Cr-30 Firmware Update
Fortun Bawa
I am running Octoprint through windows and I am able to get my printer started and send gcodes as the sd card reader failed on it. I need to updated my firmware for the belt thickness but I'm having issues figure this out - I am not sure what to do when I am suppose to update the Firmware
The Creality CR-30 is a unique 3D printer that offers cutting-edge functionality, but a small install base and limited software support means this printer is best suited for the experienced professional.
The Creality CR-30 is a unique 3D printer that made waves when it first launched as a Kickstarter project in November, 2020. The angled nozzle and rotating conveyor belt captured the imagination of many people (including myself) and the campaign went on to raise just under $1.4 million USD before successfully ending. The design of the CR-30 was a collaboration between Creality and designers Naomi Wu, Karl Brown (of NAK3D), and Bill Steele (of Polar3D).
While most 3D printers extrude filament directly perpendicular to the build platform, the CR-30 uses an angled nozzle printing onto a moving conveyor belt to offer an infinitely long Z axis. This configuration takes a minute to fully grasp: essentially, the X/Y plane is now at a 45 degree angle to the build platform instead of the traditional 90 degree angle, and the Z axis moves forward instead of up. Still confused? Adam Fasnacht from Powerbelt3D has written an excellent guide covering the kinematics and slicing considerations for belt printers.
The CR-30 features heavy-duty hardware throughout the machine, and it weighs in at over 36 pounds, nearly twice as much as the 18.9-pound Creality Ender 3 Pro. The heavy frame of this machine gives it a low center of gravity and a remarkably rigid structure. The 1020 profile (as opposed to the single 1010 profile used on less expensive machines) and 80/20 aluminum extrusions are used throughout the machine, adding to the sturdiness of the machine. The CR-30 ships as a partially-assembled kit, and it took me about an hour to put together.
The CR-30 uses a CoreXY motion system, which is a slightly more complex motion system that allows for faster motion and greater accuracy at the expense of a higher part count and cost. This system moves the hot end assembly back and forth on the X and Y plane, as opposed to a printer like the Elegoo Neptune 2, which moves the X and Y separately and moves the entire platform during printing. By reducing the amount of mass moving during printing and keeping the part stationary, a higher print speed can be achieved with fewer motion-related defects.
While inspecting the motion system, I noticed that the shaft on one of the CoreXY motors was significantly longer than the other. This looks like a potential failure point for anyone using the machine frequently, as the force applied to the end may cause the long shaft to eventually bend or buckle under a load.
The hot end has a unique nozzle and heat break cooling system; two part cooling fans blow from the sides of the carriage on the X gantry directly on the plastic deposited by the nozzle, and a third fan cools the heartbreak of the hot end. Despite having three fans on the nozzle, the CR-30 is still a relatively quiet 3D printer, and the noise during printing is an acceptable volume for home, office, or lab use.
The Creality CR-30 uses a monochrome LCD with a click-wheel as a primary user interface. For a $1,000+ 3D printer made in 2021, this interface feels clunky and outdated compared with the color touchscreen LCD interface on printers like the Flashforge Adventurer 4. The LCD itself measures 3.25-inches, and the mounting bracket is more bezel than screen, which makes it almost feel like an afterthought instead of a design consideration.
This user interface shows the current version of firmware when booted, which I updated to the latest community firmware version (2.0.9.1). This interface enables micro-stepping (X,Y, and Z), but it is buried under several layers of the menu which makes it difficult to make adjustments to the printer on the fly while it is printing. Considering the cost of the machine, an updated interface that allows for greater levels of control as well as a more intuitive UI would be an appropriate addition for Creality to add to this machine.
The revolving conveyor belt on the Creality CR-30 is by far the most defining feature on the machine and as you can probably imagine, calibrating it is a complex process. The conveyor belt requires several points of calibration: there is the z-offset between the nozzle and the belt, four thumbscrews that raise and lower the sides of two metal plates under the belt, and the overall tension of the belt itself. Calibrating these points is required to make sure the belt remains flat across both the width as well as length of the printing platform.
