A10T newbie guide needed

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jodahall
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Jan 08, 2019 12:36 am

A10T newbie guide needed

Post by jodahall » Sat Mar 14, 2020 6:18 am

Hey guys....

I'm fairly new to the 3d print scene. I bought a i3 pro w about 6 months ago and started playing with that. I liked it so much when i saw the A10T I bought it thinking that i would love to do multicolor. But since getting the A10T i've become very disappointed with the multicolor thing. mostly because i have no clue on how to use more than one color. With my old printer i did some multicolor but i paused the print and changed the filament, i thought having the 3 colors i wouldn't have to do that but i so far can't even use my other extruders on my A10T.

My Setup
OS: Linux mint 19 on a 10 year old HP laptop
3d print program: repetier host
slicer: curaengine

I've searched and searched and found bits and pieces of information but none of it really worked for me. I haven't updated my firmware yet, but i don't think i have to....that's one of the questions i have is what does the new firmware give me. I never updated the firmware on my pro w and it worked fine. I've found a A10T profile on the forum but it didn't seem to give me anything. and in my repetier host i use the curaengine because the slic3r and prusia slicer don't work, sure they will slice the objects but the print time is more than double what curaengine shows and the settings that i set in those programs don't actually seem to take. for example i set a filament temp of 201 and a bed temp of 30 and when it starts printing it goes to 215 and 50 respectively and i can't figure out why it's doing that.

I've also tried cura straight up but it doesn't run well on that PC and it doesn't even print any good.

All i'm really looking for is a guide to tell me how to use my different extruders. I don't want to go in and learn gcode to hack it manually, i would have thought i could just go into something like tinkercad design my object (with the different colors), then when i bring it into repetier host and slice it, it would recognize the different colors and switch between them....nope just uses extruder 1 for everything, even though i have specified my colors and the 3 different extruders.

Here's the things i can't do so if you are reading this and want to reply with suggestions.

1. cannot learn gcode to hack it manually
2. cannot install windows programs because it's a linux box
3. cannot setup a windows VM to run windows programs

I will keep looking for ways to use my other extruders, hopefully someone can point me in the right direction.

thanx

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William
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Posts: 6340
Joined: Tue Jun 07, 2016 9:38 am

Re: A10T newbie guide needed

Post by William » Sat Mar 14, 2020 11:14 am

:D Hi, You can use the color mixer on the official website,
There is currently a window version,
If you want to mix colors, you can find a segmentable stl model
Select an extruder to set
A model in stl format is a whole.
-Keep your mind and try to test it. :)
-Everything will be fun!-Support all Getech printer.
-You can ask me the questions and I will kindly reply.
-Respect others is the best way you can get help!

Sodium100mg
Posts: 66
Joined: Tue Feb 11, 2020 9:45 am

Re: A10T newbie guide needed

Post by Sodium100mg » Sat Mar 14, 2020 8:23 pm

I'm also a newbie, but have a deep background in graphics.

The problem does not seem unique to geeeteck, but rather an entire systematic void in the world of 3d. The whole 3d world seems trapped in time 20 years ago. Geeetech seems to be just a chinese company trying to profit off the ender 3 by packaging and improving the product and for that I applaud them, but not anybody including geeetech is doing anything to improve the basic foundation 3d is built on.

With 3d, or any graphics, you need to define your objective, then figure out what software/parameters will give the results you desire. I use simplify3d, which I choose about day 2 and still question my choice. Cura seems more powerful and confusing. To switch colors, it takes a prime tower/pillar, where one color is pushed out of the extruder and the second color primed. This is a HUGE waste of material, but it is how it is how it is done. Colors can also be blended, but in reality actually gets extruded like a multicolor toothpaste, with one color filament on 1 side and another color on the other, so when printed, it looks like a spotlight of one color is hitting 1 side and the other color is the shadow, which is a very cool effect if that is what you are after, but annoying if you want a true color mix.

My choice of the A10T is to be able to print internal structure using a soluble filament seems achievable. I can print my structure with soluble and my model with PLA and after printing I can rip off all the soluble I can, then place it in a bowl of water overnight and in the morning see my model without structure.

If you want 2 colors, the pillar needs to be large enough to purge the 1 color before starting to print with the new color. The printer takes about 4cm by 4cm to purge the first color to the second, which is something I'm personally working on to reduce. Geeetech has simply used a hot end that has 3 holes routed to 1 hole, with 3 discs on the throat tubes heading into a .4mm nozzle. Switching from red to white is especially problematic, because even 1% of red still makes the white look pink, where switching between red and blue is much easier visually.

I have upgraded firmware, but haven't seen it help with anything except being able to extrude filament from each of the 3 filaments, where the stock firmware is a mess. I've installed octroprint on an old PC and ip camera pro on an old android phone so I can print wifi and watch it as it prints. Octoprint also allows simple extruding from each of the colors, so with octoprint I had less need for firmware than without it. Octoprint also can be used for firmware updating, so it wasn't until I added octoprint that I upgraded my firmware. Both octoprint and upgrading the firmware is not for the faint of heart. Geeetech really need to make an official merlin 2 version of firmware available on this site!!!!

Cura on linux or pc will generate the same g-code, so use the system you prefer.

My limited experience in 3d and extensive experience in the graphic world is you need to define your objective, then work to the objective. For me, color mixer is a lame hack to show off a 3 color printer, but I have little need for decorative color mixing. If you are after decorative 3 color, find a graphic you want to print, try to print it and then ask for help of "how do I print this?"

For my purpose of soluble filament, I can simply select the structure be printed with filament 2, while printing the model with filament 1, with a 2cm prime pillar in simplify 3d, I should be good to go. Printing white an red with the exact same parameters, the white will look pink, because a 2cm pillar is not enough to purge the red out and the white in. How pure the white needs to be is subjective, while putting the model into a bin of water overnight, what isn't soluble will be just an angel hair of PLA, which a simple swish and pull will remove.

What end goal are you after?

ans
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu Oct 01, 2020 6:49 pm

Re: A10T newbie guide needed

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