I add additional ventilation?

The short answer is: yes, it is always a good idea to print in a well-ventilated area.  The longer answer can be articulated as follows:
Definition of "fumes"
"Fumes" is a fuzzy word that from a chemical/physical perspective includes at least three different things:

Vapour - the gas phase of a substance
Aerosol - a airborne suspension of tiny particles of liquid, solid, or both
Smoke - particles and gases emitted when a material undergoes combustion or pyrolysis (so really: a smoke is a combination of vapours and aerosols too... but the combustion/pyrolysis will have changed the very nature of the material, so it will be "vapours and aerosols of a different substance"

Interactions with the human body
Each of the above has a different way of interacting with the human body.  The list of possible interactions is huge, and out-of-scope for this answer, but just to mention a few obvious ones:

Vapours tend to enter cells by osmotic pressure and can have carcinogenic effects by either attacking the genome of the cell or by disrupting its metabolic processes (think: benzene in car fuel)
Aerosols can trigger the immune system, and in return have the body develop allergies or autoimmune reactions.
Aerosols can deposit their particles on the cellular membrane, making it impossible for it to operate correctly and eventually fail (like neurons failing to transmit electrical impulses, for example)
...

Composition of filaments
Modern filaments are a combination of different substances: the basic plastic (PLA, ABS, PETG...) that gives the name to the filament is almost always mixed with other plastics and additives that change its physical characteristics.
In some cases, the filament is host to particles of other materials (like wood, metals or phosphorescent compounds).
Each of the different materials have different transition and critical and flash points (the temperatures at which they will become vapour and ignite respectively), and different physical properties which in turn will affect differently the size of the particles in the aerosol coming out of the printer.
Conclusion
The bottom-line is that it is close to impossible to have a complete understanding of how a given "fume" affects human health.
Typically the safety of a substance is tested in a lab by directly observing its effect on cells, or by performing epidemiological studies in a population, if the exposure data to a given substance is known.
When people comment on PLA being "safe" for example, they typically refer to studies that tested inert, cold, chemically pure PLA.  But the fumes of a PLA filament will probably not be inert, nor cold, nor be exclusively PLA.
Additionally, it has to be observed that it is much easier to rule a filament harmful than safe: for it to be considered harmful it is sufficient to know that one of its components is harmful (for ABS that is typically studies showing the adverse affect of ABS aerosols on health).  For it to be deemed safe, one must know that all if its components are safe, but most filament do not go through the rigorous testing required to ascertain that.
In conclusion, it is always a good idea to get rid of the fumes from 3D printing regardless of the type filament being used.  The ideal solution is a printing enclosure maintaining negative pressure, but an enclosure with air filtering or a well ventilated room are also good options (ventilation can have adverse effects on printing quality though, due to drafts and their cooling effect).

There are some contradicting sources out there on whether plastics, especially ABS, have toxic fumes. It is well known that PLA is food safe, as it is an organic, biodegradable polymer being based on a particular cornstarch. This means that PLA is safe when printing, although it can produce foul smells from the dyes and other ingredients. As for the other plastics, it is most commonly said that the fumes are toxic, although, as stated earlier, there are some contradicting topics on this.
Here and here are some articles for further reading.

i wouldn't be so sure. PLA itself is safe, but filament is more than PLA. There's almost always dye and conditioners for example. Since a lot of filament is made overseas, the additive regulations might not be be as comprehensive as we'de like. I'm not saying it's bad, just that PLA alone is not the full story.

This is a well intentioned answer but - I am afraid - it is factually wrong and scientifically inaccurate. Most notably: A) the issue of ABS 3D printing being harmful for humans is not controversial.  The linked article suggesting that there is unclarity about the ABS toxicity is about cold artefacts leeching chemicals, not about MDF extrusion. 3D printing ABS does emit dangerous fumes.  B) The fact that PLA is food safe is totally unrelated to whether it is safe to 3D print with it, the same way an epoxy may be food safe but you may still have to apply it wearing a respirator and gloves.


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Apply X-offset to gcode (re-slicing not possible)
I am currently printing the QTrainer aircraft from 3DLabPrint on my Anet A8, via the supplied i3-compatible gcode files.
So far, everything has printed fine, but the main undercarriage part tries to print off the left hand side of the bed by about 5mm.
I have tried manually adding an M206 X-10 line to the gcode file, just after G28 ; home all, however this has not had any effect:
G90
M83
M106 S0
M140 S65
M190 S65
M104 S220 T0
M109 S220 T0
G28 ; home all
M206 X-10 ; added by me
G1 E-0.8000 F1800
G1 Z0.200 F1002
; layer 1, Z = 0.2
T0
; tool H0.200 W0.450
; skirt
G1 X9.382 Y10.533 F6000
G1 E0.8000 F540
G1 X10.536 Y10.537 E0.0388 F1440
...

However this does not work and I'm not clear on whether I am using this gcode command correctly, or whether my printer simply doesn't support that command.
Is there another way I can apply an X-offset to the gcode file (or printer) to move it a few cm to the right of the print area?
As I do not own Simplify3D and cannot currently afford it, re-slicing the STL files is unfortunately not an option.
Unfortunately there is no X-adjustment on the X limit switch (although I suppose I could temporarily tape something to the print head, so that it activates the switch sooner?).
My Anet A8 currently runs stock firmware, hooked up to OctoPrint and I have access to a Macintosh desktop computer.

The reason that M206 does not work for you is that you are on stock firmware. This firmware is Repetier based and does not support this gcode command. If you had flashed the firmware to Marlin it would have worked fine!

You can use G92 to change the coordinates the machine "thinks" it's at. If just after homing, you apply
G92 X-10

the machine now thinks it's at X = -10, while in reality it's at X = 0. This results in everything thereafter behaving as if it is shifted in the positive X direction by 10 mm (since if you then commanded a move to X = 1 the machine would move to what is physically X = 11).

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How to determine real printing speed (TEVO Tarantula/Cura)?
Recently I noticed that Cura always is giving me less printing time than the print itself takes on my TEVO Tarantula with Marlin firmware.
The time difference is about 15 %, at requested 50 mm/s printing speed.
How could I verify real printing speed?

slow down the travel options in cura to reflect hardware limits

Multiply by  0.85 .  Done.

haha @CarlWitthoft, if life were so easy .......

Printing speed is dependent by the firmware and physical properties of your printer.
Slicers typically compute the expected time by assuming the printer will execute exactly what it is instructed to do, but a printer is a real object, with mass and momentum, and stepper motors that have an upper limit for their power output and rotation speed.
So for example, the GCODE may say "extrude 200mm at 100mm/s" and the slicer will compute that operation as taking 2 seconds.  However the printer will need to accelerate and decelerate at the extremes of the movement, and it may even be incapable of reaching speeds over 70mm/s, so the actual operation will likely take 3 seconds or more.
Accelerations and decelerations account for most of the difference between ideal time and real one, and since the number and intensity of those is totally dependent by the GCODE/model being printed, it is not possible to simply multiply the computed time for a given factor (for example 1.15, as your question seems to imply).  A large cylinder printed in vase mode will have a printing time much more similar to the computed one that an intricate model with a very complex surface, for example.
In recent years, slicers that are maintained by a printer manufacturer (cura, slic3r PE) have become better at estimating printing times for their own printers, as the settings of the firmware are accounted for in the actual estimating algorithm.
If you use Octoprint, you may have noticed that the time estimate octoprint gives improves over time, as octoprint will analyse the GCODE and measure the elapsed time, and will be able to guesstimate the real time with an increasingly degree of accuracy.

I use a Anet A8 which has a system acceleration and jerk of 400 and 20
When i slice with Cura, then I use a gcode without acceleration control, because the printer does this by its own and a combination with the gcode acceleration/jerk control gets me some strange behavior (e.g. sometimes some ultra slow movement in fine detail sections, or random nearly stopped movement)
But to get a realistic approximation for the print time, i enable the acceleration/jerk control in cura and then I get a really good result, that is really close to the real values.
And to be more specific to your question: It is e.g. 50mm/s >>maximum<< speed you can set, not a exactly and absolut speed.
If you know your printer you can also experiment with the following approach: Set the max speed really high, so that the max material volume per time is the limiting factor and set the acceleration and jerk as low as needed for good results. So that your printer will accelerate on long lines as long as it can up to the point it has to deaccelerate for the next corner.

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Can I use external stepper motor power and USB connection
I have a RAMPS 1.4 with Arduino Mega 2560 with 2 steppers connected to an external power supply using Polulo stepper drivers. The steppers are for X and Y axis movement. This external power supply is set to 12 volts and power is applied. I have configured the marlin firmware also.
Can I connect my setup to my PC using USB when the external power is also on?
If i connect the USB while the external power is off, do the motors take power from USB? Will this will burn my board?

Is possible that you can burn the USB port and or your steppers can't work due lack of power of the same port.

The motors are powered from 12/24V external power supply, so the motors will not be powered.
the ramps Schematics shows the connection diagram and the power is provided via the VMot pin/12V.

Is it possible to select V in pin on arduino in place of 5 volt pin as logic power supply for motor driver?for how many drivers ,the 5 volt pin can be used as logic power supply on arduino?

is possible, but you need a driver (switch) to change the source from 5V USB to External 9-24V.


