UM2 Firmware enhancement requests

[blackomega 2]

After using the UM2 for a while now I have the following requests for a few (hopefully slight) changes to the firmware that would make things a little easier to work with.

1. Build-plate levelling:- At the moment when you want to re-level the build plate it resets itself about an inch (estimated) from the nozzle. This may be ok if the build plate is way out but most of the time I find myself only needing very slight tweaking of it so can I ask for an option where it starts at the current level setting? This would be far more convenient.

2. Related to 1. Sometimes I find myself accidentally selecting the "Buildplate" option so it would be great if you could put in a confirmation step allowing the procedure to be cancelled before it starts.

3. Maintenance:- When using the advanced option to heat the nozzle up it would be better if the counter started at the currently read temperature instead of zero all the time.

4. Maintenance:- When manually moving the material via the advanced option, it would be useful if the temperature of the nozzle was kept at whatever it was previously set to (via 3 above) instead of resetting to the default temperature for the material (i.e. 220C for PLA) all the time.

5. In Print Tuning:- It would be more intuitive if the "Speed" option was in mm/s (as it is in Cura) instead of a percentage.

6. Maintenance:- An extra option to move the print head to either centre of the build plate and/or front & centre would be useful when performing cleaning/maintenance tasks. I know you can switch the machine off and manually push the head to where you want it before switching it back on but that is not ideal as it must put some strain on the pullies/motors/etc and possibly even affect their alignment perhaps?

 

[IRobertI 520]

1. I'm sure this is just for safety to make sure that the build plate doesn't smack into the head. I don't find it to be that much of an issue, I just raise the bed to be very very close in the very first step and then quickly skip the next two position before finally getting to the fine tuning step. The best part is that the bed seems super stable and I've only levelled a few times when tweaking.

2. Daid is aware and will have this fixed in the next release.

3. Yes please Also, maybe some sort of "acceleration"? Like if you spin quickly the temp goes up in increments of 10.

4. Personally I'm indifferent to this one. Maybe make it possible to adjust the temperature in that dialog as well somehow?

5. I think this would be hard to do since you can set different speeds for different parts of the print, there isn't one single global speed that is being used. Like the first layers, they slowly ramp up in speed layer by layer. If you set a speed of "50mm/s", where should it then be applied?

6. I would love a "turn off motors" option. Both to be able to move things around easily but also to kill that annoying sound that steppers make when they're in hold position. Like you say you can switch the printer on and off but that feels so brute forcy

 

[blackomega 2]

1. I can see that so perhaps have a separate option for "Full Reset" or "Quick Tweak" or something. I find I have to tweak my build plate level every couple of weeks though.

2. Fab

3. I like that idea too.

4. This one is born out of the very frequent nozzle blockages I find I get which I usually clear by setting the temp to 260C and then manually moving through the material.

5. I can see your argument.

6. If that would be an easier solution to implement than my suggestion then I don't mind that one. I'd go as far as requesting that the motors be switched off whenever the printer isn't actually printing. This seems like a low tech but effective solution to multiple needs.

 

[aaronalai 2]

Do you have any hypotheses as to why you are getting frequent nozzle blockages? From what I understand this shouldn't be happening very often.

 

[blackomega 2]

Do you have any hypotheses as to why you are getting frequent nozzle blockages? From what I understand this shouldn't be happening very often.

 

No idea as yet I'm afraid. I'm open to suggestions.

I have only used PLA and I have my PLA settings set for a default temperature of 230C. Is quite high but I find the quality of my prints to be noticeably improved at this temperature in general.

 

[aaronalai 2]

Hmm, I don't have my printer in hand yet so I'm probably not a good resource for suggestions. That being said, could it be because there are little burnt pieces blocking the nozzle as a function of the higher temp? Have you tried a slightly slower print speed with a slightly lower temp? You might be really close to optimal settings with no clogging issues. IDK really, perhaps someone of more experience will jump in, I just hate to hear that such a nice printer is clogging up on you.

 

[illuminarti 18]

I print at 230 all the time on my UM2 - no blockages at all.

 

[aaronalai 2]

What if they increase the temperature and maintain the same speed. I get the feeling the clogs are occurring because the temp isn't high enough for the printing speed. But there is not enough info about the issue. Just too bad.

 

[Daid 306]

6. I would love a "turn off motors" option. Both to be able to move things around easily but also to kill that annoying sound that steppers make when they're in hold position. Like you say you can switch the printer on and off but that feels so brute forcy

The motors are now powered off after a print is finished in the next update.

 

[blackomega 2]

The motors are now powered off after a print is finished in the next update.

Excellent! One down 5 to go :wink: