PolyPrinter 229-R20-1 User manual

User Manual
v017
Table of Contents
Safety:
PolyPrinter Operation
Part Cleaning
Computer Requirements
Video
CPU
RAM
Operating System
System Specifications
Parts of the PolyPrinter
Main Components
Front Switches
Rear Panel:
Camera (if equipped)
Adjustments
Z Height
How to tell if it’s correct:
Procedure:
Adjustment:

How to tell if the head is being pressed too hard into the bed:
Z Tilt Left-Right
Rarely Needed Adjustments:
Maintenance
Clearing Plastic from the Nozzle
Oiling the Rods
Adjusting Extruder Current
Re-taping the Bed
Required Items:
Procedure:
Acetoning the Bed
Nozzle problems
Clogged Nozzle
Worn-out Nozzle
How to measure the nozzle diameter
Replacing the Nozzle
Software Installation
Power Saver Settings
Computer Update Settings
Computers with Extremely Slow Graphics
Windows 8
Finding Parts
Slicer Settings
Kisslicer
Slicing Parts
NOTE:
Steps
Scaling
Orientation
Do the actual slicing
Saving the GCODE
Printing Multiple Different Parts
Making a Bed of Parts
Connecting
Installing the Filament
Trimming the Filament
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Feeding Filament Into the Extruder
Closing the Filament Detector
Ensuring the Filament is Ready
Printing Your First Part
Getting parts off the bed
Procedure
Always clean the bed off completely
Common Tasks
Changing The Filament
Troubleshooting
Connection Problems
Check the Port
Problems and Solutions:
Printing Stopped - no messages
Head-Contacting-Bed Error
When starting a print
General Head-height checking
Can’t Connect to Printer
Parts are not sticking to the bed
My small parts tend to get knocked loose during printing
Tips
Warranty
After the Warranty Expires
Continuous Improvement vs New Models and Versions
Open Source Software
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Safety:
Your Acceptance of Responsibility:
There are a number of potential dangers when using the PolyPrinter.  In careful hands
these do not normally present large risks. However, you must accept the responsibility of
managing those risks yourself, and in turn so must you also be responsible for, or transfer
responsibility to anyone else using or who has access to the machine. Do not use or purchase
the Polyprinter without full acceptance of this responsibility.
PolyPrinter Operation
By its nature, the PolyPrinter must use some very hot components.
● The heated bed and its supports can be hotter than boiling water. Treat it with as much
caution.
● The “hot end” where the plastic is melted is even hotter. It is in the range of a stove
element. It WILL cause burns if contacted while hot.
There are also potential problems of a chemical nature:
● Acetone, which is (optionally) used occasionally to clean the bed surface, is flammable
and its vapor may be harmful. It must be used only on a cool bed, and never poured or
spilled. The room must have adequate ventilation to disperse the vapors. Acetone on a
heated bed will vaporize rapidly, forming an explosive mixture.
● The ABS or other plastics used for printing may give off fumes. In general these are not
deemed very toxic but some people may develop a reaction after intense or long term
exposure.
● Keep small children, the uninitiated, and anyone else not able to be safe, away from the
PolyPrinter when its hood or side panels are open.
Mechanical Dangers:
The moving components of the PolyPrinter can hit, pinch and trap hands and fingers.
Sometimes they can move surprisingly quickly, and with enough force to cause harm. Do not
interfere with the moving parts. Be especially careful not to have a finger or hand become
trapped between the head and the bed, since both can cause burns.
Misuse, abuse:
● Do not use the PolyPrinter as a bird cage, reptile habitat, pet dryer, cat-startler or
anything else that could harm your pets. Using it to dry books, warm coffee, make
cupcakes, and to dry insects is fine.
● Pets can be bothersome. Cats in particular recognize that the PolyPrinter is a
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reasonably-empty box. Cats will also think the top of the PolyPrinter was designed to
warm their feet and tummies. That’s OK. It has been specifically designed to take the
occasional helpful feline’s weight, since, in fact, during development their presence and
opinion was not optional.
