Calibrate PID Settings

This section explains how to calibrate the Proportional, Integral, and Derivative (PID) for the Extruder and Heater Bed. I am using a target temperature of 200C for the Extruder and 60C for the Heater Bed as I only print with PLA filament and those are the temperatures I set to print with.

If you use a mixture of filaments like PLA/PETG etc., you may want to use the average temperatures between the two (If you print with PLA at 200/60 and PETG at 240/70 you could PID calibrate with an average of 220/65 etc.).

• PID Calibrate Extruder:

  • From the MainsailOS web interface;

  • Send a PID_CALIBRATE HEATER=extruder TARGET=200 command in the Console;

  • Watch the Temperature chart and you will see that the Extruder is heated to 200C and cooled a series of times;

PID Extruder

• At the completion of the calibration, the PID parameters for your printer will be displayed in the Console area;

• Send a SAVE_CONFIG command in the Console;

  • This will update the printer.cfg file with the new PID settings and restart Klipper;

SAVE_CONFIG

• PID Calibrate Heater Bed:

  • From the MainsailOS web interface;

  • Send a PID_CALIBRATE HEATER=heater_bed TARGET=60 command in the Console;

  • Watch the Temperature chart and you will see that the Heater Bed is heated to 60C and cooled a series of times;

PID Heater Bed

• At the completion of the calibration, the PID parameters for your printer will be displayed in the Console area;

• Send a SAVE_CONFIG command in the Console;

  • This will update the printer.cfg file with the new PID settings and restart Klipper;

SAVE_CONFIG

• Checking the printer.cfg file to ensure the new PID settings are updated:

  • From the MainsailOS web interface, click Machine, then click on printer.cfg;

As you continue to fine tune your printer settings, every time you send a SAVE_CONFIG command in the Console, it will make a backup copy of your current printer.cfg file (adding a date/time).

You may have to click on page 2 in the Machine menu to find your printer.cfg file, as the backup take up space on page 1.

Machine > printer.cfg

• The printer.cfg file should load into an editor window;

You should not be making any changes at this point, we are just confirming that the PID tuning settings have been updated;

printer.cfg

• Scroll down in the printer.cfg file until you get to the sections [extruder] and [heater_bed];

  • You will notice that the previous default PID settings have been commented out and will not be used;

Old PID Settings

• Continue scrolling down to the very bottom of the printer.cfg file until you reach the;

  • #*# <---------------------- SAVE_CONFIG ----------------------> section;

  • A new [extruder] and [heater bed] section should be present, along with their corresponding calibrated PID values;

Any of the settings added to the printer.cfg file in the SAVE_CONFIG section will automatically load when Klipper is started. You do not have to edit or touch the settings in this area. If you ever re-do a PID calibration or any of the calibrations, the values will be updated in this section.

Extruder and Heater Bed PID Tuning Values

• Once you have confirmed these settings;

  • Close the printer.cfg file by clicking the X near the top right of editor;