Qalam Pro user manual

Chapter 01

Safety first

A 3D printer melts plastic and moves on its own. Read this page once before the first print.

• Emergency stop. The red hand at the bottom-left of every screen stops everything. Press and hold it for about ¾ second (details). If the screen reports that the stop did not reach the printer, switch the printer off at the wall.
• Fumes. ABS, ASA and PC give off fumes while printing. Print them in a ventilated room and keep the door of the printer closed.
• Stay nearby for your first prints, especially for the first layer, which is where most failures start.
• Power. Use the supplied power cable and a grounded outlet. Do not switch the printer off at the wall during a print unless it is an emergency: the print can be recovered (chapter 12), but the part may not survive.

Chapter 02

Getting to know the screen

The screen has a narrow sidebar on the left and a large content area. The sidebar is always there; the content area changes as you tap.

The Home screen

When the printer is idle, Home shows the machine, the time, whether the printer is ready, the filament you have loaded, and quick links to your files, temperatures and Wi‑Fi.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

1. Home. This screen. While a print is loaded it shows the print instead.
2. Controls. Move the axes, heat the nozzle and bed, fans, filament, light.
3. Settings. Wi‑Fi, 3DISM Remote, storage, calibration and the toolbox.
4. Info. Machine information: model, serial, IP address, versions, usage.
5. Emergency stop. Press and hold to stop everything.
6. Clock and date.
7. Printer status. Ready in green means you can print. Not ready in amber means the printer is still starting.
8. Loaded filament and its temperature, from the filament profile (Controls › Filament).
9. Print Files. Everything you can print. This is where every print starts.
10. Temperatures. Nozzle (flame) and bed. Tap either one to set a temperature.
11. Wi‑Fi. The network the printer is on. Tap to open the Wi‑Fi page.
12. The robot. OK in green when all is well, PROBLEM in red when the printer has reported something. Tap it when it is red to see what happened.

HomeHome screen, or the print while one is loaded

ControlsMotion, heaters, fans, filament, light

SettingsWi‑Fi, Remote, calibration, toolbox

InfoMachine Information

Emergency stopHold ¾ s. Never locked

The sidebar icons have no labels. The green icon is the section you are in. A very dark icon is locked (see below).

How the touchscreen responds

• Buttons act the moment your finger touches them. There is no need to press hard, and no double-tap anywhere. Rest your finger on a button only when you mean it.
• In lists (files, Wi‑Fi networks, settings rows) an item acts when you lift your finger, so you can scroll by dragging without opening anything.
• Back. The grey arrow button at the top-left of a page goes back one step. Tapping a sidebar icon closes everything and returns to the start of that section.
• Panels from the right. Keypads and settings panels slide in from the right over a darkened screen. Tapping the dark area closes the panel without saving. Keypads send nothing until you press Confirm.
• Confirmations. Anything that cannot be undone (cancelling a print, deleting a file, restarting the printer) asks first in a box in the middle of the screen. Tapping outside the box keeps things as they are.

When the sidebar is locked

The emergency stop is never locked.

Messages at the top of the screen

Short messages drop in at the top of the screen. A red border means something was refused or went wrong; it stays about 8 seconds. A green border is for information; it stays about 5 seconds. The ✕ closes a message at once. Many messages carry a button that fixes the problem in one tap.

Switching on

The screen comes on before the printer software is ready, so for the first half minute or so it shows Starting up — Getting the printer ready…. Then Home appears with the status Ready.

If the printer is still not answering after about 40 seconds, the screen says The screen has lost the printer. See troubleshooting.

Emergency stop

Use it when something is about to crash, burn or break. It works on every screen and is never locked.

1. Press and hold the red hand at the bottom of the sidebar. A red ring fills around it.
2. Keep holding for about ¾ second, until the ring is full. Letting go early cancels: nothing happens.
3. The printer stops at once. Heaters switch off and the motors stop. The message Emergency stop — Heaters off and motors stopped appears and Home shows Emergency stop was used.
4. When it is safe, press Restart the printer on that screen. The printer restarts in a few seconds and returns to Home. The stopped print cannot be continued.

