das_enginer

For my unit; I replaced the plate cooling fans with the Orion OD3010-12HB: http://www.digikey.com/product-search/en?x=0&y=0&lang=en&site=us&KeyWords=1053-1199-nd However, the Sunon MC30101V1-000U-A99 are also a viable option: http://www.digikey.com/product-search/en?WT.z_header=search_go&lang=en&site=us&keywords=259-1550-nd&x=0&y=0&formaction=on I replaced the PTFE coupler cooling fan with the Sunon MC25060V2-000U-A99: http://www.digikey.com/product-search/en?WT.z_header=search_go&lang=en&site=us&keywords=259-1573-nd&x=0&y=0&formaction=on Good to know on the wobble!

Congrats on getting back in the game with your new printer!! I've had to replace all of my fans with ones I sourced from DigiKey, their bearings were all pretty ragged and made a similar noise (slight eccentric vibration resonating through the sheet metal fan shroud). I am interested in the changes they've already made to the units. Can you tell why spacers were added to the head screws? Based on my unit the screws would have to increase in length to match the spacers, so I'm unsure what purpose this could be for. Cushioning on the feeder motor? Is this in the mounting of it, or around it as if to dampen any noise? Does the wobble pose a concern? Mine probably wobbles 1-2 degrees when the tray is lower on the threading, but wasn't aware this could be a problem. I hadn't seen that cable chain before; that will be next in my print queue. I've been using a small ramp next to the printer bed that forced the cable out instead of under the bed, but the chain is MUCH cleaner (and a cool visual adder too)!

So I should start by saying that this test genuinely surprised me. I had frequent issues with under-extrusion when I first got my UM2 (filament from Ultimaker and MakerGeeks - I strictly use Faberdashery now), and have just printed at very conservative flow rates and temperatures since then (under 3 mm^3/s). I've religiously followed this thread, Nicolinux's thread, Ian's feeder redesign thread, and a number of others hoping someone would find "the issue". I ran the print at the suggested 230 degC, with a 65 degC bed, in a 68 degF ambient temperature. Filament was Faberdashery's bling bling gold, being fed from my "custom" spool on the floor. The only error I can see on the print is a single stepper skip a few layers into the 10 mm^3/s band. I might try this test again with the Earl Grey or Space Marine colors I have when I switch out to them to see if that makes any difference.

Higher speeds I've found to present 2 problems at the moment. The first is worry of under-extrusion, and the second is surface "smoothness". I'm guessing you know this, but just in case; under-extrusion is where the printer nozzle is unable to push out the volume of plastic that the print needs fast enough. Eg. the speed of the nozzle and layer height dictates mathematically a set mm^3/sec of plastic, and if something keeps the plastic from actually coming out that fast, you'll see missed lines in the part and it may be weaker / unusable. As Sander pointed out, the easiest way to fix this is to increase the temperature of the nozzle. A hotter nozzle will allow the plastic to melt faster, and flow better. The concern with higher temperatures is that if the print head slows down significantly for smaller details vs. a fast long wall, the plastic is now too "runny" and may sag / droop / warp. Really high temperatures can degrade the plastic itself. Ideally you would print at only ~5 degC above what you absolutely need to prevent under-extrusion at a given speed, but this takes trial and error to determine which is very time consuming. If you want a "fast" print with "decent" quality, the best I've tested thus far is: - Nozzle = 240-245 degC, depending on ambient temps - Bed = 65 degC - Speed = 50 mm/s - Layers = 0.2mm - Fan @ 85% speed at 0.6mm layer height (KISSlicer setting only) - Retraction @ 40 mm/s, 5mm distance Keep in mind this isn't a guaranteed setting list. Because of the faster head speed and the double layer height, the nozzle is extruding at over 300% faster than my "high quality" settings, so there may be slight under-extrusion here and there depending on how much the fan is cooling the nozzle, how the PLA is reacting, and ambient temps. I've had ~85% success rate with these settings. Technically the Ultimakers are capable of moving the head around at much faster speeds than the 50 mm/s, but I haven't played around with it yet, and feel strongly that the UM2 is most limited by it's nozzle design such that the same extrusion speeds as seen on the UM1 will be difficult if not impossible to achieve (but that's a different discussion I'm still exploring). The second trade-off for speed is the "smoothness" of the walls. On a 30 mm/s print, a straight wall generally looks straight and lines up with the other layers very well. The faster you go, the more likely there is some induced "wavy-ness" or "ringing" in the lines, but this is usually very minor and probably not a concern for your part. Sorry for the novel!

