SandervG

if it is only a few mm, I don't think you need to change your bowden tube. What does the outer surface of your bowden tube look like? Clean or does it has a lot of cuts and scraped surfaces? Besides the length, if the outside is scraped this will also reduce grip. You could try to add some tape on the outside, but this is more of a 'dirty quick fix' than a solid solution. And this would only make sense if your outer diameter seems to have gone thinner. Do you have digital calipers to measure it?

A while ago there was a small attempt to design and build a drone (quadcopter) within the community, but unfortunately it didn't make it to the finishline. There was some interest though, so perhaps you could re-ignite it? Have you also checked places like these forums? There also seem to be some references here.

It became apparent to me at shows where we went, in humid rooms in Italy during summer, for example, it showed up in the print immediately. We could throw our current print profiles right out of the window At other shows where we were partially outside and there was a strong draft was also far from ideal. But the good thing was we can just tweak the profiles until the print quality was somewhat within recognition again. Were you printing with regular PLA?

Hi @Johnyboy, It is hard to determine on what areas your printer would need some attention, but in general a new extrusion upgrade just kinda gives you a brand new Ultimaker 2+. It contains almost all crucial parts you need. From the rods, to the extruder, the bowden tube and a complete assembled printhead. If you want to print ABS, I would also look into a door or enclosure. This can be very DIY (cardboard door), something like our advanced 3D printing kit or a full third party enclosure. But with the latter, keep in mind that you do not want to overheat the electronics, if you are going to enclose it completely.

How often have you cut it? If you have cut it too much or too often, there is a chance it is too short. When your print head moves to the front of the machine this can create pressure on the filament, create a hard angle where it enters the head but also pull it out of its socket and creating an opening again at the bottom. By heart it should be 68cm long. Can you measure how long your bowden tube is?

Hi @Elaup, Thank you for your message. Most likely there is a problem with your bowden tube. Either the bottom tip is not 100% flat / aligned with the surface it should connect with (the ptfe coupler), or the bowden tube can move up and down. This can be because the horse shoe and coupler have lost grip, or perhaps it is just not fully inserted. If there is a gap between the bowden tube and the part underneath, and the heat has a change to crawl up in the filament, it can expand the filament in this area and once it became fatter it will cool and can not move up or down. You may also want to look at your printing temperatures, if they are perhaps not too high, however, if the problem indeed lies with your bowden tube you need to address this no matter what. Good luck!

Hi @HamzaShogan, Welcome to our forums! PVA is water dissolvable material, so it is usually used to support a different type of material (like Nylon or PLA). In theory you could use it as a building material, but the applications are pretty limited I think. Keep in mind that PVA doesn't like retractions that much and works better with thicker layers. With a normal nozzle (due to the internal geometry) there is also a higher chance of a clogged nozzle, due to some PVA residue remaining in the nozzle. That is why we have a separate and dedicated printcore for PVA in the Ultimaker 3. So tl;dr, it can be used but not without its quirks.

Hi @Nzo, welcome to our forums! It is true that by default the Ultimaker is designed to use 2.85mm filament (sometimes advertised as 3mm, but in reality, it should be 2.85mm). Part of the reason for this is because we use a bowden tube system which means the extruder motor is on the back and pushes the material forward through a bowden tube. Having slightly thicker material makes it more rigid and easier to push forward through a bowden tube. @Labern, can you shed some light on where you usually source your filaments? There are third party modifications that allow you to convert your Ultimaker to 1.75mm filament if you are interested.

Hi @Fade, Thank you for your message, lets see if we can move any closer to the origin of your issue Do you also have a photo of one of your successful prints? Do you have some more information on why your filament stops extruding? I understand this is part of your question too, but do you know if it starts grinding at the feeder? Can you manually pull out the filament from your feeder when it has stopped extruding without using the lever? Is there a lump at the end of your filament? Is your nozzle clogged? You say it stops extruding, but also that you have to remove the filament cause it keeps being fed into the nozzle. Well, it has to go somewhere, it doesn't disappear Looking forward if you can shine some light on anything that behaves out of the ordinary when your print stops. Thank you!

What did you change to make the lights come out better? You said you wanted to improve what they looked like unlit, right?

It takes off a potential sharp corner, so it makes it safe to use.

