Cura 4.2.1 Config help

Shaun

Hi All

Ive finally got my entire rig (cr10) upgraded and all components are working in unison. Configured Cura with the recommendations from the BLTouch guide.

So here is whats happening and hoping someone can shed some light.

Simple test print from thingyvurse, (https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:61631) but when it starts the skirt is printed to perfection. Now this is where i get stumped, as soon as the nozzle moves to start the actual job it doesnt lower down enough to get to the bed. The result is a mess.

I have left most of the setting default in Cura, just changed the infill as this is a test run.

Thanks
Shaun

PS: is it normal for the mesh to show that my bed is almost perfectly level? Deviation when running a check is 0.18 - 0.20.

Danal

Can you post the G-Code file somewhere, at least the lines from the beginning to Layer 5 or so.
There are comments in Cura files that show where layers start. They look like this ;Layer:10
What is your layer height, in cura, and what is the "first layer" height?
Do you have mesh bed compensation on or off in the Duet?
If you manually enter G1 Z0, does the nozzle move to either just barely touch the bed, or at most be a "paper slides with drag" away?
After the Z0, do G1 Z1 and do your best to see if the nozzle is really 1mm up. Or do G1 Zx and slide an object that is EXACTLY x mm tall, etc, etc.

The point of the last two bullets is to find out if your printer is doing anything physically different than what the G-Code asks. The point of the first several bullets is to see if the slicer is asking for the wrong thing.

Shaun

@Danal said in Cura 4.2.1 Config help:

Can you post the G-Code file somewhere, at least the lines from the beginning to Layer 5 or so. Ill Post this when i get home.
There are comments in Cura files that show where layers start. They look like this ;Layer:10

What is your layer height, in cura, and what is the "first layer" height? 0.28 for drought print.

Do you have mesh bed compensation on or off in the Duet? Tried both, same result.

If you manually enter G1 Z0, does the nozzle move to either just barely touch the bed, or at most be a "paper slides with drag" away? Yes, use a "feeler Gauge"

After the Z0, do G1 Z1 and do your best to see if the nozzle is really 1mm up. Or do G1 Zx and slide an object that is EXACTLY x mm tall, etc, etc. I have checked this, can confirm its 1mm. I use this. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Metric-Thickness-Feeler-Gauge-0-02-1-00mm/dp/B0052IRYVS

The point of the last two bullets is to find out if your printer is doing anything physically different than what the G-Code asks. The point of the first several bullets is to see if the slicer is asking for the wrong thing.

bolded text

Shaun

This is Cura gcode

;Layer height: 0.2
;MINX:120.473
;MINY:120.476
;MINZ:0.2
;MAXX:159.525
;MAXY:159.525
;MAXZ:10
;Generated with Cura_SteamEngine 4.2.1
T0
M190 S60
M104 S210
M109 S210
M82 ;absolute extrusion mode
M201 X500.00 Y500.00 Z20.00 E250.00 ;Setup machine max acceleration
M203 X6000.00 Y6000.00 Z180.00 E1200.00 ;Setup machine max feedrate
;M204 P500.00 R1000.00 T500.00 ;Setup Print/Retract/Travel acceleration
;M205 X8.00 Y8.00 Z0.40 E5.00 ;Setup Jerk
;M220 S100 ;Reset Feedrate
;M221 S100 ;Reset Flowrate

G28 ;Home

G92 E0 ;Reset Extruder
;G1 Z2.0 F3000 ;Move Z Axis up
;G1 X10.1 Y20 Z0.28 F5000.0 ;Move to start position
;G1 X10.1 Y200.0 Z0.28 F1500.0 E15 ;Draw the first line
;G1 X10.4 Y200.0 Z0.28 F5000.0 ;Move to side a little
;G1 X10.4 Y20 Z0.28 F1500.0 E30 ;Draw the second line
;G92 E0 ;Reset Extruder
;G1 Z2.0 F3000 ;Move Z Axis up

G28 XY ; Home XY
M561 ; Clear any bed transform that might be in place
G1 X150 Y150 F4000 ; Move Probe to middle of bed
G30 ; Do a single probe
M375 P"heightmap.csv.csv" ; Load my custom heightmap. Otherwise use G29 S1
G1 Z5.0 F4000 ; Move Z to 5
M141 S28
M83 ;relative extrusion mode
G1 F2700 E-1
;LAYER_COUNT:50

;LAYER:0
M107
M566 X480 Y480
G0 F6000 X126.088 Y126.295 Z0.2
;TYPE:SKIRT
G1 F2700 E1
G1 F1200 X126.478 Y125.911 E0.02002
;LAYER:1
M140 S60
M106 S85
;TYPE:WALL-INNER
;MESH:Golf_Green_Marker.stl
G1 F2700 E1
G1 F1350 X139.677 Y146.891 E0.01563

Danal

Good stuff! Thanks for the complete answers. Everything looks OK in the first set of answers.