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Using ramps on-load
I have a RAMPS 1.4 with Arduino Mega 2560 with 2 steppers connected to an external power supply using Polulo stepper drivers. The steppers are for X and Y axis movement. This external power supply is set to 12 volts and power is applied. I have configured the marlin firmware also.
Can I connect my setup to my PC using USB when the external power is also on? If i connect the USB while the external power is off, do the motors take power from USB? Will this will burn my board?

Can I connect my setup to my PC using USB when the external power is also on?
As long as you are connecting the external power to the correct pins, yes you can.
If i connect the USB while the external power is off, do the motors take power from USB?
No, the motors need an external power supply.


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What's the best way to clean PETG residue from a magnetic steel sheet PEI?
I have the MK3 with a magnetic PEI, and some PETG residue is stuck on the surface. How can I remove it? Does acetone work?

First you will want to verify that what you are seeing is remaining PETG and not a loss of PEI on your bed. In many cases, when PETG is used without a separating agent (window cleaner or glue stick), the PETG forms a stronger bond to the PEI than the PEI has to the bed. This causes the PEI to lift off the bed. You can often recognize this by seeing a spot of higher smoothness where the print was stuck rather than the more matte look elsewhere on the print bed.
If it is truly PETG left on the sheet, first try a firm use of a fingernail. If that does not work, you can attempt to use acetone or 1000 grit sandpaper (which also work to restore PEI). A careful use of a spatula can also be used to remove the material.
In subsequent prints of PETG, you will want to add a separator when printing PETG.

How does the sandpaper restore PEI?  Can you please clarify?

@mac Same affect as the scrubbing side of a kitchen sponge where it is just abrasive enough to remove any residue without damaging the PEI. Recommended for restoring appearance, so sanctioned, but can also help remove small stuck pieces that you can't remove in other ways.

Ok, thanks.  The way the sentence is built, confused me: I understood how it would work in the main sentence, the part in parenthesis seemed to me to refer to the first paragraph as in: "sandpaper works to scrape of remaining PETG (and works too when the PETG has removed the PEI)".

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Monoprice Select Mini v2 reattach boden tube to feeder head
I have a Monoprice Select Mini v2.
The Bowden tube has detached from the filament feeder head... it was actually pushed out by the filament (175 PLA) as it fed.  It appears to have been held in place by a compression fitting inside the feeder head. I think the blue plastic collar provides the compression but I hesitate to attempt to remove it for fear of making matters worse.
Looking for advice on getting the Bowden tube and compression fitting back together without wrecking the feed

I had a similar issue with my bowden feed system, those could be the reasons:

the pneumatic connector is not keeping the pressure on the pipe -> replace
the Teflon pipe is faded/worn -> try to cut the end of the pipe
the hotend/nozzle is clogged -> clean/replace
the pipe is excessively bent and gives a lot of resistance -> that usualy needs pipe/tube replacement.
the nozzle temp is to low -> increase printing temperature

In some cases I had to cut the tube above the pneumatic connector and push it down to get it out as there was no way to  pull it back from the collar.


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Can I use Bowden hotend instead of Wade for a direct extrusion?
I am planning to buy 4 hotends (e3d clones I assume), but I am wondering if the Bowden (long distance) be able to be used as Wade (direct extruder)?. When the pneumatic fitting is removed there is a very similar filament drive to the throat/heat-brak and the collar size is same as wade.
As per attached pictures, I think that could be possible.

You can use any of them, however the adaptor  will be different to make it fit on your printer. I´m using the J-head on direct drive by removing the pneumatic connector; the distance fromt top to filament hole is close to 4mm, but does not  affect the feeding. If the cylinder hasn't the pneumatic connector is possible to print a cap to mount the connector and make it remote drive.

You can use any of them, however the adaptor will be different to make it fit on your printer. I´m using the J-head on direct drive by removing the pneumatic connector; the distance from top to filament hole is close to 4mm, but does not affect the feeding. If the cylinder hasn't the pneumatic connector is possible to print a cap to mount the connector and make it remote drive


text:
Full steps mode for Z axis stepper controller
I have a Cartesian style 3D printer (FLSUN Cube), with two Z-axis stepper motors (1.8°, 200 steps/revolution) with T8x8 lead screw (8mm / 2mm pitch with 4 starts), and currently they are using 1/16 microstepping.
As I know, microstepping is an unstable state and can affect accuracy of the Z-axis. But many of modern 3D printers (like CR-10, Prusa i3 Mk2s and others) use similar microstepping for the Z-axis.

Is it possible to use full steps?
Does it improve accuracy if I use compatible layer height (like 0.04mm, 0.08mm, 0.16mm, etc) for my printer with 0.04mm per full step on Z axis?

Focussing on the questions at hand:

Is it possible to use full steps?

This depends on your printer board. Many boards use dip switches to select the (micro) stepping mode of the stepper driver. E.g. a RUMBA board has dip switches located underneath the stepper driver boards (e.g. DRV8825 or A4988). Sometimes you also see jumper caps. The answer is both yes as is no as it depends on the board you are using.

Does it improve accuracy if I use compatible layer height (like 0.04mm,
  0.08mm, 0.16mm, etc) for my printer with 0.04mm per full step on Z axis?

Increasing the number of microsteps results in reduced incremental torque (for full step this is 100%, for 16 micro steps this drops to about 10%; this implies that a micro step requested by the controller may not effectively lead to an actual step as it cannot overcome the torque to turn the shaft). So highly loaded steppers could result in positioning errors. Resolution increases but accuracy will actually suffer. Furthermore, Few, if any, stepper motors have a pure sinusoidal torque vs. shaft position and all have higher order harmonics that in fact distort the curve and affect accuracy. according to this source. On the other hand micro stepping makes rotation go smoother (major advantage, see source). Interesting literature (must read) is this test and this paper.
The answer to this question also depends on the situation; when you load the steppers very highly, using micro stepping may result in more inaccurate movement compared to full stepping. When you use the lead screws native resolution for your setup, only when the stepper is actually at the full step position, you would benefit as in this position it will not dwell to the next full step as it is already in the stable position.

As a side remark I've added the correct calculation of the native resolution of your lead screws. From your question I deduce that you have Tr8x8(p2) lead screws. "Tr" for trapezoidal thread, followed by the nominal diameter in mm. The digit after the "x" tells you how much the nut advances per revolution, this is called the lead of the screw. The value between the brackets "p2" denotes the pitch. This means that the screw has 8 (lead)/2 (pitch) = 4 starts. So with every revolution of the stepper (200 steps) the nut advances 8 mm which translates to 8/200 = 0.04 mm per step of 1.8°.

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text:
Ramps 1.4 with a power brick
I'm currently designing a RepRap 3D printer that will not have a heated bed. I have heard that it is possible to use a power brick with commercial printers lacking heatbeds. Is this possible with a RepRap printer using a RAMPS board?
I'm referring specifically to the TronXY X1 power brick. I was wondering if it we're possible to use the same TronXY X1 power brick with a standard RAMPS 1.4 board - rather than the special board the TronXY X1 uses.

What specifically do you mean by "power brick"?

@TomvanderZanden - I had the same thought initially. I assume that the OP means something like a laptop power supply - black and brick shaped.

@Greenonline The only current answer seems to have interpreted "power brick" as "power bank". I also think it would be helpful if the question included a bit more details on why the poster thinks that such a power brick would or wouldn't work.

@TomvanderZanden By power brick, I mean a laptop power supply.

Not all laptop power supplies are created equal. Do you have using a specific supply in mind, or do you just want to know what - in general - you need to look out for?

As far as i know the RAMPS boards, they are fine without a heatbed. Just check the power (watts) of your extruder, add about 50 for the steppers and check, if your power supply can deliver the power.

@TomvanderZanden I'm referring specifically to the TronXY X1 power brick. I was wondering if it we're possible to use the same TronXY X1 power brick with a standard RAMPS 1.4 board(rather than the special board the TronXY X1 uses.

As long as you provide enough energy to heat the nozzle and keep its temperature, that is possible, as steppers power usually is limited by driver to reduce noise.
see the attached video: A fully mobile printer example here

According to this video, Upgrade TronXY X1 Power Supply with PC Power Supply, which actually shows the power brick, the TronXY power brick is 12 V 5 A. The best screenshot of the brick is shown below:

The narrator of the video (as do other sources) states that it runs extremely hot on long print cycles.
An example replacement power supply, on AliExpress, Tronxy 3D printer accessoires power supply 240W AC110/220V DC 12V 20A for 3D print DIY kit part, is rated at 20 A.
So, in theory any 12 V 10-15+ A rated laptop power brick should suffice.
However, that was not your question. As a standard RAMPS board also runs at 12 V, then yes, you can use the TronXY power brick with a standard RAMPS board.
Nevertheless, would you want to? It would seem advisable to get a higher rated power brick1. That way, you can run the printer harder and longer without the risk of the power supply dying (or worse, catching fire) and if, at a later stage, you want to add a heated bed, then you'll be able to use the same supply brick.

1 I think the biggest laptop 12 V supply I've seen was 15 A on eBay. Earler Xbox 360 bricks go up to 16.5 A. Both of these still get rather warm, due to their (admittedly convenient) black plastic casing.  It might be better to get a standard, well ventilated, aluminium cased 20-35 A LED power supply, as in the AliExpress link above.


text:
Homing a stepper motor as an extruder using E0/E1 with an limit switch and end stop
Note: I have extended my question as some of you mentioned that the question is not clear.
I am using a RAMPS 1.4 board with an Arduino mega 2560. I need to drive a stepper motor as an extruder using either E0 or E1. I am using Repetier-Firmware and can drive the extruder (stepper motor) using the E0 (RAMPS 1.4).
Now for my application, I need to make sure that the extruder is in home position before it starts to drive for the very first time. I am trying to use a  switch to connect to the end stop and perform this homing operation. I can do this for X, Y, and Z axes. I was wondering how (h/w connections and firmware modification) can I do it for the extruder?

