text:
Can't connect Cura to my Anet A8 on OSX 10.11.6
I finished the mount of my Anet A8, tested everything and apparently it was ok. I installed the driver that came with it, CH341SER_MAC, turned on the printer, connect USB cable, but nothing happened.
In Cura, I tried to add a printer many times and this message always appears

The printer isn't connected.

In OSX, I discover in System Information, an USB2.0-Serial, that I think can be the printer.  Is it a printer driver problem? Is it the Cura setting? I'm completely lost...

check @Sevasuslik 's reply, the drivers were not the issue, Cura is.

There are a lot of problems with the CH340 chipset drivers to be found on 3D SE and various forums on the internet. To use this cheap CH340 chip that is used by a number of Arduino compatible (clone) boards to provide USB connectivity (a USB bus converter chip that converts USB bus signals to serial interface) you need to install a correct working driver.
For Mac OS X you can try to download a working version for the OS system you are using. You can try to use this driver installer or this driver installer. Both reported to work with Mac OS.

Edit: If you are using OSX El Capitan, please read this. To  get the CH340 drivers to work you need to use the tool csrutil.

Reboot and press CMD+R immediately after hearing the startup sound to boot to Recovery Mode
Open Terminal
Execute the following command: csrutil enable --without kext
Reboot

More information is found here!

0scar, do you think that I should delete my answer? It isn't El Capitan specific (because I hadn't read the question correctly), doesn't provide a definitive answer that works, and is quite long winded. I have turned it into an on-going blog  instead. The OP hasn't returned to say what the solution to his issue was.

You are using OSX El Capitan. The version of OSX is particularly relevant w.r.t. the CH340 drivers. A driver that works on one OSX version, will not necessarily work with a different version of OSX - even minor version changes of OSX can be affected (as the answers to Problem with serial driver for CH340G board demonstrate.

Important Note
Before installing any new drivers, it is always worth backing up the original file, just to avoid any unpleasantness later. For example:
sudo mv /System/Library/Extensions/usb.kext /System/Library/Extensions/usb.kext.old

I seem to remember having the same issue, not with a 3D printer, but just with a cloned Arduino board. I thought that I had written a lengthy blog about it but can't locate it at the moment (I will update this answer when I find it)1.
The CH34x ICs are infamous for their poor support on OSX. On Windows they generally fare a little better, and TBH it is probably well worth considering a WinTel option just to save yourself time, frustration and headaches...
Nevertheless, I think that I found this site to be useful, How To Use Cheap Chinese Arduinos That Come With With CH340G / CH341G Serial/USB Chip (Windows & Mac OS-X).
See also Compatibility between Arduino and Arduino clones:

The most annoying issue, and even then it is quite minor, is that a lot of Chinese clones do not use an ATMega for the USB and instead use a CH340G. These chips, while fine when connecting to a PC running Windows 7, have great difficulties with the drivers on OS X, and end up just not being recognised. It is possible to find a driver for the CH340G, but when I installed it, it immediately crashed the MacBook, upon plugging in the cloned UNO..!

This advice also proved to be invaluable, from Post #47 - Arduino in OS X 10.9 Mavericks - Serial Port Issues

For any others who haven't been able to solve this one yet: if, like
  me, you decided to go with the cheaper chinese kick off arduino clone
  boards and had problems similar to this one, please check the
  following forum post, as it solved the problem for me:
http://forum.arduino.cc/index.php?topic=289518.0
And another blog site that explains the whole process really simply
  for noobs like me:
http://kiguino.moos.io/2014/12/31/how-to-use-arduino-nano-mini-pro-with-CH340G-on-mac-osx-yosemite.html
Actually the dude has even mirrored the relevant driver that solves
  the problem without having to find it on an all chinese or all russian
  website!

Finally, I have just had a problem with an Arduino Nano and my Mac (running Mountain Lion). Using this link, Connect Arduino Nano with Mac OSX:

Download the driver from url: link
Extract and install file CH34x_Install.pkg
Run the command: sudo nvram boot-args="kext-dev-mode=1"
Restart the Mac.
Replace the text -P{serial.port} to "-P{serial.port}" in 2 files:
  /Applications/Arduino.app/Contents/Java/hardware/arduino/avr/platform.txt (1 instance)
  /Applications/Arduino.app/Contents/Java/hardware/arduino/avr/programmers.txt (4 instances)

However, this did not work for me, but I am running OS X 10.8.5 and the driver is meant for 10.9 (according to the ReadMe.pdf). My /System/Library/Extensions/usb.kext file remained unchanged (i.e. the date did not change), so maybe the installer will not work for 10.8.5.
I tried the second of 0scar's suggestions, but this didn't work for me either (on Mountain Lion): adrianmihalko/CH340G CH34G CH34X Mac OS X driver - The usb.kext file was never installed in /System/Library/Extensions/ by either the 1.3 or 1.4 versions.
The first of 0scar's links, Signed Mac OS Driver for Winchiphead CH340 serial bridge, interestingly pointed out that, after installation (and the associated reboot), one may have to copy the usbserial.ktext file manaually to /System/Library/Extensions/`. So after locating the installed file I did the following:
sudo mv /Library/Extensions/usbserial.kext /System/Library/Extensions/usb.kext

and then rebooted once again.
Note the change of the filename - this may or may not be necessary. Either way, when I used both usbserial.kext and usb.kext, yet again, this did not help me on Mountain Lion. However, the documents do state that this particular driver is for 10.9 (Mavericks) through to 10.13 (High Sierra).
The answer to this question, Uploading to a CH340 “Nano” board using a Mac with Osx High Sierra, may help you on OSX High Sierra.
It might be worth trawling through this list of questions on the Arduino.SE site: osx nano, such as this one Rename device name (ch340 usb to serial) Mac OS.

Additional note
Another pitfall is that some drivers may be named CH341xx.xxx, but they may work for both the CH340 and the CH340... then again, they may not. The docs don't always say whether they will or not work for both ICs.

Footnotes
1 I think it might be this Re: Arduino in OS X 10.9 Mavericks - Serial Port Issues:

Yes, I have been struggling for a month or so, and finally realised
  (after reading
  http://forum.arduino.cc/index.php?topic=198539.15#msg1720630) that
  other chips were being used, in lieu of the FTDI chip, for example the
  Prolific 2305. After inspecting the board with a magnifying glass, I
  saw that I did not have an FTDI chip in my Chinese clones of an Uno
  and a Mega, but a CH340G instead.
Once I realised that I found the http://wch.cn/product/CH340.html
  site, but the Mac driver doesn't appear to be there. After a bit more
  googling I found the kiguino site. I downloaded the mirrored driver,
  rebooted the mac, and when I connected the Uno, my MacBook died and
  restarted with the grey serious error screen and refused to boot.
  After disconnecting the Uno, the Mac rebooted as normal, so no lasting
  damage done, but I am a bit wary of trying to plug the clone in again.
Anyway, note that the chip says CH340 on it, but the drivers are
  CH341. I assume that they are compatible.

The problem is not in drivers! In the file located at Ultimate Cura -> Contents/Resources/USBPrinting/AutoDetectBaudJob.py in line 74 in the if statement you should replace and with or:
if b"ok" in line or b"T:" in line: # or instead of and

What Cura version do you have?
Cura only works with the Anet A8 via USB on versions 2.3 and lower according to this page. The page is from thingiverse(A 3d printing forum + print files page)

Link answers are not answers.


text:
Why does slic3r get an error "302 moved temporarily" when uploading to OctoPrint?
I have configured slic3r's OctoPrint Upload section with the with hostname ("octopi") and port (80) of my OctoPrint server.  The Test button indicates a successful connection.
But when I use "Send to Printer" I get an HTTP error 302.
How can I fix this?

Specific answer: use "octopi.local" rather than "octopi", since that will properly resolve to the correct Octopi IP Address.

More generally, investigating the network traffic on my network (AT&T Fiber Home) revealed these facts regarding the octopi server:

With a browser, the octopi can be accessed via either "octopi:80" or "octopi.local:80".
However, "octopi" actually talks to the network router, which sends a "302" message with the target name "octopi.local".
So, for the browser it seems either name is correct, but in actuality only "octopi.local" is the correct network name for the octopi system.

And these facts regarding the slic3r configuration:

slic3r does not process "302" messages, instead treating them as errors.  This is OK, since a properly configured network won't be generating these.
the slic3r connection test is incomplete.  It reports success because it receives an HTTP response, even though the response is a 302 rather than the version information that it is requesting.

So in this particular case, entering "octopi.local" instead of "octopi" corrected the error.  If you receive a 302 error, you will need to research and verify the exact IP address or host name for the target Octopi system.
A future version of slic3r should probably report an error on the "test" button if it doesn't (a) get a proper 200 return code and (b) return the proper version information as slic3r is requesting.

most software checks for 2xx series response codes as a valid ones - that it is the reason for giving the error popup :) - btw very good explanation, I will also add an option to use IP address, but that depends on internal DHCP settings

@profesor79, I agree. I updated the answer to clarify that the 302 error is proper behavior, and that the test function was what was confusing me.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
Marlin Firmware Auto Leveling only re-centers the XY-axis (Delta printer)
I'm trying to get my printer to auto level its bed, with Marlin firmware using the following:

Printer: Kossel Linear plus (Delta 3D printer)
Board: MKS Base V1.5
Firmware: Marlin customized

I go into the menu on my LCD, and go to the prepare screen. The screen has the following options:

Auto home
Level Bed
Bed leveling: off

When I select the "Auto home" function, the printer uses the stops at the top of the delta to zero itself.
When I select the "Level bed" function, the printer once again uses the end stops to level itself.
If I turn the Bed leveling to ON, then the Level Bed function will do the exact same thing.
My auto-leveling device is connected to the Z-axis end-stop, and looks like so:

I have the #define AUTO_BED_LEVELING_LINEAR line in my config.h, as well as the #define Z_MIN_PROBE_USES_Z_MIN_ENDSTOP_PIN line. I'm not sure why the printer doesn't actually lower the head to the plate and press the endstop.
Any clues as to how to make the printer level the bed and not home the XY axis?