Regarding the G-Code:

@Shaun said in Cura 4.2.1 Config help:

;LAYER:0
M107
M566 X480 Y480
G0 F6000 X126.088 Y126.295 Z0.2
;TYPE:SKIRT
G1 F2700 E1
G1 F1200 X126.478 Y125.911 E0.02002
;LAYER:1
M140 S60
M106 S85
;TYPE:WALL-INNER
;MESH:Golf_Green_Marker.stl
G1 F2700 E1
G1 F1350 X139.677 Y146.891 E0.01563

We may not have enough of this file. Layer 0 (which will become the skirt) is being printed at 0.2 above the bed, which is fine (and you said this layer works). We need enough of the file to see the Z commands for the next several layers.

Please find ;LAYER:0 through ;LAYER:5 and post that.

Shaun

@Danal Thanks, i knew i should i emailed the gcode to work so that i can update this.

Ill get to this as soon as i get home. I tried a different file last night and the same problem.

JuJuDelta

@Shaun said in Cura 4.2.1 Config help:
"but when it starts the skirt is printed to perfection. Now this is where i get stumped, as soon as the nozzle moves to start the actual job it doesnt lower down enough to get to the bed. The result is a mess. "

I get the exact same thing, so watching this thread with interest.

droftarts

Quick guess as to what's going on: you're using 'Z Hop When Retracted' (in 'Travel' section in Cura, you may need to turn this on to see it), for which the speed is set by 'Z Hop Speed' (in 'Speed' section, which you may also need to turn on) is higher than the axis can actually travel. This shouldn't be a problem, as the firmware will slow it down to the speed the axis can travel, except that you have set that speed too high in config.g, so it skips steps.

@Shaun Can you post your config.g as well, so we can see what the Z axis speed is set to?

@JuJuDelta Is it your Kossel (from your signature) that's doing this? Delta printers shouldn't usually have this problem, as they can move in all three dimensions at pretty much full speed.

Ian

Shaun

@droftarts here you go

; Drives
M569 P0 S1 ; physical drive 0 goes forwards
M569 P1 S1 ; physical drive 1 goes forwards
M569 P2 S1 ; physical drive 2 goes forwards
M569 P3 S1 ; physical drive 3 goes forwards
M584 X0 Y1 Z2 E3 ; set drive mapping
M350Z16 I0 ; configure microstepping without interpolation
M350X16 Y16 Z16 E16 I1 ; configure microstepping with interpolation
M92 X80.00 Y80.00 Z4000.00 E420.00 ; set steps per mm
M566 X900.00 Y900.00 Z12.00 E120.00 ; set maximum instantaneous speed changes (mm/min)
M203 X6000.00 Y6000.00 Z180.00 E1200.00 ; set maximum speeds (mm/min)
M201 X500.00 Y500.00 Z20.00 E250.00 ; set accelerations (mm/s^2)
M906 X950 Y950 Z950 E950 I30 ; set motor currents (mA) and motor idle factor in per cent
M84 S30 ; Set idle timeout

droftarts

@Shaun said in Cura 4.2.1 Config help:

M203 X6000.00 Y6000.00 Z180.00 E1200.00 ; set maximum speeds (mm/min)
Your Z axis is limited to 180mm/min (3mm/s), which I think is the stock setting; my Cartesian machine (though dual Z motors) is set the same, and your other motor settings are stock. It may be that you need to test if it can actually do these speeds; it's possible there's more weight on the Z axis, so it actually has to be lower. Or, as you've got 4000 steps per mm (0.5mm pitch on your Z leadscrew, I think), at full speed the motor has to do 6 revolutions per second to move 3mm; it may just not physically be able to do this.

