Questions from an S5 newbie

[Alzibiff 8]

Hello,

After 3D printing for over a decade on two home built 3D printers, I have realised my long held 3D Printing dream and got myself an Ultimaker  - now specifically an S5. Inevitably with all the automation built into the S5, I have some questions ...

 

1. Am I right in thinking that the S5 only needs to know what material is loaded into each print core so that it can set the right temperature for loading and unloading filament? I am thinking that the parameters for core temperature, feed rates, retraction and so on will be in the GCODE given to the machine via CURA or other slicing software.
2. How does the S5 know what temperatures to set when I want to clean the print cores? Is this dependent on the material set for the print core via the touch screen or based purely on whether I say that I am using PLA or the Ultimaker cleaning filament?
3. How does the S5 know what temperature to set when loading a material different to what was used previously? I ask because in preparation for a new material the print core needs to be purged of the previous material and this may well need a higher temperature to extrude the previous material compared to the new. To put this question in another way, if the material set via the touch screen is PLA and I have just unloaded ABS, how will the S5 set the right temperature to get rid of any ABS sitting in the print core chamber after it was unloaded?
4. How often do I need to run the print core cleaning routine if using various materials from time to time? 

 

Looking forward to using dual extrusion and using a build plate with 'magic' levelling 🙂.

 

[Dustin 129]

Try to answer your questions here..

1. Yes, or rather to over simplify the answer yes... Depending the material the Cura profile has additional settings baked in as well not exposed to the UI.. Additionally there is various triggers for status and processes within the machines firmware as well that gets triggered pending the material selected.

2. Should be a fixed temp if I recall correctly. A there could have been any known material in the print core prior which might not work well with the material currently loaded.

3. This is why we recommend cleaning print cores prior to switching material types 
See here: https://support.makerbot.com/s/article/1667337928445

4. see #3

[Travis7s 25]

Well I'm not 100% sure on these but will give it a shot. *edit* Dustin did beat me while I was typing.

1. The printer knowing what material is loaded also means Cura will stop you from accidentally using the wrong print profile if you attempt to do so. You can override this though, if need be.

2. I'm pretty sure it is only based on what cleaning material you select, never had any issues with this.

3. I'm not sure it takes this into account, but I don't think it matters. The loading PLA temperature seems adequate to purge any material from the nozzle in my experience.. 

4. With "standard" filaments like PLA/ABS/Nylon I almost never feel the need to do a cleaning besides the recommended 3 month maintenance schedule. With heavy printing of things like TPU and GFPP I've found weekly seems to be required.

[Alzibiff 8]

16 hours ago, Travis7s said:

Well I'm not 100% sure on these but will give it a shot. *edit* Dustin did beat me while I was typing.

1. The printer knowing what material is loaded also means Cura will stop you from accidentally using the wrong print profile if you attempt to do so. You can override this though, if need be.

2. I'm pretty sure it is only based on what cleaning material you select, never had any issues with this.

3. I'm not sure it takes this into account, but I don't think it matters. The loading PLA temperature seems adequate to purge any material from the nozzle in my experience.. 

4. With "standard" filaments like PLA/ABS/Nylon I almost never feel the need to do a cleaning besides the recommended 3 month maintenance schedule. With heavy printing of things like TPU and GFPP I've found weekly seems to be required.

Thank you Travis7s and Dustin - useful answers in both posts. Sorry I could not mark them both as solutions but DO appreciate the replies.