Felix printers Pro Series User Manual
User Manual
20 October
2016
Revision 1
FELIX Pro Series
User Manual
20 October 2016
1
FELIX Pro
www.FELIXprinters.com
Introduction
1 Introduction
Thank you for choosing FELIXprinters!
It is highly recommended to read this manual. It explains in short how to make your first print and contains essential
tips to operate the printer properly.
If you are unable to continue or have any questions, you can check at the support section of our website or you can
contact us directly:
Website: www.felixprinters.com/support
Email: support@felixprinters.com
Telephone: +31 (0)30 30 31 387
Address: Zeemanlaan 15, 3401MV IJsselstein, The Netherlands
Kind regards,
FELIXprinters
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Safety
2 Safety
To safely operate the FELIXprinter, we advise that you keep the following safety recommendations in mind:
General safety
Keep children under the age of 14 out of reach of the FELIXprinter.
FELIXprinters are only suitable for professional use.
Considerations when printer is in operation.
Don’t leave the printer unattended, before making sure the first layer is printed properly
Don’t lean on the printer.
Be careful with long hair and wide clothes.
Don’t transport the printer.
Make sure all moving parts can move without any obstructions.
Don’t remove any objects from the hot plate while printing
Caution with any moving parts that move in the X, Y and Z direction. Moving parts can
have a pinching hazard.
Printer placement
Place the FELIXprinter on a stable table/desk or something with a similar height.
Place the printer on a height where children cannot reach it.
Use the FELIXprinter in a dry environment at room temperature
Electronic safety
Only use the power supplies and cables supplied by FELIXprinters.
Always turn off and unplug the printer before performing maintenance or modifications.
The power supply meets all CE mark regulations and is protected against short-circuit,
overload, over voltage and over temperature.
Ventilate
Good ventilation while printing is advised. When printing ABS, small concentrations of
styrene vapor can be released. This can (in some cases) cause headaches, fatigue,
dizziness, confusion, drowsiness, malaise, difficulty in concentrating, and a feeling of
intoxication.
We recommend using filament types shown on the FELIXprinters website. Examples PLA,
PETG, ABS, Glassbend etc. Other types may be toxic; please follow instructions from the
filament supplier.
Caution with heater elements
There is a potential risk of burn, as the print head can reach temperatures of up to
275°C and the heated bed of up to 105°C.
Don’t place objects on the heated bed, not even when the printer is turned off.
Always let the printer cool down for at least 10 minutes before doing maintenance or
modifications.
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Contents
3 Contents
1 Introduction .............................................................................................................................................................................. 1
2 Safety ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 2
3 Contents .................................................................................................................................................................................... 3
4 Printer specifications .............................................................................................................................................................. 5
5 FELIX Pro at a glance .............................................................................................................................................................. 6
6 Unboxing/Setting up the printer ......................................................................................................................................... 7
7 Printer Software ...................................................................................................................................................................... 7
8 Common actions ..................................................................................................................................................................... 8
8.1 Turning the printer on and off .................................................................................................................................... 8
8.2 Placing and removing the heated bed ...................................................................................................................... 8
8.3 Flipping the heated bed assembly. .......................................................................................................................... 10
8.4 Loading filament into the printer ............................................................................................................................. 12
8.5 Removing filament from an extruder ...................................................................................................................... 13
8.6 Select a different extruder to print with ................................................................................................................. 13
8.7 Adjust the filament clamping range ......................................................................................................................... 14
8.8 Remove a printed object from the printer ............................................................................................................. 15
8.9 Removing and placing the display unit.................................................................................................................... 17
8.9.1 Place the display unit .............................................................................................................................................. 17
8.9.2 Remove the display unit ......................................................................................................................................... 17
8.10 General use of display unit ........................................................................................................................................ 18
8.11 Turn on the heaters manually ................................................................................................................................... 19
8.12 Print an object from the SD card .............................................................................................................................. 20
9 Automatic Calibration .......................................................................................................................................................... 21
9.1 What does the calibration do? .................................................................................................................................. 21
9.2 When to calibrate? ....................................................................................................................................................... 21
9.3 How to run the automatic calibrations ................................................................................................................... 22
10 Dual head printing ................................................................................................................................................................ 23
