Bondtech is well known by the value our customers add to their printers when they upgrade them with our upgrade kits, or when they make them using our standard extruders. Everytime our hardware is installed it adds extra extrusion power and resolution to the printers, and because of that users need to perform some tweaks on the firmware.
Updating the whole or part of a printer’s firmware may be challenging for some people, but with this article we want to make the process more accessible, especially because in the case of our extruders, only the e-steps parameter is required to be updated.
This list may be updated if there is new hardware and firmware updates from Bondtech. Older versions will stay on bottom, and the new on top.
Use only firmware changes that match your hardware setup.
How To Choose The Right Firmware Tweak:
- Identify which Bondtech extruder kind you are using to upgrade your printer;
- Identify the thickness of the filament you are using;
You are using either a BMG type or a QR extruder to power your printer.
You are using either 1.75 type or 2.85mm filament in your printer.
Use Extruder kind and Filament thickness to select the right tab.
Updating 3D printer models upgraded with BMG
This section applies to the following Bondtech extruders:
- BMG
- BMG-M
- BMG-X2
- BMG-X2-M
The BMG uses a 3:1 gear reduction to create high extrusion resolution and high torque. Because of this, the E-step value needs to be adjusted to 415. The E-step is the value that tells the printer how many steps to send to the motor for each mm of filament.
Your 3D printer model may be in one of the following states:
- EEPROM writing not enabled;
- EEPROM writing enabled;
- EEPROM flashed with bootloader;
If you try to save settings, they get lost each time you power off the printer.
If you can save settings that do not get lost each time you power off the printer.
The bootloader is software that enables to write firmware over USB.
Summary of Bondtech Specific Changes
- E-step is now 415:
Some 3D printer’s firmware cannot be flashed. In this case the required change of e-steps is made by g-code in the start script.
Because the change is implemented only in the start g-code the filament moves, loads and unloads done with the User Interface of the printer will require 3 times more repetitions.
In the printer profile of your slicer you will have to add the following line to the start script so it will set the new E-step value to 415:
M92 E415
You should add the following line to your start g-code:
G28 ; home all axes
M92 E415; set new E-step value for Bondtech BMG Extruder
…
If you can write to the EEPROM of your 3D printer and you do not wish to make any other changes to the firmware, you can use a g-code file to set and store the new e-steps setting.
In a text editor write the following two gCode commands and save the file with .gcode extension :
M92 E415; set new E-step value for Bondtech BMG Extruder
M500; store setting
After finishing editing save the file to the SD card and use the printer interface to “3D print it”.
If you have installed a custom firmware in your printer you can change the e-step value directly in the firmware so there will be no need to put the command into the start script.
In Marlin, In the file configuration.h there is a section that contains the step values for the printer:
/**
* Default Axis Steps Per Unit (steps/mm)
* Override with M92
*X, Y, Z, E0 [, E1[, E2[, E3[, E4]]]] */#define DEFAULT_AXIS_STEPS_PER_UNIT{ 80, 80, 4000, 96}
In order to set the new steps per unit from 96 to 415 make this change:
/**
* Default Axis Steps Per Unit (steps/mm)
* Override with M92
*X, Y, Z, E0 [, E1[, E2[, E3[, E4]]]] */#define DEFAULT_AXIS_STEPS_PER_UNIT{ 80, 80, 4000, 415}
After customizing your firmware with the required change, you can just flash it into the printer.
Updating 3D printer models upgraded with QR
This section applies to the following Bondtech extruders:
- QR using 1.75mm filament
The QR uses a 5.18:1 gear reduction to create high extrusion resolution and high torque. Because of this, the E-step value needs to be adjusted to 476.5. The E-step is the value that tells the printer how many steps to send to the motor for each mm of filament.
Your 3D printer model may be in one of the following states:
- EEPROM writing not enabled;
- EEPROM writing enabled;
- EEPROM flashed with bootloader;
If you try to save settings, they get lost each time you power off the printer.
If you can save settings that do not get lost each time you power off the printer.
The bootloader is software that enables to write firmware over USB.
Summary of Bondtech Specific Changes
- E-step is now 476.5:
Some 3D printer’s firmware cannot be flashed. In this case the required change of e-steps is made by g-code in the start script.
