Orca Slicer New Filament Calibration - tkocou/V400-Files GitHub Wiki

Setting up a new material profile takes a number of steps to 'dial in' the parameters for a clean print. This procedure is to be done for each new filament material. With a new spool of filament, do this first: Filament Tip #1

Your V400 printer should have all the basic calibrations completed.

In Orca slicer, consult the Calibration menu -> Tutorial for images and further details.

Find a material profile similar to the type of filament you have. Edit the profile & adjust the min - max printing temperatures to match your new filament. Calculate the mid-point of that temperature range and adjust the First layer temperature and Other layers temperature. Write down the Flow Ratio setting. Tab over to the Settings Override tab and make sure all the options are unchecked. Save the profile.

=-> The first calibration will be the flow rate

With the profile set so far, next part of the tweaking will involve some printing to determine the flow rate. The flow rate setting is important as other settings depend on this setting being correct. File -> New Project. Answer No or Discard to pop-up windows. Now select the new material profile. Select Prepare tab. Then Calibration menu -> Flow rate -> Pass 1. A model of 9 pieces will appear. These pieces represent +20 to -20 factors. The Process (global) may have some changes. Do not correct these changes. Slice the model and print it.

Once the print job is complete, inspect each piece for smoothness and uniformity. The surface of pieces with too much extruded plastic will be rough. The surface of pieces with under-extruded plastic will have holes. Find the piece with smoothest surface and no holes. You might find 2 pieces which meet this criteria. If so, use the higher numbered piece and write down that number.

The next item is to calculate the new Flow Ratio of the material profile. Use this formula: old_flow_ratio_number * (100 plus piece number) / 100 to get the new flow ratio. Example: 0.95 * (100 + 5) /100 -> 0.95 * (105) / 100 -> 0.95 * 1.05 = 0.9975 Edit the material profile, update the flow ratio with the new calculated value and save the profile.

To fine tune the flow ratio: Same as before - File -> New Project. Answer No to save project but answer yes to transfer / save changes. Then Calibration menu -> Flow rate -> Pass 2. A model of 10 pieces will appear. These pieces represent 0 to -9 factors. Slice the model and print it.

Once the print job is complete, inspect each piece for smoothness and uniformity. The surface of pieces with too much extruded plastic will be rough. The surface of pieces with under-extruded plastic will have holes. Find the piece with smoothest surface and no holes. In the case of two pieces, use the number of the piece with the lowest minus number. Example -2 and -3, use -3.

Calculate the new Flow Ratio of the material profile. Again, use this formula: old_flow_ratio_number * (100 plus piece number) / 100 to get the new flow ratio. Example: 0.9975 * (100 - 3) /100 -> 0.9975 * (97) / 100 -> 0.9975 * 0.97 = 0.967575 Edit the material profile, update the flow ratio with the new calculated value and save the profile. Orca will round the flow ratio number to 5 digits total (0.967575 will become 0.9676).

=-> With the Flow Rate calibration finished, the best printing temperature calibration is next.

Again, File -> New Project. Answer No or Discard to pop-up windows. Choose the new material profile. Choose an appropriate Process profile.

Next, Calibration menu -> Temperature. Select the type of filament. Then set the temperatures (Start temp & End temp). The Start temp should be the highest temperature of the filament temperature range (from the manufacturer). The End temp should be the lowest temperature of the filament temperature range. Click OK , slice the model and print it.

Inspect the finished model. You are looking for the least amount of sag from the bridging area along with the least stringing in the spike area. Stringing is acceptable since the retraction settings have not been calibrated yet. Edit the material profile and adjust the First layer temperature and Other layers temperature. Save the profile.

=-> With the flow rate set and the printing temperature set, retraction adjustment is next.

Again, File -> New Project. Answer No or Discard to pop-up windows. Choose the new material profile. Re-save the profile and add 'copy' to the title. Choose the same Process profile used for the temperature calibration. Edit the copy of the material profile. Tab to Settings Overides tab, check mark the Retraction Speed and set it according to the type of filament. Suggested speeds: 10 mm/s for TPU, 20 mm/s for high speed TPU, 30 mm/s for other materials like PLA or PetG. Save the profile. Next, select Calibration menu -> Retraction test. Use 0 mm, 3 mm & 0.2 mm for Start retraction length, End retraction length & step - respectively. Slice the model and print it.

Once the printing is finished, inspect the model. You are looking for the part where the stringing is the least, if not gone. The number of ticks between the base and the target multiplied by 0.2 mm will give you the retraction length. Example: 6 ticks * 0.2 mm = 1.2 mm. Edit the material profile, not the copy of the profile. Adjust the Retraction Length in the Settings Overrides menu. Check mark the Retraction Speed and set it to the speed used in the copy profile. Save the profile.

=-> Filament density check

Check the density of the material profile against the listing in this article: 3d-printing materials densities If needed, edit the material profile and adjust the Density. Save the profile.

=-> Recommended calibration - max volumetric speed

This calibration is highly recoomended so you can get the highest print speed without sacrificing the quality. Follow the Orca tutorial: Calibration -> Tutorial -> Max Volumetric speed in the tutorial menu.

Now you are ready to print those desired models. And repeat this procedure for each new filament!