The CR-30 has a pair of physical endstops mounted at the bottom of the Y-axis, which act as a bumper to prevent the extruder gantry from moving below a certain point. The physical endstop on the right side of the machine has an optical sensor mounted on the inside which can detect when the gantry has reached a certain level.
An issue I noticed was that the silicone sock on the extruder was slightly lower than the nozzle, causing it to drag back and forth during printing. This basically coats the belt in silicone, which is the exact opposite of what you want to happen during printing. A common solution to this problem is slightly trimming the silicone sock to remove the lower edge; this worked perfectly for me.
There are four knobs that run down the sides of the belt. Two of them control the height of the heated plate underneath the nozzle, and the other two control the height of the unheated plate towards the end of the conveyor. I adjusted the knob on the left side of the heated platform to raise that edge of the bed, which brought it level with the right side. Once these two sides were calibrated, the bed was flat and level, and the extruder could tram back and forth over the platform without touching the belt.
The conveyor belt on the Creality CR-30 has gone through several revisions since the launch of the machine, and the current iteration of the belt has some kind of slick coating on it that repels filament and prevents it from sticking. This means that the belt must be conditioned before the printer can be used. This is one of the single largest factors in the success of a print, and currently, most users are going to struggle with this process.
The .gcode revealed a warped Benchy model on top of what appeared to be a triangular block. I opened this file in a few other .gcode viewers, and the warped perspective was persistent between them. I loaded the CR-30 with Prusament Azure Blue PLA, and printed the file directly from the SD card.
The model took 8 hours and 48 minutes to print, and it shows some of the unique strengths (and weaknesses) of the CR-30. The Benchy is printed at a 45 degree angle, with some of the overhangs looking extremely impressive for a model printed on its side. However, the large thick block it printed on was slightly curled at the corners, something that was recurring even after trying the model on several different spots on the belt.
I ran this print overnight and was delighted to find that the machine created 10 parts over the course of 15 hours and 37 minutes with no part failures. The ability to produce parts in a serial fashion is one of the major strengths of this machine, and this test print demonstrates that the printer is up to the task. These parts are fairly simple (a cylinder extruded from a cube), but they represent the ability of the machine to produce a part before moving it to the very end of the conveyor, which means a failed print will not scrap the entire job.
The first part slicer provided by Creality for the CR-30 is called CrealityBelt, and it offers bare-bones functionality with a few quirks that have made it one of the least popular slicer apps for this machine. The 3.6.0 in the name is a reference to Cura 3.6.0, which the slicer app CrealityBelt is built from. This version of the app was originally released in November 2018, and is now considered legacy software that has been replaced with newer, more feature-rich versions.
When printing a model on an FDM printer like the Monoprice Cadet, the first layer is typically printed slowly and on top of a raft that helps to fully adhere the model to the build platform. The analog on the CR-30 is the very first layer on the belt which requires a slow printing speed as well as a bead of filament to fully adhere it to the bed. Unfortunately, CrealityBelt does not offer these build platform adhesion helpers, so models sliced for printing require a wide first layer to properly adhere.
Just like the similarly feature-rich slicer PrusaSlicer (which is currently not compatible with belt 3D printers), ideaMaker offers varying levels of control to the user depending on the desired application. The default window has basic controls (move, rotate, scale, etc.) but the Advanced Settings window allows a deep dive into virtually all of the adjustable parameters you would find on a printer like the Creality CR-30.
ideaMaker creates an edge-to-edge purge line at the start of each print, which allows models with a thin first layer to stick to the platform and not delaminate. This feature alone makes ideaMaker worth using by default, as the CrealityBelt software does not offer this as a feature despite the obvious need to create a firm connection to the belt with the first layer. To test out how well this purge line works, I printed the Chainmail fabric designed by Agustin Flowalistik, which is made up of many individual bodies that are all separately connected to the platform.
The chainmail fabric completed in 2 hours and 34 minutes, and the model stayed firmly adhered to the belt during printing. I removed the chainmail by advancing the Z axis, causing the chainmail to slide right off the edge of the belt. This leads me to believe that this chainmail could be printed indefinitely; as the belt advances, the chainmail at the end will separate while new links are being printed.
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