GregValiant

Have you set the Home Offsets in the printer? If you have not then use a decent ruler and: Auto-Home the printer. Using the LCD controls: Move the nozzle up 3mm Move the nozzle in the X to a point 2.5mm in from the LEFT edge of the build plate. Move the nozzle in the Y to a point 2.5mm in from the FRONT edge of the build plate. Drop the Z to "0". Select "Set Home Offsets" on the LCD. Select "Save Settings" on the LCD. Move the nozzle up 3mm again and move the nozzle to X=127.5 and Y=127.5. The nozzle should be at the mid point of the build plate. The snippet below will work for your startup. The purge line will go along the bottom 12.5mm from the edge PROVIDED you have set the Home Offsets correctly. ;Begin StartUp M106 S0 ;Layer cooling fan off G90 ;Switch to absolute positioning M82 ;Extruder absolute mode G21 ;metric units G28 ;Auto-Home all axes G1 Z15 F600 ;Move up M140 S{material_bed_temperature_layer_0} ;start to heat the bed M109 S{material_print_temperature_layer_0} ;heat the hot end and wait for it M190 S{material_bed_temperature_layer_0} ;wait for the bed just in case it's not up to temp yet G92 E0 ;Set position of extruder to 0 G0 X5 Y10 F1500 ;Move to start of purge G0 F600 Z0.3 ;Move Z to 0.3 G1 F1500 X180 E15 ;Extrude a line of filament at 25mm/sec G1 F1200 Z2 ;Raise Z G92 E0 ;Set extruder position to zero G1 F3000 X0 Y0 Z10 ; move back to the left front corner for start of print in case the nozzle oozes ;End of Startup

This is from the release notes for 5.0.0 that was released today. "Fixed a bug where travels would go through the model with printing PVA".

The #1 thing I hated about 3d printing was the damn knob on the printer. What a PITA to use. Since the knob is just sending gcode commands to itself I wrote an app to do all the knob functions from a PC via the USB. It's all good now. On the Movement screen I hit a button that says "Left Front" and there it goes. I just have to chase the head with my trusty piece of parchment paper and wait for the Z to set down on it. It takes about 20 seconds to hit the 4 corners and touch up the leveling. One thing I noticed about leveling though...I would auto-home, then level, and when the print started there would be the G28 command in the StartUp Gcode. All three axes would go to the switches. Often, re-homing the Z after leveling would result in the Z=0 being at a different point in space (cheap switch repeatability issue) and my nice level build surface would be too low or too high. So now the StartUp Gcode has G28 X Y and when the print starts the Z is at the same "0" point it was during leveling. It's much more consistent now.

Nice catch. I've been through the Creality definition files a lot and I don't believe it's in them although there is a lot about Materials (mostly deletions of UM materials) in the Creality_Base.def.json file. I've never been through the Creality Material Profiles or the Creality Quality Profiles. I have modified a few of the Creality definition files for my own use and for trouble-shooting printing issues. Maybe the problem is in a definition file but I've altered it in the definition file I actually use and so the glitch is gone on my system???

Along with all the support - that model for most of it's height is a "U" shape. Those are always tough when it comes to travel moves. In this one instance I think it's clear that given the model and settings, 4.13.1, Master, and 5.0 are pretty close. I can see where with certain models and combinations of settings that those times could change dramatically. As @nallath has said more than once - the main issue is the acceleration settings. A user can ask Cura for an acceleration of 2000 but in their printer M201 is set at a max X and Y acceleration of 500. The actual print time in that case is going to be a lot more than what Cura calculated. Kind of a garbage-in-garbage-out-thing.

The New and Improved 5.0 gives me 3:52 so essentially the same as the beta. Turning off "Fill Gaps Between Walls" in 4.13.1 resulted in an identical print time of 3:52. Here is the 3mf file. 60 Box 2 layer hgt.3mf

The default for all printers is "Outside to Inside". I went in and changed that to "Inside to Outside". In particular - printing the outside wall first on an overhang just doesn't work well.

