LCD Viki 2.0 vs Makergear LCD

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CCRN
Posts: 181
Joined: Wed Jun 01, 2016 6:15 pm

LCD Viki 2.0 vs Makergear LCD

Post by CCRN » Wed Aug 10, 2016 2:16 pm

What is the difference between the LCD makes that I read about on the forum? Considering adding one on eventually to my Rev E M2. I am using Octopi/Octoprint to send prints unless I am setting the Z height or leveling.

Thanks,
Jerold

CCRN
Posts: 181
Joined: Wed Jun 01, 2016 6:15 pm

Re: LCD Viki 2.0 vs Makergear LCD

Post by CCRN » Tue Sep 20, 2016 10:26 pm

Maybe I should skip the LCD all together and stay with Octoprint.

Thanks,
Jerold

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SouthSideofdaSky
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Re: LCD Viki 2.0 vs Makergear LCD

Post by SouthSideofdaSky » Fri Sep 23, 2016 12:13 pm

I don't have any experience with using Octoprint so I can't provide a comparison, but for my money the latest MakerGear LCD ( http://www.makergear.com/collections/up ... -interface ) is a pretty nice upgrade.

wbp
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Joined: Sat Oct 22, 2016 8:44 pm

Re: LCD Viki 2.0 vs Makergear LCD

Post by wbp » Sat Oct 22, 2016 8:49 pm

Are you satisfied with the way the Makergear LCD works? I'm finding it rather difficult to use. It seems very "doggy" or slow to respond. I also have a Rostock Max V2 and the LCD interface on that is very responsive. This one seems to miss half the button presses. When I tried to use it to manually extrude some filament it got hung up and froze for over a minute.

William

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SouthSideofdaSky
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Re: LCD Viki 2.0 vs Makergear LCD

Post by SouthSideofdaSky » Mon Oct 24, 2016 9:01 pm

wbp wrote:Are you satisfied with the way the Makergear LCD works? I'm finding it rather difficult to use. It seems very "doggy" or slow to respond. I also have a Rostock Max V2 and the LCD interface on that is very responsive. This one seems to miss half the button presses. When I tried to use it to manually extrude some filament it got hung up and froze for over a minute.

William
It's a bit doggy as you said but I've never had any problems with it freezing - and I extrude filament all the time. It seems to mostly just go a little slow when I'm selecting a print to run or if I'm trying to do something while the print is running (which is rare). I have kind of gotten used to the lag when selecting a print - I just wait a couple seconds to make sure the correct print is selected. Overall yeah it could be better but it's a huge improvement over carrying my laptop over the printer every time I want to start a print or change the filament, etc.

steve220
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Joined: Tue Oct 11, 2016 2:32 pm

Re: LCD Viki 2.0 vs Makergear LCD

Post by steve220 » Mon Oct 24, 2016 11:34 pm

Yep, I'm less than enamored with my LCD screen's button response. It doesn't register presses reliably. I sent the first one back thinking it was a bum unit, but the replacement is the same. Overall, I like the status screen and one CAN operate the unit without a computer, but it can get a little frustrating at times.

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SouthSideofdaSky
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Re: LCD Viki 2.0 vs Makergear LCD

Post by SouthSideofdaSky » Mon Oct 31, 2016 7:39 pm

Agree. Since I wrote the above post I've been paying more attention to it and it is definitely slow. It's weird because I have a newer Rev E machine and an older machine (both with the MakerGear LCD upgrade) and the newer one is definitely more laggy than the old one.

creativedex
Posts: 28
Joined: Thu Oct 15, 2015 8:32 am

Re: LCD Viki 2.0 vs Makergear LCD

Post by creativedex » Thu Nov 24, 2016 1:22 pm

LCD is often slow and at times i have to turn the knob to half way between indents to select what I need to! Cant even count the number of times ive started the wrong print and then have to wait for it to actually start printing to stop it before restarting again... I find that the more files you have on the sd card the slower it processes. 20ish files or more often has the screen jumbled up for a few seconds before I can scroll again down the list to find the correct file im looking for!

I have 6 printers and all have LCDs that all act a bit different. I havent had the time to play with them to figure out how to even extrude and retract filament to change a roll out... which seems to be a basic function of every other printer for the last year or so. I have my printers each set up with a usb cord that runs over to my computer for filament changes, repairs, and bed leveling.

It does tick me off that they even offer such buggy add on... I still use them frequently because print changes are much faster if ive got enough filament on the roll still.

They also dont have long enough cables and you cant even buy longer ones anywhere, at one point I saw a forum where a guy was making them but he no longer does. So my solution to this was to cut one of the vent holes in the front of the board case to run them through just so i can have it sit in front of the printer. FYI, the ribbons will block a lot of air flow because the fans sits right over where they plug in... that fan placement also pisses me off, I keep having to replace them because during the purge, filament falls into them and either breaks the blades or burns the fan up if your not right there to catch it.

The case the LCD is in also makes it annoying to use because you always need two hands to use it because its not attached to anything and so light weight it slides around...

Rick... a great attached spot for it would be right over or under the filament roll as it is about the same width as most rolls so it wouldnt make the machine take up anymore space... but thats if you get longer cables made to allow it.

Overall, the LCD screen is a fail which is sad as its on such a great printer, but when printing production it shaves off just enough of my time to justify buying them... if you have just one printer, its no faster then just using it via USB

garyl
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Joined: Thu Oct 29, 2015 8:04 pm

Re: LCD Viki 2.0 vs Makergear LCD

Post by garyl » Fri Nov 25, 2016 4:04 pm

If you want to mount you LCD you can print this housing. http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1162868

steve220
Posts: 67
Joined: Tue Oct 11, 2016 2:32 pm

Re: LCD Viki 2.0 vs Makergear LCD

Post by steve220 » Sat Nov 26, 2016 4:27 pm

The following make from thingiverse helps eliminate the two handed operation.
http://www.thingiverse.com/make:264294
The cords are very short, but are able to reach this mounting location. I also ordered a cable/connector kit off of ebay to make longer cables, but haven't made them (or needed them) yet.

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