I don't understand why you need to set home for the extruders.

I want to make sure it is in home position before it starts to move. I need to do this for my project. Thanks!

This question is really unclear. Try describing your problem, before your intended solution - this might help people to give you a better answer.

You did not clear it up, unless you mean you want to home the extruder stepper itself? Why would you, the extruder is left in the state the last print left it. You need to prime the extruder anyways at the start and then use G92 E0 to tell the extruder it starts fresh with 0, sort of home.

@Osmani Normally the gcode generator, Cura, slic3r, simplify3D always writes G92 0 to set "HOME" just before start printing. At least within these 2 years printing I never had to worry about this.

Does any of the answers helped you to get an answer on your question or helped you come to your own conclusions then please do vote and accept an answer. This helps the reputation of users so that we can get out of the Beta stage. Found an other answer (then the already posted) yourself? Please add that answer (and accept after 48 hours) to share your experience with the community. If you have not been able to address the problem please update your question.

@0scar, none of the answers directly helped to solve my problem but both were helpful. I understood that homing an extruder is not an usual operation but for my application, I needed to do that. I did figure out a method to home the extruder and will post a solution here. Thanks to all for your help.

You are welcome, please do post the answer, you will be able to accept it after 48 hours, and other can vote for your solution.

The edited question appears to mention that the actual extruders of the print head need to home / limit themselves. The answer is that this is not required. When operating direct or Bowden driven extruder setups, you know (or you can measure or find out experimentally) the distance that the filament has to travel from extruder entry to hot end (e.g. to load new filament). If already loaded, because you have printed before, you also know where the filament is (filament could stop after printing, personally I retract the filament en few mm after a print). When a new print starts you usually reverse the retraction at temperature and extrude some extra filament to prime the nozzle to counteract oozed out filament for instance. At that point, the nozzle is primed and the gcode G92 E0 is then used to tell the extruder this is the start at zero length, sort of the home position of the filament. All this is usually done in the start code of your slicer, similar to  disabling bed and hot end temperature or final retract is done in the end code of your slicer.
This answer below addresses the initial question, this question was not quite clear. It was phrased as of the head containing the extruders needed to be homed correctly. The normal end-stops (can be mechanical or optical switches) already ensure that the printer head (containing the extruder or extruders) is homed correctly (if correctly configured in your printer firmware). The home offsets you define in the firmware define that you start at the origin (0,0,0).
Your question does not state what firmware you use, but e.g. in Marlin firmware these settings are found in the firmware configuration file.
In this file the following is defined:
// Travel limits (mm) after homing, corresponding to endstop positions.
#define X_MIN_POS 0
#define Y_MIN_POS 0

These values must be changed according to the offset between your switch and the origin of the heat bed (e.g. Prusa style printers have the origin at the front left).
For my Prusa clone printer I have defined:
// Travel limits (mm) after homing, corresponding to endstop positions.
#define X_MIN_POS -35
#define Y_MIN_POS -12

What this says is that the homing switch for the X axis is 35 mm left of the origin, etc.

I think the question has already been answered(if at all possible because the question is still not clear exactly what you mean), but let me try putting this a different way.
You have to ask yourself what is homing and why are you doing it. The purpose of homing your axes is to set their 0 position in space. This then means that any subsequent movements will be relative to these 0 positions and assuming the motors skip no steps should allow accurate positioning of the head inside the build volume throughout the print. In other words their relative position should match their absolute position. As has already been stated the extruder axis does not work like this.
Now I think some of the confusion from your question comes around what you mean by homing the extruder. The extruder position is defined by the previously mentioned X, Y and Z axis. The extruder axis however controls the position of the filament inside the hotend and therefore how much filament is extruded into the build volume. This axis is arbitrarily set to 0 using G92 at the beginning of the print because unlike the spacial axes the absolute position of this axis is not particularly important. Strictly speaking if you were to care about the extruder axis’ absolute position, home would probably be the start of the roll. This however is irrelevant. All that you care about during a print is that the extruder axis remains consistent throughout the print to allow accurate extrusion.
So typically at the beginning of a print you will prime the nozzle to ensure plastic is ready to be extruded as ooze from the previous print may create a delay between moving the extruder axis and plastic actually being extruded. Once the nozzle is primed however the axis position will just be set to 0 and then all future positions of that axis will be relative to where it started on the roll.
Hopefully that helps but if it doesn’t I think we still need more clarification of what you are actually trying to accomplish.


text:
QIDI x-one2 : Fan screws not holding filament feeder stepper motor in place
I noticed a knocking noise one day on my QIDI and things seemed fine at first glance, then 7 hours later my print only had 3 layers. So I figured it was a jam, and I cleaned it out but every now and then I heard the knock again which cause incomplete prints. When I went back to remove the front facing cooling fan I noticed one of the screws that go through the fan to the stepper motor wasn't secure. This was causing the filament guide to rock out of place periodically until it got worse and worse.
I've been trying for hours but the screw just won't "catch" on the stepper motor that feeds the filament into the extruder. The screws aren't stripped because I can take the motor off and screw them directly into it with no problem. It's as if they aren't long enough anymore or that they're bent.
Has anyone else had this problem & found a solution that works consistently?

I just had this same problem and my solution was to push the motor as close as I could up to where the screw goes, because they weren’t lined up. I hope that helped.

Thank you @ColeC1821 I did actually end up doing that, but it lead me to my overall resolution.... which was taking a small flat head screwdriver and grinding down the recessed area where the screws are mounted. I wish I had a precise measurement and process, but it was probably about 4mm of material shaven off and then the screws were finally able to reach the motor mounts.
This was all caused because of my lack of patience. QIDI was sending me replacement fans, but it was going to take two weeks to get to me. So I got a similar part, and the recessed depth was too shallow.


text:
Print slipped away
I try to configure my 3D Printer properly.
I printed this boat model https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2763854 (with a scaling of 0.6):The quality of the print looks nice but at the last roof the entire print slipped away. (e.g. no adhesion between bed and print)
Here are some printing configuration

Printer: prusa i3
Layer Height: 0.2mm
Top/Bottom Tickness: 0.8
Material: PLA
Bed adhesion: 10mm Brim
Printing Temperature: 200°C
Bed Temperature: 60°C
Travel Speed: 120mm/s
Print Speed: 60mm
Top/Bottom Line Width: 0.4mm

Is this common that the print can slip away?
Is e.g. the raft bed adhesion  a better option?
I have read that glue could prevent the print to slip away. What kind of glue I should use?
Could a hotter/colder heating bed prevent the print to slip away?
Thanks in advance
Edit:
Added Pictures after extruder calibration (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fb7lit5ZRq4):

I such cases a photo of printout will be a great help.

I added 3 photos.

If your printer is a genuine Prusa i3, MK2 or MK2.5, it will have a PEI bed which requires no additional adhesive for a model to remain properly attached during the print.
The PEI should be cleaned with denatured alcohol prior to a print. If your bed has had many prints in one location, the PEI will lose adhesion. I've recently assisted a Prusa owner to change the PEI sheet which improved print adhesion greatly. The strange aspect of that is the problem was getting the print to release, not that it would not remain attached. The user now knows to move the print location around the bed and not always in the center.
In your case, all the parameters look good, although 60mm per second is rather fast, that should not have a big effect on adhesion.
Prusa printers have the ability to perform a live-z adjustment. The first layer being printed should have a slightly squished or squashed appearance. When you begin the print, use a skirt or brim to force the printer to outline the model. During that period, use the live-z adjustment to flatten the first layer, but use caution to not drive the nozzle into the print surface.
For testing purposes, consider to create a model of only 1 mm thick using the same settings. This will give you faster results on testing the live-z and getting a good bond to the bed.
I use 70°C for printing PLA, but the measured temperature on my glass bed is 60°C which leads me to believe that you have a good number. The printing temperature is reasonable too.
10mm brim is wide and further indicates that your adhesion may be related to first-layer nozzle height.
Post-photo edit: I can see in the image provided that the first layer has large air gaps. This is directly related to either the extrusion factor or the z-height. The remainder of the model looks too good to be extrusion factor, returning my first assessment of z-height problems as more likely.
Yet another edit:
As best as I can determine from your printer name, you do not have a genuine Prusa i3, but rather a Geeetech prusa clone i3. As such, many things are different. My suggestion about z-height is no longer valid, as the firmware is likely to be different for your printer.
I'm not a cura user, but my quick research shows that it's probably called flow percentage. Other posts on the 'net suggest that below 100% would be underextrusion. I've found a video that shows how to make your extruder match the 100% flow setting in the software. It's smarter to have the firmware represent accurate figures and the video will allow you to perform this calibration.
The z-height for your printer is related to print bed calibration. I was unable to locate anything useful to me with respect to that aspect of your printer. It appears that the bed has four leveling screws, although I'm not certain of that. If your bed leveling involves adjusting those screws, it is possible that all four (or three?) of them are too tight and have to be released a bit.
If you have bed calibration instructions, consider to perform them again, especially if you are going to adjust the extruder settings as per the previous video.

