Adding extruders to a "fixed amount of extruders" printer preset

[MBee 0]

Hi,

I added more extruders to my printer (Ender 3 v2).

I would like to use the basic "Ender 3 pro" preset, as it still works perfectly after modifications.

Cura thinks you can't have multiple extruders on that printer and does not allow adding them.

I need to add my new extruders in Cura, which is not possible.

I tried tailoring the "Custom FFF Printer" preset, but could not get it to work.

 

Is there a way to add more extruders to a "fixed num of extruders" preset?

Can I somehow copy the preset's settings to a "NOT fixed num of extruders" preset?

[GregValiant 1,490]

There are 3 things you would need to do:

• The number of "extruder_trains" has to be changed in the Creality_base.def.json file.
• The extruder definition files have to be added to the "extruders" folder in Cura.
• The nozzle files have to be added to the "variants" folder in Cura.

I have my Ender 3 Pro set up for 4 extruders.  It was a bit tedious but not really difficult.

Because I made a "local" change to my Cura files, when I update Cura those files have to be copied into the new version.  I keep copies available in a separate folder.

 

What is your total number of extruders?

Do they have separate heaters and nozzles or are they connected to a "multiple-in-one-out" type hot end?

Are you going to want additional "virtual" extruders for color mixing?  (your firmware would need to support M163-M166 for that to work).

[MBee 0]

Quote

What is your total number of extruders?

Do they have separate heaters and nozzles or are they connected to a "multiple-in-one-out" type hot end?

Are you going to want additional "virtual" extruders for color mixing?  (your firmware would need to support M163-M166 for that to work).

Thanks for an idea! I'm trying to implement this: https://github.com/Sakati84/3DPrintColorizer
So the total number is 7 (actual extruder + 6 pens).

[GregValiant 1,490]

I was going to build that and never got around to it.  I print mostly functional models and don' t really have a need.

The extruder files are easy and I was mistaken about the nozzle files as you can use the existing ones for the new extruders.  You should not have to add any nozzles.

Open "creality_base_extruder_0.def.json" in a text editor, do a "Save-As" with the same type of naming system, make a couple changes to the text in the file, and it should work.  It might take a couple of tries to get the syntax right.  Space characters instead of Tabs...that sort of thing.

If you start Cura after making changes and get the "There are errors do you want to remove all your printers" just close the textbox using the "X" and close Cura and try again.

This is from my Creality_base.def.json file and yours would be similar but longer.

"machine_extruder_trains": {
        "0": "creality_base_extruder_0",
        "1": "creality_base_extruder_1",
        "2": "creality_base_extruder_2",
        "3": "creality_base_extruder_3"
      },

So you can see that I had to add "creality_base_extruder_1", and _2 and _3 for a total of 4 extruders.  In reality I only have a single extruder, but for trouble-shooting it became necessary to have a virtual multi-extruder handy.

Edited July 8, 2022 by GregValiant

[MBee 0]

Hey, I finally managed to make it "work"! But I ran into another issue:

The new profile interferes with 3DPrintColorizer's post-processing script.

The preset I conjured with your help does not allow it to add any gcode - it generates gcode that uses only the main extruder, so it does not paint anything.

The .curaprofile attached on the github repo produces valid gcode - but the prints are of extremely poor quality (even without painting).

 

Editing the values that should be edited according to the wiki did not help.

Edited July 10, 2022 by MBee