GregValiant

The image does appear to be severely over-extruded. That would push the sides of the slots in. When you say "way to small" what does that mean. How wide are the slots as designed? It's hard to get a sense of scale from the images.

I started in tool & die when I was 13 when dad would drag me off on Saturdays to run a drill press. Then a lathe. Then that god awful horizontal boring mill that was off a WWI battleship. I miss that boring mill. I was looking around trying to find a picture of an xvico so I could respond to Geneo's other post and I came across this youtube video on the machine as he says, the Xvico looks like a clone of an Ender 3. I would think the numerous help for the Ender 3 would apply to the xvico. As to what flavor of firmware it is running, there should be a selection on the LCD that is "About..." the machine. The firmware flavor should be mentioned in there. It's something that Cura needs to know. In Cura you should have added a printer that has all the proper settings for your xvicos. In Cura under Monitor/{your printer}/Manage Printers/Machine Settings make sure everything is set for the xvico. If heated bed is checked then Cura will always put an M190 line in the start of the Gcode file and that means "Wait for bed temperature" which of course would be forever on your machine. As I mentioned in the other thread, make sure Center = 0 in NOT selected. Your 0,0,0 is the left front corner. Geneo, I think you mean the Bowden tube. Look around the internet for Capricorn PTFE tubing.

Like gr5 says, it's a setting. If you are doing the slicing and both your printer and Cura are set up as Center = 0 then all is well and good. While you are in those settings double check that all of them match your machine. The first movement command in a Gcode file is G28. That tells the printer to "Go Home". It is the only position where the printer actually knows where the print head is because it's up against the three switches. Since that's where your printer headed, then Home 0,0,0 must the Left Front Corner on the machine. That is hardwired in because that's where the switches are. There is also a 0,0,0 used for actual printing. It is referred to as Home Offset. After you "Auto Home" the print head from the LCD (left front corner) you can move the print head (using the movement controls on the LCD) to the middle of the build plate and then select "Set Home Offset" under the Prepare menu. I respectfully suggest that you do not do that. Instead, from Home 0,0,0 move the print head X10mm and Y10mm and then select Set Home Offset on the LCD. In Cura, do as gr5 says and make sure that Center = 0 is De-selected so that 0,0,0 is in the left front corner. And relax. If your getting all wound up now when you're just getting started, think about how bad it's gonna be in two weeks when you're totally confused.

I'm a poor American stuck in "English" units too. I was a tool designer for 40 years. Design software uses units. But what 1 unit equals is all in the users head. Autocad doesn't know or care if 1 unit is a 1 nanometer or a 1 lightyear. Generally you have to measure something or check the size of the text to tell what units the designer had in mind when the model (or 2d drawing) was created. If baloney, milk, bread, gasoline and beer had been sold here in metric units, housewives would have bought in, and the United States would be full metric by now.

Rocket was my second guess. As I said, I really have struggled with white PLA and those banding lines. I was going to try printing a temperature tower with the white and see if I could eliminate the problem but I ended up using all the white up. I'm a mechanical guy so as long as it's structurally sound I generally let it pass. Ain't nobody gonna see it but me anyway. Has that problem been consistent with other colors? I believe the white has a lot of titanium oxide in it (to make it white) and that might have an effect on the flow characteristics. At any rate, right now I'm resigned to the fact that if I print in white the finish won't be good. If it was Cura I'd have the problem across all colors and regardless of whether it was PLA or PETG. (In PETG I have the same banding problem with silver too. Black and red never do it.) One wheel on the X carriage and two wheels on the Y carriage are on eccentric cams so they can be tightened up. Whether they are wearing or not they are adjustable to compensate for that. If the carriages don't wiggle they are good to go. Mine don't wiggle, my Z lead screw is nice and free and lubed with dry teflon, and I get the banding. I think it's color related. I've only used Matter Hacker products so far (they're cheap) and products from other manufacturers may not do it. I'd try printing the same rocket Gcode file with another color. You could abort it after 2 or 3 cm since the problem starts right from the get-go.

