Hello, I decided to give a try to the ace pro 2 system, because I bought U1 for multicolor but I discover so fast that 4 head are not enough!
As said the system is more a filament storage and auto swap mid print than a reliable color change due to the missing filament cutter (tip forming is still too unpredictable, or need a lot of tuning).
So I decided to give a try to modify the toolhead to add a cutter…
This test is just a try, and I still did not mount it into the printer to test as an automatic movement (so i dont know if the motor could give enough strength to cut it, or the toolhead could support this side force: around 3.5kg to cut PLA)
@decay71 got the mutliace mod up and running yesterday. Wanted to share a picture of the custom cable and my first print where colors 1-4 came through Tool 1 and an ACE PRO 2 and the other 3 were from the snapmaker feeders (sry for the stringing was so excited didn’t have time to dry the filament).
For the custom cable, I thought I would share my photo here so others can avoid spending time trying to connect the USB cable directly into the back of the ACE PRO 2 and troubleshooting error-32 FYI the chain is Snapmaker → Custom USB A to Male Molex → 4 Pin to 6 Pin K3 Cable (comes with the ACE 2) → 6 Pin Molex Port on Ace Pro 2.
I plan on uploading a series on getting the mod up and running on YouTube to promote your awesome work as I we discussed on your channel
You can follow along below if you would like (link is unboxing the snapmaker the other day). Let me know if you have any thoughts or suggestions as I go along. Thank you again and will have to buy you a coffee when its all done.
Nice project! Two things I’d be curious about once it’s mounted: does the motor reliably cut without skipping steps (lost steps would shift the position), and does the head stay firmly seated under that side load? A cutter would be a nice addition.. A macro hook before the unload would be the natural way to integrate it, tell me when you are ready, you can do a pr or i’ll implement it.
Hi, nice, glad it worked right away. I’ll definitely follow this, new subscriber! If you have any questions, you obviously know where to find me. Have fun!
Thank you @decay71 ! I think a setup video tutorial will make your mod even more popular! The bumps I had along the way were mostly my fault
Not realizing the custom USB cable went into the K3 cable, not directly into the ACE Pro 2 rear port. Had fun connecting via ssh and troubleshooting Once I went back and read your site more carefully it made sense. I added a picture above and perhaps adding a simple cabling diagram to your webpage would suffice. I think the confusion arises bc the ACE 1 can be directly connected to the usb cable? I might have seen it in a YT vid before I started the multiace mod.
Using PLA that had been lying around and was brittle due to moisture. Lead to a piece breaking in the extruder head which isnt the fastest I’ve ever had to disassemble. It also lead to weird states where the ACE PRO 2 wouldnt load the filament all the way into the head due to filament breaking in the PTFE tubing. I needed to unload the desired filament, reload from a different filament slot in the ACE, and then the intended filament would load to the head. Takeaway, make sure you have dry filament to avoid headaches.
I updated the ACE PRO 2 by connecting to the anycubic kobra to v1.1.32. Once the cable issue was resolved the extra menu popped for updating the ACE PRO 2 via the multiace web interface (very nice). Had to look in a few different places to find the 1.1.31 swu firmware/password in order to flash. Minor suggestion would be to have the web interface show the ACE PRO 2 update interface but indicate that it cannot connect rather then hiding it altogether. I thought maybe I had done something wrong with the multiace firmware installation I started with PAXX 1.6 firmware bundle then went to 2.0 during troubleshooting.
Had to install the moonraker timelapse plugin via ssh and edit permissions, folders, config files, and add to the gcode in snapmaker orca to get the timelapse functionality back. Perhaps bundle the timelapse moonraker plugin and git in the firmware?
When slicing the Gcode, and mapping the heads to the filament slots, I setup PLA in Orca but the RFID read PLA+ so the tool head was not listed as a possible drop down. Perhaps allow the tool heads and provide some kind of warning about material mismatch?
I figured out how to print my disk test (shown above) to optimize for time in orca, once I have background swaps enabled. I think the biggest draw back to multi-color printing is the time which your parked swaps solution solves with out needing additional tool heads. I saw that the multiace gcode interface suggest a filament loading order but if we define the filament and the tool heads do you think the multiace code rearrange the printing order to optimize for time with background swaps auto-magically
For the ACE PRO 2 auto-drying setting I wasnt sure if it was persistent bc there isnt a save button and the dryer button in the upper right de-selects on refresh. If you select it again the checkbox appears to stay selected as do the humidity settings, so I am guessing it is persistent as long as the snapmaker is on?
I think without these hiccups the mod would have taken 30-60 minutes to install! Amazing work! Thank you very much!
With my cable you also need the normal ACE connection cable, both are described in the manual. A simple diagram would probably make it clearer though, I’ll think about it.
Yes!
Good suggestion, showing the firmware section with a “not connected” note instead of hiding it would have saved you the doubt. Noted.
Timelapse is part of the firmware, not multiACE, so bundling the Moonraker plugin would be something for the firmware side (paxx).
The matching is strict on material on purpose, so a head never gets the wrong material. For now, either set the slot to PLA in the web UI or use PLA+ in Orca. For close cases like PLA and PLA+, a “use anyway” option with a warning makes sense, I’ll put it on the list.
The loadout suggestion already takes background swaps into account and puts the swap-heavy colours on BG-enabled heads. It doesn’t reorder the print sequence itself though, that stays with the slicer.
Yes, the auto-dry settings are saved on the printer and survive a restart. The dryer button at the top right only opens or closes the panel, it isn’t a setting.
No need to think about it. Diagrams are much easier to understand quickly than reading reams of text that might not be in a user’s native language or badly translated.
If you want tidy diagrams drawn, I’m available – DM me.
Once I went back and read your site more carefully it made sense. I added a picture above and perhaps adding a simple cabling diagram to your webpage would suffice. I think the confusion arises bc the ACE 1 can be directly connected to the usb cable? I might have seen it in a YT vid before I started the multiace mod.
at 11:30am NY, USA time.