GregValiant

Use "File | Save Project" and post a 3mf here. What printer? What operating system? What version of Cura? I haven't heard of a "60% rule" before. I'm not saying it isn't a bug but if it is one this is the first time I can recall it coming up. Maybe one of the developers like @nallath or moderator @gr5 has seen something like it before now.

We'll ask @geert_2 but I'm going to guess first... I'm guessing you need to cool down a bit, increase your retraction speed and if you are using Z-hops then increase the Z speed (and maybe distance) as well. That lettering is far from terrible. You can actually enter whatever you want as speeds in Cura. M203 in your printer will be the real speed limiter. You could make an adjustment to it by printing a short gcode file of: M203 X500 Y500 Z25 E25 ;Maximum feedrates M500 ; save settings Some printer definitions have very low Z and E speeds set in M203. I would guess that the printers were checked by the manufacturer and the defined speeds are what they can handle so adjust them at your own peril. Speed is also affected by the acceleration on each axis. Cura's maximum speeds, acceleration, and jerk are located in the Printer Settings which loads from the Marketplace. The maximums defined there become the maximums that the boxes in the Speed section (of the Cura settings) will allow.

A couple of things here. The print speed is governed in part by the minimum layer time. Cura will make adjustments to try and hit the minimum time if your print speed causes a layer to finish too quickly. It's a cooling thing. You will run into that a lot when you use Spiralize (vase mode). Consider: Your print speed is 60mm/sec and your minimum layer time is 10 seconds. You have a layer that indeed takes 10 seconds at 60mm/sec. If you raise your print speed to 2000mm/sec but leave the minimum layer time at 10 seconds, that layer will still print at 60mm/sec. As Obewan says, the "Z-Hop Speed" (found in the Cura Speed settings) pretty much governs the Z speed BUT the maximum that Cura will allow you to enter in Z-Hop Speed is "machine_max_feedrate_z" which may be set in your printer definition file. You can change machine_max_feedrate_z in the "Printer Settings" (which needs to be loaded from the MarketPlace) which has a box for "Maximum Speed Z". You can set Maximum Speed Z to whatever you want. The real limit to Z speed is in your firmware in M203. No matter what you enter in Cura, when it gets to the printer the numbers in M203 will be the upper limit for each axis. You should enter the M203 numbers into Cura. There is no way that Cura can query the printer to pull those values.

There are a lot of the miniature models that have issues within them. Looking into the open square area, it looks like it has zits and there aren't any extrusions there. Load that model in Cura and try to set up the slice the same way. Then select "File | Save Project" and post the 3mf file here. Somebody will take a look.

"Maybe the printer could analyze the camera images to automatically detect..." Good one. Whether it's the printer (not likely) or a computer, this falls squarely under "Many things are possible if you throw enough money at them.".

Hello @JvH I don't know the Ultimaker printers but I do know a bit about automation. My first question would be: Who (or what) removed the previous part from the build-plate, and why didn't they reset the printer when they did? @Smithy, If there is a lockout on the S5 that must be "reset" in order to start a print (and it sounds like there is), and if that "reset" signal is blocked from being accepted from a remote source, then it might be possible to have a custom alteration of the firmware to allow the "reset" signal from both a remote source and from the local source (the existing function on the printer). I don't know if "removing the block" is the right term or if in fact it might be wildly difficult to do. I seem to recall from reading around here that @tinkergnome and @ahoeben have worked with the Ultimaker firmware. There must also be some folk at Ultimaker capable of addressing the issue. Maybe it's something that could be contracted? It would seem to me that in the case of a production situation that includes an automated system for removing a completed build plate and replacing it with an empty one, that system would require a remote printer reset before the next print could start(?). Either that, or the end-of-arm-tool (or pick-and-place) would need to push a button (or something) to perform a manual reset? It would seem to be much easier to send a remote command to let the system know "build plate is ready". In the case of the OP - JvH sitting at his computer at home could check a camera feed to insure the build plate is clear, send the reset if it is, and then start his print or free up the queue. I don't know how much of that is relevant or doable. Many things are possible if you throw enough money at them. Maybe I'm just showing off my ignorance on a lovely morning. If that is the case then I apologize for wasting everyone's time.

Above the settings area is the Settings Search box. Just to the right of that is a dropdown list for setting visibility. Set it to "All" Back in the settings go to the Speed section and find "Z-Hop Speed" and set it to 1.5. The backcolor of the textbox should change from red to white and you should be good to go.