Chapter 03

Wi‑Fi and remote access

Wi‑Fi lets you send prints from OrcaSlicer straight to the printer and, with 3DISM Remote, watch it from anywhere. You can also print from a USB stick without any network.

Connect to Wi‑Fi

1. Open the Wi‑Fi page. On Home, tap the Wi‑Fi tile, or go to Settings›Wi‑Fi.
2. Check the Wi‑Fi switch is on (green) at the top of the page.
3. Tap your network under OTHER NETWORKS. A lock means it needs a password. The bars show signal strength: four green bars is excellent, one is weak.
4. Type the password on the on-screen keyboard. The password is shown in plain text as you type, so you can check it. Most home networks need 8 to 63 characters; the line under the box counts them for you. Use ⇧ for capitals (tap twice for caps lock) and ?123 for numbers and symbols.
5. Press Confirm (or Done on the keyboard). Joining can take up to a minute: Connecting to <network>… This can take up to a minute.
6. Done. The bottom of the page says Connected to <network> in green, and CURRENT NETWORK shows the network with the printer's address, for example IP 192.168.1.42.

Saved networks

Networks the printer has joined before are listed under SAVED NETWORKS. The printer rejoins them by itself. Tap one that is in range to connect without typing the password again, or tap its … button for Connect, Change password and Forget this network.

Forgetting a network deletes its saved password: The printer will no longer join this network by itself. To join it again you need its password. Use it when you change routers, or before giving the printer to someone else.

If joining fails

The printer's IP address

You need the printer's address (its IP address) to connect OrcaSlicer. It is shown in two places:

• Settings›Wi‑Fi, under the current network: IP 192.168.1.42. This one is always up to date.
• Info, under NETWORK › IP address. This is read when the screen starts.

Typing that address into a web browser on a computer on the same network opens the printer's web interface.

3DISM Remote: your printer from anywhere

3DISM Remote links the printer to your 3DISM account, so you can check progress, watch the camera and control the machine from the 3DISM app or from 3dismcloud.com when you are away from it. Pairing takes a minute and is done once.

1. On the printer, open Settings›3DISM Remote (the card on the left of Settings). The page first checks whether the printer is paired already (Checking with 3DISM Cloud…). If it is, it says so; skip to the last step.
2. Press Get pairing code. After a few seconds (Asking 3DISM Cloud…) a QR code appears, with a six-character code under it, for example K7Q-4MX. It is valid for 10 minutes; the countdown is shown under it.
3. Scan the QR code with the 3DISM app or your phone's camera. On a computer, open 3dismcloud.com/pair and type the code instead.
4. Sign in to your 3DISM account, or create one.
5. Done. Within a few seconds the printer shows Paired to and your account, with the printer's remote address. The printer now appears in your app and at 3dismcloud.com.

Check your machine's details

The Info icon opens Machine Information: model, build volume, serial number, IP address, remote address and software versions. Have this page open (or a photo of it) when you contact 3DISM support. It is described in chapter 11.

Chapter 04

Your first print, step by step

This chapter takes you from a switched-off printer to a finished part. It assumes you have never used a 3D printer before. Allow about an hour, most of it waiting for the bed to be measured and the part to print.

Step 1 · Switch on

1. Place the printer on a stable, level table with some space around it for air, and remove all packing material from inside the printer.
2. Switch it on. The screen shows Starting up, then Home.
3. Wait for Ready in green on Home, and the robot showing OK.

Step 2 · Join Wi‑Fi

Follow Connect to Wi‑Fi and note the IP address shown under the current network. If you will only print from USB sticks, you can skip this step.

