German RepRap X400 Pro V3 User manual

German RepRap X400 Pro V3
User Guide

germanreprap.us 2
Rev B01
X400PRO.Q U IC KSTA R T.FUNDAMENTA LS.MAINTEN ANCE.TROUBLESHOOTING.
German RepRap X400 Pro V3
User Guide
X400 V3 3
At a glance 3
Specifications 4
QUICKSTART 5
Unboxing 5
Setting Up 8
Calibrating 9
Loading Filament 10
Starting a Print 12
FUNDAMENTALS 14
Changing Filament 14
Bed Leveling 16
Changing PET Tape 17
Buildplate Preparation 18
Dual Extrusion 19
Simplify 3D 21
MAINTENANCE 23
Unclogging Extruders 23
Cleaning Nozzles 24
Changing Nozzles 24
Changing HotEnds 24
Updating Firmware 25
TROUBLESHOOTING 26

X400PRO.Q U IC K START .FUND A M ENT ALS.MAIN T EN ANCE. T ROU B LESHOOTIN G.
German RepRap X400 Pro V3
User Guide
Rev B01
At a glanc e
Congratulations on purchasing a German RepRap X400 Pro V3!
We know you are going to be continually astounded with the high definition parts coming off this machine and we
can’t wait to get you started! This guide aims to get you comfortable with the basics, explain the fundamentals in us-
ing the machine, address best practices for maintenance, and get you back on track if something goes wrong. If you
have any questions that cannot be answered by this guide, please visit us at www.germanreprap.us or email us at sup-
[email protected].

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German RepRap X400 Pro V3
User Guide
Rev B01
Spe cificatio ns
PRINT________________
Printing Technology
FFF (Fused Filament Fabrication)
Printing Space (mm/in)
400 x 400 x 350/15.7 x 15.7 x 13.7
Layer thickness min.
0.01 mm
Print speed
10 -100 mm/s
Travel speed
10 - 300 mm/s
Filament diameter
1.75 Ø mm
Build platform
4 point heated printing platform
(max 120° C)
HANDLING_____________
Stand-alone printing
LCD display with SD card-reader
Easy-to-use Software
Simplify 3D™ included
DIMENSIONS AND WEIGHT__
Dimensions (mm/in)
660 x 660 x 770 / 25.9 x 25.9 x 30.3
Weight
80 kg / 176 lbs
HOTENDS______________
High Temperature Performance
Reach 300° C
Adaptable Nozzle Sizes
0.25, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8 mm
Easy Mounting and Community Support
www.e3d-online.com
brass nozzle
(0.4mm)
aluminum
heater block
stainless steel
heat break
(green)
teflon tube
fan
aluminum
heatsink

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Unboxing
A. Take top of X400 box.
What comes in each box?
X400 Pro V3 Box
1 X400 Pro V3
Accessories Box
2 Power Cord
2 Filament Stand
1 4GB SD Card
2 GRR PET Tape
1 Scraper
1 Brass Wire Brush
1 0.2 mm Feeler Gauge
1 Unclog Kit (Metal Push Rods)
2 SuperLube Sample
1 Razor
1 Set of Hex Wrenches (2,4,5 mm)
1 Plier
1 Stand Hardware (if purchased)
Stand Box (if purchased)
1 X400 Stand
B. Open Accessories box.
Be sure you have all these things, as they will be essential
tools on your path to happy printing! If we accidentally
left anything out, give us a shout and we’ll send it right
out.
C. Add handles.
Using the M4 hex wrench provided, remove the 2
screws on the side panel. Line up the handle with
the holes and tighten screws with screwdriver. Re-
peat on the other side.
Skip the next two steps if you did not pur-
chase a stand.
D. Open stand box.
Open the box and lay out all the pieces. You will
need a good amount of floor space for assembly.

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E. Assemble Stand.
E.1. Verify that you have all the pieces for assem-
bly.
E.2. The joint functions as follows:
Qty Component
2 Acrylic glass, shelf
4 1000 mm profile
4 M6 threaded bolt
16 Mounting Angle
84 M6 T slot nut
68 M6 x 12 SHCS
4 M6 x 25 SHCS
16 Profile Connectors
8 M6 x 22 Cylinder Head Screw
4 3D Printed Cup
4 Plastic Foot
E.3. Each corner joint will be assembled as fol-
lows:
E.4. Attach cups to the top of the long profiles using
1pc T-Slot Nut & 1pc 6x12mm SHCS (use the 4
6x12mm SHCS taken from the side panels where the
handles are) each one with the hole on the side of the
cup. NOTE: Hardware is NOT necessary for function of the
stand on this component, it simply makes moving the printer from
the stand easier.
E.5. Attach plastic foot to the bottom of the long pro-
files using 1pc 6x25mm SHCS each.

