Sovol SV06 Plus Operating Manual

[jpanhalt]

In another thread (https://www.eevblog.com/forum/3d-printing/getting-a-new-3d-printer-my-there-are-so-many/msg4934980/#msg4934980), I mentioned getting a Sovol SV06-Plus.  I am a complete novice at 3D printing.  First impressions have been good.   Mechanical assembly went without a hitch.  A question to support was addressed to my satisfaction promptly.

I did a first print two days ago and that worked.  The User Manual is fine for assembly but a bit brief for printing by a complete novice.  One example (attachment).  "Click the temperature icon"  The screen on the left shows two icons with temperature.  I assumed it meant nozzle/extruder temperature and clicked that.  However, the gantry was still at the extrude height from leveling.  I skipped ahead, found retract, did that, and was able to feed the filament to start printing.

Does anyone have a link to a detailed operating manual -- not YouTube -- for a complete novice?  This is not a complaint about the Sovol.  It worked better than I expected, but I wonder whether there are tools available that are not described in that manual.

John

[Lindley]

Don't think there is such a manual for most of these printers, for our little Ender it very much a case of looking around ytube to pick up operational hints and tips.

Assume you have you looked on the Sovol Forum for help and guidance ?

We were lucky with the Ender as on another non 3D forum an esisting user was able to give us the guidance to get past the very points you are probably struggling with.

We use Cheps site which is mostly about the Enders but feel sure you could apply many of his tips to your printer.
https://www.youtube.com/@FilamentFriday/search?query=sovol

Think if you posted your problem/s  here you might get a good answer  even though we may have different printers, the concept should be similar.

What are you using to create your designs,  the free version of Fusion360 may seem hard to get into, but looks to be one of the better routes, again ytube have masses of tutorials, many by Autodesks own staff.

[jpanhalt]

Thank you Lindley for the reply.

First print went off without a glitch, except for the minor one mentioned.  Second print, using a file I had on hand, started ok, but when it came time to print, nozzle temp wasn't rising.  Backed out of that and tried "Refuel."  That got me into a seeming loop, locked screens, and 3 or 4 reboots.  Turned off, waited a few minutes, then proceeded as with the first print.  Worked fine.  Only 18 minutes to print this (attachment, white version, blue is injection molded version).

I assumed a more detailed manual was not available, and so I will have to find the sequence that works best for me and keep notes.

One question:  Is there any way to control the texture of a large flat surface.  My guess is to print it as a vertical rather than  horizontal flat, as I did in that example.

As for my 3D CAD.  I used Ashlar-Vellum Cobalt and SolidWorks more than 15 years ago and had a little experience with SketchUp in about 2008.  I tried FreeCAD yesterday and looked at a couple of others that seem to be focused on free-form drawing, not geometric design.  I am most comfortable creating geometry, extruding (etc.), edging operations(e.g., radiuses, bevels), and mating objects.  I suspect Autodesk 360 free is built like that but won't run on my ancient Win7.  So, I expect to end up with a laptop with Win10/11 and am waiting until the August back-to-school sales.

John


PS: I still have Cobalt on one of my PCs, but it was a nightmare compared to SolidWorks and SketchUp.  However, I use its 2D version, Graphite, and export in DXF or PDF regularly for compatibility.

[Lindley]

You are welcome, though our help will be limited as we are also beginners and as you say do take plenty of notes as in a few months you often wonder how on earth you managed to do a particular print or design.  ( gets worse with age !   )

For top and bottom layers there are many ways to change them, mainly via Cura, though to date not something we have wanted to use.
An overview here  -  https://all3dp.com/2/cura-first-layer-settings-simply-explained/
A very detailed video  -

Fusion 360 does need W10 64bit version minimum, but as its more cloud based perhaps it does not need such a powerful pc ?
Either way we would do a fee upgrade to W10 while you can, we liked it though have moved to W11 as we upgraded the mobo recently.  Windows Defender security really good these days.

Have to say from your lack of comment about any printer set up  problems,  eg claibrating, sticking or not sticking to the bed, stringing  etc etc,  you do seem to be doing the actual prints very well.

[jpanhalt]

Thanks for the link.  I will review it later today.

I have many decades of experience with subtractive machining.  That's probably why I like 3D programs that start with primitives and modify them.  It's easy to visualize doing it on a mill or lathe.  The advantage with 3D is, you can add a fillet as an afterthought.

Now, what did you say about memory?   

And yes, except for the start problem, I have been impressed with the prints and have had no problem with sticking or not sticking.  There's a removable surface on the build platform that seems like a non-stick pan with a little extra.

John

[Lindley]

It does look a neat and easy to set up printer, even in the standard 220x220 size, plus its only about $40 dearer than the similar sized  Ender 3 V2 we bought the other year,  though at the time don't think Sovol was readily available here in the uk.

From what we remember about  design suite choice, in this forum and other web pages, think Fusion was top of the list and Freecad close behind which as it can run under W7 seems the way for you.

As you may have seen in this forum, a lot of concern about housing and running of 3D printers  for the many hours some prints can take, the option we went for was to house it in our garage workshop, detached from the house, and use the Octoprint program with a RaspPi to control it, including a Pi camera to allow constant monitoring, seem it does work with the Sovols as well.

[jpanhalt]

Why aren't drafts saved?  One wrong click and 30 minutes of response are lost -- as just happened.

@Lindley
I just had a chance to look at the video in post #4.  I had no idea Cura could control those variables.  Thank you again.  My next real project is the "travel levers" on my mini-excavator (only 3T but great for dead ash trees and various stuff on my hobby farm).  They control the forward and reverse movement of the treads. (Attachment)

The double-D hole would be hard to do by conventional machining.  3D should be easy, and now, I know how to manipulate the density and surface.   A pair of the original handles from Komatsu are almost the same cost as this printer.  The attachment shows an aluminum collar I made to hold the handles together until I get new ones made. My design will not have the lever side.  It's too tempting to twist it without effect.  The top will be more spherical.  All the handles do is control the relative motion of the two treads.  I am thinking of PETG as the print material.

Regards, John

[Lindley]

Have you seen this thread about Auto Saving ? 
 
https://forum.freecad.org/viewtopic.php?t=51855

That video, one of his many,  does seem long and slow , though for us,  he does get the points across clealry.

Generally only use PLA but for extra strength there are a lot of other materials , though many seem to have their own drawbacks in use or in printing. ( eg fumes)
Do use some PLA parts in the greenhouse, but they can readily warp in those higher temperatures, Black being the worse colour.

Have used PETG ok though needing higher temperatures to print ;  if you can reinforce them with metal like that collar all the better.

https://www.wevolver.com/article/strongest-3d-printer-filaments-choosing-between-pc-nylon-tpu-and-others