illuminarti
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Posts posted by illuminarti
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Personally, i think this thread should stay up here as a lesson for us all :-) Glad you got it sorted out - definitely a bit of a head-scratcher :-)
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I was just responding to the issue that the 'Set Origin' option is now gone. All that did was to execute a G92 X0 Y0 Z0 command. So putting that in a dedicated gcode file that he can run whenever he wants does EXACTLY the same thing. The command only ever lived in the Prepare menu, as far as I can see, so it went away during printing (to be replaced with the 'Tune' menu). Therefore, this was something that Corngolem wanted to be able to do outside of a print, when running a file from the SD card would be an accessible option.
I agree that it's kinda redundant, and that you'd also need to edit the start gcode to remove any extra homing commands etc. But since I'm not sure I understand the workflow that we're trying to recreate here... I was merely offering it as an alternative for the missing command that was being complained about.
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Corngolem - I can't help but think that your workflow is probably more complicated than it needs to be. But if you just can't live without the ability to set the origin point manually, just use a text editor to create a one line gcode file, and store it on your SD card.
The line needs to be:
G92 X0 Y0 Z0
If you're only interested in setting Z, then leave the x and y parts out of the line.
Then, when you have the head where you want it, just run that file from the SD card.
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Most of us don't have a distinction between home and a prepared bed.
You can do this by messing with the gcodes in the start/end gcode tab. Learn about the gcodes first here:
Or if you only want to do this to one print ever then edit the gcode after you "prepare" (slice) your stl.
But why do you want to do this? I always run the z home command, then move the print head around with my hand and use a piece of paper to check the height at all 4 corners and make sure there is *very* little space. The paper should be just barely slightly tight.
Then when you hit print, it levels and goes to your layer 0 height (typically .3mm in Cura) and starts printing at that height above your bed.
Bear in mind also that any setting of z=0 via gcodes or the ulticontroller will only last until the printer is power-cycled. The activation of the limit switches are how the printer identifies the origin of it's coordinate system. Once you power-cyle the printer, it has no idea where it is in space until you have performed a homing operation and triggered the switches.
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One thing I've seen with some other folks thin-walled prints is that the older Cura would do travel moves back over the top of the thin wall, but moving slightly to one side of it. For instance, on a cube, it might make a long diagonal move from just inside the perimeter at the front left, to just outside the perimeter at the front right, before making a quick cut back in to start printing again. This tends to reheat and damage the already printed part sometimes, and ooze can also get stuck back on the printed part if retractions isn't used before that move, or isn't perfect.
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Yes, I can sometimes get a little bit of push back from turning the extruder wheel by hand - it's the build up of pressure in the nozzle. It doesn't take much filament movement - only a couple of millimeters per second (roughly 1/12 of the extruder gear rotation per second) to exceed what the nozzle can handle. Then when you let go, the pressure pushes the filament back a bit. The fact that the gear actually turns backwards suggests that you do have a pretty good grip on the filament, otherwise, the filament would just slip back past the bolt without turning the gear.
I would think that you would be able to stop the filament moving if you grab it hard, if only because the teeth will start to tear through the plastic as they do during a head blockage.
In my V2 extruder set up, the spring length is about 10.5mm iirc. I've tried it about 1.5mm either way, and found it doesn't make a whole lot of difference. In my extrusion throughput tests, tighter reduced the degree of under-extrusion slightly, but not massively so.
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For me the answer can best be illustrated by reference to my past. I had already been lucky enough to be on the front end of two huge technological advances in the past 30-odd years: as a pre-teen I bought one of the first 'home computers' in the UK, taught myself to program, had a game I wrote get picked up by one of the new-fangled 'software companies' and so was hailed (briefly, thank goodness) as 'the UK's youngest professional programmer' at the age of thirteen (in my defense, that's probably more of an achievement in the early 80's than it sounds today).
