Hi everyone,
I got my first 3D printer yesterday, printed out Marvin, and was wondering if anyone here could give me a hand troubleshooting an issue I saw. The loop on top of his head droops and melts a bit, and I’m not sure how I’d go about changing the settings in the M3D software to fix the issue. Is there a way to manually pass GCode to the printer?
Thanks! 
–Matt
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Heya! Do you have the original settings that you printed with? Once I get that I can help point you in the right direction. Looks pretty good minus the very end piece!
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I do! In the M3D software I set quality to High (I’m assuming 100microns, but the documentation is vague at best) and infill to Medium. The support structure check box was also marked, though it didn’t end up adding anything important (a little support for the negative space between his legs). Thanks for the help!
Looks like I responded to myself instead of you the first time around. Let’s try this again!
I do! In the M3D software I set quality to High (I’m assuming 100microns, but the documentation is vague at best) and infill to Medium. The support structure check box was also marked, though it didn’t end up adding anything important (a little support for the negative space between his legs). Thanks for the help!
A lot of slicers have this “minimal layer time” setting. This prevents your printer going to fast on small parts like the loop and ‘locks’ the minimal time spend per layer. that might set you up
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Any slicers you’d recommend? I found an “expert mode” that lets me pass gcode directly to the printer, so if I slice the model in a different program maybe I can get a better result?
Aloha Mr Cow, I had the same issue and it all came down to Z height (I had better luck at .2mm), fan on and slowing the print down at that fast of a layer. Want to make sure your extrusion rate and filament measurements are on too. 20-80% infill
Hope that helps!
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Hi John!
Thanks for chiming in. How do I force the fan on? Since I mostly plan on printing art on this for personal use, I’d also like to try to make this work for high-res prints. For art things smooth is a must! Also, how do I make sure my extrusion rate and filament measurements are on?
Do you know of a way I can pass gcode from another slicer to the M3D? In the expert settings I can see a field for passing one command at a time, but that’s not much use.
The print above had a 20% infill. 
I’m not sure about the M3D software but in Simplify 3d there are settings to slow the print speed down if the layer prints under so many seconds. I think there is also a setting to turn on the fan for these quick layers. If you are printing with PLA the fan should be on through the whole print minus the first layer.
The filament you will measure with a digital caliper and there should be a place to enter that value in your slicing software.
Extrusion Calibration can be done using the method in the videos below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZGdMc2ebPo&w=560&h=315
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUPfBJz3I6Y
Not sure about passing gcode to the M3d. I use a Makergear M2 and have not used the M3D
I’ve only had my 3d printer for about 6 months and spent hundreds of hours fine tuning filament settings ect. So don’t expect perfect prints right away! It takes a lot of practice and testing.
Another great resource are Toms Videos on youtube.
https://www.youtube.com/user/ThomasSanladerer/videos
And of course the forums for your specific printer!
Hope that helps!
Mahalo, John
Once you have your setting dialed in you need no support for the marvin.
Try printing it in medium setting(.2mm) and post the results for us!
Does the micro3d have a nozzle cooling fan and not just an extruder/stepper fan? You can try printing two at a time or print any other “thermal distraction” print next to marvin. The time between object gives the layer a moment to cool and not accumulate heat.
You could try lowering the temperature a little. It’s under the advanced settings, although I think that looks pretty good for the Micro – in my experience anyway. You can send g-code to it. Something like Settings->Advanced->Expert mode brings up the spooler window, which allows you to type g-code into a field and press return.
