r/QIDI_Max4

To all,

Per previous, Max 4 finally up and running. As I've done with my other printers (not many, just two Elegoos, a 1 and a 2), I printed a benchy and then a poop chute and a polar cooler stand/drainage bin. Note: While others have said they see no water from the Polar Cooler drip tube, where I am has my house at 38% relative humidity and I am getting a slow (very slow), drip from the tube that could cause damage on a hardwood floor or soak a small area of carpet for a long print (the poop chute and polar cooler stand were each about 16 hour prints). Note: Prior to any printing, I removed the build plate and scrubbed the hades out of it with Dawn, fingernail brush and I used rubber gloves to do all of this to ensure no body oils.

Now, I have yet to do a full calibration (that's the next step), but of all 3 items printed, the PLA has stuck to the build plate (default textured side of the build plate), almost worse than any PETG I've done on the Elegoo's. We're talking 15+ minutes with plastic scrapers, fingernails, alcohol, freezer, and reheating the bed to get it all off.

Per google/AI, the probable cause is the nozzle is too close to the bed and driving the filament into the textured surface, changing the Z-offset and/or using a release agent is recommended. As I noted previously, I can watch the fluid print log and I see the start print probe calibration and it's setting a Z-offset at the end of the process. So, the questions boil down to this:

1. The device tab shows Z-offset is currently set to zero while the machine is idle. I'm assuming the probe sets it to a per job setting and then it is reset back to zero (as I said, I saw the previous probes say they're setting a Z-offset) when the job is done?
2. If I set a permanent Z-offset via the machine panel, will it be picked up/override or be additive to a normal probe? Note: The google/AI and the search entries (mostly reddit posts), are adamant about doing it at the machine and not in the slicer.
3. I want to set at least a minimum Z-offset before I run the normal .2mm film test because I don't even want to think about scraping that much PLA off. What would you use as a starting point?
4. And finally, when setting the Z-offset, since this is a core X/Y, to move the plate further away from the nozzle all my adjustments should be with the down arrow? Any up arrow movements would make the bed closer to the nozzle which is not what I'd want to do in this situation

Finally, once I get this done, I'll print a couple of stupid things and if they release easier I'll start of the full bed Z-offset calibration with the .2mm film. As I said, scared to death I'd never be able to get all of this off (and yes, I know I can stop it, but I'd still have to let it run long enough to dial in the Z-offset.

Bob

I use Orca and sort of hate that I can't remap filaments when I go to print a file a second time. I like having the option to choose which filaments that are currently on the printer, map to the filaments present in the file. You can't do that from an Orca generated gcode file with Qidi because of how they handle filament mapping via qidiclient.

So I made a tool to take an Orca generate gcode file to a Qidi 3mf file! It fixes thumbnails not showing up, it allows filament remapping, and also will allow you to select the things you expect like polar cooler, timelapse, and bed leveling when starting prints from the screen.

I only own a Max 4 so it might work on a Q2, but ymmv.

You could add this as a post processor in Orca so the 3mf file is ready for you to send to the printer. I also think I might be able to have a small service sit on the printer watching for new gcode files and run the same script automatically.

Let me know what you think!

Hello Everyone,

I was curious if this was normal, in that at the beginning of a print sequence the extruder heats up and loads filament, cleans the head then waits for the temp to go to 140c so it can begin the auto bed leveling cycle.

What I am curious about is when it goes from filament set point to cool down it does this with the nozzle resting on the small tab of the build plate at the rear of the printer which is damaging that one spot on that tab. Shouldn't it be cooling down in a different spot or at a different height?

Rob

Hey guys,

Ive been having a lot of struggles with the qidi box and the physical space im limited to operate in.

As consequence ive had to increase the tube lengths. But now the feed macros and unload macros can get a bit wonky.

Anyone know where i can play around wirh these parameters, to make sure it steps longer before it starts making "baby steps"?

Has anyone updated to this firmware? I just updated it yesterday and today I noticed that i cant run the dry;er function on the qidi box without unloading the filament. No more drying while printing? Why would they take a backwards step? The ui is different too. Not too happy right now.

Aloha,

so I just got my MAX 4..... came from a Plus 4, and figured it would be too bad of a change. I was wrong. I'm scrambling to find solutions.

1st problem: I was using Qidi Slicer insted of Qidi Studio.... sooo now I'm having to learn about all of that

2nd problem: I don't know where to adjust the print head tempurature at, but I found that if I put in the desired temperature before I slice my model, then it'll print at that tempurature.

3rd problem: Qidi box.... we are going to war me and that box... it won't load, doesn't stop when hitting the hub, and never makes it to the extruder.

I did disconnect the PTFE tube and just let it run until I had more than enough material to feed into the head and do a test purge... but then it stopped and wouldn't feed nor extract. (ended up manually doing it).

4th problem: My attampted prints are super slow, and coming out looking horrible. I just came across to change the setting for volumetric speet from 20 to 10 m/s so will try that shortly

5th problem: I am unable to find where I can do an auto bed leveling at bed temp before sending my print to the Max4.

I already managed to break the hub, (have a new one on order). I've done the firmware update, I've had to factory reset 6 times already as it got stuck in the centering/homing program, and a few varuoius other items due to something with the Qidi Box.

Any help or tips would be greatly appreciated.

I should be getting my printer next Monday! I was wondering which slicer are you using. Qidi studio or maker. I see I can use either.

I also have simplify 3d available.

Hello all, a while back I released a repo of opinionated and "optimized" klipper configs for the Max 4. It drove me crazy to watch the printer sit and do nothing during every print start and filament change. It also moves so slowly stock.

I now have a new version that:

• Is easier to install, just one command
• Has an auto updater
• Retains the stock gcode macros so any previously sliced files continue to work

If you're interested, here's what I would need from you:

1. Must have a Max 4 with 1 Qidi box (no box and multiple boxes come later)
2. Have some knowledge of logging into the printer and running commands
3. Be comfortable with slicer side machine profile gcode
4. It would be best if you're running Orca nightly (2.4.0+) so you can subscribe to the shared Orca cloud machine profile
5. Have some appetite for things to go wrong
6. Good troubleshooting skills for if something goes wrong
7. Feedback both positive and negative!

If that sounds like you, I'd love to have you try it out and let me know how it goes and if there's anything you'd change. Keep in mind this only effects print start, filament changes, and print end. So if something goes wrong during your print outside of a filament change, that would not be caused by these macros.

You can find more information about this new version here, but you will need to run the development install command located here.

I look forward to hearing how it goes!