Try sending G1 Z10 F180 then G1 Z-10 F180 to check movement. If you do this at Z=0, you should be able to see if it returns to the same place. If it doesn't, try lowering the feedrate from F180 until it does move reliably.

In Cura, the Z Hop speed is set to 10mm/s, which my delta can do, but my Cartesian machine definitely can't! But the config.g setting will limit it to 3mm/s. I don't usually have Z Hop turned on on my Cartesian printer, as the slow Z movement can cause as many, though different, printing problems as having it switched off.

If this doesn't help, can you upload the gcode as @Danal suggested, then we can see what it's actually doing during a print.

Ian

Shaun

@droftarts said in Cura 4.2.1 Config help:

@Shaun said in Cura 4.2.1 Config help:

M203 X6000.00 Y6000.00 Z180.00 E1200.00 ; set maximum speeds (mm/min)
Your Z axis is limited to 180mm/min (3mm/s), which I think is the stock setting; my Cartesian machine (though dual Z motors) is set the same, and your other motor settings are stock. It may be that you need to test if it can actually do these speeds; it's possible there's more weight on the Z axis, so it actually has to be lower. Or, as you've got 4000 steps per mm (0.5mm pitch on your Z leadscrew, I think), at full speed the motor has to do 6 revolutions per second to move 3mm; it may just not physically be able to do this.

Try sending G1 Z10 F180 then G1 Z-10 F180 to check movement. If you do this at Z=0, you should be able to see if it returns to the same place. If it doesn't, try lowering the feedrate from F180 until it does move reliably.

In Cura, the Z Hop speed is set to 10mm/s, which my delta can do, but my Cartesian machine definitely can't! But the config.g setting will limit it to 3mm/s. I don't usually have Z Hop turned on on my Cartesian printer, as the slow Z movement can cause as many, though different, printing problems as having it switched off.

If this doesn't help, can you upload the gcode as @Danal suggested, then we can see what it's actually doing during a print.

Ian

Super, ill try drop the speed and also removing z hop.

Shaun

Morning, ok so changed the speed and removed the rim. This time is printed but the layers where way to far apart leading me to the conclusion that my Z steps are way off.

My Config.g
; Configuration file for Duet WiFi (firmware version 2.03) ; executed by the firmware on start-up ; ; generated by RepRapFirmware Configuration Tool v2.0.3 on Fri Sep 13 2019 19:45:33 GMT+0100 (British Summer Time)

; General preferences
G90 ; send absolute coordinates...
M83 ; ...but relative extruder moves
M550 P"CR10" ; set printer name

; Network
M552 S1 ; enable network
M586 P0 S1 ; enable HTTP
M586 P1 S0 ; disable FTP
M586 P2 S0 ; disable Telnet

; Drives
M569 P0 S1 ; physical drive 0 goes forwards
M569 P1 S1 ; physical drive 1 goes forwards
M569 P2 S1 ; physical drive 2 goes forwards
M569 P3 S1 ; physical drive 3 goes forwards
M584 X0 Y1 Z2 E3 ; set drive mapping
M350 X16 Y16 Z16 E16 I1 ; configure microstepping with interpolation
M92 X80.00 Y80.00 Z4000.00 E1222.00 ; set steps per mm
M566 X900.00 Y900.00 Z12.00 E120.00 ; set maximum instantaneous speed changes (mm/min)
M203 X6000.00 Y6000.00 Z180.00 E1200.00 ; set maximum speeds (mm/min)
M201 X500.00 Y500.00 Z10.00 E250.00 ; set accelerations (mm/s^2)
M906 X950 Y950 Z950 E950 I30 ; set motor currents (mA) and motor idle factor in per cent
M84 S30 ; Set idle timeout

; Axis Limits
M208 X0 Y0 Z0 S1 ; set axis minima
M208 X280 Y280 Z350 S0 ; set axis maxima
;M557 X10:280 Y35:270 S12.6 ; Define mesh grid for full bed print
;G31 X-43.2 Y31.9 Z2.132 P25

; Endstops
M574 X1 Y1 Z1 S1 ; set active high endstops
;M558 P5 X0 Y0 Z1 H7 F500 T4000 ; Set Z Probe to type Switch or Digital output where Z probe connector is used
;M31 P25 X0 Y0 Z1 ; Set Z probe trigger value, offset and trigger height

