gr5

Just to clarify, gcode.ws is here: http://gcode.ws/

Did you use a plugin? Sometimes if you use a plugin this can happen. I recommend you get a second opinion with either gcode.ws (just drag and drop the gcode to the website) or repetier host (free download). Both are excellent but I like repetier host better for most things.

Lars when you tried my suggestion #2 you skipped a step which VISU-AL mentions again. It works incredibly well - it's a very special case scenario and works for this cookie-cutter like part. You don't really need spiralize or mesh.

You have 2 options: 1) The worse option is to lie and tell the printer you have slightly under .2mm nozzle (say .19mm or .195mm). This should work because CURA needs to make two passes - one for the outer wall edge and one for the inner. That's just how it works - sorry. It's open source if you want to edit it but it would be massive work. 2) There is a special case for cookie cutters and cups and vases and stretchlets. You can model this part as a solid part in Cad (give it top and bottom) then in CURA you can have it print the shell only and only one pass (set shell to .4 and nozzle to .4). Do this several ways - either with "spiralize" or with "outer mesh only" right next to spiralize feature. Also disable top and bottom. Actually I think you can also do #2 by simply removing top and bottom and turning off infill (0%).

diamond Age is amazing stuff. It's my favorite pla. But I no longer know where to get it in usa - no one carries it anymore so you need to ship from the opposite side of the world. Second best is faberdashery but same issue with usa. So I recommend colorfabb through printedsolid.com.

What are these values set to? #define BED_MINTEMP 5 #define BED_MAXTEMP 150 Also how *long* does it take for the error to occur? Immediately? Or after 10 (or more) seconds? I recommend you go here http://marlinbuilder.robotfuzz.com and experiment with your current setup and only download Configuartion.h and use a program like winmerge to compare the Configuration.h files that you edited versus robotfuzz created. Yes but are both in the range above?

I think you got me on this one. The gap that you point to is probably a little smaller than .4mm and the yellow diagonal infill is supposed to be .4mm traces so maybe that is part of the reason (if you make the wall 2.1mm instead of the current approx 2mm it might fill it in - you could just scale the part up as a quick test by 1.1X). Another experiment - try .4mm walls just to see what happens in this area. But the other area nearby is skinnier and *much smaller* and it seems to have yellow infill (it's so incredibly tiny that I'm not certain it's filled in but I think it is).

Glass, wood, and blue tape are very inexpensive materials. Think of the glass as expendable. For now I recommend you flip the glass. In countries like Spain where glass windows are common, every town has a glass shop where they will custom cut glass for you for very little money. Cheaper even than wood cut to the same shape. I use a putty knife to remove the part and I have sharpened the dull blade with a file to make it sharp like a razor at the corner. Also I also recommend waiting for parts to cool before removing.

Keep the fan cabling far from the section of wiring that runs from the tiny board on the head down to the nozzle. "far" means like an inch. The EMI (electromagnetic interference) from those wires can mess up the temp reading. Usually this is only a problem in PWM mode but when the fan is at 0% or 100% it shouldn't cause much EMI. Alternatively the current going to the (either + side or ground side) fan could cause a voltage drop somewhere on the PCB or in the wiring to the fan. Do you have schematics for the PCB? They are freely available but you have to know where to look.

Filament Settings

yes. One of the Marlin source files is called pin.h. This file is extremely straight forward and clear and easy to edit. Compiling Marlin is a bit more complicated - here are my instructions: Basically you download and install arduino ide: http://arduino.cc/en/main/software Then copy the sanguino software as explained in README file. Open Marlin.ino file in Arduino IDE by double clicking it (not pde file as stated in README - I think that's old). Select board as "Mega 2560" as explained in README file. Go to "file" "preferences" and select "verbose output" so you can find your hex file. Then build it by clicking the check box in the upper left corner. At the bottom you will see it compiling Marlin. At the end of this it says where the hex file is. If you are currently connected to your UM through USB you can just click "file" "upload" and you are done! But you should locate that hex file and save it somewhere along with the Configuration.h file used to create it so you can recreate the same version with maybe one change. Also you can upload the hex file using Cura in expert menu. Alternatively you can build Marlin with somewhat more detailed step by step instructions the command line way (which I don't prefer): http://www.extrudable.me/2013/05/03/building-marlin-from-scratch/

I never heard of this error. The only way it can know something is wrong with an axis I suppose is if the limit switch is triggered. Was it printing on the edge of the print area when you got the error? If not I would look at the wiring carefully of the X and Y limit switches. There are two covers over the servo motors in the rear left and rear right corners. They come off by removing only 2 screws each. Sometimes the limit switch wires are pinched and shorted out under those covers. Sometimes the wires are loose and tangle in with the moving parts at the top. Do an inspection.

Strongly not recommended to use 1.75mm filament. You want the path to be 1.75mm all the way from the feeder to the tip of the nozzle. If you use a regular 3mm nozzle then it's hard to get up the pressure in there as the melted filament would rather go *up* than down through that tiny .4mm hole.

The wires that are most likely to break (90% of the time) are just above the head. There is a 3 wire connector there that connects to the board and it is supposed to go through an F shaped strain relief. Also the connector is supposed to be crimped but some people at UM got the idea to solder it instead which is a problem - the solder wicks into the wire under the insulation and causes the wire to be more stiff and more brittle. So after a year or so the wires often break - inside the insulation where you can't see it. Fortunately there is a spare wire bundle for the second nozzle which I assume you don't have. So you can swap to that wire (on both ends - you have to swap underneath the UM also).