You are correct to define the constants AUTO_BED_LEVELING_LINEAR and Z_MIN_PROBE_USES_Z_MIN_ENDSTOP_PIN, be sure to define the following also:
#define Z_MAX_POS MANUAL_Z_HOME_POS

and
#define MANUAL_Z_HOME_POS 300 // Distance between the nozzle to printbed after homing

Note that 300 should be the distance from nozzle to bed after homing.

Please look into the configuration files of this Kossel Linear Plus and compare them with your own configuration files, you may have missed something.

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


text:
Easy way to refine a 3D-model for 3D printing by removing internal geometry
I have been given a proprietary 3D file of a real world item from an item manufacturer with the obligations not to hand it out to anyone to produce a print in a low single digit percentge scale of the object. The object model I was handed was given in STL format, and contains even the tiny geometry of the internals. The first set of files given did come with walls that became too thin to be printable in some areas, and I had to ask them to thicken these parts, which they did.
Now, these files still contain tons of redundant internal geometry), like bolts that would be M20 or something IRL. The technical design is actually produced in a 1:1 scale - and thus much of the item's complexity is retained in scaling and slicing, because I was provided with neat, nested shells that don't intersect at all. A tiny piece of internal geometry after slicing for illustration without giving much about the actual object (which is under DND).

ALL of this internal is superflous, waste of material and additional print time.
The STL of this item contains (according to Meshmixer) about 40 shells, most of them representing single bolts, while the really relevant parts are all in the shell 1. The really problematic part is though, that even ditching these 39 superfous shells, the space reserved for them and a lot of internal geometry is left behind when I try to get rid of the internal geometry.
Saturday I tried for hours to simplify the model first and then stitch away tons of the internal geometry with blender, but while this did reduce print time greatly for the internal cavities were gone, the simplification did mess up other parts of the model to a degree that wasn't nice anymore and it messed up the scaling. Also, it was very time consuming - 6 hours or more - which makes this a very bad time-effect ratio. The print with the retaining 2 % of the vertices was... ok, but not as nice as with the half million vertices from the original file, mainly because I had to simplify the model first to even have a chance to see into the model to get the internal cavity vertices grabbed and removed/merged, before fixing any holes left from the mercyless treatment by Meshmixer's auto-repair feature.
Is there a way to analyse a model for internal structure and remove them for slicing without having to remodel a 500k vertex / 50 MB object in its full? It would be best if such a way was somewhat automated.
My setup usually uses Cura as a slicing engine, my modeling softwares of choice are - in this order - Fusion360 or DesignSpark Mechanical. If nothing else helps and I have to attack singe vertices I do my way around Blenderauto-updated via Steam. Meshmixer I usually use only to fix up models before slicing.

About 10 minutes after writing the question, it suddenly dawned on me, that I was not using Meshmixer to its full potential, and especially not a simple property of Cura:

Cura can discard all parts of a model, that are intersecting a closed volume and thus are inside another volume - fixing intersecting shells this way. This option is called "Union Overlapping Volumes"
Meshmixer can, using the meshmix tool, add simple and somewhat complex geometries to specific places in given size and orientation.

Now, these two parts can be used to get rid or complex internal geometry by intentionally setting it up an intersecting shell. Usually intersecting shells are a no-no for good 3D design, but by having something - for example a cylinder - intersect just the internal geometry and enclosing it, these parts vanish in the slicing, if the slicer is set to fix intersecting shells by ignoring internal geometry. Cura does so with a simple setting, one that seems to be on by default in the 3.3.1 distribution.
So the odd solution to how to reduce a model's internal geometry without impacting the outer look can be this at times:

Manually add geometry, that (fully) encloses the internal geometry and turns it into an intersecting shell, allowing (some) slicer softwares to ignore this part.

To illustrate, almost the same area of the object before and after the added cylinder:

As one can see, the structure became much simpler, as the cylinder cuts away all the internal structure (the 'spokes' and 'axle' one might want to identify from the left picture, but that would be a misidentification) is gone. Much less internal geometry is retained and instead it is now filled with a cylindrical space of nice and fast(er) to print infill, here "Quarter Cubic".
While this is just a partly automated solution - demanding the manual addition of the intentional intersecting shell - I am yet to be taught about a fully automated way.

Can you add the exact command / GUI menu item in Cura which sets ignoring internal geometry?

@CarlWitthoft Union Overlapping Volumes

I did something similar a while back for a Thingiverse object with completely useless "extra reinforcement" inside.
I used Meshlab to select faces onto which no light could shone and then removed those.


text:
DQ542MA Blown Fuse
I purchased two DQ542MA drivers in order to run two NEMA 17 steppers. After about five days of use I noticed that the green indicator light had gone out on both drivers.
The DQ542MA driver running my NEMA 23 High Torque stepper was still running and it has been connected to that stepper for five months now. Using an Ohm meter to check I found that the 10amp 125v LittleFuse connected to the power pins had blown on both drivers connected to the NEMA 17 steppers cutting off the power.
I decided to test the still working driver by disconnecting it from the NEMA 23 stepper and corresponding pins on the motherboard and connecting and resetting it to work with one of the NEMA 17 steppers. The minute I turned my printer back on, the still working stepper (now attached to the NEMA 17 stepper) immediately blew the same fuse. I don't understand why the NEMA 17 steppers blew the fuses of the drivers, seeing as how both are properly set to a RMS of 1.69 and a pulse/rev of 400, and both are connected to a 24v PSU.
My question is: "When I fix the drivers should I solder in a 15amp 125v LittleFuse to better help the power flow and prevent any further blown fuses?"

Did you try to change the motors instead ? What are the rating for your NEMA 17's ? ( Sadly you blew all your drivers .)  Check your motors first always . I don't see any logic in having a higher amp fuse . it should never consume that much current if the steppers current rating is less than fuse's current rating  .  My best suggestion is to solder back the 10 A 125 V fuse and get a driver working again and make sure your motor is not short circuiting . Tell me what happens . I wanna use the same drivers next month .

Instead of replacing the 10A fuse with a 15A fuse, consider replacing it with a wire link. Wires are much more reliable than fuses, because they don't blow as easily. In fact, it would be a good idea to replace all fuses with wire links, because then we'd never have to replace a blown fuse ever again!

@TomvanderZanden a master of irony for you!

@AxelFernandes - Don't you mean solder back the 10 A 125 V fuse?  Upgrading the current capacity of a fuse in a device designed and built to specific tolerances is generally a very dangerous thing to do (as Professor's answer points out) unless you really know what you are doing... Your comment, whilst well meaning, just seems to be particularly bad, if not hazardous, advice.

@Greenonline sorry i was just brain storming its not an answer lol . Also yes your right i did mean solder back the fuse i forgot to mention the correct ratings . :P

@AxelFernandes -  OK, Thanks. I've edited your comment for you, to put the correct rating :-)

I read somewhere else where someone set the RMS to 1.04 (SW 1 OFF, SW 2 ON, SW 3 ON) would that possibly make it run smoother without overloading the fuse at a rev of 400?

If the fuse blows - there is a reason for that, so changing it for a higher rating without understanding the source of the problem is:
 Asking for fire!!!
Every stepper has its own internal resistance (and as we have a magnetic field it is called a reluctance),  that is limiting the max current, but this equation needs to take U given to the motor.

A simple and popular solution is to give only as much voltage as
  needed, utilizing the resistance (RL) of the winding to limit the
  current (fig. 4a). A more complicated but also more efficient and
  precise solution is the inclusion of a current generator (fig. 4b), to
  achieve independence from the winding resistance. The supply voltage
  in Fig. 4b has to be higher than the one in Fig. 4a. A comparison
  between both circuits in the dynamic load/working order shows visible
  differences.

Source Stepper motor driving by H. SAX - page 2
That said - the higher voltage applied to the stepper - the higher current is flowing via its coils.
Please check the datasheet of your driver to see how it is managing to current limit your stepper as that looks like a source of your issue.

Part Analysis
Let's see what we have:

The fuse in the driver is set to keep up the loads that the driver can safely handle.

The NEMA 17 results in a blown out fuse

Conclusion
The problem lies not in the driver, but the NEMA 17 motor or the wires to it and can be of several ways:

The motor has a short and is defective.
The motor is not rated to the driver board.
The wires to the motor create a short.

But there is also a 3rd option, as the driver board is connected to the controller:

The controller supplies the driver with too much current and fries it.

Solution
Do not solder in a higher rated fuse, as this is asking for fatal part failure - which could be fire just as much as totally frying the logic circuits on the board forever. Instead, find out what type of error resulted in the blown fuse, and replace these parts.


text:
Which common 3D printing materials/methods will suitably replicate (w.r.t. durability) this injection molded Polypropylene item?
Note: Before any negative flagging, we asked permission on Meta prior to posting & got a YES: Could this Printing Material Recommendation Question be or shaped to be valid on 3D SE?

Which common 3D printing materials/methods will suitably replicate (with durability) this injection molded Polypropylene item?
Item to replicate via 3D Printing:
Club Handle - 5/6 image album (a few images are attached below as well)
Physics, Mechanics & Forces in play on object:
Usage Intent is not to create an Impact or Hit but to Flow in Circular motion like this: YouTube - 10 Best Indian Club Exercises

Item with PCO 28 PET Threading
20 cm Length - Avg. 28 mm Diameter

Instead of me trying to figure out materials, I seek advice from experienced experts here.
Please advise and suggest on materials:

Ideal top 3 materials recommended/ most suitable for this item?
Other top 3 materials that are easier to get through "Entities" on 3dHubs?
Add Thought: Is "negative" printing is the way to go (Sculpting, lathe, threading, CNC types)?

Note: The immediate answer people gave was to use PP printing, however I am looking for alternatives because PP printing is not common or easy to find nearby and expensive.

