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

	Ultimaker 1	Ultimaker 2	Type A	Makerbot	FlashForge Creator Pro
Status	Operational	Operational	Operational	Operational	Operational
Material	3mm ABS only	3mm PLA only	1.75mm PLA only	3mm ABS only	1.75mm PLA or ABS
Hardware state	Good. Minor backlash observed.	Good. Power connector is loose.	Good. Cooling fan cowling may need some work	Good.	Good. Left extruder misaligned
Software state	Working well with OctoPrint	Working well with OctoPrint	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])	Use Slic3r profile instead of Cura
Pending tasks	None	None	None	PID tuning, bed wobble, wavvy ABP.	None

Printer-specific pages

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

• Ultimaker
• Type A
• Makerbot

Ultimaker 1 Camera (720p)

Open this URL exactly with VLC: rtsp://admin:@192.168.111.44:554/user=admin&password=&channel=1&stream=0.sdp

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. Edit preferences.ini and add the machine sections from github profile.ini to make the 3 machines available in Cura
   • preferences.ini lives in %USERPROFILE%\.cura\15.04.6\preferences.ini on Windows, ??? on Linux and, ??? on Mac
   • If you have other machines already configured, you need to renumber of the [machine_N] sections so there are no duplicates and they are 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