Part Cleaning
● Support removal is generally not too terribly difficult, but does depend entirely on the
part, and the settings used for support. A good pair of small needle-nose pliers with
grippy serrations in the jaws can be used to tear away a great percentage of the support,
most of the time. Using the pliers can be safer than using a knife.
● If using a knife, be sure to cut with the knife pressure in a direction away from body parts
or anything precious - a knife will very often shoot far past the cutting point when the
plastic suddenly gives way.
● In general, it is best to have a good solid work surface to do parts cleaning upon. Protect
it with a sheet of something durable but not precious, like a cutting board, cardboard,
wood or a magazine.
● Try to orient the part being cleaned so that you are generally putting downward pressure
on the tool, such that the desk surface takes all the force and is also what is hit by the
tool when you cleave the plastic.
● Use finger guards or leather gloves to protect against minor nicks and cuts.
● Use tools that are just sharp enough to do the job. Sometimes a slightly duller tool will
actually make support removal easier, because it does not dig into the plastic so much.
Computer Requirements
There are three main activities typically involved with using a 3D printer:
● Designing parts and preparing the 3D files
● Processing the files before printing (“Slicing”)
● Sending the files to the printer and printing them.
Each has its own effect on the requirements the computer needs to meet.
It is possible to use a relatively slow, older computer to do all of these things. It generally gets
annoying to deal with a very slow computer though, so if you have a choice, and certainly if you
have the budget to buy a new one, it is best to aim a higher than the minimum specifications.
Video
A good video card or the newer Intel integrated video will give a nicer experience with most 3D
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design software, since it generally involves a need for rapid refreshing of the display. In addition,
the software interface to the printer, Pronterface, updates a display of the printing process by
default that takes up quite a bit of video performance, and can actually slow down printing and
reduce print quality if on a computer with slow video, if not put into a mode (“Mini Mode”) where
that drawing is suppressed.
CPU
The slicing programs e.g. Kisslicer will use all available processor cores to speed up the slicing
process. An old single-core machine like a Pentium 4, or a Centrino, will be much slower than a
multicore chip like an Intel i7, which has eight effective cores. This is not too much of an issue
for small parts, and is merely a question of the time you’d have to wait for the slicing process to
complete. A generally useful price point is an i5.
RAM
The design programs and especially the slicing programs can use large amounts of memory to
hold all of the 3D information when they process the files. Like the number of cores, this can be
exchanged for time, but sometimes, and it is again much more of an issue with the larger parts,
the amount of time required can rise dramatically, if the computer is bogged down moving
information back and forth between hard drive and RAM because there is not enough RAM to
work on it all at once. Aim for at least 6 GB if you are looking at a new computer.
Operating System
Windows 10 is preferred but it is possible to use Windows 7, or Windows 8 (requires a few
extra steps during installation). We only recommend considering 64-bit versions.
Apple Mac, Linux: Will work but no install package yet. Each software package must be
separately installed.
NOTE: PolyPrinter is no longer formally supporting installations on 32-bit operating systems.
System Specifications
Bare Minimum:
Intel Core Duo, 4 GB RAM, Intel integrated video. Windows 10 64-bit.
Effects: Will need to use “Mini Mode” in Pronterface while printing. Kisslicer may issue
warnings about RAM, and will be slow to slice files.
64-bit operating system
Useable:
Intel i3 or i5, 6 GB+ RAM. There is a lot of variation in the video performance in this
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range, but if the computer is labeled as an “Entertainment” system it may be adequate.
Windows 10 64-bit.
Better:
Intel i7, 8+ GB RAM. If new, the video should be fine. Windows 10 64-bit
Parts of the PolyPrinter
Color-Coding:
The mechanical parts that you might normally need to interact with are yellow.
Main Components
● X Carriage - travels left and right
● Y Carriage (Printer Bed) travels for and aft.
● Z Height Adjuster - adjusts nozzle clearance to the bed for the first layer
Front Switches
At the lower left side there are two black switches. The top one controls the “Camera” light on
the right side of the hood. (If equipped.) It’s good for general lighting of the printing area, and
especially helpful in giving the camera enough light to work with, especially if you want to
monitor printing progress remotely in a room where the lights have been turned off.