Step 3 · Load filament

1. Open Controls›Filament. The spool picture shows the material the printer thinks is loaded, for example PLA.
2. If it is not the material you are loading, tap Edit, choose the material (PLA, PETG, ABS…) and a colour, and press Confirm. This sets the temperature used to load and unload.
3. Mount the spool and guide the filament end towards the print head. Cut the end at an angle with side cutters so it feeds cleanly.
4. Tap Load. The nozzle heats first; the ring shows the nozzle temperature rising towards the target (figure). Then the screen shows each step the printer reports.
5. Feed the filament in when the printer is ready for it, and keep a gentle push on it until the extruder grips it and pulls it in.
6. Watch the nozzle. Loading is done when clean plastic in the new colour comes out and the Filament page returns to normal.

Step 4 · Level the bed for your material

The bed is never perfectly flat, and its shape changes as it heats. Auto Bed Levelling measures the bed at the temperature you print at and stores that map, so the first layer comes out even everywhere. You do this once per material temperature, not before every print.

1. Remove anything lying on the bed.
2. Open Settings›Printer Calibration›Auto Bed Leveling.
3. Tick the materials you print. PLA, TPU is ticked already. Add PETG, ASA or ABS, PC if you use them.
4. Press Measure 1 (the number is how many you ticked). The printer heats the bed, homes, prepares and probes the bed point by point. Each temperature takes roughly 12–18 minutes. Do not touch the printer.
5. Done when the message 1 mesh saved — The printer restarted to store them appears. The material now shows a green measured badge.

Full details: Auto Bed Levelling.

Step 5 · Prepare the file in OrcaSlicer

A 3D model (STL or 3MF) has to be turned into printer instructions (a G-code file) by a slicer. Set up OrcaSlicer with the Qalam profile once (chapter 5), then for each print:

1. Pick the Qalam printer, the filament you loaded and a print profile, for example 3DISM QALAM 400, PLA QALAM and 0.2 … tuned profile.
2. Add your model and press Slice plate.
3. Send it: Print → Upload puts the file in the printer's Print Files; Upload and Print also starts it. Or export the G-code to a USB stick.

Step 6 · Start the print

1. On Home, tap Print Files. Your file is at the top of the list (newest first). Files on a USB stick are under USB Drive.
2. Tap the file. Check the details: estimated time, filament weight, material.
3. Make sure the bed is empty and clean and the right filament is loaded.
4. Press Print. The print starts immediately, without a second question. The message Print started appears and the screen switches to the print.

First the printer heats the bed and nozzle; the print screen says Heating — Warming up — the print starts on its own and the temperatures turn from amber to green as they arrive. It then prepares (homing, levelling) and starts printing by itself.

Step 7 · Check the first layer

Stay with the printer for the first layer. A good first layer is flat and slightly squashed: the lines touch each other with no gaps, and the surface feels smooth.

To adjust, tap Fine Tune on the print screen and use the Z offset buttons. Each press moves the nozzle by the step size (0.010 mm by default) straight away. How the Z offset works.

Step 8 · Finish

1. The screen says Print complete with the ring at 100%.
2. If you changed the Z offset during the print, the printer asks Keep this Z offset? Press Keep it if the first layer looked right, so every print from now on starts at that height. The printer restarts in a few seconds to store it. Press Discard if you are not sure.
3. Let the bed cool for a few minutes. Most parts release more easily from a cool bed.
4. Remove the part, then tap Done to clear the finished job and return to Home.

Chapter 05

OrcaSlicer: profiles, connection and sending prints

OrcaSlicer turns a 3D model into the G-code file the printer runs. The 3DISM Qalam profile tells OrcaSlicer everything about your machine: bed size, speeds, temperatures and the start and end routines. Set it up once; after that, printing is three clicks.

1 · Install OrcaSlicer

1. Download OrcaSlicer for Windows, macOS or Linux from its official releases page: github.com/OrcaSlicer/OrcaSlicer/releases. On Windows choose the file ending in Windows_Installer_…_x64.exe; on a Mac, the one ending in Mac_universal_….dmg. It is free.
2. Install and open it. The first time, a setup wizard asks for your region, a printer and a filament, and it will not go on without one of each. Tick Generic Printer Klipper and Generic PLA, then press Next until Finish. Your Qalam printer comes from the 3DISM profile you import next.

