H800 3D Printer Congratulations, you and your Afinia H800 will make great things together The Afinia H800 is an exemplary printer that sets new standards in safety and HD print quality USER'S MANUAL TABLE OF CONTENTS 1SAY HELLO TO THE Afinia H800 ................................................................................................... 3 1.1 Afinia H800 at a glance ........................................................................................................ 4 1.2 Print Head and mounting..................................................................................................... 5 1.3 Touch Panel ........................................................................................................................... 5 1.4 Status Display ........................................................................................................................ 6 1.5 What's included .................................................................................................................... 7 2Acronyms and Abbreviations ........................................................................................................... 2-1 3Quick Start ........................................................................................................................................ 3-2 4Afinia3D Software Installation ........................................................................................................ 4-1 4.1 Windows ............................................................................................................................. 4-1 4.2 MAC .................................................................................................................................... 4-1 5InitialiZe ........................................................................................................................................... 5-1 6Auto Calibration ............................................................................................................................... 6-2 6.1 Auto Leveling ..................................................................................................................... 6-2 6.2 Auto Height ........................................................................................................................ 6-2 6.3 Manually Set Height .......................................................................................................... 6-2 7Platform Leveling ............................................................................................................................. 7-3 7.1 Automatic Leveling ............................................................................................................ 7-3 7.2 Platform Calibrate (software) ........................................................................................... 7-3 7.3 Manual Leveling ................................................................................................................ 7-3 8Loading & UnloadingFilament ........................................................................................................ 8-5 8.1 Loading / extrude filament ................................................................................................ 8-5 8.2 Ejecting / withdraw filament ............................................................................................ 8-5 9General maintenance ....................................................................................................................... 9-6 9.1 Caring for the Perfboard .................................................................................................. 9-6 9.2 Cleaning the Nozzle ........................................................................................................... 9-6 9.3 Cleaning the drive gear ..................................................................................................... 9-6 11.Safety Considerations .................................................................................................................. 11-7 11.13.1 . ................................................................................................................................... 11-1 2 / 20 1.1 Afinia H800 at a glance The Afinia H800 with HEPA filter is packed with advanced technologies in a remarkably stylish and robust design. 4 / 20 1.2 Print Head and mounting 1.3 Touch Panel You can do a lot with your Afinia H800 by using the Touch Panel, so it follows your every command. You also use the Afinia software to control the Afinia H800. 5 / 20 1.4 Status Display On the front of the platform sit a row of blue LEDs above the words Afinia indicating either:
a.) The progress on reaching the platform target temperaturewhen pre-heating the platform b.) The overall print progress during printing. Located on the front of the platform is the heart beat of the Afinia H800, which indicates the state of the printer. 6 / 20 1.5 What's included The Afinia H800 comes in an even bigger box filled with everything you need to kick start your desktop factory into action. 7 / 20 2 ACRONYMSANDABBREVIATIONS STereoLithography is the common file format used for sharing and printing 3d files The technical term used for the more user-friendly term of 3D printing. Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene. This is a lightweight thermoplastic with resistance to high heat and is the most common plastic used in 3d printing. A strong and generally easy material to print with, but printing large parts can warp. Polylactic Acid is a biodegradable material derived from corn. Unlike ABS it warps less but support removal can be harder. A great material to obtain low cost steel parts by sending the PLA printed part to a foundry to use investment casting / lost wax casting. The printer lays down a foundation before it starts print the model. The raft is used to anchor the model down onto and into the perfboard. During the printing of the raft, any unevenness in the leveling of the platform is correct during the raft. A reusable and removal build platform that the model is printed onto. (included) The external layers of the printed part, much like an egg shell. The internal honeycomb structure that gives the part strength The Afinia software automatically generates the required supports / scaffold to support any overhangs of the model during printing. Much like building a bridge over water and having scaffolding to support it. Melted Extrusion Melting, the process of melting plastic and 3d printing. Much like a hot glue gun on steroids. A small flap at the bottom of the print head that controls the air flow onto or away from the nozzle. Cool air blowing over the nozzle, cools the molten plastic quickly and can cause: weaker parts, better print quality and warping When a part lifts away from the platform. Caused by the uneven cooling of the part during printing as the material shrinks back to its normal state. All materials expand when heated and shrink when cooled. Molten plastic as it is printed is in an expanded state, as the part cools it contracts. The larger the part the worse the effect and ABS is more prone to warping where PLA does not warp as much. When the printer is moving and acting as if it is printing, but nothing is being extruded out of the nozzle. Check the trouble shooting section for help. STL Additive Fabrication ABS PLA Raft Perfboard Shell Infill Smart Support MEM Wind Barrier Warping Air Printing 3 QUICKSTART This step by step guide might seem long and drawn out, but we highly suggest you follow it to get started. The touch panel can be used to carry out many of the below functions, but if you are unfamiliar with the printer we highly recommend following the below guide to have a better understanding of the process. STEP 1 - UNPACK You'll need a friend in this step to help you remove the Afinia H800 from its box. It's BIG!