From there, via a detour to university and stint running my own copywriting and design business, it was a relatively easy step to get involved in the fledgling world of the commercial Internet in the mid-1990's: I designed and wrote some of the first fully-fledged web applications - including commodity trading systems, job vacancy databases, and fantasy sports games - long before any of them were the mainstream concepts they are today. Even now, development, web applications, and Internet security are what my day job is all about.
In both of those cases, though, I remember the excitement of moving into a new field, and recognizing that while there was a huge amount I didn't understand, and I even more that I didn't realize I didn't know – there was no doubt that there was just so much potential for the technology.
And that's exactly what it felt like when I became aware of 3D printing. This was something that was going to be a game changer in so many ways, and I made a conscious decision that I wanted to be a part of that third paradigm shift. At the time - early 2012 - the Ultimaker seemed like the obvious choice to get started - relatively fast, robust, and well-designed. Not cheap, but seemingly offering good value for money. And I've been delighted with it every day since.
At the moment, I'm still learning as much as I can about the printer and the technology, with a view to transitioning my day job into the field as soon as I can. I'm hoping to open a 3D printing space and showroom this summer. Not only do I get a huge kick out of seeing virtual objects take on solid form, but it's also such a thrill to see other people experience it for the first time. My then ten-year-old daughter helped me build my printer, and now knows her way around the entire modeler-slicer-printer toolchain, and regularly goes off and makes her own stuff. The sense of amazement and excitement from everyone else who sees the printer is equally palpable. I can't think of anything more rewarding to do as a job than help bring that technology to more and more people. Its the fusion of geeky tech and practical real world application - for the first time there's an accessible technology that can bridge the rather abstract world of computers and the physical world, and do it in useful ways.
(And as a true geek, I probably came the closest to nirvana so far when I saw all of these key technologies I've worked in fuse together in that moment when ordered my Ultimaker online, while flying at 30,000 feet, over the US East Coast, thanks to the joys of in-flight wifi. It really doesn't get geekier than that :-) )
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Hi Joergen - Sorry, totally overlooked this thread for a few days. Yes, I'm in. Sounds like a good plan.
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Thanks, Owen.
No, the '13.03' version of Marlin, which is what currently ships with Cura (inc Cura 13.04) predates all of my fixes to Marlin, so it doesn't have the retraction fix, nor the proper PID value editing, and handling of acceleration rates in Ulticontroller.
Those fixes are in both the Ultimaker and the ErikZalm Ultimaker_v1 current versions of the firmware, so you can get them (if you want them) by building your own Marlin from either of those.
One question though does the version of Marlin with Cura have the fix you submitted for retraction?
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Since there has been a lot of folks lately wanting to build their own Marlin hex files, given the demise of Daid's builder, I went and wrote up some details on how to do it.
I set up brand new Mac OS Mountain Lion and Windows 7 virtual machines to test the steps on, so with a bit of luck the basics should work right, but I welcome feedback or improvements.
http://www.extrudable.me/2013/05/03/building-marlin-from-scratch/
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You might need different temperature for a different plastic - but also you should check the filament diameter; if this filament is thinner than what you were using before, then you will get under-extrusion unless you change the filament diameter setting in your slicer.
I just got my printer working, and was using the silver PLA ultimaker supplied with the kit. it works flawlessly, but when I switched to a semi transparent pink color, none of my prints stay together. I tried to print the robot out using that pink PLA, and it was acting as if the material was not sticking to itself. when the print was done, the head and body of the robot just fell off.
I didn't change any settings when I switched from silver to that pink color. should I of changed something?
also, where do you guys buy your PLA/ABS from in the US? I was going to buy straight from ultimaker, but the shipping is just to high.
thanks.
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There is only one firmware... it lives in the printer, and drives both the printer and the Ulticontroller. If you upgrade the firmware using Cura 13.03 or 13.04 - you'll get the same firmware from either - that will fix the Ulticontroller display problem.
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Hi Ian! Welcome to the forum, and to 3D printing! I don't live in Taiwan, but about 18 months ago, I was there for about 3 months - living in Douliou, but with a few trips up to Taipei.
