1 Topic by Serin

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Topic: Calibration for dummies

Dummie AKA - me.

My printer landed a few hours ago, been calibrating and testing.
Unfortunately I seem to be having a bit of a brain blank due to lack of sleep..
So I was wondering if you lovely people could help fill in the blanks?

I'm using Repetier v0.85b, attempting to print at 3mm.

-bed level
-steps per mm.

I've also fiddled a little with the z-step a little, but I'm still not really clear on what counts as a decent stick/squish to the bed.

Here's what it's managed to pump out so far, from 0 calibration to current, left to right.

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc15/coheed101/WP_20131108_027_zps25fd9a3e.jpg

This is a crowd funding thing that I'm running: http://www.gofundme.com/bvi140 It's for pretty selfish reasons tongue

2 Reply by adrian (edited by adrian 2013-11-08 05:54:00)

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Re: Calibration for dummies

Worked through, specifically in order (and if out of order, go back and repeat as they build on each other)
Bed Height (Z-Height)
Bed Level
Average Diameter of Filament being used calculated by measuring at least 5 mesurements across 10-20m's of filament and entered into Slic3r->Filament
Extruder Steps-per-mm
Extruder Flow Rate (Multiplier adjusted under Slic3r->Filament)

This should get you 99.9% right, then if you want to start chasing your tail around the printer, commence on:
Circle Alignment via the Y-Drive Motor->LinkRod Belt Tension
Y-Left and Y-Right belt tension adjustment
Z-Axis Drive System
X-Axis Drive System
Y-Axis Drive System
Extruder-VREF
Extruder-Microstepping

3 Reply by Serin

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Re: Calibration for dummies

Right.

Done for the most part.
Everything looks even enough and is sticking perfectly in most cases(save for the skirts)
Still a little fine tuning to do.

Still having this rather odd problem occur at the point where the extruder pauses and retracts for the move to the next layer.
In the picture it's the vertical holes on the right side of the piece.
Is this a retraction issue, or something else I've evidently missed?

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc15/coheed101/WP_20131108_030_zps78f08f5e.jpg

Cheers for the help again, Adrian smile

This is a crowd funding thing that I'm running: http://www.gofundme.com/bvi140 It's for pretty selfish reasons tongue

4 Reply by adrian

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Re: Calibration for dummies

the above effect is exacerbated if your flow multiplier is low, but if the wall widths are +/-1mm of what they should be, then yeah, its retraction needs to be dialled down a bit under Slic3r->Printer->Extruder 1 ...

But I kind of feel that your extrusion is not quite there given the way it seems slightly squished and wavy... (its not moire, it appears the banding genuinely is 'wavy' across the width of x ).. but i'm just guessing...

I'd also increase the x/y jerk setting in EEPROM from the default to, mmm, say 21.5 .. as a wild guess... this should clean up those corners a lot.

5 Reply by Serin

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Re: Calibration for dummies

Ok,
Even with your suggested changes I'm still getting the same problem with little to no improvement.
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc15/coheed101/WP_20131108_038_zps67298ffa.jpg

Curious that the solid one seemed to have printed almost perfectly...

Anyway,
Here's my current settings, thought it'd make it easier to diagnose things without too much delay.
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc15/coheed101/Diag1_zps596f6396.jpg
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc15/coheed101/Diag5_zps78d1617f.jpg
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc15/coheed101/Diag2_zps8989a87b.jpg
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc15/coheed101/Diag4_zpsb5bd1ac4.jpg
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc15/coheed101/Diag6_zps80b4e35d.jpg
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc15/coheed101/diag3_zps06696001.jpg

Currently printing a Vulcan IDIC pendant, and it seems to be printing pretty well.
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc15/coheed101/WP_20131108_039_zps5ead8e44.jpg

Safe to say I'm rather confused.

This is a crowd funding thing that I'm running: http://www.gofundme.com/bvi140 It's for pretty selfish reasons tongue

6 Reply by jabba400

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Re: Calibration for dummies

The retraction seems a little high, and mine doesn't have the "wipe on retraction" set.  Try setting retraction to about 0.5 to 1.  (In saying that, I am battling the layer adhesion / fill to perimeter demons currently).

7 Reply by rjp350z

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Re: Calibration for dummies

Are you sure the filament diameter is 1.83?  Usually 1.75 or less.  you should measure with calibers and double check it

8 Reply by Serin

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Re: Calibration for dummies

Thanks guys,
I fixed my calibration a couple of weeks ago now smile
Probably should've marked this as solved...

This is a crowd funding thing that I'm running: http://www.gofundme.com/bvi140 It's for pretty selfish reasons tongue

9 Reply by Photog

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Re: Calibration for dummies

Serin wrote:

Thanks guys,
I fixed my calibration a couple of weeks ago now smile
Probably should've marked this as solved...

Could you share what fixed it? smile

My SD3:  Clear plexiglass case, case heater, X axis stabilizer, Z axis stabilizer, thumb screws, filament guide, heatsinks on all motors, extruder fan, controller fan, heatsinks on motherboard, Y rod pillow block, USB and Power on/off switch, fully calibrated including trimpot tuning. Am I missing anything?