When i add one or more pauses in order to change the color of the filament mid-print, everything seems to be going allright. However, just before the printer continues the print, the filament gets retracted quite a bit resulting in missed layers. Is there anything I can do about that, or is this a bug in z-suite?
Hardware: v3
Firmware: 0.0.5
Z-Suite: 0.9.5
Edit: to clarify, the filament retracts after the nozzle has moved back into place. It prints nothing for about 20cm (2 circles of about 3,5 cm diameter). Layer height: 0.19mm
Yes, I much prefer the way the Up works in this respect. With the Up there is no X-Y movement, only Z. You can withdraw or extrude filament manually as much as you want, then when done manually extruding you resume the print with a separate button (on PC screen). Wipe the nozzle clear just before Z axis comes back to print height. There is no retraction. Better to have a little bit of extra filament that will get smoothed over than to have gaps due to retraction imo.
The problem is not in the (x/y) movement of the nozzle, i think it is even better that it moves to the side. When changing filament quite a bit of it gets extruded to purge the old color, you don't want that to drop on your print.
Let me explain with some more detail what happens:
- When a pause is inserted, the nozzle moves up (actually table moves down) and to the corner.
- I choose the option to change filament. Current filament gets ejected.
- I load new filament and push the button. New filament gets loaded and it extrudes a bit to get rid of the old filament still in the nozzle.
- I push the button again to resume the print. It extracts a litle bit more to make up for filament that might have oozed out.
- I remove the extra extruded filament and push the button again. Nozzle moves back to where it needs to be to resume the print.
-
For some reason, filament retracts (it should NOT do this). you can see the extrusion gear rotate.
- print continues, but no filament is extruded for a while. in small prints or prints with thin walls, this means the print will almost certainly separate at that point.
i can of course glue the separated back parts together with some acetone, but that should not be necessary.
The problem is not in the (x/y) movement of the nozzle, i think it is even better that it moves to the side. When changing filament quite a bit of it gets extruded to purge the old color, you don't want that to drop on your print.
Let me explain with some more detail what happens:
- When a pause is inserted, the nozzle moves up (actually table moves down) and to the corner.
- I choose the option to change filament. Current filament gets ejected.
- I load new filament and push the button. New filament gets loaded and it extrudes a bit to get rid of the old filament still in the nozzle.
- I push the button again to resume the print. It extracts a litle bit more to make up for filament that might have oozed out.
- I remove the extra extruded filament and push the button again. Nozzle moves back to where it needs to be to resume the print.
-
For some reason, filament retracts (it should NOT do this). you can see the extrusion gear rotate.
- print continues, but no filament is extruded for a while. in small prints or prints with thin walls, this means the print will almost certainly separate at that point.
i can of course glue the separated back parts together with some acetone, but that should not be necessary.
Yes, I understood your points from your first post, and I agreed that there should optimally be no retraction after extruding in order to eliminate gaps.
I mentioned the Up algorithms because, well, we're talking about improving the filament change sequence, and I think it can be improved.
As far as extruding onto the print, it really isn't a problem, I've been doing it on my two Ups for a couple of years now. The Z goes down about 60mm and anything extruded from that height is cold by the time it reaches the print and does not stick. Moving the X-Y is unnecessary and creates the possibility (yes, I know M200 is very precise, but Murphy's Law...) of some small X-Y shift that seems less likely to me to happen if only Z is moved.
The other thing I don’t like about the M200’s implementation is that you have only one chance to withdraw and one chance to extrude. You cannot change your mind after loading new filament, or more seriously, if there is some kind of misfeed you cannot correct it. You cannot extrude twice in case you want to purge more. Once the pre-scripted sequence is started you have to follow it exactly. This seems unnecessarily limiting to me: I’d rather be able to withdraw, extrude, and resume printing when I want to, which is the way the Up works.
julia
Hi Erikjuh,
First of all I have to say that the Zortrax is one of the best printer I´ve ever had.
A little bit boring because the Zortrax is 99% reliable.
regarding your problem:
Sometimes I had the same issue. I guess it´s a little bug in Z-suite.
It´s not a retract of the filament. It´s an unload of the filament for two seconds. Then it starts the print with no filament in the hotend.
When you see this issue you should press the menue button for a while. The Zortrax goes into pause mode again. Load the filament and resume.
In Z-suite you should generate a new Z-code for the next print. Maybe move your model on the buildplate a bit to the left or right before generating the Z-code.
Henning
@Erikjuh, @Henning It’s known issue with pause and will be fixed.