ppope357

sadly after I updated the firmware via cura, my ultimaker is not recognised by cura - the connection just times out, as with the other entries at the start of this thread - very frustrating :( so unable to update via cura at all now. I think I'll have to remove the arduino and try flashing the firmware that way - joy To be honest I'm surprised that UM haven't put a warning on the update process to stop others bricking their machines. Or at least explicit instructions on how to avoid the issue.

I've been having the same problem (unable to connect to the ultimaker as at the start of this thread), but whenever I hit the upload button the arduino software first compiles the sketch prior to upload - so for me it has not worked. How do I set it to upload without compile?

Hi Thanks for the response. When I measure the resistance between the two I get about 140 k, which drops as I warm the thermistor in my hand. So that indicates to me the thermistor and wiring at that end are OK - sound fair? In terms of the connections I have one end on signal and the other end on ground. I allso tried one end on ground and the other on 5v and got the same maxtemp error message. Does anyone know which is the correct connection? Previously in this thread there is a picture showing the signal and ground connection, so I've assumed that's the way to go. And secondly does anyone have an idea of what the problem might be? Many thanks!

Hi I've recently tried to install the e3d hot end,and keep on getting a maxtemp error. I soldered a 4.7k resistor to r23, updated the firmware to the recommended epcos version as described previously. I've tried to go with the complete e3d system, so am using their thermistor, heater block, nozzle etc. But I keep getting this error, have checked the connections many times and still fail. Does anyone have any ideas? Thanks

thanks joergen for your detailed reply! I have now managed to solve my popping problems, and my machine is working better than it has for months. I didn't use the method above however, I went for something a bit simpler. Gaffer tape (aka duck tape). I wrapped a little round the Bowden tube at the end, where it is clamped to the hot end. this increased the friction between the clamp and the tube enough that the thing stayed in place, for a while Anyway. I then printed out all the bits for Owens Bowden clamp, and kept on printing till the Bowden tube finally popped. when it popped I fitted the new clamp in place, and since then it has been working fine. the clamp comes with a spacer designed for a standard size Bowden tube, and I'm using a smaller one (6mm od ), and the standard spacer works fine. so I now have a working machine, mainly due to Gaffer tape (Also due to the great advice above, much thanks!) I love Gaffer tape.

Hi When I try to connect my computer to the ultimaker, I get a "line number is not last line number+1, last line:0" error message. I'm using replicatorg 26 on linux. replicator g will connect for about a second, then I get that message. I've tried updating the firmware (sprinter/marlin both versions) and I've tried using a windows machine with the same set up, and had the same results. any idea what is wrong? many thanks

ok test over and another failure. I just pulled out another plug, so it looks to me like the fit of the bowden is incorrect, as you mention Joergen. My original bowden tube was not teflon, but some other type of plastic with much more friction (I forget the name). I think the original tube was causing the friction and causing the hobbed bolt to chew the filament, distorting the pla an leading to more friction. So from your advice it looks like now I need to improve that transition from bowden to peek. I've tried many times now to get the bowden tube snug onto the peek, and each time it isn't held in place. So what are my options now, any ideas? A new hot end and bowden might fix it, but I'm not sure if there are any other options. I'll try adding more tape to the bowden tube to fatten it within the clamp, but I don't think I can fit much more on without it becoming too fat to fit in the white holder thing. although that's going to have to wait until tomorrow. Anyway, thanks for your help, it is much appreciated. I've been getting rather frustrated with the infernal thing, but I think I've made some good progress today in at least diagnosing the problem.

