Z axis no longer working on a working printer I was printing an object and it started to drag so I stopped it.
Went to move the Z-axis up so I could clear the bed and Z-axis would not budge.
I switched the printer off and manually turned the motors to get the Z up.
Cleared the bed, switched on and homed the printer. When it came to home the Z, BLTouch deployed and then nothing. Motors will not turn.
Things I tried:

Recompiled the firmware (Marlin 2.0.x)
Different motors - Motors were free from the printer, just resting on a desk so I know it's not binding or anything.
Swapped stepper driver with a known working one.

Info about the printer:

CR10s
SKR1.4 Turbo board
TMC2208 Steppers
BLTouch
Octopi to control the printer.

Output of M122 for the Z:
Recv:       Z
Recv: Address
Recv: Enabled       false
Recv: Set current   1000
Recv: RMS current   994
Recv: MAX current   1402
Recv: Run current   17/31
Recv: Hold current  8/31
Recv: CS actual 8/31
Recv: PWM scale
Recv: vsense        0=.325
Recv: stealthChop   true
Recv: msteps        16
Recv: tstep     max
Recv: PWM thresh.   0
Recv: [mm/s]        -
Recv: OT prewarn    false
Recv: triggered
Recv:  OTP      false
Recv: pwm scale sum 10
Recv: pwm scale auto    0
Recv: pwm offset auto   36
Recv: pwm grad auto 14
Recv: off time  4
Recv: blank time    24
Recv: hysteresis
Recv:  -end     2
Recv:  -start       1
Recv: Stallguard thrs
Recv: uStep count   40
Recv: DRVSTATUS Z
Recv: sg_result
Recv: stst
Recv: olb
Recv: ola
Recv: s2gb
Recv: s2ga
Recv: otpw
Recv: to
Recv: 157C
Recv: 150C
Recv: 143C
Recv: 120C
Recv: s2vsa
Recv: s2vsb
Recv: Driver registers:
Recv:       Z   0xC0:08:00:00
Recv:
Recv:
Recv: Testing Z connection... OK

It could be caused by software or configuration issue.
Possibility 1: just worked after re-installation of Marlin
You could have Z steps/mm set to 0 in EEPROM, and did not notice that fact.
It is possible to fix this unconsciously with Marlin software reinstallation, following the upgrade procedure which included reset of EEPROM settings - like "Step 4: Finishing touches" described in community wiki's guide for Updating Marlin Firmware. This is described in more details in another post No stepper motor movement on Ender 3 Pro.
Possibility 2: Marlin configuration is not correct
When you recompiled Marlin, did you use already proven configuration for Marlin? When saying "Motors will not turn" you mean only Z? Are your other motors are still functional now after Marlin was deployed?
Among other Marlin settings, you may want to check that this line is disabled in Configuration_adv.h:
  /**
   * Software enable
   *
   * Use for drivers that do not use a dedicated enable pin, but rather handle the same
   * function through a communication line such as SPI or UART.
   */
  //#define SOFTWARE_DRIVER_ENABLE

(I took this advice from No Motor Power With TMC2209 on RepRap forum.)


Brittle resin prints I do not have a clear understanding of what causes resin prints to become brittle. Firstly, it appears excessive cold (in the 40s or even 30s, I am in New England) may be a factor. What else can cause brittleness in resin prints? Is there a difference between resin types?

Many printing resins are inherently brittle.
Brittle is a property of the material - so of the used printing resin.
Look at the first seconds of this video - Punished Props Academy drops an SLA/DLP printed dagger on the ground from about 1 meter and it shatters, despite having been carefully post cured and washed and everything. To mitigate that trouble they did a cast of the item with a different resin.
However, the exact brittle behavior of the print is inherently linked to the exact formulation and thus the exact brand and type of resin used.
Some are less brittle than others - and outright flexible.
You might need to test around, but there are flexible resins. This german essay contains pictures and even a video of a super flexible printing resin. Just an example: One such rubbery resin is Formlabs Flexible 80A, and Matterhackers has a range of different flexible resins. Google does show other brands too by googling "SLA Resin Flexible"

I am not affiliated with Formlabs, Matterhackers, or Techstage.de


Ultimaker Cura 4.8 / How to specify bed (Print) Area? Repetier-host has a setting to specify the "print area". That's roughly the size of the bed.
Note that the printer head can go out of those bounds, in my case my bed is very undersized compared to the printer frame, but this would also be an issue if you had clips or some obstacles in the bed.
Is there a similar setting in Cura where I can specify the "print area"/"bed size"/"margins" to be different from the printer width/depth?
Thanks.
Repetier host settings:

The print area settings would be in the Preferences > Printers. Select the particular printer on the left side pane, then click the "Machine Settings" button.

You will need to set a printing offset (M206) in Marlin: via Start G-code in Cura, or any other suitable way (LCD configuration, configuration files, etc.).


Prusa i3 pro W - not extruding I'm trying to do my first ever print with my Geeetech prusa i3 pro.

When I try to print that printer seems to work, x,y,z axis all moving ok.

What isn't working is that little to no plastic is being extruded.

The nozzle appears to be getting to temperature, and some plastic comes out whilst it's heating, but then when it starts to move and print, no plastic comes out.

My thoughts are:

Have I not loaded the plastic properly
Is the extruder engine not working i.e. not pulling the plastic through

Any hints on what I can try would be appreciated.

Problem identified.

I took of the fan and heat sink so I could see what was going on in the mechanism that should pull through the filament.

Using repetier-host software I tried to manually drive the motor - nothing happening.

I swapped the A4988 stepper motor driver for the extruder with another (and my x,y,z axis motors work) to see what would happen - and it worked!

So just a faulty A4988 on the extruder motor.

I also manually pushed filament through the hot end to ensure there was no blockage and it worked fine.

So hopefully GEEETECH can send me a replacement and I'm good to go!


Z axis top brackets, of P3Steel, differ between v1.x/2.x and v4 I have been studying the differences between version 2.x and version 4 of the P3Steel frames - in particular the AC08 bracket at the top of the frame which secures the top of the smooth bars and threaded rods of the Z axis on both the left and right sides. Here is the laser cut parts, for version 1.x, showing the part labelled as AC08:

Version 1.x/2.x has the AC08 bracket with two holes, one for the threaded rod and one for the top of the smooth bar (from the lasercut image):

However, in version 4, the corresponding top Z axis bracket only has one hole for the smooth bar and just an indentation for the bearing which holds the top of the threaded rod (from Twitter):

Here is a close up of the diagram from the google docs repository, listed in the v4 section on the RepRap Wiki page for the P3Steel, which shows the bearing assembly just apparently "resting" against the indentation:

Here is the bracket shown with the bar and threaded rod (again, from google docs):

Does anyone know why the top of the threaded rod is not secured by a hole, as it was in version 1.x/2.x? It just does not look particularly well secured.

Under the list of version 4 changes, see 2. Frame versions, it is mentioned:

  The extruder no longer hits the Z axis top bracket

Is this the reason why the change has been made?

I've just seen this right now, I'm Alvaro Rey, the designer of the p3steel v4 mod. The change was made, because with previous versions with the extruder homed, if you go up in the Z axis, the extruder motor could hit the Z axis top plate. So, in order to avoid that, I just changed the design.

The bearing in the z axis is not necessary but some people prefer to use it, in order to avoid wobble in the threaded rod.

Anyways, I designed a printer part to fix the bearing in the Z top plate.


German RepRap NEO only heats to 130°C I have a new German RepRap NEO 3D printer, and when I try heating the Extruder to 215°C with Repetier-Host Mac 1.0.1, it always stops at 130°C - does anybody have an idea what could be the reason?

A few possiblitites.

You wire is too small. If your wire is HOT that is a fire hazard.

Your thermistor is bad. Check with a high temp heat probe or try replacing thermistor.

Your heating element is bad (rare).

Last it could be a limit in your firmware. But that would surprise me.

Any chance you have the bed and the hotend reversed? If you had the Bed as Hotend, then it would max out around 100. This last one I would say is most likely..


Dual Filament Mixer Marble Effect I'm looking for some software, that could create marble effect on product from two filaments, not just gradient, but evolving color change.

Do you know some slicer or some tool that can generate printer file like this from model?

E3D has a Cyclops product which mixes two filaments inside a melt chamber.  Clones of the E3D Cyclops can be found through the usual outlets.  E3D also has software recommendations for using their Cyclops product, which are found here.  They suggest cura as the slicer.

The RepRap firmware (and possibly others as well) allow two extruders steppers to be used in an extrusion move, proportionally mixing two filaments.

In case you want to go further, to get a broad color gamut, you will need five filaments mixed into one extrusion bead.  Cyan (sky-blue), magenta (or bright purple), yellow, white, and black filament can be mixed to make most colors.  "2D" printing is done with four colors (cyan, magenta, yellow, and black), but for 3D printing, you also need white.  2D printing uses white, but it is the white of the paper.  Black is needed to get dark colors, as well as to form neutral gray colors.

Based on the OPs comments, I understand that the software sought is a shader that creates a marble effect on the surface of a print.  I don't know of such software, but, as a software engineer, I imagine it would take roughly this form:

Slice the object conventionally, producing G-code for the object.  Identify all exterior extrusions with a special extruder number.  Multi-material slicers should provide this option (Slic3r-PE does).
Project a 2d image or synthetic pattern onto the 3D external surface of the object.
For each voxel (volume pixel) of the exterior extrusion, determine what it's color should be based on the shading.
With previously determined propagation delay from when the mix is set to when the color is extruded, back up along the extrusion path the correct distance.
Split the extrusion command at the point where the mix must be changed.  Insert new extrusion values.
Output the modified g-code.

I've left out many implementation details.

The scheme depends on how predictable is the delay (in extrusion distance) from when the extrusion mix is changed to when the change comes out of the nozzle.  The variation (if any) in that distance will make the output look jagged and fuzzy.  In some ways, that variations limits the 2D bandwidth of the color information.

Schemes that require sharp, line-to-line coherence may require a purging process.  I assume that for a marble pattern, which I characterize as having soft color changes on a scale that is larger than the extrusion width, purging on every change is not desired or possible.


