Panda Revo™ with Diamondback nozzle: settings needed!

[CR8Flow]

Greetings to the forum!

I’m expecting to soon receive a Panda Revo™ hotend with a Revo™ Diamondback 0.4 mm nozzle. My request: what printer settings do you recommend?

I’d like to use it with the usual suspects: PLA, PETG, TPU, Nylon CF, Glass filled PLA, PP, etc. I realize that each filament will require different settings, so my priorities are to use it with:

1. PLA
2. PP
3. TPU
4. PLA CF
5. Nylon CF

In particular, I am guessing I’ll need to adjust these parameters:

• Nozzle temp
• Flowrate
• Acceleration
• Other?

Any advance and experience you’ve had with the Diamondback nozzle is appreciated!

[johnfcooley]

While I have the Revo, I think you’d be best served to run flow rates and temp towers yourself. I don’t say that to be dismissive, but there are variables between filaments and sometimes enviroments.
I will say with Obxidian I tend to bump some temps up by 5, but Diamondback may not need such a bump given how conductive it is.

[CR8Flow]

Great advice! I am expecting to do a lot of experimentation.

[Recoil1980]

Please post any results you get. I just got in the exact same setup for my X1C’s and just swapped everything out for one of them to test. There’s virtually no info on where to start, so I am just bumping up the max volumetric flow rate to 25mm^3/s and bumping the temp up 10c for generic PLA. Outside of that I guess I will have to switch over to Orca and try the calibrations…now it just kind of seems counter-intuitive to having a Bambu in the first place.

[CR8Flow]

You’re ahead of me because I’m still waiting for the Panda Revo hot-end and Revo nozzle to arrive.

It sounds like you’ve seen the YGK3D video testing high-flow nozzles that indicated flows above 25 mm^3/s don’t significantly lower the print time.

About nozzle temp: 3D Musketeers found he could LOWER the nozzle temp by 10ºC due to the higher thermal conductivity of the diamond tip. Let me know what you find while tweaking your settings.

[Recoil1980]

You are correct, that is the video I used to get the 25mm^3/s for the max flow rate. I also bumped the temp up for yellow Hatchbox PLA to 230.

My first test was the Bambu XYZ Cube. I sliced with Orca. My default setting I always lower the first layer speeds to 30 and first layer infill to 60. Everything else was out of the box settings for generic PLA.

I should also mention I got the Panda Jet Cooling Duct for these as well and did a device self test and calibration before I started the print. I probably need to clean and lube everything before I do more testing.

My first test came out really good, with very minor ghosting that is barely visible, and 2 small issues on the letters on the overhangs on the points.

E3D’s article (https://e3d-online.com/pages/revo-nozzle-maximum-flow-rates) shows temp at 220C and the max flow rate to be 13mm^3/s, which isn’t much higher than the 12mm^3/s it was at originally.

I guess I am still just going to have to run through the gambit of calibrations to see what a good average values to use should be.

[CR8Flow]

Thanks for sharing all your results so far! This is great for me to use as a starting point. I’ll find the Bambu XYZ Cube and try to replicate your settings as much as possible. I happen to have some Hatch Box Yellow PLA, so I can eliminate that variable. Unfortunately, I don’t have a Panda Jet Cooling Duct, but this will be a good comparison to see what effect that has on the outcome.

I received the Panda Revo hot-end today, so I will be installing and trying out the Revo Diamondback nozzle later this week.

[CR8Flow]

About the Bambu XYZ Cube: would you post a link to the model you used? There are a TON of variants, and I’d like to eliminate as many variables as possible.

[Recoil1980]

https://www.printables.com/model/222285-bambu-xyz-cube

[CR8Flow]

Thank you for sending the link to the XYZ Cube you used!

[CR8Flow]

Attached are the preliminary results from using the Panda Revo hot-end with the 0.4 mm Revo Diamondback nozzle. Let me know how this compares to what you found.

TL;DR - overall, my experience with the Panda Revo + Revo Diamondback has been positive. Here’re my opinions and assessment:

The Good

• Once the hot-end is installed, changing the nozzle is very quick and easy.
• The print quality looked good, but nothing special as far as I can see. Since I wanted to use the Diamondback with CF, high-temp and abrasive filaments, this works great for my needs. Lack of faster speeds and flow rates are not deal-breakers.
• The X1-C seemed to never skip a beat, and the nozzle was quickly calibrated and put into use without any special set-up.

