Polar Electro Polar3D User manual

Polar3D Printer Guide
Kristin Hubner
January, 2018

Copyright ©2017, 2018, Kristin Hubner.
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Contents
List of Figures .............................. iv
1 Get connected to the Polar Cloud ................ 1
1.1 Connecting the Polar3D printer to the Polar Cloud via WiFi . 3
1.2 Connecting the Polar3D printer to the Polar Cloud via Eth-
ernet cable ............................ 19
1.3 Errors at ADD A PRINTER screen ................ 20
1.4 Network issues and solutions .................. 23
1.4.1 Static IP address for printer ............... 24
1.4.2 MAC address for the printer ............... 28
1.4.3 Open HTTP ports .................... 28
1.4.4 Solving network connectivity problems ......... 29
2 Start printing ............................. 31
2.1 Load filament on the Polar3D printer .............. 31
2.2 An object to print ........................ 37
2.2.1 Find an object in the Polar Cloud ............ 38
2.2.2 Experiment with adjusting object placement and print
settings .......................... 43
2.3 Start the print job ........................ 49
2.4 Monitor the printing ....................... 51
3 The Polar3D printer local web interface ............ 57
3.1 Navigating through the Polar3D printer local web interface . . 59
3.1.1 The Print File tab and the Project Details screen 61
3.1.2 The Controls tab and the Manual Printer Controls
screen ........................... 62
3.1.3 The Calibration tab and Calibration screen . . . . 63
3.1.4 The Camera tab and Camera screen ........... 64
i

CONTENTS ii
3.1.5 The Network tab ..................... 65
3.1.6 The Update tab ...................... 68
3.1.7 The Restart tab ..................... 69
3.2 Security of access to the local web interface .......... 70
3.2.1 The Security pane and setting a password for the local
web interface ....................... 73
4 Operational tips for Polar3D printers .............. 78
4.1 Loading and unloading (and changing) filament on Polar3D
printer ............................... 79
4.1.1 Loading filament on Polar3D printer .......... 80
4.1.2 Unloading filament from Polar3D 2.0 or 2.5 printer . . 82
4.1.3 Unloading filament from Polar3D 1.0 printer ...... 83
4.2 Removing objects from the Polar3D build plate ........ 84
5 Updating the Polar3D printer .................. 86
6 Polar3D printer maintenance ................... 91
6.1 Cleaning your build plate .................... 91
6.2 Lubrication ............................ 92
6.3 Clean filament drive gear .................... 92
6.4 Replace a corrupted SD card .................. 93
6.5 Printer calibration ........................ 93
6.5.1 Polar3D 1.0 printer zand xcalibration ......... 96
6.5.2 Polar3D 2.0 or 2.5 printer zand xcalibration ..... 99
7 Troubleshooting for Polar3D printers ..............108
7.1 Polar3D printer LED lights ...................108
7.2 Polar3D printer clogged or leaky nozzle .............110
7.3 Polar3D printer camera color balance ..............110
7.4 Polar3D printer stepper motors locked in place ........111
Appendices ................................113
A Polar3D printer specification sheet ...............113
B Polar3D printer diagram ......................114
C Connecting the Polar3D printer directly to your device . . 115

CONTENTS iii
C.1 Wireless direct connection and printing .............116
C.1.1 Wireless direct connection ................117
C.1.2 Wireless direct printing ..................119
C.2 Cable direct connection and printing ..............122
C.2.1 Cable direct connection ..................123
C.2.2 Cable direct printing ...................134
Glossary ..................................137
Index ....................................151

List of Figures
1.1 Printer in shipping box ..................... 2
1.2 Back of printer: serial number and spool holder arm ..... 6
1.3 Mac prompt for printer hotspot WiFi password ........ 7
1.4 Use the printer’s WiFi hotspot to connect to the printer’s
web interface ........................... 8
1.5 Select local WiFi network .................... 9
1.6 Enter local WiFi password ................... 9
1.7 Local WiFi configured as network ............... 10
1.8 Printer Configured Network configuration completed . . . . 10
1.9 Printer Restart for local network connection attempt . . . . 11
1.10 First time login to Polar Cloud ................. 13
1.11 First time log in with Google credentials: classroom permis-
sions screen ............................ 14
1.12 Polar Cloud home page ..................... 14
1.13 Polar Cloud expand top menu and click PRINTERS ...... 15
1.14 Polar Cloud printers TILE display ADD printer button ..... 15
1.15 Polar Cloud ADD A PRINTER: enter serial number ....... 16
1.16 Polar Cloud ADD A PRINTER printer found: security color check 17
1.17 Polar Cloud ADD A PRINTER congratulations ......... 18
1.18 Polar Cloud added printer listed in TILE view ......... 18
1.19 Polar Cloud ADD A PRINTER printer not found error ..... 21
1.20 Polar Cloud printer ADD attempt when Add Allowed is disabled 22
1.21 WiFi static IP address ...................... 25
1.22 Ethernet static IP address .................... 26
1.23 Polar3D printer CONNECTIVITY GUIDE sheet: MAC ad-
dress ............................... 27
2.1 Load filament onto the Polar3D printer ............ 32
2.2 Snip end of filament ....................... 33
iv

