# Specific 3D Printers, Scanners, & Hardware > CTC 3D Printers >  Going to hit it with a hammer!!

## MathewBuer

ive been messing around now with my CTC3D Dual printer for well over 2 months now, maybe even 3,

the problem i have is i can not get the printer dial-ed in no matter what settings i input into it.

has anyone got one of these which is printing nicely who wants to share there profile with me ?

i am currently using the makerware software, i have also upgraded the 3dprinter to the latest sailfish firmware.

Regards
Mathew

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## Alibert

It would help us help you if you would tell us what the problem is?

Filament type?
Print settings?
Problem pictures?

I use S3D myself, so do not have Makerbot profiles. However, once knowing what your problem is I may still be able to help.

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## MathewBuer

@Alibert i will get some photos when i get home from work later, 

i will also export the profile i am currently using.

Regards

PS is S3D Worth the 150$ ?

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## Stwert

As far as S3D goes I was more than a little bit, let's say cautious, the way people bang on about it. Seemed like a lot of money when there's plenty of free options. 
But eventually I bit the bullet to see what all of the fuss was about and I've never looked back. It was worth every penny, really happy with it.

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## Alibert

I do a lot of complex prints and use S3D exclusively as it allows me the highest control and the very complex multi-profile prints (different profles for different objects on the plate, multiple profiles per z-height for singel objects). I also save all my projects as factory files (all stl objects + all profiles 'frozen' in one archive file) so that I can tinker with the settings (or replace stl objects with newer versions) later on.

As such, yes it is worth it. If you do not need that kind of control then a freeware slicer  will do fine as well.

