3dmigos
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun Aug 02, 2015 1:39 pm

Pause to change filament - Flashforge Creator PRo(Sailfish)

I had to fight to get this working, so I thought I would put it here once and for all.

Image

I have a Flashforge Creator Pro, and for years, I have just been using the front control to pause the print to change filament - this works fine, but then you forget about it and suddenly it's too late..

I had no idea that Sailfish gcode was so different to other types. For other machines, I saw that you need to pause, move the head away, play a sound... and I thought I needed to do this on my FFCP, and kept tying and failing!

I finally got round to using the M322 code, which does all this for you on Sailfish... Simples.

So, rather than issuing a pause at as specific layer in the gcode (like other machines / gcodes), you set a threshold value, and as soon as the Z value is greater than the value you set, the system pauses, a sound plays, the bed drops and the print head returns home. Then you can access the front panel menu and change the filament before 'unpausing'.

So, I wanted to print this vBuck, with a colour change at layer 15 and one at 25. printing at .2mm later height, you multiply this up to get the heights: 0.2*15 = 3 and 0.2*25 = 5.

You can only have one of these set at a time, so on layer 10 I set the pause at 3mm (which will be about layer 15), then at layer 20 I set the 5mm pause (which will be about layer 25). To do this go to the scripts tab in the settings, and add the following to the bottom box:

{REPLACE "; layer 10," "M322 Z3.0\n; layer 10,"}
{REPLACE "; layer 25," "M322 Z5.0\n; layer 25,"}

This is a post processing command, which means that after the gcode is created, it's changed, This REPLACES '; layer 10,' with:

M322 Z3.0
; layer 10,

This pauses when the Z axis gets to 3mm.

Look here for all the G and M codes supported: http://replicat.org/mcodes
SweHogelid
Posts: 57
Joined: Wed Aug 03, 2016 8:01 am

Re: Pause to change filament - Flashforge Creator PRo(Sailfish)

Great tip and a good explanation!
Thank you
wirlybird
Posts: 1374
Joined: Sun Jul 17, 2016 1:32 pm

Re: Pause to change filament - Flashforge Creator PRo(Sailfish)

Thanks, going to have to try this out.
wirlybird
Posts: 1374
Joined: Sun Jul 17, 2016 1:32 pm

Re: Pause to change filament - Flashforge Creator PRo(Sailfish)

3dmigos wrote: Wed Nov 28, 2018 11:19 am I had to fight to get this working, so I thought I would put it here once and for all.

Image

I have a Flashforge Creator Pro, and for years, I have just been using the front control to pause the print to change filament - this works fine, but then you forget about it and suddenly it's too late..

I had no idea that Sailfish gcode was so different to other types. For other machines, I saw that you need to pause, move the head away, play a sound... and I thought I needed to do this on my FFCP, and kept tying and failing!

I finally got round to using the M322 code, which does all this for you on Sailfish... Simples.

So, rather than issuing a pause at as specific layer in the gcode (like other machines / gcodes), you set a threshold value, and as soon as the Z value is greater than the value you set, the system pauses, a sound plays, the bed drops and the print head returns home. Then you can access the front panel menu and change the filament before 'unpausing'.

So, I wanted to print this vBuck, with a colour change at layer 15 and one at 25. printing at .2mm later height, you multiply this up to get the heights: 0.2*15 = 3 and 0.2*25 = 5.

You can only have one of these set at a time, so on layer 10 I set the pause at 3mm (which will be about layer 15), then at layer 20 I set the 5mm pause (which will be about layer 25). To do this go to the scripts tab in the settings, and add the following to the bottom box:

{REPLACE "; layer 10," "M322 Z3.0\n; layer 10,"}
{REPLACE "; layer 25," "M322 Z5.0\n; layer 25,"}

This is a post processing command, which means that after the gcode is created, it's changed, This REPLACES '; layer 10,' with:

M322 Z3.0
; layer 10,

This pauses when the Z axis gets to 3mm.

Look here for all the G and M codes supported: http://replicat.org/mcodes
I would imagine you could use S3D in preview mode to determin a specific layer height?
If you don't use 100% first layer then the calc is thrown off a little I would think.

I am wondering because if you want a change at a very specific layer, say where text might start, you would want to be able to input the exact layer height. Am I seeing this correctly?
SweHogelid
Posts: 57
Joined: Wed Aug 03, 2016 8:01 am

Re: Pause to change filament - Flashforge Creator PRo(Sailfish)

Using preview after slicing is a great and simple way to see and determine at which layer you want the pause(s). If you make your calculations right this will of course give you the same result. First layer height can, just as you said, be a deceiving factor if not set to 100%

I haven't tried this script yet but I sure plan to

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