Layer shifts, empty bed software bug, and other issues.



  • I'm not sure how to best express my disappointment with the Pulse XE and the MatterHackers Control software. Here's what I'm dealing with:

    1. Layer shifts. They're constant. What's worse, I can't get the printer to operate in standalone and print directly from the the SD card, so I can't even troubleshoot if it's a COM port issue, firmware, or mechanical. How can I not do such a simple task?

    2. Empty bed issue. Others have reported this. There's a part loaded, but the software somehow is unable to detect it.

    3. I Can't import or load previously exported g-code. Incredible.

    4. After spending $1500, I still have a advertisement tab that won't go away asking me for more money that I can't get rid of. Absolute insult to injury.

    5. Can't hide the bloat 3D design stuff. I use solidworks; I don't need to 3D print cones and blocks.

    6. Where can I find documentation on settings for different bed/material combinations? I have the yellow/orange bed, which I've seen referred to as layerloc and garolite; how do I use this bed with different materials? There's nothing that I've found on this in any documentation.

    I've let the printer sit in the corner for a year because it's so frustrating. How do I address these issues?


  • Global Moderator

    @stephenbell Most of what you have listed can be found on the forums by using the search. I will try to help you.

    Most of your complaints are simply just not knowing how to use the software. You really need to sit down and take the time to familiarize yourself with the printer and software.

    You have the Garolite bed, do you have the magnetic bed? If so, you can add just about any material to the bed that has a spring steel plate adhered to it. Glass, Garolite, PEI, etc. Go to Matterhackers.com, look for 9x10 inch surfaces.

    Do you have the free version of MatterControl or have you subscribed to the Pro version? You can minimize the primitives on the left to be very small, is it really that detrimental to you? You dont have to use Mattercontrol to slice your objects, but you will need to use it add the leveling calculations to your gcode.

    You can import gcode into Mattercontrol, just drag it onto the bed, simple.

    Im not sure what the empty bed issue is. I think sometimes if you try to open an object just in a workspace instead of on you printers bed tab, the item wont show up. I will research this more.

    Layer shifting can be caused by a number of things. Yes, you can operate the printer in standalone mode. You will need to export your gcode with leveling.


  • MatterHackers

    Would love to get more info on issue '2. Empty Bed'. Can you include a description or screen shot of what you are seeing? I have never heard of an issue like this. Also have not heard of not being able to open gcode. We are very responsive to these issues and make hot fixes to the build for things like this. Anything that prevented the loading of gcode would be very high priority.

    You can hide the tools in the tool bar by right clicking on it and selecting hide on them. Or you can open the overflow menu (three buttons to the right of the tool bar and hide them).



  • Thanks @Tinken. The Pulse was my 9th 3D printer, and have owned it for well over a year. I've spent hours on the forums looking for how to do simple tasks; to assume this is appropriate for a printer sold as a reliable machine makes no sense, and to then suggest I need to pay for a subscription to get basic functionality I though I already paid for kinda misses the plot, doesn't it?

    Dragging and dropping gcode files does not work-- Nothing happens. Loading the gcode to an SD card doesn't work. I select a gcode file at the printer-- nothing happens (and yes, I export the file as explained on this form to do so). Slicing files takes 3-5 minutes, vs 5 seconds with Simplify or Cura. @LarsBrubaker The Empty Bed issue: See Here and Here. A part appears on the plate, but when I try to slice or click print, it gives an error: empty bed. Updated to the latest version and trying the suggestions in those threads made no difference. I'm not sure what 'workspace' vs 'printer bed tab' means, but if it were an intuitive UI, should I have to?

    I don't have these issues with my other workflows, so I'm going to take your suggestion and use another slicer. Maybe I'll try MC again in the future when it's been decluttered and streamlined.


  • Global Moderator

    @stephenbell Sorry you are still experiencing issues with your printer.

    You do not need the Pro version of MC in order to use your printer. Pro version is for special add-ons and ad removal.

    I find that the actual slicing on MC is faster than my Cura and Simplfy. That being said, when you press the slice button; MC does not just slice the object, it optimizes and also writes to your drive and then reloads it. MC is based on Cura slice engine. CPU/drive speed is the factor here. I have a 1012 layer print that takes a maximum of 30 seconds to do. Actual slicing part of this process is done in under 1 second. The difference may be your hardware. Graphics are unmatched in Mattercontrol, you can see great detail and the texture shading is awesome, but here hardware is required. I have nVidia and Radeon video cards which work equally well. If you are using cpu graphics, here could be one of your issues. I assume you have a high end video card since you are working in Solidworks?

    You can use another slicer, but you still have to load the item back into MC to place the leveling code into your gcode.

    I would like to know more about the hardware you are using, maybe a system info printout would help us. You may also have a bad install of the program? If you reinstall MC, uninstall it, remove folders created and any registry entries you may have. Reboot before reinstalling again with the most up to date software.


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