Lift it onto a table and then pull out the foam packaging and remove the cable ties that hold each axis in place. TIP: Ensure you have removed all the shipping cable ties and packaging material from the inside of the printer. Move the print head manually around to ensure it has free motion. The platform cannot be manually moved. Place the Perfboard onto the build plate and lock it into place with the locating holes, so the perfboard is completely flat against the metal plate. STEP 2 - PERFBOARD STEP 4 - LOAD FILAMENT Remove the magnetic spool cover, then remove the spool of Afinia Premium ABS from its packaging. TIP: Always keep tension on the filament. Never let go of the end of the filament, or it will coil under itself and possibly tangle itself. Feed the end of the filament from the back of the spool into the feeder tube until the end of the filament appears out the other end. Cut the end of the filament off, so it has a nice clean flat end. Insert the end of the filament into the left hand side of the print head and push it in all the way until it can't go in any further. STEP 5 - INSTALLING SOFTWARE Install the Afinia software and included drivers from the Installation Disc included with the Printer. TIP: For detailed installation or help, refer to Software Installation in this manual. STEP 6 - POWER Afinia At the back of the printer:
a) Plug in the supplied USB cable to both the printer and your computer. b) Plug in the supplied power supply c) Switch on!
The front display will pulse with an orange light to indicate the printer is ready to beinitialized. STEP 7 - AFINIA SOFTWARE CUATION: Double check you have removed all the shipping cable ties and packaging material from the inside of the printer before you initialize the printer!
Start the Afinia 3D software and click 3D Print. If the Initialize option is available, go ahead and click initialize. If Initialize is unavailable, check that the Afinia drivers are correctly installed. During initialization the printer finds its home position on each X,Y, and Z axis. Initialization is required every time the printer is switched on. STEP 8 - AUTOMATIC CALIBRATION The most important part of 3D printing is having a level platform and the correct distance between the nozzle and the platform. Click Auto Level,the head will check 9 points around the platform are level, and then it will set the platform/nozzle height. You don't need to auto calibrate every time, only if you are having issues. TIP: Ensure the end of the nozzle is clean and has no bit sticking out, otherwise this will give your auto-
height a false reading. Auto calibration can only be done when the temperature of the nozzle is below 80c STEP 9 - EXTRUSION!
Click 3D Print and Maintenance then Click New Spool, select ABS, OK Click Extrude(beep) You'll start to notice the Nozzle temperature starts rising. Once it gets to 260c (beep) push the filament into the print head and you should start to see a thin string come out of the nozzle. Repeat from extrude if it doesn't. STEP 10 - MY FIRST PRINT Download the "My first print" Bunny from here http://www.3dprintingsystems.com/support Open the Bunny.STL file Click "Scale", select 0.5 and click Click "Place" to centre the object Click "Print" and click "OK"
"Scale"
STEP 11 - PRINTING STARTS It is very important to ensure that your first layer is squished out flat for good adhesion to the perfboard. If the nozzle is too far away then you'll just get a bunch of squiggles. Too close and you'll hear the print head clicking. TIP: Any problems STOP the print job. Refer to troubleshooting section if you are having problems at this stage. STEP 11 - PRINT COMPLETE - TADA!