I hope you enjoy your new printer. Don't hesitate to post here if you have questions!
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Bill - it's a pain, but if you click on your name in the menu bar at the top, you can go to your gallery. You can upload the picture(s) there, and then then come back here to post them from the 'my media' tool in the editor. Pain, but it works, and I fo one would be interested to see your results.
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I'd be happy to test.
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Welcome to the Forum, and to the world of Ultimaker! That's a really nice first print. Well done!
The infill not totally touching the perimeters is probably due to what is known as 'backlash'. The most likely cause is that your short belts from one or both X-Y motors isn't quite tight enough. Loosen the screws, and press the motor down firmly, and then retighten the screws.
The criss-cross pattern on the solid layers is due to under-extrusion. This is could be some or all of for several reasons:
1) You specified a filament diameter that was a little bit wider than your actual filament in your slicer program, so that it thought it was getting more plastic than it really was;
2) Your steps-per-e calibration might be a little bit off (search on here for details of how to set that correctly)
3) The extruder might be under-extruding a little on long fast stretches like the infill, because the print speed is a little high, compared to what the extruder can sustain (I explain that here: http://www.extrudable.me/2013/04/18/exploring-extrusion-variability-and-limits/ but that might be more detail than you want right now).
4) Depending on the wall thickness you used in Cura (if you used Cura) you might get wrongly spaced infill lines.
5) You might just be printing a little too fast; what layer height and nozzle/wall width did you use?
To reduce the drooping on the edges, you need to slow down the print a little, and make sure that the lower layer has had time to solidify. Setting a longer minimum layer time in your slicer may help a little. Also, setting a slower print speed for the perimeter (as you can do in some slicers, but not Cura) may also help.
Basically, the art of 3D printing is figuring out how best to balance the needs of the different parts of a print to get an acceptable level of quality, without slowing down the print excessively. We can always do better, in terms of quality, but it may be more than we need, and it may be at the cost of excessively slow print times. The key is to remember that there isn't one 'perfect' setting, and that every object is different.
All-in-all though, this looks like a really nice print. I wouldn't worry too much about what look to be fairly minor issues with the finished product!
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Definitely check that the bed is level and at the right height. Before you start printing, and after the homing move is completed, the nozzle should be just touching the surface of the tape - although in general it looks like adhesion is pretty good - I'm just really not sure what is causing the wavy lines across your print; is the surface of the bed smooth and flat - or are there gouges under the tape or something?
You don't need to worry particularly about grease from your fingers, it's not that sensitive. Just put the blue tape down onto the bed (no need to wipe the bed down with alcohol, unless it's just really dirty). Then wipe the tape over quickly with a piece of tissue or a makeup removal cotton pad, soaked in a little isopropyl alcohol. If you do that, then the plastic should still really well.
I presume you are printing with PLA? What temperature are you using?
I've got my Ultimaker set up, but I'm really struggling with the first layer. Here is a picture of the first layer (0), followed by the second.
From what I have found, it sounds like an adhesion problem. The first thing I tried was applying isopropyl alcohol to the acrylic before taping, then applying a very small amount of the alcohol to the top of the tape. Putting the alcohol on the tape proved to be a total cluster, so I repeated the steps again wearing gloves so the oil from my hands didn't interfere. I still got the first layer. Every layer after that has been more than adequate.
Any ideas of what to do to improve the first layer? Thanks.
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Warren -
Welcome! Glad you are loving the printer!
This does indeed sound like a temp sensor problem - most likely a loose connection. Check the connections from the thermocouple to the board on the printhead (thin wires screwed into the terminal block), and also check that the cables are all properly seated into the connectors on the printhead, and onto the electronics board under the printer.
If you are getting wildly swinging temperature readings, it sounds like a problem with the thermocouple or the associated circuitry. The firmware will throw errors if it gets readings that are out of range, and shut down the heaters - which makes sense to prevent damage from the heater running constantly without proper feedback controls.
