getting ready first print, priming filament

[imsmooth]

Do I need to home the extuder before I hit print or can I just hit
The print button and the machine will know where to start

[Tim]

If you are printing from S3D, the gcode will start by homing the axes.

Assuming that some time in the recent past you have homed the Z axis to check whether the bed is level, and trust that it doesn't need re-leveling, you can just hit print. I always enable the skirt (1 layer height, 1 layer wide, 3mm away from the print) so that I can watch whether the bed is actually coming back to the right distance from the nozzle. If not, you can use the time that it is printing the skirt to make tiny height adjustments by manually turning the Z knob one click up or down (apparently this doesn't do any harm to the Z motor).

[imsmooth]

I have gotten the G-code assembled and I am asked if I want to save the toolpaths to disk? Is this saving the G code file? I want to save the code from my iMac and then move the printer to a different area to print the ABS. I have a PC that has simplify3d on it and I can use this computer for the actual printing.

So, I have an STL file on my iMac. How do I get the G code file on to the SD card so I can disconnect the printer?

[Tim]

Yes, save the toolpath to disk; that will be the gcode file. Some people have better luck printing from the SD card, but don't save to the SD card with the SD card still in the printer---that's the really slow way. But either of these methods works: Save the toolpath to the SD card, then move the SD card to the printer, and use S3D to start the print from the SD card. Or, click on "print over USB" to send the gcode directly to the printer.

[imsmooth]

Thanks Tim, but I am a little confused as to which is the fastest way.

Should I save the toolpath from my imac to the SD card? Then, when I run the printer from my laptop, print from the SD card? Is this the fastest?

Also, I noticed that S3d wants to save the file as .gcode and not .g

I'm guessing that I just edit the file name from my computer to myfilename.g?

[Dale Reed]

imsmooth,

As for renaming the files from .gcode to .G, yes, this is what I usually do. I'm not sure whether long filenames are supported by the RAMBo firmware, so I've just always done this. 8.3 always works. (I'm paranoid -- I like to avoid things that may not work --- that's just me. )

As for being the "fastest", well, it is an extra step beyond just printing via USB. But if you print from the SD card, you don't run the risk of a bump in the USB connection trashing your print. If you're going to print from USB, check your power settings. You don't want to walk away, then have the PC do a sleep, hibernate, etc. and have the USB connection drop. There have also been cases reported where the USB connection doesn't keep up on complex prints with lots of very short moves --- the SD card direct in the printer is a faster connection than the 115.2kbps that the USB/serial connection on the RAMBo uses.

If you print from SD card, you may want to test this out: on MY M2 (received April 2013), if I start a print from SD card and then shut down the PC (or do anything else that causes a "graceful" close of the USB connection -- power management, "eject" from the systray icon, etc.), the USB disconnect sequence makes the RAMBo do a reset (as if I had cycled power). The motors are de-energized (the bed drops), the fans stop, etc., etc. What I have to do is start the print from the SD card, then yank the cable. Losing the connection this way (sudden comm fail) doesn't reset the RAMBo and it keeps on printing.

If you add a couple lines to your ending G-code to turn off the heat, cool the print with fans for a while, then de-energize the motors and fans, you can do unattended prints from the SD card that end with the M2 in a fairly low power state -- just the RAMBo powered, and that's only a few watts. My ending G-code also backs out the filament and lowers the bed to Z=195 before powering down the motors, just so there's not a huge uncontrolled drop of the bed. Lots of other people here have come up with tweaks to the ending G-code to do all kinds of stuff.

Dale

[imsmooth]

This brings up a few questions:

I moved the SD card to my laptop. I went the machine controls and did an import from SD card. I then sat and watched line by line of code get read. Is this right? Should it take this long to load from the card? If this is wrong, how am I suppose to load my G file from the SD and drop the image on the grid?

Next, I turned off S3d and reloaded it. It asked me for my product key again. Is this right?

Thanks

[Toby]

I moved the SD card to my laptop. I went the machine controls and did an import from SD card. I then sat and watched line by line of code get read. Is this right? Should it take this long to load from the card? If this is wrong, how am I suppose to load my G file from the SD and drop the image on the grid?

Next, I turned off S3d and reloaded it. It asked me for my product key again. Is this right?

Not sure I follow you. With the gcode file on the SD card, you want the SD card in the M2. You print it from S3D using the "Print from SD Card". It doesn't show up on the grid in S3D that way. It just prints from the M2.

You get the gcode preview in S3D either by slicing in S3D or by using File->Preview GCode. Normally my sequence is (assuming bed has been leveled and is up to temp and the extruder is pre-heating after step 1.):

1. Slice in S3D until happy with the gcode preview.
2. Save the tool paths to disk.
3. Move the SD card from the M2 onto computer.
4. Copy the gcode to the SD card.
5. Put the SD card back in the M2.
6.Click "Print from SD card" in S3D and select the file.

At that point the M2 will take over and print the model. I usually stick around until after the first couple of layers. For one thing to pull the filament off as it's oozing and being purged at the start. (You'll see what I mean on your first print.) And for another to make sure the first layer goes down well.

At first I used to stay for the whole print. But after a while you get to know what's going to work.

Also, it's not necessary to rename the gcode file. However, the name will likely be truncated in some way when you go to select it for printing. For that reason I usually delete all other gcode files on the SD card so I don't pick the wrong file.

When you reloaded S3D did you re-install it? It shouldn't ask for a product key every time you run it.

[imsmooth]

It doesn't ask every time. It just did this one time. I had the laptop offline from my network, so maybe it occasionally checks the key against the company's database. I reloaded the key and all is well.

[imsmooth]

Well my first print failed. It started out great, building the bottom side. Then the extruder stopped extruding abs. The temperature was 235C. I aborted the print and raised the temp to 245 and it started flowing nicely again.