frodeheg

Hehe, flashback... Yes those same suspicions was those that lead me to investigate it thoroughly. What I did to debug this was to have a logic analyzer attached to the exp2 interface while I compiled the firmware on my own with some debug-code here and there to see that the the Arduino was indeed sending everything it was supposed to. However, logically I would put my vote on the UltiController because the Arduino is an old product sold in millions so they should have the testing in place. The ultimaker PCB has been through a few revisions so it makes sense if the testing procedures are starting to get good. The UltiController on the other hand is only a few weeks old, so I wouldn't be surprised if they have a few glitches here and there. Send a post in the "Ultimaker International" forum to see if anyone with an Ultimaker is close to you so you can test. I'm in Norway btw.

No, but you should have a connection from the EXP2 MOSI pin to the pin above the pin you indicated in the SHIFT block. The SHIFT block convert from 3.3 V (SD card) to 5V used by the arduino. The one you have indicated goes only to the SD card and is 3.3V. Here are the pins and how they should be connected: Shift Pins: (right side, s8 at the top) s8 GND (from EXP1) s7 SCK (connected to p2) s6 CLK (connected to SD5) s5 SS (connected to p4) s4 SHIFTB (connected to SD1) s3 MOSI (connected to p3) s2 SHIFTA (connected to SD2) s1 3.3V (connected to p8) SD Pins: (1 at the top) 1 GND (from EXP1) 2 CS SD_CARDDETECT (connected to p7) 3 SD8 = DAT1 (unused) 4 SD7 = MISO (connected to p1) 5 SD6 = GND (from EXP1) 6 SD5 = CLK (connected to s12) 7 SD4 = 3.3V (connected to p8) 8 SD3 = GND (from EXP1) 9 SD2 = SHIFTA (connected to s2) = MOSI 10 SD1 = SHIFTB (connected to s8) 11 SD9 = DAT2 (unused) EXP2 pins: p9 : - p7:SD_CARDDETECT p5:S_E1 p3:S_E2 p1: MISO p10: - p8:3.3V p6:MOSI p4:SS p2: SCK EXP1 pins: e9: GND e7:LCD6 e5:LCD4 e3:LCDE e1:MEGA_18BEEPER e10:Vcc 5V e8:LCD7 e6:LCD5 e4:LCDRS e2:S_EC

Note: You should check for bad soldering on any of the 3 pins above the pin I had problem with as well since I guess that would lead to a similar problem...

Hi, since the ulticontroller is a fairly new thing I guess there still are some areas for improvement on the checklist before shipping the ulticontroller. For example, testing that the display shows "Card inserted" is not sufficient since the card detect signal is sent on a different wire than the data, so they need to check the file listing on the SD card as well in order to know it is working. If you let Ultimaker sales know about this they will leave you with two options: 1) Send your UltiController back and give you a replacement. 2) Fix it at your own risk and void any warranty. When I contacted them they was very nice, but I didn't want to wait to get a replacement, so as soon as I found the problem I fixed it myself because it seemed like an easy fix. You should contact them in either case, just to make sure they update their testing procedure... (unless they already have since it's not that long since I made them aware of the problem) For reference, here is the pin I had to solder:

I did not have a problem with any leakage between the bowden and the brass tube, my leakage was PLA flowing on the outside of the nozzle dripping on to the print and ruining it. Extruding the ABS stopped that leakage; but I guess the ABS stops any leakage no matter where it is due to its viscosity and higher melting point...

I was thinking.... since some sorts of metal melts below 260 degrees it should be possible to extrude it? Sodium melts at 97 degrees Tin melts at 232 degrees. Sort of like a new way of making tin-soldiers :-) Solder is already sold in wires, so what about this one: http://www.newark.com/frys/12290h324/so ... =12290H324 mealting point 250 degrees, 3.25 mm (might be to thick, I don't know, but there are smaller) Another idea, if solder or some other conductive material stick to pla (I have no idea if it does), it could be possible to have a dual extruder that prints electrical circuits within a pla model... for example custom circuit boards with lots of lots of layers... Possible?

It's already set to "fine" in my "Ultra quality" profiles... whatever that means in terms of width... However, I found out that if I changed the "Width factor" from 100% to 5% it started creating g-code for those thinnest parts as well. How well it will look remains to see, but it seems like you steared me in the right direction. Thanks :-)

Nice Daid, this would be nice to see in the next version of the project planner in Cura. So not only ordering separate items in the print but also half items :-)

I also get a similar problem with the Eiffel Tower http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:22051

It seems to me that narrow parts are discarded by the slicing process in Netfabb. If I try to slice http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:17656 I can see that the narrowest parts does not get extruded at all, leaving the arms hanging in thin air (unless this is only a problem with the preview window in Netfabb). Is it some way to adjust the tolerance for when Netfabb discards a tiny part or not?