I have the Pursa i3 Pro B

edited post to reflect new images.

Thank you for your detailed answer. What do you exactly mean with "z-height problem". a mechanical problem with the z-axis or wrong configuration (e.g. Top/Bottom Line With), wrong calibration?

extrusion factor / multiplier: in the program cura i don't find this option. Are there synonyms for this configuration, or is this parameter missing in cura?

thank you for the clarification. I didn't know that there is a difference between "genuine Prusa i3" and "geeetech Prusa i3". I did the extruder calibration as in your posted video described: I edited my post with the new result. The bottom layer is now smooth and the bat didn't slipped away.


text:
Run custom code between G-code commands?
I would like to be able to add custom commands/script to be executed during a print.
For example I would like to write some software to take a picture check the print hasn't moved off the bead between layers.
Does anyone know if any of the available software/firmware allows custom scripts or calling back to the computer before continuing printing?
I am happy to build/buy a new printer if anyone knows a control board that has this sort of feature.

you can trigger by moving the head to a reserved place that activates a sensor. you can abort by intercepting a sensor like hot end temp that will abort the print, using a relay or mosfet or whatever

A solution I use involves a 3D print server. I have defined shell scripts that address the GPIO ports of the Raspberry Pi that runs OctoPrint. OctoPrint is a 3D print server that can be accessed over your home network.
From the OctoPrint homepage:

OctoPrint is the snappy web interface for your 3D printer that allows
you to control and monitor all aspects of your printer and print jobs,
right from your browser.

This print server application allows for specification of custom G-code commands (linked to system commands/scripts for instance; note this is a plug-in called "GCODE Systems Commands", see image below).
As an example, e.g. OCTO100 is scheduled to run fan_on.sh shell script. This script in its turn drives a relay to switch the annoying extruder cooling fan that is always on when the printer is powered. These codes can then be used throughout your sliced file to do stuff you want (e.g. by using the TweakAtZ plugin of Cura). E.g. my extruder fan will stay on several minutes before it is scheduled off after a successful print through OCTO110 which in itself runs the script fan_off.sh.

The scripts from the figure could be setup to schedule to do something, e.g. fan_on.sh controls a relay using port 22 of the GPIO of the Raspberry PI:
#!/bin/bash
gpio export 22 out
gpio -g write 22 0

So to disable the fan you would need fan_off.sh to be:
#!/bin/bash
gpio export 22 out
gpio -g write 22 1

nice example of octoPi interation

@professor79 thanks, this is just a sample, I also schedule the LED lights and can also switch the printer on and off. You can also add custom menu items, so all the scripts can also be activated through the GUI (menu) of OctoPrint

One of the solutions could be adding a layer change script (simplifi3d has that out of the  box) and then using marlin firmware you could set a value to digital pin that could triger external actions.

Layer Change G-Code: I personally haven't had to use this, but I'm
  sure that there are some excellent reasons/ideas to use for this. If
  you'd like for a G-Code script to be inserted in-between each layer,
  than you can simply place it in this tab. One interesting use of this,
  is for the FlashForge Dreamer, to have the lights blink in between
  each layer, however that can be a bit too much at times!

The syntax for the M42 command is: M42 S(value to be written to pin) P (pin number) e.g. To set digital pin 30 high, you would use M42 S1 P30

The MARLIN firmware will not enable you to change the status / write
  values to any of the pins in use for things such as the heaters,
  thermistors, end stops etc. The command will let you send values other
  than 0 and 1 to any pins which can output analogue values. (0-255)

I saw this 3 years ago, this is a closed loop control, I think is better that taking a photo then analyze it with a kind of optical recognition software which needs some of possible failures.
The video has also the link for the additional resources the 3d printer will need according his author.


text:
Filament being pushed back out the filament hole
I just got a Monoprice Maker Select v2 off eBay for $200 and I'm very happy with it (so far). I'm learning a lot, but I've run into this problem that I cannot solve:
When I put filament into the extruder (it's a direct drive extruder), it works well for a minute or two and then the extruder pushes it back out the entrance hole where it should be inserted.
I have no idea why it's doing this. The weird thing is when it's being pushed back out it curls up, maybe from being pushed back up and being hot? It is unclear to me why it curls.
What I have tried:

Multiple brands of filament but nothing is working (I'm not sure what type of nozzle is on the Maker Select v2 but I have printed a Benchy once before this with no problems);
Unclogging - I took the cold end off and nothing looks jammed in it;
Pushed a guitar string through the hot end and no jams.

I cannot figure out why it's doing this.

forgot to mention, im using solutech and amz3d pla filament at 200-210 c and it just keeps pushing itself back out the top of the extruder.

i have the printer plugged into the computer via usb and cura is sending commands for what to do. i figured cura could be messing up so i deleted the profile and restarted cura and am trying again. maybe this will help? would gcode from an sdcard be better?

so i took the fan off the side of the extruder and held the cold end in place so it wouldnt move and ran a print. i could see what the cold end was doing and it ran the motor in reverse and pushed the filament out. why would it do this?

Please copy-paste the comments in the main body of your question. And format you question so it's readable rather than a solid blob of text. Then remove the comments. :)

Also: when looking at the stepper running in reverse: does it push the filament back out in a long, single swoosh or it appears to do the usual move-stop-move-again movements typical of the extruder stepper, simply in reverse?  What happens then?  Does the print resume spinning the stepper forward or keeps on in reverse, or yet it stops the print completely?

May I suggest trying a micro SD card such as the one that came with the printer. I've had problems when connecting a computer directly.

Please answer @mac 's question and put it in the main body of the question, maybe also post pictures or (a link to) a video.

Does it push the filament out until if cannot (because there is no more loaded filament), or does it return to pushing it back in for a while?  In other words, is it in some sense cyclical (in-out-in-out), or in-until-event-then-out-until-you-stop-it?

In until event then out and stays out until I restart

I got an idea: Maybe the heat crawls back so that the extruder can still push it out the entrence (no resistent) but don't get grip to push it in the nozzle direction, because it is to soft and deformed.

Change the retraction distance, maybe you have a too long distance, that pushes the filament the whole way out.

retraction is set to 6.5 mm for cura 3.2.1. is this good or bad?

@user25832 That is the Cura default, that value works well on my Ultimaker 3. But I doubt that this is the issue, throats are generally longer than 6.5 mm


text:
Print quality problem with M3D FDM printer
My model looks like this, does anyone know what's going wrong?

I'm thinking that if the small object looks like that, it's probably because of the slicer? And how about the bottom part of the cube... ummmm... I really don't know
I'm using an M3D printer, its own slicer and PLA at 205°C
Settings:

Layer thickness: 0.200 mm
Extrusion width: 0.375 mm
Filament flow: 100% -->98%
Print speed: 30mm/s -->42 mm/s
Retraction amount: 2 mm
Retraction speed: 6 mm/s
Minimal travel before retraction: 1 mm
Retraction z-hop: 0.150 mm

Update:
The smaller object is using the same file but resized.

Here's the calibration cube. After I've changed the filament flow to 98%, it seems that the situation became better. But, it might also be the problem of the slicer as the two object isn't the same.

Update :
Here are the settings

STL Files

https://files.fm/f/tnu9yyaj
https://files.fm/u/p5f7k6ya

welcome to 3dPriniting. As we are not magicians, could you please share more about your printer hardware, printing parameters, slicer and filament (type, brand).  that will allow to get proper help related to issue  and not a guess ....

Welcome! This is a Q and A forum so please don't enter such (vital) information in the comments, please update your question by editing the question. You are encouraged to also mention what you have tried to fix this rather than printing and posting that this is not what you expected. Calibration cubes (20x20x20 mm) are very useful for this purpose. This appears to be an under-extrusion problem but my guess is as good as yours! Hope we can fix it for you when you give a little more information.

@ki.c Please update the body of the question to better formulate the problem. Also please use calipers to measure the sizes of all dimensions of the calibration cube and put it in the body of the question, not in the comments. Have you calibrated the extruder (when extruding 100 mm is actually 100 mm extruded?). Also post a link to the STL so we know how it should look like.

You need to describe the problem better. It isn't really easy to tell from these photos what you expect, and what you think the problem is.

It appears that there are several issues with the prints.

First layer too far from bed
The picture showing the bottom of the print clearly shows the deposited lines and gaps in between the lines. Please re-level the bed to get the print nozzle closer to the bed (usually a sheet of paper should fit between nozzle and bed without too much friction when pulled). Edit after new information: Your initial layer is definitely incorrect, a 0.4 (assuming you have a 0.4 nozzle) is too high, a rule of thumb is to not exceed about 75% of the nozzle diameter, so this should be max 0.3; this is a strong indication that your bed level is indeed to far from the nozzle. Also 1.5 mm line width for the first layer is way too high for correctly leveled bed to nozzle distance; this should be close to 0.4.
Too much flow
Various pictures show zits and blobs that stick out of the print. The best solution is to calibrate your extruder.
Too high temperature possibly/too few cooling flow
The deposited filament is not sharp, it looks like the filament it pretty fluid during the deposition. Please lower the temperature to 195 and or increase the part cooling flow.
Z banding or wobble
The wavy walls show that the printer suffers from X-Y movement (eccentric movement) when the Z lead screws advance. This cannot be fixed easily as this involves the mechanics and the design of the printer.

