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Quant 3D Q150 User Manual

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Summary of Contents for Quant 3D Q150

  • Page 1 USER MANUAL i t a k- . c o m ly...

  • Page 2: Table Of Contents

    1. Introduction 1. INTRODUCTION ........................3 1.1 H ....................3 OW TO USE THIS MANUAL 1.2P ........................3 RECAUTIONS 1.2.1 Safety ........................3 1.2.2 Protection ........................4 2. OVERVIEW ........................... 5 2.1 A ........................5 PPEARANCE 2.2 S ......................... 8 PECIFICATIONS 2.2.1 Printer Physical Characteristics ................

  • Page 3: Introduction

    Please read the following precautions carefully before operating the printer. 1.2.1 Safety  Q150 can only be used with the power adapters supplied by Quant3D. Other adapters could damage the printer with risk of fire.  During the period that printer is printing, and just after printer is done printing, print platform, nozzle and printed model are still hot.

  • Page 4: Protection

     Q150 printer must not be exposed to water or rain, otherwise may cause damage.  Do not shut down Q150 Printer or pull the USB cable during the process of loading a digital model to Printer, otherwise the model data may not be transmitted successfully.

  • Page 5: Overview

    Q150 printer. Q150 uses a nozzle to deposit molten plastic, and the printed parts are strong and durable with high accuracy.
  • Page 6 2. Overview Extrusion head Nozzle Platform Figure 2-2 Inside View Roller Shaft USB Interface Power On/off Power Interface Figure 2-3 Back view...
  • Page 7 2. Overview ① USB cable ② Power adapter (20 V) ③ Filament tube ④ Screws ⑤ Cell board ⑥ Extrusion head ⑦ ABS spool Figure 2-4 Accessories ⑤ ① Pen Knives ② Tweezers ③ Hex wrench ④ Shovel ⑤ Pliers ⑥...

  • Page 8: Specifications

    2. Overview Y axis X axis Z axis Figure 2-6 Axis 2.2 Specifications 2.2.1 Physical Specifications Printing Material ABS or PLA Material Color White/Black/Red/Yellow/Blue/Green Layer Thickness 0.2－0.35 mm Print Speed 10－100 cm Print Size 120 120 120 mm Printer Weight 5 KG (11 lb) Printer Size 350 mm...

  • Page 9: Environmental Specifications

    2. Overview Input Format OS compatibility Windows XP/Vista/7/8; Mac 2.2.3 Environmental specifications Ambient Temperature 15° C ～30° C Relative humidity 20%～50%...

  • Page 10: Operation

    3.1.1 Installation Figure 3-1 Print head installation Extrusion Head The extrusion head of a Q150 is fastened by three magnetic buckles. When assembling extrusion head, make sure the extrusion head is securely contacted with all the three buckles at right position.
  • Page 11 3. Operation Figure 3-2 Print Platform Platform Insert the cell board into the platform slot. Moderate force is recommended when inserting the cellboard. Figure 3-3 Roller Shaft Roller shaft Insert the roller shaft into the hole at the back of printer, and press it downward. The roller shaft should fit in the hole nicely.
  • Page 12 3. Operation Material Extrusion (top view) Figure 3-4 Material Wiring (1) Connect power adapter to power interface. (2) Put a spool of material on the roller shaft, find the end of the material, insert it into filament tube, pass the material through the tube, and pass the tube through the top of the machine cover.

  • Page 13: Installing The Software

    3.1.2 Software Installation The software is available for download on our site quant3D.com. It is free for everyone who owns a Quant 3D printer. After downloading the software installer from the website, start the "setup.exe", and install the program to a specified...

  • Page 14: Installing Drivers

    3. Operation install the software, the printer drivers, and the sample files. Figure 3-6 Software Directory 3.1.3 Driver Installation Connect the printer to a computer with a USB cable. The computer should pop up the “Found New Hardware Wizard” window. Choose “No, not this time” option, and then click “Next”.
  • Page 15 3. Operation Click “Browse”, and choose C:\Program Files\UP\Driver, then “Next”. Figure 3-8 Snap shots of Software installation The following dialogue box pops up. Choose “Continue Anyway”, and the drivers will install automatically. Figure 3-9 Snap shots of Software installation If you have any problems installing the driver, or get a "Winusb.dll not found" error, please refer to the driver section in the troubleshooting section of this manual.

