Donated Polar 3D "Pixie" Printer

Since talking about Polar3D experiences, thought I’d share mine too…

Picked up one of these for the house last week. Been printing away no problem (well, PLA was a breeze; Nylon gave me some trouble but that was mostly just not having the right stuff around to get it to stick) - so I can confirm that the new firmware fixes some of the bugs mentioned. I did install various flavors of Repetier, even got that working under Linux, but I have to admit that I prefer the Polar3D software, despite having to boot into Windows…

Move/Rotate was a feature I was looking for too - I will go look for the newer software. I’ve been including a small (1mm x 1mm x 0.2 mm) cube in my STL’s to force location. As for feature requests - is a Pause button outside of the current vision? That would be really nice, I think. Will use Repetier for the part I need this for (want to manually add a support structure at the right moment during the print).

I understand that Polar3D’s target audience is NOT me, but even novice users become experienced over time and want more control. A thought I had was maybe an Advanced option under the Quality menu to load a custom named INI? Give those Honor students a chance to wow somebody! The contents of said INI then become their problem - no need for complicated config screens - if you want to use the ‘Advanced’ settings, then be advanced and learn the file options!

To members of the HIVE - I’m not sure how practical it would be in a shared environment (great care could be required) but what I’ve done is go into Polar3D’s install directory and alter the default INI files that drive the Quality menu (yeah, save a copy first, right?). So in my environment, Low is PLA, Medium is NinjaFlex, and High is Nylon (I’m using Temp to remember what is what, not resolution). Not sure when they get loaded, so I reselect before each print, but I have figured out that it takes those files, makes a copy, alters a setting or two (at least the location of the PolarCoord script) and saves it in a working directory somewhere else to configure Slic3r for the print job.

So, yeah, a few notes, but I have to say I’m very satisfied with the printer! Except for the holiday weekend, I’ve been running the thing almost 24 hours a day since last Monday!

Sweet! I see somebody read my mind (kind of). The new software DOES have a pause!

We also added a pause feature to the new software… while it is printing, the old software would show a “Stop” icon in the status area, that has now been changed to a “Pause” feature. (You still have the stop on the left button bar.)

I love the idea of adding a particle to force location. The newest software also does better placement. Basically it looks at the part to determine if it is larger or smaller than the radius. If it is smaller, then it centers it on the radius, but if it’s larger, then it centers it on the build plate.

Bill

Another note here on a jammed(?) stepper motor…
A few days ago someone printed a yellow bracket, I had picked it up saw it was warm and assumed it had just finished.

Today I picked up the same part… and it’s still warm. I look underneath the printer to look for a heating element that got left on…
None and I touched the stepper that drives rotation and it was burning hot.There was also a very slight electronics noise. Unplugged.

Idk if it was jammed or just idling incorrectly. Bill, feel free to seek me out for details.

When you are finished with the printer, it should be unplugged. There is an unknown bug in the software that is not shutting down the printer after the job completes.

We (and by that, I mean Ryan) are moving the printer over to the 3d Printer stands… once we do that, we will have a switch that will automatically take care of it.

Bill

Bill -

The various power adapters have been shuffled while moving between the Contemporary Arts Center and the Hive last night.

Just to be sure, before I cause any further comedy with your printer… is the 12V 8A adapter the correct power supply for use with the Polar3D?

Thanks.