The second one does not look like a perfect 45 angle but the rest seems fine. This is the new cut, like I explained in my previous reply. They should work perfectly fine

One which is smaller at the back may be a stretch since there is also a bowden tube which needs some freedom to move around. Can it, in your 85mm?

I don't think this is what you mean, but if you are looking for an affordable and 'low' hood, this may be interesting to check out. On the photo you see an Ultimaker Original, but it shouldn't be too far off from an Ultimaker 2.

Depending on safety regulations and what materials you will print with, you can consider an enclosure that helps with ventilation, if the room is not ventilated by itself. Depending the materials you want to print with, a nozzle (like a ruby nozzle) that can handle abrasive materials (like bronzefil) could also be worth considering. As for materials, of course I would recommend to use Ultimaker filaments You have room to use third party filaments as well, but make sure that if you do, they fall within the 2.85mm category (or 3mm as sometimes advertised) and be aware that cheap is not always good (usually it isn't).

Hi Peggy, you mean the button to download for free or View the manual don't work? Could be a cookie problem, I have had it too a few times. You could delete some cookies, or open the link incognito and I think it should work. (not really a solution, but it allows you to move on)

And do you make sure the tip you feed in is straight, ideally even pointy? If the filament has an edge due to how you broke or cut off the tip could make it more likely to get caught behind an edge. Also if it is bent and not straight. When you put the feeder back, also make sure the leveling screw is in the housing, and its head is not sticking out.

Wat beschouw je als extruder, de printkop of de feeder? Er stonden boven nog wat vragen open welke wellicht een indicatie kunnen geven waar het probleem zich precies bevind. Succes, hopelijk is een goede schoonmaakbeurt alles wat er nodig is.

What version of Cura are you using by the way? It could be that when it speeds up for the infill, it accelerates very quickly, but due to the bowden tube there is a little bit of delay for the filament catch up on the suddenly increased speed. Popping sounds are usually not good. For Nylon and PVA it means it absorbed too much moist. Has the spool been open for some time? Has it been in the sun or on a radiator or something? Do you have another reel of filament to give it a try and rule out any faults in this particular reel? Thanks!

Hi @fabreax, Thank you for your message. Our apologies for the seemingly chipped corners on the glass plates. Recently we changed something in the production of the glass plates, which also included the processing of the corners. Instead of a rounded off corner, they should have 45º angled corners now. Which saves quite some time during production. However, yours do not look like how they are supposed to look. We do check our glass plates periodically (sample testing), but not all that we receive (that is not doable). We keep a close eye on all reports and if it happens more often we'll increase the sample testing. For your reference, here is an example of what it should look like. If you do you want to replace your glass plates, you should be able to reach out to your reseller to get a replacement. Let me know what your preferred course of action is and I'll alert the dedicated teams Thank you for notifying us, and once again our apologies for the inconvenience!

Hi @Blindfool, welcome to the forums! What slicer are you using, and what nozzle size do you have installed? The first layer sounds like under extrusion, but it seems to get a grip on itself again later on in the print. If it is not a too big of a nozzle, perhaps some settings in your slicer are guilty. Are you sure your filament is fed all the way in before your print starts? Is there a lot of oozing before your print starts? Thanks, and have a great day!

Mogelijkheid kan ook nog zijn dat de feeder na een tijdje zijn spanning verliest, of er een blob in het filament komt onder de bowden tube, wanneer daar teveel speling in zit.

Ha Niels, heb je ook een paar foto's van je Ultimaker, zodat we je printkop goed kunnen zien én je feeder van een paar verschillende hoeken? Wanneer je printer vastloopt en er geen filament meer uitkomt, kun je dan wel handmatig het filament er achter uit trekken, zonder weerstand? (als je printer nog aanstaat?) Zit er een blob op het puntje van je filament? Zit je bowden tube er goed in, als je deze vastpakt en omhoog trekt zou er vrijwel geen speling in moeten zitten. Heb je modificaties aan je Ultimaker gedaan? En print je PLA? Weet je welk merk? Alvast bedankt!

Cool, thanks for sharing! Looks very good! What are your next plans, where you want to take this?

Hi @Octocom, Thank you for your message and welcome to the community! Could you share with us what Ultimaker 3D printer you have? With how many prints have you seen this behavior? Is your Ultimaker new? It sounds like, at some point your feeder gets a little bit more resistance during the print. This can have several reasons, if you can provide us with some more information we should be able to help you isolate the problem and get you back to quiet 3D printing!