Very disappointed at how little guidance is given for Hemera setup!

Discussion in 'Troubleshooting' started by Tony MacDonald, Dec 17, 2019.

  1. Tony MacDonald

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    I was very excited to get my new Hemera (Hermes) direct drive kit. I printed a really good mount (not one of the ones that E3D sponsored as that one was crap) for my CR-10s and very easily got it installed.

    OK Great I need to set this thing up. Lets see all of the documentation...

    Um, it's useless. I mean there are lots of pictures sure, but actual usable info? There's the eSteps/mm which is close but wrong. And some advice on retractions. That's it!

    Now if your intent was to sell these things to season'ed professionals only, OK that's one thing. However if you plan to sell to the masses you might want to consider adding much more info. Troubleshooting guides for starts. Maybe a base profile for Cura / Simplify 3D/ and Prusa Slicer? I know they wont be perfect, but you should be able to get people close.

    When I didn't find any official documentation I figured well they have a forum, someone will surely have some info in there... Nothing. Barely even a mention of the thing. And the place is a ghost town.

    Hopefully I don't have to waste too much plastic to dial this thing in. But I'm a long way from there.
     
    Rob Harkey and ChrisW like this.
  2. Supermario

    Supermario Member

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    I'm on the same place as you.

    Very disappointed that I got this product, I'm really thinking about giving up and sell it as I can't get it to work properly.

    I couldn't even find how much tension I should use on the extruder knob.

    I deeply regret buying it.
     
  3. Tony MacDonald

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    One thing I did figure out on my own, no thanks to E3D is that I had to up the voltage to their stepper to stop it from skipping. I'm still not perfect but at least I'm not having that issue any more. Seems weird to me that a 3to1 extruder would need more power than a stock CR-10 stepper.
     
    #3 Tony MacDonald, Dec 18, 2019
    Last edited: Dec 18, 2019
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  4. Thorinair

    Thorinair Well-Known Member

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    I have found all the documentation I needed on their Dozuki page, here are the settings specifically for Marlin: https://e3d-online.dozuki.com/Guide/E3D+Hemera+Marlin+firmware+modification+(Direct)/129?lang=en

    I've had no issues setting it up and the step count was beyond exact, tried to extrude 100 mm of filament, exactly 100 got extruded, actually made me surprised. I am using the same driver current as I've used on my Titan and didn't have any skips. If your step count seems incorrect, make sure that your printer is not ignoring what you have set in the configuration. I've had my Marlin load the old steps from EEPROM, effectively extruding 2x more than it should have, but that is totally on me.

    EDIT: maybe I should mention, I've went with common sense on the tension knob, I've first turned it until I felt a resistance suddenly applied to the rotational movement - this means that it reached the spring part, and after that I've done exactly 2 turns - this has worked well so far with PLA with no skips.
     
    #4 Thorinair, Dec 19, 2019
    Last edited: Dec 19, 2019
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  5. Tony MacDonald

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    Not all of us came from another E3D extruder. In fact the vast majority come from stock printer extruders. I never had any issue setting up Marlin or eSteps. What the documents are missing is any guidance on how to set it up in your slicer other than one mention of retraction settings. I know that all printers are different, but they could have provided some info on the common ones like the CR-10, Ender3...

    Also there is no mention of the fact that you are going to need to fix the fact that the new extruder will no longer home to the center of your print surface or how to fix that. Not everyone who buys these things has a ton of experience in 3D printing.

    I did finally get mine dialed in. The biggest issue I had was the I had to up the stepper current to about 830 to get it to stop skipping. Again nothing mentioned. And even if it were all documented, you'd think that you'd get at least a small amount of support if you asked them for it.
    So far you are the only one to say anything. Thank you.
     
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  6. Thorinair

    Thorinair Well-Known Member

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    There is also a guide for CR-10: https://e3d-online.dozuki.com/Guide/Hemera+Creality+Ender+3+(CR-10)+Upgrade./107?lang=en

    I do agree that it doesn't say anything about the firmware or the slicer, but the firmware can be found on the Hemera firmware guides list, and the slicer generally doesn't really need any changes, other than retraction settings that is.

    EDIT: Forgot to comment about the offsets. That is indeed true. You can change these options in the firmware itself. Just set them as relative to the hotbed when homed.
     
  7. Tony MacDonald

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    Yeah saw those. Boy mine sure needed a LOT of changes. Again was coming from a stock CR-10 bowden to a Hemera direct drive.
    Retractions, Coast, Wipe, Jerk, Acceleration....
     
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  8. ChrisW

    ChrisW New Member

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    Tony do you still have your Hemera on the CR10?
    I would like to know whats your VREF is?

    And I have so many Jams after a few hours ... ?

    Which Firmware do you use? Did you come from Stock?

    I had and have a BLTouch running (TH3D Firmware)

    Everything works fine, except that it is highly unreliable and so very disappointing.


    BTW: The extruder fan is nightmare, i need a replacement, my replacement seems not to give enough air, so i need to work on it.
     
  9. Robert Cordero

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    Well i can't even get it to touch the bed on my ender 3 v2. Z0 is 28 mm above the bed and nothing will print and cant zoffset that much. i also had to cut a bunch of my old wire for it just to fit. those wires are so short. i cant even go back to my stock. At this point i am ready to toss the entire printer out and start new.
     
    #9 Robert Cordero, Mar 11, 2021
    Last edited: Mar 25, 2021
  10. Bryan Mesa Josue

    Bryan Mesa Josue New Member

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    What mount did you use, do you have ABL? which firmware are you using
     

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