1 Topic by dazee

  • dazee
  • Member
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2015-01-26
  • Posts: 25

Topic: Who is running stock firmware/software, what is your experience?

Just wondering, who is running their printer with stock firmware, software, filament etc and what is your experience?  How many hours running the printer?

Alot of the time people only post when they have a problem they need help with, so thought it would be good to hear some positives - if there are any.

Personally I am still running the stock firmware, software and using stock filament.  I have about 270 hours running on the printer with no major issues.  Have not updated to new software for a while, so still running 1.1.34.7

Issues...

early on had a filament jam that needed the extruder to be removed to clear properly.  All in all a learning experience on how to clean and maintain the printer.

also early issues with getting proper adhesion on first layers.  Since getting a good supply of UHU sticks, and abandoning the built in calibration in favor of the manual calibration described in this forum, no more issues.

Not going to touch on the XYZ service support as this varies wildly in different countries.  Let's just say it's been frustrating at times, but they've never refused to take the printer in and fix for free.

Since my early "learning" issues, have been smooth for about the last 200 hours - touch wood.  Now just waiting for the PLA upgrade to be available here and will be happy.

Anyone else having a good experience as stock?

2 Reply by dazee

  • dazee
  • Member
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2015-01-26
  • Posts: 25

Re: Who is running stock firmware/software, what is your experience?

LOL literally within an hour of posting this had an issue.  If you're going to the trouble of trying to lock people into a cartidge based system for your filament, make sure the remaining filament display is accurate.  Print just fouled up because ran out of filament but display still indicated some left.

Ah well, nothing major at least.

3 Reply by madmike8

  • madmike8
  • Member
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2014-12-30
  • Posts: 37

Re: Who is running stock firmware/software, what is your experience?

I'm still stock. It still prints well. I have not updated either software or firmware in a while. I still buy XYZ cartridges. Still the only problems I've had is the x cable dragging causing a shift in the print. Fixed with duct tape. And loose hotend connector. Fixed with a Ziptie.

4 Reply by scobo

  • scobo
  • scobo
  • Member
  • Offline
  • From: Scotland - UK
  • Registered: 2014-08-09
  • Posts: 993

Re: Who is running stock firmware/software, what is your experience?

I'm still on stock firmware but using Simplify3D to slice.
Got 72 hours print time on the clock and haven't run into any issues I haven't been able to fix myself.
I replaced 3 broken bearing mounts a few weeks after I got the printer and also replaced the extruder heater wiring connectors which failed. I don't bother with auto cal now either.
I'm using 3rd party ABS and have modded the stock extruder to enable it to print exotic filaments too.
Overall, I'm pretty pleased with the prints I'm getting with this setup.

Davinci 1.0 with repetier firmware & E3D V6 Lite
Anycubic Photon DLP printer, Einscan-S 3D scanner
Simplify3d, 123D Design, Meshmixer
http://www.thingiverse.com/scobo/designs

5 Reply by tonyno

  • tonyno
  • Member
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2014-12-23
  • Posts: 135

Re: Who is running stock firmware/software, what is your experience?

Stock firmware (1.0.3, iirc) and carts, but, using Simplify3D. Same as you, major jam early on (day 1). 193 hours so far with no other issues.

6 Reply by Oldsirhippy

  • Oldsirhippy
  • Member
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2015-01-17
  • Posts: 45

Re: Who is running stock firmware/software, what is your experience?

DaVinci 1.0A with FW 1.0.1 and XYZware 1.1.32.1 - this is my first and so far only FFF printer.

Dedicated notebook for the DaVinci which is disconnected from the Web, so the firmware has never been updated from new.

So far it has had 157 hours of printing with few glitches. There were original glitches when the XYZ printer was dropped in shipping but that was quickly fixed - the carriage had moved the axes and one of the end stops had popped out, calibration was also way off. So after doing the original XYZ calibration the printer is now calibrated when needed with the paper technique.

Using re-filled original cartridges with e-sun filament and a resetter and also use external reels from e-sun - ABS only.

Chips appeared on the original glass and so installed a borosilicate glass in its stead and have had no problems with the bed since then.

The extruder is cleaned with the brass brush before every print and the previous print's layer of UHU glue is scraped off the bed before applying  a generous layer of UHU prior to a print. The thick UHU glue layers are applied on the bed whilst heating.

So far I am very pleased with the results the printer is producing, it has been relatively hassle free. A great buy and much easier to get going than the kits I had considered getting. The DaVinci printer is almost plug and play.