To determine to improve the print quality you first should look at the bed leveling issue, second calibrate the extruder (see if you ask it to spit out 100 mm of filament it actually is 100 mm rather than randomly lowering the extrusion flow parameter) before you print some calibration cubes at reduced temperature and or increased part cooling flow.

Thanks for your answer, but my printer got something wrong here, so I need to fix it before modifying those settings.

authors: эдуард елсуков


text:
Lead screw holder - shall I buy metal or just use a printed one?
I am on the way to building my own printer using 2020 profiles, TR8 * 500mm lead screw for the Z-axis. Still thinking if that will be a h-bot or coreXY, but this is another story.
As the printing table shall be mounted in a stable condition I am using this Tevo TornadoCube transformation as a base for the Z-axis. The guys are using metal housing for the lead-screws, but I am wondering if I just print this housing, lead screw mount, from thingiverse and add a 608 bearing - would that be acceptable?

Update:
As per Oscar's comment, my bed will have a set of linear guides next to the lead screw, for stabilization.
This is also a nice solution for the Z-axis. In that case, I have same question: Can I print bearing housing and rely on it, or it is better to use metal ones?

No linear rails to guide the platform, just 3 leadscrews? (With all their wobble and imperfections!) It is better to separate movement from guidance so you don't constrain the leadscrews at the top and bottom, one should be left free.

@0scar this is my entry point, so added update to my question.

I recently went through a similar upgrade. From Anet A8 to Ultimaker 3 extended to CoreXY (HyperCube Evolution). All parts of the HyperCube are printed parts, I tried both PLA and PETG and found that these are stiff and strong enough to hold the linear rails and the leadscrew (steppers and plum couplings). Print quality is similar to the Ultimaker.

@profesor79  I´m printing a whole CNC which includes lead screw guide and shaft supports in order to achieve a smooth and quiet moving. The bearing 608zz is the correct size since the inner diameter is 8mm for an acme thread. 607zz has 7mm as inner diameter so for this you will need an std thread.

Shouldn't @Oscar comment be upgraded to be an answer?

Update:
To answer your question, you could use either metal ones or printed ones. Metal housings are way more heavy that printed parts. The housing you refer to is not attached to the platform, but a static part connected to the frame. Weight is not an issue, stiffnes, strength and temperature stability should be of higher importance.
For metal housings attached to the Z platform weight may be an issue (if have many microsteps where the incremental torque may not be enough to raise the Z platform). Printed parts can be made stiff enough to house the linear bearings. In my experience printed bearing housings can be just as effective, I use those on my platform for my CoreXY printer as well as using leadscrew and linear guide rails brackets made of printed parts.

Old answer, before question update:
With platform movement (or printer head Z movement for Prusa designs) you face a few challenges related to the quality of the parts you buy. Note you want smooth operation of the platform (or head) without wobbling. It is customary to add linear rods or rails to guide the platform up and down, this is their sole purpose, therefore these rods need to be very straight and bought from a local trustworthy vendor (the Eastern oversea specimens are usually of less quality as I know from experience). Securing these linear guide rods could be done with printed parts, the plastic is stiff enough to hold the rods in place, and temperatures are usually not that high to play a large role (if so like in boxed up printers, print in high temperature resistance material), personally I use black PETG.
Secondly, the drive of the platform. Note that leadscrews are not perfectly round, nor is the coupling 100% in the center of the screw. From a mechanics point of view you should never constrain the leadscrews at both ends. This results in an over-constrained (indeterminate) system (of forces) that can induce even more problems. Optimally you fix one end close to the stepper, or the drive of the belt), it is arbitrary whether you use a metal or a plastic part for that unless there are constrains on size and thickness for a requested rigidity and leave the opposite side free. For Prusa clones I use lifting parts that house the lead screw nut rather than embedding the nut in the x-y idler coupler (this separates eccentric x-y movement from z movement and a handy advantage is that if something goes wrong in z min direction, the head will not destroy the glass or bed as it is not fixed to the lead screws). Something similar can be done for your platform. For my CoreXY however, I have not done so, it uses 4 linear rails of 12 mm and 2 leadscrews. PETG stepper mounts at the bottom drive the leadscrews using plum, not spring, couplers (the springy types should be avoided or a ("fixate-able") bearing or KFL08 mount should be placed at the other side of the driven side of the coupler and correctly mounted to the frame). Furthermore, I use Delrin or POM anti backlash nuts on a mount connected to the platform. All tall prints I make are perfectly straight, no wavy or wobbly vertical walls.


text:
Printing .stl file using ObJetPro 3D Printer
I am trying to 3D print some shells for a project, and would like them to be about 5 cm long.
I created the shells in Blender and converted them to .stl files which the printer requires, but it tries to print them as 0.02 mm long. I am not printing them myself, so I have to rescale the files without access to the actual printer. I have tried scaling the object both in Blender, and when exporting them to .stl files, but can't figure out how to tell what size the printer will interpret the shells as.
Is there a way to make sure I have the objects scaled properly before printing them?

the best way is to install slicer on your pc and open the .stl file.
Most slicers will tell you the size of an object and there is an option to rescale resize.
Using Slic3r you will have object details in the corner

Using CURA you will have a detailed view in scale mode

Also you can use online services CLICK

Very good answer that shows various options, an option I usually take (if I also want to edit the model file) is to load the STL is Fusion360 / FreeCAD (or other 3D modeling application that is available) and scale and adapt the model there. When loading STL files (e.g. from thingiverse.com) I always need to scale down by a factor of 10.

@0scar - thanks for good wards. The editing topic was skipped as OP has already tool to create an object.


text:
Is this banding?
Are these vertical lines described as "banding"?
Would the most likely culprit be the extruder?
FWIW, this was printed in "vase mode".

Ok, so it turns out that this was caused by a problem in my stepper motor drivers, which results in missed steps, as described on this guy's blog
The fix was to hook up these "TL Smoother" modules (I got these particular ones from amazon but there are a bazillion clones)
After hooking up TL Smoother, this is what the print looks like:

Banding usually refers to Z banding and manifests itself in a wavy/non-straight wall in Z direction:

This sort of banding is related to mechanical or design issues of the printer (lead screw (nuts), belts, play, etc.)
Your print, however, shows local thicker walls. It appears that these local thicker parts are related to the change in direction of the print head. A 3D printer does not print curved lines or arcs (although G-codes do exist for arc movement), all movements are straight lines. So the cylinder consists of straight lines. By rendering the cylinder with more triangels you could increase the amount of straight lines to form a better approximation of the cylinder circumference. You could also try to lower the printing speed, but since you did not post any printing parameters that will be a guess.

interesting - I'll check the gcode when I get home to confirm it's not using actual arc movements

@Roger You don't have to check, it is using G0 and G1 codes. The STL file already converted your geometry into triangular pieces, so straight lines. Try if you can make the STL again, but now with a higher refinement of triangles.

ok, I regenerated an stl using much higher detail, and printed it... which resulted in the same vertical lines at the same intervals! There are 30 vertical lines; the printed cylinder diameter is 50mm, and my extruder gear is a crappy 26T with 11mm outer diameter

I took apart the extruder assembly - everything seemed fine and clean. These lines only appear when I print in "vase mode", which leads me to believe it might have to do with my Z axis, e.g. maybe it "jerks"?

I don't think it has  to do with Z because you see the same bugs at each layer. check your extruder teeth; you might be missing one, which would be much harder to detect outside of vase where re-work occours.

@Roger does the filament get pushed over the hole of the grub screw? Maybe you can reverse the extruder wheel or e.g. move it further or less far on the shaft.

@Oscar yeah I checked that as well - turns out it was a stepper motor driver issue (see my most recent post)

@Roger glad to see that worked out for you! Very nice you added your own answer (+1) so that other people may learn from it (at least I did). I leave my answer as it answers the banding question you raised.


text:
Software for 3d model to arc/curve gcode?
Is there software that can take a solid model, e.g. in STEP format, and generate gcode that includes arc/curve commands (G2, G3, G5) when possible?

I have been looking at this also. But I can't find a STEP to GCODE software. So the answer to your question is no, not that I'm aware of.
Using STL files, which are approximations of the actual model using triangular shapes, slicers will generate GCODE not including arc codes. I understand that either the printer controller should take care of creating the arc gcode by reading multiple lines in advance and calculate if certain consecutive "straight gcodes" could be replaced by "arc gcodes" or the generated gcode file needs to be pre-processed off-line by separate software, or post processing scripts of slicers.
With respect to reading multiple lines in advance, the 8-bit controller boards are not powerful enough to do all these extra calculations as the different firmwares already utilize the full potential of these boards.

I guess a gcode postprocessor cold infer arcs/curves from lines, but it seems a shame to have to do this kind of reverse engineering when the source STEP file already has all the arc/curve info...

I don't know how the STEP files define surfaces/solid geometries, but you could imagine that a slicer needs to slice the model based on whatever orientation that is chosen in the slicer and has to break up the model anyways, so this may be the reason why it is not practical to do. I think that it is not possible, else it would have existed, note that CNC is around for decades.

This type of workflow (object model straight to toolpath) does exist for cnc though, doesn't it? I mean for example in Fusion360 can't you generate gcode from a brep object without it being converted to a mesh?


text:
Why is my filament pressed together at the nozzle
When I wanted to take out the filament from the extruder, it didn't wanna come out, it was stuck (even when I heated up the nozzle). So I unscrewed the nozzle and it looks like the filament is all pressed together at the top of the nozzle (see picture). What does this mean? I am heaving issues extruding filament from the nozzle, the filament barely comes out and the extruder motor is clicking. Can someone help, please.