Calibration improvement of the Prusa i3 I recently got myself a Prusa i3, that I needed to assemble and adjust myself. As expected, the first prints was of quite poor quality. After better adjustment, I improved a bit the print, but I am not quite there yet. I was hoping to get some advice on how to improve the print based on few pictures of the 3DBenchy boat I printed.

The most annoying point, on the following image, is the dent that I have in the hull, on the front of the boat. And one layer appears to be missing or close. And I have another one just like it in the top cabin.
I also think that my specific settings on the first layers shouldn't be there, because they don't improve anything, but that is another topic.

Also, when I look on the top, I have a lot of filament strings getting here and there, the path of the tip of the printer is quite visible on the roof and floor, the steering wheel is not to clear, etc.

Also, at the end of the boat, I am supposed to have some letters, but I cannot read them because of the poor definition of the print...

How can I improve the quality of the print? What settings should be looked at?

The material used for printing is PLA. The hotend temperature was set to 215 °C for the first layer, 210 °C for the rest. The bed at 65 °C for the first, then 60 °C.
The setting in Slic3r for the fan is between 35% to 100%. If I understand the rule correctly, under 5 sec for a layer, it is 100%, then it decreases proportionally up to 35% if the layer is done in 60 sec. And off otherwise.

The diameter of the filament is set to 1.75, with a nozzle of 0.4 mm. I wonder if I should put it to 0.375 mm.

I otherwise think that it is a genuine prusa, but clearly not from the first iteration. I don't have an arduino on it, but the makerbase chip. (That comes from a kit I bought online.) I would wait to be a bit more confident before attempting any modifications.

The speed for perimeters is 60 mm/s, 30 mm/s for external perimeters. Infill 80 mm/s. Bridges 60 mm/s. Support material 60 mm/s. Non print move: 130 mm/s. There are a couple of other print speed, but I don't think they are that relevant for the case.

After modifications of temperature and cooling, following the answers, I got the following print:
(Nozzle 200 °C, fan at 50 %)

Weirdly, it was like the PLA got burned here and there, which was not the case at hotter temperature... But at least, the edges are sharper, and the writings are easier to read! I will try to lower a bit more the temperature, but I would need to fight a bit with my extruder motor, which seems to have hard time pushing the PLA when the temperature is too low.

I tested at an even lower temperature: 190 °C. The result is not pretty, the layer were not sticking to each other. And even at 195 °C, some layer don't attach.

I tried again at 200 °C, but with lower peripheral printing speed. It did help! I can feel the progress.

However, I still have a small dent. And on the following picture, we can clearly see that there are sometimes molten half-burned PLA dripping. And there are still strings remaining between the places.

The nozzle was cleaned just before this print.

Your hotend temperature is too high and/or too less part cooling. The part cooling is very important to solidify the hot fluid filament in time to have a solid fundament for the next layer. PLA has a reasonably low glass temperature (at this point the filament is weak and mealable/flexible, at about 60 °C), if the part is not cooled properly, the part temperature can be over the glass temperature when printing the next layer and will distort the previous and current layer.

I print PLA at a maximum temperature of 200 °C (for my thermistor reading).

A combination or a single of these parameters not being the correct value will cause the dent at the front and the stringing and letters to be faded as the filament is not cooled properly and deforms the previous and current layer, this easily shows up in overhangs like at the bow of your print.

Try to lower the hotend temperature by 5 °C per next calibration print (or start at 200 °C and work down from there) and increase the part cooling a little if possible (35 % to 50 %). The build plate generally does not need to be 5 °C higher for the first layer nor do you need an extra 5 °C for the hotend, PLA is not that difficult to print.


Installing multiple versions of ChiTu side by side I am using two resin printers based on the ChiTu software (Creality LD-002R and SainSmart Kumitsu KL9), and the former uses ChiTu 1.6.2, while the latter came with 1.6.1. I believe both will work just fine with the latest version, but it occurs to me that having separate copies of the software may be a good idea to keep configurations separate as well: Creality's version of the software came pre-configured (and the settings are undocumented!), while the SainSmart manual documents the software settings.
I don't want to go back-and forth between two sets of settings manually — the secret recipe approach has poor UX and time's a wastin'. I am wondering if there is any concern with installing multiple copies of ChiTu. And if anyone has a smarter way to accomplish the same (printer profiles? INI files?), I am all ears.

Running multiple versions of the same software did not sit well with the software person in me, so I dug a little deeper.
ChiTu has a "settings" button to the right side, and under that section it is possible to configure different, separate printer profiles. That may take care of the differences if properly configured, unfortunately only some printer profiles are pre-loaded. ChiTu 1.6.4 includes the Creality LD-002R profile, while the very recent Kumitsu KL9 is not predefined (yet), but the manual comes with a screenshot of the parameters just as they need to be entered.


How to set the Z home offset I have what I thought would be a simple question.

I don't have an auto leveling probe, I do my leveling manually with 4 screws and a piece of paper (I measured the thickness to 0.1 mm).

For the longest time I would have trouble with the first layer, sometimes having to give the bed screws a quarter turn to bring the bed up a bit. I would see that the nozzle seemed quite far away from the bed. This went on for the longest time and I just chalked it up to the quality of my printer.

I realized recently that when I level the bed, I am inserting a piece of paper in between the nozzle and the bed. Obviously, I should be taking the thickness into account as a 0.1mm thick piece of paper accounts for 50 % higher than the nozzle should be for a 0.2 mm first layer height.

My question is, how do I set (either in Cura or directly in Marlin config) the z home offset to account for the 0.1 mm thickness of my calibration paper?

It is preferred to get the distance correct by hardware changes (leveling screws). But it is possible to do it with software. You can not only change the Z offset in the slicer or in the configuration of Marlin, but also with G-code commands.

The "paper drag" method is perfect for determining the correct Z level. Once you leveled with the paper, you do not need to create an offset to account for the paper thickness, however, there are purists that do that. So basically, what we call Z=0 is in fact Z="paper thickness", unless you are a purist. But a slightly larger gap makes printing much easier. Too small heights cause e.g. rippling effects or too much pressure build-up in the nozzle. In order to change your offset after leveling, you could try one of the following methods. This is sometimes a useful method for creating a little extra offset for printing PETG, but personally I do not do that.

In Ultimaker Cura:
Open the plugin manager ("Toolbox"->"Browse packages...") and install "Z Offset Setting", a new parameter will be available in the "Build Plate Adhesion" settings menu called "Z Offset". (See also this older, not up-to-date answer)

In Marlin configuration file, modify the MANUAL_Z_HOME_POS constant:

//#define MANUAL_Z_HOME_POS 0

In G-code:

By adding the following lines to your start G-code (see e.g. this answer) using the G92 G-code command:

G0 Z0.2 ; Move the head to 0.2 mm (so now 0.3 on your machine)
G92 Z0  ; Call this Z = 0

or when you are able to connect to the printer over USB using a printer terminal (e.g. Pronterface, Repetier or OctoPrint) using the M206 G-code command:

M206 Z-0.2 ; Will raise the Z height by 0.2 mm
M500       ; Stores the offset in memory

Alternatively, when you cannot connect through a terminal, putting the last 2 lines in a text file and saving that as a .gcode file on an SD card and "printing" the file will also store the new offset (if M500 is enabled in the configuration file: #define EEPROM_SETTINGS // Enable for M500 and M501 commands)


Should I remove Cmagnet base for installing glass bed? I was using Ender-3 Pro's CMagnet bed but I switched to glass bed (because original bed is warped) and left the magnet base (not the bed itself but the glued bed which CMagned sticks) on heated bed. So now it's 3 layered (heated bed - magnet bed's base - glass bed) bed.

Should I remove this magnet bed's base and put glass on the metal heated bed directly. Or it's not that important?

The more layers, the higher the temperature you need to set the heated bed to reach the same print surface temperature as before (air is an insulator, so when entrapping air between your layer you insulate the heated bed).

I do not know the weight of the magnet base, but, keeping adding weight is not a very good idea unless your bed goes up and down (movement in Z direction is generally much more slower than in Y direction), but the Enders 3 bed goes back and forth. The more mass the axis needs to displace the less accurate the print.


Deactivate combing in first layer I noticed a problem with the combing feature. When I print the first layer with combing set to “not in skin” the extruder does not retract on the first layer. That leads to ugly oozing strings in the visible parts of the prints and also to other problems. E.g. if I want to print a model with tiny circles in the first layer (like for screw holes) the circles get easily pulled away because the extruder is not retracting. At first I thought I’m having sticking problems with the first layer, but I improved that a lot and my prints are perfectly fine now, when I turn off combing completely. In that case the extruder is retracting as desired and the circles stay in place. But turning combing off isn’t always a good option. Sometimes large prints take so much longer and may even have little marks in the visible surfaces where the retractions happened. So I don’t want to turn combing off completely just to be sure the first layer is okay. I saw this behavior with a lot of different models now, so I’m sure, Cura doesn’t always handle the first layer as skin. Setting combing to “not in skin” does definitely not help.

Here are two pictures of the first layer of a print. The first one with combing turned off. You can see the light blue travel lines which mean, the extruder is retracted.

And the second one with combing set to “not in skin” where you can see the dark blue lines. The extruder is not retracted there which produces the described problems.

Updated question to answer:

Thanks a lot for explaining that to me. But I’m afraid the problem still persists. The value of “retraction minimum travel” was at 0.8 mm, which should be fine I assume. Now I’ve set it to zero, just to be sure. The extruder does still not retract as you can see in the picture below.

But when I turn combing off completely, the retraction is happening. So I think it is a problem with the definition of “skin” for the combing mode “not in skin”. The bottom layer doesn’t seem to be treated as skin. By the way, I’m running the latest version of Cura of course (4.6.1).

If you set it to Not in Skin it will not comb and as such it will retract. Retraction travel moves are shown as light blue lines

  Light blue are retraction moves.  Dark blue are non-retracting moves.  Both types are non-extruding moves.

