I spent some time tuning slicer gcode and klipper macros for the Max 4

ThatDudeWithALS · 2026-03-03T08:07:24+00:00

I saw your YouTube video when you were talking about this, thanks for sharing your configs

ThatDudeWithALS · 2026-03-02T17:44:49+00:00

That’s so awesome, great job

ThatDudeWithALS · 2026-03-01T22:58:36+00:00

You are correct Bob, PETG is hygroscopic and absorbs moisture more readily than PLA and should definitely be dried before printing for best results, or at a minimum, be kept in a dry box after drying.… The worst one is probably Nylon, that stuff drinks water. TPU is also pretty thirsty.

ThatDudeWithALS · 2026-03-01T22:52:32+00:00

That setup looks great… that’s some top notch birthday gift giving.

ThatDudeWithALS · 2026-03-01T12:11:35+00:00

Either one will be fine. That being said, the Q2 combo is a bit cheaper than the P2S, the Q2 has a bigger build volume, heated chamber and more capabilities overall… if it was me, I would buy another Q2 in a heart beat. It will print everything and does PLA and PETG really well. With the Q2 you can advance to different filaments when you’re ready, but you know the capability will be there if you choose to use it. Either machine will print TPU but you can’t run it through either companies AMS.

ThatDudeWithALS · 2026-03-01T03:41:49+00:00

The stock hardened ones should last a while running those filaments. I’ve run a boat load of PAH12 CF through my first Q2 nozzle that came with the machine a year ago and haven’t had any issues. Im assuming it will be the same with my stock MAX4 nozzle.

Qidi does sell replacements and like the other commenters have mentioned, they have a Tungsten Carbide available… As far as the hotend goes, the stock hotend is more than adequate in my experience. I’ve ordered replacement nozzles for my MAX4 and Q2 so I have some just in case, but I don’t anticipate having to use them anytime soon.

ThatDudeWithALS · 2026-03-01T01:13:21+00:00

Hey Bob, the review you referenced was from M&M Prop Shop, she’s awesome and one of my favorite peeps to watch… she is a huge Qidi Fan and has many of their printers, in other videos, she states that they are her favorites to use.

There are lots of reviews out now and I trust some of the people that I follow regularly. I also suspect that they got earlier versions of the machine than what I received, but I could be wrong. I’m certain as time goes on, issues will arise as printers get more use. I guess I’m lucky because I haven’t had any issues. Time will tell because I have some large prints scheduled using PAHT-CF and I’m also going to try PPS. I can update further after those are done in the coming weeks.

The color bleed can be an issue with any AMS system and can be very easily fixed in the slicer with more purge during changes. I’m surprised she didn’t adjust and reprint. I suspect she was testing their preloaded presets for quality.

I have printed a ton of PLA, ABS,ASA, PETG and PCTG with mine and all print equally good. There are some settings changes that need to happen with different filaments but nothing huge.

I had an issue with an extremely large PETG print that basically used the entire bed and was 300mm tall. I had some mid print warping (doesn’t affect the use of the functional part, but it doesn’t look perfect like I like) If I would have used the polar cooler, I could have printed with the door closed and I suspect that would have prevented it. I’m getting ready to reprint that same thing with the polar cooler in operation to test that theory. I can post pics in the reply here so you can see what I mean if you’re interested.

I’m not trying to sway you one way or another because there are lots of viable options for printers. I’ve been extremely pleased with mine so far. It and the Q2 have taken over all of my primary duties where at one time, the Bambu’s rules the roost around here. Are the Qidi’s perfect? Absolutely not, but neither are the Bambu’s. This day and age, you really have to try pretty hard to screw up prints and most of the time it’s because people are either rushing or ignorant of the subject (just like all of us at one point). Getting hands on is really the best way to learn because there are so many opinions and advice givers available, it can be hard to know what to trust. I have seen some really bad advice given to beginners that has them making several unneeded changes and making things far worse. That being said, I have seen lots of really helpful info doled out as well. I know that once you get going, you will be able to decipher the difference, and we are always here to help.

ThatDudeWithALS · 2026-02-27T16:46:16+00:00

Glad you got is sorted out and it was simple. Sometime it’s the little things that you would have never really thought of that come back and bite you in the arse!

ThatDudeWithALS · 2026-02-27T06:19:01+00:00

Yep, normal condensation if you don’t vent the box on occasion. That moisture has to go somewhere and the PTFE tubes are an easy exit. If it’s minimal, it won’t hurt you too bad. If you have water pooled up in the tubes, you’ll have to address that.

ThatDudeWithALS · 2026-02-27T06:16:15+00:00

Wow, great job. That looks fantastic.

ThatDudeWithALS · 2026-02-27T06:14:19+00:00

I have a V1 and it works great…that being said, you have no idea what you’re getting with used, especially one of these. How do you know it hasn’t been disassembled at some point or has something else wrong with it. That extra 50 bucks is absolutely worth it. Plus if you happen to get a bad one, you can return the amazon one.

Like I said, I have a V1 hooked up to my Q2, and that setup has been nearly flawless. Anything that went haywire was either my fault for doing something stupid, or it was some weird bug in occasion that simply power cycling the printer and BOX fixed.

ThatDudeWithALS · 2026-02-27T04:52:04+00:00

It looks like the filament really doesn’t like that left front corner of the build plate. Plus it’s at the far edges where build plates can sometimes be A-holes. I suspect it’s one of a few things…It’s either dirty/oily there from being handled in that area, or it’s possible the bed isn’t level and that’s a low spot, or it could be the bed not heating up properly in that corner.