  • Page 16: Using The Basic Functions

    3. Operation 3.2 Using the basic functions 3.2.1 Start the program Click on the icon in a computer desktop. The program should open up as the following: Figure 3-10 Program Startup Screen 3.2.2 Loading a 3D model Click “File / Open” or on the toolbar and select the model you want to load.
  • Page 17 3. Operation (Windows version) (Mac version) Figure 3-11 Program Model Screen TIP: You can open several models and print them all at the same time. Just repeat the open model procedure for each model you want to add. See the “Placing models on the build platform”...
  • Page 18 3. Operation Figure 3-12 Manu Option of unloading models Saving a model: Choose the model you want to save, then click “Save”. The file is saved in UP3 format and its size is 12%~18% of the original STL file. This is a convenient format for users to archive or transfer models. Note on STL files: To print a model correctly, all the triangles of the model need to have their normal facing outward.

  • Page 19: 3View Options

    3. Operation Figure 3-14 Fixing STL problems Merging models: Separate models can be merged into one model by using “Merge” option from the “Edit” menu. Simply open all the models that you want to merge and arrange them the way you want on the platform and click on the “Merge”...

  • Page 20: Model Transformations

    3. Operation (Windows version) (Mac version) Figure 3-15 Preset View Options 3.2.4 Model Transformations Model Transformation can be achieved through Edit menu or push buttons on the toolbar: (Windows version) Figure 3-16 Model Transformation options (Mac version) Moving a model: Click the “Move” button and, in the text box, choose, or input, the distance you want to move the model, then choose the axis (direction) along which you want to move the model by clicking the axis button.
  • Page 21 3. Operation Procedure: 1. Click on “Move”; 2. Input “-5” in the text box; 3. Click the “Z axis”. Figure 3-17 Move a model Tip: If you hold down the ‘Ctrl’ key, you can simply drag the model to whatever position you want.

  • Page 22: Placing Models Onto The Build Platform

    3. Operation Scaling a model: Click “Scale”, choose or input a scaling ratio in the text box, then either scale the model uniformly along all three axes by clicking the scale button again, or choose the axis along which you want to scale the model, if you only want to scale along one axis.

  • Page 23: Getting Ready To Print

    3. Operation Auto Place: Clicking the “Auto Place” button on the far right of the toolbar, can automatically place all the loaded models on the platform in an optimized position. When there is more than one model on the platform, using “Auto Place”...
  • Page 24 3. Operation (Windows version) (Mac version) Figure 3-19 Initializing a printer TIP: Under the condition that your printer is not responding properly, the first thing to try is to re-initialize the printer by clicking the ‘Initialize’ option in the ‘3D Print’ menu. 3.3.2 Preparing Platform Before printing, print platform must be prepared, so that the model can adhere to the platform, and does not move during the printing process.

  • Page 25: Calibrating The Nozzle Height

    3. Operation mechanical bond with the bottom surface, which prevents the model from lifting. When inserting or extracting a cell board into the platform slot, moderate strength should be well-distributed, without using strong force, and hold the metal guides on both sides to prevent the print platform from moving. Figure 3-19 Installing a cell board 3.3.3 Calibrating Nozzle Height This section is the most important section of the entire manual.
  • Page 26 3. Operation Figure 3-20 "Print" Dialog The snapshot of "Print" Dialog in Figure 3-20 shows that the distance of the from platform to nozzle is 135.9mm, after the printer is initialized, and before the printing starts. To figure out the correct nozzle height, please follow the following steps: 1 - Open the “Maintain”...
  • Page 27 3. Operation (Mac version) Figure 3-21 "Maintain" Dialog 2 - In the text box, type in the height to which you want the platform to move, and click the “To” button. In the above example, the platform moves to 122mm above the platform’s original position Figure 3-22 Gap between platform and nozzle 3 - Check the distance between the nozzle and the platform.
  • Page 28 3. Operation 4 - Once the platform is about 1mm away from the nozzle, start increasing the number in the text box by 0.1mm increment and click the “To” button. Repeat this step, until the platform is within 0.2mm away from the nozzle. 5 - Click the “Set Nozzle Height”...