Self Homework:
So I looked through these material guides which show different attributes and ratings for various parameters:

Print-ability
Strength
Stiffness
Durability
Price

For example, Polypropylene - Simplify3D - Polypropylene
Polypropylene is great for high-cycle, low strength applications due to its fatigue resistance, semi-flexible, and lightweight characteristics.
Entire Material Lists looked at:

Simplify3D - Ultimate 3D Printing Materials Guide
Tinkercad - 3D Printing Materials Guide
All3DP - 2018 3D Printing Materials Guide
3DPrinting.com - 3D Printer Materials Guide
Shapeways - Materials for every stage of any project

Besides being expensive and uncommonly found, PP is also pretty difficult to print!

@0scar - Exactly my experience, but someone threw that answer without any alternatives when I asked the same question on reddit.

Hmm CNC seems logical but those threads cant be done on a CNC . This part has to be moulded or 3D printed .I don't see much of a challenge in terms of manufacturing its just your material that is a limitation .

@AxelFernandes There are special thread cutting tools, but they need a fully free outside for one half. but if you CNC, one could weld the grip... or include the cap in the design. Just the interior thread remaining, and that could be CNCed on a 5-axis machine.

Ah ok, I sincerely apologise for my mis-understanding, and completely getting the wrong end of the stick. I have rolled back the deletion.

No FDM print at all.
The problem of your design will not be the materials, but a basic property of FDM printing: FDM Printers do create a structure by placing a long string of filament next to itself and ontop of itself, creating tons of boudaries.
These boundaries between the layers are the weak points for this application: Even if the material like ABS could withstand the blow handled with such a club, the print will break at its weakest point - which in this case is any layer boundary. This is amplyfied by the basic design we have here: The elongated shape will serve as a lever on each of the weak boundries, until one gives way and results in catastrophic failure and a flying clubhead.
Non-FDM for the rescue.
To counteract this, you need to use a different method than FDM printing to get a more homogenous material than the bound deposited filament. Such methods could be for example SLA (Stereolithography) or SLS (Selective Laser Sintering). Both could easily offer even tiny details.
SLS uses Nylon or metal powders, sometimes even ceramics - Tungstencarbide for example.
SLA/Resin
Using a Resin printer using the SLA methods results in an object almost as homogenous as an injecion molded object. Proper aftercare and curing is required to get the best results. Also, Resin prints usually age under UV light, which can negatively impact lifetime. SLA printers are expensive (for home printers), print shops that offer them relatively rare and costly (in comparison to FDM) but usually offer superb resolution and almost perfect smoothness. A lot of the exact material properties is resin and aftercare dependant.
A way around the aging could be that the results of an SLA print could be used to create green-sand molds countless times, which can be used for casting metal or even some thermoplastics. Remember though, that cooling metal shrinks.
SLS Nylon
Nylon would be a medium rigid, light solution, but it ages and has a quite rough surface. It does offer some flex, almost perfect for this application. While most SLS machines for nylon are commercial to industrial, print technology of this kind is widespread enough to make them somewhat affordable (for an industrial printer) and printshops for these relatively common, prints are not cheap but well priced.
DMLS / SLM
Direct Metal Laser Sintering and Selective Laser Melting - an evolution of SLS - allows to create structures from various metals by sintering/melting powders of metal at the right spot to gain shape. The benefit would be, that you get a part that could withstand much more destructive testing than your bottle used as a clubhead - you get a workpiece of solid metal (Steel, aluminium, Titanium and a lot others are available) after all that has the same properties as a cast item. The big downside is, that only few companies currently delve into DMLS, among them the former patent holder of many of the FDM printing patents, Stratasys. This means, that a machine for this is industrial rated and priced, and that print suppliers charge accordingly.

Thanks for such a detailed response. Before I delve into reading further I'd like to update with how its meant to be used (Intent is not to create Impact or hit something or someone but to Flow in Circular motion). Like this -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIEOWh87ahY - Hope that helps give more insight and maybe changes your answer a bit.

The thing is, that thdre is a heavy weight (club head) mounted to the shaft. Any change of motion introduced via the shaft will induce a force that is similar to an impact but a little more gentle. The fact that you want a maximum homogenity and bonds along the length of the structure stays - FDM does not provide those. SLA, SLS and DMLS do provide these according to my knowledge.

Fair enough - FDM is out. PS: I just searched around via 3DHubs.com for SLS & Nylon & Resin and there's some possibilities. Will post back with the Resin & Nylon options that I get from the nearby vendors.

@AlexSIf When you trimmed your material choice down, you might better do a new question, asking for a dirrect comparison of your small material choice. Mind you, we are all biased, and a lot of the actual print is design related: one could do an FDM print that won't fail under load, if cleverly designed and introduced to the proper aftercare and maybe a strengthening insert or two along the length, but that is an entirely different thing from "what is the best durability material combo". I added to SLA a little too.

If you want a 3D printing answer then
I see that the part has a few major points of concern to me:

Threads (Gosh I hate threads).
Tolerance - +/- 0.1 mm-0.2 mm should work fine (in terms of those threads fitting on the top of the bottle)
Strength - This needs to be strong, so as to be able to effectively not break when spinning around.

In terms of tech your best option is - SLS
Layer resolution - 0.120 mm
For material options (In descending order of choice)

PA 11 - Impact resistance is the major property for these parts. This is the material for your application .
Here is the material data sheet - EOS PA 1102 Black.
Glass filled PA-12 (I'll be taking this as second  option) it has the strength but is extremely brittle . Material Data sheet - EOS PA 3200 GF.
DuraForm ProX HST Composite (The expensive option) Yeah this will work. Check out the data sheet 3D Systems DuraForm ProX HST Composite

Now the Non 3D printing solution
So, to manufacture this design any other way is actually very simple but the threads are a serious area of concern.

The body section can be cut on a standard 3 axis CNC.

For material options please choose a no brainer like polycarbonate or delrin. Find information here: Plastic
CNC machining.

Threads would have to be manually lathe machined onto it. (You need some beautiful hand work here). This might not be feasible by suppliers on 3dhubs.

Now my argument is to go for Additive manufacturing over CNC as you get the part straight out of the machine with the threads and material strength innate.
You can even make the part hollow using some design skills. This will make it lighter.
It would be very nice if you could get your 3D file ready so as to start this whole process and actually go about to manufacture it.
I can add more details if you want to. Just comment and ask.

F - I have some PET thread files from online sources but instead of putting all my energy into finalizing a 3D file and then finding out that I cant realistically or economically get it done nearby I figured lets get a reality check.
PS: I just searched around via 3DHubs.com for SLS & Nylon & Resin and there's possibilities. I'll look up your material suggestions also to see availability.

My friend professional advice . Dont waste your time on anything without a 3D file . You have no idea where things go once a file is ready . Spend some Time on getting the tough CAD work done everything else is a piece of cake .

Slight side note: all the materials are nylons, while some SLA machines can also handle different materials.

@AxelFernandes - Now its more realistic & doable, because I have local vendors that do these "material options" suggested by both of you, so I can take few of the existing CAD files and merge them. Lots of thanks. Will post back with detailed material (lots of variations) info

@Trish yup your right PA can also be called a type of nylon . Though I don't like to call it that because Dupont has a patent for the name and the specific type of nylon . So stick to call it PA ( polyamide ) .

I do think that FDM is possible for this item.
Polyamide (nylon) would be my first choice for this, as it has great interlayer strength and it is very impact resistant and durable. Its failure mode will be permanent bending and stretching rather than cracks or a clean break like common FDM plastics like PLA and ABS.
I also needed a filament to simulate PP for FDM use recently, and found that Polymaker's nylon co-polymer CoPa in its conditioned state closely matches PP in its properties. Conditioned means that it has absorbed moisture which softens polyamide.
Regular nylon for 3d printing should have similar properties to CoPa, if a bit softer than PP in my experience.
However material is only secondary to geometry
I believe that in general the actual 3d model and its geometry is more important than the material itself. Indeed this item could be made using regular brittle PLA if the design is good, but it might be heavy or bulky. Thus choosing a better suited material is often a trade between weight, dimensions, and cost. Printing with PLA using very high infill might work, but would take too long and be too heavy compared to nylon, as an example.
This also means that the design of the part would inform the choice of the printing method to be used. Using FDM printing the Z-axis is a lot weaker than X-Y. But other methods are not completely isotropic either - they still have layers that can introduce stress risers and weaker bonding, but they are much less prominent than in FDM. Changing the design can enable you to choose a cheaper process.
Two important principles for designing for 3d printing to be considered before doing a final selection of material are:

Increasing the dimensions/wall thickness in weak or highly loaded
areas.
Design with printing orientation in mind.  Choose a proper orientation for the load the item will experience.

To exemplify for your particular case:
Increase the thickness of the handle around the connection to the bottle.
Lay it down with the long axis in the X-Y plane which will increase the strength tremendously, perhaps enabling it to be printed in PLA, ABS or PETG. Either split it in half and glue/screw it together, or use supports. You may need to print the threads upright as a separate part that is mated to the handle in the assembly process.
Finally, I would like to encourage you to embrace the main benefit of "rapid prototyping" - its speed and low cost to try things out. Make a first prototype and test it to destruction before settling on the design and material selection.


text:
What is wrong with this angle?
I'm trying to print a model that looks like this:

at a size of approximately 10"x7"x7".  I've tried 3 times now, with various different infill and shell settings, and had it fail all 3 times in the same way at the same point: right at the point where the central column begins to angle back (which is a bit higher than where the two side columns angle back--those angles print just fine) the whole thing ends up detached somehow and I end up with messes like this:

How can I figure out what's going wrong with this print?  I've already wasted a non-trivial amount of time and filament on this, and it's starting to drive me up the wall.  Somehow, I've got the wrong settings to make this geometry print, but I can't seem to find any settings that actually work.
Using the Raise3D N2 Plus dual-extruder printer.
EDIT: WRT questions raised in the comments:
The extruder isn't clogging. It's continuing to print; it's just that at the point where the central column angles back, the whole thing separates and I end up with a distinct layer that prints straight up and down rather than angling inward.
I'm using PLA at 215°C and 3 wall layers.
This problem seems to be specific to this model; I've been able to print other large things before without problems.
Never heard of MeshMixer, but the reviews on the download page make it appear to be a very buggy and wouldn't work at all, at least in the current version, and it requires a registration to download even though it's nominally free, so I think I'll pass on this one.