In that respect you would expect that if you set Combing to Not in Skin, it will retract and move to the other position:

If you wouldn't comb at all, you would see the same:

If you would comb all layers, so no retractions, we would expect dark blue lines:

Basically, Cura does exactly what it needs to do as seen in the screenshots, I cannot place/reproduce the screenshots in the question. To explain this (as commented below by @R..) another setting or settings may have caused preventing retraction like the Retraction Minimum Travel (retract_min_travel) in Cura.


What is the reinforcement for 3D printing concrete cement? When houses are printed with concrete cement what replaces the steel rebar for reinforcement?
Here's a link referencing printing concrete: https://www.aniwaa.com/house-3d-printer-construction/

House 3D printers use extrusion technology. Some construction 3D printers look like super-sized desktop FFF/FDM 3D printers (gantry style), whereas others consist of a rotating mechanical arm.
In both cases, paste-type components such as concrete are used as filament. The material is pushed out of a special nozzle to form layers. To put it (very) simply, paste extrusion is similar using a piping bag to spread frosting on a cake.
The printer creates the foundations and walls of the house or building, layer by layer. The ground is literally the printer’s build plate. Some concrete 3D printers, however, are used to 3D print brick molds. When molded, the bricks are then piled atop each other manually (or with a robotic arm).

Like most of the people here my experience is with a printer (RepRap) that can use PLA or ABS. With all the materials normally put into concrete, using an extrusion printer to print concrete is puzzling.

There is no reinforcement. You can use this ‘printing’ solution for walls but by default not for floors. There are experiments that use the solution to span a gap but they use relatively thick plates.

For example, see this paper, Design of a 3D printed concrete bridge by testing.


4pin fan on RAMPS board - direct? The question is simple - I have a RAMPS 1.4 running Marlin 1.1.9 with the three MOSFETs being used (end, fan, bed), but I'd like to have a couple other Marlin-controlled fans. One of them would be a 4-pin, 6000RPM cooler I got from a dead graphics card. Seeing how it runs perfectly at 12V 350 mA if I keep the control pin disconnected (and ignore the sense pin too, of course), Could I connect 12V and GND directly to the PSU (or RAMPS 12V header) and the CONTROL pin to one of the pwm servo control pins like D11? Or do I need a resistor?

I could add some info about the fan if needed, but it's a FirstD 4-pin, 12V 0.35A fan that can run up to 6000 RPM.

Yes, this should work.

According to this 4-pin fan specification, such fans use a 5V PWM signal.
You would have to make sure the PWM frequency on the pin you use satisfies that 21-28 kHz range specified in the document.

According to 3.3 and 3.4 in the document, you may not be able to turn the fan off completely when using the PWM input signal.


Delete only invisible parts of faces I have an STL made out of triangular faces that intersect themselves to create very complicated patterns. It also has a very messy internal structure. I'd like to remove the parts of the faces that are invisible from outside, whilst still maintaining the precise geometry of the model.

Any free software I can use is fine by me.

I tried using the Hollow Tool in Meshmixer, but that just deleted half of everything, for some reason. I also tried doing a Uniform Mesh Resampling in Meshlab, but that just created a wrinkly, disconnected mess. Disabling infill in Cura seems to do nothing.

For reference, the model looks like this.

As long as the STL creates a closed, manifold, watertight body, a good slicer will just slice it. Ultimaker Cura has the option to Union intersecting shells, which lets it take non-manifold parts of a shell and union them to the body in such a way that it creates a closed body. More simplification and fixing the problem in a slicer usually is not needed. If there is still some area where internal geometry is created, it can help to create an overlapping internal structure deliberately, as Easy way to refine a 3D-model for 3D printing by removing internal geometry explains.

Let's look at some example: The STL game export of a pauldron is made from the base body (one shell) and the rivets (which are another shell inside the STL). If Union Intersecting Shells is active, the rivets are sliced and printed as part of the pauldron. If Union Intersecting Shells is not active, the rivets are found to be non-sliceable and ignored.

Infill is meant to support the upper structures in print.

If it is mandatory to join the item into one shell, the STL format isn't the best to go through.

If the pattern is produced by a program, that is able to generate and export STEP files, these could be used by CAD software such as Fusion360 which then would interpret the generated body in such a way that it can be unioned easily, getting rid of internal geometry.

If the program generating the pattern is working with a vertex cloud such as blender, it should be possible to cut the long outer lines into several pieces and placing the vertices on the intersection of lines. These vertices could then be merged and any internal edges (and faces) removed. This can be a tedious process.


Marlin, end stops, and position report - possible bug? Am seeing the following behavior in Marlin:

When moving the printhead, if an end stop is hit, a position report (M114) erroneously reports the print head position as where it was trying to go, as opposed to where it's position actually is.

For example (using pronsole):

> M114
X:1.00 Y:1.00 Z:1.00 E:0.00 Count A: 142 B:0 Z:1260
> G0 Z100
endstops hit:  Z:16.88
> M114
X:1.00 Y:1.00 Z:100.00 E:0.00 Count A: 142 B:0 Z:21263

In this example, the Z endstop was hit at (z:16.88), but the printer appears to think it is at the target location (z:100).

The "Count" Z appears to remain accurate however.

Question: Is this a bug in Marlin, or is this correct behavior and I am misunderstanding something?

Some info on the subject: few stepper motors have any way of knowing their exact position during operation, which means Marlin will have to assume the steppers always are in the right place.

In other words, all g-code commands are executed relative to their current position, not with regards to the real positions. So if you forcefully move the printhead during print, the printer will just continue printing the same patterns in mid-air (this is basically what is called layer shifting).

The only way the printer can know the real position of the steppers is when the endpoint switches are triggered. This is why the homing action is done to before prints in order to reset the internal positional bookkeeping of the steppers in Marlin. So if the endpoints are triggered without the printer actually being at the endstops, you will seriously confuse Marlin.

I agree that is sounds weird that Marlin does not reset the positions of it's steppers when an endstop is triggered (during print?), but then again, if it happens accidentally (and not as part of a re-calibration procedure), I believe the default actions should be to abort all operation since this would indicate the printer being out of control. Perhaps there simply is no routine to handle movement after the program has been aborted - a situation where probably nothing would be right anyway..


Tronxy Marlin boards (two of them) reboot when asked to heat bed I have two Tronxy 2.0 V5 Marlin boards that reboot whenever heat is applied to the bed. The bed has been swapped (because I thought that was the problem) for a new shiny one. The thermistors, too, of course.  The same boards (both) work when the beds remain unheated (setpoint = 0 °C).

Any ideas what might be causing this, or what I might do to figure it out?

Note: I really have no idea which Tronxy board this is;  the "2.0" is stenciled on the board, so that's all I can figure out. I shamefully admit I tagged it with Tronxy x1 to see if I could generate any interest, and because a "Tronxy" tag is not available.

It sounds like a power-related problem. Always use an external MOSFET to drive a heated bed, and consider investing in a decent power supply. Inevitably, the Tronxy PSU will be barely adequate.

Edit: I've just noticed the tronxy-x1 tag. Be aware that the stock (60 Watt) PSU for the Tronxy X1 cannot power a heated bed (the printer does not have one). Trying to do so will overload the PSU and cause an immediate reset.


How can I add an extra fan, controlled by a microcontroller, to my board? I recently discovered this kit after reading this Instructables, Adding More Extruders to Any 3d Printer:

I'm pretty sure I can use this kit with my board since it uses the same drivers as mine. But that's for motors, not fans. And while I know G-code pretty well, I'm not sure how I would use this to activate and deactivate a fan from G-code. There is probably a better way to do this.

The board I am using is from an FLSUN Large Scale 3D printer. Here is a picture of the board:

There appears to be only one labeled pin for the fan. BUT even if there are other pins that I don't recognize, they would have to be controlled by a micro controller (G-code commands). There appear to be a bunch of un-used pins in the bottom right of the board. But if this board just can't do it, there is a newer board here: [link removed].

It does seem like it is using Arduino and the newer board might have extra pins for a fan. But at that point, would it be easier (cheaper) to just control the fan from the extruder extender kit? Would I just set it as an extruder with a really high filament extrusion speed and send appropriate G-code commands when needed to run it at max voltage?

I know on my Lulzbot Mini there is a "parts cooling" fan which allows you to cool off the layers as your structure rises vertically. This is a fan I want. The parts cooling fan must be controlled by the micro controller. It only comes on when printing vertically.

I would like to actually add two fans like this to my 3D printer. One of them is a >= 5 V cooling fan like above. Another is a regular 12 V cooling fan for an extra extruder that I am adding.

The MKS Gen L v1.0 Board you are using does support microcontroller controlled fans without doing some surface level modification to the board via the D9/FAN. The port you marked FAN is not a controllable port, it runs a direct 12/24 V all the time and should be used for the Hotend cooling solution. The ports D7/HE1 and D10/HE0 are for two hotendes, corresponding to E0 and E1.

Variant A: Swappy Fans

This is the more tricky variant and does need both coding and wiring expertise.

You'll have to run both hotend cooling fans via that one port in the top left corner. Make sure they are running fast enough to keep the heatsinks cool and prevent heat creep!

Your custom Firmware will have to define D9 as a microcontroller controlled Fan instead of a 100 % running fan as the normal firmware is most likely.

Without extra hardware, you can't get 2 individually controllable ports from D9, but you can use, the fact that you don't want part cooling for a hotends in 'resting' position. So a pair of couple Normally Closed switches cab achieve disabling of the resting hotend's part cooling fan:

make a wire splitter for D9, so that you have both + and both --wires connect to the one +/--pin on the board. You'll have the part cooling fans in parallel now.

Do the same for the Hotend Cooling Fans!

connect each +-line to a Normally Closed switch, which is installed on the hotend in a way so it triggers and opens the line if the hotend is in the resting (homing) position.
As the line connects when the hotend moves into the build volume, the part cooling fan on the currently active hotend starts to spin while the one of the non-active hotend is isolated.