; Z-Probe
;M574 Z1 S2 ; set endstops controlled by probe
M307 H7 A-1 C-1 D-1 ; disable heater on PWM channel for BLTouch
M558 P5 H1 F500 T5000 ; set Z probe type to bltouch and the dive height + speeds
G31 P25 X8.5 Y-50 Z0.38 ; set Z probe trigger value, offset and trigger height
M557 X5:205 Y5:205 S10 ; define mesh grid

; Heaters
M307 H0 B0 S1.00 ; disable bang-bang mode for the bed heater and set PWM limit
M305 P0 T100000 B4138 R4700 ; set thermistor + ADC parameters for heater 0
M143 H0 S120 ; set temperature limit for heater 0 to 120C
M305 P1 T100000 B4138 R4700 ; set thermistor + ADC parameters for heater 1
M143 H1 S260 ; set temperature limit for heater 1 to 260C

;Disable Heater to free up PWM channel
M307 H7 A-1 C-1 D-1 ; disable heater for BLTouch

; Fans
M106 P0 S1 I0 F500 H1 T45 ; set fan 0 value, PWM signal inversion and frequency. Thermostatic control is turned on
M106 P1 S1 I0 F500 H1 T150 ; set fan 1 value, PWM signal inversion and frequency. Thermostatic control is turned on

; Tools
M563 P0 D0 H1 F0 ; define tool 0
G10 P0 X0 Y0 Z0 ; set tool 0 axis offsets
G10 P0 R0 S0 ; set initial tool 0 active and standby temperatures to 0C

; Custom settings are not defined
M501

grizewald

@Shaun said in Cura 4.2.1 Config help:

M92 X80.00 Y80.00 Z4000.00 E1222.00 ; set steps per mm

4000 steps per millimetre on Z looks like an order of magnitude too high...

wilriker

@grizewald said in Cura 4.2.1 Config help:

4000 steps per millimetre on Z looks like an order of magnitude too high...

With the sole exception that he is using a M5 threaded rod. But yes, more common these days are TR8x8 lead-screws which have 400 steps/mm.

Shaun

@grizewald said in Cura 4.2.1 Config help:

@Shaun said in Cura 4.2.1 Config help:

M92 X80.00 Y80.00 Z4000.00 E1222.00 ; set steps per mm

4000 steps per millimetre on Z looks like an order of magnitude too high...

Aaaahh yes that should be 400. My fat fingers again. Will fix and test.

droftarts

Funnily enough I use M5 rod on mine, so Z4000 looked right to me! I think I remember thinking "I wonder what a CR10 has for leadscrews?" at the time I wrote it, but then forgot!

@Shaun You can probably turn the speeds for Z back up now, as the motor will probably be able to lift the Z much faster now, assuming it has enough torque to move the Z that fast. But do test it at it's maximum speed.

Ian

Shaun

Could this be it?

;FLAVOR:RepRap
;TIME:194
;Filament used: 0.0936418m
;Layer height: 0.2
;MINX:131.371
;MINY:132.221
;MINZ:0.2
;MAXX:148.663
;MAXY:148.664
;MAXZ:10
;Generated with Cura_SteamEngine 4.2.1

wilriker

@Shaun That just gives the minimum and maximum coordinates this print will reach for every axes. In this case your part is 10mm high according to these comments.

grizewald

@Shaun said in Cura 4.2.1 Config help:

@grizewald said in Cura 4.2.1 Config help:

@Shaun said in Cura 4.2.1 Config help:

M92 X80.00 Y80.00 Z4000.00 E1222.00 ; set steps per mm

4000 steps per millimetre on Z looks like an order of magnitude too high...

Aaaahh yes that should be 400. My fat fingers again. Will fix and test.

And there I was feeling silly after wilriker's comment, but I was fairly sure that in all the pictures I'd seen of the CR10, it was using a lead screw and not a threaded rod.

I feel vindicated!

Hope it fixes your Z height problem.

wilriker

@grizewald said in Cura 4.2.1 Config help:

And there I was feeling silly after wilriker's comment, but I was fairly sure that in all the pictures I'd seen of the CR10, it was using a lead screw and not a threaded rod.

Ooops! Besides being the wise-guy that I am sometimes (=most of the time ) I actually wanted to express that I think you were right. Sorry I did not bring that across.