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In theory,yes. In practice I doubt one can achieve this on a stock ultimaker. It would mean that everything on your machine comply with this order of magnitude, i.e that: - your bed is perfectly flat - your bed is perfectly leveled - the z-axis play is well under 0.01mm - the vibrations during print don't make your bed move, or that the move is well under 0.01mm - your filament as a perfectly constant diameter And so on...

- The 2-axis screw is 3mm/turn - For 1 turn you need 200 x 8 pulses (the Z axis stepper motor has 200 steps per turn, and is driven through 1/8 microsteping) So one pulse gives you a z-movement of 3/1600 mm, i.e. 0,001875mm which is the theoretical resolution on the z-axis. 0,001875mm per pulse means you need 1/0,001875 (i.e. 533,33) pulses for moving 1mm. Which it's exactly what the step per Z says in the gcode : M92 X78.74 Y78.74 Z533.33 E865.89 Obviously, in practice, this is just not reachable due to physical constraints on every involved part. Or maybe i'm wrong on the screw and microstepping values (e.g i's 6mm per turn and 1/16 microstepping) but for sure it is 533,33 pulses per mm, leading to 0,001875mm theoretical z-resolution ¨JP

Or maybe your z-endstop is pushed up a little bit when homing your z-axis. Thus after each homing, the endstop triggers a little bit later (i.e. z-platform higher). if you use the stock z-endstop and not a non mechanic one (like an optosensor or a hall effect sensor) and if the screws holding the endstop are not tight enough, i guess this can happen. Another possibility is that you z-platform itself went higher, because the screws holding it got unscrewed with the machine vibrations?

I got it on eBay (UK seller), here: http://cgi.ebay.fr/SCOTCH-3M-Detailers- ... 43b21e85c0

I *think* that 3434 sticks less than stock, so you should be able to detach the part more easily after the print. The drawback may be that you get more warping as it sticks less, but i did not notice any PLA warping with 3434 (YMMV). Please, let us know. JP

Great! Did you just put two layers of stock blue tape, or use 3M 3434? May be the nozzle is too close to to the bed, pushing hard pla on tape, thus causing over adhesion. You may try to increase a little bit the Z height. JP

For completeness, i should add that i was doing a quick wipe with acetone before each print. I forgot to tell, because I was also doing this with the stock blue tape, and continue to do it on my heated bed borosilicate glass JP

Thanks Daid, i will give it a try. I guess i must print it with ABS (i built a heated bed, and i'm afraid it will sag if i print it with PLA)? I would also take this opportunity to thank you for all what you bring to the community, obviously Cura, but also all your constructive and pertinent contributions (even when you have to answer for the 100th time to the same question, asked each time by a different person ) So: Thanks a lot! JP

+1 for Bertho's feeder upgrade: - it is simple, both because it just replace one part of the feeder (not all the feeder) and because it is easy and fast to print (which is good when you can hardly print because you lack a good feeder!) - it has a spring, which seems mandatory to accommodate slight variations of filament diameter - it looks nice (see how it looks with 2 additional caps at http://www.thingiverse.com/derivative:33076 ) - and... it works wonderfully There are other very good models on thingiverse but I did not find one complying with the 4 above qualities (yes, it's a biased advice as I defined myself the qualities I was looking for , and look is also a matter of taste) Anyways, I just wanted to thank Bertho for this, and for all his other contributions, always comprehensive, and rigorous in their methodology. Thumbs up, Bertho!