In Windows there is MS 3D Builder. I loaded my custom STL platform file and moved, scaled, and rotated it until it showed up where I wanted it to be in Cura. That way it loads the way the canned platform does and there is no need to alter the printer definition files.

Thanks for letting us know what happened. I know it can be embarrassing, but it's good to know when something gets resolved.

When the slope of a surface is near horizontal, the layer edges get farther apart. With a single wall the extrusions don't touch and you see that in the gaps between the stripes of plastic (the ones that didn't fall through). If you lower the layer height it will get better but any surface that is nearly horizontal will have this problem. If you add a support blocker to the area of the wing root where the radius is, you can set the "Overlap" setting to a top/bottom thickness of 1.0 and see how it looks. You can see how far apart the individual red stripes are and there is just air between them. That area is almost flat. The extrusions can't actually make a curve in air either and so they either fall through or make a straight line. This support blocker is configured so overlaps have 4 top layers. That provides plastic to fill the gaps between the lonesome stripes we see in the previous image. I know it's adding weight, but it isn't a lot and it's either that or going without wing roots. That's my take on it. Did you check with whoever provided the design? Maybe they have a particular setup that works better. @geert_2 and @Torgeir have been around the block a couple of times and maybe they will have an idea as well.

Or you can add your printer as a Creality CR-10 "base" model. On the right side of the screen you can change the name to whatever you want. After adding the printer go to Manage Printers / Machine Settings and double check the size of the build plate. It might be listed as slightly smaller in the X and Y than what you physically measure but that is because Creality leaves a safety margin around the periphery to insure prints are actually on the bed and never hang off the edge. As far as Cura is concerned, all the CR-10 definitions are the same except for the build plate size. I know there are some other variations but the gcode generated for all of them is the same. I would think that Creality will provide a definition file for the V3 for the next release of Cura.

"... the hotend went to the wrong corner." Wrong. The hot end went to the correct corner. You are standing on the wrong side of the machine because the LCD is on the wrong side of the machine, and the switches are on the wrong side of the machine, and the control rods are on the wrong side of the machine. Other than those few small things it's all good.

What printer is that? Are the files on the SD listed on the printer LCD?

Yeah, that's the bottom skin. It's "Top/Bottom Line Directions" that you want. Since you have the part at about 45° to the bed - try [0,90] for line directions.

My printer is an Ender 3 Pro. It's odd that you can't make the changes. I wonder if it is a problem with the install. Did this just start or has it been going on a while? I'm using 4.10 now but I never noticed a problem with 4.8 or 4.9. I own one printer but I have 10 or 12 installed in Cura for troubleshooting. Occasionally I'll notice oddities when changing printers. You can try installing another printer in Cura and it will become the active printer. Switch back to your printer and see if things straighten out.

If you are printing something like a table upside down, the flat "skins" don't need much cooling. When the printer starts on the legs, it needs cooling. The Hot End fan runs 24/7. The Part Cooling Fan is programmable both through Cura and by customizing the gcode. I often add fan lines to a gcode file to adjust the speed when I know a feature will be a problem. M106 S0 is off and M106 S255 is 100% fan speed. You need to do some math to figure the speeds in between as the part cooling fan is PMW. You can adjust the support density. You can connect support lines. Using a support interface can help the release but doesn't work well with tiny features that start on support like the end of a spear. That would start with just a dot in space and build up from there. Supporting the start up of a feature like that is tough. You need to look at the preview. You are going to make mistakes. I've aborted a lot of prints right at the start because I forgot to move the Z seam. It is so annoying, but it's better to catch it than to end up with a disappointment in 6 hours.

What printer is that and what version of Cura are you using?

Higher temperatures will often improve layer adhesion and consequently strength. Fine details usually require high cooling which can affect the temperature of the nozzle if the fan isn't directed perfectly. My normal PLA temp is 210 for most with 215 for silkies and 200 for white. At 190 I think you are still on the cool side, but you know your printer. There are a lot of support settings. Some configurations are great for large flat areas and others are better for details that are thin or at an angle. Sometimes normal supports are better and sometimes tree supports are better. Knowing which way to go and how to set up for a particular model is part of the learning curve. Any user needs to stare at the preview and go through it layer-by-layer to insure that everything is as it should be so they get a successful print. I always pay special attention to details that start by themselves on top of support and are away from the main print. I hate when the words "worrisome" and "nervous" come up. A decent set of Pics, hobby knives, and micro-files can make a difference when removing supports from fine details and interior spaces. I make good use of a magnifying light before I start hacking and whacking to remove supports. I'm more of an industrial guy. @kmanstudios and @geert_2 are of the artistic persuasion and can give better advice to point you in the right direction. Using a .2 nozzle at .05 layer height would give fine detail but the flow through the hot end can be so low that there might be secondary problems. Everything affects Everything.

