Either of these gcode commands should come after the G28 home command in the start gcode. For commercial use, please contact info@ossfila.com. Takes only 15 minutes. If the cube can vary this much without adjusting steps per unit, it goes to show that printed parts are not a reliable indicator of whether the steps per unit are correctly configured. On TMC drivers, the current is set directly with gcode commands. Therefore, this test is unique from the others on this site which is why the flow rate doesn't necessarily translate. This calibration is best done with the extruder detached from the hot end, so no restriction is present on the movement. For newer TMC drivers, the sense resistor value is already known. Higher current maybe required for the E driver, which will make it run hotter. This article on all3DP has examples of what over extrusion looks like. Temperature tuning and retraction tuning are related to each other. You may initially think the X and Y labels are facing the wrong way, but they are not. Components that are not adequately lubricated may bind and affect print quality. There is a window within which the printer will operate without issue. For example, if the extrusion width was 0.4mm with two perimeters, then you would be hoping to measure 0.8mm for the cube wall. The process is essentially the same for any driver. By far the most important is retraction distance. It should be sliced with a normal base, but hollow, no top layers and only 2 perimeters. Although starting a new print or power cycling will achieve this, it may be safer to put the printer back into absolute position mode after completing this calibration by sending: For Klipper and Rep Rap Firmware, M82 is used to select absolute extruder movement instead. Unfortunately, sometimes a stepper motor may be running hot and still missing steps. If it can wiggle or the mount can flex, the reading will be inaccurate. If your measurement is significantly off, the following calculator can then be used to calculate the new flow rate: What you see with your eyes is more important than a theoretical calculation. Check your values by entering M503 in a terminal. In 3D printing, the most common feedrate units are mm/sec and mm/min. When mounting to the machine to measure the Z axis travel, ensure the machine can still home safely without the dial gauge running out of travel. The aim of the site is to discover ideal settings you can apply to your own slicer profile, not to optimise the gcode created by the generators. Often people will print a 20mm calibration cube and measure the external faces to see how accurate their machine is. Ossfila 3D Printer Calibration Block (STL File). This will result in a first layer with the correct amount of 'squish', meaning good adhesion, and greatly increasing the chances of the print being successful. They are the same thing. This is actually a desirable feature, as it allows more aggressive settings for infill and features that can't be seen in the final print, yet be more conservative for outer walls where aesthetics are paramount. Use digital/vernier callipers to measure the outer wall thickness of the hollow cube. Preview the gcode in your slicer or Zupfe GCode Viewer and print at your own risk. This includes but is not limited to: mainboard cooling fan, heat sink fan, part cooling fan, PSU fan. All rights reserved. Your slicer profile settings will also be different in other ways, which further complicates matters. This may be a V-roller that is far too tight or a misaligned Z axis leadscrew causing the Z axis to bind. This page serves as a companion for this video: 3D printer calibration revolutionised - Step by step to better print quality. Although they look identical from a distance, there is a clear variation in their external dimensions when measuring with calipers. The speed at which our 3D printer (or any CNC machine) moves is better described as 'feedrate'. Convert from mm/sec to mm/min by multiplying by 60. The sense resistor value should be 0.1. For example, if you set the M204 print acceleration to 1000 but the M201 Y acceleration limit is only 800, then the M204 P value will be capped at 800 for Y while printing. The best tool for this job is a dial gauge. RRF limits the maximum feedrate with the M203 gcode. To work around this, you must compile with DISTINCT_E_FACTORS uncommented/enabled in configuration.h: You will then be able to enter a unique M92 value for each extruder. One has a resistor labelled R100 on the bottom, and on the other the resistor is labelled R220. In a 3D printer, due to the pressure required to push the molten filament through the small opening of the nozzle, there is a small time delay from when the extruder pushes the filament to when it actually comes out the nozzle. If you have ABL, this includes making sure your Z offset has been set and saved. The tools on this tab will also allow you to calculate the maximum feedrate your 3D printer can move at and still maintain reliable extrusion. Cura, PrusaSlicer and SuperSlicer all have the capability to control these parameters from the slicer by inserting appropriate gcode. This procedure is shown in this snippet: The VREF formulas for drivers I have tested are as follows: The typical sense resistor value is 0.1. This used to be a laborious process and beyond the skills of many users. If you still need to adjust your steps per unit, you can use the following calculator to determine the correct value, based on your dial gauge recordings: Previous steps per unit as reported by M503: You may wish to repeat this test with the new X/Y/Z steps