Simplify3D User Forum

Hi,

I'm using a Wanhao Duplicator 4S with dual extruder and I have been trying to print a part for the last 2 days but can't get it to work.
I print with left extruder but for some reason after the 3rd or 4th layer (between line 13000 and line 16000) the printer switch to the right
extruder.
In My process I have selected the profile Wanhao 4Dual (left extruder), layers and infill are set to left extruder (no support).
I don't understand why the printer switch extruder, I don't see anything in the Gcode that could explain this.
Code attached.

Thanks for your help !

Hello,

here is the problem:
After layer 3 you set the temperature to 110C, but with setting the temp. the wanhao interprets the T0 as tool change
to tool 0 = right extruder. It´s a bug.

; layer 4, Z = 0.5
M140 S110 T0

Been reported a number of times. Search my posts for some workaround threads. They aren't perfect (I wish they'd fix the bug) but they get you far enough along that under a lot of printing situations you can change the temperature and still finish your print.

we need this bug fixed soon, it's been there for a while and it is a simple feature.

Is there seriously no way in the Sailfish/MakerBot firmware to set the heated build platform temperature without FORCING the bot to do a tool change? That is absolutely absurd. That seems like an extremely simple thing to add to the firmware so that you don't have to force tool changes all the time. You can easily change what commands get sent by S3D by going to Tools --> Firmware Configuration, so this would be a piece of cake to change in the software if the firmware supported it.

As an aside, the GPX plugin also has a lot to do with this. This is because in the old MakerBot days, people thought that the heated build platform should actually be "linked" to the extruder toolhead, perhaps because they were intending to drive both of these from the same electronics board. Either way, there is a concept in the MakerBot firmware of associating a heated build platform with an extruder toolhead. So if you go to the firmware configuration and then select the X3G tab, you will see an option at the bottom labeled "Toolhead has a heated build platform". This is where you make the "link" saying what extruder has a heated build platform attached to it.

This seems like a silly concept nowadays, since the heated build platform isn't attached to the extruder, but that is how the firmware was written. If you look at the Replicator 1 Dual GPX profile, you can see that only toolhead A has a heated build platform attached to it. So when you generate gcode for GPX, it will require you to use commands like "M140 Snn T0" when setting the HBP temperature, which then forces the tool change to T0. However, the Replicator 2X GPX profile says that both toolhead A and B have a heated bed attached. This means that you can freely use "M140 Snn T0" or "M140 Snn T1" and both with do the same thing. And S3D is already smart enough to use the right one but it won't do anything unless GPX is configured to support it. For this reason, I am able to switch the bed temperature on my Replicator 2X without seeing any of the problems that you guys mentioned.

So in my mind, the two most logical solutions would be:
- Firmware needs to support a "set heated build platform temperature" command which doesn't force a tool change (this would be ideal)
- Update your GPX profile to allow setting the build platform temp from both toolhead A and B. This is what the Rep2X profile uses by default and it works fine

this is not a firmware issue. in other software packages this works well, it is absurd that you can't print with the left nozzle and switch temperatures on the heated bed. This is not free software, not cheap either, how much more we need to keep begging for this fix ?

why don't you post the files and compare the gcode to what S3D creates. Should be pretty easy to see the difference. It may be as simple as someone needs to patch GPX to make sure that the Rep1dual profiles support heated beds on the A and B axes. I would also say that almost every other firmware out there supports setting the HBP temperature without causing a tool change, so that is annoying for sure!

I assume that this "feature" is still built in to Simplify 3D as it seems to be happening to me. I have a Wanhao D4S and am using the left extruder for ABS. After the first layer I want to change the temperature of the build platform. I do so and at the point the 'bot decides that he/she is supposed to be printing with the right extruder! The work arounds that I see all have g-Code being editted. Did I miss one that does this in config?

Thanks,
Wisar

It isn't anything built-in to S3D, it's a bug in GPX (a separate utility). There's already a bug fix request on it, so hopefully GPX will be patched soon.

In the meantime, there are plenty of easy workaround for S3D. For example, go to Tools --> Firmware Configuration, click FFF tab, and change the "Set Bed Temperature" command to "M140 S$" (just remove the T0 at the end).

Thanks, I have made that change and will test on next print. I read that about GPX but I guess I was not sure what it was. It seems like Simplify 3D could do something in code to work around the issue? But that is neither here nor there.

Is there a trick to allow me to change the extruder temperature as well as the Build Plate? I really need both to change if possible but it does not feel like making the same change for extruder would work...though I am not sure why not.

Thanks, Wisar