I just bought the 3d chameleon kit a few days ago and after finishing up the red/orange LR4 kit, this will go on the v5… I think.
As a follow up to my MP3DP v4->v5 upgrade (here) and the chameleon owner inquiry thread (here, and here) and the discussion of other 3d printing mmu options (here, here) such as ERCF and TradRack, AMS (bambu), MMU (prusa), this thread is intended to show what this chameleon option is and how It will be integrated into the klipper setup on the v5.
I’m interested in suggestions or information the following question for starters:
Where is the best place to put the runout sensor? the input Y? Probably not hanging off the core, but probably not far from it…
What is the optimal tube length? short as possible?
What macros are required
What “upgrades” like the filament cutter are possible
How does one use this multicolor feature most efficiently in terms of minimal color change time and minimal filament waste while maximizing print time?
FYI: 3DChameleon version 4 is basically done / discontinued now, but it is all pushed to open source. All the designs and board plans are up on github now as of Nov 28th. I bought one of the closeout MK4’s. You can build one with 2 motors and a couple bearings and an extruder pulley and some printed parts.
If you built a v4 or a v5 with an octopus, then there are 2 extra channels on the board that can be used to control the changer and the filament feed motor. I’m attempting to set this up now.
Edit: after further reading of his thread, he said this:
“The plan is to simplify and expand the design even farther. And those “add-ons” are actually enabled by this release. Along with our current ideas, we will be able to incorporate other’s ideas as well.”
so this particular design is done. 3dchameleon is not over nor are they abandoning multicolor… Just time for a different approach is probably a more adequate explanation.
“done” as in they’re not selling kits anymore, and/or, you’re done setting up the 3D Chameleon hardware for your v5 build? fwiw - I didn’t see any recent videos on their channel about why kits are no longer being made, or what’s next for them.
the good news is that you can totally build one now with that chameleon design that is open source.
There are klipper macros to run it and you have the option of plugging the 2 motors directly into your printer board if you have 2 spare channels or you can add a second micro with the motor drivers. It is way less complicated than the other options I’ve seen, but this is still inexperience talking, so perhaps overly optimistic. I’m going to get it to work hopefully soon and I’ll write it up because getting all the details together has been more challenging than it should be.
the link above to the post with the open files has a link to the github page will all the goods. Check it out if you are curious.
Maybe the 2 channel motor controller that came with the 3dchameleon set is a reasonable candidate for a zenxy…