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E.6. Create each sub-assembly with T-slots and
6x12mm SHCS as shown below:
E.7. Slide 6 T Slots into the side of the profile sub as-
semblies for the crossbars.
E.8. Using an M5 hex wrench, attach a profile connect-
or to the 1st and 4th T Slots on all 4 of the assembled
legs. You want to tighten them just a bit so you can still
put the crossbar on the profile. The profile will go in the
top of the crossbar where the circular hole is.
E.9. The 2nd and 3rd T slots will be used for the top
mounting angle. The 5th and 6th T slots will be used for
the bottom mounting angle. Line up two crossbars and
one of the assembled sides of the stand. Adjust the T
slots on the bar so they line up with the mounting angle
holes.
E.10. Slip the two crossbars under the profile con-
nector and tighten completely to the T slot. This
should attach the cross bar to the leg of the stand.
E.11. Using four M6x12 screws, two for each
mounting angle, attach the mounting angles to the
T slots that were previously aligned.
E.12. Align the crossbars with the other pre-assembled
legs.
E.13. Repeat steps 8 through 12. You want to be sure
that when you are aligning your crossbars and mounting
angles, that you are perpendicular to the pre-assembled
crossbar, and that you are at the same height on the legs.

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E.14. Once three of the four sides of the stand
are assembled, flip it around so your remaining
crossbars can be lined up on the ground.
E.15. Insert shelves.
E.16. IF the stand is wobbly, adjust the legs to make
sure that everything is square.
F. Cut red zip ties.
G. Do NOT remove zip tie on safety
switch.
This zip tie disables the safety switch and allows
us to operate the machine with the door open.
H. Remove buildplate protection.
I. Unpack filament holders.
I.1. The filament holders will sit on the top of the ma-
chine. The filament should be fed through the 2” slot
on the back of the machine.
I.2. The orientation of the filament should take
the path of least resistance.
Set ting Up

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K. Plug in & Turn on.
The X400 Pro V3 has two power cords. The plug
on the far right connects to the power supply.
This controls everything on the printer other than
the heated bed. The plug in the middle only con-
trols the heated bed. We recommend plugging the
power supply into a battery back up and the heat-
ed bed into a surge protector; that way if the pow-
er fails, your print will continue without draining
all the battery to heat the bed.
The power requirements are:
AC 110V/230V; ~50 Hz; 2.6 A; 600W
L. Preheat PLA.
While the X400 Pro V3 is an open source machine al-
lowing you to print with virtually every material, we can
ensure that GRR filament consistently performs well;
therefore, we have provided you with a roll of GRR
PLA to get you started.
Calibr at ing
J. Attach knob next to LCD Display.
In the bag with the USB cable, you will find the black
knob that attaches to the metal pin coming off the LCD
display.
Using a small screwdriver, tighten the knob onto the flat
side of the metal pin.
There is a sweet spot for the knob to be positioned, so
that it engages the metal pin when you click it in.

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M.3. Turn off X and Y Motors. Using the control pan-
el (from last step):
Back —> Quick Settings —> Disable Steppers.
M.4. Manually move the printing head close to each
holding point above the adjusting screws. Loosen or
tighten screw until the gap between the nozzle and plate
is about the thickness of your feeler gauge.
M.5.Check the center and other random positions on
the plate. Adjust accordingly.
Home all
Home X
Home Y
Home Z>
Back
Home all
Home X
Home Y
>
Back
Quick Settings
Print File
Position
>
Preheat ABS
Cooldown
Set to origin
Disable steppers
>
We have chosen to preheat the whole machine for two
reasons. First, it is best practice to level the buildplate
while it is hot. Second, it’s a time saving trick that allows
us to do other things while our extruders heat up.
Preheating heats all parts
simultaneously.
L.1. Using control panel:
Button press —> Quick Settings —> Preheat PLA.
Back
Quick Settings
Print File
Position
>
Speed mul.: 100%
Flow mul.: 100 %
Change filament
Preheat PLA
>
M. Level buildplate.
Follow these step to level your buildplate. The most
common problems in 3D printing stem from an un-
leveled buildplate, so it is important to do this step cor-
rectly.
M.1. Heat up print bed (Should be heating up thanks to
the last step!).
M.2. Home Z axis. Using the control panel:
Button Press —> Position —> Home Z.
Back
Quick Settings
Print File
Position
>