The printer will (beep) when it is complete. CAUTION HOT, USE GLOVES Unlock and remove the perfboard from the printer. CAUTION: USE GLOVES & GLASSES. Use the scraper to remove the entire printed object from the perfboard. Then break away the support material. Scrape both sides of the perfboard smooth
(don't worry about bits of plastic stuck in the holes) 4 AFINIA3DSOFTWAREINSTALLATION 4.1 Windows Start the setup.exe file and install it to the specified directory (Default is Program files/Afinia or for 64bit computers "Program files x86/Afinia). Refer to the trouble shooting section for further help. Note: This install includes the Afinia software, the Afinia drivers, spare part files and firmware into your Program files/Afinia folder. 4.2 MAC Run the Afinia Mac Setup.pkg file to install the software. Refer to the trouble shooting section for further help. 5 INITIALIZE If you have any problems with the MAC software try:
1. Navigate to /Applications/Utilities/ and open Disk Utility. 2. 3. Click on the Repair Disk Permissions button. Select the hard drive the software is installed on. Every time you switch on the printer or perform an emergency stop on a print you'll need to initialize the printer. Doing an initialization zeros each axis to the printers starting point. For example if the print head crashed into a model, the head could slip on the belt and you would then need to stop the print and initialize. This can be done using either the touch panel or Afinia software. TOUCH PANEL SOFTWARE Click 3D Print then Initialize. 6 AUTOCALIBRATION When a building is constructed, you must always have a level foundation. The same goes for 3d printing. Without a level platform to print onto or if the distance between the nozzle and platform are incorrect, problems will occur during printing, such as warping. Auto calibration does not need to be done every time you print, only when you start to have problems. 6.1 Auto Leveling Before you perform the auto level procedure, ensure the perfboard is scrapped clean both sides and mounted flat and clipped onto the platform. To level the platform click 3D Print then Auto Level. The leveling probe will drop down (located on the back left of the print head) and will measure the difference at 9 points around the platform. These differences are recorded in Platform Calibrate menu. 6.2 Auto Height To set the nozzle height using the auto feature, click 3D Print then Nozzle Height Detect. The Auto height only works with the supplied perf board. If you are using any other surface you will need to manually set the height. With the correct height, the first layer of plastic should be squished out flat to ensure good adhesion to the perfboard. 6.3 Manually Set Height The Auto height only works with the supplied perfboard. If you are using any other surface you will need to manually set the height. Click 3D Print then Maintenance. Enter 200 in the To: box and click theTo:button.Increase the value slowly to get the platform about 1mm away from the nozzle. Check each of the five positions using the five position buttons to see which part of the platform is the highest. Slowly increase the To:value until the nozzle is about 0.2mm from the platform at the highest point. Click the Set Nozzle Height button then check the other four positions to see that the gap between the nozzle and platform doesnt get smaller. 7 PLATFORMLEVELING There are three different way to level the build platform 7.1 Automatic Leveling This is the easiest method and if using this then you may not need to use the other two methods below. This stores the nine point calibration in the Platform Calibrate window. The platform doesn't physically level, the variance is measured by the platform calibration and when printing the raft this variance is accounted for. You might notice your raft is thicker on one side to the other. 7.2 Platform Calibrate (software) If you don't want to use the automatic leveling, you can also level the platform using the software. Select Platform Calibrate from the 3D Print menu to open the manual utility. Click Reset as this will reset all previous values stored from the automatic calibration. Move the platform up using the Up Arrow (PC) or Upbutton (Mac) until the platform is quite close to the nozzle. Then click buttons 1 through 9to find the closest point to the nozzle. Once you find the number 1-9 that is closest to the nozzle, move the platform until it just touches the nozzle and then click Set nozzle height. Next, click button 1 and select an option from the drop down menu to select how much the platform should move up. Do this until the platform just touches the nozzle. Repeat for buttons 2-9 Then double check that the gap distance between platform and nozzle is equal at each of the 9 points. Once you are satisfied, then click Apply current values and quit. If you need to perform this again, then click "Reset" to zero the current values. The values in the image above indicate that the print surface is warped, with the center higher than both the front and back edges. 7.3 Manual Leveling Usually you don't need to physically level the platform, but if your platform is out of level by more than 1mm, you'll need to level it. An expert tip is to always have a physically level platform (gap between platform and nozzle is equal at all corners). First select Platform Calibrate and Reset and then Apply current values and quit. Click Maintenance, enter 200 in the To: box and click To:then increase the value get the platform about 1mm away from the nozzle. The platform should touch the nozzle at around 205 but this is different from machine to machine. There are three thumb wheel screws, one on either side at the front of the platform and one underneath the platform. Start with the two front thumb wheels to adjust the front left and right height. Click NLto move the nozzle to the near left and compare it to the right by clicking NR near right and get the front left and right equally level. Click the FLand FR buttons to check the back and under the underneath thumbwheel to align the back height. Once youve leveled the platform, run the Automatic Leveling. After its complete, check the variances in the Platform Calibration. Always check the nozzle height after manually leveling the platform. Click 3D Print then Maintenance. Enter 200 in the To: box and click theTo:button.Increase the value slowly to get the platform about 1mm away from the nozzle. Check four corners and center using the five position buttons to see which part of the platform is the highest. Slowly increase the To:value until the nozzle is about 0.2mm from the platform at the highest point. Click the Set Nozzle Height button then check the other four positions to see that the gap between the nozzle and platform doesnt get smaller. Leveling your actual printer on a table is not required; your printer can even print on its side and even upside down!