The lower switch controls a light on the X Carriage to better be able to see printing in progress.
On the side of the same switch housing is a red Reset switch. This will interrupt any operations
in progress, cancel printing and disconnect communications. It is not normally needed or used
as part of operations. It is occasionally needed if USB connections have been disturbed.
Rear Panel:
● USB Connector
● Power Cord Connection
● Power Switch
○ You do not need to turn the PolyPrinter off when it is not being used. Leaving it
on takes very little power, and maintains the USB connection so that it is able to
print on demand.
● Fuse
Camera (if equipped)
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The built-in camera (PolyPrinter Plus) provides the opportunity to use a program on the
connected computer to monitor printing. There are several methods for doing this:
● Create a Skype or other internet communication account just for the printer. Set it to
auto-answer calls, and you can the n call your printer from another computer or a
smartphone. This is only suitable for situations when it is acceptable for the monitoring to
be done by only one person at a time. It may also create privacy problems if the camera
(which has audio too) allows someone to eavesdrop on the general area of the printer,
unbeknownst to others.
● Set up a frame-capture program that periodically uploads an image from the camera to a
web server. This is good for when the printer is shared such that a number of people are
interested in the status. An example can be found at http://www.yawcam.com/
Adjustments
Z Height
This adjustment is very important to successful prints. It sets the thickness of the first printed
layer. It needs to be in a fairly narrow range of height for that first layer to stick properly.
Once you have it set correctly it usually stays the same for quite a while, until something
changes.
The PolyPrinter ships out only after it has been adjusted properly and has successfully printed a
number of objects. However, it may have had a rough trip to your door, and may need a bit of a
tune-up before you can print successfully.
How to tell if it’s correct:
If you think it is close, but want to be sure, try to print a part, with a setting that includes a
“skirt” (see Kisslicer), which is a line of plastic laid down around the outside of the part
before the actual part and its support.
The skirt should be a bit “fat” - quite a bit wider than it is tall, and be well-stuck to the
bed.
It should also be the same width all the way around, except near where it began,
because the plastic doesn’t flow at full rate until a few inches of skirt have been laid
down.
You’ll get used to spotting whether the skirt looks right, after you have been using the
printer a while.
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Procedure:
It is important to have the X Carriage all the way toward the left (the home position)
when setting the Z adjustment, because there it is more independent of the Z Tilt (see
next section).
1. Make sure the head has no plastic attached to the bottom face of the nozzle (use
the Brass Brush included in the Tool Kit).
2. Clean any plastic from the bed, especially at the home position.
3. Use Pronterface to:
a. Home the X axis. Press the button on the top left of the movement
command circles.
b. Turn off the motors. (If the printer has recently printed or moved its head
they will remain “on” for about a minute.) Press the “Motors Off” button
which is along the left side.
4. Press the Z Home button on the lower right of the movement command circles.
The head should approach the bed, and may touch it.
5. The ideal height after Z Homing is zero clearance between the bottom surface of
the nozzle and the bed.
6. With a little practice you can see a gap if there is one. Take a look at the
clearance, if any, between the bottom face of the nozzle and the bed. Raise the
nozzle slightly, using the “Z + .1” buttton in Pronterface, if necessary, to get a
visible gap. Then slide the X Carriage toward the right, and see if the clearance
remains roughly the same. If it is noticeably different toward the right, you should
first follow the procedures below, in the “Z Tilt Left-Right” section.
7. Take an ordinary piece of photocopy paper, and slide it under the nozzle, with the
X Carriage all the way to the left. Do a Z-Home. The nozzle should grip the paper
firmly.
8. Raise the nozzle .1 mm. The paper should still be just a bit gripped.
9. Raise the nozzle another .1mm and the paper should be completely free.
10. If that is not the case, see “Adjustment”, next.
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Adjustment:
The Z Height adjuster is the yellow knob on the left X Carriage, hiding behind the left
aluminum vertical support. (It’s a little shy and does not like people watching it change.)
If the head does not even grip the piece of paper at all, or completely lets go when
raised .1 mm, turn the knob counter-clockwise to reduce the clearance.