10.1 Calibration between nozzles ..................................................................................................................................... 23
10.2 Stand-alone X/Y calibration method ........................................................................................................................ 23
11 Filament detection ................................................................................................................................................................ 26
11.1 Manually turn off filament detection ....................................................................................................................... 26
12 Maintenance .......................................................................................................................................................................... 27
12.1 Cleaning the print-bed ................................................................................................................................................ 27
12.2 Cleaning the printer ..................................................................................................................................................... 27
12.3 Replace hot-end ........................................................................................................................................................... 28
12.4 Cleaning print bed contact points ............................................................................................................................ 30
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Contents
12.5 Inspect dust cleaners .................................................................................................................................................. 31
12.6 Inspect motion system ................................................................................................................................................ 31
13 Menu structure reference................................................................................................................................................... 32
13.1 Status screen ................................................................................................................................................................. 32
13.2 Main menu ..................................................................................................................................................................... 33
13.3 Quick settings menu .................................................................................................................................................... 33
13.4 Position menu ............................................................................................................................................................... 34
13.5 Extruder menu ............................................................................................................................................................. 35
13.6 Fan speed menu ........................................................................................................................................................... 35
13.7 SD card menu ............................................................................................................................................................... 35
13.8 Debugging menu .......................................................................................................................................................... 36
13.9 Settings menu ............................................................................................................................................................... 36
14 Tips and tricks ........................................................................................................................................................................ 38
14.1 Flexible Filaments ......................................................................................................................................................... 38
15 Trouble shooting ................................................................................................................................................................... 39
15.1 Z-sensor triggered, improper leveling, homing and printing in the air. .......................................................... 41
15.2 “Filament Jam, click to reheat" dialogue, filament detection .............................................................................. 43
15.3 No filament is coming out of extruder .................................................................................................................... 44
15.4 Heater decoupled / DEF / DEC message on screen ............................................................................................. 45
16 Safety ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 46
17 Material Data Safety Sheets ................................................................................................................................................ 46
17.1 PLA ........................................................................................................................ Fout! Bladwijzer niet gedefinieerd.
17.2 ABS ........................................................................................................................ Fout! Bladwijzer niet gedefinieerd.
18 Appendix: Terms Of Service ............................................................................................................................................... 47
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Printer specifications
4 Printer specifications
Printing
Electrical
Print Technology
Fused Filament Fabrication
AC input:
100-240V, 50-60 Hz
Build Volume
23.7 x 24.4 x 23.5 cm
Power
Requirements
24V DC, 10 Amps
Print Quality
Low
Normal
High
Very High
Extreme
250 microns
200 microns
150 microns
100 microns
50 microns
Connectivity
USB
Coming soon:
Optional WIFI
Postioning Resolution
XY: 13 microns
Z: 0.4 microns
Power Usage
Max 220W
Filament Diameter
1.75 mm
Chipset
Arduino Due, 32bit
Nozzle Diameter
0.35 mm
Internal Voltage
24V
Amount of Nozzles
2
Mechanical
Software
Chassis
Aluminum profiles and Steel
Software Bundle:
Bundled FELIXbuilder
Optional:
- RepetierHost +
CuraEngine/Slic3r,Skeinforge/SFACT
- KISSlicer
Build platform
Detachable aluminum sandwich plate. Heated
platform
File Types:
.STL .gcode
XY Bearings
Linear ball bearings
Supports:
Windows, XP and newer
Z bearing
Linear ball bearings
Linux (Ubuntu 12.04+)
Stepper Motors
1.8 deg angle
1/128 micro-stepping
Mac OS X [10.6/10.7/10.8]
Physical Dimensions
Printer dimensions
43 x 39 x 55 cm
Weight
11.5 kg
Shipping Weight
13 kg
Shipping Box
59.5x63.5x22.0 cm
Temperature
Ambient operating
temperature
15-32 ˚C [60 – 90 ˚F]
Storage temperature
0 – 32 ˚C
Warmup time
Heated bed (60 degC)
1.5 min
Nozzle (200degC)
1 min
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FELIX Pro at a glance
5 FELIX Pro at a glance
Display unit
Nozzles / Extruder
Detachable Heated Bed
Lever for rotating bed
Foot
Filament Holder
Filament Holder
Filament Guide
Power input
USB connection
On / Off switch
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Unboxing/Setting up the printer
6 Unboxing/Setting up the printer
Please check the QUICK START MANUAL that came with your printer for instructions on how to unbox the printer and
prepare it for first use.
