Whilst sometimes one might set specific part cooling options for targetted layers, I find that 95% of the time I'm instead ramping up my fan to give as much cooling as possible within the constraints of thermal runaway given the material, extrusion rate and heater block.
The settings do vary from print to print and it's very laborious putting in setpoints.
A couple of suggestions:
a) to make it possible to add setpoints by TIME as an alternative to LAYER. Otherwise one has to do a series of mental calculations as to how "quickly in terms of layers" to ramp up given the size of each layer in the particular print job. Don't like doing that!
b) a way to generate a series of setpoints quickly eg a wizard to fill out: "starting at Layer X / Time T ramp up fan by Y % every Z layers / Z minutes"
Re: ramp cooling by Time + auto setpoint generation
What if the software tried to predict hot spots and then alter the fan speed accordingly?
The model could be broken up into equal sized cubes. The ratio of actual model volume within a cube to the volume of a cube combined with the frequency with which material is added to the cube could be used to calculate a thermal density. The fan speed could then be ramped up and down based on the thermal density.
Consider a solid cylinder with a thin wall jutting off the cylinder. Using the above thermal mapping concept the cylinder would have a high thermal density and the thin wall would have a low thermal density. The fan would kick into high gear when printing cylinder and then slow down or shut off when printing the thin wall.
Currently using a layer based approach to cooling, a solid cylinder with a thin wall jutting off the cylinder would have to be printed with the fan maxed out or the fan turned off. With the fan maxed out the cylinder portion would print properly but the thin wall would have poor layer adhesion. With the fan turned off the thin wall would print properly but the cylinder would be a molten mess.
The model could be broken up into equal sized cubes. The ratio of actual model volume within a cube to the volume of a cube combined with the frequency with which material is added to the cube could be used to calculate a thermal density. The fan speed could then be ramped up and down based on the thermal density.
Consider a solid cylinder with a thin wall jutting off the cylinder. Using the above thermal mapping concept the cylinder would have a high thermal density and the thin wall would have a low thermal density. The fan would kick into high gear when printing cylinder and then slow down or shut off when printing the thin wall.
Currently using a layer based approach to cooling, a solid cylinder with a thin wall jutting off the cylinder would have to be printed with the fan maxed out or the fan turned off. With the fan maxed out the cylinder portion would print properly but the thin wall would have poor layer adhesion. With the fan turned off the thin wall would print properly but the cylinder would be a molten mess.
Re: ramp cooling by Time + auto setpoint generation
@Lagbert every printer has a different cooling system with radically different characteristics, frequently that can be adjusted in different ways.
Your cunning plan would need to account for that.
Your cunning plan would need to account for that.
Re: ramp cooling by Time + auto setpoint generation
@maker2
The user could still set a min and max fan and movement speed, but the software would vary both. Additional user set parameters such as cube size and time between hot end visits to a given cube could make the proposed methodology adjustable to work with a variety of printer designs.
The user could still set a min and max fan and movement speed, but the software would vary both. Additional user set parameters such as cube size and time between hot end visits to a given cube could make the proposed methodology adjustable to work with a variety of printer designs.
-
Anthrobones
- Posts: 2
- Joined: Mon May 30, 2016 6:33 pm
Re: ramp cooling by Time + auto setpoint generation
I agree, specific cooling needed other than 'Layers'..
consider the following: I have a bust of a person lying prone, with his hands locked on his chest, printed on his back as is. my cooling needs are along the backs of the arms where I'm getting very bad prints for angles over 60 degrees.. if I apply the cooling fan to the entire print from layer x to layer y, the rest of the print cracks from cooling too much. It would be advantageous to simply 'paint' the areas that cooling are needed, and have the software insert the 'fan on' and 'fan off' sequence on each line where needed.
I've ran into this problem often actually, and I can see MANY instances where this could be extremely helpful.. some help with a future enhancement would be appreciated!
consider the following: I have a bust of a person lying prone, with his hands locked on his chest, printed on his back as is. my cooling needs are along the backs of the arms where I'm getting very bad prints for angles over 60 degrees.. if I apply the cooling fan to the entire print from layer x to layer y, the rest of the print cracks from cooling too much. It would be advantageous to simply 'paint' the areas that cooling are needed, and have the software insert the 'fan on' and 'fan off' sequence on each line where needed.
I've ran into this problem often actually, and I can see MANY instances where this could be extremely helpful.. some help with a future enhancement would be appreciated!