Hi Shurik, If I were to try this print on my UM2; 1. PLA will work great for this. 2. I personally use Kapton tape on my bed, heated to 65 degC, and have not had any warp from any of my parts thus far; up to 150mm x 160mm footprint parts. 3. I would put support in the window openings, but I'm also fanatical about not having any sag. If the support is done right, there would only be a little sanding/filing at the top and bottom of each window. 4. For modeling software, I can't say too much as I have SolidWorks and ProEngineer availble, and use either of those. I'm not too "up" on the free CAD packages. For slicing (taking the part and turning it into code for the printer), Cura is great, but I've personally tuned my UM2 to run with KISSlicer so I have better settings control. 5. Settings for this will also depend on how you define "presentation quality". I'm quite particular, and would want a smooth surface finish, dimensional accuracy, no stringing, and minimal post-processing. To achieve this very reliably, and using the Ultimaker blue PLA that came with the machine; - Nozzle = 225-230 degC, depending on ambient temps - Bed = 65 degC - Speed = 30 mm/s (50mm/s would probably work just fine too, but I haven't used it as much) - Layers = 0.1mm - Fan @ 95% speed at 0.6mm layer height (KISSlicer setting only) - Retraction @ 40 mm/s, 5mm distance Illuminarti also has a FANTASTIC writeup here: http://www.extrudable.me/2013/12/17/highqualityultimaker2/

I would follow a similar path to Nick; - In the "phone" part, do an offset surface with either 0mm offset if you want a line-on-line base "hole", or an offset of your choosing if you want a gap. - Create the general shape of the base that you want in a new part, then insert the "phone" part into the base part and mate accordingly. - You can now use the offset surface in the "phone" part to cut away the material in the base part (Insert > Cut > With Surface)

I've run into a similar issue, and after snagging a few spare spools from one of my colleagues, I found that spooling Faberdashery filament on it doesn't work too well, simply because it wants to go back to the larger diameter. cor3ys pointed me to this design: LINK, and he's apparently had good luck with it after modifying the ID of the hub to 50mm to fit his spool holder. I haven't yet had the chance to print one up or modify it yet. I've also been told that Faberdashery will start selling certain filaments on a spool sometime in 2014.

Hi yellowshark, Are these on a UM1 or a UM2? These wouldn't surprise me at all for a UM1, but my own UM2 and number of others I've been reading on the forums with UM2s can't extrude anywhere near this fast at these temps. I'm curious, namely because if you are using a UM2 with your listed temps/speeds, then there is some discrepancy in parts/build/setup I'd like to find. To get .2mm layers at 50mm/s, I'm running 230-240C (filament dependent), with.1mm layers at 50mm/s taking 210-220C. I would probably have to drop down to 20mm/s in order to run .1mm layers at 210C reliably (eg no underextrusion and no stepper skipping). Danke!

Hi gr5! The only way I've found to "grind" the filament is to apply too much pressure at the extruder stepper. If you adjust the screw such that the tension indicator moves down, you're effectively increasing the spring rate on the arm of the roller bearing, thus applying a greater normal force on the filament. If I tighten the screw all the way (the indicator is at the bottom), the knurl on the filament is pressed so deep that it's forming small pyramids of plastic that fairly easily separate from the filament itself when the extruder begins to rotate. More rotation = more pyramids = grinding. That being said, I leave my tension at the minimum, and don't have any skipping between the knurl and the filament. My extruder stepper will miss steps far before the knurl and the filament skip (and is does so frequently unless I'm running at 235C-245C for 0.2mm layers at 50 mm/s).

Toot away, this looks like a great design! I'll get this one printing as soon as I get back from vacation! I was thinking of this exact thing, except customizing the arm length to my reel width so that there wouldn't be any significant in/out play. I may have to print a holder for each company, but I'm OK with that. I'm really looking towards Faberdashery selling PLA on spools! It's rather expensive to get over here (shipping and conversion rate), but from what I've heard it can't be beat. I have some of their gold I was intending to use for Xmas baubles, but haven't yet had a chance to run it.

This is interesting, I'm wondering what I'm doing differently (or incorrectly); I'm printing 0.2mm layer heights at 50 mm/s, and have to run my PLA (the light blue Ultimaker PLA that came with my UM2) at 240-245 degC in order to get minimal (if any) under-extrusion. The finish, at least on the few parts I've done, looks to mine eyes be to very uniform and smooth, excluding the layer start/stop seam. Ambient is between 65 and 75 degF (18.3-23.9 degC).

Thanks guys! I didn't know if there was an OTS option with the connector or if I should just do a matching DigiKey / Mouser unit and re-do the connector myself. cor3ys, I really like that holder for the Faberdashery filament, I'll probably take that concept and throw it into SolidWorks and modify to see if I can get something a tad more compact (doubt I can though). gr5, I also really like the turntable "lazy susan" idea! That could be a good stop-gap until I can get something more permanent designed and built. illuminarti, nice find on the turntable idea! I am sure it's the bearing, it's been making the characteristic knock since I got the unit, and the 8 hour print I ran yesterday finally killed it. I'll likely up-spec the heck out of the fan I get (better bearings) just in case.