If the paper is still gripped after raising a total of .2 mm, then increase the gap by raising
the head, by turning the Z adjuster clockwise a little.
One full turn is .5 mm, which is quite a lot. If it’s already very close, turn it much less than
a turn - 1/8th or ¼ turn at a time is a good starting point. Each time you turn it, again
press the Z Home button, to let the printer find the new home position and let you see
what difference the changed setting made.
How to tell if the head is being pressed too hard into the bed:
If the head is adjusted too low, you may get warning messages during printing, or just
before it begins to print.
If you are doing the “piece of paper” test described above, the paper will still be gripped
a bit or a lot even after raising the nozzle .2 mm or more.
1. Move the X carriage or the Y carriage by hand (Motors Off) and see if the head
leaves marks on the bed tape. It’s generally well-adjusted if it just barely makes
marks. If it’s tearing up the tape or digging into it at all, it’s definitely adjusted too
low. Turn the knob clockwise to increase the clearance height, pressing Z Home
with each change, and see whether it stops rubbing the bed so much.
2. Once you get it to where it seems close to correct, check the Z Tilt (below).
Z Tilt Left-Right
Your PolyPrinter should not require much attention to the left-right height adjustment. But if you
think it has drifted off, or the whole X carriage assembly has been lifted off and the nuts
disturbed, perform the checking procedure above, up to the point of “Adjustment:”.
Since the Z Height detector switch is on the left side, we adjust the right-hand motor to match
the left.
● Press the “X Home” button on Pronterface. The X Carriage should go all the way to the
left.
● Press the “Z Home” button. The nozzle should approach and just barely touch the bed. It
is OK if it has a small gap, for this procedure - in fact, it makes this a little easier to
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perform, so if there is no gap at all, create a very small one now, by pressing the “+Z .1”
button in the top half of the vertical set of buttons to the right of the main circular controls
in Pronterface. Press it one or more times, enough to get a small visible gap between the
nozzle and the bed. It doesn’t much matter what the size of the gap is, as long as it’s
small enough for you to see whether it changes significantly, in the next steps.
● Press the "Motors Off" button on the left upper side of Pronterface. Also make sure that
the Heater and “Off” button is pressed so you don’t get burned while doing this
procedure.
● Then move the head to right manually and see whether the bottom of the nozzle moves
away from or toward the bed as you move to the right.
● Perform the same “piece of paper” test on the right and left sides. What matters first of
all is that it grip it the same left and right, Use the “.01 mm “ to find a good height for this
test. It doesn’t matter whether it’s correct overall, yet, as long as it’s the same left and
right.
● When the clearance is the same left and right, go back and perform the overall height
adjustment described above in “Adjustment”.
You will need to loosen the two setscrews that couple the right hand Z rod to the belt drive
assembly at the top of the printer. They are a bit hard to see. They are opposite each other, so if
one is easy to see, the other will be harder to see. Use the 1.5mm (smallest) sized hex driver
tool.
Once you do that, you can make fine adjustments by slightly rotating the Z rods (most easily
done down at the motor shaft). Hold the left threaded rod so that it doesn’t turn, and turn the
right side one.
● Twist the right-hand threaded rod counter-clockwise to decrease clearance
● Twist the right-hand threaded rod counter-clockwise to increase clearance
You should feel little “steps”. Generally, you should only need a handful of steps. That is only a
few degrees of rotation. Do a few, test, and decide if it’s enough or too much. Take your time.
After you have made any adjustments, slide the head back and forth to check how the
clearance changes. If you can’t see it change, your alignment is good.
Tighten the two setscrews.
Rarely Needed Adjustments:
● X Belt Tension
● Y Belt Tension
Each tension adjustment is an easy turn of the respective screw adjuster. Righty-tighty.
The belts should certainly have no slack at all, and should have enough tension to make a
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noticeably quick vibration when “plucked”.
● A belt that is too loose will cause pairing of the diagonal fill, such that instead of evenly
spaced lines, you will see two lines close together, a space, then two lines close, etc.
● Belts that are just a bit too loose can cause inaccurate corners - edges that stick out a bit
more than is acceptable for the given quality setting.
