Tool change Time Estimate

[jacobdobbratz 7]

Is there a way to set the tool change time in the config files? I'd like to have a better time estimate for my multi tool prints if this feature is present. If it's not then I'll stop looking for it. Thanks for the awesome work Dev team.

[MariMakes 178]

Hey @jacobdobbratz,

 

I honestly don't know. I'll have to ask the team!
 

I'm super curious, what kind of printer are you using and what are you using it for?

[jacobdobbratz 7]

I have a custom Ender 3 that takes a while (about 30 seconds to retract about 200mm of filament) for tool changes.  But that time adds up when you can have up to 5 tool changes per layer. 

My friend also works for a company that is looking to add their printer to cura and they have a lengthy tool change process and their cura time estimates are always off. 

PierreMasselot1/Material-Switching-Unit: The MSU (Material Switching Unit) is a multi-material upgrade based on the MMU2, with key improvements to improve reliability, price and compatibility. (github.com)
 

 

[jacobdobbratz 7]

@MariMakes, did you get a chance to ask about the time settings?

[GregValiant 1,115]

"(about 30 seconds to retract about 200mm of filament)" 

If it's taking 30 seconds for 200mm then that's about 7mm/sec.  That's really slow.

You can set the retract and prime speed for the tool change in the Dual Extrusion settings.  At 50mm/sec it should take 4 seconds to retract and another 4 seconds to prime.

If the printer has a 10mm/sec limit "maximum E speed" in it's M203 register then no matter what you enter into Cura the printer would use 10mm/sec.

You didn't mention, but is that a "multiple-in / one-out" hot end?  M109 commands can cause about a 10 second time penalty as the printer processor checks that the temperature is OK.  It's something else to look for.  If you have "Extruders Share Heater" and "Extruders Share Nozzle" enabled in the Printer Settings then that shouldn't happen though.

[jacobdobbratz 7]

Ah, yes I should have clarified. Its a multilateral single extruder setup. The retraction process is very slow because a simple T0 command will retract 200+ mm, then actuate a servo, then push 200+ mm of a different filament into the hot end. This is all done on the firmware side.  A really appreciate your answer but it doesn't quite address the question if there is a setting that allows for cura to compensate for T0's or T1's to have a time associated with them. I'm considering doing a DIY build in the future that could involve a lengthily firmware toolchange that isn't seen by Cura or the engine. What I'm looking for is any configuration or time estimate that I can adjust to have toolchange time (just caused by T0 commands) added into the estimate.

 

[GregValiant 1,115]

No, there is no setting that will do that.

The times for the retractions as noted in the Dual Extruder section are included in the time calculation as are the regular retractions and primes.

What I have laying around is this post-processor that you may be able to do something with.  It displays the time remaining and the layer on the LCD as "91/160 | ET 1H56M" but it includes a Fudge Factor so you can adjust the print time that is displayed.  You use the formula  "Cura Estimate / Actual Print Time" to calculate the fudge factor.  After a few prints I'm sure you would get a handle on the error.  I use 1.12 and it is really close to reality.

 

Here is a Zip folder containing the "ShowProgress.py" file if you want to play with it.  In Cura 5.x for Windows the .py file goes in the:

"C:\Program Files\Ultimaker Cura 5.1.0\share\cura\plugins\PostProcessingPlugin\scripts" folder and becomes available when you add a post-processing script in Cura.

To give credit where credit is due, the script was written by a fella named Louis Wooters.  I made an adjustment to add an M118 line so it would bounce the same info back to my print server.

 

 

ShowProgress.zip

[MariMakes 178]

@GregValiant is correct. 

I asked the team and there is indeed no such a setting.
We discussed some work-arounds but most of the time related calculations are related to heating up and cooling down other printcores for a printcore change. 

Thanks for sharing a ShowProgress Zip, Greg! 
I hope that it has the tunable settings you are looking for. 

Good luck 👍 and sorry I couldn't help you more.

[jacobdobbratz 7]

Greg, this is awesome! Thanks so much. I'll give this a go.

This may have been asked already but are the printer speed or acceleration values in the config files included in the time calculations? I'd be willing to mess around with those to get my printer dialed in.

 

And Thanks for asking Mari, I love cura and appreciate the team/community behind it.

 

[GregValiant 1,115]

The Speed and Accel numbers you enter into Cura are the ones used in the calculations.  The problem occurs when someone decides to print at 5000mm/sec and at 10000mm/sec² Accel.  If that's what you enter in Cura then Cura will happily use those numbers in the calculation.

Then the gcode gets read by the printer.

The printer may have M201 (Accel) and M203 (speed) set to much lower values.  So the printer will refuse to honor the speeds and accels in the gcode file and will limit itself to whatever max values it has.  That makes it look like the print time was calculated incorrectly but it's more of a "garbage in and garbage out" sort of thing.

If you check the printer's response to M503 it will have those "max" values in it.

You can use Pronterface to send and receive info from the printer.  I use my own Windows app that I modestly named "Greg's Toolbox".