2 · Import the Qalam profile

3DISM supplies the Qalam profile as files: a printer profile for your model, filament profiles for each material, and process (print quality) profiles. They may come as one bundle file or as several .json files. If you do not have them, ask 3DISM support.

1. In OrcaSlicer, open the File menu › Import › Import Configs…
2. Select the profile files 3DISM gave you (you can select several at once) and click Open.
3. OrcaSlicer confirms the import. The Qalam profiles now appear in the Printer, Filament and Process lists, under User presets.

3 · Choose the Qalam printer, filament and process

On the Prepare tab, the panel on the left has three drop-down lists. Choose:

What the Qalam profile sets up for you

You do not need to change any of these. They are listed so you know why the 3DISM profile matters.

4 · Connect OrcaSlicer to the printer

With a connection, OrcaSlicer sends files straight to the printer over your network. The computer and the printer must be on the same network.

1. Find the printer's IP address on the screen: Settings›Wi‑Fi, under the current network (how).
2. In OrcaSlicer, click the Wi‑Fi icon to the right of the Printer heading (figure above).
3. Set Host Type to Octo/Klipper.
4. In Hostname, IP or URL, type the printer's IP address, for example 192.168.1.42. Leave the API key empty.
5. Click Test. OrcaSlicer reports that the connection works. Click OK to save.

5 · Slice and send a print

1. Add your model: drag an STL, 3MF or STEP file onto the plate, or use File › Import › Import 3MF/STL/STEP/SVG/OBJ/AMF….
2. Check the printer, filament and process in the left panel.
3. Click Slice plate. OrcaSlicer switches to the preview and shows the estimated time and filament.

   

4. Click Print. In the window that opens, choose:
   • Upload: the file goes to the printer's Print Files. Start it from the screen when you are ready.
   • Upload and Print: the file goes to the printer and starts at once. The printer's screen jumps to the print. Only use this when the bed is clear and filament is loaded.

Printing from a USB stick instead

1. In OrcaSlicer, after slicing, click the arrow next to Print and choose Export G-code file, then save the .gcode file to the USB stick.

   

2. Plug the stick into the printer. Within a few seconds the USB Drive tab in Print Files becomes available.
3. Open Print Files›USB Drive and tap the file.

Slicer settings worth knowing

Chapter 06

Fine tuning a print while it runs

Fine Tune adjusts the print that is running now: the height of the first layer, speed, flow and fans. Open it with Fine Tune on the print screen.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

1. Reset to 0. Back to the saved height. Asks first.
2. Further from bed. Raises the nozzle by one step.
3. Current Z offset. Minus means closer to the bed than the saved height.
4. Closer to bed. Lowers the nozzle by one step.
5. Step size: 0.005, 0.010 (default), 0.025 or 0.050 mm per press.
6. Print speed, 10–300 %.
7. Flow, 50–150 %.
8. Part fan, 0–100 %.
9. Chamber fan, 0–100 % or Auto.
10. Progress, or a lock note when something cannot be changed right now.

Z offset: the height of the first layer

The Z offset is how far the nozzle sits above the bed when it prints. A few hundredths of a millimetre make the difference between a first layer that sticks and one that does not. The printer's saved height is 0.000; Fine Tune moves the nozzle relative to it.

• Each press moves the nozzle straight away by the selected step. Presses add up: three presses of Closer to bed at 0.010 give −0.030 mm.
• An amber number means the change has been sent but not confirmed yet (Applying…). It turns white within a couple of seconds.
• Change in small steps and watch a few lines print between presses. 0.010 mm is right for most adjustments; use 0.025 or 0.050 only when the layer is clearly far off.
• Use it on the first layer. Later layers print on top of plastic, not the bed, and are not affected by small changes.

Setting it during heat-up

While the printer is still heating before the first line, Fine Tune says Heating up — Z offset is applied when printing starts; speed and flow unlock then. You can already set the Z offset: the value is held (Held — applied when printing starts) and applied in one go when printing begins, with the message Z offset applied.

