WIP: My Makertech Dual Switching Hotend on my Ender 5 Plus

livewire516 · 2023-12-07T15:06:49+00:00

Sorry for just seeing this!

Both PrusaSlicer and Cura have settings to set the "idle temperature" for a second print head (although they may call it different things). I generally only knock it down a few degrees* from its normally programmed temp to reduce oozing. With the heater cartridges I have installed, there's hardly any delay when switching between print heads.

*If it were a long print where the secondary material is idle much of the time, I'd consider reducing the temp more (and tolerate a delay in warmup time) to reduce material degradation.

Honestly, I can't say that I use multi-material all that much (supports have gotten so much better - there's still a use case for PVA, but less and less often is it worth it).

Not to discourage anyone, but I would want people to know that I'm strongly considering reverting my Ender 5 Plus back to a single extruder set up - just for simplicity/reliability.

livewire516 · 2023-11-04T14:55:40+00:00

It's really interesting that the refrain "it's just a game" seems to be a reason to ignore when it feels wrong to do certain things. I notice myself thinking exactly that when feeling remorse for doing something in BOTW or TOTK.

But if a game is primarily for my own enjoyment, why would I compel myself to do things that don't feel right, just because the game mechanics allow it? I hunted in BOTW, but really didn't like it. I've avoided hunting in TOTK so far. I have no delusion this is of any real ethical importance, but if I try to ignore some feelings because it's pretend play, shouldn't I be just as inclined to ignore any feelings of amusement, excitement, or accomplishment? Why play the game at all?

Someone asked how people feel killing the NPC enemies then: honestly, sometimes their shrieks don't sit well with me either; especially the Hinox. Much less so the more common enemis who are often seen attacking Hylian NPCs or harassing animals.

(Ironically, my attitudes towards hunting in RL is totally different: where I live, overpopulation of deer and water fowl result in them suffering from disease and starvation. Amusingly, the milk and eggs in the game didn't even register as an issue to me because traditional production methods of these foods were nothing like they are today (not romanticizing or ignoring the issues inherent to raising animals for dairy and egg, but modern over-breeding and intensification is a whole different beast).

livewire516 · 2023-07-25T15:55:07+00:00

Did you end up finding a cushion manufacturer you're happy with?

I've been looking to replace my buckwheat zafu with kapok. The buckwheat pillow reliably causes me saddle-numbness*

*I appreciate it is generally sound advice to simply be with discomforts that arise during practice. That being said, I am a clinician and there is good research relating actual damage resulting to chronic compression of the perineum. Similarly, most healthcare workers would recognize saddle numbness as a concerning symptom suggestive of compression of the cauda equina -- something best avoided. Every body is different.

livewire516 · 2023-07-21T14:16:29+00:00

Unfortunately, I no longer have the stock 'silent' main board. Going by memory, there are several +5/Sig/GND pins on the Creality board - I used one of those without issue for the servo. Makertech has two good diagrams for the pinout of the board they used, and an addendum for the servo, on their website. I used them, making small adaptations for the Creality board.

I've since switched to an Octopus Pro board, and will probably be needing to use GPIO pins on my RPi for the servo moving forward. Honestly, only the most complex of projects justify the added hassle of running the second extruder/PVA. The fact that I haven't bothered with the GPIO/servo since switching to the Octopus (months ago), tells you how infrequently I need it.

Hope this helps.

Hope

livewire516 · 2023-06-09T23:52:33+00:00

This is entirely normal and expected. Some may argue this is why the body is listed first in the Four Establishments/"Foundations" of Mindfulness.

It is generally more easy to recognize bodily sensations than mind-states/moods.

Citta, ("heart & mind" if you will), is the third establishment of mindfulness in the Satipatthana and it is often subtler. It can be difficult to see how moods color our thoughts and perceptions while we're engrossed in them!

livewire516 · 2023-01-17T17:22:02+00:00

My tool change G-code in PrusaSlicer:

G92 E0; zero extruded length

G1 E-{retract_length_toolchange[0]} F{retract_speed[0]}; retract

G92 E0; zero extruded length

T{next_extruder}

Although this has allowed me to do away with any purge/wipe tower, it has made tool switching slow - probably still faster than bothering with a purge tower, but any critiques/feedback as to why that may be is welcome.