Hello! Part 1: Replacement Cooling Fan My UM2 has been making quite a racket when the two cooling fans come on, and I've found that the bearing in the right cooling fan is shot, and the vibration resonates through the sheetmetal ducting making it quite loud (peaking around 72dB). Does anyone know where I can get a swap-in replacement fan? I'm sure I could get one through Ultimaker themselves, but (no offense intended) they're quite busy right now and I'd like to repair this issue within the near future. Part 2: Material Spool Holders I'm finding that locating high quality 3mm PLA filament is tricky, and that when I do, it either comes on a reel that has a much smaller ID bore for mounting than the Ultimaker's spool holder allows (MakerGeeks), or doesn't come on a spool at all (Faberdashery). How do you usually go about using PLA that doesn't basically come on an Ultimaker spool, or does anyone know of a USA distributor who's reels fit the UM2's spool holder? I could design and print my own rear support, but I'm curious as to the communities experience before I dig into that. Thanks for any input!

To be honest I was using the Woodcraft birch on a different project, so I wasn't really paying attention to knots. I don't think there was any issue with knots, but flatness may be off from an aircraft version. I would go with Nick's suggestion; I haven't used them personally but have heard good things about them, excluding a higher cost.

If you're in the states (which I'm guessing you are since it was a MakerSHED purchase), I've had luck with Woodcraft. They have 6mm birch plywood in stock in different sizes; a 30" x 48" will run you around $21 plus S&H. It may actually be 0.25" instead of 6mm, but its only about 3 sheets of paper thicker, so it shouldn't matter.

I picked up some Singer sewing oil from Jo-ann's Fabrics a while ago for use on my printers, and it works a charm. I usually clean the rods first, then re-oil just to get rid of any dust buildup. While the printer doesn't come with this oil for the sliding shafts, it does come with a small packet of grease for the threaded table rod.

MakerSHED is for real! I ordered one late last week w/ overnight shipping, it arrived yesterday morning. It's not an old unit either; it was running the 13.11.2 firmware out of the box, and even came with the spare filament guide that fits on the rear opposite the extrusion stepper. I would highly recommend even with these units doing a partial disassembly and reassembly before starting it up. I had a few loose connections on the PCB, the left motor guard sheetmetal was warped, and the wiring for the LED light strips was rubbing on one of the axes. Nothing major, but a thorough check will save you time in the long run. I would also clean and re-oil all of the axes; I was noticing a fair bit of buildup on the carriages after just a few passes; likely from dust and cardboard debris during shipping.

I would be lying if I said I wasn't concerned about losing my spot in line with Ultimaker simply b/c I saw the potential for a faster order through MakerShed, and ending up without one until 2014. While I understand your frustration with very long lead times (this is the 6th week after placing my order), I've kinda come to peace with it since I know that everyone at Ultimaker is working their bums off to get through this initial heap of orders. And in the end, even a long wait time is better than buying a MakerBot and succumbing to their not-so-nice Stratasys corporate practices. I'm very lucky that I have the ability to order the one from MakerShed without first getting the refund from Ultimaker. And just think, everyone who drops their direct order to defect to MakerShed means you're that many more units closer to yours. :smile:

My order through Ultimaker didn't have any transaction fees, just the conversion adjustment from USD to EUR. This may have been because I used my American Express which has some very generous international policies. They are going rather fast; my call to MakerSHED was the 3rd or 4th my rep had gotten in an hour. My shipping was less than what you calculated since I'm apparently closer to where it's shipping from. I'm also shipping it to my work, and business shipping is always less expensive than residential shipping. I also bought through Ultimaker at a time where the EUR/USD conversion rate was at it's worst, so I spent more USD to get the same EUR. The three of those combined made up the savings (assuming that the refund is for the USD I paid and not the EUR I paid).

I just called MakerSHED; I didn't believe the dates. At the time I called they had 27 units IN STOCK (as in he could see the boxes in front of him), 26 now that I've placed my order through them and requested a cancellation of my late-October order through Ultimaker directly. Bonus in addition to getting it in-hand earlier; I saved around $150USD, even with overnight shipping.

Thanks for the advice and info gr5, JonnyBischof, and David!

Hi gr5! Are you concerned with the SDHC part, or the Class 10 part? I could understand the SDHC type posing an issue, but I'm curious if the ability to handle fast read/write speeds also pose an issue.

That's definitely something I'm coming more around to understand! I think for me it's just a learning curve in regards to who is directly tied to Ultimaker (such as yourself and David), and who is just very knowledgeable with the products. I had guessed this was the case, but it's good to know that it really is a small percentage of shipments only. It's just hard to tell as I'm unaware of the magnitude of units that have been shipped. Thank you for your response! :grin:

That's really good to know NachoKaoS! Thanks! I'm getting more and more excited for my walk through the garden. :smile:

Daid, on a similar note, is there any specific size limitation you're aware of on SD cards for best functionality? I know that the UM2 comes with one, but should I lose/damage/etc the stock card, would there be any concern with using a Class 10 SDHC?