IRobertI

I use a laptop as well and I've only noticed slight stuttering a couple of times while I was doing some heavy work in another application while printing. I solved that by simply giving Printrun a higher priority via the task manager, no problems since then.

Just wanted to say regarding the temp probe; while screwing my printer head back together last night (for the 4th time that day hehe) I got careless and managed to squeeze the wires under one of the screws. The heater was still on as I had to keep the head hot to take it apart and put it back together again. After screwing down that fateful screw I stopped for a bit to read a forum thread (thinking that leaving the head hot would be fine as it was mostly empty) but all of a sudden I saw smoke rising... Turns out that the probe reported something like 30C in that semi-shorted condition and the heater just kept heating indefinitely. Luckily I was sitting right next to it so it never got the chance to go too far. Of course this was entirely my own fault but it might be worth keeping in mind.

I doubt it's temperature and don't get discouraged - have patience, work one issue at a time and things will come together. Back on the thread you started, several people have suggested you've got a belt problem but you haven't replied on if you looked at that or not yet.. Just a quick reply as I don't want to disrupt error1's thread with my own junk The reason I haven't replied back yet is that I don't feel that I've worked on it enough to justify bugging you guys about it again just yet. That and I finally had the pleasure of getting that wonderful clogging problem that some people get and had to work a bit to get that resolved (all better now though and I printed out owen's excellent bowden clamp replacement just in case I need it later ).

Well those prints look better than what I'm producing after having owned the thing for a month. I still can't get the damn thing to print round holes, and I think temperature swings are causing ridges to form in my prints, I'm getting a bit annoyed to be honest... As for the temperature I wouldn't think there's anything wrong with trying to bump it up a bit as you try to go faster. Naturally as you try to push the cold PLA through faster and faster it will have less and less time to heat up. Naming an exact temperature is difficult as different brands/colours of PLA will have different temperature profiles. Adding to that the different machines out there are also likely to report temperatures slightly differently. I think I read somewhere that a guy had his machine report temperatures that were way off, like 20C off. My screw is currently very tight, about as tight as I can get it with my fingers. But, that can also vary depending on material.

"ABS" I can understand but "temperature"? Really? Hell you can't even search for ultimaker, driver or marlin. Not exactly friendly for the newcomers who just want to look for the basic stuff.

I wouldn't worry about the heat. Steppers do tend to get a bit hot but IIRC it's perfectly safe to run them up to about 80C or so. It might've even been higher than that but I'm not quite sure, someone else will have to verify. If you're still worried about it you could attach a few small heatsinks to it to help dissipate the heat or you could try turning down the drive current.

I'm guessing Daid is thinking of this one: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:11033 I use it and it's a big improvement. Just remember which way you're turning the screw while waiting for the click of the switch... Not that I'd know what happens if you make that mistake or anything. I'm sure it wouldn't crack the casing on the switch in two or anything like that. Nope, I have no idea at all what would happen... :oops:

Under the "Machine" tab there's a "..."-button next to "Machine type: Ultimaker", in the window that pops up look under the second tab "Ultimaker specific". At least that's the only place I've found. I wish there was a way to change the "startup procedure" (not sure what to call it) that Netfabb puts in as well. I really don't like how it homes the printer and then drags the nozzle over to the top left corner before going where it needs to go. I very much preferred how I had it set up in Skeinforge with some pre-extrusion etc.

For information about how to use the so called slicers I think you're better off reading on the Ultimaker wiki as it is, naturally, geared towards your printer: http://wiki.ultimaker.com/Software_setup_guide I think the wiki mostly talks about Skeinforge which is free, there's also a commercial alternative called Netfabb that you might also be interested in. There's a LOT to read when it comes to the software, both the software you run on your computer as well as the software (or rather firmware) that runs on the controller board of the actual printer. For example I think most would agree that upgrading the stock firmware to "Marlin" is the right way to go. More information about this can be found in the wiki, here on the forums and also in the discussion group: http://groups.google.com/group/ultimaker/topics As for how the printer knows what do do, that comes down to the G-Code that the slicers spit out. It's basically a long text file with commands that tell the printer what to do step by step. Now, how the printer knows what's supposed to be solid and not, well, that is described by the CAD-model (the format that the slicers expect is STL-files) that you create or download. The way the slicer works is that it, wait for it, slices the model Think of it as slicing up a loaf of bread, but horizontally rather than vertically. So, say you have a model of a marble, what the slicer would do with this marble is to look at it in many many separate thin layers (hundreds or even thousands depending on the quality you want and the size of the model) and create G-Code that will make the printer lay out a thin layer of plastic that matches the shape of that slice. So for a marble it would be describing a series of thin circles that initially get gradually bigger and then gradually smaller. In the whistle example the model has a cavity inside of it in which the little ball is located. This ball isn't floating in space, it's actually resting on the inner surface of the whistle, that's why you have to break it free after the print is complete. And even if it was floating in space naturally the printer can't simple start printing in mid air, that's where support structures come into play. The slicer is smart enough to see that there is nothing underneath the ball that will keep it from falling, so, it creates that structure so that the ball can be printed. I hope some of that made sense

The support in this case is printed out at the same time as your object. You can design the support structure yourself but the much easier way is to simply let the slicer do the heavy lifting for you and figure out what's needed. After the object is printed you'll have to manually break/cut/bite/twist/sand the support off.