Did you make sure the bed is at the right level. If the height is just a little bit wrong it might work for one setting but not the others. The whole success of the print depends on a good first layer. Thats why I also use 210 degrees for the first layer and manually turn of the fan for that layer. Did you try that? I agree netfabb has some weaknesses, but there are some very nice advantages like the visibility of how the printhead will move on all layers (including jumps) so you can manually adjust infill or turn the object just to get less stringing in problematic areas. Then there is the speed. I remember having the same feeling as you in the beginning before I started to get the grip of the prints, but now I'm much more happy. Netfabb is indeed great (but I still think the price was too high)

I assume there is some work being done since the latest version is only a month old. (23.04.2012) This should be a simple thing to fix, so I hope it makes it into the next release. And yes, I really think they should fix all the bugs in Netfabb, the price should reflect the quality of the program, and right now the quality has many holes...

I think the ultra pla is intended for the ultra print quality while you should use the standard pla for the standard print quality (however it shouldn't hurt much) I have tried all settings and it generally works ok. The only thing is that I manually turn the fan off when the print begin and turn it on again after the first 2-3 layers. I also use 210 degrees for the first layers, the temperature in netfabb works for the following layers but not for the first layer... It helps a lot if you have an UltiController... (if someone know how to configure these first layer settings automatically I would be happy, doing it manually for every print shouldn't really be neccessary...)

The "ABS fix kit" is just a short piece (1 m) of ABS intended to be extruded for the purpose of stopping any leakage from the nozzle. If you use nothing but PLA on the Ultimaker it will most likely leak a lot. Yes, agreed :-)

Correction... I can use a negative value for "Travel RPM", but if I do that it also makes the Pull back and push on speed both retract... so I can either get a constant retraction or constant push, not a push forward equal to the retraction...

The "ABS fix kit" that followed with the Ultimaker snapped very easily when my 3 year old kid wanted to take a look at what I had lying around my Ultimaker. So ABS does snap easilly, or my 3 year old is stronger than you :lol: Just kidding :-) ...you probably have a better quality batch ;-)

Sorry if I was unclear. I didn't want you to unplug the fan, just detatch it from the UM, so the vibration didn't transfer to the print. I hope the board is still ok, it shouldn't be broken in such a short time. (If it is broken I will pay for the repairs since I somehow feel responsible...)

I moved this discussion to a private chat in order to prevent flooding the "Post your latest print!" with something that is not a print ;-)

I have only tried silver, and I print at 200 degrees, but I use 210 degrees for the first layer (with the fan turned off). If I print at 195 or below it looks ok, but the model breaks easilly because the layers does not stick very well... Different colours may require different temperatures though...

Try to feel on the frame if you can feel any vibration from the fan. I noticed that I got different quality at different layers in the print apparently because the PCB fan below the printer changed speed during the print (however I noticed it in roughness of the surface, not amount of extruded material, so it might not be the same). Try to detatch the PCB+fan from the UM and see if it helps.

I tried to configure retraction in NetFabb 4.9.1, and it seems like the retraction speed is very high, however it does not retract, it "pushes", so the higher I set the retraction speed the more filament is pushed through... And I cannot configure a negative value for retraction speed. Is the retraction still buggy or is it something I can do to fix it? ...or as a last resort, is it possible if I use perl or some text parser to search/replace some of the gcode to do proper retraction after netfabb has done the slicing?

I used Netfabb with the quality setting on "standard", so not so very high quality, lots of stringing and blobs on the back (not visible on the image), but I thoght 10 hours of total printing time was enough... Maybe I'll print the cannons on the top in higher quality because they was difficult to get right. It's 14 parts in total. Its about 15 cm high assembled. Yes please, that would be awesome, I need some practice in 3d modelling/editing :-)

Here is the result of my weekend: http://www.thingiverse.com/derivative:29000 I had to print it immediately after I found it on thingiverse, I'm a huge fan of this model!

I even get some vibration when I use 4 cm of rubber, so it seems like nothing is able to damp the vibrations on the stock fan. It makes me wonder if they recently changed the fan (or we just got a bad shipment), because this is a really crappy fan, and I don't get the quality others get when it is attached. It is only when I print with the pcb + fan detached from the UM that I get expected quality from the Netfabb ultra quality prints. Otherwise I get a rough surface... Looks like my yodas got beard and need to shave...

Flashback... Yes I had the exact same problem when I got my machine.... So I gave up the ReplicatorG software and tried Netfabb + upgraded my firmware, and all my troubles went away... However I see you tried that as well, so it might not be the same. Have you checked your temperature reading, because the newest firmware prevent extrusion when the temperature is too low.