  • Page 29: Other Maintenance Options

    3. Operation TIP: If you happen to crash the platform into the nozzle while making height adjustment, it is good practice to re-initialize the printer before undertaking any other operations. 3.3.4 Other Maintenance Options Click “Maintain” on the “3D Print” menu, and the following dialog box pops up: (Windows version) (Mac version) Figure 3-25 Maintenance Dialog...
  • Page 30 3. Operation molten filament for a while, and machine beeps again when it finishes extruding. This function is frequently used when changing new material (See section 6), and it can be also used to test whether the nozzle is working properly Withdraw: Withdraws the material from the extrusion head.
  • Page 31 3. Operation Pause Print: This button allows you to pause an ongoing print job, and you can resume the print job from where it was stopped. This function is very useful if you, for example, want to change different material color during a printing process.

  • Page 32: Print Setup Options

    3. Operation 3.3.6 Print Setup Options Click menu “3D Print->Setup”. The following dialog box pops up: (Mac version) (Windows version) Figure 3-26 Setup Dialog Print Options Z Resolution: Set the print resolution (layer thickness) of the printer. This can be a choice between 0.2mm to 0.35mm per layer. Base Height: This is the value of raft thickness before the support layer is printed under the part.
  • Page 33 3. Operation Part Options Surface: This parameter determines how many layers are needed to form the bottom of a part. For example, if value is set to 3, the machine will print 3 complete layers before going into non-solid mode. This does not, however, affect the side wall thickness on non-solid parts, which are all the same thickness (approximately 1.5mm) regardless of the infill mode.
  • Page 34 3. Operation The part has an outer wall thickness of solid plastic (about 1.5mm), but its interior is filled with a largely spaced support structure. In previous version, this was referred as “Big hole” Figure 3-27 Support structure generated by different infill options Shell Mode: This mode prints model with no infill structure, which helps improve efficiency by printing hollow model.
  • Page 35 3. Operation Please check the following pictures for the differences of the two printing modes. Figure 3-28 Shell mode and Surface mode...
  • Page 36 3. Operation Support Options Dense: For a model printed by Q150 3D printer, the inside of the model is either hollow or use infill structure to support the contour of the model. UP! software is smart enough to figure out which the portion of a model can be hollow, and how the model is generated with the contour and infill.
  • Page 37 3. Operation For 3D printing, a lot of discussions are related to support structure, which can affect print quality, time to print, material consumption, easiness of support removal, and etc.. The basic idea is that the less support structure generated, the better, because the material consumed will be less, and printing time will be shorter, however, surface quality is another factor you have to consider.
  • Page 38 Tip: All setup and configuration settings are stored in the Software, not on the Q150 Printer, which means that, if you change to a different computer, you have to do all the calibration and setup procedure again.

  • Page 39: Printing

    18-30C. Before printing starts, the following steps should be followed:  Connect Q150 printer with a computer via USB cable, initialize the printer, prepare the cell board, and insert it to the platform. Load the model and place it properly in the software. Check if there is enough material for the model.
  • Page 40 4. Printing When the "door" is opened, the heat generated from extrusion head is blown away fast by the wind from the fan, and models can be solidified in very short time so that the surfaces in these models can have better quality. Regular models, if printed with "door"...
  • Page 41 4. Printing Print Options: Speed: Fine, Normal or Fast. This option determines the speed UP! printer prints. As a general rule, the slower you print, the better the print quality. For tall parts, printing at Fast speed could be problematic, because printer could vibrate to a certain extent to which could affect print quality.
  • Page 42 4. Printing Model info: 30 30 30 mm layer thickness: 0.2 mm Figure 4-3 Different parts with different settings The prices shown in Figure 4-3 are based on the ABS material sold on quant3d.com The easiest way to calculate how much material one print is about to consume is to use the “Print Preview”...