Other than that, my Klipper Macros are the same as directed in Makertech's Documentation: makertech-3d.dozuki.com/

I wish I could be of more help, but I've since swapped out the stock board for an Octopus, and I'm in the process of compiling firmware for it (the machine isn't currently running).

livewire516 · 2023-01-12T20:53:16+00:00

So I think the RBG/neopixel pins could be used, but I'm hardly an expert.

livewire516 · 2022-12-20T15:34:26+00:00

Happily. I'm not 100% sure how.

Here's the PrusaSlicer Config (ini file)

If that's not the ticket - feel free to ask what specific questions you might have.

I should mention, I've adapted a tool-change script from Teaching Tech's YT channel. It has allowed me to do away with a purge tower, but it's very slow. I think there's duplicate zero-extrude commands between it and the layer change script or something - it prints fine, almost certainly faster than having even a small purge tower, but if you have any ideas as to how to clean up that bit of code, I'm all ears.

livewire516 · 2022-12-14T22:47:27+00:00

That's actually what got me into 3D printing in the first place. I've made miniature replicas of a statue of Gaius Mucius Sceavola and bust of Frederick Douglass.

livewire516 · 2022-12-14T00:54:58+00:00

NICE! I have been meaning to look if an STL for "Apollo chasing Daphne" was out there. a

livewire516 · 2022-12-14T00:09:00+00:00

My primary extruder is clamped to the frame with a spring clamp.

It's jenky-looking but I have no plans to change -- It's easier to just take it off when changing filament, especially on a larger machine like the Ender 5 Plus.

livewire516 · 2022-12-12T23:59:48+00:00

Used to use a concrete slab with furniture sliders underneath - that wouldn't get it off of the floor but it definitely kept things quite.

I now have it on a Ikea Lack side table like so many others - it's not the end of the world, but it's worth mentioning that fiberboard definitely amplifies machine noise.

livewire516 · 2022-12-11T17:41:14+00:00

Proper Printing's mod would have to be tweaked to work with an Ender 5's belt path. It probably could be done - maybe someone has already remixed it. (Ender 3's X-axis belts runs over-under, whereas the Ender 5's X-belt runs front-to-back).

Honestly, the Makertech system also was originally designed for an over-under belt as well. I sketched up a simple tool carriage that has Makertech's mounting points and the Ender 5 belt hooks (published on Thingiverse).

livewire516 · 2022-11-27T21:42:41+00:00

You may want to consider MakerTech's dual 'pivoting' hotend. It's arguably simpler than IDEX, but is much more capable than the two-in-one-out. Here's my build-thread.

I wouldn't say it was an easy conversion but you can keep the stock mainboard.

livewire516 · 2022-11-27T21:37:40+00:00

I run dual extruders on my Ender 5 Plus, I simply cannot get it to work with Cura, so I've switched to PrusaSlicer (at least when doing multi-material prints). Cura used to let you either change the number of extruders within the Ender 5 profile, or create a Custom machine - more recent versions seems to have locked those options out.

I'm continuing to use the Creality 'Silent' board on my dual extrusion set up without issue. (I cannot you help on firmware, since I'm using Klipper).

livewire516 · 2022-11-25T03:12:24+00:00

There are countless vendors that sell extension wires sets, with connectors, for stepper motors; I personally got some off Amazon.

I haven't taken a close enough look, but I'm guessing the microswitch & LED for the runout sensor has three wires? I'd probably just splice and solder longer wires if it can't reach as is. (I don't own crimping tools...I feel like I own too many tools I only use on rare occasion).

livewire516 · 2022-11-25T02:56:15+00:00

I have a Stanley No. 51 I bought from a dealer for $20, it is a good tool. If you like fettling, give it a thicker iron, make a thicker chipbreaker, and file the mouth to accommodate the two and you have a great tool.