What material are you using? At what temperature?

Is that behavior just for this model? Did  you check it via MeshMixer for intersecting shells or holes?

If the model is not too big, you could consider trying to fix it with: https://service.netfabb.com/

I wouldn't diss MeshMixer so glibly.  It's a good entry-level CAD tool, and there are excellent tutorials on YouTube.

Please post a link to the original model.  I'll be happy to toss it into MeshMixer and Cura to see if something pops up.  BTW, did you do a  "Layer View" after slicing, to see if in fact a layer or two is "lost" and that's why it falls apart?

Air prints suck. Perhaps the hex infill and perimeters are not working well together. Hex fill is normally used for strength, but I doubt you'll be standing on that, so try other fills The only thing different about the roof at the airprint point is the angle. Your pictures show coarse steps, suggesting that the perimeters might be too narrow or the angle too flat (e.g. shallower than 45degrees). If the angle is too shallow, a slicer will have a hard time figuring out paths that support the roof with thin infill and perimeters.

@OyaMistAeroponics After careful estimation: the angle seems something like 15° to me, and the lower picture hints, that it is a print with wall thickness 1

@trish This particular print has a wall with a thickness of 3 shells.

@OyaMistAeroponics OK, I'll try a different infill pattern and see if that helps...

If it isn't a slicer problem then my suggestion would be to try printing with less infill or a different pattern so that the perimeter has less time to cool bettween layers. and print as a slower speed so that the layer bellow has more heat transfered into it when the nozzle lays down the next layer and the layers should weld together better then. Also if you can print in a warmer room that might make a difference.
This might not solve your issue but has solved similar looking issues for me before.

@OyaMistAeroponics I changed fill pattern and it's now managed to successfully print past that point.  Post that as an answer and I'll accept it.

Can you link to the model?

Hex infill patterns are normally chosen for strength, as the honeycomb resists force in many directions. However, hex infill patterns are slow to print and the older, simpler fill patterns print faster and provide sufficient support for solid architectural models.
Models with shallow roof angles of less than 45 degrees are challenging to print and often result in "air prints" where unsupported filament cascades into a sorry tangle of sadness. Shallow roofs are challenging because each horizontal filament overlaps very little with the preceding adjacent filament. This is where infill proves critical, since the infill supports these filament bridges as they cross each infill line segment.
Slicing software has only recently introduced the hex fill pattern because the code to print a hex infill is VERY complicated. You can see this in the picture as all those fine lines of retracted filament scattered throughout the hex infill. Earlier, simpler fills such as diagonal lines provide simpler longer paths for the slicer to implement. Bridging works best at speed over many supporting points. Excessive retraction causes the extruder to "stutter", and makes bridging difficult.
It may therefore help to choose a simpler fill pattern for printing this model and reserve hex infill for simpler models requiring utmost strength.


text:
Marlin Minimum X/Y Feedrate
I'm in a situation where I'd like to move the XY axes on my printer extremely slowly (down to 0.05 mm/s = 3 mm/min). [I'm okay with 'smooth' motion not being possible].
First off, here's the (somewhat Frankensteined) setup I'm using:
I'm basically using the LulzBot TAZ 6 for motion control (XYZ, bed temp) with a custom extruder mounted in the place of the printhead. I've got a computer running a Perl script on Debian which sends synchronized commands to my extruder hardware and the board on the TAZ 6. So far I've only slightly modified the Marlin firmware to match the baud rate on my computer and shrink the motion command buffer.
Motion control for the TAZ 6 is accomplished by directly sending G-code line by line either from a terminal or from that Perl script.
What I've found is that while I can set arbitrarily slow speeds for the Z axis (lead screw), the X and Y (belts) won't go slower than about 15 mm/min. The printer will accept the e.g., G1 F0.1 X1 input, but will just move at the 15 mm/min.
Unfortunately, the experiment I'm trying is giving me good results at ~5 mm/min (on a commercial linear stage), so I'd like to resolve this.
I've tried setting the jerk to 0/low values via M205 S0 T0 X0 Y0, and the maximum acceleration lower as well (M203? I recall), but without resolution.
Is movement limited just by the type of actuator? It seems to work for the Z-axis but not the X/Y-axes, I think it might be some firmware setting.
Edit: I've attached an image of the default settings from an M503 call (acceleration, jerk, steps/unit, etc).

very interesting problem - do you have micro stepping enabled in setpper driver?

What I could suggest here is:

set the acceleration to 1 instead 0 so we have M201 X1 Y1
use G1 Xdest Ydest F3 - feed rate is given as an integer

Maybe that was the actual problem of the OP feed rate is given as an integer as 0.1 is 0 as integer, maybe this then defaults to 15 mm/min

I was playing around that recently with my build and discovered the integer requirement https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQfS5ArRF9g @0scar

More G-code commands require integer input, so I'm not surprised if this is the case here.

Hi, thanks for the input:
profesor79 I have tried a few different values for acceleration, changing X and Y acceleration to 0,1,100 (what the z-axis was defaulted to) does not resolve the issue, nor does specifying the feed rate as F1,3, [any integer < ~15].
@0scar Thanks for the tip, I did not realize the integer requirement.
Unfortunately specifying integer values less than ~15 doesnt result in a change in X/Y speed. On the z-axis, I can specify and observe motion down to 1 mm/s. Any non-integer less than 1 just defaults back to 1 mm/min.

what is your steps/mm rate @BijalPatel for x/y?

My X/Y steps per unit are 100.50 by default. RE: your other comment, I'm afraid I don't know whether micro-stepping is enabled or not. For reference, I have attached an image with more settings to the OP. Thanks


text:
How to use an Anet A8 control board with a damaged AVR IC?

This post was taken from this comment, as the OP did not repost their deleted answer as a new question.
See associated post on SE.Meta: Is it possible to attribute a wiki post to a user?

With respect to this question: Anet A8 reading 739°C from the extruder thermistor!
Having read the issue, it seems that this is a common problem for the ANET3D board.  I'd like to ask two questions:

Is it possible to sever connections to the ATMEGA and use the hardware itself while controlled with the Raspberry Pi or some other dev board?
While waiting for a new board (seems to be the only cost/time effective choice), is there any way to use the other temperature circuit (likely having to do some work in Arduino IDE)?

My hot end decided to set itself to 265°C while my bed is reading the new thermistor on the new Hot End just fine.  I need to get a few prints made while waiting on funds to replace the board for full functionality.
I figure #1 is too much to hope for, but I have to ask. So, if you swap the heater circuits, what do you have to modify in configuration.h to convince the firmware to accept the modified input?

This post was taken from Tooniis's comment.

I've been doing #2 for a week now. I swapped ports of the nozzle and hotbed. Now I have a functional nozzle but the bed cannot be heated. The new hardware should arrive soon though. As for #1, it would be very hard to do since the ATmega chip is an SMD package.
In sanguino.h there are two lines which define the pins for the hotbed thermistor and the nozzle thermistor. One of them is 6 and the other is 7, and I just swapped those two. The lines are next to each other.


text:
Line width changes depending on the direction the print head moves
I just re-ran all basic calibration steps from the Original Prusa i3 MK2 Manual.
Now, when doing the first layer calibration, lines that are running in positive X direction are ok, while those running in negative X direction are severely squished.

(The "waviness" of my print bed is an artifact of the camera lens distortion of my smartphone)
I already did Bed level correction, so each line is exactly the same width over its entire distance and tried to raise the live-adjust Z, but that leads to the thin lines not adhering at all. My printer is 100% stock, I modified nothing about it.
What can I do to troubleshoot this further?

do you have any play on the head?

Can you check the g-code to be sure the head speed remains the same for movement in both directions?

@profesor79 I tried to wiggle it, but it stays put. My current assumption is a damaged or partly clogged nozzle.

@CarlWitthoft I don't think that can be the case. I did this calibration step successfully when assembling the printer for the first time and didn't change the gcode in the meantime. It was supplied with the printer. I'll have a look though.

Check the nozzle. I scrached my nozzle over the metal heat bed by accident...it becomes nasty... and produced inconsistent line widths. Since the metal of most nozzles is brass it is easy to machine...and easy to deform. And since you will need several nozzles over time get some new ones and try with them.

Due to the advice from @0scar i formulate my answer in the comments as a proper answer ;)
Check the nozzle, if it is in shape and good condition.
I scratched my nozzle over the metal heat bed by accident...it becomes nasty... and produced inconsistent line widths. Since the metal of most nozzles is brass it is easy to machine...and easy to deform. And since you will need several nozzles over time get some new ones and try with them.
Also not every new nozzle will be perfect, so defect products happen, especially if they are cheap and have really tight measurements.

As pointed at by @Horitsu, the Nozzle was the problem. Its outflowing hole was not perfectly round anymore, leading to a higher extrusion rate in one direction than others.
I exchanged it, and now everything works great again!

authors: บั๊มพ์ แล้วไง


text:
Should black high temperature ABS flow in direct sunlight?
I bought a digital sundial online and deployed it in (what else?) direct sunlight in DC in June. Within 30 minutes the gnomon started to sag and the mount started to pull away from the gnomon at the bolt.
This shouldn't happen, right? Or is this expected?

Hi Phil and welcome to SE.3D Printing! These 3 questions might help you: ABS or PLA for structural printed parts? & Which is more durable to sunlight/weather - PLA, ABS or PETG & 3d printing for outdoor use: what types of filament are most weather resistant?

Whilst your question is specifically about high temperature ABS, you might find some of these other heat related questions useful, although they are mostly PLA based, listed in my answer to Can you put PLA parts in your car (in the sun)?

ABS should be able so withstand direct sunlight!