many thanks for the responses. I am using a variety of colours of filament, which doesn't seem to make a difference. I have checked the filament diameter using some crappy calipers and it seems to be fairly constant - but due to the low quality calipers, I can't really be certain. When I start a print, the print head is very close to the build platform, to the extent that the only sign of printing is a kind of "sheen" or shininess on the tape. The poor quality extrusion starts after 5-10 minutes or so. Would the back pressure cause a plug/blockage that would only manifest after this time? Anyway, I have screwed the build platform down a little, increasing the gap between the extruder and build platform a little. I removed the bowden tube end, and between that and the peek insulator I found a doughnut shaped bit of pla. This must have been reducing the flow of pla into the extruder head, probably leading to the reduced extrusion. I removed it, refitted the bowden tube (getting it in contact with the peek insuator, as much as I could anyway), then screwed everything back together. I'm doing a test print now, so will update with any progress. I think I may have been suffering from a number of problems throughout this process. Initially, I think the original bowden tube was causing too much friction. Before I realised this, I changed the feed mechanism to berthos spring loaded system, and saw no real change. When I changed the bowden tube, the gouging of pla at the feed mechanism was pretty much eliminated - which indicates to me that the excess friction between the pla and the tube was causing the hobbed bolt to chew into the pla. The new bowden tube is a little too narrow (OD), which means it popped out a few times - I wrapped some tape around the end to widen it, and it has stayed in place so far. But possibly it is not clamped strongly enough. anyway, we shall see. The test print will fail within the next 20 minutes, if I have not resolved the problem. thanks again for your responses!

many thanks greengecko, I will check for any fresh plugs in the hot end, and also measure the filament diameter.

thanks for your response. The difference in friction when moving the pla down the bowden tube by hand was noticable - so I think the new tube probably did help a bit. My printing temperature starts at 230 then drops to about 190, and in the past (when things were working well) these temperatures were fine. I also try to avoid leaving the printer hot and idle, as I read somewhere this was bad for the printer. If you let me know what further information would help with the diagnosis, I will dig it out. thanks

hi I've been having problems with my prints, and have spent the last month or so trying to fix them without success. The problem is as follows: The first few layers come out fine, generally to a good quality. But as the later layers print, the amount of PLA coming out of the extruder seems to reduce, resulting in blobby, stringy layers (see pic). The line of filament will be ok, then low volume, then normal again (over maybe a couple of mm of travel). this results in a layer that is only partly solid, kind of bitty. the next layer then doesn't lie on the previous layer, and the print fails. The problem seems to occur mainly for medium or larger prints - very small prints seem to work ok. I tried replacing the PFA tube with a PTFE bowden tube, which helped a little. I made a new feed mecanism (berthos spring loaded/bearing feed mechanism to fix the filament against the hobbed bolt). That might have helped a little. It has cut down on the filament grinding that had been taking place. But the poor print quality persists. I have been using netfabb to slice the models, with replicatorg 26. I've been using the high quality setting on netfabb - when I use the standard setting the problem gets worse (I think due to the higher speeds). Otherwise the replicator g settings are all standard. I have been using pla filament from faberdashery, which from past experience has been good quality. Anyway, I would really appreciate some help or suggestions - I'm getting really sick of this problem. My printer did work really well for a few months, and was loads of fun - I really want to get it working properly again so print useful things. many thanks[attachment=1]printfail.jpg[/attachment]

I have tried reducing the extruder temperature, and this helped a little, but did not resolve the problem. To be clear, the problem was that the print head would slow down dramatically, to maybe 1mm per second, for travel along one side of the triangle. This would result in too much plastic being extruded, and also localised melting of previously extruded material. I then got round to installing netfabb on my machine, and started testing it - and so far it does not seem to have the same problem. I've tried using the standard ultimaker profile, and also the same profile but with the temperature range increased by 10C which gave me better results. (Note I'm using netfabb to generate gcode then sending that to replicatorG to do the actual print, and i'm using a linux machine with Wine, if that makes any difference). As a result I'm not sure of the source of the problem - temperature obviously plays a role, but is not the main factor. I think it must be something with the way replicatorG generates the Gcode.