I've been saving project files from 5.0 and opening them in 4.13 (and vice versa) to take a look at things like that. Sometimes the print time is faster in 5.0. I suppose it depends on the settings. I noticed that Monotonic Top/Bottom can cause a lot more travel moves. That only happens on tops and bottoms of course so overall it may not have a big effect. There are always complaints about the Cura time estimates. I just finish a print sliced in 5.0 that Cura stated would take 3hours 53minutes. The print actually took 3hours 55 minutes per the LCD timer. Here is the project for that print in 5.0. This is the same project file opened in 4.13.1...4hours 28 minutes (about 12% longer).

Most model files don't specify a location. Some 3mf files do. Cura calculates the mid-point of it's virtual build plate from the numbers you have in the Machine Settings "X(width) and Y(depth)". Those should represent the true "printable area" of your build plate. In the case of my Ender 3 Pro - the build plate physically is 235 x 235. It has a 1mm bevel around the periphery so that can't be printed on. I wanted another 1.5mm safety area around the periphery as well. So in Cura I've entered X(width) = 230 and Y(depth) = 230 (235 - 2.5 "non-printable" area on the left - 2.5 "non-printable" area on the right = 230). That makes my Cura mid-point X=115 and Y=115. In the cases where there is no location data (STL files mostly), Cura gets the "Center-of-Geometry" of the part in the XY and puts that at the midpoint of the Cura build plate. When the gcode is created the origin point of the gcode is the 0,0,0 of the Cura virtual build plate. Then the gcode shows up in the printer. The printer will put that 0,0,0 origin of the gcode file at the printer's defined Home Offset 0,0,0. If you haven't defined a Home Offset location (M206) then it will be the Auto-Home location. That is probably what is going on with your off-center prints. My Auto-Home location is just off the build plate. I move the nozzle to a point 2.5mm in from the left edge of the glass and 2.5mm in from the front edge of the glass (the dimensions of my "non-printable area") and at a Z=0 and select "Set Home Offsets" on the LCD followed by "Save Settings". Now the printer matches Cura. If your firmware doesn't have a "Set Home Offsets" option on the LCD then you can do it in a gcode file that you "print". That's another lesson if the above method can't or doesn't work. Another lesson would be for "Disallowed Areas". For those you need a printer definition file. If you are using "fdmprinter.def.json" as your base file for your custom printer - that file should not be altered.

To cut it into smaller pieces you would need a program like MS 3D Builder or Blender. You can do it in Cura using Support Blockers configured to Modify Settings for Overlaps and then as Cutting Mesh. You select: Walls, Top and Bottom layers, and Infill and set them all to Zero for the blocker that is now a mesh modifier. You scale the Mesh Modifier and move it around until you get it where you want it to block part of the model from printing. You can also turn off "Automatically drop models to build plate" and move part of the model below the Cura build plate. What's left above will slice. Then you can print the rest upside down or whatever you need. I usually do it in CAD because I can, but if all I've got is the STL then I use MS 3D Builder. It's not real intuitive, but it works pretty well.

Skipping steps on the first layer is because the nozzle is too close to the bed. That goes directly to the leveling procedure whether it's automatic, or manual. If you are Auto-Leveling then maybe you can tweak your Z-offset. If you are leveling manually there are tricks you can do to help with consistency. Most folks just get better with practice and the consistency comes of it's own accord.

Hello @Lupus52. I have not yet had a part that Cura indicated had a problem which did not have a problem. Usually I open the model file in MS 3D Builder for the repair. I have used on-line repair services successfully as well. The errors can be very small. A seam may be open by .001mm which would be exceedingly difficult to display on the monitor. Cura is a very good slicer. It is not a CAD program, or STL repair program, or assembly modeler, etc. I think the fact that it knows there may be a problem is the big thing. Being able to point directly at a surface and say "this one is backward" or to a seam and say "This one is open" might be interesting, I just don't think it would be useful. I still have to open it in another piece of software to fix it. The repair is made without me having to tell the software where the issues are. It just fixes them if it can.

