Dual Extruder M2 Rev. E Profiles - Simplify3D (FFF files)
Posted: Mon Apr 04, 2016 11:41 pm
READ THIS FIRST
These are my personal (non-MakerGear-sanctioned) S3D profiles for the MakerGear M2 V4 Rev. E dual printer. (Shipped after 03/01/2016). They will not work for the earlier model M2 printers. There is a separate thread with profiles for earlier M2 models.....viewtopic.php?f=13&t=2984
1. If you have not yet done so after installing the dual upgrade, you need to re-set the Starting Height using the MakerGear Z-Adjust Application before you use any of these profiles. (Or any other profiles.) You do not need to re-level.
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=3666
2. If you have just upgraded from a single....the first thing you want to do in Simplify3D is set your configuration for the new dual extruder arrangement:
Click on Help > Configuration Assistant, then select Printer - MakerGear M2 Dual in the dropdown. The MakerGear M2 Dual is your default profile, and you can use it to set up your own profiles. If you do, be SURE to save the profile under a new name when you have it the way that you want it, so that you can use it later. (Don't just update the Default....it's very easy to do, and it's a quick way to mess yourself up badly.)
It's also a great idea to export your personal FFF files to your desktop, so that you can save a copy that will not get over-written. (File > Export FFF)
3. Step 3, before you use these profiles, is to test each of the individual extruders on a small calibration square print using the MakerGear M2 Dual default profile. This will check to make sure that you have correctly oriented the wires in the RAMBo, and that all of the connections are secure:
a. When you print from the left nozzle using the default profile, you need to make sure that you have set a Temperature for each nozzle on the Temperature tab in the default profile - I just noticed that it lists 0° temp for Tool 0 on the default. That is an error.
b. When you print the calibration square from the right nozzle, you need to tell the printer to use that nozzle on the pages below:
Some things you need to know:
1. Quality/Speed
I print for best quality at what i consider a reasonable speed. These profiles are on the conservative side, speed-wise. Feel free to increase the speeds, but don't expect to get as good results with it.
Second Update: I originally had the Speed Reductions set to about 4% on the Cooling Tab. The previous advantage to that lower number was to reduce heat soak effect on small single prints and detailed surface layers, but there seems to be a bug in the latest version of S3D that applies it to the first layers and shield as well. Increase the value to 20% on all the profiles if it currently lists as 4%. Most recent versions have been updated to 20%.
2. Temperatures
These temperatures for various filaments have been tested on a boro with polyimide tape. (And hairspray, if warranted.) If you are running a different plate, you might need to adjust the temps to whatever works for your surface. I also tend to print on the low side of temperature ranges, it cuts down on oozing. Increase the extruder temps only if you feel you need to. (The defaults cause a lot of oozing issues.) And you might notice a slightly different nozzle temp between the left and right nozzles - that has been deliberately adjusted for the additional fan cooling effect on the right side, mainly for the lower temp filaments.
3. Auto-Configuration
Do NOT click on the Auto-Configuration buttons in these profiles. Do not touch the Auto-Configuration buttons in these profiles.
Pressing on the Auto-Configuration buttons will change some of the settings, but not all the settings that need to be changed, for whatever filament you want to change it to. It will over-write the Starting and Ending scripts which have been optimized for your machine setup.
In these profiles, the necessary settings are coded into the profiles themselves, and appear in the Profile title. You’ll get strange/lousy/crappy results if you try to use Auto-Configure on them.
If you want to create your own dual profiles – start with the MakerGear M2 Dual default profile and adjust from there. Remember to save the results under a new name, or you will modify the original.
4. Labeling Bug
There is a bug in S3D concerning the labeling of the extruder that is used for the shield, when you are using a single filament for the shield, instead of both. It seems to appear randomly, I can’t find the common denominator...what it does is show you that you have specified one filament to be used for the shield, but then when it is sliced, it uses the other extruder for the shield. And it prints how it is sliced.
The main reason I put such detailed descriptions into the profile titles is – it’s going to be really confusing if you think that the shield is going to print out of PVA (as shown in the Profile setup), then it prints the shield in PETG, which is what I actually want it to do. (PVA is horribly expensive; you don’t want to waste it if you are using it in a print.)
(Unfortunately, there’s no way around the bug that I can find – it’s just going to list the wrong extruder.)
When in doubt, the slicer results should match the title of the profile.
5. The Blob
Earlier versions of the M2 dual had an issue with S3D that failed to reverse the initial retraction on the inactive nozzle. That caused skimpy flow until the nozzle got warmed up by running through multiple skirt layers. That issue appears to have reversed in the current (Rev.E) version. When the shield begins to print on the first layer, it over-extrudes a little blob. It only happens on the first layer of the shield. The problem we run into is that if we are printing something sticky like PETG, dragging back and forth through that blob can make a bit of a mess; and PLA is even worse......if it hardens quickly - you'll whack into it with the nozzles. My temporary fix is to set the shield out far enough away (3.0 mm) from the print that the blob doesn't impact the print. But 3.0 mm is kind of far away from the print to act as a shield if the filament is really oozy. (2.0 mm to 2.25 mm distance away is optimal for a shield.)
