3D Printers

Machine Status and Important Notices

	Ultimaker 1	Ultimaker 2	Type A	Makerbot
Status	Operational	Nearly-Operational	Operational	Operational
Material	3mm PLA only	3mm PLA only	1.75mm PLA only	3mm ABS only
Hardware state	Good. Minor backlash observed.	Hardware: 90% complete	Good. Cooling fan cowling may need some work	Good.
Software state	Usable, prints pause momentarily and frequently due to Raspi slowness	Prontserve not yet installed on 'ultimaker2' host machine	Usable, prints pause momentarily/frequently due to Raspi slowness, some issues with long print jobs randomly failing.	Good (Grab latest Cura profile from github [1])
Pending tasks	Fix prontserve on the raspberry pi	Install prontserve on ultimaker2 host machine	None	PID tuning, bed wobble, wavvy ABP.

Printer-specific pages

Print specific pages include details about the machines, maintenance logs, and workflows.

• Ultimaker
• Type A
• Makerbot

3D Printer Workflow at the Hacklab

The hacklab 3d printers are set up using the Construct Protocol 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. Construct only acts as the gcode sending layer, which means the user still has to generate the gcode based on an STL file.

Software

• Tegh is the construct client used to access 3d printers attached to host machines running prontserve. You can get tegh here: Tegh Installation Instructions.
• Ultimaker: CURA is the software used to generate gcode for the Ultimakers. You can get it here: CURA download link
• Cupcake: Also works with cura, but you'll have to download the profile on hacklab's github page, and edit Cura's machine dimentions to match.
• Type A: Gcode is generated via KISSlicer using a profile maintained by Will

Quick Start Instructions

1. Generate gcode from an STL using printer-specific software.
2. Open tegh, select printer by IP address (written on each 3d printer)
3. Upload gcode to printer via 'add_job (path_to_file.gcode)'
4. Set extruder temperature via 'set temp e0: 220'
5. Start print job when at temperature via 'print'

Command details via the 'help' command, and on the Construct Protocol page.

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

Software Problems

• tegh
  • Temperature stops updating after estop command issued
    • Known bug, ssh to host machine, screen -r, ctrl-C, python2 prontserve.py to restart prontserve.
  • Printer auto-discovery did not work.
    • Restart prontserve: ssh to host machine, screen -r, ctrl-C, python2 prontserve.py to restart prontserve.
  • tegh discovers no printers on network
    • Check firewall settings
    • Verify on internal networks: 192.168.111.x or 192.168.113.x