Are you sure that this is ABS? (Since it is already trash, you can make a fire test. It should [correct me if i'm wrong] produce black smoke) Some ABS can becomes soft at already  80°C.
Just for fun I measured the temp of my gray sofa that was directly in sun light: It was over 70°C. So it could be possible that the sun light already was enough to weak the black ABS. Also the ground is interesting. Some idi**** room mate puts my black ¿abs? alarm clock on a metal windowsill because he want to know the temps there in the direct sunlight... the alarm clock becomes deformed :(
Probably white and/or coated ABS would be better. Also a inner rod would help against deformation.


text:
How can I tell if an STL model will need supports?
How can I detect if a generated STL model will need to be printed with supports?
Context: I have a pipeline which parametrically generates OpenSCAD models, generates the STL, and sends them to the printer.  I would like to (a) automatically detect the cases where supports are necessary so that I can specify the appropriate flags to the slicer, and (b) attempt to rotate the generated model so that supports won't be necessary.

How do you define "needs support"? Is just turning on supports in the slicer and letting it add supports where it thinks is necessary not good enough?

You can always send the "use support" flag as the slicer will determine whether or not to use them.

Great suggestion to always turn on the "use support" flag.  I'll update the question to further explain my other use.

You could try to:

Slice with slicer (Cura in my case) with support enabled.
Search for text: TYPE:SUPPORT
G0 F1800 X237.873 Y184.24
G0 X233.869 Y183.237
;TYPE:SUPPORT
G1 F1500 E562.81355
G1 F900 X233.579 Y183.939 E562.91577
G1 X233.368 Y184.67 E563.01816
If it exists, then try to call it again:
Use auto-orientation plugin to validate if there is a better (no support) model position.

As an alternative, you could scan the mesh and looks for an angle greater than 45 or 50 degrees.

I wonder where you got the idea ;-) . This is how I would solve it too.

It's easier than that:  load the STL into Cura and , in SolidView, regions requiring support will be colored red.

as long as scrip can handle that manual operation it is a good solution :) @CarlWitthoft


text:
Slic3r: How can I automatically modify the STL filename?
When generating STL files with slic3r I would like to automatically prefix the filename with strings such as PLA or PET before uploading to my printer.  How can I specify this in the filament settings?

The filename is under the "Print settings" tab. Under output options, you can change the name template. You can use words like: [layer_height] to make the name dynamic.
The variable you are looking for here is: [filament_preset]
But the full name, with space and everything, is used.
Here is a screenshot:

Here is a link to fuller docs:
https://github.com/slic3r/Slic3r/wiki/FAQ#how-can-i-specify-a-custom-filename-format-for-output-g-code-files
New version of Slic3r
It lets you edit the filename when upload it. You will see what will be upload it and give it any name. But this is a manual process. Just updated my answer for the sake of completeness.

Very useful answer.   The reference to the slic3r doc is helpful,  and explains a lot about variable substitutions.   I need to find the canonical list of variables,  just for reference.   Thank you.


text:
What nozzle size should I use for filament containing glitter?
I recently had a series of issues with my prusa MK3 that kicked off when I tried to print with Proto-pasta's glitter filament using a 0.4 mm nozzle. The glitter clogged up and cleaning it out was pretty difficult.
A different user here pointed out that 0.4 mm was too small for glitter filament. When I initially read (and, after the clogging fiasco, re-read) the Proto-pasta website I didn't find any information suggesting that a larger nozzle borehole diameter was necessary.
I have the glitter and metalic green filaments. Do I need a nozzle with a larger diameter to print these or not? I emailed Proto-pasta about it the other day but have yet to hear back.
Update
Here's the reply I got from proto-pasta on these questions:

Thank you for following up. Yes cold pulls that leave behind material can cause all sorts of trouble. It happens to me on the Lulzbot quite often, probably my biggest gripe about that machine.  Anyways, on to your questions:

Is this accurate? Should I print the glitter filament with a nozzle with a larger borehole diameter?
A larger bore is not needed, the glitter flake is quite small and flows through a 0.4 nozzle fine. However, using a 0.4 nozzle and printing layer heights of 0.1 or 0.05 with glitter can cause a shift in apparent color as it forces the glitter to lay down flat.

If so, what diameter should I use? 0.6?
While not needed, a 0.6 nozzle does allow for a better sparkle or shine from the glitter filament.

Are there other proto-pasta filaments that require a larger borehole?
Generally any metal or wood filled filament benefits from a large nozzle size. For example, wood filaments most people suggest a 0.5 for better flow but they do work at 0.4. For us, we like to use 0.6 on the metal fills as it allows for a good flow.

I have a spool of matte fiber htpla that I got with my last order. Can I print this with my nozzle?
The matte fiber was designed as a non-abasive alternative to the Carbon Fiber filament. It does not require a larger nozzle, a 0.4 will work just fine.

I'm yet to be convinced that using any filament type which contains solid particles is a good idea.  Clogs and uneven  flow (i.e. particles no longer properly dispersed) are pretty much guaranteed to happen.

Fact is that you encounter clogs with this filament, so trying a larger diameter nozzle is an option to solve this. Nozzles are very cheaply found in various sizes, so buy a few and experiment. Commonly found larger nozzle sizes are 0.5, 0.6 and 0.8 mm nozzles, even larger nozzles exist, like e.g. 1.0 mm or even larger, but keep in mind that the hot end needs to keep up heating of the extruded filament, so deposition speed may need to be reduced for larger nozzle diameters.
Alternatively, you could fight clogs the usual way by playing with temperature, layer height, retract settings, oiling filament, purging nozzle from previous filament or cooked up residue, etc, etc.
Quoting someone's experience:

As far as differences, here has been my experience:

0.5 mm low back pressure (High speed), and very hard to clog,
0.4 mm medium back pressure, rarely clogs,
0.35 mm high back pressure and very easy to clog.

Edit: According to Proto-pasta, concerning filament with glitter, a 0.4 mm nozzle should not be a problem as the glitter particles are smaller, the print layer thickness definitely can be a problem. However, they state that a larger diameter nozzle will result in more sparkle as the glitter is not laid too flat.

Awesome. Thanks for the input and the links! I'm diving into them now.


text:
See G-code before exporting
When using Slic3r I noticed that Slice now and Export G-Code do different things. While Slice now is nice, it does not show any tool paths etc.
Is there an actual way to generate and visualize the G-code in Slic3r without saving the exported G-Code first? When aligning seams etc., it is quite annoying to always save the file to see a difference because Slice now seems to make little difference.

Using Repetier Host V2.1.2 and slicing with Slic3r (or with CuraEngine), there is an "edit Gcode" button under the Print Preview tab.  It is located at the top right of the screen.  With that button you can access, examine and change the Gcode of the project you are working on.

After you use the Slice Now button (and the slicing progress bar shows completed), select the preview tab. To the right of the window you will see a pair of vertical sliders. Each slider changes the start and finish locations for the filament layers.
You can slide the left one to the bottom, which will "empty" the virtual print bed. Each movement upward will display a succeeding layer, showing the placement of the filament. This ostensibly will present to you alignment information as well as unexpected holes or other failure points.
I don't know of any slicer that lacks a preview. That doesn't mean one does not exist, but why would such a useful feature be omitted?

Have you saved the g code and then watched the preview again? It then changes from those simple slicing preview to the detailed one where you see the seams, different extrusions, duration, head movement etc. This is what I am looking for. Not only layer by layer preview but also retraction, flow etc just without always the need to save the g code


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BiLinear bed leveling
My G29 command reports
+0.178 +0.281 +0.830
-0.614 -0.012 +0.371
-1.208 -0.849 -0.351

So should I tighten up the screw of the bed, close to 0,0 position or loosen it?
I have a feeling that when I loosen it, it gets away from zero and I expect the opposite to happen.
For bed leveling i use a capacitive probe and after playing around with the screws here is the result
+0.406 +0.127 +0.411
-0.161 -0.007 -0.041
-0.572 -0.652 -0.668

Finally the leveling process was found here
But the question remains. The value -0.572 corresponds close to 0,0 ?

What firmware are you using?  There are several variations on the G29 command for different firmware.  You have the marlin tag set, but it would help to put that information in the question.  Are there arguments to the G29 command?

@cmm it reports Marlin bugfix-2.0.x and no extra arguments are sent

Could you please add by edit (in your question) how you level your bed? If done correctly by heating bed and nozzle, using a plain A4 paper, and regularly homing Z, should not lead to such a matrix. Note that auto leveling is not magic, you need to provide a bed as level as possible.

Would a perfectly aligned bed give the identity matrix?

No, but a far better one than that. Sensor accuracy prevents the matrix to be unity.

@0scar can you please check the update?

@Oscar , I see from an answer below that two matrices are printed.  One is a sampling of the height at nine points, and the other is the transform matrix that multiplies an [x y z] vector to make a corrected [x y z] vector.  A perfectly aligned bed would be a 3x3 array of samples of zeros.  The transformation matrix would be the identity matrix.  I now understand that the OP is providing the sample array, ot the the transform matrix.

@cmm Correct! That verbose option of the G29 command is very useful for additional information.

