Glossary — Ginger Additive G1
Official terminology for the G1 pellet printer ecosystem. Use these exact terms in all notes and customer communications.
Machine and technology
Section titled “Machine and technology”| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| G1 | The Ginger Additive pellet 3D printer |
| FGF | Fused Granular Fabrication — the pellet-based printing process (not FDM) |
| Pellet / pellets | The raw plastic granules used as feedstock (not “filament”) |
| Screw extruder | The rotating auger that compresses and melts pellets |
| Multi-Heating Zones | Three independent heated sections of the barrel: Feeding, Melting, Nozzle |
| Feeding Zone | Top zone of the barrel (T0), where material enters. Compresses incoming pellets |
| Melting Zone | Middle zone (T1). Completes melting |
| Nozzle Zone | Bottom zone at the nozzle tip (T2). Controls final viscosity |
| Heater band | The 220V / 300W resistive band clamped around the barrel that heats one zone. Three per machine. Not a cartridge — nothing is inserted into the barrel wall |
| T0 / T1 / T2 | The three heating bands, top to bottom |
| E0 / E1 | The two extruder motors — E0 turns the extrusion screw, E1 turns the hopper auger (mixing stepper). Do not confuse these with T0/T1/T2 |
| Hopper | The pellet container above the extruder. It is the 3D-printed part E04 in the assembly manual |
| Corrugated tube | The flexible white ribbed hose that carries pellets up to the hopper. It connects to a rigid grey pipe outside the printer (the rigid section prevents pellets jamming). Every corrugated tube on the machine belongs to the feeding line — wiring runs in the drag chains, never in a tube |
| Drag chain | The articulated chain that guides the moving cables — Igus, carrying Igus Chainflex cable. One per axis: the extruder cabling runs X → Y → Z from the extruder breakout board to the panel box. Chains and cables are both reliable; wiring faults have always been at the connectors, not in the chain |
| Pellet gate | The pickup under the D1 dryer tank where the feed line clamps on. A pickup filter: it stops pellets falling into the tube by gravity and lets in the air that carries them up the line |
| Guillotine | Manual slide between the dryer tank and the pellet gate. Kept closed while drying and whenever the printer is off; opened when a print starts |
| Vacuum pump | Suction unit that lifts pellets from the bucket to the hopper. It is a standard ash / shop vacuum cleaner (no specific brand required) — see Vacuum pump for the characteristics to match |
| Mainsail | Web-based dashboard for Klipper, accessible via browser on local network |
| G1OS | The OS on the printer Raspberry Pi - a fork of MainsailOS carrying Klipper4Pellet, Moonraker, Mainsail and Crowsnest. Repo |
| Klipper4Pellet | Ginger fork of Klipper, customised for pellet extrusion. Repo |
| ERS - Extrusion Rate Smoothing | Slicer feature that ramps flow changes instead of stepping them, matching the slow pressure response of the screw. See Pellet engine features |
| Klipper | The open-source firmware running on the Raspberry Pi |
Slicer and settings
Section titled “Slicer and settings”| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Ginger Slicer | Official slicer for the G1. Fork of Orca Slicer with pellet-specific features |
| Rotation Volume | mm³ of plastic extruded per one full screw turn. The primary flow calibration parameter |
| MVS / Max Volumetric Speed | Maximum mm³/s the extruder can reliably deliver. The main speed limit on the G1 |
| Pressure Advance | Klipper feature compensating for the lag between screw movement and material output |
| Pellet Modded Printer | Ginger Slicer mode where G-code E values = cubic mm of volume, not filament length |
| Arachne | Wall generator algorithm (recommended for large nozzles) |
| Classic | Alternative wall generator (causes errors with large nozzles — avoid) |
| Z-hop | Nozzle lift during travel moves to avoid hitting the print |
| Layer time | Minimum time per layer; slicer slows the print automatically to allow cooling |
Materials and additives
Section titled “Materials and additives”| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| SmoothFlow | Official Ginger Additive liquid lubricant for pellets. Reduces friction, improves flow |
| Liquid Masterbatch | Official Ginger Additive liquid colorant. Oil-based, mixes directly with pellets |
| rPLA | Recycled PLA — post-consumer or post-industrial recycled polylactic acid |
| PETG | Polyethylene terephthalate glycol — standard clear/transparent material |
| PETG GF | Glass fiber reinforced PETG (10% or 20% fill) |
| PETG V0 | Flame-retardant PETG, certified UL94 V0 |
| PP | Polypropylene — low warping for small technical parts, high warping for flat geometry |
| TPU | Thermoplastic polyurethane — flexible, rubber-like material |
| MFI / MFR | Melt Flow Index / Rate — not used for G1 calibration; use Rotation Volume instead |
What people call things, and what they are called here
Section titled “What people call things, and what they are called here”| Commonly called | Correct term | Note |
|---|---|---|
| ”Flow calibration” | Rotation Volume calibration | Rotation Volume calibration |
| ”The motor is clicking” | Extruder motor skipping | Extruder motor skipping |
| ”The bed heats by itself” | Bed heater on wrong outlet | Bed heater on wrong outlet |
| ”The machine won’t start” | Emergency stop button pressed | Machine won’t start - emergency button |
| ”Plastic lubricant” / “vaseline” | SmoothFlow | SmoothFlow |
| ”The hopper is empty” / “no material” | Hopper suction problem | Hopper suction problems |
| ”It keeps shutting down” | Klipper MCU / undervoltage | Klipper MCU communication lost |
| ”Bubbles in the print” | PETG foaming / moisture | PETG foaming and moisture |
| ”Layers are shifting” | Layer shift — check belt, nozzle ratio, or motor | Layer shift |
Zone numbering — important
Section titled “Zone numbering — important”The same heating zone has three names, depending on where you are looking:
| In Ginger Slicer | The band | On the display / in Klipper | Zone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zone 1 | T0 | extruder | Feeding Zone (top) |
| Zone 2 | T1 | extruder1 | Melting Zone (middle) |
| Zone 3 | T2 | extruder2 | Nozzle Zone (bottom) |
The printer’s temperature screen lists them as Extruder / Extruder1 / Extruder2, alongside Heater Bed.
Related
Section titled “Related”- Home — the wiki front page
- Multi-Heating Zones — zone detail
- Ginger Slicer — slicer reference
- Rotation Volume calibration — flow calibration procedure