The quick start manual can also be downloaded from our website:
http://www.felixprinters.com/downloads/?dir=instruction_manuals
7 Printer Software
We officially support four 3D printing software packages:
- Simplify3D (strongly recommended, requires an additional license)
- FELIXbuilder (delivered with the printer with a free one year license)
- Repetier-Host for FELIXprinters (which is open source)
- KISSlicer (requires a license for dual head prints)
On the supplied micro-SD card we’ve bundled several items. You can read and/or install these items on your PC by
using the supplied micro-SD card reader.
The card contains:
- Documentation/User manuals
- Printer software
- Example printable object(s)
- Calibration files
In principle the content of the SD card is the latest version when you receive it. Updates can be found on our website
in the download section (www.felixprinters.com/downloads).
Please refer to the user manuals and tutorials we provide to learn more about the possibilities of these software
packages:
Tutorial – Printing with Simplify 3D
http://www.felixprinters.com/downloads/software/0_FELIXbuilder/FELIXbuilder%202.1_manual.pdf
Tutorial - Printing with FELIXbuilder
Tutorial – Printing with Repetier-Host
Tutorial – Printing with KISSlicer
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Common actions
8 Common actions
8.1 Turning the printer on and off
The On/Off switch of the printer is located at the right side bottom of the printer.
Never turn off the printer for longer than 20 seconds while the extruder temperatures are still above
100 °C. The heat in the heated part of the hot-end can migrate upwards if the top part is not actively
cooled. This can cause a clog/filament jam in the hot-end.
8.2 Placing and removing the heated bed
The FELIX Pro printers are equipped with a detachable heated bed. This allows the user to take off the bed after it has
been used. This makes removing the printed object easier and also allows you to heat up a second bed while the first
one cools down.
The connector that provides the heated bed with power is delicate, so please take the following precautions:
Make sure the bed heater is not turned on when removing the bed. It could cause sparking, which is bad for
the contact surfaces. Whenever possible, just turn off the printer before taking off or putting on the heated
bed.
Clean the contact pads on the heated bed after you have removed it. Grease and dirt can cause heat
generation at the contact points, causing problems. Also check that the spring pins are clean and that they
spring back after you push them in a little.
Never put any conducting object on the spring pins of the connector. It could cause short circuits which can
potentially destroy the printer main board. Be careful with the magnet discs underneath the heated bed, don’t
touch the connector spring pins with them!
To place the bed, see the following pictures:
ON/OFF switch
Power inlet
USB connector
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Common actions
Place the edge of the bed in the slot,
indicated with the red line. Lower the bed
until the three magnets match the
positions on the bracket.
Make sure when looking from above, the
edge of the bed is in parallel with the y-axis
bracket edge.
It is important that the bed is
placed properly on the magnet
holders to prevent damage to the
printer. You can check this by
trying to turn the bed around the
z-axis. This should not be possible.
It is highly recommended to turn
off the printer before putting the
bed onto the printer!
Removing the bed is similar.
Make sure the bed has cooled down enough to touch!
Removing the bed can be done in a controlled fashion by first lifting the front part of the bed from the magnet holders,
and then the back part.
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Common actions
8.3 Flipping the heated bed assembly.
The FELIX Pro printers have a heated bed assembly that can be pivoted vertically to make the printer easy to transport.
To use the printer, the bed has to be positioned horizontally. We describe how to do this next.