8 LOADING&UNLOADINGFILAMENT You can either use the touch panel buttons to extrude or withdraw the filament from the print head. TIPS: Always keep tension on your spool, otherwise your filament will become tangled. Always withdraw your previous filament before loading new filament. Click New Spool if changing between ABS or PLA 8.1 Loading / extrude filament Cut the end of the new filament off so the filament has a clean edge to enter the print head. Feed the filament through the feed tube until it comes out the other end. There are two ways to extrude filament. Either Long press the center button on the touch panel OR using the software click Maintenance and click The nozzle will take a couple of minutes to reach the selected temperature
(PLA = 200; ABS = 260); once at temperature (beep),gently feed the filament into the print head.You should feel the gear pulling the filament. Refer to the trouble shooting guide if you have any problems. Extrude. TOUCH PANEL SOFTWARE 8.2 Ejecting / withdraw filament To withdraw the filament either double press the center button or via the maintenance screen and click withdraw. It will take a couple of minutes to reach temperature and you can watch progress in the maintenance window. Once ready you'll hear a "beep"
TOUCH PANEL SOFTWARE 9 GENERALMAINTENANCE 9.1 Caring for the Perfboard The perfboard is a hard wearing platform and can be used time and time again. You don't need to remove the plastic from the inside holes, as when heated these become sticky and help the model stuck down to the platform to reduce warping. Once a print has completed, using the gloves remove the perfboard and let it cool down. Then you can slightly flex the perfboard to attempt to release the printed model. To clean the perfboard vigorously scrape the left over plastic off, on both sides to prepare for the next print. TIPS: Never attempt to remove a printed model while the perfboard is loaded inside the printer. 9.2 Cleaning the Nozzle STOP! Always check that the drive gear is clean before attempting to clean the nozzle. ALWAYS press Withdraw and wait until the nozzle is above 240Cbefore unscrewing the nozzle (use the safety gloves!).Failing to follow this will damage your extruder and void your extruder block warranty. It is recommended to replace your nozzle every 300 hours or 6 months. Either choose the cost of time involved or cost of replacement for cleaning. For best results obtain the "Afinia Essentials" tool kit. What you need:
Small blow torch 0.4mm drill bit (yes it is very small!) Safety gloves, glasses and mask. Long handled pliers Acetone Pay attention to the safety instructions included with Acetone as it is flammable. Do a withdraw and once the nozzle is over 240c, using the 0.4mm drill bit, poke through the hole in the nozzle. Be careful not to break the drill bit inside the nozzle. Soak the nozzle in acetone for 1hr (overnight is better) Wear a mask as the fumes from burning the plastic inside the nozzle are poisonous. Turn on the blow torch and holding the nozzle with the pliers burn the nozzle for around 4 minutes to burn out the residue plastic. Cool the nozzle down in water 9.3 Cleaning the drive gear 11
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. LegalNotice Theinformationinthisdocumentissubjecttochangewithoutnotice. AFINIAMAKESNOWARRANTYOFANYKINDWITHREGARDTOTHISMATERIAL, INCLUDING,BUTNOTLIMITEDTO,THEIMPLIEDWARRANTIESOFMERCHANTABILITY ANDFITNESSFORAPARTICULARPURPOSE.Afiniashallnotbeliableforerrorscontained hereinorforincidentalorconsequentialdamagesinconnectionwiththefurnishing, performance,oruseofthisMaterial.Changesormodificationstothesystemnotexpressly approvedbyAfinia,thepartyresponsibleforcompliance,couldvoidtheusersauthorityforuse. Thisdocumentisprotectedbycopyright.Allrightsreserved.Itsuse,disclosure,andpossession arerestrictedbyanagreementwithAfinia.persoftwarecopyright.Nopartofthisdocumentmay bephotocopied,reproducedortranslatedintoanotherlanguagewithoutthepriorwritten consentofAfinia.Afinia3DPrintersaremanufacturedbyTiertime/PP3DPinChina. Copyright2015Afinia. Allrightsreserved. Revision Sheet Release No. Date Rev. 0 Rev. 1 Rev. 2 10/4/15 Revision Description Users Manual Created FCC ID: O26-H800A This device complies with Part 15 of the FCC Rules. Operation is subject to the following two conditions: (1) this device may not cause harmful interference, and (2) this device must accept any interference received, including interference that may cause undesired operation. Changes or modifications not expressly approved by the party responsible for compliance could void the user's authority to operate the equipment interference in a residential NOTE: This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B digital device, pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful installation. This equipment generates, uses and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and used in accordance with the instructions, may cause harmful interference to radio communications. However, there is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a particular installation. If this equipment does cause harmful interference to radio or television reception, which can be determined by turning the equipment off and on, the user is encouraged to try to correct the interference by one or more of the following measures:
-- Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna.
-- Increase the separation between the equipment and receiver.
-- Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit different from that to which the receiver is connected.
-- Consult the dealer or an experienced radio/TV technician for help.