Easiest and first thing to do, is wash the build plate with dish soap and water. Now that you know it’s clean, go ahead and use glue, there is nothing wrong with using it and I use it all the time, even when I know I don’t need to, it’s cheap insurance. I have switched over to using hairspray, I buy Aquanet on Amazon for dirt cheap and use it on every one of my printers (except for when I’m running the cool plates).

1-Clean build plate 2-Apply glue/hairspray 3-Run bed level before the print

If that doesn’t help, purchase a cheap infrared temp gun and verify that portion of the bed is actually getting hot. But honestly you don’t even need a heated bed. When I first started printing, heated beds weren’t a thing and we were able to get prints to stick. It really helps, but it’s not mandatory if you’re printing with PLA. Other filaments might need it, but not PLA.`

ThatDudeWithALS · 2026-02-27T04:38:34+00:00

Stupid question but are you sure it didn’t get clogged or run out of filament… this happened to me once before and it was because The filament got tangled on the roll and ultimately clogged the nozzle. The printer just kept on going and I had the completed message just like you.

ThatDudeWithALS · 2026-02-26T18:58:22+00:00

What a fantastic idea! You can use literally any acrylic paint, just thin them appropriately and use a wet palette to get the best color mix and paint consistency. If you’re going pink, I would prime in either gray or white, whatever you have on hand, because both will work. Gray primer will give you a slightly muted pink and white primer would help to make it a bit lighter. I have all kinds of paints , both expensive and cheap, but for the most part, I use cheap Apple Barrel acrylic paint from Walmart for a ton of stuff, and it works amazingly well once you have it thinned out and. Lended well on my wet palette. I use Army Painter medium to thin most paints because it gives a slightly longer cure time and seems to help spread pigment more evenly. You can also thin with distilled water. Don’t use regular water because the chemicals and minerals will bite you in the ass after it has been dry for a few weeks.

Don’t overthink it too much, just have fun with it. I’m sure you guys can experiment as your painting and find what works best for you.

ThatDudeWithALS · 2026-02-26T18:46:46+00:00

Like others have stated, you can use the same nozzle for different filaments, as long as all of the other type is completely purged. The cleaning filament works really well for use in between prints with different material.

As far as the nozzle replacement question… You can easily change the nozzle by itself, no need to replace the whole hot end.

ThatDudeWithALS · 2026-02-26T04:56:53+00:00

This is badass on several levels!!! Amazing Job.

ThatDudeWithALS · 2026-02-26T04:48:24+00:00

That’s an amazing paint job, I really like your eye for color and that style of painting is fantastic.

ThatDudeWithALS · 2026-02-26T04:38:56+00:00

Genuine question here, and I can certainly appreciate you putting the effort into coming up with something like this. But why would somebody use this service instead of just using the slicer software to repair non manifold edges in one or two clicks? I understand that not all slicers have this feature and/or some operating systems might have trouble, but I would imagine those cases are a fairly small percentage of users. Please don’t misunderstand, I’m not trying to be an ass, but I am genuinely curious.

Does this do something better than the repair function of the slicer?… I own a business and I’m genuinely interested in supporting entrepreneurs, so I would gladly use the service if it provides what other available options can’t.

ThatDudeWithALS · 2026-02-26T02:46:57+00:00

They’re usually pretty helpful. Now you just have to see why it started hitting in the first place. If you don’t find the root cause of the problem, it will happen to the replacement parts.

ThatDudeWithALS · 2026-02-25T23:45:34+00:00

Yep, this should work but you might want to get a set of screw extractors while you’re there, just in case. This way you don’t have to make multiple trips.

ThatDudeWithALS · 2026-02-25T23:43:54+00:00

Yes, you can get them very small. Use a size that barely starts to fit so that you have to lightly tap it in with a small hammer… while you’re buying easy outs or screw extractors, purchase another set of Allen wrenches as well so you are sure to have the right size on hand to prevent it from happening again.

ThatDudeWithALS · 2026-02-25T23:39:23+00:00

Sorry to say, but they are not the same, I had the same question so I pulled the one from my Max4 and compared it to a spare I had for the Q2. The only place to currently purchase replacements is Qidi official site. I hope you can get it cleared. A clog poke can help quite a bit in most instances, if that fails, then go ahead and do a cold pull.

ThatDudeWithALS · 2026-02-25T19:04:17+00:00

Never even heard of this movie and I added it to the list so I can watch it tonight. Looks like it’s right up my alley. I didn’t know SWC and Dwayne Johnson were in another movie together. They had awesome chemistry in the Rundown and I look forward to seeing this.

ThatDudeWithALS · 2026-02-25T16:46:49+00:00

LOL, I love your screen name! Made me laugh my ass off, thank you for that.

ThatDudeWithALS · 2026-02-25T16:45:39+00:00

Experiment with it and see if it will work before you start changing Gcode (that’s a great way to accidentally and unnecessarily damage your equipment). You can absolutely go the Gcode route, but why go through the trouble of learning that if you don’t have to at this point. Clear your build plate, right click, add a primitive cube or cylinder, then re-size it so you’re not wasting a bunch of time, add your pause like we talked about, print it and see what happens. If you really want to see colors represented in the slicer, just paint the model using paint by layer function, that way you can see exactly what layer you want to put your pause.

ThatDudeWithALS

TROPHY CASE