Dim3nsioneer

I see very similar lines with my UM1, maybe a bit less pronounced. Up to now I think it is related to a imperfection of the z nut thread or the way the z nut can (not) move inside the z stage cage. But I couldn't get rid of it so far.

Let me put it this way: priority on further brave tests with stepper drivers has significantly decreased since yesterday... :shock: Thanks for the link. For now, I think I stay with the little bit more expensive UM drivers as I need them a.s.a.p. But the thought of compatible drivers crossed my mind when I read about Nick Foley's tests with Pololu DRV8825 . If I buy some other stepper drivers in addition, I still have the UM stepper drivers as a fall-back solution.

I guess I'll make it three... one spare for the next unforeseen event... :eek:

And what was the trick? Second fan? Different orientation?

Update. Bad luck. No luck. Call it whatever you like. But the x axis also begins to skip now. Seems I have two broken stepper drivers. :angry:

So what should it do in Marlin? lift, move aside?

Even a bit higher current doesn't help. And as I mentioned already, you can feel the difference by manually turning the axis with the stepper in place. If I put a different stepper into that socket, the same motor runs smoothly. So I think it must be a short cut somewhere in the stepper driver and the induced voltage from turning the motor axis is enough to produce this strange behaviour.

Uhhm... Xeno, I could somehow understand you were angry when realising something had changed in the software and it is a disadvantage for you. To write about that anger might be ok if it is done in a decent way. But please don't continue on this trip of yours. It doesn't lead anywhere good, I think. I think, in general, Cura 14.03 is a nice piece of software because, as Daid said, he really put some effort into this version. However, some of the new features might not please everyone. I could also write about things I miss in the new version, but I don't because Daid has set priorities for the new features and he certainly had his reasons to do it in exactly this way. He b.t.w. might have the best overview of what people need most in Cura. So to put this discussion on a more rational level, I asked myself, what I could do to bring back some of the missing features in the print window. That's why I already asked the question, http://umforum.ultimaker.com/index.php?/topic/4864-jog-and-homing/#entry42605. This is most probably the easiest way to bring back inputs for temperature. However, it's up to Daid to decide if he wants to go that way, because that would mean to bring another version before the big GUI change, which was exactly the thing he wanted to avoid. At least some of you know that I also made a very small contribution to this new Cura version by bringing the now in Cura included TweakAtZ plugin to a level where it e.g. can be used also by UM2 owners. Thus, I also offer to come up with an alternative dialog window which would allow for setting temperatures and fan speed. But I won't do it if get paid for it by being called names.

Arrgh...you were quicker than me. I wanted to write something similar as this is a typical Ian-suggestion... :lol: Don't worry, Ian, that's just our way to say we like your posts... Seriously, there are five meter active USB cables (it's acutally a cable and a hub in one) and USB specs say you can add them up to 25m. But they cost a small fortune, I think. So maybe it's even cheaper to buy a simple laptop.

Yes, I did. I have the blue ones. Actually I turned the x and the y axis driver simultanously (of course without power!) And nothing happened to the x axis driver although this motor was skipping as well. Maybe just luck?

This morning, after having set up the x-y-rods in a way they produce less friction, I tried to reduce the motor current of both axis. I thought reducing the current is no risk for the stepper drivers - I was so wrong! Although I immediately switched off the printer when it skipped, I seem to have managed to damage the y axis stepper driver seriously. The motor just skipped and even when the printer was switched off and disconnected from USB, turning the y axis felt very 'rough'. So the next step was, disconnecting the y motor from the UM shield and - it could be turned again smoothly. I also checked the two phases of the motor - they are still fine. After having adjusted all the drivers to reasonable level, I took the stepper driver from my second extruder and put it into the x axis. Everything works fine again (except the second extruder which has no stepper driver anymore... :sad: ). Why do I write all this? First, to prevent anyone else from doing the same mistake. Second because I would like to know if anybody could give me a hint, what exactly happened. I guess the stepper driver is history now and I have to buy a new one. However, I do not see any obvious damage on the print.

