G04 dwell period control parameters

Question

I have a 3D printer that I built and I'm having trouble with some g code. I have to stop and start the extrude motor when the z axis moves up to the next layer. When I do this the 3D pen I am using goes back a little bit to prevent dripping. When the motor starts again the filament is not at the tip yet and I am trying to add a dwell time before it starts moving again to give the filament time to come out. When I enter G04 P100 after each M3 command (the code I have to use to start my motor) it dwells way longer than 100ms and P10 seems to take around 10 seconds. On Wikipedia it states the control parameters for ms is P and the one for seconds is X however the reprap wiki states the proper control parameter for seconds is S. So my question is what is the correct parameter and how precise can I be with seconds i.e. .0000 how many zeros can I have after the decimal. I am trying to calibrate and get accurate prints so any help would be greatly appreciated. I am using grbl version .8 with and arduino uno. The software I am using is Grbl Controller 3.6.1

Answer 1

Basically you are fighting against oozing. So a retraction, or as you call it:

the 3D pen I am using goes back a little bit to prevent dripping

needs to be undone. You can do this by extruding an amount to get the filament back at the tip. Command G1 Exx.xx where xx.xx is a number where the retraction is is added on top of the existing value. Furthermore, most slicing software have parameters available to influence the extrusion/retraction. E.g. "coasting" is an option to prematurely stop extruding and make use of the pressure buildup in the nozzle (this prevents blobs where perimeter end meets the perimeter begin), "extra length on restart" (replenish the nozzle chamber with extra filament) or "Retract on layer change". In principle all these actions are set and handled by the slicer you use for making a print file. There is no need for a "dwell time", in fact dwell is just a pauze. It seems a bit strange that you want to control the filament flow yourself, while all this is done for you by the slicer software.