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## MathewBuer

Hi Guys,

sorry for taking ages with getting the settings but here they are

{
   "_attached_extruders" : [ "mk8", "mk8" ],
   "_bot" : "replicatordual",
   "_extruders" : [ 1 ],
   "_materials" : [ "pla", "pla" ],
   "adjacentFillLeakyConnections" : false,
   "adjacentFillLeakyDistanceRatio" : 0,
   "anchorExtrusionAmount" : 5.0,
   "anchorExtrusionSpeed" : 2.0,
   "anchorWidth" : 2.0,
   "backlashEpsilon" : 0.050,
   "backlashFeedback" : 0.90,
   "backlashX" : 0.0,
   "backlashY" : 0.090,
   "bedZOffset" : 0.0,
   "bridgeAnchorMinimumLength" : 0.80,
   "bridgeAnchorWidth" : 0.80,
   "bridgeMaximumLength" : 80.0,
   "bridgeSpacingMultiplier" : 1.0,
   "coarseness" : 9.999999747378752e-05,
   "commentClose" : "",
   "commentOpen" : ";",
   "computeVolumeLike2_1_0" : false,
   "defaultExtruder" : 0,
   "defaultRaftMaterial" : 0,
   "defaultSupportMaterial" : 0,
   "description" : "TEST",
   "doAnchor" : true,
   "doBacklashCompensation" : false,
   "doBreakawaySupport" : false,
   "doBridging" : true,
   "doDynamicSpeed" : false,
   "doDynamicSpeedGradually" : true,
   "doDynamicSpeedInteriorShells" : false,
   "doDynamicSpeedOutermostShell" : true,
   "doExponentialDeceleration" : false,
   "doExternalSpurs" : true,
   "doFixedLayerStart" : false,
   "doFixedShellStart" : true,
   "doInfills" : true,
   "doInsets" : true,
   "doInternalSpurs" : false,
   "doMixedRaft" : false,
   "doMixedSupport" : false,
   "doOutlines" : true,
   "doPrintLayerMessages" : false,
   "doPrintProgress" : true,
   "doPurgeWall" : false,
   "doRaft" : false,
   "doSplitLongMoves" : true,
   "doSupport" : false,
   "doSupportUnderBridges" : false,
   "endGcode" : "",
   "exponentialDecelerationMinSpeed" : 0.0,
   "extruderProfiles" : [
      {
         "bridgesExtrusionProfile" : "bridges",
         "feedDiameter" : 1.769999980926514,
         "feedstockMultiplier" : 0.930,
         "firstLayerExtrusionProfile" : "firstLayer",
         "firstLayerRaftExtrusionProfile" : "firstLayerRaft",
         "floorSurfaceFillsExtrusionProfile" : "floorSurfaceFills",
         "infillsExtrusionProfile" : "infill",
         "insetsExtrusionProfile" : "insets",
         "layerHeight" : 0.20,
         "maxSparseFillThickness" : 0.10,
         "nozzleDiameter" : 0.40,
         "outlinesExtrusionProfile" : "outlines",
         "raftBaseExtrusionProfile" : "raftBase",
         "raftExtrusionProfile" : "raft",
         "restartExtraDistance" : 0.0,
         "restartExtraDistance2" : 0,
         "restartExtraRate" : 25.0,
         "restartExtraRate2" : -1,
         "restartRate" : 25.0,
         "restartRate2" : 25,
         "retractDistance" : 1.299999952316284,
         "retractDistance2" : 0,
         "retractRate" : 25.0,
         "retractRate2" : 50,
         "roofSurfaceFillsExtrusionProfile" : "roofSurfaceFills",
         "sparseRoofSurfaceFillsExtrusionProfile" : "sparseRoofSurfaceFills",
         "toolchangeRestartDistance" : 18.50,
         "toolchangeRestartRate" : 6.0,
         "toolchangeRetractDistance" : 19.0,
         "toolchangeRetractRate" : 6.0
      },
      {
         "bridgesExtrusionProfile" : "bridges",
         "feedDiameter" : 1.769999980926514,
         "feedstockMultiplier" : 0.930,
         "firstLayerExtrusionProfile" : "firstLayer",
         "firstLayerRaftExtrusionProfile" : "firstLayerRaft",
         "floorSurfaceFillsExtrusionProfile" : "floorSurfaceFills",
         "infillsExtrusionProfile" : "infill",
         "insetsExtrusionProfile" : "insets",
         "layerHeight" : 0.20,
         "maxSparseFillThickness" : 0.10,
         "nozzleDiameter" : 0.40,
         "outlinesExtrusionProfile" : "outlines",
         "raftBaseExtrusionProfile" : "raftBase",
         "raftExtrusionProfile" : "raft",
         "restartExtraDistance" : 0.0,
         "restartExtraDistance2" : 0,
         "restartExtraRate" : 25.0,
         "restartExtraRate2" : -1,
         "restartRate" : 25.0,
         "restartRate2" : 25,
         "retractDistance" : 1.299999952316284,
         "retractDistance2" : 0,
         "retractRate" : 25.0,
         "retractRate2" : 50,
         "roofSurfaceFillsExtrusionProfile" : "roofSurfaceFills",
         "sparseRoofSurfaceFillsExtrusionProfile" : "sparseRoofSurfaceFills",
