beatlemaniac

Never mind! Apparently moving the model around fixed the issue.

Bumping this one. Anyone have a suggestion? Steve Hurd

Hello everyone! I'm working on a tip jar that has a NeoPixel ring in the middle of it. I'll eventually print it in transparent PETG but I'm just doing test prints in regular opaque PLA for now. In the first pic you see a section of the underside of the jar with the squares in the circle touching each LED in the ring. From the perspective of the pic the area in the center of the model was a little more deep than the area outside the ring. I fixed this in the model so the heights match and now the tree supports look like the second pic, with no support in the middle of the ring. When the two areas were different heights I was able to get tree support in the middle. I can go back and reedit the model so both heights are slightly different (this area won't be seen anyway) but I'd prefer to have them at the same level. Any suggestions? Thanks! Steve Hurd Floyds Knobs, IN

Great minds think alike! 🙂

Hello everyone! Is there an option in 4.7.1 to automatically move a model in the XY plane as it's initially positioned so it is placed in the useable build area? I have a large model where I have to tweak the XY position to get it to slice every time I do an export from Fusion 360. Thanks! Steve Hurd Floyds Knobs, IN

Actually, the M206 command is one of the commands TH3D disabled in the FW. I was able to get your json editing technique to work though! Check it out: This gives enough clearance for my mini EZABL probe mount on the X axis and the wheels hitting the front of the frame in the Y axis. For those playing along at home with your own Ender 5 (or other printer), here's what I did (obviously, make sure Cura is closed before doing this): The file you need is C:\Program Files\Ultimaker Cura 4.7\resources\definitions\creality_ender5.def.json. (edit the file appropriate for your printer) Make a backup of the file so you can revert. If you make a mistake editing the file and cause a syntax error the Ender 5 will NOT show up in Cura! If it's your only printer defined you'll get the "Initial Printer Setup" dialog. Close Cura and re-edit the file. Add the following section just below the "machine_height": { "default_value": 300 }, line: "machine_disallowed_areas": { "default_value": [ [[-117.5, 117.5], [-117.5, -117.5], [-102.5, -117.5], [-102.5, 117.5]], [[-117.5, 117.5], [-117.5, 105.5], [117.5, 105.5], [117.5, 117.5]] ]}, This will give you what I have in the pic; 2 rectangles starting at the front left and going right and back. For other values, please note that Cura references these coordinates from the center of the build area. That spot is 0,0. positive X values are to the right of center, Positive Y values are toward the front of the build plate. The values shouldn't be more than +/- half of the dimension (x or y). For example, the E5 has a square build plate, so my values wont be larger than +/- 117.5 in either direction. This means the front left will be [-117.5, 117.5] and the back right will be [117.5, -117.5]. In my case I needed X to be no less than 15 and Y to be no less than 12. this gave me my values of -102.5 and 105.5, respectively. Hope this helps someone else having this same issue! Steve Hurd

Funnily enough, here's the default E5 .json file (found in C:\Program Files\Ultimaker Cura 4.7\resources\definitions.) It has a build area of 220x220 as well! "name": "Creality Ender-5", "version": 2, "inherits": "creality_base", "overrides": { "machine_name": { "default_value": "Creality Ender-5" }, "machine_end_gcode": { "default_value": "G91 ;Relative positioning\nG1 E-2 F2700 ;Retract a bit\nG1 E-2 Z0.2 F2400 ;Retract and raise Z\nG1 X5 Y5 F3000 ;Wipe out\nG1 Z10 ;Raise Z more\nG90 ;Absolute positionning\n\nG1 X0 Y0 ;Present print\nM106 S0 ;Turn-off fan\nM104 S0 ;Turn-off hotend\nM140 S0 ;Turn-off bed\n\nM84 X Y E ;Disable all steppers but Z\n" }, "machine_width": { "default_value": 220 }, "machine_depth": { "default_value": 220 }, "machine_height": { "default_value": 300 }, "machine_head_with_fans_polygon": { "default_value": [ [-26, 34], [-26, -32], [32, -32], [32, 34] ] }, "gantry_height": { "value": 25 }, "speed_print": { "value": 80.0 } }, "metadata": { "quality_definition": "creality_base", "visible": true } } Steve Hurd

I'm using a custom firmware that doesn't have that option (to save memory on the 1284P chip for other features.) There is a similar setting in the Arduino code for it, but changing the values doesn't seem to have any effect. I'm eventually going to look into updating to a newer release of the FW but wanted to see if Cura had something in the meantime. It's usually not a problem as the models I print are much smaller than 235x235. I was just hoping for a quick setting in Cura until I have to go through the hassle of configuring a new firmware. I'll try your .json suggestion. Thanks! Steve Hurd

Hello everyone! What is the easiest way to find and remove profiles that are not displaying but are contributing to incrementing numbers at the end of the profile name? Example (I'm trying to recreate my profiles from my 3.6 config): Thanks! Steve Hurd Floyds Knobs, IN

Correct, the Ender 5 homes X & Y to the back right - meaning X=Y=235. The end stop switches are at the max values for X&Y. 0,0 is then derived from that. That's what was initially throwing me off. If X is less than 15 or Y is less than 12 it crashes. I verified this with the "paper" technique used for manual bed leveling. Steve Hurd

