annotatedsnark

Good thread, but where's the input from UM?? And why are the fans still missing from the spare parts store?? This is getting ridiculous, or, I'm very misinformed. Please help?

Nice printers Thanks for info. Is that last photo after any cleanup at all? Did you use retraction? What settings?

UPDATING after my successful if risky hot end change on my UM2. I will upload photos and more details later, but it's important to me to notify anyone else who is about to attempt this, of a piece of info I feel crummy for having had to stumble upon :\ The "set screw" that goes into the nozzle block invades slightly into both the horizontal holes in the block, and so is keeping in place both sensor and heater. Pulling them out should only be attempted after the set screw is removed. This info seems key if the sensor and/or heating cartridge really are fragile (as nallath said), and it was never mentioned to me, even tho I've gotten two email replies from UM support since I told them I've ordered the replacement parts and am about to try replacing... :( Maybe that's why it's named "set screw"? (For me, the screw was stuck, and I didn't focus effort on removing it because I didn't know its dual function. Not sure how, but the heater cartridge still just slid out with zero effort and thankfully the sensor came out without damage after 2 minutes of gentle pulling and rocking with pliers (holding on to parts that seemed less fragile than say the wire connection). Only when installing the new nozzle I saw the small bumps the screw makes inside the holes, noticing them because they wouldn't let me push the heater and sensor all the way inside.)

Great info, but what about videos for how to replace parts, ESPECIALLY THOSE SENSITIVE WIRES that you've mentioned? I happen to have a UM2 hot end kit on the way... (Maybe the kit comes with instructions? Not that it would be an excuse for not posting any and all maintenance guidance you can think of, as soon as you can produce it, if not sooner...) BTW - On your Software page, how about posting occasional estimates for when the next version update will be ready? Thanks for you efforts!

Hi Daid, and thanks for your thoughtful replies.

Is there an adult reason not to let the user choose?? From what I can see in that post, the feature is not optional "because f*** you", more or less. Just because the engine is fast enough, and all the kinks and bugs were fixed, doesn't mean you HAVE TO FORCE IT ON THE USERS... Maybe leave it always on in the non-advanced mode of Cura?

Thanks kindly!

Dear development team, hello! The UM2 has given me much happiness since I got it 3 months ago. These are my most important comments. Most are very simple to implement. I do appreciate your attention: Software (Cura) 1. PLEASE stop automatically slicing, just make a button like everyone else, or at least make the auto-slice optional. I think the reasons are obvious. 2. Please add the option to determine the amount of shells/floor/roof in numbers instead of only in mm. 3. Please do something about thin walls being skipped during slicing, and/or disconnect this from the "shell thickness" setting (there are also bugs in this relationship, that I've mentioned in a previous forum post). If a wall is 0.3mm, I'd rather have a single 0.4mm shell wall than nothing... or at least make a prompt, warning about the skipping. 4. In the installation menu, please add a prompt that removes the previous version. Firmware 1. First, congrats on fixing the initial-feeding routine. 2. About the start and end routines: are you absolutely sure retracting the material from the head at the end of a print is best? Why not let it cool in the head, at the mouth, and just adjust the initial feeding accordingly? 3. For the end routine: why not add an on/off feature for keeping the side fans on full blast to help the prints and plate to cool? (the head will be centered, and/or loose, and will should stay close to the plate by only lowering the plate slightly at this stage. Only when cooled, the plate goes all the way down.) 4. In all the temperature-related menus, the starting value should not be zero, but rather the last target temp, or the top one of last x times the menu was accessed, or ever simpler, just use the current temp. (I have some pains in my hands, some days I count every key stroke and turn of the UM2 menu wheel...) 5. Please add a "quick-heatup" option for the heated plate. Reasons obvious. Let's say it could stay in this "hot and ready" state for ~15 mins before shutting off? For the shortcut, maybe even use a long press of the wheel. 6. The "time left" estimate on the LCD is beyond useless, esp with complex prints. It would be much easier and better to have Cura write its estimate into the output file and just have the machine count down from that. 7. Oh, also, regarding the "change material" routine: Currently it heats up to 260 (I'm assuming) and pulls out slowly and then quicker, the ideal conditions for creating long thin strands of material that are sometimes left over in the tube. It should yank the material quite fast at first, as well as let the user set the pull-out temperature (let's say between 180-260, so as to avoid accidental damage). Hardware What does the tiny white "switch" in the top-right corner of the material feeder do? I'd love to know, and the manual should say. Thanks again, sincerely, Joe

yes, I agree, that was very unclear, and probably had an error or two. Only now had time to check up on this thread... my issue was with a thin wall, i was trying to create a pocked for a magnet and use the thinnest wall possible. below 0.4mm cura skipped it, didn't slice it. i think it was the same for 0.4mm. then at 0.41mm... *pause to rerun tests with simple part* ok, something is very wonky here. see image link below. this part has a 0.41mm wall on the right, and 0.4 on the left (same for slats, but those i'll ignore right now). i tried values from 0.3 to 1.2, and at various stops either one or both walls were skipped (0.41 less often). that's what i was trying to say in that prev post, but then i also thought it might be multiples of 0.4, but no, it's kinda random... 0.7 shows both walls, so does 0.69, and 0.8, but 0.9 is missing both... etc. hmmm.... http://i.imgur.com/PgJaLZl.png

Hello gr5 - that's an inspiring concentration of the exact info i was looking for about curling / bending / separating prints... i can't thank you enough! also can't wait to try the abs juice, once i get to abs prints... also, any chance that a thicker infill could have an effect on curling? ind-des-uk - i'm very glad to see you managed to get the thing printed. as for clearance - not sure which snaps u mean, but 0.2mm sounds ok. i usually use 0.2 or 0.1, but only if the slots are printed in x/y. anyway, didn't u do small tests for the snaps, before printing a multi-hour part? also, a tip - if you use painter's sticky tape (the white-ish paper stuff that usually has weak glue and can be easily removed without leaving marks) to cover the glass (or just the area to be printed over) the PLA sticks really well to it, especially if you calibrate the first layer to smear or semi-smear. it holds so well that i don't even need brim when i use it. when heated this "weak" glue becomes much stronger. but, there are drawbacks - large flat things sometimes stick so well that even after cooling i had to struggle with them for a while, inserting a thin metal scraper under the tape around the edges... so i've actually proffered it for prints with a small base that i want to stick really well. also there's some residue on the base, which washes off quite easily with warm water, and a bit of residue on the glass, which is quite easy to remove by dabbing it with a fresh piece of this same tape... more testing is required. (haven't even tried with ABS yet) continued good luck!

About the original topic: I think this can be considered a bug in cura 14.03. I've been trying to print a very thin wall. Anything above 0.4mm gets printed fine, but anything below gets skipped in the layer cutting. The bug is in the relationship with the wall thickness - the 0.41mm wall will be skipped if the wall thickness is higher than 0.4, but once it gets to 1.2 it's not skipped anymore. Why is this? And in general, why are these tied together? If I need a thin wall in one place but I don't want the whole part to have a super-thin shell, what am I supposed to do? J.