1

Topic: SD3 Wall Thickness and Flow Calibration

OK...I have searched and searched and tried and tried to get it right.  I have seen some things and want to validate my process/finding.

I have a newer SD3 and from what I understand the nozzle is .4mm

I have looked at the tutorial here for setting the flow...

wiki (slash) flow-rate

It says to set your width to 0.42mm...but I'm wondering if the SD3 with a .4mm nozzle can really achieve that?  I have been able to get close... ~0.44mm but that is using an extrusion multiplier of .646 even though I have calibrated my extruder and set the values in the eeprom.

For doing the flow calibrations, I am using this box:

thingiverse (slash) thing (colon) 203633

I set the wall thickness to 0.40mm since that is the thickness of the nozzle and the obvious target.

Can someone definitively say what the process for an SD3 should be for calibrating the flow-rate and wall thickness?  What should I use as the "Default Extrusion Width"?

Thanks,
Curtis

P.S.  Sorry for the cryptic links...it won't let me post a URL.

2

Re: SD3 Wall Thickness and Flow Calibration

Have you calibrated the extruder steps/mm yet?

.42 should be okay out the .40 nozzle. I've calibrated mine for that before.

3

Re: SD3 Wall Thickness and Flow Calibration

Yes, I did the extruder steps/mm, I was overextruding quite a bit.  Now trying to get the flow right.  Seems when I adjust the extrusion even more, I get really sparse prints.  Perhaps I have my z height wrong or something.

4

Re: SD3 Wall Thickness and Flow Calibration

Sparse only on the first layer?

5

Re: SD3 Wall Thickness and Flow Calibration

Step 1: Determine correct teps/mm of filament through extruder and save into EEPROM.

Step 2: Set correct Z-height for bed by performing first layer only prints and measuring thickness of actual extruded plastic (skirt is great for this).

Step 3: Print single walled cube (dont do this with curved objects as wall thickness varies with the curve) with your slicer settings set for 0.42mm static value. Adjust multiplier to get the physical dimensions to match slicers calculated.

Chuck Bittner is a quadriplegic gamer who is petitioning the major console developers to include internal button remapping in all console games. You can help.
Sign Chuck Bittners petition

6

Re: SD3 Wall Thickness and Flow Calibration

Question? If your extrusion steps/mm is correct , in theory shouldn't the multiplier be set to  1?

SD3, E3D hotend,linear bearing on x/y axis',pillow block bearing on y conneting rod, ball bearngs on front y axis, fan on y stepper motor.

7

Re: SD3 Wall Thickness and Flow Calibration

satman49 wrote:

Question? If your extrusion steps/mm is correct , in theory shouldn't the multiplier be set to  1?

Yea, I wonder that as well. Just for curiosity, I was experimenting, and got 0.53 walls when I set multiplier to 1, so I told the slicer advanced settings to use 0.53 figuring that would match what it was really getting, but then the next cube printed with 0.62 walls. To get to 0.48 walls (which may be what I want since I have the newer .4 nozzle) I had to dial the multiplier back to about .8.

8

Re: SD3 Wall Thickness and Flow Calibration

satman49 wrote:

Question? If your extrusion steps/mm is correct , in theory shouldn't the multiplier be set to  1?

Yes. And that assumes your filament is always exactly 1.75mm and perfectly round. And its melt index is perfect. ALso, you nozzle is exactly 0.4mm die size. Lets not forget, the circumference of your drive wheel must dig into the filament at just the right depth such that mm/steps does not deviate through meters of forced extrusion.

But since we cannot guarantee everything, it helps to lock down whatever you can.

Chuck Bittner is a quadriplegic gamer who is petitioning the major console developers to include internal button remapping in all console games. You can help.
Sign Chuck Bittners petition