         "toolchangeRestartDistance" : 18.50,
         "toolchangeRestartRate" : 6.0,
         "toolchangeRetractDistance" : 19.0,
         "toolchangeRetractRate" : 6.0
      }
   ],
   "extruderTemp0" : 211,
   "extruderTemp1" : 210,
   "extrusionProfiles" : {
      "bridges" : {
         "fanSpeed" : 0.50,
         "feedrate" : 40.0
      },
      "firstLayer" : {
         "fanSpeed" : 0.50,
         "feedrate" : 30.0
      },
      "firstLayerRaft" : {
         "fanSpeed" : 0.50,
         "feedrate" : 50.0
      },
      "floorSurfaceFills" : {
         "fanSpeed" : 0.50,
         "feedrate" : 90.0
      },
      "infill" : {
         "fanSpeed" : 0.50,
         "feedrate" : 90.0
      },
      "insets" : {
         "fanSpeed" : 0.50,
         "feedrate" : 90.0
      },
      "outlines" : {
         "fanSpeed" : 0.50,
         "feedrate" : 40.0
      },
      "raft" : {
         "fanSpeed" : 0.50,
         "feedrate" : 90.0
      },
      "raftBase" : {
         "fanSpeed" : 0.50,
         "feedrate" : 10.0
      },
      "roofSurfaceFills" : {
         "fanSpeed" : 0.50,
         "feedrate" : 90.0
      },
      "sparseRoofSurfaceFills" : {
         "fanSpeed" : 0.50,
         "feedrate" : 90.0
      }
   },
   "fixedLayerStartX" : 0.0,
   "fixedLayerStartY" : 0.0,
   "fixedShellStartDirection" : 215.0,
   "floorSolidThickness" : 0,
   "floorSurfaceThickness" : 0,
   "floorThickness" : 1.0,
   "gridSpacingMultiplier" : 1.0,
   "infillDensity" : 0.3000000119209290,
   "infillOrientationInterval" : 90,
   "infillOrientationOffset" : 0,
   "infillOrientationRange" : 90,
   "infillShellSpacingMultiplier" : 0.70,
   "insetDistanceMultiplier" : 1.0,
   "jsonToolpathOutput" : false,
   "layerHeight" : 0.1500000059604645,
   "leakyConnectionsAdjacentDistance" : 0.0,
   "maxConnectionLength" : 10.0,
   "maxSparseFillThickness" : 0.1500000059604645,
   "maxSpurWidth" : 0.50,
   "minLayerDuration" : 5.0,
   "minLayerHeight" : 0.010,
   "minRaftBaseGap" : 0.0,
   "minSpeedMultiplier" : 0.30,
   "minSpurLength" : 0.40,
   "minSpurWidth" : 0.120,
   "minThickInfillImprovement" : 1.0,
   "modelFillProfiles" : {},
   "numberOfShells" : 2,
   "platformTemp" : 0,
   "purgeBucketSide" : 4.0,
   "purgeWallBaseFilamentWidth" : 2.0,
   "purgeWallBasePatternLength" : 10.0,
   "purgeWallBasePatternWidth" : 8.0,
   "purgeWallModelOffset" : 2.0,
   "purgeWallPatternWidth" : 2.0,
   "purgeWallSpacing" : 1.0,
   "purgeWallWidth" : 0.50,
   "purgeWallXLength" : 30.0,
   "raftAligned" : true,
   "raftBaseAngle" : 0.0,
   "raftBaseDensity" : 0.6999999880790710,
   "raftBaseLayers" : 1,
   "raftBaseRunGapRatio" : 0.8000000119209290,
   "raftBaseRunLength" : 15.0,
   "raftBaseThickness" : 0.3000000119209290,
   "raftBaseWidth" : 2.50,
   "raftExtraOffset" : 0.0,
   "raftFillProfiles" : {},
   "raftInterfaceAngle" : 45.0,
   "raftInterfaceDensity" : 0.3000000119209290,
   "raftInterfaceLayers" : 1,
   "raftInterfaceThickness" : 0.2700000107288361,
   "raftInterfaceWidth" : 0.4000000059604645,
   "raftModelSpacing" : 0.3499999940395355,
   "raftOutset" : 4.0,
   "raftSurfaceAngle" : 0.0,
   "raftSurfaceLayers" : 3,
   "raftSurfaceShellSpacingMultiplier" : 0.70,
   "raftSurfaceShells" : 2,
   "raftSurfaceThickness" : 0.1400000005960464,
   "roofAnchorMargin" : 0.40,
   "roofSolidThickness" : 0,
   "roofSurfaceThickness" : 0,
   "roofThickness" : 1.0,
   "shellsLeakyConnections" : false,
   "solidFillOrientationInterval" : 90,
   "solidFillOrientationOffset" : -45,
   "solidFillOrientationRange" : 90,
   "sparseInfillPattern" : "hexagonal",
   "splitMinimumDistance" : 0.40,
   "spurOverlap" : 0.0010,
   "startGcode" : "",
   "startPosition" : {
      "x" : -112,
      "y" : -73,
      "z" : 0
   },
   "supportAligned" : true,
   "supportAngle" : 68.0,
   "supportDensity" : 0.2000000029802322,
   "supportExcessive" : false,
   "supportExtraDistance" : 0.50,
   "supportFillProfiles" : {},
   "supportLayerHeight" : 0.1000000014901161,
   "supportLeakyConnections" : true,
   "supportModelSpacing" : 0.4000000059604645,
   "supportRoofModelSpacing" : 0.4000000059604645,
   "thickLayerThreshold" : 0,
   "thickLayerVolumeMultiplier" : 1,
   "travelSpeedXY" : 150.0,
   "travelSpeedZ" : 23.0,
   "version" : "3.9.3"
}


