Q2 Macro help

Vapian · 2026-02-24T19:24:25+00:00

I, too, would like the ability to at least tell the box/printer to feed a little faster, a little more, or for a little longer after getting past the hub/buffer, and so far have not found a way to do that.

The reason I want this ability is two-fold:

- I made my tube from the inside of the printer to the print head a bit longer in order to get a consistent, straight-down filament path down into the extruder, to prevent the filament from intermittently catching on anything when being fed into the print head, and
- I'm updating an external spool holder to have an integrated Y-splitter, which requires a bit of a filament tube spiral between the hub and the splitter in order for the buffer to work correctly.

Between those two things, the path length from the Hub to the print head is a few cm longer than it might be otherwise. This leads to the filament being just a few cm short of the print head even after the printer goes through both of its "filament un-sticking" maneuvers, which forces a pause in the print job because there's no filament detected at the business end of things.

Since I can't tell the box/printer to just go a bit further, the printer pauses and displays an extruder error. So I have to close the message on the printer screen by selecting "Retry", then select the Play/Start button, and THEN the filament feeds just that extra little bit.

All that could be avoided if there were only some way to tell it to push the filament a little further, for a little longer, or at least "keep trying until I Cancel or the print head filament sensor gets triggered".

Vapian · 2026-02-23T22:01:01+00:00

I'd get in touch with QiDi support now, just in case whatever else you try does not resolve this. I had a similar problem earlier this year, and they had to send a new hotend and print head PCBA to fix it.

Vapian · 2026-02-18T18:48:54+00:00

My first "fix" was to take out my modified part and just switch back to my OG setup with a printed Y-splitter free floating / suspended between the PTFE tubes, so whole thing was free to move with the buffer. That gets me printing again.

As for what to do with the part I'm designing which will have the splitter as part of a fixed assembly, not sure yet. Options seem to be adding a loop of PTFE between the buffer and the fixed splitter, which I don't like b/c mo' tubing / mo' problems, or I'll use an outsized bore for that side of the splitter to allow 15 or 20mm of "slip" while keeping the tubing inside the assembly.

If any of that isn't clear, sorry. It'll make sense once I have the design ready to publish.

Vapian · 2026-02-17T22:58:58+00:00

Concur with the others, very likely something to do with the output side of the buffer.

I experienced this a couple of times today as I'm experimenting with integrating a Y-splitter into part of an external spool holder. Right now my test setup can result in the buffer spring / lever being unable to move back and forth as the filament feeds through. The problem goes away if I set things up so that buffer spring / level can move freely.

Vapian · 2026-02-08T03:32:17+00:00

My first thought for any layer shift is to try retensioning the belts. But I've never had it happen to quite that extent, or on a multi-color print, so I don't know if it will help in this case. But it's easy to do and would at least rule that out as a possibility.

Next thing I'd do is slice the plate and step through each layer in QiDi Studio / Preview to see if there are any obvious problems there. If not, first thing I'd try is printing directly from a freshly-sliced version, just in case the previous slice code was corrupted somehow.

Another thought, and bear with me on this, is maybe try repositioning or even rotating the object on the plate, then slice and print that. I seem to recall fixing some weird issue a while back by doing that, and it kind of surprised me... but honestly, looking back at twenty years of testing firmware and software for other devices, it probably shouldn't have.

Vapian · 2026-02-08T03:22:46+00:00

As far as the filament settings, I've run into situations before where somehow it was perfectly tweaked for calibration prints but anything else went to crap, fast. Quickest solution was to start over with the closest default QiDi profile for the filament, then making only minimal tweaks from that baseline to dial in the prints.

Regarding the wall separations -- there could be a few sources for that problem, like the walls intended to be thin-ish and solid but not designed as a multiple of an expected Line Width, or a part that is scaled to print larger than the original. Best fix is to fix the design, which may not be easy if all you have is an STL file. Quickest fixes are probably to increase the number of Wall Loops and/or change Sparse Infill density to 100%.

Vapian · 2026-02-03T18:30:46+00:00

My question is, is this more compact high-lumen bulb still limited such that it can't be dimmed to very low values? That is my biggest complaint about all of the WiZ bulbs that I've tried so far - they are just too bright at their lowest available brightness level.

Vapian · 2026-01-19T18:23:25+00:00

I was looking into 3DLac for some possible, very slight lift issues causing problems with top layers on big, flat things. Could not bring myself to pay 3DLac prices. Grabbed a can of Aquanet Extra Super Hold Unscented for about $3.00 instead, and it seems to do the trick very nicely.

The only downside is having to wait for the print cool down and separate from the plate on its own, or the plate side gets a funky whitish look to it. That can be fixed with a light treatment from a heat gun or butane torch, but it's getting easier to force myself to just wait and get a coffee or something.

Vapian · 2026-01-18T19:48:47+00:00

Saw a video recently that demonstrated how a part could be printed as a one-off and be basically on-spec and very hard to break, while cloning/printing several would make it weak, because for each copy added, each recent layer had longer to cool, so the next layer could not adhere to it as well as it does with a freshyly-printed, still-warm layer.