Hello, Just wanted to share what I found working good if you don't have a heated bed: I used 3M 3434 blue tape. I primarily ordered it because it was 5cm wide, and I was tired of replacing the narrow stock blue tape after almost every print. Following an advice found elsewhere, I sticked 2 layers (perpendicular) of this tape on the stock bed, and did not have to replace this tape after a lot of prints (actually, I NEVER had to replace it, because after some time I got an heated bed ) I don't know if it's the tape or if it's due to the two layers (probably providing some elasticity in case the nozzle is too close to the bed) but the first printed layer always sticked well, and it was also a lot easier to detach the object after the print, with no damage to the tape. This will work only for PLA, not for ABS. My 2 cents JP

Hello, It seems to me that most of the fancy fan shrouds designs available on thingiverse may not be compatible with the new hot end, as the aluminium heating block is now a few mm lower (it's true at least for the ones having a ring around the nozzle) Obviously, I received my hot end v2 only a few days after I burnt the stock fan shroud on my heated bed, and printed http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:20459 as a replacement (of course, after 4 unsuccessful trials), and this one is not compatible :? Is anyone working on such shroud for hot end v2, or do you think it's the end of "ringed" fan shrouds? It that case, could you tell me which shroud you are using with your hot end v2? Thanks JP

Some people use a stepper motor as a cheap rotary encoder to provide feedback. Simple electronics are added to provide a clean signal that can then be used by e.g. an Arduino to tell the number of steps and the direction, and thus detect missed steps. So you have on the same axis: - on one side, let say a nema 17, to move the axis - on the other side a cheap weaker motor, to sense the axis movement Better if both motors have the same number of full steps, albeit you can't anyways sense missed steps when doing microstepping For instance: http://www.piclist.com/techref/io/senso ... ncoder.htm http://www.webx.dk/oz2cpu/20m/encoder.htm http://www.4qdtec.com/stpen.html

"this Will happen if you try to extrude too much plastic"... Too much plastic can also be caused by incorrect steps per E value... What is your Step per E value? Did you calibrate it (using Cura wizard for instance)? I had the same issue because my steps per E was to high... JP

I know that it may seem a silly question, but for the sake of science ;-) : what is your step per E value? I imagine that with a V3 bolt you started with 865.88 as a default? JP

Yes, i agree that cascading another power component (either a relay like you did ou an additional external mosfet) is better for temperature control and protection of the ultimaker electronic. The french guy followed the wiki instruction for direct connection of the heatbed to the ultimaker card mosfet. I was initially planning to do the same, but reading more carefully the wiki, it says that 'it should work, but was not tested'... I will think about it.... JP

Yup, i saw your post on the other thread, and read your explanations ( http://flashgamer.com/arduino/comments/ ... -ultimaker ) with great interest. Thanks! As a matter of fact, your page shows the printed accessories you used, but i was unable to find a link to them. So thanks again for providing this link above! Regarding your question about the use of a relay, a guy built its heated bed by following the ultimaker wiki instructions ( http://www.digitalspirit.org/blog/index ... -Ultimaker , but it's in french JP

Yes, i've already printed it, and i'm waiting for the bearing from eBay. Actually, i've printed 3 of them, because i use it as a one of my test cases for the print parameters

Hello, I have not yet received my teflon tube with 4mm internal diameter, and not yet installed the Owen clamp, but i calibrated my step per E settings. I did this calibration using Cura, and saw that i had to set it about 10% under the theoretical value of 866 (i don't have the measured value in mind). Basically, with the theoretical value, i was extruding 110mm when i requested a 100mm extrusion. When printing large surfaces or when using a high filling rate, this 10% adds up and i think this eventually cause the blocking, and as a further conséquence the bowden tube pops out (to much filament is fed in, and can go out fast enough, causing accumulation and pressure). So i can't emphasize more about the necessity of calibrating correctly the step per E value. And use Cura ;-) Since then, everything is going fine for me (but i will still switch to a 4mm ID teflon tube, is i saw somewhere that it will improve retraction efficacity, thanks to less filament friction inside the tube). Regards, JP

Hello, Thanks for your answer. Yes, the chinese power supplies i buy from eBay usually have a trim potentiometer to adjust the output voltage. I have not yet received the 24v power supply, but i guess it would be possible to go down to 20v more or less. Nevertheless, i saw on the Ultimaker google group that the stock power plug and switch are not rated to handle the current that will flow through with the heatbed on. So i think i will eventually take the dual power supply route, as describred in the wiki (the stock 19v for powering the machine, and a separate 12v for the heatbed). Regards JP