Keeping the offset for future prints

When the print ends, if you changed the Z offset, the printer asks Keep this Z offset? and tells you how far you moved it, for example During that print you moved the nozzle 0.020 mm closer to the bed.

• Keep it stores the new height, so every print from now on starts there. The printer restarts to store it, which takes a few seconds, and shows Z offset saved.
• Discard does not store anything. Your saved height is unchanged for future prints.

Print speed and flow

When either is not 100 %, a small 100% button appears under it to reset it. These changes last for this print only.

Fans

• Part fan (0–100 %, steps of 10) cools the plastic just after it leaves the nozzle. The print file sets it too, so your value may be replaced at the file's next fan change.
• Chamber fan (0–100 %, steps of 10) moves hot air out of the chamber. Auto means the printer controls it from the temperature; pressing + or − switches to a fixed speed, and Auto hands it back.

When controls are locked

Temperatures during a print

The nozzle and bed temperatures on the print screen are buttons. Tap one to open the keypad and set a new target, for example to raise the nozzle by 5 °C for a material that is not flowing well. The temperature in the print file applies again at the next change the file makes.

Skipping a failed part

When several parts print together and one fails (it came loose, or has turned into spaghetti), you can stop printing just that part and let the others finish.

1. On the print screen, tap the picture card on the left. It reads Tap to skip parts when the file supports it.
2. The Objects page shows the bed from above: the part printing now in green, the others in grey, skipped parts in red with a cross.
3. Tap the failed part. The printer asks Stop printing this part? … will be skipped for the rest of the print. This cannot be undone.
4. Press Skip part.

This needs Label objects switched on in OrcaSlicer (slicer settings).

Chapter 07

The print screen

While a print is loaded, the Home icon shows the print. It stays until you clear the finished job.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

1. The part and file name. Tap to skip parts (how).
2. Progress. Green while printing, amber while paused or heating.
3. Status and time left. Estimating… at the very start.
4. Nozzle temperature: current / target. Green at temperature, amber while heating, grey when off. Tap to change.
5. Bed temperature, the same way.
6. Layer (current / total), Elapsed printing time, Filament for the whole print, Speed.
7. Pause, or Resume when paused.
8. Fine Tune: Z offset, speed, flow, fans (chapter 6).
9. Cancel. Asks first.
10. The robot: OK, or Problem when the printer reported something. Tap it.

What the print screen can say

Pausing and resuming

• Pause stops the print where it is. The printer keeps its place in the file.
• While paused, the other sections unlock, so you can, for example, change filament in Controls›Filament. Homing and moving the bed are blocked, because they would run into the part: Not with a print on the bed.
• Resume continues from the same point.

Cancelling

Cancel asks Cancel this print? — The job cannot be resumed afterwards. Press Keep printing to go back, or Cancel print to stop. A cancelled print cannot be continued.

When the robot turns red

Some problems do not stop the printer but pause the print: filament running out, a loose sensor wire, a heater that cannot keep up. The headline then says Paused — problem and the robot shows Problem. Tap the robot to open What happened: a plain explanation, numbered steps, and the printer's own message for 3DISM support.

Dismiss turns the robot green again once you have read it. If the printer still reports a faulty sensor, the warning stays (Still showing a fault) until it is fixed. The full list of these messages is in chapter 13.

Chapter 08

Print Files

Every print starts here. Open it with the Print Files card on Home.

Tabs

Finding a file

• Sort with the button at the top right: Newest → Name → Size.
• Folders (brass folder icons) come first. Tap one to open it; the button with the folder name at the right of the tabs goes back up.
• Each card shows a picture of the part, the name, the estimated print time and the filament weight. The dot is the filament colour set in the slicer.
• The list refreshes by itself every few seconds, so a file sent from OrcaSlicer appears without doing anything.

File details

Tapping a file shows Estimated time, Filament (weight), Material, Layers, Height, Layer height and File size, taken from the slicer. A dash (—) means the slicer did not record that value.

• Print starts the print immediately. If another print is already loaded (printing or paused), it refuses: A print is already loaded — Finish or cancel it before starting another.
• Delete asks Delete this file? first. The file being printed cannot be deleted (This file is printing).