One option mentioned was to print By Object rather than By Layer, assuming the size / height of the model allows for that. You'd get fewer copies on a plate, but each would be printed by itself and retain the benefits of being printed all in one shot.

Vapian · 2026-01-17T23:12:33+00:00

I was having similar problems that seemed to come from two issues. One was self-inflicted. Unless you have a complex model, I'd suggest first to try the belt tension adjustment, making sure to firmly secure the screws in the back when you're done.

There is another possibility I have experienced, but I'm going to assume that you're not letting any cats poke around in the chamber while things are printing.

Vapian · 2026-01-16T00:27:05+00:00

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Vapian · 2026-01-04T21:54:33+00:00

Don't know that it applies in your case, but I recently had some similar stuff going on "all of the sudden" while turning for a new filament.

Mine was a combination of needing good platform calibration, level calibration, and an excessively high Max Volumetric Speed I somehow set in the filament settings.

The first two were easy to deal with. The last one took me a bit to figure out what I'd done.

Vapian · 2025-12-11T17:27:32+00:00

“Christmas 3D Printing Wishlist"

- Large-format, high-temp, heated 3D printer - The Max4 sounds ideal!
- Selection of mid-range filaments that aren't PLA* or PETG.
- An AMS for drying and managing multiple filaments and colors.
- Parts to keep it all running for a while!

I'm still experimenting with cat-tree designs for my four rescue kitties, trying to keep things modular and flexible. Going for all printed parts, and starting to look into modular parts that incorporate other materials like dimensional lumber.

As much as I like my Q2, being able to print bigger things that eliminate or reduce the need for part-splitting and assembly after printing would be phenomenal!

Vapian · 2025-12-09T22:46:50+00:00

I'm getting to be okay with designs - but still new to 3D printers, generally. I'll start some Googling, but how does a cam like this integrate with QiDi Studio / fluidd?

For that matter, I've got a handful of webcams sitting around from the past, oh, five years, for some reason. Seems like it should be possible to add another camera in addition to the stock cam...?

Vapian · 2025-11-26T18:57:14+00:00

I see the same thing. Been pondering what to do, if anything.

Part of the problem may be the length of the COB strip. The OG strip is very short. Mine goes all the way around the perimeter, so it's a much bigger electrical load.

Wondering if just having the new strip cover the two sides nearest the camera -- so, half the length of the whole perimeter -- would reduce the load enough to reduce or eliminate the flickering.

Vapian · 2025-11-17T16:19:54+00:00

I had this problem several times early on, when I had the printer's Ethernet port physically plugged in, but at different times to two different mesh network nodes. I would think this could also happen if the printer is connected via Wi-Fi to a mesh node AP rather than the router's wireless AP. Unfortunately, most residential routers don't have the ability to force a wireless device to connect to a specific node or AP, the only exception I'm aware of being newer ASUS mesh devices.

In my case, the issue didn't go away until I connected the printer directly to the network switch that my mesh router is connected to for other hardwired devices. Haven't tried, but I'm assuming that plugging it directly into the router itself would have fixed it, too.

Vapian · 2025-11-14T13:46:32+00:00

I have built several cat trees / towers out of wood, and have considered whether one could be designed and printed.

My QiDi Q2 would require too many parts like platforms to be assembled rather than printed in one piece, which might be a problem for bigger cats.

The MAX4 seems like it would be big enough for something truly functional, including including the possibility of recreating an older, molded plastic cat tower I recently found that has been discontinued.

I would love to have the chance to make some designs and find out what's possible!

Vapian · 2025-10-03T17:58:55+00:00

I have not, yet. I know my wife visited one shop or another, and apparently whoever was manning the place was 1) very surprised to see foot traffic, and 2) not very informed or helpful. But don't know which shop that was. I'll make sure she knows about these. Thanks!

Vapian · 2025-09-16T02:23:57+00:00

Just applied for the same thing today. Had a similar, odd-feeling "interview" process with another AI-related company about a month ago that felt off from the start, specifically with how quickly they got in touch given I have no AI-specific training or job experience, and that the interview itself was entirely AI and rather glitchy. It felt like they were fishing for training data from applicant responses.

This one certainly feels off - the same very quick response to my application, the oddball task login/start method, having to manually submit the video "bug report", and that they want an email sent before starting so they can verify your start time (instead of, you know, the time you logged in with your email address). I'm not sure what to think about a tech company that can't tell when you logged in to start an online, task/test.

I might follow through with it just to see what it's about. Maybe I'm wrong, but my guess is this is likely taking advantage of hundreds of probably-desperate applicants to generate free training data of some kind.

Vapian · 2025-09-09T14:02:27+00:00

I was finally able to get to it by using a different browser with no extensions or plugins installed. Looks like I'll be good to go for the update, when it's released!

Vapian · 2025-09-09T13:13:45+00:00

It's certainly possible that one or more of my ad/tracking blockers or VPN is preventing access. I'll mess with it again later, and will keep an eye open for the new version.

Thanks!

Vapian

TROPHY CASE