Because the change is implemented only in the start g-code the filament moves, loads and unloads done with the User Interface of the printer will require 3 times more repetitions.
In the printer profile of your slicer you will have to add the following line to the start script so it will set the new E-step value to 476.5:
M92 E476.5
You should add the following line to your start g-code:
G28 ; home all axes
M92 E476.5; set new E-step value for Bondtech QR Extruder (1.75)
…
If you can write to the EEPROM of your 3D printer and you do not wish to make any other changes to the firmware, you can use a g-code file to set and store the new e-steps setting.
In a text editor write the following two gCode commands and save the file with .gcode extension :
M92 E476.5; set new E-step value for Bondtech QR Extruder (1.75)
M500; store setting
After finishing editing save the file to the SD card and use the printer interface to “3D print it”.
If you have installed a custom firmware in your printer you can change the e-step value directly in the firmware so there will be no need to put the command into the start script.
In Marlin, In the file configuration.h there is a section that contains the step values for the printer:
/**
* Default Axis Steps Per Unit (steps/mm)
* Override with M92
*X, Y, Z, E0 [, E1[, E2[, E3[, E4]]]] */#define DEFAULT_AXIS_STEPS_PER_UNIT{ 80, 80, 4000, 96}
In order to set the new steps per unit from 96 to 476.5 make this change:
/**
* Default Axis Steps Per Unit (steps/mm)
* Override with M92
*X, Y, Z, E0 [, E1[, E2[, E3[, E4]]]] */#define DEFAULT_AXIS_STEPS_PER_UNIT{ 80, 80, 4000, 476.5}
After customizing your firmware with the required change, you can just flash it into the printer.
Updating 3D printer models upgraded with QR
This section applies to the following Bondtech extruders:
- QR using 2.85mm filament
The QR uses a 5.18:1 gear reduction to create high extrusion resolution and high torque. Because of this, the E-step value needs to be adjusted to 492.45. The E-step is the value that tells the printer how many steps to send to the motor for each mm of filament.
Your 3D printer model may be in one of the following states:
- EEPROM writing not enabled;
- EEPROM writing enabled;
- EEPROM flashed with bootloader;
If you try to save settings, they get lost each time you power off the printer.
If you can save settings that do not get lost each time you power off the printer.
The bootloader is software that enables to write firmware over USB.
Summary of Bondtech Specific Changes
- E-step is now 492.45:
Some 3D printer’s firmware cannot be flashed. In this case the required change of e-steps is made by g-code in the start script.
Because the change is implemented only in the start g-code the filament moves, loads and unloads done with the User Interface of the printer will require 3 times more repetitions.
In the printer profile of your slicer you will have to add the following line to the start script so it will set the new E-step value to 492.45:
M92 E492.45
You should add the following line to your start g-code:
G28 ; home all axes
M92 E492.45; set new E-step value for Bondtech QR Extruder (2.85)
…
If you can write to the EEPROM of your 3D printer and you do not wish to make any other changes to the firmware, you can use a g-code file to set and store the new e-steps setting.
In a text editor write the following two gCode commands and save the file with .gcode extension :
M92 E492.45; set new E-step value for Bondtech QR Extruder (2.85)
M500; store setting
After finishing editing save the file to the SD card and use the printer interface to “3D print it”.
If you have installed a custom firmware in your printer you can change the e-step value directly in the firmware so there will be no need to put the command into the start script.
In Marlin, In the file configuration.h there is a section that contains the step values for the printer:
/**
* Default Axis Steps Per Unit (steps/mm)
* Override with M92
*X, Y, Z, E0 [, E1[, E2[, E3[, E4]]]] */#define DEFAULT_AXIS_STEPS_PER_UNIT{ 80, 80, 4000, 96}
In order to set the new steps per unit from 96 to 492.45 make this change:
/**
* Default Axis Steps Per Unit (steps/mm)
* Override with M92
*X, Y, Z, E0 [, E1[, E2[, E3[, E4]]]] */#define DEFAULT_AXIS_STEPS_PER_UNIT{ 80, 80, 4000, 492.45}
After customizing your firmware with the required change, you can just flash it into the printer.