Chapter 09

Controls

Controls is where you move the printer, heat it, run the fans, handle filament and switch the light. Open it with the icon. It is locked while a print is running; pause the print to use it.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

1. Fans: part cooling fan speed. Tap for all fans.
2. Filament: the loaded material, or Loading… / Unloading…. Tap to load, unload or edit.
3. Motion: home and move the axes.
4. Nozzle & Extruder: current / target nozzle temperature. The small print head lights up when filament is detected.
5. Chamber: chamber temperature. Shows -- on machines without a chamber sensor.
6. Heatbed: current / target bed temperature. Tap to set it.
7. Light: switches the chamber light on and off.

Motion

Nozzle & Extruder

• ▲ / ▼ arrows pull the filament back or push it forward by 10 mm. The nozzle must be hot (at least 170 °C); otherwise the printer refuses with Hotend is too cold to extrude and offers to heat it.
• Nozzle temperature opens the keypad.
• Nozzle Type records which nozzle is fitted: Hardened or Stainless, 0.4mm, 0.6mm or 0.8mm. It is a label for your reference; it does not change how the printer prints and returns to Hardened 0.4mm after a restart. If you fit a different size, choose the matching printer profile in OrcaSlicer.

The temperature keypad

Every temperature on the screen opens the same keypad (nozzle, bed, and the temperatures on the print screen).

• The keypad opens with the current target. The first digit you press replaces it; then type up to three digits. ⌫ deletes the last digit.
• Confirm sets the temperature and closes the keypad. A value above the printer's limit is lowered to the limit.
• ❄ Cooldown switches that heater off. It is refused while a print is loaded.
• Closing the keypad without Confirm changes nothing.

Fans

Filament

The Filament page loads and unloads filament and stores the filament profile: the material, its colour, the nozzle temperature used to load it, and its pressure advance.

• Load heats the nozzle to the profile temperature and pulls the filament in (step by step).
• Unload heats the nozzle and pushes the filament back out.
• −10 · −1 · +1 · +10 move the filament by that many millimetres: minus pulls it back, plus pushes it through the nozzle. The nozzle must be hot.
• The temperature pill under the spool heats the nozzle; its keypad starts at the profile temperature.
• While a print is running these buttons are greyed out: Filament actions are disabled while printing. Pause the print first.

Edit Filament

Choosing a material fills in its usual temperature and pressure advance. Reset restores those values for the selected material. Confirm saves the profile and sends the pressure advance to the printer at once. Closing without Confirm discards the changes.

Light

The Light switch on the Controls page turns the chamber light on and off.

Chapter 10

Calibration

Calibration routines measure the machine and store the results so every print starts from the same, correct baseline. Open Settings›Printer Calibration. They cannot run while a print is loaded.

A routine marked (not available) in grey is not fitted on your machine, for example Gantry Levelling on a machine with a single Z motor.

Running Vibration Compensation, Gantry Levelling and PID tuning

1. Tick the routines you want. They run in list order.
2. Press Start. The printer homes first (Homing — Finding the endstops), then runs each routine. The screen shows the step, Step 1 of 2 and the time elapsed.
3. Leave the printer alone. Vibration Compensation shakes the machine noisily for several minutes; this is normal.
4. When it finishes, press Save in the message Calibration finished — Save the new values? The firmware will restart. The message only stays for a few seconds. If you miss it, the new values are not stored; run the routine again.

• Stop switches the heaters off. The step in progress has to finish first, then nothing more runs and nothing is saved: Calibration stopped — Heaters are off. Nothing was saved.
• While a calibration runs, the sidebar and the back button are locked so the result is not lost.
• Gantry Levelling on its own has nothing to save; the message then just says Calibration finished. The same levelling is also on the Motion page (Level the bed).

Bed Leveling Corners

The bed rests on adjustable knobs at its corners. This routine touches the nozzle probe down at each one and tells you which way, and how far, to turn each knob so the bed sits flat.

