The title is a bit of gibberish to those unaware, but this past weekend, before my trip, I managed to make time to try to upgrade my 3d printer to use the ADVi3++ firmware. Basically, this means upgrading and re-flashing the firmware of the built-in controller board and LCD panel with the ADVi3++ software – a process which is at least a little risky. I was not 100% confident, but the promised advantages outweighed the possible frustration of having to resolve any issues.
However, this required a lengthy process, made more challenging thanks to my addon z-axis support rails, and the leveling feet that attach on each corner. Each of these had to be removed, before I could access the micro SD card slot, to actually install the software. I would say in general it was time consuming, but not really difficult. The biggest challenge was not breaking the ribbon cables, or loosing any of the small screws.
The process I used was posted previously in the ADVi3++ online manual, but the initial idea I found on an excellent posting on general improvements to the Monoprice Maker Select Plus printer, posted by Agent86 on the site, WithoutTheSarcasm.com. Although I have been trying a variety of physical improvements, this was the first article that really made me aware of and gave me enough familiarity to consider a firmware upgrade.
Fortunately, the upgrade itself was nearly flawless – my only mistake was forgetting to remove the microSD card from the slot at the end of the upgrade (so I had to disassemble and reassemble the printer twice). But otherwise the process as listed in the install steps worked exactly as described.
The biggest gain I have seen thus far is a new way of doing bed balancing – based on 5 distinct points (corners and center), rather than the default sequential corners only. This allows me to swap back and forth between corners quickly and easily, rather than having to go in order, and re-start the sequence if I need to re-check.
Unfortunately, this additional precision has also revealed that my bed surface is challenging to level – I believe the glass surface may have a slight bow. I can get one pair of opposing corners level with the center, but the opposite pair is either too high, or too low. Since my bed also has a 3 point leveling modification, I can only assumed I have a bow running down the middle. This weekend, I am going to try going back to a 4 point leveling, to see if I can’t bend the bow out enough to allow for a clean print. Though I still don’t have a good explanation as to how the glass bed became bowed – borosilicate glass is not supposed to have that issue.