Putting the bed in transport position again is done in a similar fashion.
Flip out lever to unlock the clamping mechanism.
Turn table assembly (it might cost a little force to
turn)
Please make sure the black parts are aligned
properly.
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Common actions
Flip lever back to fasten the table assembly.
NOTE: When turning the table often, the pre-tension on the
table locking mechanism could become less. This makes
the heated bed assembly less stable. You can fix this by
turning the hex socket bolt clockwise.
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Common actions
8.4 Loading filament into the printer
Take the end of the filament and insert it
through the dust wiper in the filament guide,
and then through the Teflon tube. Repeat
this process for the second spool of filament if
you want to use the second print head also.
The filament should come out of the other end
of the Teflon tube.
It is recommended to cut off the end of the
filament in a skew manner (you can throw the
cut off debris away).
Next, push the filament into the hole in the top
of the extruder.
The left hole leads to extruder 1, the right hole
to extruder 2.
Heat up the extruder to the proper
temperature for the chosen filament.
Use the “Extruder” menu and then enter the
“Extruder position” menu.
Next, push the filament further into the
extruder and rotate the button clockwise until
the filament is pulled in.
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Common actions
Keep rotating until a small thread of molten
filament exits the extruder. Use the supplied
tweezers to remove this thread.
8.5 Removing filament from an extruder
- First, heat up the extruder to the proper temperature for the filament inside the extruder.
- Then use the “Extruder” menu to enter the “Extruder position” menu.
- Next, rotate the button clockwise until a little bit of filament is extruded.
- This ensures the tip of the filament has a good shape to pull it out.
- After that, rotate the blue button counter-clockwise until the filament does not move out any further. Finally, pull
the filament out of the print head.
If you are not going to insert new filament, please set the extruder temperature low again. This
prevents the deterioration of the plastic remnants inside the extruder.
8.6 Select a different extruder to print with
What extruder will be used for printing a print job depends on the print file:
- If the print file you start contains specific directions on what extruder must be used, then that will override any
manual settings.
- If the print file does not contain specific directions, the currently active extruder will be used.
All extruder temperature and filament feeding commands of the print job will be directed to the active extruder.
You can select which extruder is active by using the display extruder menu:
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Common actions
8.7 Adjust the filament clamping range
In some cases, it might be necessary to adjust the clamping range of the filament feeding mechanism inside the
extruder. For tough filaments this should not be necessary.
However, for soft filaments it could prevent the filament from getting squashed too much. That can cause the filament
not to move properly through the print head, resulting in jams.
Please note that the clamping force cannot be adjusted, you can only adjust the range).
By decreasing the clamping range, a soft filament can only be squeezed a certain distance and then no further.
However, if the range is decreased too much, it is possible that the feeding mechanism cannot push far enough to
ensure a proper grip on the filament. This causes the mechanism to slip.
The clamping range can be adjusted by turning a bolt that runs through the clamping spring.
To reach the bolt, you need to home the X axis of the printer. Through the slit in the top cap, you now can see the
clamping range bolts of the two extruders:
You will need a 3 mm Allen key to turn the bolts.
If you turn the bolt clockwise, the spring is compressed further and the clamping range is decreased.
If you turn it counter-clockwise, the spring is able to expand more and the clamping range is increased.
Note: To be able to turn the bolt on the right extruder, you need to activate the right extruder so the bolt is accessible.
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Common actions
8.8 Remove a printed object from the printer
When a print job is finished the display will indicate that
the 3D printer is cooling down.
Before removing the printed object, it is recommended
to let the bed cool down to 30°C. This will make removal
easier.
To remove large objects (larger than about 100x100mm),
it is recommended to take off the print bed. That way you
can avoid excessive forces on the printer mechanism.
Before removing the bed it is
recommended to turn off the printer to
prevent accidental shortcuts and burning
in of contacts
Don’t pull the printed object straight up, but twist it and
start peeling at the edges or use a spatula.
Be careful not to damage the brown foil (Kapton foil) on
top of the heated bed.
Any damage will be embossed onto next printed objects.
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