Because the 2-in-1-out and the 3-in-1-out hot ends are relatively new, you need to experiment with the settings. I would think that Reddit or maybe a users group on Facebook could be helpful in setting Cura up to work with your printer. Does Geetech have a forum? Do you have the "Printer Settings" plugin loaded (from the MarketPlace)? It has the "extruders share heater" and "extruders share nozzle" settings within it. There may be settings in the Dual Extruder section that need to be adjusted. Each extruder can have it's own start and end gcode. Those allow for further custimization. I have configured virtual printers with 3 extruders and generated gcodes but I don't actually have one. I know that if you make a change to an extruder, it is only for that extruder. Each has to be altered separately in Cura. Reality often gets in the way of my virtual printing experience so I'll go no further with this. Good Luck. PS: Those are possibly the ugliest geckos I've ever seen. I think that just for practicing I'd load 3 calibration cubes and set each one to a different extruder. That should cut back on your filament usage while you get it dialed in. Getting to and from the prime tower without making a mess will be a key.

My Ender 3 Pro is about 1 1/2 years old. It prints quite well but in the beginning it was as you noted - constant maintenance. The 8 bit board was fully functional. From what I've seen and read Creality missed it with the firmware for their 32 bit boards. This Filament Friday video is from last fall but it does explain what went on (and appears to be ongoing).

"Removing all the hydraulics and electrics, and just pulling the top open and closed by hand" I'm married and it's her car. I would never consider asking about that (she knows where her rolling pin is). In fact, I put new lift cylinders in it this morning. It took an hour for the job and another hour perusing UTube to figure out how to get access and remove the interior trim. It's all fixed now.

Creality. Geez. My year-and-a-half old Ender 3 Pro with the 8 bit 1.1.5 board has both M0 and G4 enabled. I recently purchased a 4.2.7 board for the printer but I haven't installed it yet because I need to go to school on "Firmware 101". Here is the reason: When Creality went to the TFT style LCD screens they somehow lost the ability to understand commands that pass messages to the screen. That includes M0, M1, and M117. I wasn't aware of the G4 thing (it doe not send a message to the screen) but I know they didn't enable the G2/G3 arc commands and consequently Cura's ArcWelder plugin doesn't work on Creality printers with the 4.2.x boards. That combined with the inability to pause from within a gcode file is not acceptable to me. It's great that you found a workaround that works for you. I don't think there is a way to get those commands back without using a custom firmware build and so I'm holding off moving to the 32 bit board. My machine prints well, and the arc commands and M0 are enabled and give me options for pausing and resuming from within a file. I would like to enable G60 and G61 (save current position and return to saved position) so I can call one gcode file from within another. I'll get to it eventually but my Saturday morning project is to put new convertible top lift cylinders into the wife's Mustang.

If you can share the model then post it here. I've done a lot of printing with both raised letters and relieved letters on my Ender 3Pro. If the 1mm features are round they will be tough because the filament always wants to pull towards the center and that will make them smaller or disappear all together. Minimum letter width is about nozzle diameter for raised letters.

What doesn't work on your printer is the actual M0 pause command. When you add the G4 to "gcode after pause" it will stop the printer in the correct parked position so you can change the color or add a nut or whatever. The difference is that when M0 works correctly you can restart at any time with a button click. With the G4 you must wait for the time to run down. The rest of the routine that Pause at Height uses still runs. I've attached a short gcode file. There are no extrusions or heating, just some random moves, then the Pause At Height with G4 S30 as the gcode after pause (the M0 is commented out in the gcode). When you print the file, there will be an AutoHome and then some random movement before the print head moves to X10 Y10 and dwells for 30 seconds (at least that's the plan). If it works then you know you have an option. If it doesn't then there is nothing lost. DwellTest.gcode

A .05 layer height is for advanced users whose machines are perfectly calibrated both mechanically and software/firmware wise. I'm attaching a 3mf project file that has a 25mm cube. Open it in Cura like you would any STL file. The printer is a BIQU B1. I altered the standard profile and it should come up for you as My Profile (Bill Gates should be so proud). Make sure your build plate is clean. Give it a wipe with Isopropyl Alcohol and then maybe a light spray with super-hold hairspray (watch the video!) and give it a shot. GV25X25CUBE.3mf