bondtech

So the test Gcode @Mendells provided is tested on our UM2 Extended printer (Upgraded to a 2+) Upgraded with DDG Extruder, PLA material. This printer normally prints black ABS so there are some small streaks of black ABS in the print but it finished ok without any underextrusion. @rebekah_harper this is how our DualDrive technology works: (old movie but still)

You could also upgrade to a stronger feeder that feeds with much more force that will give you a lot more headroom before you enters skipping and grinding issues. Our Bondtech Feeder is highly appreciated from many users. /Martin

The G-code for E-step will stay as a default setting and will be used but I am a bit unsure if the M907 E1000 current setting must be done at each new program or not, maybe @Neotko have an answer to this?

If you replace the firmware you will have to run the g-code to set the e-step value, the command M500 saves the new E-step value into the controller so it is not necessary to run the G-code program more than once. You should also make a restore to factory defaults after you have run the g-code in order to make sure it uses the new e-step value. In order to set the current there is also a G-code for this. You can use M907 E1000 to set the current for the extrudermotor to 1000mA. But I can´t remember if this is accesible also through the lcd-menu with original UM firmware. If you are using Simplify3D as a slicer you shall also check the starting script section as the default UM-profile in S3D sets M907 E1400 and with this setting is too much for the motor since it is rated to max 1200 mA but to keep the motor cooler we recommend using 1000 mA.

Hi @devilflash, sorry for my late reply, the g-code to change the e-steps is very simple. It is just two lines of code like this: M92 E492.45 M500 You can download the file here: Link Since the rotation direction of the extruder motor is different between UM2 and UM2+ due to the gearing the extruder will turn in the wrong direction if using UM2+ Original firmware, to correct this you can either chang the direction in the firmware and re-compile it or just swapping position of two cables in the connector of the cable. You can see how in our FAQ here: www.bondtech.se/faq

Interesting. I saw Bondtech 1.75 adapter, and while I bet it works, I think with third partys, there's always the issue of differencing between 'being able to print' and 'being able to print anything'. For example, I think noone would be surprised that I dislike very very very much the Adafruit post and claim that 1.75 works on UM2 and UM3. I was thinking about making a post about the why is important to do the things right when modding a printer, but... Dunno I would need more time than what I have lately (christmas!). But umm let's do a brief resume of what I think why people always confuse 'print' and 'printing UM quality' (to handle a name). First Adafruit simple change, is crap. Sorry is just what it is. You can't control extrusion to the point of making 'anything' with your printer if your hotend, nozzle, coupler, ALL the system, is adapter to 1.75mm. Why? Well, first of all one of the advantages of 1.75mm is that you can retract less and you can print at lower prints because the amount of the material on the hotzone is always less vs a 2.85 setup. BUT if you don't change the hotzone (nozzle, heater, coupler) then the amount of plastic on the 'critical' zone would be just the same of 2.85. So you end with a fluid that can go up and clog (because hotfluids even when they ain't totally fluid tend to occupy all the room available). This means that you can't control the pressure, you can't control the amount of retraction and you can't control your printer. Ofc it will print, it will print without any control, and if you don't mind printing VERY FREAKING slow, it will print perfectly. Ok... Second problem of Adafruit claims. The bowden. If you don't change the bowden, the 1.75 filament will have room to flex over itself and distribute the pressure from the bowden, that can be high if you want to print as cool as possible and as fast as possible (because when you pass the first 6 months of printing stuff of thingyverse you learn to print and make more usefull and complex prints and you might want to get the best possible print quality not just 'print' boxes. So.. Back to the point. The filament will flex on itself, curving and snapping inside the bowden, of just twisting. This phenomena is called hysteresis (Adafruit please google it). So.. Extruder. That's another key part in all this. UM2 diamond bolt is made exclusively for 2.85mm filament. And while I don't like how little retractions it can handle on a short period of time (many on the same place) I acknowledge that is an 'ok' feeder (specially with default Cura settings that are made using this). For me 1.75mm filament needs a MK7, E3D hobb-goblin or, afaik, the best a Bondtech Drivegear. I used for 8 months on 2 machines (and on a third for 2 months) MK7. It did work? yea, but I want to print more and more complex prints (normal evolution of a printer) so I wanted to have more control over my printer, ergo, bondtech drivegears (thanks for posting my mods @nerdwarrior). But... now @Bondtech shows this on their 1.75 filament install manual: And you think, HEY! I can use the same hotend 2.85 to print 1.75!? F... Yea, ofc, why no? Well, the answer is clear. If you want to print without the advantages 1.75 has, and you want to just print boxes and not have any advantage over using 1.75mm filament, yes, you can. You will have horrible print control, as much dripping as 2.85 and you will need to take it out to do a proper atomic pull everytime you change of material, (because 1.75mm filament will expand to the room available '2.85 hotzone' and you wont be able to push out the filament through the 4-2mm bowden they sell). OFC you could just push and push new filament until all cleans, but, don't be surprised if on the 7cm of 6-3mm bowden the filament snaps due hysteriesis and you need to disassemble everything to keep printing. To resume... You can print with anything, but to print PERFECT, you need to control every single aspect of your printer, you neglect one and you end printing boxes... like adafruit. If you want to push your printer to it's limit on the future, you need to have the setup made and tailor for the filament you will use. Anything else will leave parts without control that will sooner or later not allow you to print wherever you want to print. OFC you can be happy printing really slow, but did you pay 2k to print without any control? A new user will be very happy with the basic profiles, but as soon you need to do something slightly more complex, or you need to tune your settings, there's where you will find the wall of a bad setup. About E3D, is a good hotend, but only the 1.75mm version has a ptfe liner, and like old PTFE couplers, that part will need replacement fast. I moved all my umo+ printers to UM2+ hotend just because TFM/TFT couplers can last 500-2000h print hours without any issue and with the bondtech gears I can do an almost insane amount of retractions without any issue or mark on my filament. But... Ofc.. It highly depends on how far you want to go with your printer. Any 800€ printer can print boxes, but not all printers can print fine detail or fast prints without looking horrible. I print everyday 1.75mm on 3 printers, and it took me almost a full year to finish a good working setup and another half year to fine tune everything from gcode to final mods to have them working non stop. Right now I don't even need to touch the printer, just print print print. And now I need to go back to work, happy printing! Thanks for the heads up @Neotko, our intention was never to say that there is no need to change the other parts in the printhead, of course this must also be done in order to get the desired effect. We will add this to the description in order to make it clearer! /Martin

