timelapse

Here are some other photos showing the same problem before I started shimming the corner(s) and changing the mismatched bolts. I can print in the center of the bed with great accuracy. Here's the project I'm currently working on with T-glase. Everything turned out perfectly. Now, I have one part left to complete the project and I'm stuck due to this rear left corner problem.

Thanks for sharing, UIT! I have spent the entire day attempting to get my bed leveled for large prints. Failure after failure. After replacing the bolts to a matching set and seeing the problem still lingering, I measured the leg that is not level on my UM2. It’s the front left and it’s 2.54mm taller than all the other legs that sit level. It’s very interesting the the build plate problem seems to be tied to the front left adjustment corner (which affects the rear left where my problem mainly exists) and this is also the same corner that the UM2 frame isn’t level. After trying all sorts of small shims (sheets of paper... stack of 2, 4, 8, etc) without much success, I used a wood shim that is 2.54mm (same as the out of alignment leg on the front left). Photos attached. After re-leveling, the test print still had the same problem. In my case, this is the rear quadrant being substantially higher than all other corners. I also already tried to find a balance between the front tensioning / leveling bolts, but it's never perfect. If I start to get better results in the rear, the front right is then too high or too low causing other unwanted issues. I'm now back to where I started yesterday... with the only permanent improvement being the new set of matching M3 machine screws on all 3 spring loaded leveling areas. This is starting to become very frustrating. 90% of my projects require the ability to accurately print larger parts. Hmmmmmm.... what next? Any other suggestions?

Upon closer examination the unit came pre-built with different hardware! The bolts that do not sit flush are a hair different than the bolts that do sit flush! They appear to be M3, so I'll see if I can find a new set at the local hardware store. Has anyone else had this issue?

I noticed that the spring compression bolts are not flush in the rear center or the front left of my unit. Everywhere else they are flawless. Perhaps this is part of the leveling issue. I have removed them and re-installed without any difference. It appears to be a tolerance issue with either the bolt production or the CNC on the aluminum bed below the glass. Here's a set of photos of the front left (not flush) and front right (flush): https://www.dropbox.com/l/AGLzA3XEd8CZcntqOE1gau

I'm currently working through this with support. Simon aka illuminarti is being very responsive, although I have yet to correct the problem after several hours of adjustments and test prints. I might try a little shim in the corner as suggested by gr5 as a temporary fix. Has anyone else had any luck correcting the warped foot? Most posts on here suggest that it's cosmetic and doesn't affect the print, but it seems clear (based on our experiences in this thread) that it has a larger effect when trying to print across the entire print bed surface. As gr5 posted, slightly loosening all the frame bolts and placing a large weight on the top of the frame to level it out, followed by tightening all the frame bolts again might work. Of course, I'm sure it's more complicated than just that... ?

I'm experiencing this same exact issue with my new Ultimaker 2. I have leveled it countless times and also tweaked it on the fly, but it's never perfect. My unit did arrive with shipping damage to the frame--- the right rear leg isn't level and requires a shim to prevent the unit from moving around on my desk while printing. I'm getting great prints in the center of the build plate, but just like UIT I experience issues in the right rear corner of the build plate when doing larger prints. What was the final solution here, UIT? I like the idea suggested by GR5, but I would like to avoid taking the printer apart since it's so new. If that is the best solution, I'll do whatever it takes to get it printing correctly across the entire build plate. Thanks

Excellent testing, gr5. I'll have to try PLA without a glue stick next time. For now, I'm hooked on how well the Nylon Bridge material from Taulman is printing with hairspray. It leaves such a smooth finish on the bottom layer. Far superior to what i was getting with a glue stick and I no longer need to use a brim. The object pulls right off the build plate at the end with ease. I'm keep the HBP @ 95 degrees throughout and letting it full cool before removing the print. I'll give ABS another try in a few days. For now, the Bridge material is my new go to. Crazy strong, easy to print, and with the right fill material on larger prints, the flexibility isn't a big issue when you need a semi-rigid part.

