Jump to content

Out of calibration, # of steps ? - need firmware setup help


kristen

Recommended Posts

Posted · Out of calibration, # of steps ? - need firmware setup help

I upgraded my printer with the direct drive modification and replaced the pulleys and belts with custom ordered GT2 parts, however my prints are now coming out a bit undersized. 98.5% of what they should be in the X and Y directions.

I'm looking at Ginge's custom firmware builder and trying to figure out if I need to increase or decrease the steps per unit. I'm guessing I should multiply the X and Y steps per unit by 101.52% to get me properly calibrated. (was 78.7402, changed to 79.9393)

http://marlinbuilder.robotfuzz.com/

Can someone in the know check over these settings (I do have a heated bed and an ulticontroller).

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/801/w4my.png/]w4my.png

 

  • Link to post
    Share on other sites

    Posted · Out of calibration, # of steps ? - need firmware setup help

    IIRC, I think that if you have GT2 pulleys, then, by definition, the steps per mm is 80 - which would be pretty close to your measured value.

    You don't have to rebuild the firmware to change the steps per mm - you can do it from the Ulticontroller (Control -> Motion, I think) , or via gcode:

    M92 X80 Y80 ; set steps per mm

    M500 ; save to EEPROM

    Then power-cycle the printer to make sure they get used. M503 should display all the settings back, to make sure they're being used.

    If you want to build Marlin, then I think the settings you showed look ok, although I'd probably turn off the two 'software experimental' options.

     

  • Link to post
    Share on other sites

    Posted · Out of calibration, # of steps ? - need firmware setup help

    Spot on !

    The Ulticontroller proves awesome yet again. Control -> Motion ->X-steps/mm, then back one screen and "Store memory"

    That is going to make fine calibration pretty sweet.

     

  • Link to post
    Share on other sites

    Posted · Out of calibration, # of steps ? - need firmware setup help

    Just beware that depending on the version of Marlin you're using, it's possible that any changes to the steps-per-mm might not get picked up until you save the settings and then power-cycle the printer. I'm not certain about it, but there were some bugs about picking up and using changed settings like that, and I fixed several a few months ago. So, just to be safe, and to avoid going insane trying to test things, I recommend saving and then rebooting. (At the very least, you will have to explicitly save the changes you make in the UC if you want them to persist across reboots).

     

  • Link to post
    Share on other sites

    Posted · Out of calibration, # of steps ? - need firmware setup help

    Yeah--I do scaling with xsteps and ysteps all the time using the Ulticontroller. There is no single "calibration" that works with all filament materials, slicers, models and processes (which I tune for the model), or even all bed orientations of asymmetric models. I rarely find it necessary to tweak zsteps in order to realize my accuracy goals but I have a log of xsteps and ysteps for nearly every model I print or plan to print repeatedly.

    I've found that the test models I printed when I first obtained my Ultimaker were a waste of time. Now I only print (or partially print) tests of objects that I actually need. Generally speaking (and given that it squirts molten plastic), the UM is quite accurate right out of the box. Any further improvements in accuracy must be hard-won on a print by print basis, or at least extrapolated between very similar prints and processes.

    Sure--when modifying some element of the UM design, as you have done, some calibration tests make sense, but I'd probably still print something that's useful too and take measurements from it.

    BTW, one recurring challenge is to find a good accuracy compromise between inside and outside dimension on prints. Typically, settings are a trade-off between the two!

    I often must be picky because I'm printing tools and commercial mechanical products and often attempting to hold dimensions within a very few mils. I'm not printing garden gnomes. ;) Sometimes I use my machine tools to finish projects that I print, where I can often hold dimensions to 0.001 inch.

     

    Spot on !

    The Ulticontroller proves awesome yet again. Control -> Motion ->X-steps/mm, then back one screen and "Store memory"

    That is going to make fine calibration pretty sweet.

     

  • Link to post
    Share on other sites

    Posted · Out of calibration, # of steps ? - need firmware setup help

    Proper steps with GT2 belts would be 80, not 79.939

     

  • Link to post
    Share on other sites

    Create an account or sign in to comment

    You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

    Create an account

    Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

    Register a new account

    Sign in

    Already have an account? Sign in here.

    Sign In Now
    • Our picks

      • Introducing Universal Cura Projects in the UltiMaker Cura 5.7 beta
        Strap in for the first Cura release of 2024! This 5.7 beta release brings new material profiles as well as cloud printing for Method series printers, and introduces a powerful new way of sharing print settings using printer-agnostic project files! Also, if you want to download the cute dinosaur card holder featured below, it was specially designed for this release and can be found on Thingiverse! 
          • Like
        • 10 replies
      • S-Line Firmware 8.3.0 was released Nov. 20th on the "Latest" firmware branch.
        (Sorry, was out of office when this released)

        This update is for...
        All UltiMaker S series  
        New features
         
        Temperature status. During print preparation, the temperatures of the print cores and build plate will be shown on the display. This gives a better indication of the progress and remaining wait time. Save log files in paused state. It is now possible to save the printer's log files to USB if the currently active print job is paused. Previously, the Dump logs to USB option was only enabled if the printer was in idle state. Confirm print removal via Digital Factory. If the printer is connected to the Digital Factory, it is now possible to confirm the removal of a previous print job via the Digital Factory interface. This is useful in situations where the build plate is clear, but the operator forgot to select Confirm removal on the printer’s display. Visit this page for more information about this feature.
          • Like
        • 0 replies
    ×
    ×
    • Create New...