gr5

Must be UM Original if he swapped stepper drivers. I have several ideas. I guess the most likely is that the DIR signal from the arduino to the Z driver is either always stuck or intermittently stuck so that even if the firmware commands the Z down, it still goes up. Connect the UM to a PC through USB, then use print window in cura to move the Z 1mm at a time in both directions (actually first spin the Z screw so that you won't smash nozzle into bed). Try moving up and down. If it always moves the same direction then the DIR signal is bad for the Z axis. This is 90% fixed by soldering the 2 or 3 solder joints involved on the PCB. I would probe the DIR signal with a voltmeter at various spots while you command the Z axis up and then down. The circuit diagram, and board layout are here: http://reprap.org/wiki/Ultimaker%27s_v1.5.7_PCB There is a zip file at the top. It contains the "brd" file which is the layout. Also the "sch" file which is the schematic. Both files can be opened by eagle software which is free: http://www.cadsoftusa.com/download-eagle/

JHinkle - I think your reasoning is correct. 1.75mm filament is better for very fine control and I disagree with Illuminarti's assertion that you can get higher pressure with the 3mm filament. The stepper can only put out so much force and with the larger surface area as the 3mm filament goes into the head means it has to push harder to achieve the same pressure. Pressure, typically pounds per square inch is heavily dependent on the "square inch" part. But 1.75mm filament isn't going to be as strong as 3mm along it's length and so you can't push it as hard as you can push on 3mm filament so mabye it works out about the same in the end. JHinkle -keep in mind that the UM1 feeder can apply about 22 pounds of push/pull on the filament before it starts to grind it to powder and this force is commonly achieved for most people as many people like to push their printer to it's limits (to save time).

.5 is probably too big for this print. There are 5 settings for retraction. What are all of them set to? retraction on/off min travel (set to 0 for this but normally 1mm is okay) min extrusion before retracting (set to 0 - very important to stop stringing) enable combing retraction distance (should be about 5mm depending on how much the bowden moves up and down during retraction) retraction speed You will get higher resolution if you print the tag vertically on it's longer thin edge. If you print on the thin edge then you should enable brim to help it from falling over. Brim is in on the basic settings page under "platform adhesion type". Personally I would print this on glass. I would print with 2 colors - first print the letters only with one filament. Then cancel the print, remove the filament, put in a different color and print a flat tag with no letters on top. Like this print I did on the UM Original: https://www.youmagine.com/designs/galaxy-s4-ballistic-case

That's not good. First of all be aware that the power brick that comes with the UM1 has a safety feature that once it is shorted out you need to unplug from the wall for it to come back on. It sounds like something is wrong in a big way in your electronics - maybe a short somewhere. 1) Are you good with electronics? 2) Do you have a voltmeter? If not get one - it's time to learn something new. I will try to guide you. Or if you don't want to learn about electronics consider sending the PCB back to ultimaker but first contact them here: support.ultimaker.com The circuit diagram can be found here: The circuit diagram, and board layout are here: http://reprap.org/wiki/Ultimaker%27s_v1.5.7_PCB There is a zip file at the top. It contains the "brd" file which is the layout. Also the "sch" file which is the schematic. Both files can be opened by eagle software which is free: http://www.cadsoftusa.com/download-eagle/

If your extruder clicks then it is probably assembled correctly and working correctly and the problem is more likely in the nozzle although I suppose you could increase the current. Supposedly the command to increase the current works now in the latest firmware. But I don't recommend it as you could start to get grinding of the filament. I suppose one last test would be to insert the filament only a little ways into the bowden (not to the print head), then put weights pulling down on the filament and driver the extruder slowly until it suddenly slips out. If you do this test then I will repeat it on my machine. If you don't know the weight of your weights you can measure them after you find the right amount that makes the extruder slip backwards. On the UM1, it can pull about 22 pounds.