What is the white stuff?  And the cylinder? from the pic it almost looks like you have some tape on the filament letting the glue run downwards towards the nozzle...  sounds crazy, but I remember a guy on youtube having exactly that problem with his CR-10...

The plastic is twisted, so it's damaged and damaged plastic becomes white.

could be too soft a filament for a bowden, could be moist filiment, could be a physical obstruction, could be too fast a feed rate, could be too low a temp.

As per attached picture I can see that the issue source could be:

the ptf tube is not inserted to the end of heat-break, or it is not straight-cut at the end - see this video for help
the cooler on the hotend is not working properly/not installed and heat goes up to the throttle and melts the material
an object in the nozzle that blocks the flow (usually a ptf tube particle that probably melted) - clean/replace the nozzle

I didn't know you needed to put the tube in that far, I'll try that out, thanks

@YenteCool the main problem is the point number 2 that creates the problem 3, so you will have that plastic worm.

you can see this problem under this topic https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/4927/hot-end-jamming-very-quickly?rq=1


text:
Connecting disconnected pieces in Fusion360 Stencil. Sketch entire model then extrude
I am trying to make stencils of Japanese Kanji characters with my 3D Printer.
I am very new to Autodesk Fusion360 so I am running into some barriers:

I am having trouble sketching a rectangle and then a text character and extruding them separately. If I extrude one they both disappear. Therefore I have to sketch one, then extrude, then create the next sketch object.
How can I create both sketches and select different ones to extrude?
I am having this basic problem where my stencil has parts that are disconnected (see example below). I've tried sketching lines and thin rectangles to connect the pieces but they both didn't work. I once again can't extrude after it's created.

How can I connect the pieces after extruding? How can I connect them inside a text object?

As I see it, for a stencil you want the brown part with the white part(s) cut out.
This is easily doable. You can do this one sketch at a time, extrude it, and cut it out of the brown part.
To connect the inner brown parts to the rest of the brown, you'll need to cut a thin rectangle in the white character so that the inner brown pieces are connected to the outer brown pieces.

I actually exploded the text and then created rectangles very similar to what you suggested. I just learned how to make different sketches without them affecting each other, so next time that would be a smart move thank you!

To answer your question about the disappearing sketch check out this answer: forums.autodesk.com - sketch disappears after creating body
The default behavior in fusion is that sketches are hidden after the first time they are used in an operation such as an extrude. You can just unhide the sketch by expanding the sketches group in the tree and clicking the light bulb.

yes I just learned how to do this! I also exploded the text and drew on them! Thank you!

May I suggest an alternative?  Create your characters in a document editor (such as Word or OpenOffice), using a very large font size.  Save the characters to an image file.  Go to one of many converter sites, such as embossify  or sculpteo, and let them make a 3-D model of your character.

A tutorial can be found here: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2294134


text:
How to change E0 to E1 on Marlin 1.1?
I have the same problem as this person but I don't have those lines in my RAMPS.h file.
I've recently burnt my potentiometer on E0 so the motor isn't working properly anymore. I want to use it on E1 instead. If you have any better idea how to fix this instead of changing code in firmware, feel free to share.

Your link is sort of broken, as is the link in your post on thingiverse. Instead of pointing to a particular post, your are pointing to a general forum, and it is hard to see to which post your are actually referring. Please edit your post(s) and fix the URL, as your question will probably be of more help someone else, with the correct link to the other person's issue. Do you mean to refer to this post: Switch E0 to E1?

In addition, if you refer to an external website, please quote the relevant details of the issue [external post] here, as the external link could die (as most links tend to do), and then some/most of the information, that pertains to your question, will be lost. Thanks and welcome to SE 3D Printing... :-)

It is pretty easy ;) to adjust the pins in the firmware, I already described that for somebody that wanted to use the E1 as X, please look at my answer of https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3925/how-to-switch-motor-outputs-and-use-e1-as-x-in-marlin-firmware/5786#5786".

It is MKS, but mks file refers to ramps file so i use pins_ramps.h

@0scar still can't get it to work properly :( I've made neccesary changes in code, but now there is some problem with AVRDUDE http://dl3.joxi.net/drive/2018/04/20/0015/0211/991443/43/a8bca32cbc.png

As said before, this has nothing to do with the code changes, it has something to do with your computer or Arduino setup. Look up some instructions on the web to upload firmware to your board, there are loads to find.

@0scar so it might be that my arduino is now "bricked"? I have another Uno and it works just fine, but not this one

No, it's not working. The arduino that is working is arduino uno and it is not for printer

Another posting already discusses how you can change the pins to use spare stepper controllers for broken controllers by changing the pin layout. Assuming you are using a RAMPS board and using Marlin firmware, you should look at the pins_RAMPS.h file.
This file requires changes to address E1 to E0 and vice versa, please edit the file so that:
#define E0_STEP_PIN        26
#define E0_DIR_PIN         28
#define E0_ENABLE_PIN      24
#define E0_CS_PIN          42

is changed to:
#define E0_STEP_PIN        36
#define E0_DIR_PIN         34
#define E0_ENABLE_PIN      30
#define E0_CS_PIN          44

and also change:
#define E1_STEP_PIN        36
#define E1_DIR_PIN         34
#define E1_ENABLE_PIN      30
#define E1_CS_PIN          44

to:
#define E1_STEP_PIN        26
#define E1_DIR_PIN         28
#define E1_ENABLE_PIN      24
#define E1_CS_PIN          42

When the file is changed an saved, build and upload code to your board and plug the connector of the E0 stepper into the E1 header.

I've done that already. But now i have a new problem. The new firmware doesn't want to install and arduino IDE throws an error http://joxi.ru/J2b6n9whXpYy02.png

That has nothing to do with the code changes: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/19645441/avrdude-stk500v2-receivemessage-timeout or https://arduino.stackexchange.com/questions/13060/avrdude-stk500v2-getsync-timeout-communicating-with-programmer-error

I wanted to expand on the great comment by 0scar and explain what's the fastest way to change pins. I know this is an older topic, but for the sake of people looking for an answer, I figured I add this.
First of all it's easiest to change the pins in the pins file for your specific board by simply renaming E0 to E1 and vice versa. This is much simpler than copying and pasting the pin numbers per pin. Only do this when swapping entire driver pin lists as this gets quite confusing when switching around only certain pin numbers.
Second, and this is a big one: don't forget that when you use drivers that are capable of sensorless homing, and when you use that technique, you also have to change the _DIAG_PIN settings or else the sensorless homing won't work correctly.

Hi, Marinus, and welcome to the stack.

the fastest way is to slice using two extruders and assign all print work to E1.
Set the head offsets to [0,0] and that shall do the job.
The harder is to edit pins file and do remapping.

I've already tried doing that in Slic3r and that didn't help :( And also it, probably, won't work if I am to move it from menu screen, right? http://joxi.ru/KAxnKV1FMNwkXm.png

did you set 2nd extruder in config.h? maybe it is time to get https://github.com/JimBrown/MarlinTarantula as I am using that on minte

i've downloaded the firmware that you've recommended and it doesn't want to load http://joxi.ru/J2b6n9whXpYy02.png

Are you sure you installed the CH340 drivers and use the correct COM port? Does it compile?

@IlyaSmirnoff please see https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/a/5849/9730 for flashing reference

@0scar what are the CH340 drivers?

it is a cheap usb to serial bridge that is in most arduino clones

@profesor79 none of the solutions worked :(

@profesor79 now i have problems with AVRDUDEhttp://joxi.ru/DrlvqNdIvN3p72.png

please check that https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/a/5849/9730 @IlyaSmirnoff

@profesor79 I've already tried everything. well... It's not working

authors: Виталий Варавин


text:
How to upload firmware to reprap printer?
When trying to upload firmware I get the following errors:

timeout - cannot sync, or
port is in use

What can be the possible sources of these errors?

There are mainly three reasons for that:

Arduino studio settings should be:

Board: Mega 2560 and
Programmer: AVR ISP
and valid COM port, please see below:

Please close all slicer's instances (Cura, Slic3r, Repetiter)  and host servers and other software that communicate with the printer as they lock the COM port;
Please check that the appropriate usb2serial drivers are installed and working - the best way is to start the serial monitor from the Arduino Studio Tools menu and see if there are any.

+1 for mentioning the slicer software in the overview, the slicer is frequently overlooked and certainly got me  a few times wondering why it would not upload!

how about a too-high baud rate?

@Roger the baud rate is determined by board/programmer in Arduino Studio, that means we don't have access to set it.

There is a preloaded task in your Arduino, I´ve seen this several times.


text:
Can I have a glass bed with only the center heated?
I have a 15x15 cm heating resistor from my current printer (printing area: 12x12 cm).
I would like to switch to a glass bed and to rework my printer to increase the printing area to 20 cm (22x22 cm glass plate).
Would it be possible to use the old heating resistor placed only in the centre? this way I would have a smaller heated bed for ABS and a bigger one for PLA.
Would the glass crack due to non uniform heating? This is because glass has a conductivity of less than 5 W/mK, therefore the hot area will stay hot and basically never really spread the heat to the surrounding area. So the frame will be cold and the center hot, causing stresses.
Related: https://engineering.stackexchange.com/questions/31842/how-much-an-unevenly-heated-glass-plate-bows

This could be a problem with ambient temperature below to 5°C and the heater raises the temperature too fast. for example the heating of cooking oven. When the temperature raises smoothly the closer areas get warm also, so the thermal shock won´t occur. So if you are so worried you can get a tempered glass.

it will work without breaking. you can pre-heat with a towel over the bed to increase uniformity.

