Simplify3D Question

Bill Arnold

1974
Staff member
Messages
8,621
Location
Thomasville, GA
I started my 3d adventure using Cura as a slicer and quickly moved to S3d based on others reviews. Overall, I like the flexibility S3d gives with settings, etc., but I've had ongoing issues with getting the first layer right. I've reviewed the S3d instructions and videos, etc., and can't seem to get headed the right direction. On the other hand, I can import an STL to Cura and get a good print with the basic settings. This only involves the first layer from the best I can tell. After that, I get acceptable results.

I've checked and re-checked the bed level and it's good based on a test print of a large triple square test file.

Suggestions?
 
On the first layer settings I use 70% height, 100% width, 50% speed. I've had good luck with those, but on high quality (.01 mm height) I'll use 90 - 100 % height. I use hair spray on the glass too.
 
I've used the default first layer settings of 90%h, 100%w and 50%s as well as 70% and 50% on height with no noticeable difference. One other thing I've noticed with S3D is it seems to go faster than Cura on curves and especially full circles, leaving a poor result.

I've been using hairspray most of the time. I've also used glue stick a few times as well as just clean glass with no heat.

What temperatures are you using?
 
I've been using 200C for the hot end & 60C on the bed. The job that is running today I lowered the hot end to 190C and I've got some issues with it peeling on one side of my table, not sure I can blame it on it, but the entire glass was sprayed down prior, twice and haven't had that issue before. Though if I like the results on the top layers, I may just add a temp for the first layer or two that is higher and then cool down after that layer.
 
OK. I downloaded Skynet 2.3.1 RC8. Now to figure out how to do the update. When I load Arduino IDE, it shows the correct port but indicates "Busy" anytime I try to access it.
 
OK. I downloaded Skynet 2.3.1 RC8. Now to figure out how to do the update. When I load Arduino IDE, it shows the correct port but indicates "Busy" anytime I try to access it.

Are you using the version of arduino that downloads with skynet? Just be sure to follow the readme file and copy in the correct config file. I think all I had to do was update the offset for x and y for the sensor on the config file.
 
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Yes, I tried the IDE included with Skynet and the upload fails. I've got to find out why I get "Port Busy" whenever I try to communicate with the board. I've tried with two versions of IDE and Repetier; the port shows busy regardless. When I revert to the RPi, communication is normal via OctoPrint.
 
Yes, I tried the IDE included with Skynet and the upload fails. I've got to find out why I get "Port Busy" whenever I try to communicate with the board. I've tried with two versions of IDE and Repetier; the port shows busy regardless. When I revert to the RPi, communication is normal via OctoPrint.

Did you load the USB-Serial CH340 driver that is on the original sd that came with the printer? And also select Anet for the board?

Edit: and make sure the serial terminal window is closed.
 
Did you load the USB-Serial CH340 driver that is on the original sd that came with the printer? And also select Anet for the board?

Edit: and make sure the serial terminal window is closed.

Affirmative on all points. It's been a long day, so I'll hit it again tomorrow. Thanks for helping!
 
I've rebooted everything so many times my boots are plumb worn out.

Next step is to re-read the A8 instructions to see if I can load firmware from the SD card.
 
I've gone through a couple more steps of eliminating possible causes of the port issue. One thing I noticed is that I get a normal display on the LCD screen on the A8 when I first power up. Shortly after I plug in the USB cable to the A8 board and my desktop PC, the display appears to be re-booting and instead of it showing "Printer Ready" on the bottom line, it displays an IP number.

Thoughts?
 
My first thought is that another software is trying to connect to the port. Maybe verify that there isnt. Not sure why it would show anything on there otherwise. Mine booted up to the printers display and would reboot it upon usb connection, but still went to the printers display after connecting.

Sent from my SM-G920P using Tapatalk
 
Strange (to me) ... the IP address that was showing after plugging in the USB cable is the starting address on my wifi router. So, I turned off wifi on my shop PC and the "Printer Ready" status remained on the LCD. To confuse things, though, when I turned wifi back on, the IP address didn't replace 'Printer Ready' as before. Unfortunately, I'm still getting 'port busy' when I try to connect. I had to take a break from this to do a bit of yard work, so now it's time to wash away the day with some liquids. :)
 
That is strange. Wonder if your pc has some networking software trying to manage the router.

I'll take a look with Task Manager and see if I can spot anything. This is the same PC I used to connect directly to the printer when I first got it. I'm using the same USB port and same cable that worked before, plus I tried a different cable. I'll also take my laptop out there and test with it.
 
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Crisis is over!

I took my laptop to my shop and connected to the printer with no problem. Arduino IDE compiled the SkyNet and uploaded it with no problem. Now to learn what to do next!

When I checked the desktop PC in my shop using Task Manager, I found Repetier Server running as a Process. I stopped the server and was able to communicate just fine. Repetier Server isn't in the startup group, so I don't know how it got started. I'm not using Repetier, so I guess I should just uninstall it completely.
 
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