I have recently got netfabb running using the method posted above. The software will not connect to my ultimaker so i'm still using replicatorG, but netfabb seems to be doing a good job of creating the gcode (still testing it, to be fair). I am using Ubuntu 10.10. Afraid my knowledge of linux is limited, so i can't help with the specific problem noted above. I have however had a lot of help in the past from the ubuntu forums, so possibly someone there may be able to point you in the right direction.

ok thanks, I'll try reducing the temperature as far as possible. I'll also try getting cura up and running when it is released.

hi I've been having problems printing smaller details - when the print gets to the detailed sections, the printhead speed slows down a lot. This leads to too much PLA being extruded, and the surrounding plastic melts, leading to a bit of a melted mess (but fairly localised). I've tried slowing down (and speeding up) the print head speed, but this has failed to noticably change the printhead speed. I've also tried reducing the extruder feedrate, again without any impact on the problem. I've tried to attach an image showing the gear cube I have printed, showing the problem - which only occurs on the corners of the gear cube for some reason (the rest of each part prints fine). I've been using replicatorG, with a layer thickness of 0.15mm, temp 220, 230 also. Really not sure of the cause - it's like the whole build goes fine, then I get to the area with the small cross section, and the printer just slows down massively, maybe a movement of 1mm per second, for a movement along one side of the cross section. Then once the slow section has been done, it will speed up again - but the extrusion is then sitting on a melted blob of plastic, and the fresh extrusion melts a bit more and kind of sinks into the mess. Anyway, any help or suggestions would be much appreciated. many thanks

Thanks for your patience. After a bit of faffing I managed to use repg to update the firmware, then reconnect using the sprinter settings (no option for marlin in my dropdown box). It now seems to be working. Unsure of the problem with pronterface not connecting, whether this is a problem with my settings or in the software itself. will stick with repg for now - would be interested to find out if anyone else has had similar problems with pronterface. thanks again for your help.

also just checked repg, which although it doesn't connect still has the last connection settings saved - which were to dev/ttyACM0 Now when I press the connect button I get JV but the printer is still listed as offline

I updated the firmware to marlin in the skeinpypy wizard, then got to the "check filament" stage and stopped. so presumably the firmware is now marlin (and it won't connect to repg anymore, which i think confirms this?). So what do I do now? sorry for my lack of knowledge I guess I need to try and manually find the port the ultimaker is connected to, but I'm lost as to how to do this. And if I try to print without a connection to the print interface, i'm guessing that will not work, or cause damage to the extruder due to lack of temperature?

I'm now unable to get Printer interface to connect to the printer. I press the connect button, with the port /dev/ttyACM0, and get a Connecting... message - but it doesn't actually connect. So I'm unable to run the skeinpypy wizard filament test. any suggestions? many thanks

ok I've run the code and now in the set up wizard - many thanks!

superb - thanks, will try this now

Hi I am a bit of a novice when it comes to linux, and want to install skeinpypy, and also marlin. But I don't know how - can anyone help? I've downloaded and extracted the linuxskeinPyPynewUi-beta4 file, but I don't know what to do from there - and the wikis all assume you know how to install it. can anyone help? I also want to get marlin running on my machine, and some very basic instructions for a novice would be much appreciated. many thanks

hi many thanks for the quick reply. I've tried the method you mentioned, using the metal spring from a clothes peg. It seems to be working - I think I'll need to tinker a bit to get the tension levels just right, but that will have to wait for tomorrow. also I feel a bit stupid for not realising I could fit the tensioner to the longer section of pulley Anyway, once the printer is up and running I will print the part you have linked to. many thanks!

Hi I'm building my machine and the x and y axis pulleys are loose, even after tightening the belt tensioning screws. I need to get the pulleys to the right tension, but am unable to do so. Does anyone have any suggestions as to how I can sort this out, get the proper tension on the pulley belts and get on with my build? I've seen a few designs for printed belt tensioners on thingiverse, but they all require a 3d printer to make, which I am in the process of building - so that option is out. I also saw a really cunning fix with a clothes peg spring, but having tried this, my build envelope will be significantly reduced - so I don't want to go down that route either. Anyway, I'm getting a bit frustrated now because I have a printer kit, but I can't complete it because I cant move past this stage and get the thing finished - so any help or suggestions would be much appreciated. Thanks!