Proper leveling using plain "A4" or "Letter" paper is recommended. Level the bed by first homing all axes, then level each corner and at mid-span. In between leveling (by dragging the nozzle head from one to another position, beware of the hot nozzle!) redirect the nozzle to "Z=0" or home Z and instruct the printer to go to "Z=0".
Note that capacitive probe sensors are inaccurate, they tend to be influenced by the humidity of air.
Running Marlin Firmware and instructing a G29 trough a terminal gives me something in the region of the unity matrix:
Recv: Bed Level Correction Matrix:
Recv: +0.999994 +0.000000 -0.003585
Recv: +0.000003 +1.000000 +0.000823
Recv: +0.003585 -0.000823 +0.999993

Running the command G29 P3 V4 gives:

NOTE:

P Set the size of the grid that will be probed (P x P points)
V Set the verbose level (0-4)

Recv: G29 Auto Bed Leveling
Recv: Bed X: 25.000 Y: 22.000 Z: 0.138
Recv: Bed X: 109.000 Y: 22.000 Z: 0.071
Recv: Bed X: 193.000 Y: 22.000 Z: -0.842
Recv: Bed X: 193.000 Y: 97.000 Z: -0.427
Recv: Bed X: 109.000 Y: 97.000 Z: 0.083
Recv: Bed X: 25.000 Y: 97.000 Z: 0.086
Recv: Bed X: 25.000 Y: 172.000 Z: 0.004
Recv: Bed X: 109.000 Y: 172.000 Z: 0.019
Recv: Bed X: 193.000 Y: 172.000 Z: -0.297
Recv: Eqn coefficients: a: -0.00356075 b: 0.00080090 d: 2.38097906
Recv: Mean of sampled points: 2.07054519
Recv:
Recv: Bed Height Topography:
Recv:    +--- BACK --+
Recv:    |           |
Recv:  L |    (+)    | R
Recv:  E |           | I
Recv:  F | (-) N (+) | G
Recv:  T |           | H
Recv:    |    (-)    | T
Recv:    |           |
Recv:    O-- FRONT --+
Recv:  (0,0)
Recv:   0.13385  0.14866 -0.16731
Recv:   0.21531  0.21284 -0.29814
Recv:   0.26715  0.20050 -0.71286
Recv:
Recv: Corrected Bed Height vs. Bed Topology:
Recv:   0.12837  0.44228  0.42541
Recv:   0.26990  0.56653  0.35465
Recv:   0.38180  0.61425  0.00000
Recv:
Recv: Bed Level Correction Matrix:
Recv: +0.999994 +0.000000 -0.003561
Recv: +0.000003 +1.000000 +0.000801
Recv: +0.003561 -0.000801 +0.999993

Running the command G29 P3 V4 again, but now with my vernier on the bed (opposite to the side of the origin, on the right side of the bed; vernier under probing points 3 and 4), gives:
Recv: G29 Auto Bed Leveling
Recv: Bed X: 25.000 Y: 22.000 Z: -0.003
Recv: Bed X: 109.000 Y: 22.000 Z: -0.050
Recv: Bed X: 193.000 Y: 22.000 Z: **5.709**
Recv: Bed X: 193.000 Y: 97.000 Z: **5.892**
Recv: Bed X: 109.000 Y: 97.000 Z: 0.007
Recv: Bed X: 25.000 Y: 97.000 Z: 0.039
Recv: Bed X: 25.000 Y: 172.000 Z: -0.023
Recv: Bed X: 109.000 Y: 172.000 Z: 0.017
Recv: Bed X: 193.000 Y: 172.000 Z: -0.329
Recv: Eqn coefficients: a: 0.02233918 b: -0.01331358 d: 2.30744504
Recv: Mean of sampled points: 3.45099973
Recv:
Recv: Bed Height Topography:
Recv:    +--- BACK --+
Recv:    |           |
Recv:  L |    (+)    | R
Recv:  E |           | I
Recv:  F | (-) N (+) | G
Recv:  T |           | H
Recv:    |    (-)    | T
Recv:    |           |
Recv:    O-- FRONT --+
Recv:  (0,0)
Recv:  -1.27376 -1.23426 -1.57986
Recv:  -1.21205 -1.24414  4.64083
Recv:  -1.25401 -1.30091  4.45816
Recv:
Recv: Corrected Bed Height vs. Bed Topology:
Recv:   4.05814  2.22162  0.00000
Recv:   3.12192  1.21381  5.22275
Recv:   2.08203  0.15910  4.04215
Recv:
Recv: Bed Level Correction Matrix:
Recv: +0.999750 +0.000000 +0.022334
Recv: +0.000297 +0.999911 -0.013306
Recv: -0.022332 +0.013309 +0.999662

From the snippets you can see that the topology is printed in the output. You also see the vernier of about 4.5 mm comming back in the matrices. But the 4.5 mm thickness of the vernier is not easily found in the correction matrix!
The answer to your question is that the origin is in the lower left of the matrix, so you need to loosen the origin screw in the first example (this matrix shows you that the bed is highest at the right-back and lowest at the origin at the left-front). Your second example shows that the whole bed is tilted downwards to the front.

This works only if the bed is truly flat.  I've seen cases where someone tightens the four corner-screws too much and the bed becomes a convex surface (highest in the middle, even though all 4 corners are at the same level).   So be careful!

@CarlWitthoft Yes, over tightening is not good as it can deform the bed, especially the thin aluminium heat beds. Personally I use 3 mm thick beds. Level must therefore be also checked at intermediate points (I referred to mid-span in the answer to indicate that, but I'm not native in English, sorry for the misunderstanding).

An additional suggestion: after levelling with sensors or mechanically as in Oscar's great answer, verify both the level and the Z-zero by printing a single-layer pattern such as a few concentric squares or circles.  Inspect to verify that no location is too high (material fails to extrude) or too low (material doesn't adhere, or appears much thicker than elsewhere).
By doing this you can avoid setting up a multi-hour print only to discover a 'bad corner' or some such.

That is a good suggestion, and actually something I also do, in fact I have written a tutorial once about bed centering (which I do not link for SE policy reasons), the print also checks the level to discover what you call a 'bad corner'. Good addition!


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Very old 3D Printer, which brand or type is this?
I just received an old 3D printer from one of my school teachers. I have no idea whatsoever as to which brand it is, no instruction manual attached to it, or any other info about it.
How can I find some information about it?
Some links would be very useful. Remember when giving advice that I know nothing about 3D printers.
This is the printer:
Backside

Front

The X-axis stepper

The electronics board

Welcome to 3D Printing! Could you provide some pictures of the printer?

Hi Craciun Alex and welcome to SE 3D Printing!  You will need to provide more information, and as @Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2 says, at least a few photos, including some close ups of various parts (the motors, endstops, extruder, hotend, the control board, user interface, etc.). Any serial numbers on parts (i.e. the stepper motors, extruder, power supply)? The more information that you provide, the accurate the answer...

Ok, thanks you for the prompt response. Today is pretty late, but I will be sure to come back tomorrow with a lot more details.

Hello! (again) I've uploaded some images of the printer and parts that came with it. Here is the link link

Hi, and welcome to the SE 3D Printing! It is not a custom to give links as these may not last for eternity (it is a pity that links die over time, it's the way of the internet...therefore the photo's are now embedded). Also, SE sites are driven by Questions and Answers that should contain the appropriate information, also for others. I've added an answer with the printer type so that you can find the links yourself. Good luck in getting it to work! And be prepared for a time consuming hobby! :)

This is an old 3D printer that looks a lot like the Mendel or a simpler remix of the Mendel (the Prusa Mendel). I think this is a Mendel you have obtained, it was released in October 2009.
This is a printer type from the early days, a lot about these printers can be found now that you know the type. These old types can be constructed from printed parts and hardware store materials. Nowadays, metals like steel and aluminium sheets or aluminium profiles are more commonly used.

Here are some further details on:

The control board, and;
The stepper motors

Control board
The electronics board has this marking:

EJE Electronics Gubbels Engineering

The serial number is 0070-003
According to this site Xinchejian First Mendel V2 Reprap the board is:

Gen6 Electronics, with AT Mega 644p processor (PCB EJE Electronics, Gubbels Engineering - mendel-parts.com)

It seems to be this board (the serial numbers match):

Information on this board can be found here: Generation 6 Electronics:

Generation 6, or Gen6, can be described as a dedicated, Plug-&-Play, single board solution for FFF/FDM 3D Printers. It is designed to be professionally manufactured, with many small surface mount components, as opposed to Generation 7 which is designed to be printed on a Mendel(among other design goals).
Another major difference with Gen6 electronics is that they use Texas Instruments DRV8811 chips to drive the stepper motors. This means they require firmware modifications from the normal Polulu-based electronics which use Allegro A4983 chips.

It goes on to say:

Benefits of this Design

These electronics are a single board solution, so you don't need all those cables and one thick sheet and 4 reprap parts less.
However, the thick sheet does add a fair amount of rigidity. @$@#?? the bottom thick sheet (big one) doesnt add
  much rigidity, the front one is used for stiffness of the frame, not
  the bottom one.
It has a standard USB connection (USB A>B cable needed)
It uses micro-stepping (1/8) for quieter operation.
It is cheaper than for example Makerbot's version of the RepRap Generation 3 electronics.
It uses small standard Molex connectors for motors, heater, and optos.
The pcb of the optos are integrated, so you only need the optos on cables with 5way Molex connectors

Hardware Features

on-board USB-RS232 convertor
Integrated hardware for driving one extruder (stepper, heater and thermistor)
RS485 bus connector with the possibility to link through the extruder step and dir signals
Integrated hardware for driving H21LOB or TCST2103 slotted optosensors
High input voltage range: 12-24Vdc
Use of standard connectors with easy and clean installation
Debug LEDs for power, communication and heater output
Reset button

Specifications

Dimensions 110x60mm
Mounting grid: 100x50mm (4x M3)
Input voltage 12-24Vdc
On-board controller: ATmega 644p (Atmel Corp.)
RS485 connector: RJ45
Heat output: MOSFET output, 4A
Thermistors input: 100K thermistor

There is a lot more information on that page, including information about the power supply, USB, End stops, Heaters, Motors, Firmware, etc. I suggest that you read it fully, in order to understand the board's functionality.
Stepper Motors
The stepper's model number can be seen here:

The stepper's model number is SY42STH47-1683B,
which is a NEMA-17 High Torque Hybrid Stepper Motor, with these specifications:

Step angle: 1.8°
Number of phase: 2
Rated voltage: 2.8 V
Rated current: 1.68 A
Holding torque: 4.4 kg/cm

This would be, at least, part of the datasheet:

Here are a couple of links, should you need replacements (~€17):

NEMA-17 (SY42STH47-1684B Stepper Motor) - Polabs)
SY42STH47-1684B High Torque Hybrid Stepper Motors

This stepper motor is also listed on the RepRapWiki - NEMA 17 page:
Model           Holding Torque  Rated voltage       Shaft   Step angle  Motor length    Rated current   Inductance
SY42STH47-1684B   43.1 N·cm        2.8 V       Ø 5 mm double    1.8°        48 mm            n/a            n/a

As far as I can see on the pictures - the main board shall be capable to upload Marlin software and run smoothly.
If you connect power and PC/Mac over the USB connection, then using Pronterface you can validate mechanical movements of the printer.
As the rods looks a bit dusty - please clean them with a soft cloth and degreaser to avoid jamming.
If you have any issues you could flash a new version of the firmware - please use this answer, to the question, How to upload firmware to reprap printer?, as a guide to how to upload firmware to the printer.