It is normal for the belts to get slightly less tension after an initial number of hours of printing.
You may need to adjust them once, perhaps twice, in the first months of operation. If you need
to tension them repeatedly, please contact us at [email protected]m,.
Maintenance
Clearing Plastic from the Nozzle
Sometimes odds-and-ends of plastic will accumulate on and around the nozzle. If left there, they
will gradually harden into a black mess. It’s best to clear it away occasionally.
The one thing to watch out for is the bottom surface of the nozzle, which has the tiny hole the
plastic extrudes through. The nozzle is brass, which is quite soft compared with any steel utensil
you might be tempted to use. Never allow a steel object to touch the bottom face of the nozzle.
We have a Brass Brush in the toolkit so that you can more safely snag bits of plastic off the
nozzle or bed safely (your and the nozzle’s safety).
Oiling the Rods
Apply a very small amount of light machine oil (e.g. Sewing Machine Oil) to the rods by soaking
a Q-Tip, or a small piece of folded cloth with the oil. Rub it on the rods to get just a very slight
film.
Adjusting Extruder Current
This should not normally need to be done, but if you start using an unusual type of plastic, you
may need to change the extruder drive current. Please contact us for detail on doing this.
Re-taping the Bed
Required Items:
○ PET Tape
○ Knife or scissors for cutting the tape
○ Plastic credit card, hotel key card or such to act as a squeegee
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Procedure:
● Raise the extruder at least 100 mm by using Pronterface (click on +Z 10 in Pronterface
ten times).
● Make sure the bed heat is cool and the extruder heat is off - you could get burned if the
bed or the head is hot.
● Take off all of the old tape.
● Align the first piece with the front edge of the bed, tilting it so only that front edge is
touching. When it’s line up right, take the credit card in one hand, keeping the tape tilted
partly away from the bed with the other, and “squeegee” the card-hand-end toward that
edge of the bed. If it doesn’t lay completely flat (and it probably won’t especially when
you’re still trying to learn how to do this), leave it alone temporarily. Now squeegee
toward the hand still holding the tape, such that the card is at a bit of an angle and so is
the line where the tape is being pushed down to the bed. Go all the way across and you
can then let go of the tape.
● If the tape is not aligned well at all, just pick it back off the bed and try again.
● If it has wrinkles in it, you may need to use a fresh piece of tape.
● If it just has some bubbles in it, you can pick up one end, peel it back halfway, and use
the card to push it back down to the bed while keeping the end up away from the bed, so
there’s a clean line of contact. You may need to this for each half.
● When you’re satisfied with the first row of tape, do the same thing with the next, and
continue on towards the back of the bed. Align one edge to the previous tape, keeping it
taut. Tilt it so that only the near edge is making contact, and just barely. Don’t bother
laying it down unless the edge is lying immediately beside and not on top of the previous
tape.
● The rearmost section is probably most easily done through the side panel, with the bed
slid partly back.
● Leave some extra tape to each side at first, in case you need to lift it and re-squeegee it
because of bubbles.
● It can be helpful to clean the freshly-applied tape with Acetone (see next section), but it
often works without doing that.
Acetoning the Bed
The PET tape on the bed will not be as effective if it becomes contaminated with oils from
contact with fingers. The part lifter should normally allow contact to be avoided.
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The tape also becomes less sticky when it gets scratched up due to many parts having been
printed and lifted from it.
Usually the end result is that the tape is worn out before acetoning it would be useful, so it is
relatively rare to need to do this.
However, if the tape is in good condition but not sticking (and if the Z height is correctly set) then
you may find it useful to use Acetone to freshen it up:
● Fold a plain white paper towel over a number of times until it is around 2” x 3” - more like
a pad than a towel. Warning: some towels, like the blue “Shop Towels” partially dissolve
and then leave a residue on the bed, preventing the plastic from sticking - the opposite
of what you’re trying to achieve. We have found the Kirkland plain white towels from
Costco to work well, but other brands of plain white towels will probably also work well.
● Pour a little acetone on one corner so that it just soaks in and wets that end of the pad.
Hold the pad by the other end to avoid getting the acetone on your fingers. Wipe the bed
with the wet end, covering the entire surface.