Variant B: MOSFETs and Safety

An alternate source for the part cooling fan signals might be the SERVOS1/SERVOS2 group, where D4 to D6 and D11 are accessible. This leaves the FAN and top-left 12 V pinnings free for the hotend cooling. The downside is, that these pins don't likely provide 12 V but at best a 5 V digital output. However, a 0 to 5 V signal can be used to control a separate MOSFET which outputs 0 to 12 V, which then can power the part cooling fans. Due to the power draw of the Fans, a simple step-up converter is not a solution it needs a separate power supply.

The Main benefit is, that this does draw less power from the board than Variant A and does not re-pin D9. The "Cooling Fan Board" could use a 6-line ribbon cable to connect to the SERVOS1 pins, using the 5V as reference for the MOSFETs, D4/D5 as the trigger signal and GND as return lines.

A pre-assembled board that could serve in this position would be a L298N Driver. Due to how it is set up, one could run both part cooling fans, if their speed is set up to be always equal.


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

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


Filament long term storage I was noticing on a print I had just done that the quality was not up to typical snuff. I had just started using a roll of PLA filament that I had been keeping on a shelf without a wrapper for a couple months. How long can you store filament before it gets too hydrated from the air to print? I expected more than a couple months but perhaps I am wrong?

In theory, most filaments don't go bad.

It is however always a good idea to store filament dry. To enforce this, some use racks in a well-heated room, others are blessed with very dry weather overall. And others are forced to use dryboxes. Dryboxes can keep the filament reasonably isolated from the surrounding air and so prevent moisture interacting with them. It is also a good idea to store them out of direct sunlight, as UV light might destroy color and/or the plastic.

More information on why to use them is for example at the question Which filaments actually do need to be stored in a drybox?

A couple construction videos using an IKEA box and a bit of foam were offered by Tom (Thomas Sanladerer) and CNC Kitchen (Stefan Hermann) in the last year.

But fear not: most filaments - PLA included - can be freshened up again! Just bake them at a low temperature or store them in a dehumidifier. For PLA, keep the temperature at below 80°C. A couple hours should get all the moisture that has seeped in out again. The Quality might not get back to that of fresh filament in all cases, but you might at least regain reasonable to good printability.


How to save the post processing scripts configuration with Cura? I have made a temperature ⨉ fan speed tower which needed 3x9-1 ChangeAtZ post processing scripts and it took me quite much time to configure them all (and check it twice). Is there a way to save this, so that I wouldn't need to make them all again if something went wrong and I needed to start over or if I wanted to do something similar again ?

I'm a Simplify3D user which allows one to save "factory" files. It appears that Cura supports printer profile configuration and saving.

From the above link, one is directed to enter the profile manager. You can duplicate an existing profile and rename it to separate it from the protected (standard/stock?) profiles.

Without using Cura to confirm this, I suspect that you'll discover this may be the solution you seek.


What size is the lead screw So I am fairly new to 3d Printing and have a question that is probabley stupid. I built a 3D printer kit a while back but now I want a large printer to play with. I would like to build a 300X300X400 clone of a 3D printer. But I am not sure what size lead screws to by they come in 300mm length but once you connect the coupler and the to the screw that takes 20mm's that the axis can not travel too so isn't it more like 280mm length? Or do most people round up to the next size or ???

I would really like to thanks anyone that can help me in advance Thanks alot

You'll need to do some calculation to figure out how long of a lead screw you need. The best solution would be to mock up the entire printer in CAD so you can visualize how everything fits together. Not only is the coupler going to take up some space, but the nut also takes up some space, and perhaps (due to design constraints) you won't be able to have the nut go up right against the coupler so you'll need some more space. Unfortunately, there isn't a general "just take the length of your Z-axis and add X millimeters"-type formula.


Needing a simple fix for loading TPU My question is...
Is there a SIMPLE/easy way to load TPU without tearing my printer apart to insert a hose that probably wont work anyways. It keeps curling up by the cog. I have read a few topics in other places but I didn't like the answers. Hoping you all might have a simple fix.

Loading TPU/TPE can be particularly challenging because many printer loading scripts run too fast for the soft flexible filament to effectively purge whatever normal filament you were using before. A couple tips:

Load with a slightly higher temp than either the TPU or previous filament require, so as to minimize the melt viscosity and reduce the force required.
Make a custom gcode file that contains a slower loading routine: wait for heat, then advance the extruder at a very slow rate for a long distance. Then you just "print" this gcode file whenever you need to load TPU.

However, simply being able to load is not necessarily enough. Not all extruders can reliably print flexible filaments, period. The larger the gap between the pinch wheel and inlet to the hot end, the more likely the filament is to buckle and come out the side. You need to make sure this gap is as short as possible. If there is more than a couple mm of gap, you'll need to make gap-filler or print yourself a new extruder designed for flexibles.

Printing slow and without major velocity changes can help, too. Use relatively low layer heights and low, constant feedrates so the extruder doesn't have to run fast or change pressure often.

Harder flexible filaments will be easier to print if your setup is borderline. Ninjaflex is one of the hardest to print because it is relatively soft. Semi-flex type filaments are much easier to print if your hardware isn't set up optimally.


Connecting (Anet A8) 2004 display to MKS GEN L V2.0 Although it seems this question has been answered before Connecting (Anet A8) 2004 display to MKS GEN L this one differs because the v2.0 board has no obvious AUX-2 connector.
So the question is, how can I connect the Anet A8 LCD Panel (with buttons) to the MKS Gen L V2.0 board? Or where can I find the schematics?

It probably can be done, but, it requires some splicing of your LCD cables (or using some Dupont male-female cables) and altering of the firmware pins header files.
The MKS GEN L v2.0 lacks the AUX-2 port that is present on the v1.0 controller boards. The reason for this is that they implemented support for more modern stepper drivers like the trinamic drivers that are capable of using UART to set stepper options.
The old v1.0 pin layout is displayed below:

The new v2.0 pin layout is dislayed below:

The Anet A8 2004 graphical display (so-called ZONESTAR_LCD) uses (at least one as the buttons are suited with different resistors) analog pin that is used to detect which buttons are pushed.
#elif ENABLED(ZONESTAR_LCD)
  #define ADC_KEYPAD_PIN 12

Pins A5 and A9-12, D40, D42 and D44 are used according to the pin layout.
In the pins_RAMPS.h header file the display usage is coded as:
#elif ENABLED(ZONESTAR_LCD)

  #define LCD_PINS_RS                     64
  #define LCD_PINS_ENABLE                 44
  #define LCD_PINS_D4                     63
  #define LCD_PINS_D5                     40
  #define LCD_PINS_D6                     42
  #define LCD_PINS_D7                     65

In order for this to work on the MKS GEN L v2.0, you need to source for free pins that can mimic these pins and alter the header file and create a spliced LCD cable.
It might be much easier to buy a new reprap discount display controller for about 10 bucks/euros and connect it to the dedicated EXP1/2 headers. Stay away from the Anet A6 graphical display.


Looking for this stl design for a cellphone clamp I've searched, and surprisingly I am not able to find this design on Thingiverse:

Where can I find this 3d model?

This file simply is not on Thingiverse. Not all files are on Thingiverse.
A Google reverse-image-search for that picture in all size told me that the image stems from an all3dp article, and they have a reference link to Pinshape as it is presented here:

The file name of the linked picture is universal-phone-tripod-mount-3d-printing-155113.jpg
Taking that as a search term lead me to pinshape model 37196: 3d printed universal phone-tripod mount by jakejake


Main board heated bed connectors aren't powering up Flsun 3D Cube; Marlin 1.1.1; main board: Makerbase MKS Gen_L V1.0; running from either Repetier or OctoPrint.

I was recently obliged to replace the main board when it stopped powering the heated bed. I got the new main board - same make, version, etc - got everything setup just as it was before, but the bed still doesn't heat. Multimeter shows zero across the board's heat bed contacts, whether using G-code from the terminal (in both Repetier and Octoprint), G-code in the print file, or the control panel on the front of the printer. The thermistor works: if I shine a heat lamp on the bed, it registers the temp change.

Bad board? Something in the Merlin config I missed? Is the board smart enough to not power it on if the bed heater itself is bad?

Considering:

  Multimeter shows zero across the board's heat bed contacts

this implies that

If you measured resistance, the heated bed has no resistance. Basically this implies that the bed has a short. This might be the reason why it is not working. If you would power it as such you create a short. Instead of replacing the board, you need to replace the heated bed. Typical values for a heated bed of about 200 x 200 mm are in the order of 1.2 Ω (measurements between 0.9 and 1.5 Ω are reasonable to be expected).
If you measured voltage, the heated bed does not receive power for heating, or the power does not reach the bed (not turned on or broken wire?). It would then be wise to measure the resistance (of the bed and the wires). If the resistance is in the order of about 1.2 Ω (see above) for the bed, you could try to connect the heated bed directly to the PSU to see if it gets warm, if so, please disconnect immediately to prevent damage. From this experiment you can find whether the heated bed is broken (or the cables), or that the board is not functioning correctly, this is, however, strange as you tried 2 boards. A possible suspect could be the MOSFET that schedules the powering of the heated bed if you use an external MOSFET board that it.
If you measured current, then you found out that no power is delivered to the board, but you also might have broken your board in the process, as measuring current is a (close to) 0 Ω connection and has to be done in line of a circuit.


Anet A8 Calibrated but print sizes are wrong Anet A8 printer, Github Marlin, Repetier Host, Cura slicer

Just setting up printer and printed 20mm calibration cube from Thingiverse. X,Y,Z & E not too far off but not quite right (centre hole was oval not round) X19.5mm, Y19.5mm & Z20mm.

Followed Youtube calibration help and updated firmware to Marlin. I ran several iterations of request travel, measure result and tweek stepper settings (M501,M92xxxx, M500) Live Die Repeat...

When I now print the calibration cube I get X25mm, Y20mm & Z19.5mm.

Could the issue be with the firmare being upgraded to Marlin? The cube was sliced by Cura and I have used the same file for all of the prints. When I stop the print and ask Repetier to move the steppers the distance is as they should be for a 100mm travel.

If you have a stock printer, your calibration values should be stock - i.e. 100 steps/mm for X/Y. Also, as an extra hint, X and Y steps should be identical since the mechanics are identical (unless you swapped out one of the motors or drive gears).