Thanks you! I managed to connect my printer but there is a lot of stuff in the command prompt.  And at the end it displays this: Error:: Extruder switched off. MINTEMP triggered !
Error:Printer halted. kill() called !!
[ERROR] Error:Printer halted. kill() called !!

@CraciunAlex - You should ask about this error in another (new) question, as having two questions in one post will confuse the question search mechanism. You can refer back to this question (using this question's URL) in the new question, if need be.


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Anet A8 LCD shows garbage data after done printing
I have an Anet A8, and recently updated the firmware to Marlin 1.1.8.
My only change was replacing the configuration files by the Anet A8 sample files built in with the firmware zip file.
Everything works fine but, sometimes, right after finishing a printing (while doing the "home all"), the LCD shows some weird data, like this:

The same happens when push the "confirm", after the mesh bed leveling.
I'd like to know why it happens. Is it a Marlin bug?

Welcome to 3D Printing! I take it you have to reset the printer in order to get it to clear?

Just active the menu display, the best solution is to shield your shield, Gianluca has part of the solution

This is a known problem of the Anet A8 display, it is caused by electrical interference. Pressing the middle button will refresh the display.
This is prone to happen when doing long prints.
There are some reported successes of people inserting ferrite beads or toroidal rings.
No, this is not a firmware issue, this is a hardware issue.

My first though was about the Marlin because with the original firmware it never happened. So, I'm guessing now it was pure luck.
Pushing the middle button indeed refreshes the display, except for the first character, that remains messy.

Yes, this happens with unprotected shields and when we use a kind of polyester cloth and we are so close to the drivers. So be aware to avoid to use this kind of cloth, use cotton clothes.

@Elias Maybe pulling the flat cable from the sockets and re-inserting the plugs helps. Also keep the flat ribbon cable away from the 12V wires.

Worked for me! Easy fix, just used on old ferrite ring and looped the display wire through it!

I have solved completely, I covered the flat cable, with copper tape, this shield should be connected to the 0V of the power supply.
All disorders will disappear.

I had this issue for a long time and finally I tried a super-simple hack. Attach a testlead from bed to PSU (which is grounded). Problem solved!
In other words: The Marlin firmware may be more "sensitive" than the original stock firmware, but it is not really a firmware issue.


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How is the E argument calculated for a given G1 command?
I'm working on building a tool to generate G-code (a simpler slicer), and I'm trying to calculate how much filament should be extruded per movement.
Is there a standard calculation for this? Something like:
layer height * flow % * extruder diameter * distance

How does Ultimaker Cura calculate this?

Basically, all movements are (small) straight lines, the volume of a straight line is easily calculated as you already guessed.
To calculate the volume to be extruded you multiply the following parameters:

the layer height (h)
flow modifier (e.g. as percentage) (SF)
extruder nozzle diameter (dn) (or extruder line width if different from nozzle diameter)
distance of the straight line (l)

With this volume you can calculate how much filament you need to extrude. To get the length (thus the length defined by the E parameter), divide the obtained volume by surface area of your used filament by:

π * (filament radius)2 or alternatively π /4 * (filament diameter)2 = (π /4 * df2)

To sum up, the value of E is given by:
$$ E_{value} = \frac{h \times {SF} \times d_{n} \times l}{\frac{\pi}{4}d_{f}^2} = \frac{4 \times h \times {SF} \times d_{n} \times l}{\pi \times d_{f}^2} $$

Ultimately the volumetric extruder advance is modelled here just as the volume of a cube. Where there is a little bit of interesting room for variation is how you model the start/stop of the line, where it's not a flat edge but rounded.

I've taken the begin and end in consideration once, it doesn't make a real difference. (Unless you have very short lines to fill...)


text:
Anet A8 (Prusa i3) Power Supply Fuse
A little backstory to help you understand the situation.  I put the 3D printer together and turned it on and everything seemed fine until I started printing.  It didn't even get the first layer down when the screen reset and so did the print.  I didn't think anything of it, I just went back and tried again, but this time right when I pressed start, the fuse blew.
I have done some research on the issue and haven't had any luck besides recommendations for putting in a secondary fuse before the power supply (which I will be doing in the near future).  As for now though, my plan is to just replace the power supply fuse if possible.  I went to the hardware store and picked up a Bussmann T5AL/250V fuse (photo attached below) and before I put it in, I just want to make sure this is the correct fuse and I'm not going to kill the entire printer this time.
Picture showing the internals of the power supply unit:

Picture of the fuse I bought:

Any and all help is very much appreciated because as you might expect, I'm not too happy with the printer so far.

use caution when soldering leads to the fuse that you do not de-solder the internal fuse from the caps.

Hi Kyle, welcome to 3D Printing.SE! My first printer was also the Anet A8. Although not the best printer around you can make the printer a lot better than standard out of the box. Mine is doing very great prints now. As a caution, be very careful when tinkering with the power supply! Please let us know why you think the fuse blew. Is there any action you know of that may have triggered this? Short circuit, power peak, etc.

If you are not 100% confident of what you're doing, you have no business messing with the internals of a power supply. You should buy a new power supply.

The fuse rating is same as described on the board - so that shall be no issue with it.
My main concern is why the fuse is down?
Was there a short-circuit? As this is mains fuse - that suggest a big-bang, so, please check carefully hot-end and bed heater connections before restarting the device, to avoid replacing another fuse.

Especially check the leads to the bed heater and the solder joints on it. Find a way to provide strain relief to the wires so the flexing doesn't take place at the solder point. Make sure your hot end wires are insulated at their solder joints too.

To add to the answer of @profesor79 (which you absolutely need to address first (find the cause why it blew); else the fuse might blow again), you might be interested in installing fuse clamps. As @fred_dot_u mentions:

use caution when soldering leads to the fuse that you do not de-solder
  the internal fuse from the caps

is that if you incorrectly solder the fuse, you might de-solder the caps, soldering the clamps is easier.
Example of fuse clamp:

as long as there is a place on the board and drilling holes for pins will not cut other paths  the board.

@profesor79 I would just cut off one leg and insert in the existing hole, no drilling necessary. Anyway, what I actually would do is buy a new supply (if I'm unsure about the reason why it blew).


text:
Anet A2 3D printer suddenly will not home X and Y
I have been using my Anet A2 for about a year.  A few problems but none that I haven't been able to resolve. Today it suddenly stopped auto homing.
Using the position commands I can advance the X and Y positively but not negatively (after I manually re-position the carriages before turning the printer on).  Also the Y stepper motor makes an unusual noise and it will over advance the Y axis. This behavior was preceded by a feed fault. The print started fine but the stepper motor stopped feeding shortly after the print started.
I am printing from an SD card as I always have. I changed SD cards thinking it might be a connection problem and I checked the G-code and all the commands including the E commands seem to be there. I have checked all the electrical connections - they seem to be fine.
Any suggestions to solve this?

Hi Peter, welcome to 3D Printing.SE! Bummer if it suddenly stops working like it used to. I've added an answer, but am clueless of the preceding feed fault that might have triggered it, I'm sure others will add answers to hep you find the problem!

I have experienced this a few times, usually this is related to the end stops.
If your end stops are somehow triggered (e.g. short circuit or cable broken; depending on the setup), the steppers will not home (as they think they are at the limits already) and only advance forward. Please look into the end stops of X and Y. Use a multi-meter to measure them and trigger them manually.
Alternatively hook up your printer to your computer with a USB cable and download a printer utility/application that can interact with the printer (e.g. Pronterface, Repetier-host, OctoPrint, etc.) and go to the terminal interface and send the M119 instruction to see the status of the end stops.

Could it be that the endstops are inverted? Open = endstop reached. As the web you linked M119 states, you can use M119 to invert them.
It would make sense that you can go forward but never back, because an inverted un-clicked endstop would act as a clicked endstop.

@PetarPetrov In the firmware configuration you define the end stop inversion, e.g. in Marlin Firmware #define X_MIN_ENDSTOP_INVERTING true. This doesn't suddenly change, this needs to be manually uploaded. The best guess is therefore that the end stops are shortened or broken (depending on the firmware settings, e.g for NC, Normally Closed, or NO, Normally Open), and should be checked. M119 is very handy in that respect as you see what is reported.

It doesn´t suddenly change, but a M119 can change it. `In redeem, M119 can also be used to invert end stops.
Example
M119 X1 1
This will invert end stop X1 (Inverted means switch is connected in Normally Open state (NO))
`

@PetarPetrov Sorry, I now understand what you are saying, and yes that is true, but this should normally not have taken place suddenly. The OP mentions nothing of tinkering, just printing over SD card which lets me believe there is something structurally wrong with the end stops or something with the cable, connectors or the board. But you are right about inverting the end stop state using M119! Thanks for clarifying.

Please check connections to the Y stepper first.
You could replace cable from 'X' axis to test the connection.
The noise from stepper mostly means a disconnected pin (broken connection), an obstacle on the path (check and clean if any) and a worse-case-scenario a broken stepper driver, so you could swap steppers (just by connecting the cable) to see where is the reason. If 'Y' stepper works fine when connected to another axis slot (excluding extruder ones) then driver need a replacement.


text:
POM filament not sticking to the build plate?
In the creation of the process of printing my own bearings to reduce noise, minimize play/tolerances and size the bearings to the actual size of the application, I obtained a spool of Polyoxymethylene (POM) or also known as Acetal or Delrin.

This polymer is a thermoplastic polymer that is frequently used in engineering precision parts that require high stiffness, low friction and dimensional stability. It has been chosen for these material properties to be used as bearing material for linear guide rails.
This image shows an example of the application of customized igus® bearing that is as long as the housing part it is going to fit in:

Prints frequently get knocked over as it does not stick well.
How do I get POM filament to stick to the build plate?