7 Reply by mpoffo (edited by mpoffo 2015-06-18 19:29:14)

  • mpoffo
  • Member
  • Offline
  • From: Milwaukee WI Area
  • Registered: 2014-12-09
  • Posts: 184

Re: Who is running stock firmware/software, what is your experience?

I have a 1.0A that is stock yet.  I also use Simplify 3D now and am happy with the results.  I have both XYZ filament and other filament.  My new favorite filament is from Makergeeks but I have also used Hatchbox with good success.  I use the XYZZeroCart from WCTek with the external filament.

I am not near my printer at the moment but know I have well over 200 hours on it.  So far, so good.  I did have some alignment issues on the Y-axis initially but that was easily corrected once I lined the belts up .  My glass did chip and had to be replaced.  I don't consider that a major issue.

I assume at some point I will need to deal with other issues (i.e. wire harness, etc.) but there is a lot of helpful information out there to resolve many of those issues.

DaVinci 1.0A with Repetier .92
Simplify 3D
E3DV6

8 Reply by dazee

  • dazee
  • Member
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2015-01-26
  • Posts: 25

Re: Who is running stock firmware/software, what is your experience?

Oldsirhippy wrote:

The extruder is cleaned with the brass brush before every print and the previous print's layer of UHU glue is scraped off the bed before applying  a generous layer of UHU prior to a print. The thick UHU glue layers are applied on the bed whilst heating.

I will try this with reference to applying the UHU to the bed whilst heating.  I found the first prints have a slight lift sometimes on one edge after cleaning the print bed.  But I don't scrape the glue off every print.  I do a quick refresh layer of glue and all subsequent prints are perfectly flat on the bed.

9 Reply by robertf (edited by robertf 2015-06-22 02:40:59)

  • robertf
  • Member
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2015-04-08
  • Posts: 78

Re: Who is running stock firmware/software, what is your experience?

I've got 212 hours on my 2.0 and am using stock firmware with simplify3d

It works great for ABS, and after my ordeals with converting my 1.0 to RAMPS and repetier I don't plan on changing it

The only problem I had was the extruder connector mafunctioned and I had to solder it up.

The 1.0 with RAMPS is a whole nother beast, but after many iterations its finally relaible enough to do production parts in a variety of material.


As much as the XYZ software sucks, I've got to commend them on the da vinci.  Its reliability has been about on par with my first epson dot matrix 2d printer.  And the 1.0 hardware has held up to crashing in to the bed for hours due to a bad repetier config.

10 Reply by awesomeness

  • awesomeness
  • Member
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2014-12-29
  • Posts: 30

Re: Who is running stock firmware/software, what is your experience?

I have a 1.0A, with 1009 hours, and no issues.  I'm using the most updated firmware and software.

I generally use the XYZ cartridges, but I have a resetter for when I want to use colors XYZ doesn't offer.

Overall, I think the XYZ firmware and software does an "ok" job.  The tinkerers definitely are able to get better print results with Repetier, new silcers, and better tuned configurations, but the built in stuff gets the job done.  I'm hoping XYZ is able to learn and improve their software, since it's easy for them to get ahead by simply releasing better software.

Here's a list of the biggest issues I experience with their software...

1.  They only have a toggle for supports - on or off - and the zigzag pattern it always uses can cause issues.  For example, I had a print with a vertical wall, with circular pockets in the wall (to glue magnets in).  Some pockets would print well, and others would deform, based on whether the turn-around of the zigzag pattern ended in the corner.  This is probably the single most annoying thing I experience, and I seem to a lot, because there doesn't seem to be any way around it... if you move it over or turn the part, a different pocket would get messed up.

2.  Some vertical walls deform in, so that they are no longer straight and vertical.  I understand this has something to do with the rate at which filament is being fed, in relation to head feedrate/movement, but it's not adjustable with stock software.

3.  Printer will keep air-printing when the filament runs out, even though the printer has a detector for filament.  This has really only happened because I accidentally short-filled a reset cartridge, but it still seems odd that it wouldn't stop once it couldn't see filament any longer.

4.  Printed objects tend not to be quite as dimensionally accurate as I would like.  It's not unworkable, since if you printed the other mating parts on the same printer, they tend to be off by the same amount, and still fit together.  However, as an example, I have a part here on my desk that is supposed to be 4.250" long, and it's only 4.230".  There is no way to compensate for this in the XYZ softwares, so it sometimes causes issues when trying to mate a 3D printed part to a real part from another source.