FYI - Sander doesn't always read this forum so sending him a message directly is much more reliable. Even then evidently he sometimes misses your message. I can only assume he gets thousands every day

I got dust on my filament and then in my UM2 nozzle and had to clear 4 blockages in 4 days and now have a recommended method - would take 1 minute if I didn't have to wait for the nozzle to heat up and cool down (minimum 2 heats, one cool). The Atomic Nozzle Cleaning Method Simpler Version (July 2014) (named after Mostly Atomic Bob who may or may not have invented it - not sure) I do this method on EVERY FILAMENT CHANGE now. It keeps the nozzle clean I hope. If you have no filament in the head, heat nozzle to 180C and while waiting insert the filament manually through the feeder, cutting the tip of the filament to a point first. You have to push very hard to get the feeder spring to move back but then it's easy. 1) Set nozzle temp to 90C. Wait for the nozzle temp to cool or heat to this value. If heating wait 10 seconds at this temp. Push the head to the front of the machine to reduce friction in the tightly bent bowden. Grip the filament firmly below the feeder and pull down. You should get a nozzle tip shaped end on the filament. 2) Pull the tip half way through the bowden and then pause 10 seconds. If this is your first time pause 20 seconds. This is to let the PLA cool below glass temp (to about 40C) so it doesn't come apart in the feeder. 3) Pull the filament all the way out. When it is getting very close do it in one fast swift motion so that the stepper is spinning with momentum and pushes the tip out. If it breaks inside the feeder (happens about once every 50 times) instead of taking it apart you can get some small tools and push the roller away from the feeder sleeve with one tool while someone else digs around in there to get the PLA out. If that doesn't work take it apart. 4) Examine the tip for dirt, etc. Cut it off with two snips to make a chisel point. Re-insert through feeder into print head, set temp to 180C. You have to push pretty hard to get past the feeder spring. Wait for temp to hit 180C, push the filament into the nozzle and if nothing leaks out the tip go back to step 1. Repeat this procedure until the tip comes out clean and/or it starts working again. Inserting a needle through the tip may help but doesn't seem to be necessary. The Atomic Nozzle Cleaning Method (named after Mostly Atomic Bob who may or may not have invented it - not sure) 1) Remove filament (change filament menu item and just cancel after it's out) 2) Remove Bowden at print head. Follow instructions carefully - it's easy to scrape and damage the bowden on the metal blades. 2a) Remove the colored clip (red I think on mine) that holds the gray part up. I'll call the gray part the "bowden holder". 2B) Loosen the 4 thumb screws until they are about to dissapear into the bottom metal piece - until the ends of the bolts are flush with the bottom metal plate - this is to loosen upward pressure on the bowden. 2C) At this point the bowden should be able to move up and down (along with the bowden holder) freely. If not now you have to loosen the metal nut that has holes all the way around - rotating that lowers the nozzle reducing upward pressure on the bowden. I haven't messed with this yet. 2D) GENTLY raise the bowden while pushing down on the bowden holder. you do not want to pull very hard or you will scrape it. Consider pushing down a bit before pulling up. Look at it carefully when it comes out - there should be a ring where the bowden holder blades cut into it. If you do scrape the bowden you will need to cut off 2 or 3mm off the end of the bowden. Obviously you can only do this a few times before needing a new bowden tube. 3) Cut a piece of PLA filament to help you clear the nozzle - it should be 100 to 300mm long. Stick it into the nozzle from above - you should straighten it by bending it straight. Make sure the nozzle truly is plugged - when you get to the white nylon piece there should be resistance but it should keep going down. 4) At this point it is more difficult if you don't have a needle but probably not mandatory - hypodermic is good, or accupuncture or a .35mm drill bit, or a wire from the wire brush that cleans a barbeque grill, or some other metal brush, or a thick strand of copper from a power cable (this never worked for me - the power cable thing - much too small. 5) Stick the needle up into the hole and pull it out again - don't push on the filament. 6) Lower nozzle temp to 100C. At 90C pull hard up on the filament. This should hopefully remove your clog. Cut the end of PLA off and throw away that clog. 7) Raise nozzle temp to 180C. Insert PLA again and if it is working you are done and put it back together. If not go back to step 5. 8) If it isn't clogged but the PLA curls sharply (even with 30mm of freshly extruded pla pulling downwards) and touches the side of the nozzle, then there is a partial clog. Once your needle is in the head push hard in a circle to scrape the inside of the metal nozzle near the tip. Don't scratch the exterior of the tip of the nozzle. This clog should be able to go out through the nozzle so hopefully you don't need to cool the nozzle but instead can push the (smaller) clog out the tip. 9) REASSEMBLY - Remove your short piece of PLA and put the Bowden back in. Push it as far down as it will go and then tighten the 4 thumbscrews such that the bowden is in there tight. The little red clip should now do nothing - and the bowden holder should always be in the up position from now on. Also your retraction distance can be reduced from 5.5mm to 4.5mm (at least in my case). Maybe even shorter - haven't experimented much yet. edited as per Illuminarti's suggestions below. edit2: I changed the "pull up" temp to 90C as I've done this more times since I wrote this and 90C seems to be the perfect temp. 100C works but not as well.