all of my prints are a little crappy tbh, ive used different types/makes of PLA and they all seem to print the same.

Regards

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## Alibert

A picture of a (failed) printed object would be nice to have something to go on.

As to the settings, the temp should work but I would not go any higher. Lower down to 190-195 maybe.

As to the speeds, I presume 'feedrate' means mm/s ? (I don't use Makerbot or its profiles myself)

If so, then lower all feedrates of 90.0 etc down to 45.0 max. 90 mm/s is way, way,way too fast. The extruder can not reliably push plastic out of the nozzle at that speed. This is also dependent on the layer height. The amount of plastic the nozzle can extrude is limited to a volume per time unit, not speed. With higher layers, the speed must come down to remain below the limit of the extruder.  You will find a good read on that topic here: http://www.extrudable.me/2013/04/18/...ty-and-limits/

Start slow and then when results are good you can increase speeds in small steps and re-testalong the way.

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## MathewBuer

ill try to print something this morning with the new settings, i will post the outcome of what it looks like in a few hours  :Smile: 

thanks for your help Alibert

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## MathewBuer

For some reasons i cant post the images so ive had to link them

https://s32.postimg.org/huf8eybth/20160702_090126.jpg
https://s32.postimg.org/qv3gxq2j9/20160702_090135.jpg

Regards

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## Alibert

Second image is coming the right way. The strings on the bottom is because the heatbed is not levelled right. Or the speed of the first layer is too high. You need to get this first layer put down really, really well for the rest of the print to succeed. A height difference of 0.1mm determines make or fail for a great deal. Take a piece of paper and level it as explained elsewhere (google is your friend). Reduce the first layer speed to 20 mm/s max.

Also, you may need to consider the bed material. I and many others have good success with a glass plate and the right kind of hairspray. If you can't find the right kind of hairspray, then 3Dlac is excellent. I use 3Dlac all the time and it has never failed me. The glass plate can't be scratched/torn like tape or kapton, and you can wash off the hiarspray/3Dlac with warm water to get a perfectely clean heatbed again. Well worth the investment. Also the bottom layer becomes really smooth and shiny.

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## curious aardvark

travel speed also needs to drop. 
these days I set my travel speed to the same as my print speed. It cuts down on sudden acceleration, which creates little spikey bits of mpalsrtic and also adds vibration. 
Print times are minimally effected. 

Print speed you can go as high as 65. But in that case you need to print pla at around 200-215 depending on colour of plastic. ie: black prints at  a lower temp than white.  Most colours print quite happily at 210 - but you will need a print area cooling duct: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:537918 . 
The lowest I ever print pla at is 205 for black.

First layer speed should be 10-20% of actual print speed. For tpu/rubber filaments I can go as low as 5% on  a 20mm/s print speed. Mind you that was for printing 3mm diameter tires :-) 


Pla is a better final product if printed at higher temps.   

Glue stick is about the best thing to print pla on. Cheap, easy to apply and clean off and you can build the layers up to compensate  if you can't be arsed to calibrate often :-)
And you can apply it to any other surface.

And if you don't have a removeable print bed - it doesn't coat your printer in hair laquer ;-)

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## MathewBuer

ok ive managed to get the printer working a little better, ive slowed the print right down to 35mm and the heat is set to 205, 

what are peoples views on rafts ?

Regards

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## bigo93

I've found rafts to be too problematic, a lot of time it sticks to the print too well and is hard to take off.

Glass bed and ABS juice works wonders to help both PLA and ABS stick to the glass.
Bed must be heated even with PLA though, but you get a nice glossy smooth base.