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N.2. Using the control panel:
Button press —> Extruder —> Select Extruder 1 —>
Extr. Position.
Quick Settings
Print File
Position
Extruder
>
Turn extr. 2 off
Select extr. 1
Select extr. 2
Extr. position
>
Clockwise pushes and
Counterclockwise pulls.
N.3. As you turn the knob, guide filament through the
top of extruder and into hot end. the wheel. You want
to hold the filament upright so it feeds straight into the
path.
IF the extruder doesn't properly lead the filament to
the hotend, you can adjust the contact pressure by ad-
justing the wheel. The adjusting wheels are mirror im-
ages of each other. The direction in which you turn the
wheel will push or pull the bearing towards or away
from the drive gear, respectively.
M.6. Repeat these steps until the distance from
the nozzle to the plate is uniform.
N. Load filament into left extruder.
N.1. Cut the tip of the filament at a 45° angle and run
it through the feed in the back, along the Teflon tube
until exposed at the other end.
Re-level the bed if you
switch materials.
Loa din g F il ament

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N.3.4. The contact pressure should be great
enough so that when you try and pull out the fila-
ment from the top, the filament still feeds
through at the nozzle.
N.4. Allow material to purge before starting. It should
flow out straight and consistently.
If it curls up at the nozzle, there is likely a bit of debris
blocking the path. Loosen the adjusting wheel and man-
ually push the filament through to force out the debris.
Retighten adjusting wheel and continue to purge materi-
al.
O. Insert SD Card.
We highly recommend using the SD Card to send files
to print on your machine. Using the network connection
may lead to failures over large print times because of
poor connections.
O.1. Using Control Panel:
Button Press —> SD Card —> 3DC Logo—>
3DCLogo_L_PLA_56m.gcode
Star ting a pr in t.
Focusing on the left extruder, if you wanted to pull the
bearing towards the drive, you would turn the wheel
counterclockwise, which would put more pressure on
the filament. And vice versa if you wanted to release the
pressure on the filament.
N.3.1. If the filament does not reach the hotend,
turn the adjusting wheel clockwise to create a clear
path from the extruder to the hotend.
N.3.2. Manually lead the filament all the way
through to the nozzle until you can push filament
out.
N.3.3. Turn the knob on the LCD to turn the ex-
truder motor. As the motor spins, turn the adjust-
ing wheel counterclockwise until the pressure on
the filament causes the filament to be pushed out
through the nozzle.
Contact pressure is
material dependent.

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>
Q. Print.
With our guidance, your first print should be done in no
time. Allow the part to cool before removing it. Use
your scraper to peel your part off the plate. CAREFUL!
Scraper is sharp and could cut you or your build plate
tape.
Too far from the buildplate.
Too close from the buildplate.
Right distance from the buildplate.
P. Z Babystepping
Use Z Babystepping on your first layer to make sure
that it is bonding well to the plate. Turning the knob
counterclockwise moves the plate up and clockwise
moves the plate down. The first layer should be flat and
smooth with some height to it—fettucine-like if you
will. If you are too far from the plate, your first layer will
be squiggly and will not stick to the plate. If you are too
close, the filament will extrude very little or not at all.
Position
Extruder
Fan speed
SD Card
>
3D Benchy
3DC Logo
Ctrl V Test
Profiles
>
3DCLogo.stl
3DCLogo_L_PLA_56m.f
3DCLogo_L_PLA_56m.g
>
Back
Quick Settings
Print File
Position
>
Back
Home all
Z Babystepping 0.0mm
Speed mul. : 100%
>
Counterclockwise moves
up. Clockwise moves
down.
Z baby step buildplate
AFTER starting print!