I think Illuminarti and others settled it. But now I show what speed you should be able to do at each temperature. Be aware that you need to keep the extruder close to the loosest setting possible although I think yours is a tiny bit too loose - so tighten it until the white thing starts moving the tiniest bit down. Probably. Maybe. Hopefully that will help. Also I have noticed that partial nozzle clogs usually result in a symptom: When extruding in air the PLA curls very hard and touches the nozzle tip. Even if I pull down and have 50mm of PLA hanging straight down in gravity, if I extrude more it curls and touches the nozzle tip. I little scraping with a needle moved in a circle path through the nozzle tip can usually fix this. Don't scratch the outside of your nozzle though. If you see this strong curling then the problem is a partial clog. More likely your extruder just needs slight tightening.

Well after Illuminarti's test, I decided to create my own - at different temperatures - and I created a graph showing max print speeds for various temps for my UM2 using ultimaker light blue PLA filament. I also included data for nylon pa6 and some "printing in air" tests. The graph is here along with how I did it (it's pretty easy!) and other info: http://umforum.ultimaker.com/index.php?/topic/4127-um2-extrusion-rates-revisited/ Actually publishing my data took twice as long as collecting it.

I revisited my tests of max extrusion rates. First for the results - mostly look at the dark blue line which is PLA at .2mm layers - you can go twice as fast for .1mm layers: When I tried to print any faster than the blue line the extruder slipped backwards with the exception of the pink dot where it didn't slip but I could clearly see underextrusion visible on the printed part by about 5 to 15% underextruded (I compared with flow purposely set to 95% and 90%). The yellow line was max extrusion rates when PLA is printed with nozzle not touching part. This I later decided was unrealistic because when the nozzle is .2mm above the part the pressures will be higher. At .1mm height you should be able to print almost 2X as fast because you are extruding half the amount of PLA. The light blue line was a test for nylon PA6 - also in air so you have to subtract 20% or so I assume for realistic printing. Here is the test piece I did for the dark blue line in the graph: Basically I printed a 30mmX30mmX30mm cube with zero shell (hence the strange edges). I would print at a given temp and speed up and slow down the feedrate until I found the fastest speed that didn't slip. At 240C I could go faster than 100mm/sec but I started to see underextrusion even without the slipping hence the pink dot at 110mm/sec which didn't slip but still underextruded. At the slower speeds/temps I never saw this underextrusion without slipping also occurring. I don't understand why this is different at 110mm/sec but something to do with how stepper motors work maybe or the momentum of the faster moving stepper. Implying that higher servo currents might slip less but you probably get underextrusion anyway. The previous experiment (with the yellow line data only) is here: http://umforum.ultimaker.com/index.php?/topic/3418-um2-extrusion-rates/ EDIT: Steve from Ultimaker does material tests and did a more thorough test that concentrated more on different manufacturers but on average got almost identical data - this is very thorough and informative!: http://gr5.org/PLA_undereextrusion_tests.pdf

After printing starts - while doing the skirt - you can adjust the z=0 height. For people too lazy to mess with the levelling screws. UM1 only. Go to here and look at all the things that people have checked in: https://github.com/ErikZalm/Marlin/commits/Marlin_v1 Ignore pull requests and merge requests as the changes merged in will be listed somewhere below.

Update - it's definitely K1. The voltage at the coil is 4.9V when it is working and when it is not working. Also the problem only occurs when the relay is warm. So if I leave the UM off for 30 minutes it always powers on perfectly. I can even hear the very fast double click on power on. I turned it off and on 20 times always perfect. But if the UM2 has been on for an hour and I turn it off and on it fails 20X in a row. So I think the coil in K1 was hot. I will order another one. In the meantime this problem is very minor for me. And before you ask - I have only used this printer in the winter in a cool house so I don't know if this problem will get worse in the summer.