@Daid: Maybe you could add one functionality to printWindow.py: numerical input box (like the input boxes in the 'normal' plugins). This would make it possible to produce a print window with the same possibilities as the old print window. Although it is possible to realise a preheating with a colorcommand, it will result in many buttons (as everybody wants a different value). A numerical input box would need much less space on the dialog. I hope the binding of such an input is not impossible. You would make quite some people happy (or at least less angry than they seem to be now ). edit: Just for the case someone misunderstood it, I'm not angry at all... I have an Ulticontroller... :cool:

Maybe this is a good time to get yourself an Ulticontroller if you don't have any yet?

The new printing dialog window lacks indeed of some features of the old dialog window. But it is thought to be just a starting point for individual dialogs: http://umforum.ultimaker.com/index.php?/topic/4416-plugins-for-cura-printing-window/ There is already a version which includes the fan: http://umforum.ultimaker.com/index.php?/topic/4618-new-cura-printer-interface/?hl=pronterfan

Skirt works fine with my Cura 14.03 installations (2). Have you activated the skirt in the expert settings?

Just a few minutes ago: http://umforum.ultimaker.com/index.php?/topic/4864-jog-and-homing/

No, but it's somewhere on my todo list.

The outline shrinks only a bit because the whole infill gives quite some resistance to this shrinking which is not the case for holes. But you also get significant shrinkage of the outline for thin walled hollow prints.

Die Zuteilung kann gewählt werden durch folgendes Vorgehen: - Erstes Objekt mit linker Maustaste anwählen (wird so als Material 1 definiert) - Mit Mauszeiger über zweites Objekt gehen und mit der rechten Maustaste das Kontextmenu öffnen, 'Dual Extrude Merge' auswählen (wird so als Material 2 definiert) So kann auch zuerst das Objekt für Material 2 geladen werden.

Nicht ärgern... :cool: Schreib ihm doch einfach nochmals und frag ihn höflich, bis wann Du mit einer Antwort rechnen darfst. Funktioniert meiner Erfahrung nach bei den meisten Leuten und hat auch bei Sander schon einmal gut funktioniert. :wink:

After I had a http://umforum.ultimaker.com/index.php?/topic/3828-nasty-displacement-solved/, I changed to direct drive and reasonable long belt adjustment. However, There are still sometimes appearances of backlash in my prints. I realised that the printhead cannot be moved with the same force at any position. Differences in the required force are actually quite high. So I came along to disassemble all the x and y rods today and measured the pulley accuracy with callipers. Here is what I got: The numbers show the wall thickness at the widest and the narrowest spot, e.g. '60' means 4.60mm. I assume the outer diameter is quite constant (I checked some and it seems reasonable to assume this). So the difference in wall thickness shows the off-center-distance of the 8mm bore. Has anybody done something similar with his original Ultimaker pulleys? What do you think is a reasonable accuracy in therms of off-center-distance? Next thing I'm going to test is the straightness of the rods.

Very nice work! Did you do the changes (direct drive, GT2 belts) all at once or one after the other. In other words, can you guess how much improvement came from the direct drive and how much from the GT2 belts? I currently have a direct drive but still the original MVL belts. I guess the circles are about 1-3/10 to small, aren't they? It's a question of shrinkage of the PLA. You have to correct in the model. As you do in injection moulding. btw: are you not afraid that the PSU of your heated bed radiates a bit too much a the PLA gets soft on the spool? Or is it not PLA?

The request to have a variable layer height in Cura seems to appear every few months... :wink: I'm pretty sure it is somewhere on Daid's roadmap. Until then, you may write a plugin for your special purpose. Design your model in a way it contains the first layer you want to have with the thickness of your planned z step. Then your plugin should do the following with the gcode: - correct z height for the first layer, e.g. from 0.2mm to 0.02mm (smallest possible value with an Ultimaker) - use an G92 to define this height as 0.2mm - use an M221 for the first layer (in the case of the example above M221 S10) - use another M221 for the second layer to set it back to 100% If you're not familiar with the gcodes, you may have a look at http://reprap.org/wiki/G-code Information about how to write a plugin, you may find here: http://wiki.ultimaker.com/How_to_write_a_Cura_plugin

Which RC did you use? There were several RC which were labelled with 14.02. Or do you mean the last official version before 14.03? This would be 14.01. Did you check the gcode? Is it different for the two versions? Some people like Repetier-Host for such comparisons, I prefer the gcode viewer at http://gcode.ws.

You can write this into your start.gcode (if you have an UM1; you would have to switch to flavor 'RepRap' with an UM2): M300 S1000 P1000 G4 P5000