3D Printers

DO NOT LEAVE MACHINES UNATTENDED

Please do not leave 3d printers unattended for long periods! These printers are prone to failure, and leaving them unattended could result in cooked filiment / extruders, damaged mechanical components, or fires.

Machine Status and Important Notices

Machine	Status	Additional notes
Ultimaker 1	DOWN! ... has a serious head jam, which will need cold pulls to clear/fix. Last known good settings: 220°, 110% flow, print 60mm/s, travel 120mm/s, retraction 4.5mm @ 40mm/s, 0.4 mm nozzle size, 2.85mm filament size. Silver PLA (from M G Chemicals) Works well using Blue painter’s tape without using the heated bed. (Same setup as Ultimaker 2) Cura 15 Settings here http://octopi.in.hacklab.to/
Ultimaker 2	Last known good settings: 220°, 110% flow, print 60mm/s, travel 120mm/s, 0.4 mm nozzle size, 2.85mm filament size. Black PLA/PHA (This needs different retraction settings from PLA.) There is a custom filament feeder on the back of the machine. Use the little red chock in the position shown here to ensure the pinch roller can grab the filament properly. The Carbon Fiber Plate flatness is "good enough" only on the side in use. Using a Brim to hold parts to the Print Bed is strongly recommended. Bed was leveled, but wood support structure is loose! (See Known Issues and Fixes section about that.) If head too close & extruder starts clicking, that can cause filament feed problems. Set X-axis to about 102% of Y-axis Scale to get square/round prints. (Translucent Red 20mm X/Y/Z cube by printer.) PLA ONLY! (to prevent nozzle contamination) Cura 15 Settings here http://octopi2.hacklab.to/
Type A	Operational ... use PETG head only for PETG, and the PLA head only for PLA. PETG printhead in printer -- loaded with 1.75mm Blue iPrint-3D PETG. The Buld Plate is no longer perfectly flat. (Small high area, centered on X-axis & bit behind Y-axis center.) The Printhead Heatsink Fan is always on ... so don't leave this printer powered on for long periods of time without printing. Cura 15 Settings here (see Cura 3 Settings section instead.) http://octopi3.hacklab.to/
FlashForge Creator Pro	Abandoned - Trash
Makerbot	Hasn't been used in ages Connected to a paste extruder

See individual printer pages for details and maintenance logs.

3D Printer WebCam (720p)

Open this URL exactly with VLC:

 rtsp://admin:@192.168.111.44:554/user=admin&password=&channel=1&stream=0.sdp

• This Network WebCam is on a clip, so it can be moved to view any one of the 3D Printers.

3D Printer Workflow at the Hacklab

The hacklab 3d printers are set up using OctoPrint which allows 3d printers to be used over the local network. The users personal computers are not required to be physically connected to the printers during the duration of the print, and allows for users to continue working on other projects without fear of print interruptions, etc.

Software

• The printers are all equipped with OctoPrint web interface software. See the quick start instructions for server addresses.
• Ultimaker CURA is the software used to generate Gcode for the Ultimakers. You can get it here: CURA download link.
• Type A Gcode can be generated using our Cura settings or the Type A KISSlicer ("Series 1 2012/2013 - Plywood" section). The new "Cura Type A" is intended for newer models of their printers and just grinds the filament on ours instead of printing!

Quick Start Instructions

1. Generate Gcode from an STL using Cura 15
2. Visit the OctoPrint web interface for the printer you're using (note: you must be on the members' wifi network!):
   • Ultimaker 1 - http://octopi/
   • Ultimaker 2 - http://octopi2/
   • Type A - http://octopi3/
3. Upload Gcode to the printer using the web interface.
4. Click print and wait.
5. When finished, make sure you do the following steps:
   • Clean up bed and machine for the next user.
   • Delete the file on OctoPrint if you are done with it.
   • Turn the machine off.

Slicer settings

Cura 15

Cura 15 can be used to slice models for the Ultimakers and Type A with the following settings:

1. Append this fragment to your preferences.ini to make our 3 printers available in Cura.
   • preferences.ini lives in different places depending on your platform:
     • Windows: %USERPROFILE%\.cura\15.04.6\
     • Linux: ~/.cura/15.04.6/
     • Mac: ~/Library/Application Support/Cura/15.04.6/
   • If you have other machines already configured, you need to renumber the [machine_N] sections. There can't be duplicates and they should be sequential.
2. Select the correct printer from the "Machine" menu
3. Load matching profile ini from github

Troubleshooting

Physical Problems

• Print not sticking to bed
  • Check bed levelness
  • Check print bed distance to print head
  • Reapply fresh blue tape (Interpolymer Group brand for PLA printers only)
• Extruder no longer extruding filament
  • Check filament feeder for ground plastic preventing extrusion
  • Check gcode generator settings to ensure proper filament properties selected (diameter, density)
  • Inspect hot-end for plugs by manual extrusion at temperature
  • Check filament feeder spring pressure (WARNING: DO NOT ADJUST THIS UNLESS YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING, THIS IS THE LAST STEP)
• Extrusion is discontinuous
  • Check filament feeder for ground plastic preventing full continuous extrusion
• Print has random blobs due to pausing of printer mid extrusion
  • Known bug in prontserve due to bottleneck in Raspberry pi I/O. Print simpler file or directly control printer via USB/pronterface

See Also

• Construct Protocol