  • Page 43: Model Removal

    5. Model Removal 5. Model Removal 1. After a print job finishes, printer gives off beeps, and nozzle and platform are not long heated. 2. Remove the cell board from the print platform with the printed part 3. Gently slide the shovel, an accessory that comes with the machine, under the printed model and slowly wiggle it back and forth to pry loose the model.
  • Page 44 Q150 3D Printer provides a set of tools, including wood carving chisels, pliers, wire cutters, and etc., to help you remove the support structure. Some of support structures can be easily ripped off by hand.
  • Page 45 5. Model Removal Figure 5-3 Support Structure Removal It takes some practice to get comfortable with removing support structure, but it can become quite satisfying as you discover the shapes of your new creation. CAUTION: ALWAYS WEAR SAFETY GLASSES WHEN REMOVING SUPPORT STRUCTURE, ESPECIALLY WHEN WORKING WITH PLA MATERIAL.
  • Page 46 5. Model Removal...

  • Page 47: Maintenance

    6. Maintenance 6. Maintenance 6.1 Changing the Material  Withdraw the leftover material from printer. Initialize printer and choose “3D print->Maintain”. Click “Withdraw” . Printer automatically begins heating up nozzle. When temperature of nozzle reaches about 260° C , printer gives off beep, and you can gently pull the filament, and withdraw the material out of print head.

  • Page 48: Vertical Calibration

    6. Maintenance 6.2 Vertical Calibration The vertical calibration procedure is to ensure that the print platform of UP! printer is level and that printer prints consistently in the X, Y and Z axes. First, the Software provides a calibration model located in the directory "Example".
  • Page 49 6. Maintenance Figure 6-3 Snapshot of Calibration Dialog IMPORTANT NOTE: Before you enter any new calibration values, always click the “Reset” button, otherwise the new values get added to the old ones. Before you enter any new values, the bar at the very top of the screen should read: XY: 0.00 deg / XZ: 0.00 deg. Next, from the printed calibration part, get the center ‘L’...

  • Page 50: Cleaning The Nozzle

    6. Maintenance 6.3 Cleaning print nozzle Nozzle may be covered with some oxidized ABS after a lot of prints. These oxidized ABS could be melt during a print job, and create burnt marks on the model being printed. To avoid this problem, nozzle needs to be cleaned regularly.

  • Page 51: Removing /Changing The Nozzle

    Figure 6-6 Changing Nozzle 6.6 Models of Spare parts Almost all the plastic parts on UP! mini printer are printed by Q150 Printer itself. If you need to print spare parts for your printer, you can find the STL files...

  • Page 52: Tips & Tricks

    7. Tips & Tricks 7. Tips & Tricks How to print a large part? Large parts can sometimes have their corners warping from the print platform, which can cause the part to distort. This is caused by uneven temperature across the surface of the platform. Preheating the platform before printing large parts is essential to minimize the warping.

  • Page 53: Troubleshooting

    8. Troubleshooting 8. Troubleshooting Problem or Solution error message No power Verify power cord is securely plugged in. Extrusion head 1. Verify printer is initialized. if not, initialize the platform fails to reach printer operating temperature 2. Heating block is damaged, replace it Filament is stuck in the extrusion head.
  • Page 54 8. Troubleshooting Figure 8-1 System Properties Dialog 2. Click “Device Manager” button, and Device Manager Dialog pops up. Find the entry “3DPrinter@FreeMC” in the USB section. Figure 8-2 Device Manager Dialog 3. Click the right mouse button and select the “Uninstall” option. The confirmation dialog box will appear.
  • Page 55 8. Troubleshooting Figure 8-3 Uninstall Old Driver 4. Install the latest Software version. 5. Unplug the USB cable, then plug it in again. Windows will find a new device. Manually select driver folder (Default is C:\Program files\UP\Driver or C:\Program files(X86)\UP\Driver if Windows is a 64bit system.); 6.
  • Page 56 8. Troubleshooting Option 2: Update the driver manually. 1. Install the latest software version. 2. Find the “3DPrint@FreeMC” driver in the “Device Manager” dialog box (it should be located in the USB section). Figure 8-5 Device Manager Dialog 3. Select “Update Driver.” in the right click menu. Figure 8-6 Update Driver...
  • Page 57 8. Troubleshooting 4. Select the UP! driver folder (the default is C:\program files\UP\Driver). Figure 8-7 Select Driver Directory 5. A “Free Motion Card” section should now have been created in Device Manager. Figure 8-8 "Free Motion Card" Entry Created...
  • Page 58 .com...

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