● When you are done with it, take the paper towel to an outside garbage if you can, to
avoid a buildup of the vapor in your work or living area.
Nozzle problems
You can expect to replace the print head extruder nozzle once in a while:
● It may clog
● It wears out, enlarging the orifice and reducing print quality.
Clogged Nozzle
If it is clogged, you will be unable to make plastic come out of the nozzle. This can happen
(usually near the end of a large part, if Murphy’s Law is operating normally) while printing, and
you will typically hear the extruder clunking for a while, then perhaps going silent. The bed and
X Carriage will still be merrily traversing the part but no plastic will be coming out. (This is called
“printing air”.)
Sometimes before it fully clogs, it will partially clog, causing insufficient plastic to flow. If you
have the head raised at least 30 mm and you extrude some plastic, it should normally fall
straight down (unless it sticks to the head). If, however, it always curls up tightly and you cannot
get it to extrude straight down, even when encouraged by snagging it with the brass brush and
pulling on the end a bit, then the nozzle is partially clogged. Another sign of a partial (or
complete) clog is a clunking sound when extruding filament like that at 300mm/min (default
setting).
Some plastics can go brown and very hard if left in a full-temperature nozzle for an hour or
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more. Usually this is not a problem. But if you can see some plastic oozing out when you apply
manual pressure to the filament, or if you try extruding (when it clunks) and that plastic is
markedly darker in color than it started out, it may have hardened up. If any will flow at all, you
can, with sufficient patience, usually force the hardened plastic slowly out until fresh plastic
replaces it. It may help to push a bit through, remove the filament, cut off the end, and push a bit
more through, repeatedly. It’s still easier than changing the nozzle.
Sometimes it can be unclogged by carefully isolating one of the wavy strands of brass wire from
the brass brush, and with the nozzle at printing temperature, getting the wire up the nozzle
opening and working it around and in and out (it helps to try to push some filament through at
the same time - you may need another person to do this more easily).
Sometimes, though, it is just plain clogged and becomes useless. See “Replacing the Nozzle”,
below.
Worn-out Nozzle
How to tell if it needs replacement due to wearing too large:
If you see a section of some of your prints where layer after layer (typically on the right-rear
corner or wherever filament has begun to be laid down on the outside after travel) the plastic
just doesn’t seem to fill in properly, consistently, and perhaps curls up in place on the outside, it
may be due to the nozzle diameter. Failing to fill well is another indication.
How to measure the nozzle diameter
Fortunately, the plastic can help with this - we don’t actually need to measure the size of the
hole in the nozzle directly.
Heat the head to e.g. 230 C, and extrude some plastic. Remove the plastic with the wire brush,
gently. Wait a bit, and the nozzle will, as usual, slowly dribble a line of filament out.
Snag it with the wire brush, after a couple of inches has dribbled out - it’s best if there is a good
straight section.
Using a digital caliper, measure the diameter of this dribble, where it looks like it has a
consistent diameter that represents the nominal diameter of the dribble. Be sure to use the
wider part of the caliper jaws, not the very thin section at the tip of the caliper’s jaws.
Rotate the dribble to see if it has some flatness to it, and take the average. (If it really has a lot
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of flatness, where for example it’s twice as thick in one direction as the other, then the nozzle is
probably clogged and will have to be cleaned or replaced.)
The standard nozzle diameter of .35 mm seems to produce about .40 mm measured diameter
for this test. We have seen distinct problems with printing when the nozzle is worn to the point
where this test gives measurements of .60 mm. Slight problems can be seen sometimes with a
measurement of .50 mm. It does depend a lot on just what settings are being used. The
numbers given are for .25 mm layer height and .35 mm extrusion width. To keep using a nozzle
that measures oversize, you can increase the track width (Kisslicer Style, Extrusion Width
setting). This will give a bit less horizontal resolution in your prints, but probably better overall
quality, especially the exterior.
Replacing the Nozzle
This requires using two wrenches (supplied) to loosen the old nozzle, and tighten the new one.
