E3D Volcano

#1
Hey guys,

I received my E3D Volcano upgrade for my V6 hotend a week or two ago and I quickly ran into a startling issue. I was under the impression that I was just going to be able to swap out the V6 parts for the Volcano ones and start printing at the same speeds (around 80 mm/s) with .6 mm layer heights (.8 mm nozzle) instead of my usual .25 mm layers (.4 mm nozzle). What I discovered was that in order to get my motor to not start skipping, I had to slow down my speeds to about 38 mm/s. This means that I'm only printing a little bit faster than with my V6 (6 hour prints instead of 7 hour), not the half-time I was expecting.

What speeds are you printing at with the Volcano?

Also, I'm using FoxSmart PLA printing at 199º first layer and 208º other layers. I've tried Colorfabb PLA and have the same issue, so it's not a filament quality issue.

Any help would be appreciated

Thanks

~ Jack
 
#2
Re: E3D Volcano Print Speeds

I have yet to experiment with my volcano. But I have used the "bigger" sizes for the v6. I ran into this issue. Measureing the width of the extruded plastic and entering that dimension into nozzle diameter helped a lot.

I ordered http://www.ebay.com/itm/Extruder-Ge...642?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item35e1abb282
But I have not received it yet.

I was going to add some longer wheel bolts and fatter spacers to get it to fit.

I am worried that the motor will not be able to spin fast enough to keep up geared this low. This thing will also grind up some filament.
 
#3
Re: E3D Volcano Print Speeds

Increasing your temp for all other layers will help, and slow down your first layer as needed b/c you don't want to increase that temp.

That's what I like about printing on glass, I print PLA at 220 and have the ability to go all the way up to 280 without any worry.
 
#4
Re: Sudden X-Axis problems, do I need a new Stepper Driver?

I have seen that, in fact it was your post and pictures that first made me want to get an E3D hot-end. =] If I would have had enough money I would have thought about getting one of yours, but I don't know that the volcano was out at the time.

All that being said, I finally got my fan shroud size right to be able to mount the Volcano to my existing Dual-Extruder gMax 1.0 X-Axis carriage. Then it was just some re-wiring and upload of the tweaked Marlin code and I was ready to go. After a test print using the .8mm nozzle I'm now FINALLY able to print with NinjaFlex like I've wanted! I got the spool in the mail before my printer and have been waiting to be able to print with it for I don't even know how long, so it's thoroughly exiciting. =]

I've added a couple photos of the Volcano mounted and printing a 1" dice. I'll post a picture later of the NinjaFlex one and can report later on speeds and performance. I know one person experienced less than desirable speeds so I'm curious what this will be able to do.
 

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#5
That's pretty awesome. I love the green on black look. Customized fan shroud I take it?

I need to make a block design for Volcano. But first, Chimera. Still waiting on all this from E3D. What we do is use a 20x40 beam for a "double-tall" X Axis. Then we have the space to proportionally fit the taller volcano or a module with 2 motors for a direct-driven chimera and allow all these things to be used side by side. I don't know how well the kinematics of 5 extruders and motors on the x axis will play out but I have hope :)
 
#6
Thanks! I felt really fortunate to be able to get the green and black. Gordon and Anna were sweet enough to go looking for green when I placed my pre-order last year and they had one set left. :)

I hope you get your Chimera from E3D soon, that'll be an impressive print head when you get it all done! I almost thought about the Chimera when I bought my Volcano setup, but it was a little more work and modification than I was up for. The double-tall x-axis makes a lot of sense. You'll have to put up some pictures once its all done.

And yes it is a custom fan shroud for the gMax 1.0 Dual. In fact if anyone else has a the same printer model and is thinking about getting an E3D Volcano I've attached the fan shroud STL that I modified. I have another that's almost complete for just the regular E3D (v6) hot-end that I can post up here also if anyone would like it.



Caleb
 

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#8
If you plan on experimenting with the E3D volcano 1.2mm you better be prepared to use a lot of plastic. I have gone through about 1.5 kgs of cheap PLA this week. I had a lot of trouble actually getting this nozzle to make good prints. I had to slow down a lot. Which defeats the purpose in my opinion. I probably just need more practice and more modding ;) .

My extruder could not maintain the set temperatures. I guess the plastic was pulling so much heat out of the extruder the heater cartridge could not keep up. Yes, I ran PID autotune. I even turned off my cooling fan (which was a bad idea) and insulated the extruder with fiberglass (muffler packing). My extruder maintained 220/250 degrees C. It is rather cold in my shop making the plastic spool cold. The 24V heater cartridge is probably a good idea. A mod I will probably be looking into. This is one reason I had to slow down my print speed.

Printing at 45-60 mm/s with 0.5 mm layer height does not give the plastic enough time to heat up in the extruder. Even though the extruder was 220 degrees, which is still hot for PLA. The parts would have that flat black color, and horrible layer adhesion. I think for this nozzle the heater block needs to be longer to allow more time to transfer heat into the plastic. Again, another reason to slow down.

I found that printing at 20-25 mm/s with 1 mm layer height worked the best. Although it had horrible layer adhesion, the large print in the picture printed in 3 hours with these settings. I was also successful printing at 35-40 mm/s with a 0.5mm layer height.