Any comments on success/failure on this?
I tried:

plain heatbed = bad adhesion, zero
blue tape = better but peels off
blue tape and glustick = peels off after 1 or 2 layers tried both low and high bed temperature and on/off fan in all combinations,
without a success :(

@MiroKrsjak As described in the answer, I get very good adhesion with 3DLAC/ABS juice and a large brim. Lately I even do not use ABS juice anymore, only PVA based spray glue (3DLAC). Works fine for me.

Wow, first time I hear about printing Delrin, it opens up a whole world of possibilities. Just ordered a spool, I'll definitely try to print it using DustNPrint, so far it has proven very good with abs, pp, pc, nylon and all the easy ones like pla and petg. I'll be posting my results asap.

Great material but very hard to print as it does not stick easy to the build plate as it has a low friction coefficient to grip onto the heated bed. Also, the material sets quite fast, once the filament leaves the nozzle, it soon hardens so you need to be careful with retraction and Z-hop (leaving small peaks that will be hit later by the nozzle knocking over your print).
My experience with printing this material is based on printing with an Ultimaker 3 Extended (on glass) using a modified material profile (based on Nylon). It is printed at 240 °C (+5 °C for the first layer), no usage of the part cooling fan (if you do use cooling, the layers will not adhere well), a heated bed temperature of 80 °C, and a slow printing speed of 40 mm/s (20 mm/s for the first and second layer).
Ultimaker 3 Extended with printed POM bearing:

First thing I learned is to use quite large brim's (the image above shows a rather small one for this short bearing, for the longer bearings the brim size was more than doubled, e.g. 20 mm), brims enlarge the surface area so that there is more material that grabs hold of the heated bed. Also ensure to get it to stick long enough is heating the bed to 80 °C after smearing ABS juice (ABS dissolved in acetone) and spraying a PVA based spray over the dried ABS juice layer (3DLAC has been used, but other hairsprays or even gluesticks may work as well, as long as there is PVA in it). The temperature of 80 °C is chosen as this is the temperature where my PVA spray has the most tack/sticky-ness.
Other solutions like heating the bed up to 110 °C using 3DLAC or specifically designed sprays for higher temperature like e.g. Dimafix did not work well for me.
Note that complete infill may also give problems as filling out the whole surface area sometimes creates excess material that curls up, which is an easy target to be hit by the nozzle on the next layer.
This image shows an example of using the printed customized igus® POM bearing that is as long as the mount height:

Collection of POM printed bearings:

Another application of POM bearings:

CoreXY hot end carriage


text:
Can 3D printers, such as a TronXY X1, handle 24/7 projects?
I have an incoming project and the only 3D printer available to me is the TronXY X1.
So the question is: Can it handle at least four days of continuous load or should I search for an alternate solution?
I don't want to damage (my only) 3D printer for this project.

Hi Apollyon, and welcome to SE.3D Printing! I'll edit and undelete this question for you, so that it is only a 24/7 print question... actually, I've just realised that there is a heated bed question in there too. Put your heated bed question in a new question. Three lots of reputation for the price of one!  :-)

Hi, I am not sure if you are going to ask your question about heated beds, but this might be useful: Why is a heated bed important?

I have the same Printer - a TronXY X1, and I feel confident that with a little upgrade here and there, it can handle long prints without problems.
The most needed upgrade is a quality power brick. Mine died after some month. For replacement I have chosen a 12 V/10 A output one of a reputable supplier with warranty and it runs without any warming since.
Then, I did upgrade the hotend itself. The built in hotend can become leaky under long prints. I did fix this by exchanging it for a genuine e3d-v6 lite. Yes, only a lite, because this machine can only print PLA anyways for a lack of a heated bed - and there is little size one can add to the machine's print surface due to design limitations (one can only extend Y and Z to some degree without generating problems).
Tighteners for the X on the Z-axis and the bed are a very good idea to make the printer a little more reliable, resulting in less misprints or lost prints at upper heights due to wobble or layer shift.
Generally, I have printed some quite long prints (several 16 hours, one 28 hours), and with a reliable hotend and good filament feed (in once case the spool got jammed by a pen falling into it), the TronXY X1 did do its work quite good. Mind, that I tend to always print at 0.1 mm layer hight.
I do not know how 4 days of continuous load would work out, but my X1 has some summed up 2 weeks of prints under its belt by now, so... I think it can do this, but I would give it a general check (for example inspect if the bed is still settled tight) between prints.

Rather than investing up front in a new power supply, consider printing with the equipment you already have; knowing in advance that the power supply may fail, but proceeding with the confidence that you can replace it if it does.
This approach won’t cost you anything to try. If it fails, it will result in only a brief outage until you replace it. If it doesn’t fail, you saved the cost of a power supply.

it can result in delays from shipment though - which could delay the production and upset the customer.

The answer is yes, with a little of extra care maintaining your hardware cold as possible, when I started to print I mounted some PC fans where I notice that the heat will be a problem. For my printer I placed one small fan to Z motors and other one pointing to the power source connectors; I could print for 2 weeks easily. I´m using a PC power source, so this power supply has his own fan.
Now I've calibrated the Z motors current, so now keeps a low temperature, the power connectors were soldered instead using the loose connectors, so now I'm using a fan for the whole shield just for extra caution.

I know that this is a bit wishy-washy but some can, some can't.
The TronXY has a bit of an issue with the power supply to start with. The power brick is a (reportedly) bit suspect, for long jobs, see my answer to the question, Ramps 1.4 with a power brick.
It could be worth upgrading the power supply to a higher current rated PSU (20 A - 35 A), with an aluminium enclosure, i.e. those PSUs which are marketed as LED power supplies, such as this, Tronxy 3D printer accessoires power supply 240W AC110/220V DC 12V 20A for 3D print DIY kit part on AliExpress.
Then you can add your heatbed (that you refer to in your other question), without worrying.
It all depends on how critical your 24/7 project is. Is it a serious production run or just a hobby-like project that is a bit of a fun endurance test? How important is it that the print run goes without a hitch? Would a power supply failure mid-print be catastrophic or easily shrugged off? Would the delay incurred by trying to find a replacement power brick actually matter that much?
A simple analogy would be driving from Germany to Mauritania across the Western Sahara, with some serious, and urgent medical supplies. You could either either buy a well maintained, and carefully run in, Mercedes, which will most likely last the entire journey and then some, or you could buy a clapped out old Lada, with 500000 km on the clock, with the vain hope of getting there. The Mercedes would seem to be the better option.
However, if you are delivering a Dundee cake for an Aunt, which is neither time critical nor particularly important and you aren't even sure that your Aunt will be at home when you get there, then maybe the Lada will suffice.
Into which category does your 24/7 print project fall in? It sounds like the former.
Apart from the power supply, i.e. w.r.t. the stepper motors and hotend, unfortunately, I don't know the answer and can not answer your question.

Be sure to put a lot of preservatives in the cake, maybe change it to canned food! :)

@0scar - good point. I was sort of thinking that myself, as I was writing it. I've changed it to Dundee Cake as they are indestructible (and delicious). Also it was Mauritania, not Mali - my memory is fading...


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Artefacts when printing parallel to X axis
If you can help me with troubleshooting the artefact shown in the attached photo that would be great. It only happens when I print the Benchy parallel to the X axis and when I print parallel to Y axis it prints just fine.
Notes:

3D printer: TronXY X1
Filament: PLA
Extruder temp: 195°C, 200°C, 205°C - doesn't matter same results.
Slicer: Ideamaker

I have a TronXY X1 myself. This kind of artifacts appear along the X-Axis as it is a cantilever design - and if not properly secured, will start to osctilate when moving sharply. This can be fixed in several ways:

print slower. By making the movement changes less abrupt, the oscilation can be reduced.
stiffen the X on the Z. Often, the X1 has a somewhat wobbly X-Axis. To fix this, someone calling themselves FabianFriethjoph did design a 'bracket' that is intended to keep the wheels aligned and under a little tension. https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2275654

I printed these at 35 mm/s so i don't think its the speed. however i didn't think the wobble was that bad. I will print the bracket and report back as soon as i finish it.


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Underextrusion after travel moves with PETG/Colorfab XT
I came across several issues which seem to have been lowered.
Firstly, I changed from a 0.4 to a 0.5 mm nozzle. Because of the backpressure I was not able to print my PETG (Colorfabb XT filament) below 270°C which caused unresolvable oozing. After that I was able to extrude till 230°C.
The left print below shows the result. I disassembled the hotend, there was no leak or whatsoever. Maybe it was too cold for printing. However, the temperature displayed was 250°C. Then I replaced the cheap aluminum heat block with a copper alloy based one. After that my PIDs did not work anymore. I had to greatly enhance the d-term, otherwise there was a big overshoot. Guess there was a serious heat conducting issue with the old BQ hotend.

Anyway, from there it became better. However, I noticed that I still have severe underextrusion after travel moves (second piece, first picture, first piece, second picture). I use Cura, so I activated retraction with the feature to prime after travel moves. I got the wall closed just after 0.35 mm³.

My Question: Is this underextrusion after travel moves normal for PETG/XT? I did not discover such behavior with PLA or ABS in the past.
Current Site Advice: Despite the weight, copper heat blocks seem to be worth the upgrade.

What is your retraction length?

I need 2.5 mm for PETG. But the underextrusion happens also if no retraction is active.

Have you tried adjusting the Extra Restart Distance in Simplify3D or Retraction Extra Prime in Ultimaker Cura?  Most slicers should have a similar setting, perhaps named just slightly differently.  A small positive value can help prime the nozzle after a long travel when you've lost back pressure or oozed a little.

Zero retraction is just a special (worst) case of under-retraction. You'll pretty much always lose material to oozing if you don't retract before travel. At best this ends up hidden inside the print (but can still affect weight and weight balance); usually it'll also harm the surface.
Ensure that retraction is set to always happen (not skipping short travel), and at least 5-6 mm for bowden extruders. Direct extruders can get away with less but I'm not sure exactly how much less. Less-rigid materials need more retraction to make up for compression of the filament between the extruder gear and the nozzle.

The second part of your answer implies Bowden style printers considering the rather large retraction, I think it is best to state that explicitly.