Repetier Color Mixing
Release status: working
Description | How-to
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Using a single nozzle with multiple filament feeds like the Diamond Hotend it is possible to create a rainbow of colors.
For reference this guide uses the Diamond Hotend on a bq Prusa i3 Hepestos 3D-printer setup as described on the Diamond Hotend page.
Contents
Firmware
In order to create a working setup it is possible to download a fresh copy of Repetier-Firmware from the v092 configurator
- Download Configuration.h for Prusa i3 Hephestos with Ramps, Stepper Expander X1 and Diamond Hotend (right-click and Save link as...) save the file as configuration.h
- Then upload it to the above mentioned configurator
- Optional: make appropriate changes to fit your specific printer
- Download the complete firmware at the end of the configurator
Since Ramps has only two on-board extruders drivers you physically need to attach a third extruder driver externally eg. Stepper Expander X1.
In Pins.h (scroll down into the “RAMPS pin assignment” section or the board matching your setup) and make sure the following lines are present, if not add them:
#define ORIG_E2_STEP_PIN 64 #define ORIG_E2_DIR_PIN 59 #define ORIG_E2_ENABLE_PIN 44 #define E2_PINS ORIG_E2_STEP_PIN,ORIG_E2_DIR_PIN,ORIG_E2_ENABLE_PIN,
(pin numbers shown are the digital pins corresponding to a Ramps board with a Stepper Expander X1 connected)
Since RUMBA boards already feature 6 stepper motor outputs the above changes does not apply to RUMBA.
If you have a board not mentioned here, please refer to the documentation of that board in order to obtain the necessary pin assignments.
Prerequisites
- A PC running Repetier-Host V1.6 or later (some earlier versions may work but these are not tested)
- 3D-printer setup with Repetier-firmware v0.92 (or later) as specified above
- Mixing extruder (one nozzle for all colors)
- Filaments loaded:
- Extruder 0: Cyan PLA
- Extruder 1: Magenta PLA
- Extruder 2: Yellow PLA
Setting up colors in Repetier-Host
- In Config -> Printer Settings select the Extruder pane
- Adjust Number of Extruder to 16
- Set a checkmark in the box Printer has a Mixing Extruder (one nozzle for all colors)
- To enter a color representation in Repetier-Host of the mixed filament, for each of the extrudes below enter a name, then click the color rectangle, click Define Custom Colors >> and enter the following Red, Green and Blue values:
- Cyan, R0, G191, B255
- Blue, R0, G0, B255
- Violet, R127, G0, B255
- Purple, R191, G0, B255
- Magenta, R255, G0, B191
- Scarlet, R255, G0, B127
- Red, R255, G0, B0
- Orange, R255, G127, B0
- Yellow, R255, G255, B0
- Yellow Green, R127, G255, B0
- Green, R0, G255, B0
- Turquoise, R0, G255, B127
- Cyan-Brown, R83, G106, B106
- Magenta-Brown, R106, G83, B106
- Yellow-Brown, R106, G106, B83
- Brown, R83, G83, B83
- Then click the tab Scripts
- Click the drop down menu Scripts and select Script 1 (alternatively select Start Code in order to use this color scheme every time you slice)
- In the text field below copy and paste the following script in order to setup a rainbow on virtual extruders 0 till 11 and grey-brownish colors on virtual extruders 12-15
Example printout of the color palette shown below
; Cyan M163 S0 P1 M163 S1 P0 M163 S2 P0 M164 S0 ; Blue M163 S0 P5 M163 S1 P1 M163 S2 P0 M164 S1 ; Violet M163 S0 P1 M163 S1 P1 M163 S2 P0 M164 S2 ; Purple M163 S0 P1 M163 S1 P5 M163 S2 P0 M164 S3 ; Magenta M163 S0 P0 M163 S1 P1 M163 S2 P0 M164 S4 ; Scarlet M163 S0 P0 M163 S1 P5 M163 S2 P1 M164 S5 ; Red M163 S0 P0 M163 S1 P1 M163 S2 P1 M164 S6 ; Orange M163 S0 P0 M163 S1 P1 M163 S2 P5 M164 S7 ; Yellow M163 S0 P0 M163 S1 P0 M163 S2 P1 M164 S8 ; Yellow Green M163 S0 P1 M163 S1 P0 M163 S2 P5 M164 S9 ; Green M163 S0 P1 M163 S1 P0 M163 S2 P1 M164 S10 ; Turquoise M163 S0 P5 M163 S1 P0 M163 S2 P1 M164 S11 ; Cyan-Brown M163 S0 P2 M163 S1 P1 M163 S2 P1 M164 S12 ; Magenta-Brown M163 S0 P1 M163 S1 P2 M163 S2 P1 M164 S13 ; Yellow-Brown M163 S0 P1 M163 S1 P1 M163 S2 P2 M164 S14 ; Brown M163 S0 P1 M163 S1 P1 M163 S2 P1 M164 S15
- In Config -> Preferences setup a slightly better lighting scheme by clicking 3D Visualization, then clicking Lights, enabling all the checkboxes and entering these numbers:
- X-Direction: -1, 1, -1, 1
- Y-Direction: 2, 2, -1, -1
- Z-Direction: -2, -2, 2, 2
- Then close the window
Preparation
Opposite to what is mentioned on the Diamond Hotend page section "Multi material printing with Repetier Host" you need to load your desired multi-material object (primary object) first and then the primetower (which corresponds to the number of color gradients used in the primary object), in order to set the sequence of colors according to the first object loaded.
Resize the primetower so that is has the same height as the primary object.
As usual the primetower has to be located behind the primary object in order to be printed first.
Slice
- In Repetier Host, slice the setup using Slic3r version 1.1.7 (other versions may work but has not yet been tested)
- It seems there are a bug in the setup so when the slicing process is finished you must manually edit the gcode.
- Scroll down to the line that reads
M109 S200,200,200
(your actual setup probably specifies another temperature than 200, that is not important here). - Remove the last part of that line so that it reads just
M109 S200
(200, or whatever temperature you filament needs)
- Scroll down to the line that reads
- You may now save your gcode file or print directly.
After connection to the printer is established, in the right pane of the main window select the tab Manual Control and press the encircled number 1. This will send the specific color scheme to the firmware. Do this prior to printing or simply include the color setup gcodes in your start gcode.
Happy printing in CMY-color
Links
Mixing extruder theory.txt
Repetier-Firmware v0.92 configurator
[Repetier homepage]
Color mixing on Wikipedia