I have been printing some models with interior supports that were difficult to remove. I started playing with the "support flow" setting in an effort to make them weaker and yet still do their job. I've settled in at 90% flow for both support and support interface. @MikeyXX did you try disabling the "Mesh Fixes" / "Remove Empty First Layers" setting?

TAAA_DAAA! Nice. Don't bother trying to tweak that line on the hull that is at the height of the deck. Can't be done. I think doctoral thesis have been written on it.

You should be able to use THIS LINK to find the download.

I've been seeing a lot of people asking for support and they are pushing their line width up to 0.8 with a .4 nozzle. That is stressful from the extruder down through the hot end. If you print really slow then yes, the printer can keep up. At normal print speeds increasing the flow rate through the hot end by 100% is not a good idea. You also lose resolution of the part.

Some of the Start Gcode won't work with Cura. I'm leaving in the M42 lines although at this point I don't think we know what is connected to those "pins" on your mainboard. The G28 in your ending gcode has to go. It's never a good idea to drop the nozzle when there is a print on the bed. Copy and paste this in as your StartUp Gcode in Cura Machine Settings: ; ;Start Gcode ;G21 ;metricG90 ; absolute mode M82 ;absolute extrusionG28 ;Home all axesM42 P7 S100 ;set pin state of pin 7 to 100M190 S{material_bed_temperature_layer_0} ;heat the bed and wait for itM109 S{material_print_temperature_layer_0} ;heat the hot end and wait for it M42 P6 S160 ;set pin state of pin 6 to 160M42 P6 S255 ;set pin state of pin 6 to 255 M106 S0 ;start with the layer cooling fan off.G28 ;auto-home againM42 P7 S255 ;set pin state of pin 7 to 255 G1 F1800 Z10 ;move the nozzle up away from the build plate ; ;End of Start Gcode ; Copy and paste this in as your Ending Gcode ; ; Ending Gcode ; G91 ;Relative positioning G1 E-2 F2700 ;Retract a bit G1 E-2 Z0.2 F2400 ;Retract and raise Z G0 X5 Y5 F3000 ;Wipe out G0 Z10 ;Raise Z more G90 ;Absolute positioning G0 X0 Y{machine_depth} ;Present print M106 S0 ;Turn-off fan M104 S0 ;Turn-off hotend M140 S0 ;Turn-off bed M220 S100 ;reset feed rate to 100% M221 S100 ;reset flow rate to 100% M84 X Y E ;Disable all steppers but Z so the nozzle doesn't drift down ; ;The End ; The words/phrases in curly brackets are Cura keywords. Cura will replace them with the actual values when the gcode is put together. That's why "M109 S<TEMP>" didn't work. Wrong word and no curly brackets. So your hot end and bed didn't heat up. You can bring a simple model like a calibration cube into Cura. Use the scale tool to make it 1mm tall. Slice it and print the gcode to see how it goes.

I've never had to redo my profiles (but I only have 3). There have been numerous complaints about the Cura time estimates. Mostly they are caused by the acceleration settings when a user wants 2000mm/sec² and the time estimate is based on that, but their printer is limited to 500mm/sec² and so a print takes a lot longer. Given that - if you choose to use Gyroid infill then it's all curves and the time error can be a lot because of the constant acceleration setting error due to the numerous short line segments that gyroid requires. Outer walls are displayed in red lines. Since your model is showing those walls in yellow then maybe they aren't quite wide enough for your line width setting? You can drop the line width in Cura (rather than re-designing the model) and see how it looks. I generally run my 0.4 nozzle at .35 line width. You didn't mention what version of Cura you are using but in 4.13 I get a view like you have there. I would suggest you install the 5.0beta version of Cura. It's really good at single wall models like you have there. This is your 3mf file sliced in 5.0. You can see that all the walls are displayed as "outer" walls. Here it is in 4.13. Previous versions of Cura were a lot happier when they could put in an even number of walls (like 1 on each side adds up to 2. 3 on each side would be six total walls). Since your model is 1 line width wide Cura ain't happy so instead of real walls you are getting skin and that causes the 45° pattern you see here and there. You notice that the outside walls of the box are in red because they were designed wide enough that Cura could put 2 lines side-by-side for an even number. There are some bugs in the current version of 5.0 beta but I've been using it successfully for a couple of weeks. You may have to look around here and on Github for updated plugins and so forth. A lot of work was done on the Cura dialog boxes and that's where most of the bugs are.