I'm currently printing with Taulman Bridge nylon using the hairspray and an adjusted build plate (closer to the hothead extruder) and it's working better than before (when I thought I already had perfect results with "Bridge"). Is there a reason why I couldn't use hairspray for all filaments? Would it simply be overkill for PLA?

I have read about the hairspray and ABS juice, but I'm quickly beginning to think ABS isn't worth the trouble of all the added build plate hassle and ventilation. I was ready to throw my spool of ABS in the trashcan after multiple failed attempts last night. PLA and even the Bridge Nylon has been so easy to work with compared to the ABS. During my ABS attempts last night, the brim layer does have gaps between each line and the adhesion is awful. I'll give the hairspray a go today. If that doesn't work, I might skip ABS printing altogether and send my critical parts to Shapeways for their SLS polyamide-12 (nylon). Thanks again for the assistance!

Good news! I'm successfully extruding the ABS. I'm still on the early layers of the brim, but this is further than I got the last 2 attempts. Turning the temp down to 240 and manually turning it down to 0 while the heat bed warmed up to 100 degrees seemed to work well. Fans turned to 0%. Great tips, gr5. Unfortunately, before I could finish typing this I have noticed the initial brim layer isn't sticking to the glass anymore. I'm using a glue stick and I also have it warmed up to 100 degrees. The first layer was fine and then it all pulled loose and started to make a mess on the build plate. Aborted. I'll raise the build plate temp to 110 degrees and see if that helps. Maybe I should also slow the speed to 20 or 30mm/sec for the initial layers?

I have been using the default ABS setting on the Ultimaker 2 -- which is 260. I'll manually bring it down to 240 and try again this evening. Looking at the specs for the ABS I'm using, I see 230-240 as the recommended temp. Why does Ultimaker default the ABS setting to 260 even though lower temps work better? I do have metric digital calipers and the ABS never exceeds 2.9mm, so the specs appear to be accurate (2.9 +/- .005). Thanks for the help.

Very interesting, Kris. I'm surprised to see that my ABS filament clogged immediately the second time I tried to use it after thouroughly cleaning the original clog. I'll repeat the process a 3rd time and see if it works.

Hello all, I'm on my 4th day using a new Ultimaker 2. So far, everything has been working flawlessly with PLA and even Bridge Nylon (custom settings). I have done about a dozen prints with great success. Today, I tried to use ABS for the first time. I switched from PLA to ABS. I'm using black, Pro-Series ABS from Matterhackers (I'm in the US). http://www.matterhackers.com/store/3d-printer-filament/pro-series-black-abs-filament-3.00mm. It is advertised as 3mm, but when I take measurements it's really around 2.9mm. I started with the default ABS setting on the Ultimaker. It loaded fine, but the stream of ABS exiting the extruder was very fine and looked off from what I had observed with the PLA. It also didn't drop down with gravity the way it should and instead it curled up and stuck to the nozzle. I unloaded the material and eventually realized that I had ABS remaining in the extruder. I have followed the steps (removing the bowden tube, using a hypodermic needle, etc) for fixing this 5-10x via posts on this forum. Finally I got it unclogged. This was after 2 hours of frustration. I'm determined to print ABS, so I tried again. The exact same thing happened and now I'm back to trying to remove all the ABS material from the nozzle. I'm about to the point where I would rather just send a file to Shapeways for Selective Laser Sintering and wait 2 weeks instead of wasting hours trying to unclog the Ultimaker 2. Then again, I know it should work and I'm probably doing something incorrectly. Where did I go wrong? From my research, the ABS should work fine assuming it's under 3.1mm max. I specifically purchased the Pro-Series ABS because it has good tolerances and shouldn't exceed 3mm according to the data sheet. Any tips or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. If there is a known issue with the Pro-Series ABS from Matterhackers, can someone recommend where I can purchase ABS in the States that will work with the Ultimaker 2? Thanks in advance.