The Bad

• Installing the new hot-end was a medium to high difficulty task. I damaged the hot-end cooling fan connector, so I’ve ordered a new one. I was able to get the connector back onto the Bambu control board, but I’m worried it will fail. This was partly my fault because I tried grabbing the connector instead of just yanking on the wires. The connector plastic was very soft, and it deformed and broke off at the edge. YMMV, so for anyone considering the Panda Revo replacement hot-end, be careful when doing the disassembly.
• The Panda Revo hot-end heater wires seemed too short. I had to pull the wires fairly aggressively to get enough slack. Getting all the wires bundled so that the mounting holes aligned was a challenge, and I followed their online video installation guide. I eventually got everything installed properly, but it was a struggle.
• The Revo diamond nozzle price is higher than other versions. I got mine on sale, but it’s still about 15-20% more expensive than other Diamondback nozzles. I’m hoping this is the last 0.4 mm nozzle I ever buy.

Filament I used:

Printer settings:

Test print results:

[RockChewer]

100%. I am finding every nozzle has its own quirks too, like the black ones from Alibaba where I have to drop the temp like 20 degrees for every filament for 0.4 and 0.6 sizes.

[Recoil1980]

Alright, latest update on my end, as I finally got more time to run additional calibration and testing. (Calibration · SoftFever/OrcaSlicer Wiki · GitHub).

I switched to Overture Black PLA to run all of these tests with. I also followed along for all the calibrations listed in Orca Slicer 2.1.1. Keep in mind, my start speeds on the first layer are 30mm/s, and 60mm/s for the first layer infill. Outside of that all settings were stock generic PLA with 0.2mm layer height, 0.4mm DB Revo nozzle in the Panda HE with Panda cooling duct.

Flow rate was the biggest change I had to make, going from 0.98 default to 0.9114. Pass 1 showed 0, and Pass 2 showed -7 to be the better of the selection.

Pressure Advance was good at 0.02. I only ran the line test.

The retraction test had zero stringing at all, so I changed nothing and going with it as is.

With the temp tower I was able to set the temps to 210c (default was 220c)…however, the max volumetric speed test only gave me 8.39mm^3/s. I ran another test with temp set to 230c and was able to bump up to 11.42mm^3/s. I also went 2 layers below where the print started to mess up at to give me a good conservative value to use as the max.

I ran the same cube test file again with the updated settings for a print that shows 31:29 to print on total time. The previous print I done (only changing the temp and max flow rate) took 34 minutes.

The negative side of the X has a minor blemish on it along the full right side, and several other spots scattered on the prints. I set the flow rate back to 98% and tried it again, with the same results. I’ve went through and reset everything back, and it’s still there. And after a careful look I notice it on the first print I did with Hatchbox yellow (it’s just very light)

Initially I thought it was due to lack of maintenance, but after I spent an hour wiping everything down, re-greasing the z screws, recalibrating, etc…still no luck. I’m going to try with Bambu slicer again with these updated settings and see if that may help, I just don’t know when I will get time to do it.

[CR8Flow]

Nice! Thanks for sharing your results! It’s really helpful in giving me ideas and direction to getting my self-up dialed in.

I’ll try out the calibration process with my Panda HE (with stock cooling ducts) to see if I can replicate your results. I’m guessing it’ll again be the weekend before I get to this…

[ghostgirl]

Wow, this is great information, commenting just so I can find it later if I wind up buying one of these. I’ve been getting into the more abrasive filaments, and have been debating it. Thanks!

[Recoil1980]

This is my latest test results. To rule out a mechanical issue I went back to Bambu slicer and ran the Flow Dynamics and Flow Rate calibrations that it has. I left all my other settings the same as the first test. I also unchecked the flow calibration at the start of the print.

Still using Overture Black PLA, with first layer speeds at 30mm/s & 60mm/s, 220c temp I got:
FactorK 0.018
Flow Ratio 0.951

Total time on print is 34:20, almost a full 3 minute increase from the one sliced in Orca.

