Topic: Davinci Noob tips and tricks
I only just started with the Davinci as my first 3D printer so naturally I had to read through many posts to get up to speed. Since many little
bits of information are spread through the forums, I decided to put all the things I found useful into one thread.
Demo print is ok but any smaller print is just a mess - especially towers, cylinders, etc.:
First calibrate the printer. Even though XYZ discourages you to do so, this is a must right after you buy it.
Auto calibration keeps giving crazy values or inconsistent values even when nothing is changed:
It is very important to clean the printhead and especially the little nub left of the extrusion hole. Go into the printer menu, select "nozzle cleaning" and wait for it to heat up. Then use the wire brush and clean it properly. You can also use acetone. Also clean the metal clips which that nub touches when doing the calibration. Check if the screws that hold the metal clips in place are tight.
Auto calibration is still not working well or the print results are off:
The calibration sets the height of the starting layer unless the gcode file you generate specifies otherwise. Ideally it should be around .1 to .15mm about the thickness of a sheet of paper. Most of us don't use auto cal as it is not dependable. You can run it once and not touch anything then run again and all the values will be different. Just run it once till it passes. then store that value. Start a print and as soon as it starts the little purge line on the side turn of power. This allows you to move the head around by hand while it is close to the bed. The using a sheet of paper adjust it manually so that the paper just drags between the nozzle and the bed at all three screws. This is the best way to do it since the auto cal will have you pulling out hair before long. (carl_m1968)
Manual calibration - important note
You must calibrate straight after interrupting the demo print - do not wait for the nozzle and glass to cool off. Otherwise your measurements will give you wrong values.
Wireless Card instead of USB cable or SDCard extension cable:
The wireless SD card is a wireless means of uploading files to the printer instead of an SD extension cable or usb cable. It also has the advantage (as would an extension cable) that you don't need to do anything with your gcode file apart from rename it to one of the demo files such as SAMPLE01.gcode, no header required. It's only the xyzware program that uses the header. (Scobo)
You download an STL file from Thingiverse and when importing to XYZWare some of it is missing or has changed its shape:
This is down to the model not being watertight. That means it either has some areas that are not joined together properly or some faces of the model are inverted (inside facing outwards). There are ways to auto fix these models so that you can print them - try googling "Microsoft model repair service"
Also in reference to understanding how to make your model printable, i.e. watertight - Google: www mastersketchup com 8-tips-for-3d-printing-with-sketchup.
You created a simple 3d model in Sketchup (or similar app) but when importing it to XYZWare some of it is missing or has changed its shape:
I can only write about Sketchup here since this is what I use. There are 3 plugins you need to get inside the Sketchup Warehouse: Cleanup, Solidsolver and Solidinspector. These will help you massively to understand where you have left things open, have inverted faces or overcomplicated the model by not joining parts together or using too many faces and lines. The simpler the model, the quicker XYZWare will be able to slice it.
How to slow down your prints to improve the quality or have more control over the slicing process (using Slic3r):
While I used the XYZWare slicer mostly, I now have started to look into ways of controlling the printing speeds which helps when printing very small details. Since the ABS filament needs time to settle, on smaller bits the print head moves too quickly and deforms the printed layers before they can settle. Download Slic3r then choose the Reprap configuration. Next you need to adjust the 3 tabs "print settings, filament settings, printer settings. You can download my settings (in slic3r File menu, go to load config bundle) which will make the printer print very, very slowly but has been giving me good results on small, detailed prints: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/180 … config.ini
If you want to set it manually, most importantly adjust the layer height to 0.2mm, reduce all the speeds to below 50mm/s, change the filament to 1.75 (if you are using the XYZ filament), set the extrusion multiplier to 0.9, Extruder temp 210, Bed temp 90, Bed size is 200x200, print center is 100x100, Nozzle diameter is 0.4mm. You will also need to look at Z offset if you find that the nozzle is too close to the print bed on the first few layers. A negative value lowers the nozzle.
If you want to understand the various settings, check out the video here: search youtube for "Slic3r Settings - Explained"
So now you have the model inside Slic3r and need to create the gcode. In the plater tab click export gcode. XYZWare cannot read gcode normally but there is a modified XYZware version (w34 at the voltivo forum) that will allow you to import it just like an STL file. PM me if you need a download link to it.
This has worked for me without having to adjust any of the headers and comments inside the gcode since the modified XYZware does not need that anymore.
Your extruder does not heat up properly anymore:
(happened to my 1 month old Davinci) , have a look at the connector, wiggle it then see if the temp rises. Ideally replace it with something more solid or simply solder the cables directly. Details can be found in this thread: http://www.soliforum.com/topic/6324/xyz … -properly/
Wait for your print to cool off completely:
The glass is known to chip if you pull off a print before it and the heat bed completely cooled off. Using masking tap (Kapton Tape, etc). works as a replacement for the UHU stick and if your glass is chipped, will give you a flat surface to print on.
I will add more as I go along but feel free to add anything a noob might need.