Warning: Failing to use a second wrench to counter the nozzle wrench torque can result in
loosening or failure of the filament tube. If after reading this section, you do not feel confident
that you can do this yourself, find someone who is more “handy” and whom you can blame if
there is trouble afterwards.
Required Items:
● 10 mm wrench (open-end is used to counter torque)
● 7 mm nut driver
● 1 Paper towel
● Optionally, one or two disposable gloves (to avoid skin irritation from glass fibers)
Steps:
Removing the nozzle
● Let the head and the bed cool down to 45 C or lower.
● Raise the head most of the Z travel, e.g. at least 150 mm so that there is room for the
nut driver below the nozzle.
● Move the X Carriage to roughly the center of its left-right travel.
● Place the paper towel so that it covers the whole print bed.
● Whenever you move the “sock” - the black silicone-covered insulator that wraps around
the Hot End, small bits of glass fiber will fall down. The paper towel is to cover the bed in
the hope of catching them all. They can cause skin irritation, so don’t lean on the paper
towel during these next steps. Do NOT blow them off the bed, because glass fiber
particles are much worse when breathed in than when just touching skin. Wipe with a
damp, slightly soapy cloth. (You’ll need to acetone or retape the bed afterwards.)
● (Here’s where you need the head temperature to be low.) Push the black “sock” that
surrounds the heated aluminum block (the “head”) up to make enough room to be able
to slide the 13 mm wrench onto it. You may need to pull it up on each corner in turn,
because it tends to hang on the corners of the block. You may be able to maneuver the
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wrench in such a way as to get it on the hot end without raising the sock at all, by
keeping the wrench at an angle, pointing the open end upward at an angle. At this point,
you just need to make sure that you’ll be able to get the wrench on there during some
later steps.
● An alternative is to pull the sock completely off., but this is generally more trouble,
getting it back on, and it makes a bigger mess.
● The wrench doesn’t need to fully overlap the aluminum block - it needs just enough
overlap to firmly counteract the torque you’ll be applying to the nozzle.
● Clean any old hardened plastic from the nozzle itself. Sometimes it can build up quite a
layer of accumulated plastic. But it tends to harden and become brittle, so it is often not
too difficult to remove when cold. You will need the nozzle to be relatively free of this
extra plastic, in order to put the wrench on it properly ( the circular or “box” end). Try it
now, when the head is cold and you can clean it, before going on to the next steps
where you’ll actually be using it. If you cannot clean it well enough to fit the wrench on
while the head is cold, you’ll need to clean it with the brush while it’s hot.
● Once you are able to test-fit the 13mm wrench onto the aluminum block and the 7 mm
nut driver onto the nozzle, you must heat the head up to 200 C. (230, 240 are OK too,
but using the minimum temperature that melts the plastic that may be in the threads is all
that’s needed, and you may as well be dealing with the minimum temperatures so that
your recovery time from the burns will be quicker.)
● Once the head is warm, clean the nozzle further if you were not able to clean it
adequately before. The brass brush will usually work well. Watch out for flying bits of
plastic or brass wires coming loose from the brush. Use safety goggles, or keep well
back, and only inspect when you’re not actively brushing.
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● You should now be ready to actually remove the nozzle. It’s going to be hot, so again,
make sure the paper towel is in place on the print bed, because if the nozzle drops the
paper towel will prevent it from melting the tape where it lands.
● Here’s the one tricky and important part:
○ Slide the 13 mm open end wrench onto the aluminum block from the left. Slip the
7 mm nut driver onto the nozzle. (If you have a good feel for and experience with
this type of thing, feel free to use different orientations.)
○ The purpose of the wrench is to counter the twisting force on the aluminum block
(and therefore the relatively delicate Filament Tube) that will be applied to it
through the effort of loosening the nozzle. All you need to do is keep it from trying
to twist. You will therefore resist the nozzle-twisting force with a matching force.
○ If you take a long time with these next steps, the wrench will become too hot to
work with and you will need to remove it and wait for it to cool down before trying
again.
○ The nut driver on the nozzle needs to rotate with the near side traveling toward
your left. Slowly apply a twisting torque on the nozzle. Match that twisting force
using the 13mm wrench - thumb pressing near the aluminum block, fingers
pulling on the left end.