How will you secure the heated pad? On my printer, the corners that hold the leveling screws also hold the corners of the pad (unless it had  a peel & stick face on it, I didn't see that part was assembled).

@CrossRoads I could prepare a 3 mm thick plywood plate as big as the bed, and use it to squeeze the heated PCB against the glass

I would think plywood would dry out and become a fire hazard over time with 60C/140F temperature applied to it for hours at a time.

@CrossRoads Plywood is fine up to 90°C, after which mechanical properties are affected. It takes more to get to the fire hazard range, but thanks for letting me know, because I never thought about it. Anyway that's a detail... I could use an aluminium plate, the question doesn't change. The advantage of plywood is that it acts as insulator to reduce losses to the bottom.

So I guess plywood, then some thermal insulator, then heat pad, then AL plate.

I thought of a thermally conductive rubber instead of alu, to compensate for deformation of the heating PCB and to ensure optimal contact with the glass

The glass will be taking up the heat to slowly cover its full area.
That means two things:

it will not crack as there is no thermal shock
it will put more pressure on the heater as there will be bigger heat absorption, so in an edge case, you could end-up with not getting a required temperature on the glass surface and/or the heating process will be very slow.

In that case, I personally will try that out and then if I have an issue with getting proper temperature, then I will buy a new heater.

A comment regarding heat expansion:
my glass is about 20mm longer than the bed and it is warm during the printing process. The 'breaking' stress is connected with temperature shock (an immediate temp change), not a relatively slow heating process. However, borosilicate glass also known as Pyrex (TM) expands very little. Much less than most metals. This is why it doesn't break when exposed to sudden hot and cold changes. So in short words - check tea lighter under your tea-pot and see how te heat is comming out from the centre
source

Glass conducts heat so badly that the hot center part will not spread significantly the heat to the unheated area around it. It may cause internal stresses.

my glass is about 20mm longer than the bed and it is warm during the printing process. The 'breaking' stress is connected with temperature shock (an immediate temp change), not a relatively slow heating process. However, borosilicate glass also known as Pyrex (TM) expands very little. Much less than most metals. This is why it doesn't break when exposed to sudden hot and cold changes. So in short words - check tea lighter under your tea-pot and see how te heat is comming out from the centre

This is only true for sheets of small and intermediate dimensions. Very large beds (400mm upwards) would have considerable thermal gradients over the area.

@profesor79 for info: https://engineering.stackexchange.com/questions/31842/how-much-an-unevenly-heated-glass-plate-bows

If you're using borosilicate glass (aka pyrex) then it won't crack. You can get squares of ~20x20 cheaply off aliexpress.
If you're using window glass, picture frame class etc then you might have issues with cracking, it will depend on lots of factors like the wattage of your heater and the temperature of the room.
Your biggest problem will be that the bed heats very non-uniformly, which is unlike to give good print adhesion. I'd suggest a sheet of aluminium underneath the glass if possible, it will allow much more even heating.

I purchased some very, very cheap thin glass from walmart (or home depot, cant remember for sure). Probably the thinnest kind available. Went through dozens of prints heating it up to 85C only at the center and never experienced issues with cracking. Personally I believe you’ll be fine. I can look for specifics if you need them.


text:
Robotdigg linear guide not smooth motion
I recently bought the MGN12H linear guide and rail from robotdigg, which is supposed to be the copy of the Hiwin.
I have noticed that the motion is very smooth when moving fast, but if I move it very slowly, it gets stuck and the motion is not smooth at all. I think this will cause problems on my prints once I assamble the printer.
Am I missing something? Should I put some king of oil on the balls?

Yes, you may need to clean and lubricate the rail, some times this parts get some dust or the initial oil gets a little hard due lack of usage.

Difficult to say with the given data, but here are a couple of ideas:
First theory:

The belt is too thin/flexible for the linear guide.

Linear guides remove the backslash by adding quite some pressure in the ball system: The block is slightly too small (compared to the rail) and thus it compress the balls and rail. The backslash is avoided until you reach this force.
This pressure require a little bit of force to move the block along the rail, so if your belt is too thin or flexible, the belt will start to move until the elasticity of the belt reach the force required to move the block, then the block move a little bit and stop again.
In a fast movement, your block never get to stop, while in a slow movement, it has time to start and stop. Maybe what you feel like "not a smooth movement"
If you identify this case, I suggest you the following solutions:

Lubricate correctly the guide, this could be enough to reduce the issue to an acceptable level.
Change the belt to a larger one, with fibre glass inside (not only rubber).
If I am correct, the "H" of your MGN12H stand for the pressure of the block. H is for high pressure, switching to a C is far enough for a 3D printer and will reduce the drag.

Second theory: (Thanks to FernandoBaltazar)

You got some dust, rust inside

Remove the belt and move the block with the hand, if you are able to feel the movement is not smooth, then it's probably this case.

Add some grease (Never in your life use cooking oil)
Clean the dust of the rail and exterior of the block
Move the block from one side to the other of the rail until the movement become smooth.


text:
Z Offset on autoleveling sensor setup
How does Z offset (M851) work with an auto leveling sensor? Does it add the Z offset to the offset of the G29 mesh? or the G29 value replaces the M851?
My printer is an Anet A8 with Marlin firmware, I was having issues with the autoleveling sensor and reset the Z offset to 0 and let G29 get the mesh offsets and its working good now.
I was looking through Marlin G-code page but couldn't figure out how G29 affects M851 or vice-versa.
My setup with level issues:
M851 Z0
G28
M211 S0 ;turned endstops off and got a paper to find the zoffset
M851 Z-0.59
M500
M211 S1

And G29 before printing.

G28 instructs the printer to home itself to the X an Y endstops and the Z sensor determines the homing of the Z axis; i.e. when the sensor triggers, this is not necessarily (and most commonly) not the position where the nozzle is at Z=0.
G29 determines the shape of the bed by probing the bed. This will set the shape of the bed with respect to the sensor trigger point as described earlier. The Z-offset (set by M851 Z-x.xx is needed to set the offset between the nozzle and the sensor trigger point (to the bed).
The sequence to determine the offset is:
M851 Z0; // Set the Z offset to zero height
G28;     // Home Z in the middle of the bed
G1 Z0;   // This will move the head to zero height;
M211 S0; // This will disable the end stops so that you
         // will be able to proceed lower than Z=0

Now adjust Z height to fit a piece of paper and note the negative Z height (either through the LCD or through an application or console/terminal over USB)
Please remember, that a sensor doesn't level your bed, is compensates for the shape, the user should always tram (level) the bed as good as possible with respect to the nozzle print head movement plane! This implies that the user should tram the complete bed as good as the skills allow, all corners, like you would do with a normal Z endstop switch.
M851 Z-1.23; // Define the Z offset
M500;        // Store the settings
M211 S1;     // Enable the end stops again

Please note that -1.23 is a fictive value that should be replaced by your own value.
To explicitly answer the raised question, the G29 probes the bed by scanning the surface geometry and the M851 adds an offset for the sensor trigger to the nozzle (at the center). The offset is required to let the firmware know where the nozzle is with respect to the trigger point. The offset therefor lowers the scanned G29 surface, no replacement is taking place. The sketches below illustrate this:

note that the bottom line of the "M851 Z offset" denotes the G29 scanned surface

You must use the sequence
G28
G29

If you do G28 after G29 it will reset bed leveling. I guess you don't want that.
On my printer deployed z-probe falls 2.3 mm lower than nozzle. In printer settings I've therefore stored static Z-offset of -2.3 mm, so after G28 and G29 I can be sure that when ever I tell Z-axis to lower to zero, it can go down -12.3 mm, coming to stop at around 0.1 mm above the bed surface (so just a single sheet of paper fits between the nozzle and the bed).
That said, I'm not worrying about sending the Z-offset via print commands, as restart restores the aforementioned -2.3 mm offset.


text:
How to create an accurate mask for a UV 3D resin DLP printer
The light of the build area of a DLP UV printer isn't evenly spread. The source of light is a 9 LED UV array. The light mainly falls of to the sides. This results in objects curing too much in the center, or not enough on the outer sides of the build area. One can compensate for this, making the LCD build area have a homogeneous intensity of light, using a mask. But it needs to be specifically created for each physically unique printer. Having a homogeneous illuminated build area results in better quality prints.
How can I create such an mask accurately for a UV 3D resin printer that uses DLP technique, like for example for a Wanhao Duplicator D7?

I've seen this kind of source lights and looks a little poor distribution, so I would change the source or the distribution with a light diffuser. It´s easy.

sanding LEDs mitigates the visible halo, maybe that would help here as well.

I've created software to do just that. See the project on Github: CreateMask. It has a wiki page that explains what to do.
To summarize: you measure the LCD build area using a multi-meter and a light dependent resistor. You do this with low and high intensity masks. You feed the numbers in CSV files to the software, and the software will generate a mask for you by polynomial curve fitting. See this page that explains in detail how the mask is created, if you are interested.
You can download a release here.


text:
How do I compute the surface & volume of a large amount of STL files?
Please, how do I compute the surface & volume of a large amount of STL files ?
I have over 3000 STL files, and I want to know their respective volumes and surfaces. I will use this data to be able to identify the biggest part, the one with the biggest surface, etc.
I found that the fine Admesh (included in openscad, as far as I know) software that can compute the volume via command-line (powershell) and with some text editing I can get the volumes for all of these parts (needing some patience), but I didn't find any similar tool for the surface.
The best tool would output such thing as:

input.stl - 75.554mm2 - 45.547mm3

I'm not sure this post is adequate in here, but anyway, thanks.

