Quick Setup Guide for Elegoo Neptune 4 Printer Profile & Settings for Cura 5.4

[cowboyz1 4]

I wanted Tree supports and all the extras that came with Cura 5.4 but was apprehensive about moving away from the 4.8 Elegoo provided for fear of messing things up. My new Neptune 4 is rock solid now and printing amazing prints so I finally took the plug and did it. I couldn't be happier. So here is what I did. Very easy.

 

1. I made screen prints of all my settings. You can copy your existing Start Code and End Code if you want or use the Elegoo defaults below. If you have made changes to your start or end code make sure to copy and paste it to a notepad for step 5.

 

2. Uninstalled Cura 4.8 and deleted all the files in both Program Files\Cura and Program files (X86)\Cura and C:\Users\%youruserprofile%\AppData\Local\Cura

        a. You will want to save any profile settings you have in cura now by exporting them or screen shots because you will have clean install with no Profiles, Plugins etc.

3. Rebooted computer

4. Installed new cura 5.4

5. Set up Elegoo 4 Printer 
      a. Select Add Custom Printer

      b. Name printer Elegoo Neptune 4
 

Paste the below Start Code:
 

G28 ;home
G92 E0 ;Reset Extruder
G1 Z4.0 F3000 ;Move Z Axis up
G92 E0 ;Reset Extruder
G1 X1.1 Y20 Z0.28 F5000.0 ;Move to start position
G1 X1.1 Y80.0 Z0.28 F1500.0 E10 ;Draw the first line
G1 X1.4 Y80.0 Z0.28 F5000.0 ;Move to side a little
G1 X1.4 Y20 Z0.28 F1500.0 E20 ;Draw the second line
G92 E0 ;Reset Extruder
G1 Z2.0 F3000 ;Move Z Axis up

Paste the Below End Code:
 

G91 ;Relative positionning
G1 E-2 F2700 ;Retract a bit
G1 E-2 Z0.2 F2400 ;Retract and raise Z
G1 X5 Y5 F3000 ;Wipe out
G1 Z2 ;Raise Z more
G90 ;Absolute positionning
G1 X0 Y230 ;Present print
M106 S0 ;Turn-off fan
M104 S0 ;Turn-off hotend
M140 S0 ;Turn-off bed
M84 X Y E ;Disable all steppers but Z



Extruder 1



Save and that was it. 

I closed reopened downloaded all the plug ins I wanted and I was in business. Take some time to adjust the settings. 

I also needed to create a PLA setting custom so my default printer temp and build plate temps would be correct as the Material settings dictate the temps.

Otherwise I LOVE IT. You will need to add the Option "Support Structure" in settings to be able to select the dropdown Tree Supports.

Happy Printing. 

Edited October 21, 2023 by cowboyz1
Add better description

[cowboyz1 4]

Oh and by the way, if you want to be able to see the thumbnails in your print screen as well as Fluidd klipper web interface when you upload a file make sure to download the "Elegoo Neptune Thumbnail plugin" at in Marketplace. 
 

[cowboyz1 4]

There is also a very short Youtube Video that shows this process. If I have the time to find it I will post it here. Otherwise this process worked perfectly.

[Slashee_the_Cow 541]

This is a discussion forum, not a place to write your own tutorials. People wanting to set it up are probably going to do a Google search for instructions rather than come straight to the forum. A good place might be an appropriate subreddit for that printer.

[mrender 26]

Useful Cura related information in the Cura forum, don't see a problem with this.

[NF_99 0]

Hi, is there a reason why your print area is 235x235x270mm? In the manual it says that the print area for Neptune 4 is 225x225x265mm

[Slashee_the_Cow 541]

6 hours ago, NF_99 said:

Hi, is there a reason why your print area is 235x235x270mm? In the manual it says that the print area for Neptune 4 is 225x225x265mm

I have absolutely no idea about Elegoo printers, but it could be like a Creality Ender-3 / Ender-3 v2, officially the build volume on those is only 220x220x250, but the plate itself is 235x235 and with a little tweaking you can get it to use all of that space. Now they've spoiled everyone's fun with the Ender-3 V3, which still has a 235x235 plate, but has physical blockers installed on the machine to prevent it from going outside a 220x220 area.

[furyzetec 0]

I followed your guide and upgraded to Version 5.5 from the provided version 4.8 with my Neptune 4, copied all the settings across etc but the print speeds since moving across have been terrible. One piece that was 3hours 5 mins with 4.8 are now taking over 8 hours with the exact same settings? Are you finding a vast increase in print times?

[Slashee_the_Cow 541]

5 hours ago, furyzetec said:

I followed your guide and upgraded to Version 5.5 from the provided version 4.8 with my Neptune 4, copied all the settings across etc but the print speeds since moving across have been terrible. One piece that was 3hours 5 mins with 4.8 are now taking over 8 hours with the exact same settings? Are you finding a vast increase in print times?

Have you tried deleting the profile you copied across and adding the printer from scratch following the instructions in the initial post?

[furyzetec 0]

Yep, I tried your method first before trying any other settings. |Even upping the print speeds seemed to do nothing and the edge bed adhesion was worse than the elegoo version.

[ptllll 0]

On 11/11/2023 at 6:04 PM, furyzetec said:

Yep, I tried your method first before trying any other settings. |Even upping the print speeds seemed to do nothing and the edge bed adhesion was worse than the elegoo version.

You can only upgrade cura to 5.4 ... 5.5 doesn't work with neptune 4 from what I read online

[Sevin7 0]

Most helpful thing that came up in my Google search, thanks for sharing the work with others.

[RetrogradeStep 0]

On 12/27/2023 at 12:30 AM, ptllll said:

You can only upgrade cura to 5.4 ... 5.5 doesn't work with neptune 4 from what I read online

Oh wow, thanks! I didn't realize that just copying the settings from one version to another wouldn't be enough!  Now I'm beginning to think my two recent big failed prints are probably related to the software and not bed leveling and z height adjustment

[Chrisalis 0]

I'm assuming that these settings are for PLA, as I managed to print a bird' nest with them using PETG?!

[Slashee_the_Cow 541]

9 hours ago, Chrisalis said:

I'm assuming that these settings are for PLA, as I managed to print a bird' nest with them using PETG?!

The machine settings and start/end gcode shouldn't matter for different materials. Changes in the quality profile (mainly temperatures) are the important part there.