Update: Woo-Hooo! If you detach the shield from the brim/skirt by as little as 0.1 mm, the blob will happen on the outside of the skirt, instead of at the shield, which makes it possible to bring the shield in closer......sometimes you just get lucky.
Profiles below have been updated to bring the shield in closer. (Since it is no longer directly attached to the skirt/brim, it might be less stable. Unfortunately, not a lot of choices.)
6. Centering
You will notice that when you are using a dual extruder, your "centered" prints no longer print in the center of the actual plate. That's because the right side nozzle is limited in travel scope. If you prefer to see them actually print closer to the center of the bed, input a Global X Offset of 25 mm or so into the G-Code page, at the lower left of the screen. (I liked to do that with the triangular support, it's not as much of a leveling issue with the new spiders.)
7. Starting and Ending Scripts
These profiles use a different startup and ending script from the default - they attempt to reduce the ooze from the inactive nozzles on shut-down so that the next time you go to print something, you aren't scraping a glob of hardened plastic across the bed at the tip of your nozzles. In order to do that, they purge more than the default does. (Ideally, you should clean the tip of your nozzles when they finish extruding, but I do realize that that is not always convenient.) In addition, you will be best served by waiting around for the start of the print and catching the purge off the side of the bed after it drops - it is possible for sticky filaments to cling to the nozzle making them difficult to wipe off, and ultimately wrecking your print before it even starts. It's just good practice, and although these scripts are designed to weight the load down enough to cause it to drop off to the side, nothing in life is certain.
I like to park the print head for the dual in the center of the X axis after a print, (reduces the strain on the right-side filament).
Feel free to change the scripts to whatever you like. (If you touch an Auto-Configuration button with one of these profiles open, you might just change them without realizing it. )
8. Money Back Guarantee
Yeah, right…… . I can’t promise that they are going to work for you the way they do for me. Setting up your own profiles is a perfectly acceptable alternative.
Since the forum is limited on attachments – I’ll put the actual profiles into the comments below.
Last - I have rather a lot of profiles for the two different styles of machines.......the ones for this machine begin with VEDual, for Version E, Dual. (Helps me to keep them straight - Feel free to save them under a new name, you ought to know which machine you have. )
These are my personal (non-MakerGear-sanctioned) S3D profiles for the MakerGear M2 V4 Rev. E dual printer. (Shipped after 03/01/2016). They will not work for the earlier model M2 printers. There is a separate thread with profiles for earlier M2 models.....viewtopic.php?f=13&t=2984
1. If you have not yet done so after installing the dual upgrade, you need to re-set the Starting Height using the MakerGear Z-Adjust Application before you use any of these profiles. (Or any other profiles.) You do not need to re-level.
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=3666
2. If you have just upgraded from a single....the first thing you want to do in Simplify3D is set your configuration for the new dual extruder arrangement:
Click on Help > Configuration Assistant, then select Printer - MakerGear M2 Dual in the dropdown. The MakerGear M2 Dual is your default profile, and you can use it to set up your own profiles. If you do, be SURE to save the profile under a new name when you have it the way that you want it, so that you can use it later. (Don't just update the Default....it's very easy to do, and it's a quick way to mess yourself up badly.)
It's also a great idea to export your personal FFF files to your desktop, so that you can save a copy that will not get over-written. (File > Export FFF)
3. Step 3, before you use these profiles, is to test each of the individual extruders on a small calibration square print using the MakerGear M2 Dual default profile. This will check to make sure that you have correctly oriented the wires in the RAMBo, and that all of the connections are secure:
a. When you print from the left nozzle using the default profile, you need to make sure that you have set a Temperature for each nozzle on the Temperature tab in the default profile - I just noticed that it lists 0° temp for Tool 0 on the default. That is an error.
b. When you print the calibration square from the right nozzle, you need to tell the printer to use that nozzle on the pages below:
Some things you need to know:
1. Quality/Speed
I print for best quality at what i consider a reasonable speed. These profiles are on the conservative side, speed-wise. Feel free to increase the speeds, but don't expect to get as good results with it.
Second Update: I originally had the Speed Reductions set to about 4% on the Cooling Tab. The previous advantage to that lower number was to reduce heat soak effect on small single prints and detailed surface layers, but there seems to be a bug in the latest version of S3D that applies it to the first layers and shield as well. Increase the value to 20% on all the profiles if it currently lists as 4%. Most recent versions have been updated to 20%.