value to verify. Power up mainboard via 12/24V normal power supply. We will now produce an acceleration tower to conveniently test back to back settings in a single print. Print settings > Advanced > Extrusion width > Default extrusion width: Print settings > Width and flow > Extrusion width > default: 5. The square should be 25 x 25 mm with it's height scaled to match the target layer height. This is X_CURRENT for the X axis, Y_CURRENT for the Y and so forth. This procedure is covered in this video: Two easy fixes for 3D printer temperature swings. M304 P26.0 I1.33 D20.5 (bogus numbers, please don't copy them). This is achieved by moving the corners of the bed up and down relative to each other. If the wheels are too tight: The assembly will be too tense, which will wear the V-rollers prematurely. For example, if you set the M204 print acceleration to 1000 but the X and Y M201 acceleration limits are only 800, then the M204 P value will be capped at 800. To set the correct parameters concerning retraction during 3D printing, including retraction distance, speed, extra restart distance, prime speed and z hop. As long as belts are tight and true, it rarely needs to be tuned. For instance, increasing the X/Y measurements may fix the external dimensions but negatively impact the accuracy of printed holes. Initial calibration, when significant changes are made to the motion system (e.g. Retraction acceleration: This will affect whether the retraction speed can actually be reached. It is also worth checking if the nozzle is properly tightened. On the other hand, interested user can also print and assess the tolerance using our online report generator. In this case, all movement for that layer is slowed, including those related to retraction, to increase the layer time to meet the target. Keep this in mind and focus on the aim of each test, rather than the general print quality. The form below will create a customised version of the XYZ 20mm calibration cube by iDig3Dprinting. This produces a good quality reference of the dimensional tolerance without the use of expensive tools like coordinate-measuring machine (CMM) and vision measuring machine (VMM). However, it is up to each individual to decide the tolerances they expect their machine to operate within and whether a course of action is required to improve this. The aim for the site is to provide compatibility with the majority of 3D printers. Minor issues will hopefully be resolved with the subsequent tests. The current can be set in a few different ways for each driver: These drivers should have a sense resistor value of 0.11. It aims to be beginner friendly and as such where possible the interface is kept as minimal as possible. Some slicers have a minimum layer time, which on a fast print like this, may slow down the feedrate significantly and alter the wall thickness. If the flow rate is increased, more filament will be extruded. This means filament loaded and the part cooling fan set to your normal speed. BLtouch/EZABL/Pinda probe - The nozzle is in mid air when these probes are triggered, which will require a negative Z offset. What was unexpected was surface rippling being more obvious as the temperatures went up. Don't forget to save to EEPROM afterwards. This is where the Z offset comes in, which is simply the vertical distance between where the probe triggers vs the nozzle tip. If you are finding that your new acceleration values are not taking effect, you may need to also set them in the slicer. A 0.1mm feeler gauge can be used, but make sure it doesn't have any oil on it that will contaminate the bed surface. For this guide, I designed and printed my own dial gauge mount to suit a 12mm round rod base, and a printhead mount to suit the printermods.com xchange system: Dial gauge mount on Thingiverse. A 0.05mm variance over a 10mm movement represents an error of only 0.5%. The coolest spike in segment A was very brittle, the spike on segment C the strongest, and the upper spikes too malformed to test accurately. Like manual levelling, we still need to set the distance between the nozzle and bed to get a good first layer. The K factor relates to the amount of flex or compression in the filament and the length of the path between the extruder and hot end. Commenters on the video have also pointed out that the printed plastic will shrink as it cools, and this will differ for different materials and even for different colours/age/filament condition. This is because the filament can flex sideways in the tube in between the extruder and hot end, adding to the extrusion time delay. Here are some examples: The following picture shows Z offset for a BLtouch. Use the buttons in your chosen software to move one axis a designated distance. All methods are covered below. Typically these drivers have the peak/max current set. An example of setting the X axis current to 680 would be: Don't forget to save the value to EEPROM afterwards with: Finally, the LCD Configuration menu can be used to set the RMS current. Watch the videos and then work through each tab. The VREF is just a reference voltage to assist us in setting the driver current. The K value for this line will be printed to the right of the line. It is quick to print and features one square in the middle of the bed, with four others in the corners. Cura calls it Flow. There are five segments to vary the temperature. A single layer skirt (except on the acceleration test), No minimum layer time, auto part cooling, etc, 4 top layers, 3 bottom layers, 3 perimeters. While this is a very valid test to measure the accuracy of their