Changing material without changing Gcode
Hello everyone.
Quick question, I printed a few month ago some sort of "shampoo support" for my shower in PLA.
It broke today, and I Don't have the original file anymore. I'm left with just the Gcode.
Can I just go on and print this in PETG without reslicing anything ?
If not, is there a way to use my Gcode file without having to redisign the whole thing ?
Thank you in advance for your answers.
Rémy
RE: Changing material without changing Gcode
Sure. The only things you likely need to change are the bed and hotend temperatures, and reduce the cooling fan speed. The gcode is just a text file, so can you open it in a text editor and find the lines where the temperature is set and change them to the correct PETG temperatures (probaby 85C bed and 240C nozzle and 40-50% cooling fan).
The extruder temperature line will something like this "M104 S220" and there will later be a line like this "M109 S220" which make the printer wait for the temperature to stabilize. Similarly for the bed temperature there'll be a line like "M140 S60" to set it and "M190 S60" to wait for it stabilize. The fan speed line is "M106 S255" where 255 is maximum, so 127 will be around 50% which should be good for PETG. It may be necessarily to set the first layer fan speed to zero in which case you'll need to add another fan speed command after first layer. (but it may also work as is).
RE: Changing material without changing Gcode
Except when changing between pla and petg there are also other changes like flow rate, k factor, etc. Depending on the model you will likely be ok but if it’s complex and has lots of bridging you could have issues.
RE: Changing material without changing Gcode
Thank you for these answers, I'll give it a go.
The model is a flat one 5mm thick with 100% infill, so no problem on that side.
I'll let you know how it works out 😉
RE: Changing material without changing Gcode
It did work very Well.
Thank you both for your help !