Warping can also be very very bad. But this can be overcome easily. If you print the first layer with a brim at 8 mm/s at 250 degrees, You will need a jackhammer to get the print off the bed. But it wont warp :lol:.

corner curling? Not sure what to call this. Just had to slow down. https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B9bHWj4YsPejeC1KSHQ1MmJBOWc&authuser=0

One thing worth noting. When a print does go right, it is incredibly strong.
 

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mwu

New Member
#10
This probably would be a bad idea on an acrylic bed, but for prints that just won't come loose I have found that a heat gun on the bottom of the print bed until the top surface gets warm will easily release the stubborn print.
 
#11
I am going to try out a heated glass bed.

Balancing adhesion is tricky with this nozzle. I had a few prints that were very difficult to remove.

I'm afraid of using a hair dryer to remove prints because you can warp the bed.
 
#12
I am working on balancing speed and layer adhesion. I printed a new "overthruster" (a kayak part for adding volume to your splash top to make rolling and bow stales easier).

Both were printed at the same temperature. 220.

My first black overthruster had horrible layer adhesion and fell apart just from holding it. It had that flat color you get when the plastic was not processed hot enough. I printed this with 1mm layer height at 25 mm/s. It took 3 hours and some change.

My second red overthruster seems very strong. It has that glossy color you get when the plastic is processed at high temperatures. I printed this with .7mm layer heights at 15mm/s. It took 6 hours and 21 minutes.

Some of my friends are professional kayakers. They are sponsored by pyranha and are very excited to try out some custom kayak gear. Our wave just opened up!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y71gbhktE0I
 

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#14
Thanks for the print info and photos Kyle. I haven't tried using the 1.2mm nozzle yet, but I feel WAY more prepared to try after hearing about what you've gone through. I'm glad you finally got the Kayak part printed successfully!

I ended up needing to replace one of the X-Axis motor brackets for my gMax 1.0 and am VERY pleased with the replacement part I printed on the Volcano using the 0.6mm nozzle, which is my favorite so far.

I added photos below of the old broken part and the new one (for comparison). I also added some Simplify3D print profiles that I've been using that seem to work well, including the profile I used for the replacement part.
 

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#15
Retraction settings for the 1.2mm:

Length: 3mm (too high will cause a lot of popping noises and imperfections)
Speed: 50mm/s (Yes that fast)
Lift Z: 0.8mm (probably too high)
Extra Length on restart: 1mm (this will fill in the gap caused by a retraction)
Minimum travel after retraction: 1mm


I also set my non print moves speed to 160 mm/s
 
#16
First print with volcano (after the customary calibration cube) is a huge prosthetic/ functioning hand model for a client. I'm definitely starting to see the need for Z Lift on retraction.
That said, the retraction itself shouldn't need to be that large. Volcano barely drools if at all. E3D attributed this to less back pressure in the nozzle chamber due to the larger/ longer melt zone. I'm in the 1.5-2mm retract length, same as what I use with the v6.
 
#17
Yea that will work for 99% of prints. I was printing 2 objects on either side of the bed. Doing a 3mm retract works well for long moves and does not sacrafice quality for small moves on one part.

A small retract of 1.5mm saves about 5 minutes on a 30 minute print. You will only need to add .5mm extra on restart too.


Prosthetic Hand: Awesome use for 3d printing and custom electronics!
 
#18
Hey Guys. I want to switch out my J-head for the E3D Volcano. Are there any instructions for doing this for the single extruder gMax 1.5 XT? Thanks for your help.
 
#19
Connect the heater cartridge:
You will have to either crimp on a 2 pin connector to the E3D heater cartridge. Or by pass the connector all together and wire it directly to the ramps. This depends on weather or not you want to interchange your extruders. Connectors are prone to failure overtime due to the repetitive back and fourth motion. The link below is a good connector which is being used on the gMax 1.5+ printers. If you are using this connector all you have to do is strip a bit of the heater cartridge wire and clamp it down with the screw terminal. They are much easier and more reliable than the 2 pin connectors on the 1.5.
http://www.amazon.com/Positions-Scr...742&sr=8-6&keywords=screw+terminal+connectors

Difference in z-height:

The j-head is shorter than the V6. The volcano is even longer. Because of this the cooling fan is not aligned in the correct position.
I made the attached slotted fan bracket for the 1.5 a while back. It should work for the Volcano, V6, and j-head. Just loosen, slide, and tighten. You may have to make the slots a bit longer, not sure. Sorry 1.5+ users. I have not seen a model yet to adapt the cooling fan to an E3D v6 or Volcano. Anyone want to make one?

Don't forget to reset your z-axis endstop.

You should also change this difference in Z-height in the firmware. This is found somewhere in configuration.h. I am not sure what the new value for z-height should be as I did not make this change in my firmware.

Cooling fan for the E3D heatsink:

This can be wired to the same 12V terminal which is connected to the LED light. This is the 12V aux port on the ramps. Make sure to get the correct polarity or you might break the fan. Check the LED light labels to figure out which terminal is (-) and which is (+). Or use a multimeter.

PID autotune:
I am not going to re invent this excellent Toms guide. Just watch it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APzJfYAgFkQ

Pretty sure this is all there is to converting to an E3D V6 or volcano. Let me know If I forgot to mention anything. Its been a while since I converted my 1.5 but I remember it being easy.
 
#20
Thanks Spudwheelie - I am up to the "Cooling fan for the E3D heatsink" point of my mod. Do I need to edit the the firmware or is the j-head and E3d have the same number for the hotted in the firmware?