It sounds like you have Y correct, but something wrong with X. This could be the belt being damaged, or slipping (or having slipped during your initial cal, and not later). Try increasing/decreasing print speed, this might show up some dynamic problems with the movement.

If you print something bigger (like this) you don't need to worry so much about measurement precision and under/over-extrusion (which adds to the error, but doesn't scale with size).

You don't make it clear if you've started by calibrating your extruder. This is the most important first step, and ensures that you extrude the right length of filament during the print. All this requires is that you mark out 10cm of filament and extrude it into free space.


What printer should I consider for printing microfluidic channels? I am looking to purchase a 3D printer for the fabrication of microfluidics.

I am looking for a printer that can print channels with less than 200 µm cross-sections, preferably, can print optically transparent and biocompatible material, and costs less than $10,000.

Any ideas/recommendations? Could be any printer type (i.e. SLA, FDM, PolyJet).

"What Printer?" Let's look at your options:

FDM is the cheapest route into 3D printing, and may be cheap enough to buy just as a learning tool, as many of the concepts of 3D printing are fairly universal. It will not however likely have high enough dimensional accuracy for consistent 200 µm holes, and parts are not usually considered water tight (They may be most of the time, but pinholes are somewhat common).

BinderJet binder jet is the cheaper of the options for printing with powder, where basically glue is deposited onto layers of powder to solidify a part. I have personally used one to create a sand mould to cast metal into without having to create a positive with which to make the mould (ie lost wax casting). It can also be used to print ceramics or metals that are then fired in an oven into a more solid part. In general the dimensional accuracy is going to depend on not only the precision of the glue deposition, but the input powder as well. It may be possible, but I've never seen a water tight part come out of a binder jet.

SLM (SLS, DMLS, generally any metal printer with a laser (even sometimes an electron beam)) Can print quite high quality parts, but a 200 µm hole is pushing into the realm of difficult to achieve. Metal printers produce parts with a fairly rough surface (compared to a machined part), which is dependent on a lot of things, but primarily the input powder size distribution. Typical SLM printers use powder anywhere from 20 - 60 µm in diameter. With very small holes, you'll have to begin wondering about the likelihood that a hole will be sealed at some point by the random surface roughness exceeding the diameter of the hole. This also translates into a path with a lot of resistance, so pushing a fluid through it will require a lot of pressure. Again, I'm not in any sort of biological field, but I'm aware Titanium is pretty bio-compatible, and that is a *fairly commonly printed alloy (the current list of alloys that are pretty easy / standard to print isn't terribly long). Finally price: you can't afford it. I work with a relatively small (though somewhat high end) SLM tool at work, and I believe the final cost went up somewhere in the neighborhood of 500k.

SLA will likely be your best option. I don't have any experience with bio-compatibility (I'm a metallurgist), but there are many uv curing resin systems out there that are made for SLA printing. This is also likely the only type of system that can meet your dimensional requirements (water tight, small features, clear material, etc.) as well as your price target. Nothing can replace doing the research on your own, but this would be my choice. As for which SLA... (Note I'm fairly biased in this opinion) I'd look into Formlabs and possibly in particular their clear dental resin.

*PolyJet I don't know much about this one. It seems like a cross between SLA and FDM, but it seems likely to be out due to cost.


Simulation tool software for 4D Printing In 4D printing technology or by means usage of Shape-memory alloy (non-metal, iron based, copper based or NiTi material) for 3D printing.
Is there any software simulation tool which I can use to simulate this material change behavior with respect to time?  For example, when introducing a change in humidity or temperature.
Note: It would be best if the simulation tools targeted automotive parts (power train, cooling system, interior & exterior etc.).

I am going to say that this probably is a whole dimension out of scope for this group ;-)
That said this new type of 3d printing is still at the University level. Also 4d is not necessarily 3d printing related at all. All it has to be is self assembling. Like http://www.selfassemblylab.net/4DPrinting.php
Unless you have a connect with MIT. Then you aren't going to be simulating any 4d models.
But if you HAD to do this, then you should write a paper about it and become a researcher. You could get published. You might need a PHD in material science. There might be some simulation in solid works.. but I would say you are mostly on your own and have to develop the models as they simply do not exist, especially outside of academia and stratasys.
That said if you take the "4d" part and use models based on the current understanding of the raw material you would have more success.


Why can't I use PLA with ABS in a dual extruding 3D printer? I have a XYZ Da Vinci duo and I want to run water soluble PLA with ABS How can I do that?

First of all: PLA is not water soluable.

Second: You want the melting points of the plastics to be as close as possible. PLA is printed between 180 and 200 °C. ABS is printed at 220 to 240 °C.

PVA on the other hand is water soluable and is printed in the same temperature range as ABS.

The setup is dependant on your slicer: you need to select one extruder as being the support structure one, the other as the main body one. Then you assign the filaments to them. Without knowing your slicer, I can't asnwer this better.


How to align sketch with the x-axis I have this sketch which I have accidantly rotated by some arbitary angle.

I need the dotted line to be parallel with the x-axis and the small, left hand side to be flush with the y-axis.

I've tried using the Align function, but can't seem to get htat to work.

Ive tried rotating the sketch, but I can't see a way to measure the angle it's off by in order to specify how far to rotate it.

I'm very new to Fusion 360, and CAD in general so it's probably something really simple.

It's rather simple:

Start to edit the sketch with this line via a right-click edit sketch
click the line you want to force horizontal
on the right menu, the lower menu has "align horitontal/vertical", click it
DONE

To find the button I mean, a picture with the right tool next to the red mark:

Hint: in the case of your item, I suggest to use the blue marked symmetry on the two lines you forced to be equal:

first choose the lines (SHIFT)
choose the tool
click the symmetry line (in your case: the construction line)


Do more retracts lead to extruder jams This print failed a couple of hours in. I was wondering if the nature of the print surface, with lots of retracts (similarly the previous print which was OK) might have contributed to the clog, or if it's just bad luck? To be clear, the surface has lots of short dead-end, not just a wiggly perimeter.

The filament seemed to have stopped moving, and was cut through by the drive gear.

This was a genuine Titan Aero extruder, 0.4mm nozzle, 215C (on an Anet a8 printer)

Reading your question it's not clear to me if you are referring to filament retraction (which is a configurable setting) or surface recesses which seems what you are referring to when writing:

  the nature of the print surface, with lots of retracts

If it is the latter, then the answer is "no".  The amount of complexity of the surface of the model does not correlate directly to the possibility of the printer head clogging.

If it is the former, then the answer is "possibly".  It is in fact not so much the amount of retracts that affects the likelihood of a clog but rather their speed and lenght.  If you retract too quickly and too much filament, you risk to have molten plastic being "sucked" into the cold end, solidify, and act as a glue, blocking the filament in place.

This is especially true for all-metal print heads like titan aero, as plastic sticks a lot better to metal than to PTFE.

However, with a properly calibrated retraction, you shouldn't experience problems regardless of how many times / how often you retract the filament.

In general, it is a common misconception that retraction should work as a plunger, actively sucking in plastic that would otherwise ooze out of the nozzle.  However all you need is to just release the pressure within the melting chamber, and in a direct drive (i.e.: non-bowden) extruder, this requires a very minimal retraction.

Finally: what material are you printing in?  The picture shows a lot of oozing for being PLA. If you are using a flexible material like nylon or ninjaflex, you should probably just let retraction alone: the hysteresis in such materials is very high, and retraction often does not work predictably.  If it is PLA, I would try to increase the movement and retraction speed, and probably lower the temperature 10 or 15 degrees.  As for the retraction lenght, I don't own a titan, but I would expect the correct amount to be somewhere between 0.5mm and 2mm.


Printing objects with holes using M3D Printer I am using an M3D printer and loaded an STL design with holes in the middle:

However, the output is an object without holes (so I stopped the printing):

What can be done to be able to print with holes?

Have you tried letting it print a few more layers? It is very common that printers use the first few layers to create a raft, which will make the model adhere better to the bed.

I believe this illustration from Simplify3D displays this well:


Print initial layer only on outside of print I am using Ultimaker Cura to print what are essentially cookie cutters - a thin wall that is a silhouette of the shape. I would like to have a broader surface for the top. In Ultimaker Cura, I set it to print a wider "initial layer" but this initial layer is printed both inside and outside the print. Is there a setting I can use to print the initial layer outside the print? I am using Fusion 360 to create the model and would like to avoid having to build this separate layer for every model I build, unless it can be done fairly easily as these shapes will vary for each model.

As an additional question, what would be the best way to split an image into individual pieces - one for the outline of the whole shape and individual pieces for each distinct part of the image, say eyes, nose, mouth - that you would use to build the image after you cut out the pieces? I've tried using InkScape but I am not able to get it to divide them into clean pieces.

The solution to getting the brim set up was to select the area for each individual piece (in GIMP), then duplicate that selection and "grow" it to make it larger to create the lip. From there, I extruded the larger section a few millimeters and extruded the smaller selection on top of that and hollowed it out. Still working on the exact measurements to achieve the lip width and height, but the process is in place.


Monoprice Select Mini v2 - Some Prints Freeze I am having an issue where several prints I downloaded from thingiverse causing my printer to freeze in the first minute of the print. The print head stops, pushes out a small amount of PLA and then does nothing. The control board continues to show the print progress bar continuing.

One thing that could be possible is I am using the wrong G-code flavor. I am running Cura 3.4.1 and I set the printer to use RepRap. I also tried Marlin. Which one of those is right for my printer? Could it be something else?

My MonoPrice printer firmware version is v35.110.2. The item I tried to print has the gcode from this page. https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2221657.

If you go to the Monoprice website you will find a dedicated page for Ultimaker Cura.

From the page you can read that:

  Cura now includes profiles for the MP Select Mini V1 and V2. Go to
  “Settings”, “Printer”, “Add Printer…”, “Other”. Select the radio
  button next to the printer, then “Add Printer”.

So you must be able to configure it correctly for your printer (this must include the G-code flavor for your printer). Do note that Monoprice does nothing with the Ultimaker Cura installers, they simply link directly to the source at Ultimaker. Also note all the problems related to specific versions and how to fix them.