Depending on how comfortable you are with programming, calculating the surface is pretty easy. Simply sum the area of all the triangles in the file.

Well, the fact is that I am not comfortable with programming. I am learning a lot in computer science in general, but my programming skills are limited to (very) simple scripts like $ cp -r \some\folder \some\destination\ ; shutdown.
Not that I wouldn't like to learn about, but I don't really have the time… yet, at least.

if you can find the weight (aka filament use estimate) and the volume, can you computer surface? idk

@dandavis I don't understand what do you mean. I am searching for the surface of the parts, which is independent from the volume (volume and weight being proportionals, tighten by density). i.e.: these parts have a much higher surface over volume ratio than this one.

admesh -c will give you a summary that includes volume, you colud grep for the line/value after "volume : "

@esoterik I already talked about it in my post.

You could use the Python console of FreeCAD. Issuing the following commands
FreeCAD.ActiveDocument.ActiveObject.Shape.Area
FreeCAD.ActiveDocument.ActiveObject.Shape.Volume

will output the area and the volume of the object, respectively.
I don't know how to access the console output from outside FreeCAD, but there is an option in FreeCAD called Redirect internal Python output to report view which I think is what you are looking for.
You might want to look into the Scripting documentation of FreeCAD for further instructions.

I am quite sure, that Python also could be used to automate this fully, if one is good with it.

Am I wrong assuming that this would require me to import STL file to FreeCAD and process the volume/surface as described, unload the file, reload the next STL file? Would your answer implies me to do so file by file for the 3000+ files mentionned in the post?


text:
Monoprice i3 clone heat shuts off printing abs
I have the Monoprice Select 3D Printer (i3 clone). I'm trying to print ABS. I set the temperature to 230°C for the extruder and 110°C for the bed. I can see the printer warming up to those temperatures and then when it gets there the bed and extruder set temperatures reset to 0, and the print does not start.
I pulled the ABS out and went back to PLA and printed a part without any issues.
Any thoughts on what the issue might be?

Does it shut down the temperatures before reaching the demanded values? Or close to these values? Not many heat beds reach 110°C due to bad connectors/connections, thin wires or lack of insulation at the bottom side.

It looks like the problem is that it shuts down before reaching the 110c.
I was playing with the extruder temperatures. I was at 250c and bumped it up to 260c. It must have thought something was wrong and it set the temp to 0c. Unfortunately, it keeps printing.
I made a quick and dirty enclosure with a few pieces of cardboard and then was able to get up to 110C for the bed and 255c for the extruder.
So I guess I'm building an enclosure :)

this could be connected to a thermal shutdown protection.
Most firmwares requires a decent increase in temperature every few seconds.
if you use Marlin then in the source code you can extend thermal shutdown timings.
what to check:
check every single connector to eliminate any fiddling or play - risk of fire !!!
if any of wires goes hot - double check connections, replace wires/connectors

note temperature change (how many seconds/degree) on the hotbead
then increase voltage on psu (probably you have a led psu - so there is a small regulator next to the connectors)
validate if that help

Thanks!  It is a firmware problem. I had the extruder at 250c and bumped it up to 260c. It must have thought something was wrong and it set the temp to 0c. Unfortunately, it keeps printing. I made a quick and dirty enclosure with a few pieces of cardboard and then was able to get up to 110C for the bed and 255c for the extruder. So I guess I'm building an enclosure and will also upgrade the firmware to Marlin.

be very careful to maintain proper temperature inside the box as that could lead to elephant foot artifact (melted object at the hotbed).


text:
How can I stop the flare out of the bottom layers?
On nearly all of my prints, my first few layers are flared out slightly. I'm using painter's tape for the bed, and the bed temperature is at 60 °C while the extruder is at 205 °C. This seems to happen regardless of print quality settings.
Here's one example below:

That extruded rectangle shape is 19.50 x 19.30 mm on the outside on the straight part. On the flared part, it measures 19.92 x 19.70 mm.
Is there a way to fix this? If so, how can I improve it?

that's a really hot bed, especially with tape. you shouldn't need a hot bed at all if you use tape. it looks like you might have too much smush on the first layer, which, combined with the really hot bed fuses the next couple layers after, especially on a small fast print like a square.

The picture is not very clear so this can be related to either:

Overextrusion at the bottom layer (slicer setting) or an incorrect bed leveling (bed to nozzle distance too small), or
this could be the effect called "elephant foot" that is primarily caused by printers with a heated bed. This issue is related to unbalanced printing parameters: heat bed temperature (too high) in combination with insufficient part cooling.

The general remedy for these problems is to level the bed (e.g. nozzle can be too close to the bed). "Elephant foot" can be reduced by reducing the heat bed temperature, re-positioning the cooling nozzle and/or start cooling at a lower height. Please experiment with the print parameters by printing XYZ 20 mm test cubes till you find the correct settings.


text:
How to change the voltage on a FLSUN QQ
I just bought a FLSUN QQ and the instructions say I need to change the voltage from 220 to 110. Sadly the instructions don't say how to do that. Can anyone tell me how to do it?

What is your problem? some power source has an auto detect to switch from 220v to 110v.

please attach a photo - that will help to help you

@profesor79 what would you like a photo of?

the best will be the psu label

@linuxdan the psu is the power source, is the part that is connected to the wall socket. may be is inside the bottom of your printer.

I took some pictures last night of the components near the plug, but the main one I got decent pictures of was the power board for the heated bed. Will try again tonight. After researching online, it seems like I'm looking for a big metal box similar to a desktop computer power supply...

@Linuxdan Are you saying you had to unscrew the bottom to get to the switch? I have a Sunlu and the manual is horrible. I thought this was a switch to push in to move left to right.

@DannyBlaq yes, the switch in this case was on the side of the PSU which is in the base of the printer.

I don't know if this is the case with all FLSUN QQ printers, but mine was indeed set to 220v as the instructions/user manual indicated. First I needed to remove the bottom of the printer. Then there was a switch on the side of the power supply with the following label:

I know the picture is terrible, but the lighting inside the base of the printer was less than optimal. It should be pretty easy to find once you know what you're looking for.

Thanks to @professor79 and  Fernando Baltazar for their comments that got me looking in the right place.

Very nice to come back and answer your own question. Please accept your own answer after the waiting period. From Help Center: "You can also accept your own answer, but you must wait 48 hours to do so. After all, someone else may come along with an even better solution to your problem!" I doubt there will be a better answer as you investigated yourself.

@linuxdan well done!, mostly power supply has this kind of switch.

My FLSUN QQ 2020 was exactly what linduxdan said, except it was 115v / 230v printed on the power supply. Thanks!


text:
Any family of plastics / filaments that bend and keep their shape?
Not asking for a product recommendation, unless there's only one product out there like this...
I have a need for a flexible filament that retains its deformation, kind of like silly putty. Are there any filaments out there that, after you bend or stretch them, they keep their shape?
I'm sure to some degree flexible filaments do this -- Which filament might be best? Commenters -- what's the scientific term for this?
Actually, metals exhibit this type of flexibility. Do any of the 3D printable metal filaments flex, bend, and keep their shape?

Are you looking something like clay? because copper is the metal thats you can bend and keeps the form but cant be streched. Also your final question makes weird your title question; why don't just ask for metal flex filament?

There is no such thing as "3D printable metal filament". All "metal filaments" are actually just plastic that looks like metal (because the filament contains small metal particles) but they do not behave in any way like their namesake metals.

Copper, aluminum, and a lot of other metals exhibit "plastic deformation"

afaik, you will have to cast/mold/sinter such objects.

There are machines that print with polymer clays, many of which can be baked after printing to firm them up.

To have a material be "flexible" and retain the shape after the "flexing", you need to apply a stress in excess of the elastic deformation stress.  You will want a material that has the elastic deformation limit that is much lower than the ultimate tensile strength.  Unfortunately, for plastics, this is difficult to find.
Most plastics are made up of tightly bound, long-chain molecules.  Flexing beyond the elastic limit requires breaking these bonds, which introduces weak points in the plastic.  You can see this by bending almost any plastic.  Either it will snap in two, or you will see a light or white colored line along the fold.  The lighter color comes from light scattering from the broken bonds.
"Flexible" structural plastics such as ABS are a copolymer (more than one type of molecule) in which one of the polymers is rubbery.  The rubbery bits provide places within the bulk material where the stress can create strain that doesn't require breaking bonds.
I doubt that any 3D-printer FDM compatible filaments will satisfy your needs.  A filament must keep its shape during printing, if for no other reason than to permit the extruder drive mechanism to apply pressure to the filament.  There are 3D-printable filaments, but they are very elastic and return to their shape when the stress is released.
Some metals can respond to stress with by flowing rather than by elastic strain.  Lead comes to mind.  Someone suggested copper.  There are several degrees of hardness of copper depending on the alloy and the annealing schedule after it was formed.  Copper also work-hardens, becoming harder and more likely break under stress the more the copper flows under stress.