I can't remember where I saw the vid but I use the trick with aluminium foil and a multimeter. Put foil down flat on four corners (or over the entire bed if you're not lazy), hook up one probe to the foil and the other to the nozzle (make sure the end is nice and clean). Now set the multimeter to continuity mode, move the head to the bottom left corner, raise the bed until the multimeter beeps, adjust your z-stop so that it triggers for this height, now check the other corners and adjust screws as necessary. It might be a bit involved if you need to do this often but in my case it works fine (I've only needed to do it once so far, might be time for an adjustment now though).

I got in touch with my inner child and doodled a bit on the picture to clarify. It's a bit exaggerated but I think you get the idea. Thanks for the tip about the coupling, I'll have to take a look at that.

I'm using the same duct as you and I have the same problem. Last time I printed something tiny I did something a bit silly... I got out a trusty drinking straw and blew as hard as I could I looked like an idiot of course but it sure did help quite a bit. I've been thinking about the possibility of adding something like an aquarium air pump and having a small hose clamped onto the print head like the bowden and then direct the air flow just under the nozzle. But I have no idea what kind of air flow a pump like that can produce.

That's true, but, if that was the issue wouldn't that be happening around the whole object? This is happening only in the top left and lower right corners. The other corners look as expected and their thickness matches the model, the faulty corners are slightly fatter so to speak and have the space between them.

Right, I'm officially going crazy. For the past couple of nights I've been trying to fix this problem with misalignment. I'm not sure how to explain it in words so take a look at the picture I've attached to see what I mean. As you can see the top right and lower left corner prints just fine (it looks really messy but that's mostly the flash exaggerating the imperfections). However, the bottom right and top left are wider and there's a void inbetween the inner and outer profile. I've been trying to increase and decrease the tension of the belts but it seems nothing I try is helping. I've tried having them both very lose and as tight as I could get them (the belts starts rubbing against the top of the printer). When I had them tight I had to increase the current to one of the steppers a little tiny bit as it stalled occasionally (just resting a finger against the print head was enough to overcome it), no motors are getting hot though. I've aligned the axes to the best of my ability and as far as I can tell they are square. However, if I center the head in the left-right direction and then try to move the head from front to back and back it binds a bit. When it gets moving though it doesn't seem to be any problem moving it around randomly, it is quite stiff though but as I understand it that's the case with the newest batches. If I have the head fully to the left or right the problem goes away. The axes are lubed with a very thin layer of the lube that came with the printer. I find that I have to use a very very thin layer or the motors stall out. It seems to me some grease with lower viscosity would be a better match for this printer. Oh and btw, the picture shows the part as you would see it if you were looking down on it in the printer while standing in front of it. The part is roughly 7,5x5cm. There, I think I've covered the details, if not let me know and I'll try to answer. So, where do I go from here?

Look at it on the bright side. You'll have plenty of time to do the boring stuff that you rush in the beginning because you just want to race to get the first print out. Use the time to make the machine "perfect". Get the belts nicely tensioned, get a nice thin coat of grease on all the sliding parts (I found that you have to keep the layer very very thin as it will cause too much friction otherwise, strange as that sounds hehe), get all the cables nice and tidy, spend time leveling your bed perfectly and get the z-endstop just right, fine tune your x- and y-axis so that they are perfectly square. All of this will give you a much better chance of getting a decent first print (don't expect a perfect print from the start, you'll be disappointed).

That's putting it lightly... I've reported a whole bunch of threads, given them tips on how to stop it and offered to spend my time removing the spam for them. Not a single peep from the Ultimaker people in response. The guys in charge don't seem to read the forums at all, it's a bit disappointing.

I haven't had my machine for very long but I've had problems with small details since the start. My temperature is already pretty low (around 185-195C) but it still gets quite "blobby" on very small details. Print too fast and it gets messy because it doesn't get enough time to cool, print slow and you get issues with oozing, print multiple objects you get stringing... it's a pain to say the least. From my very limited experience it seems that what we really need is reliable filament retraction and push back and I don't see that happening with the bowden really.