You write that the:

  The control board continues to show the print progress bar continuing.

This I have experiences myself (on a different printer with Marlin 1.1.8), so a non-printing printer while the progressbar progresses. I solved this myself by flashing to a newer firmware version. It appears to be a bug in the firmware.

You might want to explore whether it is feasible for you to update, I read that there are issues with this printer concerning firmware updating (it appears that there are different hardware versions of this printer).

E.g. from this reference:

  If your MPSM V2 currently has Motion Controller v34 or higher
  installed then you can update with this firmware.
  If your MPSM V2 currently has Motion Controller v30 or lower, do NOT update with this firmware.
  If you have Motion Controller versions 31, 32, or 33 please
  ask before updating with this firmware.

Although the changelog does not mention your problems, you may benefit from a firmware update. Please do this at your own risk, take precautions and read in the matter if your printer is able to be updated. It is best to first look into your settings how the printer is configured in Ultimaker Cura. Preferably, delete the current printer configuration and add a new configuration as described here.


My nozzle on my Ender3 V2 is higher when it is printing than it is when I auto home it I just got a new Ender3 version two for Christmas and was very excited to use it so I put it together and used the sample filament that came with the printer and everything worked okay for a bit.
That was until I switched something in the settings, or in Cura, or something happened, because the nozzle is too far away from the bed when printing. I will use the auto home feature to level my bed with a piece of paper and once I get that pretty close I try and start my print, and it starts a few millimetres further away from the bed than when levelling it.
Any ideas to solve this?

From my experience Auto Home procedure rearly leaves Z position at 0. By default Marlin raises it to 4 mm above the bed as far as I remember. The same might be with Z offset.
Also, could you please check "Initial Layer Height" in Cura?
Could you check the machine's "Start G-Code" for presence of G91 code (this would be bed sign) and confirm it contains line G90?
There are valuable basic tips in this discussion about printing too low, so you may want to go through these hints.
Did you already manage to solve your problem?


Can I adjust print speed on the fly? I am running an Ender 3 pro with an Octoprint connected. I accidentally set the print speed too slow in Cura and the print will take very long. Is there a Marlin command I can issue to the printer to speed it up without stopping the print?

yes
Print speed is a setting that can be altered by just turning the click-wheel of the Ender 3. You don't need to push it to gain access to menus. A turn to the right does increase the speed, left lowers it. It is applied only some moments after
stopping the turning - then the firmware does inject a M220 command as the next line. This means the current running movement is ended with the last set speed, the new speed is set and the following command will be done with the new speed.
As towe correctly states, one can also send a M220 command to the printer via a terminal, but then you need to have one set up before the print starts, as plugging in a terminal will reset your printer and abort the print!


Settings for CuraEngine What is the proper way to give printer settings to CuraEngine? Is it possible to put all these settings into a file (like Json formatted)?

CuraEngine.exe -v -o "c:\3d\test.gcode" "c:\3d\test.stl"

I think the easiest thing is to use the Cura application together with CuraEngine.
If your printer is not supported, you'll need to add it manually by adding a JSON here: https://github.com/Ultimaker/Cura/tree/master/resources/machines
But when you are done you can easily choose all the features you want. For example: generating supports, printing order when printing multiple models, etc.
Cura and CuraEngine are developed at the same time, so you can expect that all features supported by the engine are accessible by the UI.


Anet A8 - X and Y axis not square - how to fix? I have an Anet A8 printer for about 4 months, set up pretty well (or so I thought) and printing a number of models pretty well. I made a large 3" x 6" box with a sliding lid yesterday and when it was done there was a gap on one side when the lid was slid on. I checked the parts and it turns out they are not square - which means the X and Y axes are not square to each other.

I'm wondering how to adjust this - I'm thinking that extending the distance between the back of the frame and the front by adjusting the threaded rods that separate them to a wider distance on the side where the angle is obtuse. Obviously one of the first things I'll check is that the distance between the front and back is the same (I can't imagine why I never checked that before, come to think of it).

Does this sound like a sound plan?

I recently went to the same issue on my CoreXY printer (culprit was uneven belt tension in the 2 belts), but you have a Prusa style printer like my first Anet A8 printer.

If you just found out (because you are printing large models now) but always had this issue it could be frame related. You should check your printer and try to fix the geometry that is causing this. If this is impossible you could fix this by changing the firmware (see below). If large prints used to be accurate, but are now skewed, you could be facing stretched belts. Replacing them will fix the issue.

Skewness compensation in Marlin:
When X-Y are skew (or any other plane like X-Z or Y-Z) you can fix that through the firmware software in Marlin Firmware. Please go into the Configuration.h file and look at the instructions; please search for "Bed Skew Compensation".

Basically you are required to print a giant square and measure the diagonals, these should be the same, but apparently are not in your case.


Inconsistent filament flow on anet a8 My Anet A8 was working and printing great until my hotbed connector snapped and shorted out my motherboard. After replacing the connections to my hotbed and my motherboard I can't print anything because the filament flow is very inconsistent. It often laying down nothing. See my included picture.

I've tried a bunch of suggested calibration settings but none of them worked:

increased extruder temp,
decreased speed,
increased flow,

Any ideas or thoughts would be great.

Thanks everyone for the tips. I posted this question on another board and it was suggested my extruder was clogged. After unclogging everything works great again.


How to find Printrboard pin numbers in Marlin I'm looking for a Printrboard  board image with the pin numbers labeled. Specifically for Rev. F.

Specifically, I'd like to know what each pin on the EXP1 and EXP2 correspond to numberwise within Marlin.

The pins.h file for the Printrboard Rev. F doesn't include any other files and doesn't indicate what pin number corresponds to which part on the board...

There is this google sheets file which provides some of the information.

This image has the categories of each pin labeled. But I'm looking for where the pin numbers on the board correspond to the numbers in Marlin, similar to this image for the MKS Gen L:

As FarO suggested, from github:Printrbot/printrboard/revF2 (via RepRapWiki - Printrboard - Revision History), the EagleCAD board layout and schematics are contained in the printrboard-revF2.zip:

Printrboard.sch
Printrboard.brd

This is the EagleCAD schematic:

EagleCAD board layout

Not quite the annotated diagram that you were after, unfortunately, but it might help.

There are a couple of configuration files on KevinOConnor/klipper, but unfortunately only for revisions B to D (at90usb1286) and G (SAM3x8c)... E and F are not available.


Anet A8 - first couple of layer are trash I just got an Anet A8 and I'm pretty happy with it except for one small detail:

All my prints start like this. I tried to :

pre-heat the printer ❌
add a smaller height of the first layer ❌

I’m kinda new to this and i did not find a correct answer to my problem so here’s my Cura configuration:

I think your issue is bed leveling.

I recently got my Anet A8 and the biggest kill for my print quality is bed leveling. If its too far from the nozzle, I get something like your picture. You might want to try the paper test where you manually move the nozzle to each corner of the bed and adjust the bed till the paper cannot move freely between the bed and nozzle.


How Do I Speed up The BLTouch Auto Bed Leveling In TH3D's Unified Firmware? I have just upgraded my board to TH3D's EZBoard Lite with their Unified Firmware (U2.R1.15) and whilst dialling in all the setting I have found that using the BlTouch each time to be frustrating because of the time it takes to complete the Auto Bed Leveling, however, I cannot find the settings to increase the speed as shown in Teaching Tech's video:
#define DEFAULT_MAX_FEEDRATE          { 500, 500, 5, 25 }

is changed to
#define DEFAULT_MAX_FEEDRATE          { 500, 500, 20, 25 }

and
#define BLTOUCH_DELAY 375   // (ms) Enable and increase if needed

is changed to
#define BLTOUCH_DELAY 100   // (ms) Enable and increase if needed

and
// X and Y axis travel speed (mm/m) between probes
#define XY_PROBE_SPEED 8000

is changed to
// X and Y axis travel speed (mm/m) between probes
#define XY_PROBE_SPEED 10000

I am not quite sure which parts to change as the two builds are organised and worded differently.
In the online firmware configurator, it does list an option to speed up the probing of their own EZABL but says not to do so for the BLTouch in the manual configuration editor
// Super fast probing - VERY EXPERIMENTAL AND ONLY TESTED WITH EZABL PRO SENSORS
// Do NOT use with EZABL_FASTPROBE (comment out above) or BL Touch Sensors
//#define EZABL_SUPERFASTPROBE

Would enabling this be the same as making the changes listed in Teaching Tech's video?
Any help you can offer will be greatly appreciated.

There are multiple ways to achieve this:
In G-code
You don't necessarily need to do that in firmware, TH3D is based on Marlin firmware and is just a monolithic implementation for most popular printers and boards that helps novice users to easily configure their printer, but in the meantime it hides other options from plain sight.
Being a derivative fro Marlin firmware, the bed leveling speed in between probes can also be easily set in G-code. G-code G29 has a speed parameter:
S : Set the XY travel speed between probe points (in units/min)
From below (TH3D firmware) can be seen that a value of 12000 mm/min will speed up and is generally safe to use.
In Marlin firmware
In Marlin firmware, the speed setting in between probes is found in Configuration.h:
// X and Y axis travel speed (mm/min) between probes
#define XY_PROBE_SPEED 8000

In TH3D firmware
In TH3D firmware this speed is buried in the Configuration_backend.h:
  #if ENABLED(PROBING_MOTORS_OFF)
    #define XY_PROBE_SPEED 8000
  #else
    #if ENABLED(SLOWER_PROBE_MOVES) || ENABLED(TH3D_EZ300) || ENABLED(TIM_AM8)
      #define XY_PROBE_SPEED 8000
    #else
      #if ENABLED(EZABL_SUPERFASTPROBE)
        #define XY_PROBE_SPEED 16000
      #else
        #define XY_PROBE_SPEED 12000
      #endif
    #endif
  #endif

