Load/Unload filament?

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paynterf
Posts: 29
Joined: Wed Sep 25, 2019 2:42 am

Load/Unload filament?

Post by paynterf » Thu Sep 26, 2019 2:56 am

I'm a new M3-ID owner, coming from the PowerSpec 3D Pro and Prusa Mk3S world. I was fumbling around trying to find the 'Load/Unload Filament' function in Octoprint, only to find that AFAICT, there is no such function. In order to load and/or unload filament, I had to manually heat the extruder(s) and then click repeatedly on the 'Extrude' or 'Retract' buttons to actually get the filament in or out.

This is fine as long as I can reach my laptop's mouse with one hand while pulling/pushing filament with the other, but what happens if my laptop isn't within easy reaching distance of my printer?

Both my Prusa MK3S and my now-defunct PowerSpec 3D Pro (Flashforge Creator clone) have nice load/unload functions that run the extruder gears continually (or, in the case of the Prusa filament loading, for a well-defined time)

Is this normal for the M3-ID, or am I missing some cool feature?

TIA,

Frank

airscapes
Posts: 594
Joined: Wed Jan 31, 2018 11:36 pm

Re: Load/Unload filament?

Post by airscapes » Thu Sep 26, 2019 11:05 pm

Far as I know, that is how M2 and M3 work. I have no LCD on my M2 so I use Octoprint. My Pi keyboard and mouse are next to the printer enclosure. With Octoprint you can access it from any device on your network.

makeal
Posts: 77
Joined: Sat Aug 25, 2018 2:13 pm

Re: Load/Unload filament?

Post by makeal » Thu Oct 03, 2019 12:48 pm

You can actually create your own.

You can install custom controls plugin and then create buttons to load and unload filament.
Here is a guide on how to create them:
https://forum.e3d-online.com/threads/oc ... ttons.821/

Here are few gcode snippets i used during filament change that you can modify for your use:
This was to unload filament

Code: Select all

G91 ; sets relative position
G1 X205 Z10 F1000 ; moves the hotend to the right and down 10mm
G1 E-50 F1200; retract 50mm at 1000mm/min
M104 S120 T0 ; start cooling T0 to 120 degrees Celsius
G90 ;goes back to absolute mode
and to load

Code: Select all

G1 E60 F200; extrude 60mm at 200mm/min
G91
G1 X-205 Z-10 F1000
G90
Just add your tool selection and nozzle temp

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