Hi Nigel, it could be a combination of things creating your problems but there is a feeding solution that will give you a lot more headroom before other factors limits the feeding and it is our DualDrive feeder that does not grind or slip on the filament. Here is a summary explaining how they work: https://ultimaker.com/en/community/33674-the-bondtech-extruders We have many happy Ultimaker customers all around the world. With best regards Martin

It is strange that the material setting is only 50% I have never seen this before, what happens if you adjust it to 100%? @JohanP

When I just started with 3D printing years ago I frequently ran into problems caused by the feeders, not specifically Ultimakers. With a background in engineering it inspired me to design my own alternative feeder. I found a great partner in the community of Ultimaker, helping in pushing this feeder to new levels by supplying valuable feedback and experiences. This all lead to the 'Bondtech extruder' The biggest difference between the Bondtech Extruder and other extruders is that it uses two counter rotating gears that are gripping the filament from both sides which minimizes the risk of grinding, slipping and under extrusion. The geometry of the gears also gives very little filament deformation that is important in Bowden style printers. In order to be able to quickly change filament it has a Quick Release lever to release the pressure of the filament and also a thumbscrew with a compression spring to fine-tune the clamping force applied to the filament. The extruder features a planetary gear reducer with 5.18:1 ratio that gives it a lot of torque and also a high resolution to be able to print fast pushing the filament hard but also providing fine details with small nozzles. The E-step value is 492.45 for 2.85/3.0 mm filament and 476.50 for 1.75 mm filament. The hardened steel gears are made specific for each filament diameter. Below you see two parts printed on our Ultimaker 2 Extended, the right one is printed with a 1.5 mm nozzle with 0.7 mm layers, the left one is printed with 0.25 mm nozzle with 0.05 mm layer height. I love the possibilities 3D-printing gives and it is such a fantastic tool to boost your creativity and be able to develop new exiting products right at your desktop. For more information about the extruder you are most welcome to visit our webpage where you can download installation instructions, read our FAQ and download free stl-files. Our webpage can be found at www.bondtech.se If you have any questions you are welcome to post them in Bondtech QR 30 universal thread and I will do my best to answer them. Other forum threads regarding the Bondtech QR. https://ultimaker.com/en/community/18369-bondtech-qr-30-universal?page=1

Hi @LePaul, I just want to inform you that there is a solution available to feeding related problems and that is our Bondtech Extruder that never slips or grind the filament. We have many happy Ultimaker customers. If you want more information you can contact me at martin@bondtech.se

Dear @flowalistik the gears are now available! http://shop.bondtech.se/ec/drivegears/ /Bondtech

If you use the Bondtech Feeder it have much higher feeding force with minimal deformation since it uses 2 drivegears, works as good with 2.85 as with 3.0 mm filament. Please see www.bondtech.se for more information.

Glad to hear that you like our extruder @catohagen ! /Bondtech

Yes @paul9 the same procedure applies also the the 1.75 mm version. The E-step value for the 1.75 mm version is 476.55 compared to the 3.0 that is 492.45. /Martin

Hi All! I would like to inform you about the needed change for the firmware. The thing that needs to be changed is the E-step value and also the speed used when performing a material change through the LCD-panel. Since the Bondtech QR uses a planetary gearbox with 5.18:1 ratio it needs to rotate faster than the standard motor, this means that the speed used during a material change must be lowered or the rotation speed will be too high for the motor. I have made Firmwares availabe for download with the adjusted values. There is also a new version for the 2.1 firmware available (all firmwares can be downloaded here: http://shop.bondtech.se/ec/upgrade-kits/ultimaker-2-qr-extruder-upgrade-kit.html) If you want to use the Tinkergnome firmware there is also a version for this available above. You could also set the new E-step value by sending the following G-code to the printer M92 E492.45 M500 This sets the new E-step value and saves the new value to the configuration. But in order to change the speed during a material change the firmware must be changed. In order to lower the temperature of the motor the current can be lowered to 1000 mA, if you are using Simplify3D remember to change the startscript to 1000 mA (it says 1400 mA as standard) We have now also a new high-precision PTFE tube in stock with 3.18 mm inside diameter that will decrease the hysteresis effect during retractions that will allow for shorter retract values. The PTFE tube will also improve the performance when printing with flexible filaments. If there is anything you want to know just ask! With best regards Bondtech AB / Martin