LIST OF FIGURES v
2.3 Polar Cloud printer dashboard LOCAL UI button ....... 35
2.4 Printer local web interface Controls tab ............ 35
2.5 Manual Printer Controls screen: set the temperature . . . 36
2.6 Polar Cloud top menu OBJECTS tab .............. 37
2.7 Polar Cloud PUBLIC OBJECTS screen .............. 38
2.8 Searching for “calibration” on the PUBLIC OBJECTS screen 39
2.9 PUBLIC OBJECTS listing of William Steele’s CalibrationKey 40
2.10 CalibrationKey object detail screen .............. 41
2.11 Build plate screen for CalibrationKey object ......... 42
2.12 Build plate PLACEMENT:MOVE object .............. 44
2.13 Build plate PLACEMENT:MOVE to center CalibrationKey . . . 45
2.14 Build plate PLACEMENT:SCALE object .............. 47
2.15 Build plate PRINT SETTINGS: check the print temperature . . 49
2.16 Printer dashboard: job submitted to the print queue ..... 50
2.17 Printer “homing” when the temperature reaches 175°C. . . 52
2.18 Printer dashboard: print job extrusion has begun ....... 53
2.19 Printer dashboard: print job in progress ............ 53
2.20 Printer dashboard: print job extrusion completed ....... 54
2.21 Printer dashboard: print job completed ............ 54
2.22 Printed object CalibrationKey on the build plate ...... 55
3.1 Polar Cloud printer dashboard LOCAL UI button ....... 58
3.2 Printer local web interface as viewed from Polar Cloud . . . . 59
3.3 Printer local web interface Print File (Project Details)
screen ............................... 62
3.4 Printer local web interface Controls screen .......... 63
3.5 Polar3D printer v1.0 local web interface Calibration screen 64
3.6 Polar3D printer v2.0 and v2.5 local web interface Calibration
screen ............................... 64
3.7 Printer local web interface Camera screen ........... 65
3.8 Printer local web interface Network screen showing Existing
WiFi pane ............................ 66
3.9 Reset Printer on the Polar Cloud confirmation check . . 68
3.10 Printer local web interface Update screen ........... 69
3.11 Printer local web interface Restart screen ........... 69
3.12 Printer local web interface Security pane ........... 73
3.13 Printer local web interface Security pane: initial password
entered .............................. 74

LIST OF FIGURES vi
3.14 Printer local web interface: Password updated, restart re-
quired ............................... 75
3.15 Chrome: user name and password prompt to reach printer
local web interface ........................ 76
3.16 Firefox: user name and password prompt to reach printer
local web interface ........................ 76
3.17 Opera: user name and password prompt to reach printer local
web interface ........................... 76
3.18 Safari: user name and password prompt to reach printer local
web interface ........................... 76
3.19 Chrome: entering user name and password to reach printer
local web interface ........................ 77
4.1 Loading filament onto the Polar3D printer ........... 79
5.1 Polar Cloud printer dashboard UPDATE button ......... 86
5.2 Polar Cloud printer manage screen UPDATE button ...... 87
5.3 Printer local web interface shows Update tab ......... 88
5.4 Polar Cloud UPDATE PRINTER confirmation screen ....... 89
5.5 Printer local UI update description and confirmation screen . 89
6.1 Printer local web interface landing screen (Network screen
with Existing WiFi pane) ................... 96
6.2 Printer local web interface Calibration screen ........ 97
6.3 Printer local web interface Controls screen’s Home and Center
button .............................. 98
6.4 Polar3D 2.0 or 2.5 printer Calibration screen ........ 99
6.5 Manual Printer Controls screen: Change Filament button 100
6.6 Change Filament button: confirm screen ...........100
6.7 Manual Printer Controls screen: temperature 185°C. . . 101
6.8 Calibration screen: zcalibration wait screen .........102
6.9 Calibration screen: zcalibration Done Calibrating button 103
6.10 Calibration screen: zdone confirmation screen . . . . . . . 103
6.11 Manual Printer Controls screen: Raise Print Head button104
6.12 Calibration screen: xcalibration wait screen ........105
6.13 Calibration screen: xcalibration Done Calibrating button 106
6.14 Calibration screen: xdone confirmation screen . . . . . . . 107
7.1 Printer camera color balance gets strange ...........111

LIST OF FIGURES vii
B.1 Polar3D printer diagram .....................114
C.1 Printer local web interface network status ...........118
C.2 Printer local web interface Project Details screen . . . . . 119
C.3 Project Details screen: Select file drop-down ......120
C.4 Project Details screen: Select file choices ........121
C.5 Printer local web interface Project Details screen: Print
File button ...........................122
C.6 Cable direct connection to printer: installing device . . . . . 124
C.7 Repetier-Host start-up screen ..................124
C.8 Repetier-Host Printer Settings screen ............125
C.9 Repetier-Host Printer Settings screen: Port ........126
C.10 Repetier-Host Connect button .................127
C.11 Repetier-Host Printer Settings:Printer Shape,etc. . . . 128
C.12 Repetier-Host Slicer tab ....................129
C.13 Repetier-Host Slicer:CuraEngine ..............129
C.14 Zoomed in view of Slice with CuraEngine:Configuration
button ..............................130
C.15 Repetier-Host Configure Settings screen: Import button . 131
C.16 Repetier-Host Configure Settings screen: Filament,Import132
C.17 Repetier-Host Printer Settings:Run on Kill script . . . . 133
C.18 Repetier-Host Load button ...................135
C.19 Repetier-Host Slice with CuraEngine ............136

Chapter 1
Get connected to the Polar
Cloud
When you open up your Polar3D printer shipping box, you will
see contents such as shown in Figure 1.1: the printer frame (with
print head mounted), a spool of (blue) PLA filament, a power
adapter and cord, a can of Aqua Net hair spray, a build plate,
and a sample object test-printed on this printer at the factory
(namely, a yellow boat).
There are two ways to setup your Polar3D printer to connect
through a local network to the Polar Cloud:
1. Wireless (WiFi): see Section 1.1.
2. Ethernet cable: see Section 1.2
Setting up your Polar3D printer as a network printer con-
nected to the Polar Cloud is strongly recommended, as it per-
mits full access to the power of the Polar Cloud interface and
features; see the Polar Cloud Guide. However, for times when
you don’t have an Internet connection (or even access to a local
1