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Changing Filament Color mid-print

Discussion in 'General Questions' started by Vibroman, Mar 1, 2016.

  1. Vibroman

    Vibroman New Member

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    Would like to change the filament color after the first few layers of a print to highlight some lettering. Is there an easy way to do this without diving too deeply into the gcode?
    Any pitfalls or things to look out for.
    Planning on using same filament material (pla) just changing colors
    ROBO3D plus with matter control 1.4
     
  2. GAmbrosio

    GAmbrosio Active Member

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    No experience with this, but logically it would seem, one would need to pause the printing, change the filament, then resume. Sounds simple, but I can imagine all sorts of stuff that can happen that will make life miserable. For this reason, I have a collection of Vallejo Acrylics and paint or print the pieces separately then glue.

    Oh and certainly, I would not try to mix mediums (PLA AND ABS), that can be bad...I think.:)

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  3. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    If you are printing via MC over USB then certainly -- just pause it and change it where you want and then hit resume.
    You will need to make sure the new filament is primed and ready to extrude, that is all.
     
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  4. Etan15

    Etan15 Member

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    Would that be the same for Octoprint? If I hit pause and raise the z axis so I can prime the filament will it go back to where it left off? Also, when you hit pause does it complete the current layer before pausing?

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  5. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Not sure how octoprint would affect it, but normally when you hit pause the printer will finish whatever commands it has already buffered before it gets to the GCode pause that was sent. That would not normally be an entire layer (or even a good portion of it unless it were a small layer).
     
  6. Etan15

    Etan15 Member

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    So I tested this for those who use Octoprint and if you hit "Pause" the printer pauses but it could be anywhere in the layer. I then raised the hotend about 50mm to emulate changing out filament and then hit "Resume." The rest of the layer was then printed in the air at 50mm. The next layer lowered the hotend to the level required and started from there.

    For my next test I am going to enter a manual pause in the gcode and have the hotend raise to 50mm to emulate swapping the filament and see if the "Resume" in Octoprint will allow the print to continue from there.

    The reason for testing this is there is a Pause in the gcode but not a resume... i think it is something like M226.
     
  7. Tom Finzel

    Tom Finzel Member

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    Upgrade to Mattercontrol 1.5 There is a pause layer option now under settings/general/layers/surface. Make sure you have the advanced option enabled.
     
  8. Etan15

    Etan15 Member

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    I am using a Mac although I am not sure if that makes a difference. Looks like i only have 1.4 available to me:
    MC-Update.png
     
  9. Tom Finzel

    Tom Finzel Member

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  10. GAmbrosio

    GAmbrosio Active Member

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    I use 1.5 for my Mac


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  11. Sliced Br3D

    Sliced Br3D New Member

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    In MC 1.6 (Windows) this option is under General/Single Print/Layer(s) to pause - you can pause on multiple layers by separating the numbers with semicolons. Thanx for reminding me about this!
    Last night was the first time I tried to swap colors mid-print, and I used the "Pause" button, the problem was though, the print head "released" and slid out of position on me! I was (thank You Lord) able to let a couple of lines go down, pause again,and use them for a reference as I clicked the release button and manually slid the print head back into place.
    ALSO - I knew I didn't have TOO much control over EXACTLY when the color would change, so I waited till it was ready to print some infill and it changed over in the middle of my piece. :)

    ***Edit: OK, so I figured out how to have better control over pretty much EXACTLY where the color will change. One better than that, I need to find some custom Gcode to do a filament change...lock the X and Y, but leave the Z adjustable to raise print head-change filament-prime extruder-cleanup THAT lil mess-lower print head to the proper height, then press resume :)
     
    #11 Sliced Br3D, Jan 21, 2017
    Last edited: Jan 21, 2017
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  12. Tom Finzel

    Tom Finzel Member

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    Yo cold also try this http://www.prusaprinters.org/color-print/

    There is a guy n the Robo3d FB group that is making some awesome multicolor prints.
     
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