Your grounding issue theory is sounding promising. How about using a volt meter to test the ground?

Tension doesn't do much to skipping - it can increase or decrease grinding though. But that's probably not your problem. Let's get back to "skipping". If the skipping is happening on the bottom layer you are probably just leveled a bit too close (nozzle too close to glass). But that doesn't affect other layers. If you are skipping on other layers you may be either printing too cold, too fast, or your printer is defective. Here are suggested max printing speeds for .2mm layers (note for .1mm layers you can print twice as fast and so on linearly): 20mm/sec at 200C 30mm/sec at 210C 40mm/sec at 225C 50mm/sec at 240C Printing at 260C is dangerous for 2 reasons. You can turn your PLA into a caramelized gunk that clogs nozzle (best to get it out with the atomic method) and also the white teflon isolator's life wears out faster at temperatures over 240C. So for PLA I would stick to 240C as the max temp and never leave it at 240C without it printing as after a few minutes the PLA turns to brown nozzle-cloggin gunk.

Shell thicknes should ALWAYS be a multiple of nozzle - at least until you know exactly how cura works. So setting the wall thickness to 1.5 is basically the problem. There is a complicated set of instructions but in this exact case you end up with 0.5mm traces - which means 3 outer shell passes (except only 2 in your thin section). And they are spaced .5mm apart and the printer overextrudes (or tries to) by 25% to get .5mm of plastic through a .4mm nozzle (not easy to do unless you print slow and hot!). Now if you did this nice and hot and slow it would come out fine but if you are printing at 50mm/sec, .15mm layers and anything cooler than 240C then you will likely get underextrusion - it's just hard to force that massive amount of plastic through that tiny nozzle. So what is happening is you are underextruding and getting about .4mm wide traces (spaced .5mm apart) which means your shells aren't touching. If you simply change the "shell width" to 1.2 (or 1.6) things should be much better off. Also another tip - make sure you look at the part in layer view (and wait for it to completely load - there is progress at bottom sometimes hidden behind other stuff) so you can see what's going to happen at your thin walls.

Woah - I think you just blew my mind! :eek: Let me summarize as you tried to be very exacting but want to be sure. There are 4 photos in your post: photo 1) .4mm nozzle (real) .4mm nozzle (cura) 1.2mm wall (green) photo 2) .8mm nozzle (real) .8mm nozzle (cura) 1.2mm wall (green) (Is this 2 0.6 passes? Or one 1.2mm pass? I'd have to check the code in cura) photo 3) .8mm nozzle (real) .8mm nozzle (cura) 1.6mm wall (gray) UGLY photo 4) .8mm nozzle (real) .8mm nozzle (cura) 1.2mm wall (same settings as photo2 but with gray filament) Is that all correct? Could you double check? If that's all true then the lesson perhaps is: if you print with really thick layers (.3) and fat traces (.8) it takes longer to cool and overhangs look crappy and this is more important than getting the wall width a multiple of nozzle width.

Oh wait - I'm wrong - you can still buy individual nozzles on the website. That's nice. I removed my incorrect comments from above.

Okay - Swordriff and I just worked everything out. So it's best to order through the website. There's no rush as Swordriff won't have the heater blocks until at least Friday. The good news is Canada people will get below cost on shipping. The more patient you are and the longer you wait the more all the bugs will be worked out but there is really no big reason to wait. We aren't talking about huge commitments of massive cash here and the product works - I've tried it and so have many others. So - go ahead and order through the website. If you do it now it may take quite a few weeks to get your stuff. If you do it in 2 weeks you will get your stuff very fast. I will warn people here (on this forum) if we are about to sell out again. That seems unlikely.

I think he's using repetier host for viewing gcode. Not certain. It's free - try it. Pretty easy to use and you can look at 3d image in left pane and actual gcode in right pane and highlight just one command in gcode and see it in the left pane.

That's a good question. Anyone who PM'ed me doesn't have to do anything at this time. Swordriff didn't really consult me on the ordering USA stuff (which is fine) so I'm not sure how it's all going to work. Hopefully paypal won't be taking out their percentage *twice* (once when ordering through swordriff and once when he pays me). I have about 5 "strong" orders for UM2 and 2 "weak" orders (sometimes it's hard to tell if someone is serious about their inquiry). I told swordriff I want at least 20 blocks. If the nozzles are ready I'll take 25 sets, if not I'll have some blocks shipped with the nozzle shipment. Anyway the point is I promise to reserve a heater block for each "strong" order I already receied for at least 5 days and the "weak" orders for at least 3 days after I send out the email that I'm ready to start shipping (which will be the moment they arrive here in Boston). I better talk to Swordriff soon... but so busy today...

Yikes! No - that's bad. 110C is for ABS. Bronzefill is PLA. Try 50C.

I don't see any images in the gallery. 210C and 100mm/sec and .2 layers and .4 nozzle is - well too fast. At that cold temperature the PLA is like toothpaste and at those speeds you need probably 20 pounds of force to get all that PLA out the tiny hole although it can only put out about 10 pounds force. Here are suggested max speeds for .2mm layers (for .1mm layers you can print twice as fast): 20mm/sec at 200C 30mm/sec at 210C 40mm/sec at 225C 50mm/sec at 240C If you want a decent looking robot go for 240C and say 60mm/sec. If you want a gorgeous robot go for 210C and 30mm/sec.

Not sure - you'd have to post a picture. Probably some overextrusion as it is slowing down just before the letters. It has to decelerate a bit as it approaches those letters.