Klipper is a 3D printer firmware that runs on a general purpose Linux computer (a Raspberry Pi in this case) as opposed to the microcontroller of the printer. The advantage of this is that the complex inverse kinematic calculations of delta printers can be processed on the Raspberry Pi, which has way more computational horsepower compared to the 32-bit microcontroller in the printer. This way, all the microcontroller has to handle are the movement commands (ex. move stepper_a 10 steps) as well as heating commands (ex. heat extruder to 200 degrees). This results in a much smoother operation of the printer.
Another advantage of Klipper is that you don't have to recompile and flash the printer firmware every time you change something in the configuration file like you do in the Marlin firmware. You can even edit the configuration file on the web interface and hit a button to reset the printer and instantly load the new configuration. This makes the tuning process much more efficient.
It's also highly configurable. Here are some of the cool things you can do with it:
git pull frequently.Due to the lack of information about how to configure Klipper for this particular printer, I have decided to create this repository that contains everything you need to get Klipper up and running on the FLSUN QQ-S Pro delta 3D printer as well as an in-depth tutorial. I've also added a short guide on how to install a filament sensor and/or a BL Touch on the printer.
The QQ-S Pro uses a board very similar to the MKS Robin Mini, but shares the same pinout as the MKS Robin Nano V1.
Open this link and connect the filament sensor to 'MT_DET1' and use the printer_qqs(Filament Sensor).cfg file.
Note that this is a highly recommended upgrade because the stock FLSUN Highspeed board has an empty slot available for it. You also don't have the problem where you have to connect it to the Raspberry Pi when running the printer from a web interface, like you do in Marlin. It's a simple upgrade, just plug it in and you're good to go. No soldering or removing of components required.
Note that it is usually not recommended to use an offset probe like the BL Touch on a delta printer due to effector tilt. However, this can be compensated for by running Klipper's enhanced delta calibration routine. It's a very involved process, but if you're installing a BL Touch, I'm sure that's not a problem for you.
I've only included this here because I was able to get it to work just as well as the stock probe, but the only advantage that it has is that you don't have to remove the probe everytime you either auto-level the bed or run a calibration routine.
Open this link for the pin reference on the board.
printer_qqs(BL_touch).cfg fileThere are 4 different types of configurations for the QQ-S Pro in the configurations folder:
They are all the same, with some sections commented out according to your desired configuration. I've inlcuded four of them so that you can just simply copy and paste it without having to comment sections out, which can lead to errors if done incorrectly.
Hardware you will need:
Software you will need:
The heart of Klipper is the Raspberry Pi, which will be running both the firmware and the web interface through which we control the printer. These are the steps to set up the Pi. This guide is going to go over how to configure the Mainsail or fluidd web interface as OctoPrint isn't as optimized for Klipper. Although it works just fine with the OctoKlipper plugin, both Mainsail and fluidd were developed for Klipper (fluidd is a fork of Mainsail so they're pretty similar). They both have a better interface in my opinion.
However, if you are hellbent on using OctoPrint or need to use its massive plugin library, you need to download OctoPi and install the OctoKlipper plugin to get it working but I'm not going to cover the OctoPrint setup since it's already covered in the original Klipper installation page. Step 2 and Step 4 are still relevant though.
Download the latest release of the MainsailOS
mainsailos-wpa-supplicant.txt## WPA/WPA2 secured
#network={
# ssid="put SSID here"
# psk="put password here"
#}# in front of them
put SSID here with the name of your WiFi network (don't delete the double quotes)put password here with the password of your WiFi network (also don't delete the double quotes)pipassword (or raspberry) https://mainsailos.local.
mainsailos-wpa-supplicant.txt and uncomment your country for it to work ssh pi@mainsailos.localcd klipper_configtouch printer.cfggit clone https://github.com/th33xitus/kiauh.gitcd ../kiauh./kiauh.shexitThis firmware is the same for all QQ-S Pro printers. The configuration is done on the Raspberry Pi.
I've included a pre-compiled version of the printer firmware in the precompiled_firmware folder that should work for all QQ-S Pro printers.
If you'd rather compile it yourself or my precompiled version is not working for some reason, this is what you need to do:
ssh into your Raspberry Pi: ssh pi@mainsailos.local
Navigate to the klipper directory: cd klipper
Type: make menuconfig and select these settings:
Press q to quit and y to save your settings
Type make to compile the firmware
Next, navigate to the scripts folder: cd scripts
Run: ./update_mks_robin.py ../out/klipper.bin ../out/robin_mini.bin
Navigate to the out directory and verify that the file 'robin_mini.bin' exists: cd ../out then ls
Disconnect from your Pi: exit
Download the 'robin_mini.bin' file from the Raspberry Pi to your computer using sftp: sftp pi@mainsailos.local then cd klipper/out then get robin_mini.bin
Drag this file into the root directory of the SD card of your printer, insert it, and power it on. It is the same process as flashing Marlin or any other firmware on the QQ-S Pro.