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C h a n g i n g f i l a m e n t .
GRR X400 Pro V3 is an open source machine, allowing
you to print with a wide range of different materials.
Below is a brief list of that variety ranked in difficulty to
print from 1 to 10, with 10 being the hardest.
If you want to switch between different materials (or
colors), you first need to unload the filament, then you
can load the new one.
A. Unloading existing filament
A.1. Heat up the extruder. This ensures that filament at
the tip of nozzle will also clear.
Using control panel:
Button press —> Extruder —> Temp. 1 —> Turn
knob to desired temp. of existing material.
Quick Settings
Print File
Position
Extruder
>
Back
Bed temp. 27.3/ 0°C
Temp. 1 232.4/240°C
Temp. 2 27.3/ 0°C
>
A.3. Once extruder is heated, follow the control panel to
extract the filament from the extruder.
Using control panel (from last step): Select Extr. 1 —>
Extr. Position —> Turn knob counterclockwise.
Grabbing the filament from the top of the extruder, you
should feel it as it comes out. Through the translucent
faceplate, you can see the end of the filament come out
of the hotend. Tug on it to pull out the filament com-
pletely.
Quick Settings
Print File
Position
Extruder
>
Turn extr. 2 off
Select extr. 1
Select extr. 2
Extr. position
>
When switching from
ABS to PLA, heat to ABS
temp. and purge.
Material Extruder Heated Bed Difficulty
PLA 190-220°C 55-65°C 1
PET-G 240-260°C 70-77°C 3
ABS 230-255°C 90-115°C 5
HIPS 230-255°C 90-115°C 7
PVA 190-220°C 55-115°C 7
PP 210°C 0-80°C 9
TPU93 190-215°C 0°C 9
Carbon 20 255°C 45°C 9

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>
B. Load new filament
B.1. Cut the tip of the filament at a 45° angle and run it
through the feed in the back, along the Teflon tube until
exposed at the other end.
B.2. Using the control panel:
Button press —> Extruder —> Select Extruder 1 —>
Extr. Position.
B.3. As you turn the knob, guide filament through the
top of extruder and into hot end. the wheel. You want to
hold the filament upright so it feeds straight into the
path.
IF the extruder doesn't properly lead the filament to the
hotend, you can adjust the contact pressure by adjusting
the wheel. The adjusting wheels are mirror images of
each other. The direction in which you turn the wheel
will push or pull the bearing towards or away from the
drive gear, respectively. Focusing on the left extruder, if
you wanted to pull the bearing towards the drive, you
would turn the wheel counterclockwise, which would
put more pressure on the filament. And vice versa if you
wanted to release the pressure on the filament.
Quick Settings
Print File
Position
Extruder
>
Turn extr. 2 off
Select extr. 1
Select extr. 2
Extr. position
>
Clockwise pushes and
Counterclockwise pulls.

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Contact pressure is
material dependent.
B.3.1. If the filament does not reach the hotend,
turn the adjusting wheel clockwise to create a
clear path from the extruder to the hotend.
B.3.2. Manually lead the filament all the way
through to the nozzle until you can push filament
out.
B.3.3. Turn the knob on the LCD to turn the ex-
truder motor. As the motor spins, turn the adjust-
ing wheel counterclockwise until the pressure on
the filament causes the filament to be pushed out
through the nozzle.
B.3.4. The contact pressure should be great
enough so that when you try and pull out the fila-
ment from the top, the filament still feeds through
at the nozzle.
B.4. Allow material to purge before starting. It should
flow out straight and consistently.
>
If it curls up at the nozzle, there is likely a bit of debris
blocking the path. Loosen the adjusting wheel and manu-
ally push the filament through to force out the debris.
Retighten adjusting wheel and continue to purge materi-
al.
Bed l eveling.
Follow these step to level your buildplate. If not leveled
correctly, you will experience issues with your part curl-
ing or not sticking to the buildplate.
A.1. Heat up print bed (Should be heating up thanks to
the last step!).
A.2. Home Z axis. Using the control panel:
Button Press —> Position —> Home Z.
A.3. Turn off X and Y Motors. Using the control panel
(from last step):
Back —> Quick Settings —> Disable Steppers.
Back
Quick Settings
Print File
Position
>
Home all
Home X
Home Y
Home Z>
Back
Home all
Home X
Home Y
>
Back
Quick Settings
Print File
Position
>