The speed is depending on setting of the PROBING_MOTORS_OFF in Configuration.h:
// This will disable the XYE motors during probing. Can be useful if you have stepper motors causing interference issues with the EZABL sensor.
#define PROBING_MOTORS_OFF

or depending on the speed settings for specific setting/sensors (ENABLED(SLOWER_PROBE_MOVES) || ENABLED(TH3D_EZ300) || ENABLED(TIM_AM8):
// If you have issues with your machine running the faster probe setting disable the #define EZABL_FASTPROBE below.
// DO NOTE: Most machines will work with the fast probe enabled. Use M48 to verify accuracy.
#define EZABL_FASTPROBE

// Superfast probing - Only works with the EZABL Pro Sensors
// DO NOTE: Not all machines will work with the fast probe enabled. Use M48 to verify accuracy and make sure the Z isn't binding with the high speeds.
//#define EZABL_SUPERFASTPROBE

Basically, if you have not defined one of the following: PROBING_MOTORS_OFF, SLOWER_PROBE_MOVES, TH3D_EZ300 or TIM_AM8, the XY_PROBE_SPEED  will default to a value of 4000 (depending of the definition of HOMING_FEEDRATE_XY) since the constant is not defined, see Conditionals_post.h):
  #ifndef XY_PROBE_SPEED
    #ifdef HOMING_FEEDRATE_XY
      #define XY_PROBE_SPEED HOMING_FEEDRATE_XY
    #else
      #define XY_PROBE_SPEED 4000
    #endif
  #endif

In Marlin you would simply change the value of the travel between probing speed whilst in TH3D you need to sort out if one of all those conditions are met. For advanced users with a slightly different printer setup, the TH3D software might be less optimal. Do note that forks of the Marlin firmware that are heavily modified always (like TH3D) lack behind the original sources; you are dependent on the implementation schedule of the fork maintainer. But, for people that have not modified their printer, have a limited knowledge of software (C/C++ development) and firmware flashing, or their modification falls in the supported options of TH3D, the monolithic TH3D might be very helpful!
Most probably, your setting is overruled later.


Z-Axis doesn't work only during printing Problem:  Z-Axis doesn't work during a print.  It attempts to work, maybe climbs on the Z-Axis, but screws back down.  It whines, too.  But, Z-Axis DOES work while not printing.  It doesn't matter if the bed and nozzle heating or not, if it's not printing, it works as it should.  I don't know what else I can do to troubleshoot this problem.

I have:

Changed the Ramps 1.4 board twice
Swapped drivers around, bought new drivers
Swapped X-Axis and Z-Axis motor connections
Cleaned threaded rod.
Leveled two Z-Axis threaded rod riders to near atomic perfection.
Changed firmware to each of the 3 latest updates
Remounted motor so both face same cardinal direction
Cursed
Changed jumper configurations from 16th microstepper to 8th for more power.  No dice.  Fried two drivers that way.
Dialed and redial and tridialed and quaddialed the driver pots
Recalled the Z-motors work while not printing so it isn't the driver pots
Cursed again
Scoured the web for similar issues
Looked for G-code that might limit Z-Axis elevation
Died a little.  Just a little

Hardware:

RepRap Guru DIY Prusa i3 V2 3D Printer Kit
Ramps 1.4
A4988 Driver
Firmware:

Marin 1.1.8,

1.1.7 (screen didn't function),
1.1.6 (screen didn't function),

RepRapGuru_Marlin_v4,
RepRapGuru_Marlin_v2

Additional information:

My power supply is the original 12 V 360 W supply with the kit.

The 5 amp power in is 12.02 V, the 11 amp power port is 11.96 V and 12.18 V depending on which heater is on.
The bed measures 11.50 V and the hotend is 3.4 V

While heating the bed and hotend I am using the LCD screen and rotary encoder to move my axes. It works as expected until printing. I have upgraded to an aluminum 12/24 V hotbed from the original PCB.
Currently getting Repetier. Will update.
The z-axis leadscrew is M5-0.8 mm

I would check the gcode you're generating to make sure it's not full of "bad" z-commands.
Further, I'd take any gcode file you have and manually edit it, leaving in all the initializations, heatings, zeroing, etc.,  and then delete everything except some z-motion commands.  Run that as a test case to see what happens.
I  think it's extremely unlikely that the gantry has enough mass to force the z-screws to counter-rotate (lowering the gantry), and you'd see that with power off in any case.
edit
As Greenonline discovered, a bad choice of lead screw might cause the behavior you're seeing.  It would be a bit scary if a stock kit such as the one you bought provided high-pitch Z-screws.  Better check that out!


Cura: How to prevent my 3D printer from auto cooling after prints Is there a setting or G-code, to prevent Ultimaker Cura from setting the nozzle and build plate temperatures to 0? I have looked and have not found anything in the printer beginning/ending G-code, print settings, etc...
Would this have something to do with it?

In CuraEngine's FffGcodeWriter::finalize method, G-code to zero the bed and enclosure temperature is only written if the machine profile defines a heated bed/enclosure, so you could in theory avoid the cooldown by telling Cura your machine doesn't and putting the heatup commands in your custom start gcode instead of letting Cura emit them itself. However it unconditionally zeros all of the hotend temperatures, and does this after emitting your custom end G-code, so you can't even turn the hotend back on from there. The only way to undo Cura's insistence on turning it off is with some sort of postprocessing.


How to 3D print an ID card Say I wanted to print a plastic credit card like shape (like these), but with a QR code engraved. How could I do that for cheap? You can buy an "ID card printer" for $1,000-1,500 on Amazon, but that's way too much for printing one or two cards. Maybe down the road this would be a good option, but I kind of like the option of 3D printing the card from scratch, so the QR code bleeds halfway or all the way through the card, rather than just being printed on the surface. Is this possible for cheap? Maybe like this but not as fancy. Mainly (I'm new to all this) I am wondering what machine would accomplish this for low price yet good quality, and what other equipment I would need.

Basically, what printer is best for this type of task?

FDM printer?
If you want to print one, maybe you should outsource it (let it print the tag on both sides), even the most affordable printers are in the \$100 - \$150 price range. If you want a printer and use it also to create ID tags, you could go for an FDM printer. Considering your request of having the tag inside (and through) the ID-card you need a dual filament option (one or two nozzle arrangement). If the tag can sit on top you can print it with a filament change with a single filament single nozzle printer. But, don't expect to get crystal clear prints (see experience printing signs below)!

Alternatives
As an alternative, you could print a blank PLA ID-card and laser mark the tag onto both sides, see e.g. this video.

If it is a small batch you can also consider printing/lasering stickers and stick these onto blank ID cards.

From experience
I've done some signs with black letters on a white background for "on-lay", inlay and through arrangements using a more expensive (for home use) dual extruder 3D printer (Ultimaker 3 Extended about \$5000,-) with PETG, but the results were not very satisfying. Usually the black smears out on or in the white no matter tweaking the options. Considering the size of an ID-card, the amount of tag squares, this is even more likely to happen when you print at that small size (the signs I printed were sized similar to the "A5" paper standard).

From my experience I would say that a 3D printer may not be the best solution for your task.


How to print LiDAR file format LAS I want to print a model that I acquired in the LiDAR file format LAS.

I don't have a printer but I'm planning to send a model to one of those shops who print for you.

What do I need to do beforehand to make it print OK?

Because my research shows that LAS files are point cloud data, you would first have to convert the point cloud to a mesh. Point clouds are just that, data references to points in 3d space. A printing service works with files that represent planar surfaces, properly joined (watertight, aka manifold) to form a solid or solid surface model.

The only resource I was able to find involves using Meshlab. There are two reasonably practical references for this process.

The first is somewhat generic and provides the conceptual information:
Point Clouds to Mesh

The second appears to be a more step-by-step method:

Point Clouds to Mesh (2)

I would expect that if you are successful in creating a mesh from your data, you would then want to use a program suitable to determine (and repair) any non-manifold portions of the model. There are many available, including Meshmixer, although the others have escaped my alleged mind at this moment.


Slow down first layer above infill in Ultimaker Cura In Ultimaker Cura, is there a setting to slow down just the first layer (or two layers) covering over the infill?

I'm not talking about the top layers, since you may have infill covered over during a lower section of the print. And I'm not talking about bridging, since this isn't a true bridge, and quick testing shows the bridge settings don't seem to control this. I'm also not talking about the whole layer, since you may have just a section of a layer involved with covering the infill.

What I want, is, whenever a print transitions from infill back to shell, that first section of shell above the infill (and maybe also the next layer going the opposite direction) should be slower.

What I've observed is this layer prints at the same speed as other shell sections, which can be too fast at this point for complete coverage, leaving a stringy section. This won't be visible later, but it does matter for strength and potentially quality; if expected filament isn't deposited it has to end up somewhere. Slowing down should help get a cleaner layer.

Can Ultimaker Cura do this? I don't care which version. For completeness, what about other slicers? Even if I normally use Cura, I might be tempted to use a different slicer that can do this if I have a part where it really matters.

Cura can do this. It's a bit convoluted though. Here's what you need to do:

Load your model / scene in the build plate.
Load an additional cube and make it as big as the entire build plate so that it overlaps with everything (in the preferences you may need to disable "Ensure that models are kept apart).
Select the cube and go to the per-object settings tool.
Change the cube's mesh type to "modify settings for infill".
For the cube, set Wall Line Count to 0, Top/Bottom Thickness to 0 and Top Layers to 1. This effectively makes the cube add one additional layer on the top side of all infill volumes.
For the cube, set the Top/Bottom Speed to your desired speed for the one slower layer.
(Optional) In the normal settings panel on the right, set the number of top layers to be one less, so that you get the same number of top layers again.


Unidentified problem in printing I have printed the XY resonance, Z resonance, bridging performance and the negative space tolerance test, from Makezine (can be found here), and I have encountered the following errors in the prints.

Z resonance test:

The layers are shifting as the height is increasing.

 Click Here for larger image

XY resonance test:

There is continuous extrusion problem that is occurring on the same side, I have printed it a few times and every time I'm getting the same problem at the same side.

 Click Here
 Click Here

Bridging performance test:

Has severe infill drop, the test recommended printing without supports.

 Click Here
 Click Here

Negative space tolerances:

Except for the 0.6 pin, I was unable to remove any of other pins.