It's unlikely to be related to the PLA, and even the firmware isn't likely to be the primary cause - although newer firmware may be doing a better job of detecting the problem. (Unless you built your own firmware and have the temperature settings wrong somehow?) Which firmware did you use to update your printer?
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I vaguely remember some testing where software end stops would kick in and not allow the print head to move past certain maximum coordinates, as well.
So I think what happens is that if the head hits an end stop (and/or just tries to move past the maximum coordinate allowed) then the internal counter increments, but the head doesn't move. So then when you try to move back to the next part of the print, you overshoot because you are traveling as if from where you wanted to be, but actually starting nearer than that.
I'd need to look at the firmware code to double-check. I suspect there is room for improvement, yes.
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Most likely it's just skipped steps due to additional friction on one of the fast moves, causing the head to lose track of its position at some point.. All further parts of the print then happen slightly offset.
Might well be due to the large size of the print causing the head to stray into the corners that it doesn't often visit - there might be a more friction due to less lubrication or slightly misaligned axes in the corners.
You might try moving the head by hand, with the steppers powered down, and see if you notice anything different at the edges/corners. Be sure and lubricate the axes and cross rods - especially at the corners,. You might also check if there's any chance that the end switches triggered while printing as that might throw things off too, I think.
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In order to write it up, I have been trying to set up a clean machine to compile Marlin, and kept running into the same error as the original poster about 'No rule to make target `applet/wiring.o'. I was also getting an error about 'unary operator expected'.
The problem ended up being an extraneous character at the end of the ARDUINO_INSTALL_DIR line. Once it removed that, everything compiled fine.
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It's a physical switch -at the top, behind the left-most of the three rods that hold up the bed (as seen from the front).
The triggering of that switch is what tells the printer where z=0 is. At the beginning of every print, the head is homed to the front left, and the bed raised up until all three (X, Y, Z) limit switches are triggered, If the z switch has moved or come loose, then the printer won't reliably find its starting position height when you begin a print.
I went to print again and on the first layer the head dragged it and ripped it all apart. I did everything that you said. The only part I didn't get was "and then slowly move the head to just touch the bed, and then adjust the z limit switch so it is just triggered in that position" is there a physical switch or is this on the ulticontroller? :???:
Paul
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I edited my post above to correctly indicate that you only need to hook it up to a computer if you don't have an Ulticontroller - the thought sort of died in mid sentence in the original post.
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First check whether the bed is seated correctly on the springs, and that the washers that the bed sits on aren't crooked. or caught in the keyhole slots in the bed.
Once the bed is seated properly on the springs, you can set about re-leveling it by adjusting the screws in the corners. Instructions assume you have an UltiController - if not, hook the printer up to your computer and use Cura, pronterface or other software to drive it.
Heat the head first, in case there's any plastic oozed out of the end. Then do prepare -> autohome. This will move the bed until the z-stop is just triggered. The head should be touching the bed, or very close to it, and the four bed levelling screws should be in a middle position such that there is room to both tighten and unscrew them by several turns, and the underside of the head of each screw remains in contact with the bed. If not, adjust the screws so that they are in that position, and then slowly move the head to just touch the bed, and then adjust the z limit switch so it is just triggered in that position. Then autohome again.
Then prepare -> release steppers (is that what it's called?) so you can move the head by hand. And move the head by hand to near the each of the screws in turn. In each case you should just be able to slip sheet of paper between the head and the bed.
Tighten the screw until the head doesn't catch the piece of paper at all as you move the paper back and forth. Then slowly turn the screw out, until it the paper just starts to catch on the head. Then add an extra 1/8 turn outwards, to raise the bed just a bit more. Repeat that in each corner of the bed. Then go back to the first corner, and make sure it's still ok. Keep going around until all 4 corners are just catching the paper.
Fixing Pulley Innacuracy
in Third party products & modifications
Posted
Welcome to the non-lurker side of the fence, Jeff. We're pretty friendly over here... I think you'll do fine :-)