Open the web interface http://mainsailos.local in your browser
Plug in the printer to one of your Raspberry Pi's USB ports
ssh into your Raspberry Pi: ssh pi@mainsailos.local
Find out which serial port your printer is connected to: ls /dev/serial/by-id/* and copy the output
Open up the printer.cfg file on your browser:
Once in the printer.cfg file, delete everything and copy the contents of the desired config file from the configuration folder of this repository
Set your printers serial port:
[mcu] sectionserial: and paste your output from step 4Press the 'Save & Restart' button, if successful you should hear the printer beep and take a couple seconds to connect
FIRMWARE_RESTART in the consoleTest the connection by homing your printer or typing G28 in the console.
The first thing we need to do is connect the z-probe to the effector (the autolevel switch), attach any print surface material (masking tape, etc.), then heat the bed up to 50 degrees since materials expand with heat.
First you need to calculate the 'z_offset' by opening up the web-interface console and typing: PROBE_CALIBRATE
After the probe stops, remove it then do the paper test (place a piece of paper under the nozzle)
Type: TESTZ Z=-<value> to decrease Z-height and TESTZ Z=+<value> to increase it, where <value> is the amount in mm by which to decrease or increase the Z-height (usually 0.05 or 0.01 if close to the bed) so that there is just a little friction between the nozzle and paper.
when you are satisfied with the Z-height, type ACCEPT and then SAVE_CONFIG
edit your printer.cfg, any existing 'z_offset' will have been commented out in the [probe] section, and a line with the correct value will have been inserted at the bottom of the file
add the correct 'z_offset' value into your [probe] section
make sure that horizontal_move_z in the [delta_calibrate] section, is set to a value 5-10mm higher than the z_offset we just calculated
save the file and restart
home the printer and re-attach the probe
Then type DELTA_CALIBRATE. Once this is done type: SAVE_CONFIG to save the settings.
Bed mesh leveling is enabled in all the config files, so after setting the Z-offset, type BED_MESH_CALIBRATE in the console then SAVE_CONFIG
when finished.
Remove the probe
Copy START_PRINT and paste it in the start g-code of your slicer.
Copy END_PRINT and paste it in the end g-code of your slicer.
gcode: line in both [gcode_macro START_PRINT] and [gcode_macro END_PRINT], so the only thing that should be in your slicer is START_PRINT and END_PRINT. This way, if you need to add or delete any gcode commands, they can all be done in the config file without having to reslice the model.Load some gcode and start a print
Both Mainsail and fluidd allow you to adjust the z-offset while printing if the calibration didn't get it quite right. If you do this, this z-offset value (which is shown on screen) is reset after every print. In order to make that value permanent you have to:
go back to [gcode_macro START_PRINT] and uncomment the line: SET_GCODE_OFFSET Z_ADJUST=-0.1 MOVE=1 by removing the # in front of it.
Then replace -0.1 with the z-offset value you got during printing. This way, it will load your specific offset every time you start a print.
The END_PRINT macro is equally important, because it resets the offset value after every print. If you don't add it to your slicer, Klipper will add your offset values after every print. Ex. print1 offset=0.1, print2, offset=0.2,... until you restart the printer.
Here is the Klipper documentation where you can find more info about configuring Klipper. These config files are a great starting point and will get you up and printing. However, everyones printer is slightly different and will need to be calibrated and tuned further. Klipper has a lot of really cool features like pressure advance and input shaping. Take the time to read through the documentation and understand Klippers features; there's so many. The config reference section is probably the most useful reference while tuning.
Why does my bed mesh look really weird?
Either your printer is not calibrated properly or your probe is not accurate enough
Try running PROBE_ACCURACY with your Z-probe attached and if you get a range value greater than 0.025 mm, your probe is not accurate enough to use mesh leveling and you have to delete your mesh profile in the web interface.
If You get a range value less than 0.025 mm, then you need to run the Enhanced Delta Calibration
You can look at these examples of bed errors to see if they look like your bed mesh. If so then running the Delta Calibration should help.
Why is my extruder temperature reading way off?
sensor_type: EPCOS 100K B57560G104. Check out the documentation for all supported temperature sensors.Why is my probe not working?
This was my mistake! I forgot to invert the logic of the probe pin. I've updtaed the configuration files fix this issue. To fix:
[probe] section of the config file and change pin: PA11 to pin: !PA11.Why is my printer timing out when I home it?
[idle_timeout] and timeout: 360 lines in the config. Try commenting them out. I've made this change in the config files as well Why is my printer going backwards when I home it?
This is probably due to the use of different stepper drivers, it can be fixed by adding a ! in front of each dir_pin in the [stepper] section.
For example:
[stepper_a]
dir_pin: !PE2Do this for all 3 steppers.