I'd create two files and splice them together at: a layer change (if the layer heights were the same) or at a point in the file where the Z heights were the same (if the layer heights are different). You would likely have to reset the extruder so it continues across the splice seamlessly (G92 Exxx) and maybe have an XY and/or Z move to insure a smooth transition. From that point to the end of the file would be Profile #2. Usually I do this when I want a change in infill. If the splice is at a layer change you have to remember that Cura layers start at 1 and Gcode layers start at 0.

I get them with Matter Hacker white PLA but not with blue, black, red or gray. The only exception was when I printed a sailboat hull in white and in vase mode. I thought it came out well without the heavy banding I'd experienced with the white, but it was really thin walled so I reprinted it in red and .6 line width. That's when I found out what it was supposed to look like. Just out of curiosity are those boat hulls printed in vase mode?

Yes, it isn't simple. In fact these are (at the same time) both the simplest and the most complicated machines I've ever worked on. Everything effects everything. From the baseline volume there are other algorithms that vary that value. I hand coded some prime lines across the front of the build surface (easy to yank off on the fly) for my start Gcode and the research into the Extruder calculations quickly got confusing. The term "flow rate" (as it refers to mm^3 / sec) through the nozzle tends not to mean anything. It took a while for me to get comfortable with that. Each individual machine has an upper value of Flow Rate beyond which it can't keep up but even something as simple as that varies with temperature, material, hot end, and other factors. It's another moving target.

That's all well and good for you professionals. How come there isn't a "Whatever's Cheapest" category for us retired guys?

It's the ratio of filament in vs extrusion out multiplied by the length of the extrusion Given a line width of .4 and a layer height of .2 and filament diameter of 1.75 it's 1mm filament / 30mm extrusion (2.4/.08) and inversely 1mm of extrusion would require .033mm of filament. That makes a base line for Cura of 100% flow volume. Simplyfy3d considers that the area under the nozzle will never be an exact rectangle, but will have curved sides. Simplyfy3d uses a fudge factor of 1.2 when calculating the area under the nozzle (so .08mm^2 becomes .096mm^2 in Simplyfy3d calculations). I have no idea where it is on GitHub.

Or you could use the plugin Search and Replace. Replace ";Layer:0" with M220 S333 and have a second Search and Replace to replace ";Layer:4" with M220 S100. That way you wouldn't have to go into the Gcode file.

"So it best to design a part wall thickness to an exact multiple of the line width (so line width 0,8mm => part thickness 3,2 or 4mm) or just slightly less?" YES for thin walls and NO for walls that will require infill. A thin wall is trapped. In a thick structure Cura can fudge the inside infill area so the outside of the wall is correct. The Z dimension is another story. To my limited knowledge (someone correct me if I'm wrong please) - Cura will not make partial layer changes just to hit your dimension. If layer height is .2 and the top of the print is 3.5 then Cura will either make it 3.4 or 3.6. If that .1mm difference is important then you must make some adjustments to the model or print settings or splice a file together.

I think you will have to do some hand coding. Create the gcode file with the print speed at 60. Open the file in your text editor. Layer numbering in Cura starts with 1 but in Gcode it starts at 0. Scroll down to Layer:0 and right under that line add M220 S333 Use the search function to find Layer:4 and right under that line add M220 S100. The first M220 will change the feed rate to 333% of 60 (199.8mm/s) for layers 0, 1, 2, 3. The second M220 will change it back to 100% for layer 4 (Cura layer 5) to the end of the file. If your max feed settings in config.h are lower they will over-ride and limit the speed.

Whether the printer understands the codes or not (dependent on the firmware) the pause code should show up in the gcode file. The pause plugin named "Pause at Height (BQ printers)" only adds an M24 to the file. The others add short routines with more flexibility like maintaining the temperature and parking the head. I'm using 4.6.1 also and the code shows up in the files.