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## MathewBuer

ok ive managed to drop the speedrate down to 35 and it seems to be printing really nice, however it works  :Smile:  maybe ill safe this profile then mod another and see if i can make it speed up without compromising the quality

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## curious aardvark

Rafts aren't becessary for pla.
Useful for abs i found.

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## MathewBuer

ok so ive printed this as my 1st big object but so far it has taken 14hours and its onlly on 76% ???
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1584975

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## Alibert

What layer height are you printing at?

With 0.2mm height and fairly optimized speed settings (standard S3D Flashforge creator profile) I get 7:12 for the base part, and at 0.1mm layer height I get 17:23 (17 hours, 23 minutes). This is just the base part, no lid added.

The print time is roughly inversely proportional to the printing layer height. Lower height means more layers means longer printing time....

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## curious aardvark

Okay next lesson (lol): Do all standard printing at 0.3mm layer height. 
Do hi-res printing at 0.2mm layer height. 

And only if you are printing out detailed artistic models would you ever need to go lower than 0.2mm. 

Also you can print at up to 65mm/s 
Change the settings to 0.3mm and 60mm/s and that box should print out in 4-5 hours.

BUT you now know that the printer will happily run all day without any problems - that's worth knowing :-)

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## Sebastian Finke

Is the CTC another Replicator clone? If so, did you calibrate the extruder? I ask because this jumped out at me:



```
"feedDiameter" : 1.769999980926514,
         "feedstockMultiplier" : 0.930,
```

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## Sebastian Finke

If it is then you need to calibrate asap. That first pic you linked is classic non-calibration...

The link is stickied in the FF forum.

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## curious aardvark

would be an idea to change diameter to 1.75
Feedstock multiplier - otherwise known as extrusion percentage.
Should be 1 - although I think I ran s3d wit it at 0.9 for quite a while before noticing. 
Tend to run at 1 these days, can't say I've noticed any significant difference.

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## Alibert

> Is the CTC another Replicator clone? If so, did you calibrate the extruder? I ask because this jumped out at me:
> 
> 
> 
> ```
> "feedDiameter" : 1.769999980926514,
>          "feedstockMultiplier" : 0.930,
> ```


Those two settings partly neutralize each other. Translated to 1.75mm  the feedmultiplier is 0.978 which seems to be OK. I use 0.900 - 0.950 for PLA on my machines with good results. ( I also use 1.00 for ABS and 0.98 for PETG by the way).

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## Sebastian Finke

> Those two settings partly neutralize each other. Translated to 1.75mm  the feedmultiplier is 0.978 which seems to be OK. I use 0.900 - 0.950 for PLA on my machines with good results. ( I also use 1.00 for ABS and 0.98 for PETG by the way).


Very odd. On my machine (FFCX) with Makerware and a filament diameter of 1.75mm I have to set my feedstockmultiplier to 1.05...

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## Alibert

There is another setting that is directly linked to these two and that is the steps/mm of the extruder. Basically the software calculates how much volume of plastic it needs to lay down, and calculates how many mm of filament it needs to extrude (how many steps it needs)  to do this from the diameter and the steps/mm of the extuder setting. The firmware setting may be a tad off from reality.

This is just the first rough estimate. The feedstock multiplier is a fudge-ing parameter to account for a multitude of effects such as material characteristics (viscosity, which is a function of temperature), printing speed etc.

What the extruder actually extrudes is not exactly what the extruder tries to push out as due to the backpressure the teeth of the extruder gear will slip/deform the filament a bit. The latter effect depends on backpressure and thus on viscosity and nozzle diameter, which in turn depends on printing temperature, polymer characteristics and printing speed. Also the squashing pressure of the filament between gear and pulley will have an effect as it deforms the filament which in turn has an effect on the amount of slip.

So at different printing speeds/temperatures you mayl need different feedstock multipliers, especially if you push the speed very high or temperature very low (both increasing the backpressure a lot). At lower speeds/higher temps the feedstock multiplier has less importance. Also, each printer will need a slighty different feedstock multiplier due to the multitude of effects/settings. It is a fine-tuning parameter after all.

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## Geoff

Ailbert, just use Makerware - it's giving me great prints from the CTC. Just load the replicator dual profile and go for it.

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