Better pics because my wife wanted to be extra and use her spiffy phone camera…

Minor stringing on the -X side and small bump where the nozzle first started. There’s some slight temp variations on the exterior of the cube with very minor ghosting, but I am sure that can be solved with slowing the outer wall down a tad or tweaking the temp. All the other side wall imperfections are gone. I’m not overly impressed with the top layers, but they are okay for 80% of stuff that I print.

Honestly I can say that this might be worth it if I can use the same FactorK and Flow Ratio for this filament in all 3 of my printers, but I doubt that is going to work and I will have to calibrate each filament on all 3 of my printers. I’m still happy with my purchase, as I can use the same nozzles in my Vivedino Troodon V1 if I get a Revo HE for it. Nozzle changes will be quick, but how often do people switch nozzle sizes really?

[ProtoSpyre]

@Recoil1980

but how often do people switch nozzle sizes really?

When you have a print farm, changing nozzles isn’t normally what you’d do. You’d simply have a set number of printers that run different sizes.

I’d say were running a semi-print farm just cause I didn’t and don’t want our shop to be known as a print farm. So in my case I keep the A1’s with varying nozzle sizes (0.6-0.8) and the X1’s never change from their 0.4 nozzles. Only 1 so far uses a panda revo Obxidian 0.4 revo nozzle as well and for a special job were using the brass 0.15mm nozzle which is $$$

[Recoil1980]

I should have elaborated a bit more. I have 3 X1C’s, so I bought three of the Panda HE’s, with three 0.4mm DB’s, and one each of 0.25mm, 0.6mm, and 0.8mm. Add in the cost of the Panda Jet ducts, I tanked in quite a bit of money.

Those are just the printers I have here at home, and don’t count the ones I run at work. I primarily print in ASA and CF filaments, both for prototyping and production parts. And in the 2 years I have been running X1C’s, I have only had 1 hardened steel nozzle get damaged and had to replace it. I’ve also never had the need for anything other than a 0.4mm nozzle, but I like having options.

This option likely isn’t for someone who is running 1 or 2 printers occasionally, and it would be a better investment to just buy extra Bambu HE’s, or possibly the E3D HF ObXidian route. You can get 3 of the SF or HF Revo ObXidian nozzles for the price a DB nozzle costs.

However, this option is great for someone like myself who runs a lot of higher temp and more abrasive materials, unlike my wife who just wants to print the next coolest articulated trinket or vase to sit on her desk at work…I’m buying the cheaper Revo nozzles for the printer she thinks is hers

[Recoil1980]

I have determined this is going to be tedious as ■■■■ trying to dial in each filament on each printer. I didn’t get a Bambu for all that. Chasing microns and perfect layers with countless hours of dialing in may be for some people, but not for me.

I ran another test. Using the chart for the regular flow DB from here (https://e3d-online.com/pages/revo-nozzle-maximum-flow-rates) I went back to my default PLA profile and I set the volumetric flow rate to 13. The K factor is still saved on the filament in the AMS for the printer I am using, so it probably has some bearing on this. The Flow Ratio for this filament profile is set to the default 0.98 for Generic PLA.

I did drop the outer wall speed down from 200mm/s to 150mm/s, but it changed nothing on the print time. I also set the temp from 220C to 230C. Still using Overture black PLA.

This time I left on the Flow Calibration at the start of the print. There is no noticeable difference in the print from the profile I tediously dialed in last time and this one.

I went ahead and ordered a set of the HF Revo ObXidian nozzles for my other 2 printers, since this one is what I print ASA and CF filaments on.

TL;DR: Just set the volumetric flow rate according to the chart at the link above, set temp, drop outer wall speed, get the right HF ObXidian Revo nozzles for more speed and the SF DB Revo nozzles for abrasive filaments.

[johnfcooley]

I own one P1S. I change nozzles more or less at least once a week. I appreciate the ease, especially from .4 to .6. Printing a large print that’s taking several days to maybe a week and a half. I haven’t sliced it all yet. After printing a part at .4 I realised that a .2 would do it better. I was able to swap, print, and swap back for that hour print.

I have too many BBL nozzles and the E3D one as well. Still I prefer the Revo.

I get you may not, but some of us do and it’s a nice convenient feature to have.