2. Temperatures
These temperatures for various filaments have been tested on a boro with polyimide tape. (And hairspray, if warranted.) If you are running a different plate, you might need to adjust the temps to whatever works for your surface. I also tend to print on the low side of temperature ranges, it cuts down on oozing. Increase the extruder temps only if you feel you need to. (The defaults cause a lot of oozing issues.) And you might notice a slightly different nozzle temp between the left and right nozzles - that has been deliberately adjusted for the additional fan cooling effect on the right side, mainly for the lower temp filaments.
3. Auto-Configuration
Do NOT click on the Auto-Configuration buttons in these profiles. Do not touch the Auto-Configuration buttons in these profiles.
Pressing on the Auto-Configuration buttons will change some of the settings, but not all the settings that need to be changed, for whatever filament you want to change it to. It will over-write the Starting and Ending scripts which have been optimized for your machine setup.
In these profiles, the necessary settings are coded into the profiles themselves, and appear in the Profile title. You’ll get strange/lousy/crappy results if you try to use Auto-Configure on them.
If you want to create your own dual profiles – start with the MakerGear M2 Dual default profile and adjust from there. Remember to save the results under a new name, or you will modify the original.
4. Labeling Bug
There is a bug in S3D concerning the labeling of the extruder that is used for the shield, when you are using a single filament for the shield, instead of both. It seems to appear randomly, I can’t find the common denominator...what it does is show you that you have specified one filament to be used for the shield, but then when it is sliced, it uses the other extruder for the shield. And it prints how it is sliced.
The main reason I put such detailed descriptions into the profile titles is – it’s going to be really confusing if you think that the shield is going to print out of PVA (as shown in the Profile setup), then it prints the shield in PETG, which is what I actually want it to do. (PVA is horribly expensive; you don’t want to waste it if you are using it in a print.)
(Unfortunately, there’s no way around the bug that I can find – it’s just going to list the wrong extruder.)
When in doubt, the slicer results should match the title of the profile.
5. The Blob
Earlier versions of the M2 dual had an issue with S3D that failed to reverse the initial retraction on the inactive nozzle. That caused skimpy flow until the nozzle got warmed up by running through multiple skirt layers. That issue appears to have reversed in the current (Rev.E) version. When the shield begins to print on the first layer, it over-extrudes a little blob. It only happens on the first layer of the shield. The problem we run into is that if we are printing something sticky like PETG, dragging back and forth through that blob can make a bit of a mess; and PLA is even worse......if it hardens quickly - you'll whack into it with the nozzles. My temporary fix is to set the shield out far enough away (3.0 mm) from the print that the blob doesn't impact the print. But 3.0 mm is kind of far away from the print to act as a shield if the filament is really oozy. (2.0 mm to 2.25 mm distance away is optimal for a shield.)
Update: Woo-Hooo! If you detach the shield from the brim/skirt by as little as 0.1 mm, the blob will happen on the outside of the skirt, instead of at the shield, which makes it possible to bring the shield in closer......sometimes you just get lucky.
Profiles below have been updated to bring the shield in closer. (Since it is no longer directly attached to the skirt/brim, it might be less stable. Unfortunately, not a lot of choices.)
6. Centering
You will notice that when you are using a dual extruder, your "centered" prints no longer print in the center of the actual plate. That's because the right side nozzle is limited in travel scope. If you prefer to see them actually print closer to the center of the bed, input a Global X Offset of 25 mm or so into the G-Code page, at the lower left of the screen. (I liked to do that with the triangular support, it's not as much of a leveling issue with the new spiders.)
7. Starting and Ending Scripts
These profiles use a different startup and ending script from the default - they attempt to reduce the ooze from the inactive nozzles on shut-down so that the next time you go to print something, you aren't scraping a glob of hardened plastic across the bed at the tip of your nozzles. In order to do that, they purge more than the default does. (Ideally, you should clean the tip of your nozzles when they finish extruding, but I do realize that that is not always convenient.) In addition, you will be best served by waiting around for the start of the print and catching the purge off the side of the bed after it drops - it is possible for sticky filaments to cling to the nozzle making them difficult to wipe off, and ultimately wrecking your print before it even starts. It's just good practice, and although these scripts are designed to weight the load down enough to cause it to drop off to the side, nothing in life is certain.
I like to park the print head for the dual in the center of the X axis after a print, (reduces the strain on the right-side filament).
Feel free to change the scripts to whatever you like. (If you touch an Auto-Configuration button with one of these profiles open, you might just change them without realizing it. )
8. Money Back Guarantee
Yeah, right…… . I can’t promise that they are going to work for you the way they do for me. Setting up your own profiles is a perfectly acceptable alternative.
Since the forum is limited on attachments – I’ll put the actual profiles into the comments below.
Last - I have rather a lot of profiles for the two different styles of machines.......the ones for this machine begin with VEDual, for Version E, Dual. (Helps me to keep them straight - Feel free to save them under a new name, you ought to know which machine you have. )