Hello, I have a reprap Mk2 heated bed PC and and chinese 24V / 400W (16.6 A) power supply. - as far as i understand, Ultimaker Wiki ( http://wiki.ultimaker.com/Heated_Bed ) says that i can replace the stock ultimaker power supply with my chinese one, in order to to power both the ultimaker and the heatbed (through the headbed output of the UM electronic card). The wiki states that the replacement power supply "should be 19-26V and have a power of 150W+The max heating power of your heated bed", which is the case - but the reprap Wiki ( http://reprap.org/wiki/Ultimaker%27s_v1 ... ifications ) states that the V1.5.4 UM Electronic card "Runs from 15V to 19V" So my question is: Can i safely power my UM electronic with my chinese power supply (even if 24V > 19v) and just plug my heat bed to the UM electronics heatbed output? Alternative may be to first regulate the 24v to 19v, but i don't wan't do to it if not necessary. I understand that i can get an additional 12V power supply just for the HB and keep the stock 19v power supply for the UM, as indicated in the wiki, but i would rather have only one power supply. Thanks in advance JP

Hello, I have (had?) the same problem. I can't say my bowden tube is faulty, as a brand new portion of filament goes through without special effort. Anyways i tried everything, following advices on the forum(thanks guys) and wiki. I'm not an expert (quite the opposite), but anyways here is the result of my trials (and errors...), as well as some questions. 1) I drilled the bowden tube to 4mm inner diameter on about 3 cm hot end side 2) I drilled the bowden tube to 4.5mm inner diameter on about 0,5mm hot end side 3) I slightly drilled the brass tube to 4mm diameter (bowden tube side), in order to ease the guiding of the filament, because with the increased inner diameter, one cannot insure it will be centered in the bowden tube 4) I secured the bowden tube with toothpicks inserted in the hole on the top part of the printing carriage 5) I tied the white part with metal wire (other people used zip-ties), before putting the blue horseshoe on 6) I fixed firmly the extruder feeder to the machine by inserting small wooden pieces in the holes where it is inserted (spare plywood bits you get everywhere when you build yourr ultimaker) and printed this quick connect shim http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:24363'>http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:24363 , because if the extruder was really moving a lot on retracts. 7) i ordered 4mm inner diameter/6mm outer diameter TEFLON (not PFA) tube on ebay (and wait for it). 8) i will print owen's clamp ( http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:11864 ) and is extruder brother ( http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:17027 ) as well as this adaptation for the 4mm/6mm teflon tube i ordered. (

Ok Thanks Kyle. So it means that the firmware generated through Build Me Marlin is backward compatible with the stock Marlin 1.0.0 RC3, but Cura needs some of its new features? Regards JP

Hello, I have a quite recent Ultimaker (received end of may). It has a stock Marlin Firmware (Marlin 1.0.0 RC3 Last Updated 2012-05-16 | Author Erik). I also got an official UltiController and Netfabb. I would like to try Cura, but i have the following question: If i generate a new Marlin firmware, using Daid's Build-me Marlin (btw, thanks!) for UltiController compatibility, as far as i understand, it will work with Cura. But then, can i also use ReplicatorG (choosing Skeinforge or Slic3r as a toolpath generator) or NetFabb, or shall i first switch back to the stock firmware? Thanks JP

Same here ;-) I used wooden toothpicks instead. As the voltmaster said, make sure you tape them on the tube, just in case the tube pops anyways (because you don't want to go fishing for them if it happens) JP

Ok, my last comment was incorrect. Ultimaker shipping pace is now weekly, and their lead time for first orders is diminishing accordingly. In may case, the missing plate was shipped yesterday, for an ETA in Paris tomorrow. Yay! I take the opportunity to thanks the Ultimaker support people for their kindness and reactivity. JP