I found the issue. The version of the TH3D firmware I was using had the bed dimensions for the Ender 5 hard coded at 220 by 220. The same section had the E3 at 235 by 235, which is also incorrect. My guess is they just edited the wrong section when setting up the code for the E5. I fixed those settings and now I get the full 235 by 235. On a related note, now that the bed dimensions are correct I need a way to keep the print head ABOVE X=15 and Y=12. If those numbers are lower the print head hits the structure of the frame. I'm manually doing that now but it would be nice if I could set those numbers as a hard limit in Cura. Is there a setting for this? Thanks for your help! Steve Hurd

When it does an auto home it sends the nozzle to the back-right corner and activates the end stops. Isn't the home position on an Ender 5 supposed to be at the front left? I'm using the Unified Firmware version 1 from TH3D in the printer. Thanks for the help! Steve Hurd

Hello Everyone! I'm not sure if this is a Creality or Cura question so I'll start here. 🙂 I'm getting ready to print my largest model ever on the E5, which has a 235mm x 235mm build plate. The model should fit, as I designed it with those constraints in mind. It looks fine (and fits) in Fusion 360. Cura 3.6 (also 4.7) and OctoPrint, which I have running on a Rasberry Pi. The gcode viewer in OctoPrint shows the model as centered on the build plate. However, the back and right sides of the model are clipped and the X & Y end stop switches on the E5 are triggered. The switches are triggering where they are supposed to and the nozzle gets almost to the actual edge of the build plate on the back and right side. On the front and left sides I have plenty of room. The model needs to be moved forward and left to be centered on the build plate. In the pictures, I'm not concerned about the skirt getting clipped. The bottom of the model is much smaller so that wont be an issue. Any suggestions? Start GCode: (I have the EZABL and filament sensor from TH3D so some of these commands are from them) M75 ; Start Print Timer and Engage Fil Sensor if USB Printing G92 E0 ; Reset Extruder distance to 0 G1 E-2 ; Retracts filament to prevent blobs during probing M84 E ; Disable E Motor for probe accuracy on direct drive systems G28 ; home all axes G28 Z ; home Z to get more accurate Z position G29; EZABL mesh generation G4 S10; wait for heaters to recover M117 Purge extruder G92 E0 ; reset extruder G1 Z1.0 F3000 ; move z up little G1 X0.1 Y20 Z0.3 F5000.0 ; move to start-line position G1 X0.1 Y100.0 Z0.3 F750.0 E15 ; draw 1st line G1 X0.4 Y100.0 Z0.3 F5000.0 ; move to side a little G1 X0.4 Y20 Z0.3 F750.0 E30 ; draw 2nd line G92 E0 ; reset extruder G1 Z1.0 F3000 ; move z up little M117 Printing.....

Changing the model fixed my issue. I'm still curious about the logic behind how Cura generates the gcode. for instance, why does it start at the middle of a shape (a solid circle in this instance) work in one direction, then go back to the middle and go the other way? Anyway, I appreciate the help!

Hi! Here are some better pictures of what's happening. The first 2 are Cura layers 8 & 9. This is the spot with the air gap in the cross-section in picture 2 in my third post. I never used Line Type before. These shots have it turned on. The next few are from the printer. The thin lines (spokes) toward the center are the tops of the edges between the "pyramid" sections - as you call them. Then there are several layers where nothing is printed on them. Once I get to layer 9 I get the problem since there is nothing for the extruded plastic to adhere to. There will never be any support underneath this area because in the full model the space is fully enclosed with plastic. I'm going to rework the model so those edges between the pyramids are high enough to reach layer 8. My main question here is: Is there a way for Cura to start drawing the inner disc at either the center or outer edge where there IS plastic at layer 8? That way the new plastic will have something to stick to as it comes out. Right now, it draws the perimeter (in the air), Goes to the middle of the disc and prints out to the perimeter (in the air), and then moves to the center and works to the middle. There is plastic on layer 8 in the center so that's why the center is round in the shots from the printer. Hope that helps!

Try these (I copied them to my pc and re-uploaded them): From my second post: From my third post:

Sure thing. It will be a little bit. Sorry about this! Steve Hurd

Apologies! The mock-up has finished printing. Can you see these pics? I think I can fix my immediate issue by extruding the floor down a few mm. Each square in the base will have an LED in it.

Hi! Thanks for the reply. I'm not concerned about the edges where the tree supports are. they are just supporting the sides of the "slice" of the model. In the pic is the start of the print of the layer. You can see the triangle outline and then the gcode moves to the air gap and starts printing in mid air. I'm going to fix part of the problem by extruding the "floor" of the jar downward so it touches more of the model, but I'd like to have the gcode start at the inner edge of the outside triangle and work in. That way the plastic has something to adhere to. I've add a few pics for clarification. One is what it's doing in my test print. The other is a "core" piece I printed that shows what the effect is supposed to look like. The core was printed upside-down so the air gap wasn't an issue with that print. Please let me know if you need more pics or have more questions. Thanks! Steve Hurd

Hello all! I've been away from the 3D Printing world for a while and am just now getting back into it. I haven't upgraded to 4.x yet and I'm still running Cura 3.6. I'm planning to upgrade. Hopefully my issue is fixed in a newer version. I'm doing a 45-degree test print of a circular model. It's a tip jar and will eventually be printed in transparent PETG. I will have LEDs underneath projecting light out to the sides and bottom of the jar so the model will have air gaps in it as "light-pipes" that I wont be able to get supports to when I print the full model. My problem comes when I get to the first layer of the bottom of the jar. Cura has the extruder start printing the layer directly over the air gap, as seen in the pic I've included. Is there a way to correct this in 3.6, or 4.x? Many thanks!! Steve Hurd Floyds Knobs, IN