○ The nozzle should fairly easily break free and become easy to turn. At that point,
you can remove the 13mm wrench, and also turn off the head heat.
○ Spin the 7 mm nut driver a few times to remove the nozzle. Just leave it in the
end of the nut driver to cool down. Do not try to remove it until it has cooled down
- the nozzle will burn you if you try to grab it.
Installing the new nozzle
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● Make sure the head is at least 180 C, so any the plastic in the threads will be soft
enough to give way.
○ Take the new nozzle, and insert it into the nut driver, with the threaded end
exposed.
○ Put the nozzle’s threaded end up to the hole in the hot end, align it and center it.
Spin it back and forth a bit to find the thread starting position. It should spin in a
few turns easily by hand. If it becomes crooked and will not spin further, back it
out and try again - it may need a somewhat different starting orientation.
○ When you have spun it a few turns by hand, you can go on to the next step.
● Turn the head heat back on, to 200 C, so that the nozzle can be tightened properly in the
case of plastic still being in the threads of the head.
● Place the 13 mm wrench back on the aluminum block, ready to counter the tightening
torque you will be applying to the nozzle.
● Place the 7 mm wrench box end on the nozzle, and tighten it. (If wrench handle is to the
right, then it goes way from you.) It should come close to the aluminum, and then stop
wanting to go further. It takes a firm but not large amount of force on the wrench to
tighten it so that it seals to the aluminum block. Remember to balance the torque you
apy to the nozzle with counter-torque on the 13 mm wrench.
● Let the head cool again, to 40C or below.
● Replace the “sock”. You will probably need to start it on all four corners and then pull it
up on each corner in turn. It should hang a bit below the block but not as low as the
nozzle.
● Carefully fold the paper towel up so as to capture all debris left by these operations, and
dispose of it so that you do not spread the glass fibers around.
The new nozzle may be slightly longer or shorter than the previous one. You will need to check
the Z Height adjustment.
Software Installation
Download the latest installation package from polyprinter.com or insert the DVD that came with
the printer. Be sure to choose the correct 32- or 64-bit package. (If in doubt, try the 64-bit
version, and it will warn you if it’s not the right one.)
Follow the steps prompted by the software and be sure to run the serial port driver installation
that should start up as the last step.
You should have some new icons:
● Pronterface - the program that controls the printer from your PC
● Kisslicer - our preferred slicer
● NetFabb - used to rotate parts, fix up problems with them
● Slic3r - an alternate slicer, sometimes better for art pieces, and for setting up a bed of
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different parts.
Power Saver Settings
It is very important that the computer not go “to sleep” during printing, while Pronterface is
sending commands to the printer. If that happens, often the USB connection will be dropped,
and the print in progress will fail, and be unable to be continued.
You can set up a custom power setting for printing, if you wish.
You’ll want Hibernation to be Never, and Sleep to be Never. It’s OK for the hard drive to shut
down, and for the CPU to use power-saving modes.
Computer Update Settings
Set Automatic Updates to require your approval before installation and especially rebooting.
Computers with Extremely Slow Graphics
A few of the slower laptops we’ve seen have such slow graphics chips that the drawing that
Pronterface does is actually slowed down so much that printing speed is reduced. If the printer
seems sluggish, stopping briefly or going half-speed at times during a print, you may need to
use “Mini-Mode” which closes most of the Pronterface window. That button will change to Full
Mode so you can open it up fully again to check progress or start another print.
Windows 8
There is a problem installing the standard USB driver under Windows 8.
You need to turn off a new "feature" in Win8:
From the Metro Start Screen, open Settings (move your mouse to the
bottom-right-corner of the screen and wait for the pop-out bar to appear, then
click the Gear icon).
Click More PC Settings.
Click General.
Scroll down, and click Restart now under Advanced Startup.
Wait a bit. Click Troubleshoot.
Click Advanced Options
Click Windows Startup Settings.
Click Restart.
When your computer restarts, select "Disable driver signature enforcement" from
the list. You can now load your modified driver. Reboot again once the driver is
installed and all will be well.
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