RomeFallsAgain
Posts: 128
Joined: Wed Nov 18, 2015 6:56 pm

A little confused about Dual Extruding

Hello,
A few days ago I decided to try using the Dual Extrusion features of my printer.
After many hours reading I still seem to have an issue.
So I have a basic question......

Let's say I have a factory build that has two models. One is a complex object, the other is a logo to be printed on the object near the end of the build.

Naturally, I import both models.
Under Processes (In the processes box), I have two processes, one called Color 1 which prints black filament, the other called Color 2 which prints white filament

Now here's my question.....

In each of the two processes both extruders are included. Process "Color 1" has both the left and right extruder included....and process "Color 2" has both extruders included.

The actual question.....
Do I need to have BOTH extruders in both processes under their respective extruder list? The way I see it, Process "color 1" only prints black and process "Color 2" prints only white....
so why not just have the extruder that actually prints that color in the respective extruder list for that process instead of both?


This build consists of 83 layers and the white logo prints at layer 75 so I don't need extruder 2 (white) active or even heated up until near the end. So why have it on and active for layers 1 through 74?

The reasoning for my question is that I'm getting a double print. Layer one gets the object printed in both black and white, shifted on the X axis by the exact distance of the extruder separation. So it's as if both extruders are going at the same time (Although it appears that the Color 2 print (white) may be accidentally oozing from extruder 2 because it breaks up after about half way through layer 1 and is completely gone by layer 2.

I am trying a possible solution of lowering Color 2's extruder temperature incrementally to see if that stops the oozing in case the white filament has a lower melting temp and is just oozing or in case I have a temp sensor that is reading wrong and extruder 2 (color 2) (white), is actually hotter than it says causing the oozing.

Thanks for taking the time to help.
RomeFallsAgain
Posts: 128
Joined: Wed Nov 18, 2015 6:56 pm

Re: A little confused about Dual Extruding

Ok, here's a follow up.....

I went ahead and removed the "unnecessary" extruders from the processes and tried the print.
It worked.

So now I'm not sure why the extruders ARE included in both processes when you use the Dual Extrusion Wizard.

The ONLY thing the process named COLOR 2 does is print the initial straight line and fast wipe to clear the nozzles then it just rides along with the process called COLOR 1 nozzle through all 74 layers until it gets to the point where the white logo is printed.

Now on my test print, I didn't preheat the nozzle at an earlier layer because I assumed the printing would pause once the call was made to the COLOR 2 (white) extruder. But I'm not sure if there was a pause and the logo came out very disfigured. Maybe I just need to slow down the white print head before it starts to print the logo.

More testing is needed.
CompoundCarl
Posts: 2005
Joined: Wed Aug 05, 2015 7:23 am

Re: A little confused about Dual Extruding

The rule of thumb is: use the "both extruders" option if you are using both extruders for your print. Use the "right extruder only" or "left extruder only" options if you are only printing with a single extruder.

In your case, you are kind of in the middle since this isn't really a true dual extrusion print. It's more like a color changing print. You could easily do the same thing by switching the filament mid-print. So that's why it perhaps isn't needed in your specific case, but for most dual-extrusion prints, you always want to have "both extruders" selected (and that's probably why the dual extrusion wizard does that for your automatically).

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