I'm using a Lulzbot KITTAZ printer with V2c hexagon tool head (0.35 mm). These are the settings that I used while printing these objects:

Layer thickness: 0.1 mm
infill: 20%
Printing temperature: 230°C
Printbed: 85°C
Bottom and top layer thickness: 0.1 mm

Please provide suggestions on improving the printer performance.

Okay so one problem at a time.. You have several issues.

1 You will likely note while it prints, the pillar will almost catch and sometimes twang as the layers get higher and higher. Issue here is you are over extruding a bit and the head is dragging on the print. Add some leverage and then you get this strange pattern. Letting it cool more between layers or by adding a fan will also help. A small pillar like this will not have much time to cool.

Or it could be that your Z is not straight. Whats the name of this test? Right the Z resonance test. Check out your smooth rods and screws and see if they are perfect or not.

2 Hmm maybe some oozing / over extrusion. I mean it will never be perfect.

3 Looks good to me. You are printing PLA not ABS?. Looking at your temps and I hope you are doing ABS.. Which probably should bridge a bit better. That said even my highly calibrated machines would have a hard time with a bridge like that. I've been at this for years. Fan will help. Different material will help. I mean you are printing over air. That said 1-2 degrees will make a difference. Try slowing it down. Try lowering temp. Add that fan. Remember every spool will need a new perfect temp. Even a different color will need calibration as the pigments change the temperature profile.

Last over all, simplify 3d seems to really help. I rarely spend time calibrating these days. Albeit they cost a lot. no affiliation.

I also like this visual guide
http://reprap.org/wiki/Print_Troubleshooting_Pictorial_Guide

EDIT. I see you have added more photos!
For the Z axis, I stick with my first assessment. Over-extrusion. Or it could just be getting too hot the higher you go. Maybe add a min time between layers option if your slicer supports it. Fan is good too.

XY resonance.. Tricky tricky. My research shows this can be solved by using a different slicer program. You will have to research how to solve this with your preferred program. Maybe try to tighten belts, and tweek your oozebane settings. I would also play with acceleration and Jerk at the Firmware level..

Last one, Bridging. You have bigger issues than bridging. All that shows is you don't have temp dialed in 100% yet. 230 might be high.. 85 for PLA would be high as well.


Switch nozzle contact probe auto leveling with Marlin 2.0 I have a Robo R1+ which uses the nozzle contacting the glass print bed to level the printer. When the print head strikes the bed the Z-min endstops open signaling that the bed is touched.

I recently upgraded from an Arduino to an SKR 1.3 running Marlin 2.0 and have been trying to make the printer auto level. However all the examples I can find involve a probe. I'm not even sure what this kind of autoleveling is called.

Is there a way to configure Marlin 2.0 to perform this kind of autoleveling. And if so what lines should I comment and un-comment?

Basically, you are also using a probe, the nozzle is the probe. So this is very similar to an auto levelling setup using a capacitive or inductive sensor, the difference is that your M851 nozzle to probe distance is zero, and may receive a positive value to slightly raise it to get a sheet of paper in between the nozzle and printing surface.
Please note that below only changes for levelling are addressed, not other specifics in Marlin 2.x for the Robo R1+!
First you define the nozzle offset in Configuration.h, which is exactly at the nozzle, so X and Y (and Z) are zero.
#define NOZZLE_TO_PROBE_OFFSET { 0, 0, 0 }

You can also set:
define NOZZLE_AS_PROBE

Furthermore, you need to define a levelling method in the same configuration file:

//#define AUTO_BED_LEVELING_3POINT
//#define AUTO_BED_LEVELING_LINEAR
#define AUTO_BED_LEVELING_BILINEAR
//#define AUTO_BED_LEVELING_UBL
//#define MESH_BED_LEVELING

For safety, we usually home Z at the center of the printing surface:
#define Z_SAFE_HOMING

Also be sure the following statement is active:
#define Z_MIN_PROBE_USES_Z_MIN_ENDSTOP_PIN

Next, you need to define the boundaries of the "probe", which is exactly where the nozzle may come (apart from a small safety offset at all edges called MIN_PROBE_EDGE); how you do that is described in question "How to set Z-probe boundary limits in firmware when using automatic bed leveling?", in Marlin 2.x this needs to be set in Configuration_adv.h:

#if PROBE_SELECTED && !IS_KINEMATIC
  #define MIN_PROBE_EDGE_LEFT MIN_PROBE_EDGE
  #define MIN_PROBE_EDGE_RIGHT MIN_PROBE_EDGE
  #define MIN_PROBE_EDGE_FRONT MIN_PROBE_EDGE
  #define MIN_PROBE_EDGE_BACK MIN_PROBE_EDGE
#endif


Resin prints pulling away from build platform My prints start out good, but seem to warp or pull away from the build platform at a later time. Should I divide up my support bases so they're not one big base? Should I sand/roughen the build platform for better adhesion?

Printer: Elegoo Mars
Resin: Standard Grey (Elegoo)
Exposure base layers: 70 sec
Exposure elsewhere: 11 sec
Layer height: 0.05

It's difficult to tell from the image, but one aspect of resin printing that you want to consider when placing a model is the cross-sectional area for each layer. You'll see prints that could be printed flat on an FFF printer being placed at an angle on a resin printer.

This orientation presents a smaller cross-section and thereby a smaller amount of force applied when the bed lifts and peels the model from the bottom of the vat.

If you have the ability within your slicer to scrub through the layers, observe the general area created by the slicer for each layer.

If you tilt the model even a few degrees from level, you'll reduce the forces involved.

It appears that you've used a "priming" layer on your bed, the initial layers of resin ostensibly provided to reduce the problem you're experiencing. That's a good start, but the rest of the model is generating enough peeling force to ruin the print.


Lack of smoothness / homogeneity in several first layers of print I have a LultzBot TAZ 6 3D printer and the software I use for my prints is "Cura LulzBot Edition - 3.6.3". All of my printing settings/parameters are at their defaults (i.e. no personal customization is employed).

Below, two pictures are included that highlight an issue I have observed in many of my prints; these prints are carried out using the "default settings" provided by Cura for PLA. The two pictures are different orientations of the same printed out object; the volume of interest is outlined in red. Additionally, this volume represents the first several layers that are laid down by the extruder.

I am not familiar enough with 3D printing jargon to know if this has a particular name, but as you can see, there is clearly a lack of homogeneity in the laying down of several consecutive layers. Depending on the object being printed, this is not necessarily an issue. However, some of my objects have features that occur near the first several layers and are therefore affected by this issue.

Additionally, some of the these objects are inserted into other pieces, which are designed to be very tight-fitting. If you look carefully, you will see that this lack of homogeneity in the layer deposition leads to bulging of the PLA, which can increase the thickness of the part by ~0.5 - 1.00 mm for several layers. This increased thickness prevents these insertion pieces from fitting into their appropriate locations.

Any suggestions for fixing this issue? Is it an issue of over-extrusion for the first layer that then propagates for a few additional layers? Remember, all settings are at their software defaults for PLA.

There are several solution you should check in this order :

1"

The part is printed too close to bed: measure the first layer with a digital caliper to mach your first layer thikness, usualy 0.35 mm like so:

2"

Verify that there is no bevel on the first layer if the part looks like this : U make it look like this  ■ and see if it changes something.

3"

Maybe it is a cooling / temperature problem. the bed should be at max 70 °C for PLA and check the cooling of the noozle.

4"

Check for an over extrusion problem! When you ask for 100 mm of filament, does it push 500 mm through? If so change this soon.


Delta Printer: After Calibration X and Y Axis are slightly different I noticed that my x axis is slightly longer than my y axis (~0.6%) if I print an object. What parameter in Marlin can be tuned to correct such issues? The rod length parameter seems to rather influence the overall scaling of the object. The other parameters such as Txyz and Exyz influence the flatness according to the bed. I noticed, on the firmware of the Duet there is a gcode command for this particular issue, which I haven't found in Marlin yet.

I think that you probably need to adjust the following two parameters in the Marlin firmware, in configuration.h:

MANUAL_HOME_Z_POS, and;
DELTA_SMOOTH_ROD_OFFSET

See my answer to Delta printer nozzle not moving square with a perfectly level bed (as if the bed is bent... but it isn't).


XYZ DaVinci Mini W "jamming" after exactly 5 layers I have a DaVinci Mini W that throws a jam error after exactly 5 layers, even if the extruder isn't actually jammed. Is this real jamming, or unethical business practice?

Mini W has both a sensor that checks if there is filament, and a second sensor wheel that checks that the filament is actually moving (so it can deduct available filament length on the NFC tag).
If the moving sensor is not detecting anything for some time, the printing will stop and the LED will go red. I do not know if that will show up as a "jam error" in XYZware or if this is what you experience, but it is my best guess.
I guess the same would happen if you remove the NFC-tag mid-print.


PID autotune fails 'Temp too high' with 12 V heater cartridge but works with 24 V? So, I have created my own heater block for my 3D printer and mistakenly was using a 12 V, 40 W heater cartridge thinking that was the standard for my Ender 3, when in fact it is supplied with a 24 V, 40 W.

You may have seen my earlier post about when using autotune the temperature would overshoot by a large margin and returned the following error.

PID Autotune failed! Temperature too high

Graph of Overshoot:

I was unable to remove this overshoot even through manual tuning.

Now I have switched from the 12 V cartridge to the 24 V this problem is resolved, and I can now run the autotune. It follows a much more gradual curve when heating up so doesn't trigger the same error.

However, I am unsure why this is the case? Can anyone explain why the 12 V heater cartridge results in too high of a temperature increase?

It seems counterintuitive to me as I would have thought the higher voltage cartridge would heat up faster as opposed to vice versa?

It is all about resistance.

This requires some formulae:

$U = Voltage$
$I = Current$
$R = Resistance$
$P = Power$

$U = I \times R$

$P = U \times R$

$ R = \dfrac{P}{I^2} = \dfrac{U^2}{P} $

The 12 V, 40 W cartridge has a resistance of about 3.6 Ω.

If you use this cartridge at 24 V, this caculates to a power of 160 W!

This means that there is an enormous influx of heat that is hard to control, hence the overshoot.