1. Start with the bed at room temperature. A hot bed expands and gives a false reading.
2. Open Printer Calibration›Bed Leveling Corners and press Probe. The printer homes if needed and touches each corner. Keep hands clear.
3. Read the drawing of the bed (the back of the machine is at the top):
   • reference: the corner the others are compared with. It is never adjusted.
   • level: within 5 minutes of the reference. Leave it.
   • Amber arrow with an amount, such as 20 min clockwise or 1 turn 5 min anticlockwise: turn that corner's knob by that amount, the way the arrow points.
4. Press Probe again and repeat until the page says All four corners are level and Bed is level.

Auto Bed Levelling

The bed changes shape as it heats, so the printer keeps a separate bed map for each range of bed temperature and picks the right one by itself from the bed temperature in your print file. Measure the temperatures you actually print at.

1. Clear the bed.
2. Tick one or more temperatures. A green measured badge means that one is already stored. With several ticked, they run back to back, coolest first; allow about 12–18 minutes each.
3. Press Measure. The page follows the run: Heating › Homing › Preparing › Probing › Saving, with live nozzle and bed temperatures and, while probing, Point 12 of 49.
4. Wait for the message 3 meshes saved — The printer restarted to store them. It picks the right one automatically from the bed temperature.

• Nothing is stored until every ticked temperature is done (Nothing is stored until all 2 are done). Leave the page open until the end.
• Stop switches the heaters off; the measurement in progress finishes and nothing is saved (Stopped — Heaters off. Meshes already measured were not saved.).
• If one temperature fails, the page shows Bed mesh failed at <material> with the reason. When earlier temperatures were measured successfully, the message offers Keep 1 to keep them.
• If the message says The meshes were measured but NOT saved, run Auto Bed Levelling again without leaving the page.

Chapter 11

Settings, Toolbox and Machine Information

Software updates are installed by 3DISM; there is no update button on the screen.

Toolbox

Both restarts are refused while a print is loaded (Not available with a print loaded), because they would end the job. They are allowed when the printer has already stopped with a fault.

In Services, a green dot means running, grey means off and red means not working. Always on services cannot be switched off from the screen. If no camera is fitted, the Camera service can be switched off.

Machine Information

If the machine is missing something its model normally has, an amber note says so, for example Expected on a QALAM Pro 400 but missing from this machine's configuration: … Contact 3DISM support.

This page is read when the screen starts. If the network came up later, the IP address may show a dash; the Wi‑Fi page always shows the current address.

Chapter 12

Power-loss recovery

While it prints, the printer keeps a record of where it is. If the power goes off in the middle of a print, it can pick up from the same place when the power comes back.

1. Switch the printer back on and wait for Home to show Ready.
2. Open Print Files›Recovery. An amber dot on the tab means an interrupted print is waiting.
3. Check the card: the file, where it stopped, the temperatures it will reheat to, and the bed map it used.
4. Check the machine (see below), then press Resume this print.
5. Leave the printer alone while it reheats, homes and moves back to the exact spot. The screen shows Picking up where it stopped with the steps Heating › Homing › Positioning › Printing. When printing starts, the normal print screen appears.

• Stop recovering (while resuming) switches the heaters off.
• Discard asks Discard the saved print? — It can no longer be picked up after this. The file itself is not deleted — you can always start it again from the beginning.
• With nothing waiting, the tab says Nothing to recover.
• The first line of the card says where the record was kept. Saved to the recovery chip, so it survived the power going out. is the most reliable kind.

Chapter 13

When something goes wrong

The screen explains problems in plain words and tells you what to do. There are three kinds: the printer stopping (a fault page), a print pausing itself (a red robot), and a single command being refused (a message at the top).

The printer has stopped: the fault page

When the printer stops for safety, Home is replaced by a page explaining why. Controls is locked; Settings and Info still work.

• Title and explanation: what happened, in plain words, naming the part involved (nozzle, bed, print head board…).
• WHAT TO DO: numbered steps. Follow them in order.
• Restart the printer appears when a restart can fix it. Fix the cause first, then press it. If restarting will not help, the page says Restarting will not fix this one — follow the steps on the left.
• Technical details holds the exact message for 3DISM support. Tap to open it.