printed parts, it is not a suitable measurement to base adjustments of the X, Y and Z steps per mm. While this is a valid measurement for determining how accurate the output of the printer is, it is NOT the correct measurement for calibrating X, Y and Z steps. Once the temperature is stable, enter: G91 puts the printer in relative movement mode. Each location will have one eccentric nut. When editing config.g, do not omit the arguments for Z and E. Only X and Y potentially need modifiying for this test so leave the values for Z and E untouched. Linear advance is not currently compatible with S curve acceleration (another Marlin feature), although it is possible to uncomment #define EXPERIMENTAL_SCURVE when adding linear advance as a work around. You could do them in either order, and it may be necessary to tune back and forth to reach an ideal result. Overhangs and bridges all look good on this test, however the little spikes could not be printed accurately at the higher temps due to the part cooling system not keeping up. Extruder > Extrusion width > tick manual >. If you are unsure how to restore your previous values, the easiest thing to do is to power cycle the printer. This is the case for the image submitted by midicdj1000, where a chnge in feedrate for the outer walls alters the pattern on this surface: The test on this page is therefore useful for finding an ideal feedrate for outer wall surface quality. To find this, enter: If you only receive an ok message from this, alternatively you can look for the M92 line after entering: M92 is used to report or set the steps per mm for each axis. In the case of the extruder stepper motor, there may be an obstruction such as a partially blocked nozzle, PTFE tube unseated, hot end temperature too low (increased resistance to melting/flow) and/or first layer too close (nozzle jammed against bed, nowhere for plastic to exit). The print is quick, so repeat the test varying other parameters until you are happy with them all. Other times pre-sliced gcode was used from the internet, but it is impossible to have gcode available for every printer configuration. Matching this in your slicer is advised if these tests look better than your own slicer results. A hot end temperature too low can cause the hot end to jam. Save config.g to restart the firmware with the changes in effect. You may wish to use a small retaining clip on the coupler to prevent the tube working loose: Creality PTFE clip by morfidesign. Depending on if the extruder is geared or not, this number can vary quite a lot and needs to be set accurately for prints to come out properly. For those that don't, you can use the following calculator to reverse engineer a maximum feedrat for your preferred extrusion width and layer height: Your maximum reliable XY feedrate is 52.08 mm per second. It's also worth noting that the M201 value acts as a per axis limit for acceleration. Please check your drivers to be sure. Prints like this may be quite hard to remove from the bed. The following form will create a temperature tower to conveniently test back to back parameters in the same print. The general steps for setting current via VREF are the same between drivers, only the VREF formula changes: Alternatively, you can use an alligator clip wire between the red probe and the metal shaft of the screwdriver, so that a VREF reading is available as you turn the screwdriver. It has a significant impact of retraction (reducing the need), so after configuring linear advance you may need to revisit retraction. The default feedrate is set to 100mm/sec in the gcode generator above, and increases or decreases based on the user feedrate input. It can likely be a higher valu without any loss in quality. If there are no major issues, please continue to the next step. Let's say your old flow rate was 100% and you have tested and corrected this to 96%. As expected, surfaces becomes more glossy as the temperature increases. If the wheels are too loose: Wobble will be present in the assembly, which will show in the print as surface artefacts. To combat this, our slicers use retraction, where the filament is withdrawn from the hot end, alleviating pressure and minimising ooze. Initial calibration, any time the hot end or extruder is changed, when trying a new type/brand of filament. There are gaps in the top infill as well as gaps between the perimeters and infill. Check your values by entering M503 in a terminal. This gcode is instead provided by the site. You are looking for the line with the most consistent extrusion width from left to right. Every firmware has a safety feature to limit the feedrate and acceleration to user set maximums. You may prefer to use the M900 gcode command in your start gcode instead, particularly if your slicer supports different start gcodes for different materials. The scripts in my profile perform the following tasks: The information below is mainly for my reference. If everything above has been checked and you are certain your steps per unit need adjusting, then proceed to the next section. If this is inconvenient, the process below aims to minimise restrictions by extruding very slowly and with a slightly higher temperature. Your machine may say steps per inch if that is how you have it configured. It's worth noting that you can compensate for a warped bed in other ways, such as shimming the lower portions with a thin and flexible material. Setting stepper driver current accurately relies on knowing two values: the peak current that the stepper motor is rated for and the sense resistor value on the stepper motor driver.