da vinci filament cartridge chip

Hello all, I have a Da Vinci printer on the way and have run into a problem. I was given a couple of spools of filament from a buddy that he extruded so I didn't order any of the cartridges for the printer. My question for the more tech savvy people out there is, is there a way to reset or hack the chip in the cartridges so I can have a wider range of options for filament? I know if you have a full cartridge in the printer and feed a different spool of filament into it, it will print fine. The problem comes when the printer reads that you have gone through the amount of filament in the cartridge, it stops and you have a full cartridge that reads empty.

If you can read and write the UNI/O protocol it seems that the chip can be reset to the status of a full cartridge.

http://voltivo.com/blog/da-vinci-reset-eeprom

Here's a UNI/O dev kit that might do the trick: http://www.microchip.com/Development...artNO=DV243003

I've heard that the Da Vinci filament cartridges basically cost twice as much as if you were to purchase the filament yourself. I hate this with a passion. I think the DaVinci printer is awesome, but hate how they do this. I'm glas that someone has found a workaround to this filament DRM. Not sure if it's legal, but I feel that it's what they deserve. If you buy a printer for $500-$1000, you should be able to use your own filament.

You can't blame them for doing it. Their printer is so cheap, they want to make money off of selling filament. It's how 2D Printers made it in this industry. The business model probably won't cut it in 3D printing though, since there are so many DIY 3D printers, whereas there were no DIY 2D Printers.

Just got my Davinci printer and I am not impressed. Even on the finest setting the layer lines are very visible and out of 10 or so models I have yet to get one that is usable. I have tried everything, updated software and firmware, calibration and cleaning. I replaced the standard filament in the cartridge with Afinia premium filament and it wont work at all. It seems the extruder temperature is too low for the Afinia plastic. I think its the software since all the mechanical aspects of the printer seem good.

I've seen some Davinci printers print out some stuff recently too. I wasn't impressed by the resolution. The replicator 2's are definitely a better printer. You get what you pay for.

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Originally Posted by zegreeta

I've seen some Davinci printers print out some stuff recently too. I wasn't impressed by the resolution. The replicator 2's are definitely a better printer. You get what you pay for.

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I am searching for a reasonably priced printer that can do fairly intricate detail. My UP Mini did some really detailed stuff but the extruder and heat bed were a nightmare. The Davinci would be great if the software wasnt junk.