Qidi Tech 1 - Replicator 1 clone

[DaveB]

#1. (Regarding quoted comment) In the meantime I am reducing my feed rate and travel speed so that I can at least keep printing... It is OBVIOUS that acceleration/deceleration is broken for me. The printer is definitely not decelerating to a stop after a travel move... and I am thus far only experiencing it with Cura. I would like to keep using Cura as it has been working better than Craftware, Slic3r, and MakerWare

Any experience with Simplify3D?

[caall99]

Any experience with Simplify3D?

No, I am exhausting every other slicer before I commit to S3D. Its been a learning experience for me, and I am glad I am doing it this way and not using S3D from the beginning. I can get some pretty stunning prints on free slicers...

I want to understand why acceleration is broken, and not spend $150 to see whether or not it was the slicer. Thanks

[caall99]

Hey all, here is a video demonstration of my problem:



Using Cura 2.1.2 to slice this with conservative settings. Printing this: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1021449/#files

Gcode for item being printed is here: http://s000.tinyupload.com/?file_id=...57742732992991

Let me know your thoughts please. I am using GPX to convert my file with these settings: http://s000.tinyupload.com/?file_id=...40244140018794 (this is the gpx.ini file)

I didn't attach pictures, but the final result was a horrible quality print that skipped steps significantly in the Y direction. I terminated the print at that time.

[DaveB]

Hey all, here is a video demonstration of my problem:



Using Cura 2.1.2 to slice this with conservative settings. Printing this: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1021449/#files

I tried printing the Thingiverse object with S3D. S3D has a lot of insulation between the operator and the printhead. I did not see the cogging behavior displayed in your video. Those places in the print sequence where your video shows the system loosing it, are handled differently in S3D. That final pass in the circumference print loop, rather than being the stepper crash symphony in your video, is a lower speed jaggies fill pass between the outer and inner shell passes. Ex: Around once CW, back around CCW, then the slower CW jaggies fill pass, then repeat.

I tried increasing the print speed dramatically (3X), and discovered there was a cooling option that was over-riding the print speeds. Disabling that cooling option did permit the speeds to increase as requested, eventually to the point that gaps began appearing in the print, but still did not cause the stepper to cog as shown in your video.

[caall99]

Yes, it is the fill pass during which the tool head spazzes out. Did you try running the gcode file that i attached on your Qidi? Feel free to manually edit the temperatures to meet the rquirements of your filament. I would love to know whether or not my gcode, converted to x3g, causes a similar behavior for you.

[DaveB]

Yes, it is the fill pass during which the tool head spazzes out. Did you try running the gcode file that i attached on your Qidi? Feel free to manually edit the temperatures to meet the rquirements of your filament. I would love to know whether or not my gcode, converted to x3g, causes a similar behavior for you.

Downloaded the GCode. Read it into S3D and stepping through the graphical preview single line by single line while viewing the speed, I may see what's causing your problem. The CW and CCW outlines are a single segment/side drawn at ~18mm/s with a few short movements within the turnaround corner at ~104mm/s, This is followed by the fill pass which is a straight line (not jaggies) consisting of ~32 (rather than a single) segments/side executed at ~104mm/s, followed by a movement to the adjacent corner at 233mm/s, some fill in that corner at 39mm/s, another short movement within that corner at 233mm/s. At this point the process repeats.

Unfortunately I've no idea what massaging/interpretation S3D may have done to your GCode wrt speed, or anything else. That said, the output I was previewing did NOT look like anything S3D has produced to date, so maybe it is representative of the actual GCode content. I have not tried printing your file.

If S3D's preview function might be helpful to you in understanding this problem, I believe they have a 14 day refund period.

[DarkAlchemist]

I can say mine never did that and I had it set at the 2000 acceleration for quality settings I think it said.

[caall99]

Did a TON of troubleshooting tonight: I have confirmed that it is not the slicer (Cura 2.1.2 in this case), nor the conversion program (GPX and ReplicatorG in this case) that is causing this issue. I have also scoured the gcode line by line, and even though there are heated bed and nozzle temp code issues, they are ultimately not what is causing this problem. The problem is isolated to the printer, or more specifically the firmware/controller board. Why worry all along...

EDIT: It is possible that the firmware simply has issues with Cura 2.1.2 generated Gcode... and that it cannot apply acceleration settings properly. I tried printing with horrible Makerware and it did not shudder or jitter (though it has in the past with Slic3r and Craftware). Not sure what to make of this... perhaps Sailfish 7.8 as provided by qidi tech is a build off some old (pre 7.5) version of Sailfish that cannot understand new Slicer code??

I so badly want to flash official Sailfish 7.7, but Emily from Qidi told me it could not be done. I have shared my issues with them and hope they will reveal how I can change the firmware.

[DarkAlchemist]

Did a TON of troubleshooting tonight: I have confirmed that it is not the slicer (Cura 2.1.2 in this case), nor the conversion program (GPX and ReplicatorG in this case) that is causing this issue. I have also scoured the gcode line by line, and even though there are heated bed and nozzle temp code issues, they are ultimately not what is causing this problem. The problem is isolated to the printer, or more specifically the firmware/controller board. Why worry all along...

EDIT: It is possible that the firmware simply has issues with Cura 2.1.2 generated Gcode... and that it cannot apply acceleration settings properly. I tried printing with horrible Makerware and it did not shudder or jitter (though it has in the past with Slic3r and Craftware). Not sure what to make of this... perhaps Sailfish 7.8 as provided by qidi tech is a build off some old (pre 7.5) version of Sailfish that cannot understand new Slicer code??

I so badly want to flash official Sailfish 7.7, but Emily from Qidi told me it could not be done. I have shared my issues with them and hope they will reveal how I can change the firmware.

Glad Qidi is finally admitting that you will brick your machine if you try (not in as many words but something bad will happen if not done using black voodoo magic).

What I really do not get is what in the fook these companies are doing (like Wanhao above, etc...) that makes it where the original, and REAL, firmware no longer works. You would think these bastages would embrace people modding their machines and upgrading their firmware etc... but they do not. What you buy is what you get.

[caall99]

Thank you for walking through my gcode. This should all be fine if the sailfish acceleration planner accelerated all these moves... For some reason it isnt, and instead the tool head is executing infinite acceleration between all these moves!