Faults and what to do

A print paused itself: the red robot

These appear during a print as Paused — problem with a red robot. Tap the robot to read the explanation (how).

A command was refused: messages with a fix button

Common questions

The first layer does not stick.

Clean the build plate (fingerprints stop plastic sticking), check the bed was measured at this temperature (Auto Bed Levelling), then lower the nozzle slightly with Closer to bed in Fine Tune.

The screen stays on “Starting up”.

Give it a minute. If it then says The screen has lost the printer, switch the printer off, wait ten seconds and switch it on again.

I cannot open Controls or Settings.

A print is running. Pause it, or wait for it to finish.

My file has no picture.

Thumbnails are off in the slicer profile. Use the 3DISM profile, which has them on.

The USB Drive tab is grey.

The printer does not see the stick. Unplug it, plug it in again and wait five seconds. Use a stick formatted as FAT32.

OrcaSlicer cannot reach the printer.

Check the computer and printer are on the same network and the IP address in OrcaSlicer matches the one on the printer's Wi‑Fi page.

I calibrated but nothing seems to have changed.

Vibration Compensation and PID tuning are only stored if you press Save in the message at the end. Run the routine again and press Save.

Contacting 3DISM support

Have these ready; they make the answer much faster:

• The serial number (Info page).
• A photo of the fault page with Technical details open, or of the What happened panel.
• The Firmware page (Settings›Firmware).
• What the printer was doing, and the file, material and slicer profile you used.

Chapter 14

Glossary

Bed map (bed mesh)

A measured map of the bed's height at many points, so the printer can follow its shape. Made by Auto Bed Levelling.

Filament

The plastic wire the printer melts, on a spool. PLA, PETG, ABS, ASA, TPU and PC are common materials.

First layer

The first sheet of plastic laid on the bed. If it is right, the rest of the print usually is too.

Flow

How much plastic comes out compared with what the file asks for. 100 % is normal.

G-code

The instruction file the printer runs, made by the slicer. Files end in .gcode.

Gantry

The frame that carries the print head across the machine.

Homing

The printer moving each axis to its end to find out where it is. Needed after switching on or releasing the motors.

Input shaping (Vibration Compensation)

Tuning that cancels the machine's vibrations, removing ripples next to sharp corners and allowing faster printing.

Klipper

The software that runs the printer's motors and heaters.

Label objects

A slicer setting that names each part in the file, so single parts can be skipped during a print.

PID tuning

Teaching a heater how to hold its temperature steadily.

Pressure advance

A correction for the delay between pushing filament and plastic coming out, which sharpens corners.

Slicer

A computer program (OrcaSlicer) that turns a 3D model into G-code.

Z offset

A small correction to the nozzle's height above the bed. Negative is closer to the bed.

Chapter 15

Where to find it

I want to…	Go to
Start a print	Home›Print Files›file›Print
Print from a USB stick	Print Files›USB Drive
Adjust the first layer during a print	Fine Tune›Closer to bed / Further from bed
Change print speed or flow	Fine Tune (while printing)
Skip one failed part	Print screen › tap the picture › tap the part
Pause, resume, cancel	Print screen, bottom row
Load or change filament	Controls›Filament
Heat the nozzle or bed	Tap a temperature on Home, or Controls›Nozzle & Extruder / Heatbed
Turn heaters off after a job	Home › the amber Heater on … tap to cool line
Home or move the axes	Controls›Motion
Level the bed	Settings›Printer Calibration›Auto Bed Leveling
Adjust the bed corner knobs	Printer Calibration›Bed Leveling Corners
Join Wi‑Fi, find the IP address	Settings›Wi‑Fi
Pair with 3DISM Remote	Settings›3DISM Remote
Resume after a power cut	Print Files›Recovery
Restart the printer software	Settings›Toolbox›Firmware restart
Serial number, versions	Info, and Settings›Firmware
Stop everything now	Hold the red hand for ¾ second