"The first lines around the component" - In Cura under Bed Adhesion check which option you have. A brim helps hold the part down. A skirt gets the nozzle flowing before the part starts to print. Either one has an option for distance to the part. If your part has enough area touching the build plate you probably don't need either. Also in Cura, go to Monitor/Manage Printers/Machine Settings and check that your bed size and height are correct for your printer. While in there, check the "Start Gcode" window and see if there are any extrusions (lines with Exxx). That is the area where additional priming lines may be and they would show up in every gcode file (usually as verticle lines on the left side of the bed). I had to translate to English. I think the software got it right.

That last M104 may be there as a safety to insure that the hot end is indeed off. In Cura you can use the plugin "Search and Replace". Have the search term "M104 S0" and the replace term "M104 S190". That will change those last two shut-offs and keep the hot end on. Be aware that as long as the plugin is active, ALL your gcode files would leave the hot end on.

It isn't very difficult and there are a lot of youtubes on calibration. You will want to do it anyway. It's a basic tool for setting up the machine. A google search should turn up the filament drivers, gears, rotary gizmos...whatever they're called. (A 2 second search turned up Gulfcoast robotics. They have my gear for $1.99)

It's not really a gear so it's the diameter that's important. Hard to believe that it got deformed though. Maybe you can take a micro file to it and fix the teeth. If you find one that fits the motor shaft but the outer diameter is a little different you can probably get it to work so long as you calibrate the steps/mm of the E motor.

I'm old. I started with analog computers, and punch cards. The g-code went on 1" wide paper tape with 1/8" holes punched in it. The paper tape was fed into the CNC machines and they moved and worked all by themselves. It was magic. (No...they were not steam powered.) Over the course of time I came up with some observations that have worked for me. I call them rules, but they're more like guidelines. #1. When you're dumb ya' suffer. #2. Never upgrade an operating system. #3. Everything affects everything. #4. Never blindly trust a Gcode file that was created by someone else. There are a few more (yes, some involve the opposite sex) but I won't waste anymore of your time with them.

That was it. Thank you. (if I had searched for serial instead of com it probably would have come up)

I believe there is something wrong with the model file. The end cubes are OK but the handle is not. All I get are the 4 lines at the edges and it won't open at all in Print3d.

Is it possible to disable the automatic com port connection in Cura? An alternative - can I close the port connection from within Cura? I have my own program I use for printer communication and I have to close Cura to make the port available for my program and then re-start cura and reload the model. It's a bit annoying.

It might be time (maybe past time) for some maintenance. Take apart the nozzle and hot end, check the extruder drive, the belts, clean the dust and fibers out of the fans and off the wheels and tracks. If they have them, check the bowden tube fittings and see if the tube is sloppy and can be pushed in and out. These machines work pretty hard and it sounds like you've had them running for a while.

It would be odd for the printer to be making things up by itself. Really odd for multiple printers to making up the same stuff. That top image looks under-extruded and the layers don't look bonded together. Is that what you mean by "not solid"(?) or is it more like vase mode and missing infill? You have tried checking with a Gcode file you know is OK (like one of the bench models)?

Those are pretty generic commands. Your "End Gcode" area should probably have an M107 in it to turn the fan off in case it was on. I actually stole some code from the start of one of the Benchmark pieces (the klein bottle). I liked the fact that it put down some lines before printing actually started. A heavier flow at the start makes sure that the plastic is getting pushed into the build surface, and that the lines are welded together. It's a crutch, but it worked to get me started with successful first layers every time. Consistent bed leveling and just practice with the machine will get you going. This FDM stuff is not a fast manufacturing process anyway so going slow at first (20-25mm/sec) isn't a bad idea either. We all need something to get the confidence up. I had problems at first with what I thought were clogs in the nozzle. It turned out (after a bunch of youtubes and articles) that my hot end had been put together with a slant cut on the end of the bowden tube. It just wasn't sealing when the nozzle was tightened and plastic was escaping and jamming the hot end. It was a pain to chase down, but I have to say I learned a lot. The machine still tries to fool me, but I'm much better now at figuring out its tricks. Good Luck. Here's my main project. I think there's 55 separate printed pieces on it.