By the way - the fins of your shark need support. I strongly recommend meshmixer: http://www.extrudable.me/2013/12/28/meshmixer-2-0-best-newcomer-in-a-supporting-role/ pay particular attention to how to rotate your part in the "annoyances & limitaions" section and also note that there is a small error where he set layer height to "0.5" mm and it should be the layer height you print at e.g. .2 or .1mm.

This is a common problem and easy to fix. The problem is that the nozzle never leaves the small area at the top and so the plastic never has a chance to cool down. The best and simplest solution unfortunately is to print something else nearby that is taller or the same height. I would personally probably print 2 sharks. Alternatively you can put a tall cylinder next to the shark that is slightly taller. Be careful to look at it in the slicer and make sure that it prints both parts at the same time and not one part followed by the other. You can force this with a checkbox somewhere in the new cura menus or you can go to machine settings and set gantry height to 0.

I only see one picture at the imgur link.

Maybe the brown marks are from a previous color? It's amazing how a tiny piece of a previous color can stay in my nozzle somewhere (or maybe there was a thin string of it in the bowden) and show up 10 minutes later in the print. Or even 30 minutes later.

Also I don't recommend a > 4 hour print as your very first print with so many things that can go wrong or be loose on your printer - I would do a small version first.

Oh - and to keep the corners from lifting use the "brim" feature in cura (try it today!) and keep your bed hot 60-70C and use the glue stick that comes with your printer - at least in the corners of your model.

The most difficult thing of this print will be warping/shrinking which can lift the corners. If you get 20mm up and the part hasn't lifted off the bed you should be good. Sketchup is fine (I use it). You will need the STL exporter plugin - there are a few. Export in mm. You can scale the part in Cura. The worst thing about sketchup is it often gives you missing spots/holes or inner walls. Cura hates this. Look at the part today (don't wait for you UM2) in Cura. look at the part in XRAY view (icon top right corner). If there is any red these are potential problem spots. Then look at it in slice view and drag the layer up and down looking for problems particularly in the red areas. If there are problems, fix them in sketchup or you can play with the 4 checkboxes under "fix horrible" but much easier to fix a model as simple as this in sketchup. The bridging over doors and windows don't need any support but you will wan't to lower the temperature possibly for those areas - I mean you were talking about speeding up the print which can be done by raising the temp to 240 and printing much higher speeds but 240C is bad for bridging so you can lower the speed and temp when you get near the tops of the windows/doors: See post #17: http://umforum.ultimaker.com/index.php?/topic/1872-some-calibration-photographs/?p=25304

Not a good sign. This probably means they are going to charge you some kind of tax or tariff or something. Probably around $50. US Customs don't do this for every shipment but they do it for some.

If the wavy lines are caused by vibrations, you can reduce the acceleration from 5000 to 3000 and it won't affect print time much: http://umforum.ultimaker.com/index.php?/topic/2532-prevent-ringing-wobbly-surface-after-sharp-corners/?p=18006 Do those pictures agree with your "wavy vibrations"? Why do you want to clean the bowden? You can take it off but be careful - it's easy to damage. If there are pieces of PLA inside, just let them go through and melt in the head. UM1 or UM2? On the head you have to reduce the pressure on the bowden by unscrewing/taking apart the head a little bit - to reduce the pressure. Then remove the little red or blue clip and push down on the outer ring and slide up the tube. The gray ring that holds the bowden in has 4 metal blades. If you aren't careful you will scrape the bowden and when you put it back in it won't stay in very well. Don't pull up very hard. This instructions were written for UM1 and UM2. I've never removed the bowden on the other end.

By the way - you can have many different versions of cura installed at the same time (well maybe not on a mac) and you can have them all running at the same time or whatever you want to do. There's no need to ever uninstall.

older versions of cura: http://software.ultimaker.com/old/

Great information, pictures, and replacement if you damage the delrin wheel (and a better design I think): http://umforum.ultimaker.com/index.php?/topic/1676-modification-of-upgraded-extruder-drive/?hl=%2Breplace+%2Bdelrin

Ah! That's probably the problem. That black plastic material is called "Delrin". Delrin is easy to cut with a laser cutter and UM has one so I think that's why they use that material here. The Delrin wheel should be spinable. Maybe the sides of the extruder are squeezing it too much. You need to fix this before printing anything else otherwise it will get worn down and will get a flat spot.