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A.4. Manually move the printing head close to each
holding point above the adjusting screws. Loosen or
tighten screw until the gap between the nozzle and plate
is about the thickness of your feeler gauge.
A.5.Check other random positions on the plate, espe-
cially the center.
A.6. Repeat process until distance from nozzle to
plate is uniform across the board.
Re-level the bed if you
switch materials.
Preheat ABS
Cooldown
Set to origin
Disable steppers
>
C h a n g i n g P E T Ta p e .
The PET Tape should be changed after there is major
damages on all parts of the tape.
A. Remove old green PET Tape.
A.1. Allow ceramic buildplate to cool.
A.2. Peel off old tape. You can use a razor to carefully
remove it. Do not scratch the ceramic.
A.3. Spray ceramic buildplate with window cleaner and
wipe clean.
B. Apply new green PET Tape.
B.1. Spray ceramic buildplate with window cleaner and
wipe clean. (It is important that the ceramic is spotless!)
B.2. Spray ceramic buildplate with window cleaner and
this time leave wet.
B.3. Remove backing from new PET Tape.
B.4. Spray window cleaner on adhesive side of tape.
Placing the part to avoid
rips makes PET tape last
longer.

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B.5. Apply wet tape to wet ceramic surface.
B.6. Using a credit card as a squeegee, remove bubbles.
Make sure to remove all the window cleaner from under
the tape.
B.7. Allow at least two hours to dry without heat.
In order to use dual extrusion, we need to first ensure
that our nozzles are level to each other and to the bed.
Buildplate Pr eparatio n
A. Mix Bonding Agent
Higher temperature materials require a bonding agent to
help with bed adhesion. Mixing one part water with one
part PVA glue (all multipurpose white glue) gives us a
suitable solution for this application.
B. Apply 50/50 Solution
Using a paper towel, coat the build plate with a thick
layer of this solution and allow the heated bed to quick-
ly dry it up. You should re apply the solution before
every print. It is not necessary to clean off the previous
layer.
C. Clean Up
This water based solution provides for easy clean up. To
clean the buildplate after a print, heat it up and put wa-
ter on the bed to soften up the solution. Use a razor
blade to scrape it off.
To clean the bottom of the part, soak it in water over-
night.
D. Buildplate Prep per Material
Below is a chart for preparing the buildplate based on
material.
Material BP Prep
PLA No 50/50 Solution
ABS 50/50 Solution
PETG 50/50 Solution
Nylon 680 100 PVA Glue
Carbon 20 50/50 Solution
Polycarbonate 50/50 Solution
TPU 93 50/50 Solution
TPU 64 50/50 Solution

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>
Back
Quick Settings
Print File
Position
>
Speed mul.: 100%
Flow mul.: 100 %
Change filament
Preheat PLA>
A. Setting up.
A.1. Using control panel:
Quick Settings —> Preheat PLA.
A.2. Level the buildplate to the left (default) nozzle.
Your GRR X400 Pro V3 should already be leveled to
this nozzle. If not, you can follow the steps on page 15
to level your buildplate.
A.3. Move the extruder head to the front of the bed so
that the nozzles (and the gap between the plate and the
nozzles) are clearly visible to you.
A.4. Using control panel:
Quick Settings —> Z Babystepping.
Turn the knob counterclockwise until there is no gap
between the left nozzle and the bed.
Dua l Ex tr usio n.
Home all
Home X
Home Y
Home Z>
Back
Quick Settings
Print File
Position
>
Back
Quick Settings
Print File
Position
>
Back
Home all
Z Babystepping 0.0mm
Speed mul. : 100%
>

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A.5. Using the M2 Hex Wrench, loosen the plate on the
right extruder and pull down the extruder to eliminate
gap between the bed and the nozzle. Tighten that ex-
truder into its place.
A.6. Using control panel:
Position —> Home Z.
A.7. Check that the bed is leveled to the same height for
both extruders using your 0.2mm feeler gauge.
Back
Quick Settings
Print File
Position
>
Home all
Home X
Home Y
Home Z
>
B. Calibrating.
Now that our nozzles are level to each other, we have to
configure their offset. We are going to do this by print-
ing a 2 cm cube and measuring the offsets by hand, en-
tering them into the configuration of our machine, and
storing them into the firmware.
B.1. Load filament into both extruders (X400 Pro V3
should still be preheated from the last step). If you need
help loading filament, you can follow the steps on page
11.
B.2. Using the provided factory file on your SD Card,
print 2cm test cube. If you need help starting a print, you
can follow the steps on page 12.
The top half of the cube, printed by the second extruder,
will appear to have a shift from the bottom half, printed
by the first extruder. Pay attention to the orientation of
the cube and what direction the shift is in.
B.3. Using a set of calipers, measure that shift in mm.
Jot that number down.