blackomega

Eclipse all the way. It is free, is available and equal on both Mac and Windows and is an excellent IDE with a lot of plugins (C++ being one of them).

Came across a weird problem at first that I've since solved but mention here incase anyone else gets it. Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures but when I was printing a simple cube, the printer started to actually print with a creeping diagonal so the object resembled more of a rhomboidal shape. Discovered that the problem was that the grub screw that holds the belt sprocket to the guide bars of the print head was loose which was causing the belt to rotated but essentially slip. Tightening this grub screw solved the problem although it was awkward getting the allen key in there! Does any of that make any sense? :-P

It was hitting the side plastic panel. Both fans were level as far as I could tell. Incidentally what sort of screwdriver are those? (torx 8 is my estimate but I don't have one of those to hand since I moved house). Anyway, I've solved the problem but simply using long nosed pliers to introduce a bend in the metal contact for the back microswitch. The result being that the print head now causes the switch to depress that little bit sooner so now the head will stop about 4mm from the edge of the case when homing.

I see that now. Both microswitches are there and both do get engaged however the back one (righthand one in the picture) is too far left in my opinion as the leading edge of the lefthand head fan makes contact with the side wall of the casing at the point when the microswitch is engaged. It really needs moved right by 5mm. I see there are already some adjustment available however I have mine as far right as the holes allow.

It is a very strange phenomenon. If I start to print, for example, the Ultimaker Robot and then abort the print, the build plate and head retract as expected however if I do it with something recently exported from Cura then it doesn't retract. Is this retraction functionality written to the gcode somewhere or dependant on something in the gcode to begin with?

Forgive my ignorance but where are the end stops? Nothing appears to be missing and besides I'm pretty sure (although I can't be 100% certain) that it didn't do this before the firmware update.

After re-installing the 13.11.2 firmware from a Win7 box, the same problem persists. :huh: Aborting prints does not reset the head or build plate. On my UM2 anyway.

I did indeed do it with a Mac. I'll reinstall the firmware using a Windows machine and report back.

Not sure if this is the correct forum for this so I apologise if it is not. Whenever you want to abort a print it would be nice if the UM2 lowered the build plate to the bottom and homed the print head. I've noticed it does this already on some models but not others. Most of the time it sits there where it stops and I have to lower the build plate myself using the maintenance option.

Noticed when my UM2 homes the print head it moves the head to the back left corner but when it does this it slams into the side of the case. This causes an ever increasing groove to develop in the inside of the left side wall. I've only noticed this since upgrading to the latest release of the firmware. Is there any way to reset what the "home" position is?

Since replacing/swapping out the the hot end/nozzles on a UM2 is a very involved process I understand, I think I'll stay clear of anything that might increase the need for me to do so.

I think I do understand what you are getting at. The better plastic feels nicer to the touch but in ways you can't quite put your finger on.

Interesting and thank you for your comments. Since the UM2 only has a single extruder (waiting for the 2nd extruder kit with baited breath! :wink: ) I'll follow your advise and stick with pure PLA PLA/PHA mix.

I was wondering if anyone has any experience/advise on whether or not 3mm filament from ColorFabb can safely used in the UM2? Is there more or a risk of the feeder grinding or some other jam/blockage occurring? Also has anyone tried this PLA/PHA filament type in general. It is apparently PLA but with an additive to it that gives it more ABS like properties.

Thank you all for the suggestions. I had thought of that but don't have such thin wire that would be rigid enough to be useful. I've managed to unblock it now by repeatedly loading and unloading the filament. I was using the clear filament and have noticed it seems to be more sensitive to a higher temperature than the coloured ones. At the default 220C then the filament seems to burn if there is an extruder jam resulting in a black blob. Incidentally, is it a simple process to replace the nozzle if need be in the future?

Got a bit of a problem. Left a model to print last night but it failed half way through (PLA stopped extruding) but now I can't get any of it to come out. I've tried heating the nozzle to 260C as the manual suggests and still nothing. I've even removed and reloaded the filament as that used to work in the past but again, nothing. The nozzle does get hot and the temp sensor does seem to be reporting the correct temperature. Any other suggestions?

Confirmed with a piece of tissue paper, the air flow is blowing towards the front of the machine past the head.

Good news folks. I removed the bottom 2 nuts and slid the cover off exposing the board. It was plugged in and wired as per the picture from illuminarti so I turned the plug around (now it has the blue then pink when seen from the same angle as illuminarti) and the fan now switches on when I power up as it should do. Thank you very much everyone for helping me with this. I guess the plug was wired the wrong way around at one of the ends. I'll see if this helps with my filament jamming problems what happened again last night and I'm still trying to resolve now.

I might be missing something but on one side of my UM2 there are 19 screws, 15 on the other side, 13 on the back and on the bottom there are several. Near the back where I expect the board to be there are 2 nuts. I assume I remove those?

Can anyone tell me which screws I need to remove in order to gain access to this connector on the board? This would save me dismantling the entire thing on a trial and error basis which I'd rather not do.

Or at least put a "fan check" step in at assembly time along with the test print that already gets done I understand?

I've have a look later when I get a chance. I hope this board is easily accessible :shock: . I agree that it would be good to have an official test/maintenance option for the fans as well as any other important mechanical areas. I'd even go as far as having a sensor to warn you at the time of printing if any of the fans are not working as they should.

See >>>>

Ok, I've followed the wiring guide from the descriptions and the picture and can confirm from my multimeter that the potential across the red and black wires coming from the plug which has a pink and blue input is 5V so the fan does appear to be getting power that far at least. A dud fan perhaps? As a further test I unplugged one of the other fans and plugged it into the pink/blue line and nothing (even though it has power). I was expecting whichever fan it was to start up straight away so i'm further lost.

Actually, some pictures would be good if you can as I don't want to start taking the wrong things apart and cause additional problems.