M201 First print - looking for better settings

[mark2]

Hi All,

I have completed assembly of my M201 (my very first printer) managed to get a test printed.

Here are some of the initial issues I encountered;

• Had to make my own X end stop out of a coffee stirrer.
  Had to extend the Z end stop as the supplied was too short. Used a piece of threaded rod cut to size.
  Had to adjust the stepper motor boards to stop X and Z motors stalling. I adjusted each so the voltage between ground and wiper is approx. 1 volt. Not sure if this is correct for non - extruder drivers?
  Uploaded the firmware to 1.0.4. I did this purely based on the forum comments, so I didn't encounter any problems myself.

Other than some shipping damage for which I got a very quick replacement part, I would say the whole process so far has been pretty smooth.

The test print is based on this http://makerware.thingiverse.com/thing:1019228 and has come out reasonably well for a first attempt, but not perfect.
I used pronterface for the SW, which itself used slicer for the preparation.

First (actually second) print attempt

print.png (662.85 KiB) Viewed 10856 times

My first question I have is does anyone have a good set of defaults for slicer specifically for the M201? I have seen a few on the forum but not sure they are specific for this printer, with it's dual extractor setup and all.

Second question, I am thinking of replacing the aluminium bed with a glass plate as it is not particularly flat and I expect this to be an issue with larger prints. How is this done? does the glass then go straight onto the heater? or over the aluminium? is any heat transfer medium used?

Thanks in advance

[Mark]

not bad for first print
you might want to check out this link for good print quality:
http://www.geeetech.com/forum/viewtopic ... 26&t=17183
And the glass, just clamp it over the aluminum bed, don't need any heat transfer medium.

[mark2]

Thanks Mark, yes I did look there, the very first partial print had some stringing, and some layer shifting (in both X and Y).

To remove the stringing I added retraction of 3mm (is that reasonable?)
To hopefully correct the layer shifting I adjusted the current of the drivers as mentioned, and also adjusted acceleration from (I think) 1000 down to 750.

Both these seem to have worked in the first full print as shown, and the next stage of refinement will be a little more subtle.

It would really help to have a default slicer config to start from. I have made so many tweaks since I started, and never actually had a config file saved to start, so have now way of getting back to a good basic setup for this printer.

[Mark]

yes I think is proper. I have tried Max 6mm retraction and 100mm/s retraction speed on this printer, when print with 100%/0%, that means only with filament one, the result is quite good without much stringing. But with two colours still not that good....and the driver voltages, I have them all adjusted to 1.0V, works quite good. Usually the voltage is about 0.8-1.2V.

[mark2]

OK, good to know Mark, thanks.
I will stick with 3mm retraction for now as that seems to work, but will check the retraction speed (so many settings!)

Yes, mine was done at 100% left (extractor 1). I haven't tried too much with extractor settings yet, but what I do know is that when I start my first print from Printrun, the fan on extractor 2 turns off, and never comes back on until I power cycle the printer. Is that normal?

I don't really understand how to handle the mixing, I tried modifying it from the lcd (50/50) and started a test print, but it didn't make much difference (nothing came from extruder 2 and fan stayed off). Should I be able to control it from printrun? how would I specify that in printrun or slicer or whatever?

Seems as if most people on the forum are using repetier instead. Is that because it is better suited to the m201? or is there a special version to support the mixer?

[Mark]

yeah I'm thinking about the same thing, I suggest you to use the repetier host and test it, see if it works.