CC Print Core For All Materials

[arj3090 2]

Is there any reason you can't use the CC print cores for materials such as PLA or ABS? Cura says it is incompatible. How can I force Cura to allow the CC core to be used on any material?

 

I am under the impression the only difference is the hard coated nozzle and aluminum heat block. I would think it should work the same as the AA core.

[gr5 2,184]

Sure.  Just select the AA 0.4 core.  Set line width to 0.6 and you are good to go.  When you go to print it there will be a warning that your core doesn't match but just hit ignore.

 

As far as I can tell the CC cores work just fine with any material.  

[arj3090 2]

When I select the CC core, I no longer have the profiles options such as Default, Visual, Engineering, and Draft. Is there any way to make the profiles that show up for the AA cores also show when the CC Core is selected?

[gr5 2,184]

So there are something like 1000 profiles.  

 

Profiles are only good for exactly one combination of filament, printer model (e.g. S5 versus UM3) core type (e.g. AA 0.4, CC 0.6), and "options" as you call it (engineering, visual, draft, etc).

 

For example just for 3 options 3 material types, the 4 printer types (um3,s3,s5,um2+c), and 5 core types (.25, .4, BB, CC.6, .8) that requires 3 X 3 X 4 X 5 or 180 profiles!  And someone has to test all of these everytime a new version of cura comes out.

 

So instead, just pick something close and if it's the wrong core size the ONLY thing you have to change is line width to match the nozzle size (all the line widths and set the wall thickness to be a multiple of the nozzle slze - that's it - don't change anything else).

 

There are many more profiles for AA 0.4 so I usually always pick that core even if I'm using an AA 0.8.  I just change the line width.

 

So I need to know more but if you are printing with say XStrand PA6-GF, you can just use a print profile for generic PA6 (aka nylon) and use AA 0.4 core and there should hopefully be an engineering (and other) option.  Make sure to set the line width for 0.6mm if you are using a CC 0.6 core.

 

You will usually get a better result than if you go with the xstrand profile that is in the marketplace.  Many of these profiles have bugs/issues.  The more basic the profile and core, the less likely some "bug" (or some slightly off temperature or fan speed or whatever that can occasionally cause an issue).

[arj3090 2]

So let's say I have an AA Core with Ultimaker Black Tough PLA. It gives me many quick recommended options. But when I change the print core to CC for the same material, I lose all of those options.

 

If I go to Preferences to create a profile, I see no way to copy the Ultimaker Black Tough PLA and associate it with the CC core. Can this be done?

[gr5 2,184]

Just use the AA 0.4 profile and change line width to 0.6mm (all the line widths - there's a few of them - just put "line width" in the search box).  done.  Also when you go to print it will complain that the cores don't match.  Just hit the ignore button.

 

One reason those options go away is because they would have to create them all.  That's about 6 new profiles just for the S5.  And another 6 for the S3 and so on.  Another reason is that the CC 0.6 was meant for abrasive materials so they concentrated on those profiles first.

[gr5 2,184]

Ideally the profiles should have been algorithmic.  Where there is code that adjust parameters based on the user's needs.  For example if the 0.1 layer height profile uses a print speed of 70 and the 0.2 layer height profile uses a print speed of 60 then the 0.15 layer height profile should automatically choose 65 using the simple rule of linearity (which is really easy to do in code).  That way people can do 0.17 layer height and everything just adjusts.

 

Fortunately, in reality, changing from 0.4 to 0.6 nozzle just means changing line width to 0.6 and you don't need to change anything else (no need to change fan speed or temperature or the other 500 parameters).  I do recommend changing wall width to a multiple of .6 such as 1.2, 1.8, 2.4 etc.  Which could also be done algorithmically.

 

Also in reality, all the 30 or so nylon materials can all be print with the same profile regardless if it's CF filled, GF filled, plain, colored, etc.  yes there are slight variations in temperature but that's not always necessary to adjust and still get a really good print.

 

This is true for most materials.  Even PLA and PLA Tough can be printed with the same profile (although UM did really tune the tough one so I'd use that for best results).

[arj3090 2]

After some researching on Cura and some fiddling around, I may have achieved what I wanted. This entailed creating copies of files, renaming the "aa" to "cc", and editing the AA to CC in the file There are 2 directories:

 

C:\Program Files\Ultimaker Cura 4.12.1\resources\quality\ultimaker_s5

 

C:\Program Files\Ultimaker Cura 4.12.1\resources\intent\ultimaker_s5

 

After doing this, when I change to the CC core for the material files that were copied and edited, Cura now gives me profile options and no longer gives incompatible messages. I did not get everything working as expected, but I am still tinkering. Once I get it all working, I will post the specifics.

 

 

Edited December 24, 2021 by arj3090

[gr5 2,184]

Yikes.  Did you update the line width in all those profiles?

 

If you update cura I think you will lose all that work. Unfortunately.

 

Wait - I don't think there is such a thing as a CC 0.4 core.

[arj3090 2]

I have both a CC 0.4 and a CC 0.6 print core.

 

I was figuring I would have to keep extra copies of the files I modify so that I can paste them any time I do a Cura update.

 

I did a quick test with CPE+, CC 0.4 core, and copied files.  It seems to have worked well without warnings. There were lots of little bits of the material all over the build plate, but I think it also did that with the AA 0.4 core

[arj3090 2]

A follow up after much experimenting.... I ran several materials (PLA, ABS, PETG, TPU) using the CC 0.4 core to see if it could be used exclusively for everything (except PVA). All materials appeared to print just as well with the CC 0.4 as it did with the AA 0.4 until I got to the TPU. The TPU would partially print my object before repeatedly giving an out of material alarm. The first few layers worked fine, but then it seemed to just be spitting out small blobs of material and not a continuous flow. I tried several times with different settings, but the result was always the same. As soon as I swapped back to the AA 0.4 core, the print completed.

 

It appears there is some physical difference between the AA and CC cores.

[rachael7 74]

On 12/23/2021 at 10:57 AM, arj3090 said:

After some researching on Cura and some fiddling around, I may have achieved what I wanted. This entailed creating copies of files, renaming the "aa" to "cc", and editing the AA to CC in the file There are 2 directories:

 

C:\Program Files\Ultimaker Cura 4.12.1\resources\quality\ultimaker_s5

 

C:\Program Files\Ultimaker Cura 4.12.1\resources\intent\ultimaker_s5

That will work, but as gr5 mentioned, you will lose it with the next Cura update. You can also cause problems with Cura if you mess up files in those directories. I learned this lesson the hard way, trust me on this one. If you add those files instead to the user directory, they will migrate Cura versions and less chance of causing errors in Cura. You can find the user directory by clicking the Show Configuration Folder option in the Help menu within Cura.

[tomnagel 126]

On 1/6/2022 at 3:19 PM, arj3090 said:

A follow up after much experimenting.... I ran several materials (PLA, ABS, PETG, TPU) using the CC 0.4 core to see if it could be used exclusively for everything (except PVA). All materials appeared to print just as well with the CC 0.4 as it did with the AA 0.4 until I got to the TPU. The TPU would partially print my object before repeatedly giving an out of material alarm. The first few layers worked fine, but then it seemed to just be spitting out small blobs of material and not a continuous flow. I tried several times with different settings, but the result was always the same. As soon as I swapped back to the AA 0.4 core, the print completed.

 

It appears there is some physical difference between the AA and CC cores.

Certainly there is a physical difference. The AA core has a brass nozzle, which has a better heat conduction than the hardened steel nozzle from the CC 0.4 core. For most materials, the difference may be acceptable, but TPU is more sensitive to small temperature variations.