Cura only displays extrusion moves. In your 3mf file "Coasting" is not enabled but those gaps in the images look exactly like what you see when Coasting IS enabled. Those short travel lines at the end of an extrusion is the move finishing without extruding.

175° is likely the material standby temperature for T1. You are saying that T1 is not used in the current print? Did you disable T1? You can use the "File | Save Project" command to save the model and your settings. Post the 3mf file here.

It's in Preferences / Configure Cura and on the General tab. It should be about the second box down.

If you are leveling manually then another reason can be that the Z switch stop point is inconsistent. You auto-Home and level the bed with your trusty piece of paper and it's perfect. You start the print and one of the first things is a G28 and the axes auto-home. Is Z=0 in exactly the same place in space? Probably not, and so the gap is different than during leveling. My Ender could be off by .3 to .5mm high or low. I changed the G28 in the startup gcode to G28 X Y and it has worked. I level and then leave the Z where it was. One way to overcome the first layer problems is to increase the "Initial Layer Flow" to 110% or even 120%. It's a crutch to do it that way but as you get more consistent at starting prints you can back that off. I still run first layers at 105% for both PETG and PLA. I rarely have a problem with first layers and when I do it's almost always because I tried to get one more print out of the bed before I gave it a good scrub. I like washing with dish soap followed by an alcohol wipe down after the glass is back in place on the printer. PETG would require hairspray at that point.

You can use the "File | Save Project" command and the 3mf file will have the model, your printer, and all your settings, support blockers, etc. You can open it back up in Cura and everything shows up just as it was.

The ability to slice a feature is tied to the width of the feature and is controlled by the line width you set in Cura (or any other slicer). The line width in turn is closely tied to the nozzle diameter. Cura settings like "Horizontal Expansion" and "Print Thin walls" also have an effect. The new settings "Outer Wall Inset", and "Split Middle Line Threshold" can have an effect as well. The tines of a comb present a special problem. They really need two passes to complete so the nozzle goes up and comes back on the same tine. If it was one pass then the nozzle would need to jump to the next tine. That usually results in stringing. The new Cura 5.0 is really good at this. It uses variable line width and can put finer lines into a slice. That allows narrower features to slice. You didn't mention your nozzle size. You can push a .4 nozzle down to around .35 line width (that would work well with tines that are .70 wide). Give that a try and slice the comb again. If it still doesn't slice the tines then as an experiment select a smaller nozzle size in Cura and check the preview. Another thing that can keep areas from slicing is if they are not watertight. When there are gaps between two adjacent surfaces then Cura becomes confused about what is "inside" and what is "outside" and won't slice.

I only use the SD card reader on my Ender. It's going on 3 years and I have no idea how many prints and it's fine. The SD cards on the other hand have to be formatted every couple of months. I did add an adapter to take a real SD card instead of the mini. It's large enough to take a bit of abuse and the physically larger memory cards are a lot easier to see when I drop one. I hated the tiny ones. The printers running Marlin that make use of the "power loss recovery" feature write to the memory card. It's where they save the recovery info. If the memory card reader is broken then the power loss/recovery option likely doesn't work either. The newer 4.2.x Creality boards I think write firmware changes to the memory card as well (rather than to EEPROM). As for downloading a file to the printer...I guess that depends on the printer. If you were to use Octoprint/RaspberyPI as a server then the file goes on that hardware. PronterFace/PrintRun may be used for printing over the USB by slicing with Cura then opening the file in Pronterface and printing from there.