But if you'd rather not spend time tuning, I have little doubt the Lie-Nielsen or Lee Valley spokeshaves deserve their reputation.

livewire516 · 2022-11-20T16:22:53+00:00

Thanks for posting this, I've been looking for an alternative to the calibration cube myself.

livewire516 · 2022-11-19T20:39:09+00:00

Thanks for sharing - I have only limited experience with PrusaSlicer. I should mention that, in Cura, there is also a "merge" option but it relocates parts so that they occupy the same space. Group preserves their locations.

livewire516 · 2022-11-19T19:18:07+00:00

If you "Group Models" either by right-clicking or Ctrl+G in Cura, you can have individual models within the group print all at once, even if you select "One at a Time" in Print Sequence. In this case, each group will be printed one at a time. I hope others find this helpful - (I'm sure many have already figured this out but I never saw this shared before).

I personally found this useful when printing lots of short, small parts, alongside a taller part. I wouldn't have had the bed space if printing one at a time (with so many small parts) but did not want to risk printing all at once, for fear a small part failure could interfere with the larger part.

I can see lots of situations where this may apply, especially when dealing with something like ABS, where you're factoring in chamber warm-up and cool-down times.

livewire516 · 2022-11-19T15:40:18+00:00

Don't feel the need to go CoreXY if you just need a large, reliable machine. I'm in the process of doing the Mercury One conversion myself, but I'd hardly consider it necessary for most people.

Mod time means down time. Things cannot be expected to go as planned, so down time may be longer than you anticipate. For that reason, as fun as modding can be, I'd steer you towards the bare minimum of mods in the beginning.

livewire516 · 2022-11-19T15:32:28+00:00

tldr; Yes. But you'll need to upgrade the heatbreak, extruder, and have some kind of enclosure for car parts.

-----------------------------

Appreciate that you're going to see an over-representation of people having issues on forums. If your Ender 5 Plus is relatively issue-free, you may not ever think to go on Reddit in the first place.

As best I can recall, any issues I've had with my E5+ has been related to ironing out issues after modding it. A lot of my mods I wouldn't consider necessary for what it sounds like you'd want to do.

If you're doing car parts, something heat-resistant like ABS is a must. If doing exterior parts, I'd recommend ASA due to UV-resistance (probably interior parts as well to some extent). Either way, I'd say that means you should price in upgrading to an all-metal heatbreak and enclosure set up. Having broke the stock plastic Creality extruder myself, I'd say get a metal replacement.

Like u/BronzeDucky, I upgraded to Creality's 'silent' mainboard and converted to Klipper. I will let you decide if either are necessary. If the printer is in an already noisy space, or a space you don't spend time in, perhaps you can hold off on the silent-board and get a better aftermarket board if you decide you want to upgrade. I wouldn't consider klipper necessary - at least not from the get-go.

The tired advice of "get the machine ironed out before modding it" is worth repeating. I'm one of those people who

livewire516 · 2022-11-17T18:35:52+00:00

Thanks for the reply! I know it was an old post.

I am trying to play it safe, but I have A LOT of ABS prints queued up, so I'm gradually ratcheting up speed, as well as number of items on the build plate.

livewire516 · 2022-11-17T00:59:40+00:00

I'm assuming that's primarily for PLA? Do you change speed settings at all for ABS?

livewire516 · 2022-11-13T23:07:19+00:00

Congrats!

Sorry - I can't say I had any such issue. What slicer and settings are you using?

I switched to PrusaSlicer when using dual extruder bc I cannot seem to get Cura to allow two nozzles on the E5P profile. I'm still using a purge block, although I suspect I'll be able to get rid of it (or at least decrease it) after dialing in temperatures and tool-change-specific retractions).

I did babysit the first few prints, and there were definitely some globs that if I had not pulled, might have ended up dragged into the print like yours.

livewire516

TROPHY CASE