kirash4

Ok. tried .10 and that too didn't work. And some things behaved slower, like clicking on some menu items and such would take a second or 5-10 to actually register. I wish the software wouldn't tell me that there's a new version available when the reality is that it's still in beta.

I've been running Cura 15.04 and having no issues. I did previously install 15.06.01 but didn't actually try it. Today I launched it only to have it tell me there's an update, so I downloaded 15.06.03 and installed that instead. When I open it and load a model, I can not select the model. I can't rotate it, I can't move it, I can't do anything with it. Nothing appears to work. Back in 15.04 and it works as expected. So what changed, other than a fancy, completely unnecessary interface redesign, that's causing 15.06.x to not work? By the way, I also tried 15.06.01 and that too does not work, same problem, can't select the model, can't rotate, move, nothing. Can't right-click the model either. Platform is Windows 7 64-bit.

Yeah, I kinda figured it has a 50/50 chance of working depending on the piece. What I'm making though is fairly symetrical which should be okay. We'll see when I actually get to print one.

Huh. Never thought it would actually do that but I'm watching the printer do it in amazement. Awesome. Makes me wonder if it would also work on small odd-shapes objects that are flat (uniform height, just not ring shaped, or solid) ... Guess there's only one way to find out. Thanks all!

Is there a way to print a circular object, like a ring, without the printer doing the diagonal infil but rather have it fill it in by going in circles instead? Basically I'm trying to print a large ring shape (200mm diameter) where the thickness of the ring is 5mm (and height is 10mm). I need the infill at 100% for strength, but doing that causes it to fill it in with diagonal lines. And because I'm going to be using translucent material, having the criss-cross layers just doesn't look good. I kinda want a spiral fill, from the inner circle to the outer and moving up in layers, just going round and round. I don't think that's possible, at least not with the 'Spiral' function, but you get the idea (I hope). Actually, it's very much like when it's laying down a brim, where it spirals it inward. Suggestions?

That's the Z-axis motor. Rather than a quick burst to move the bed down, it now gradually moves it in tandem with the movement of the xy-head. As for the loud 3rd fan, you can replace it for a (much) quieter one. I did that with mine and I don't hear the printer anymore when it's idling. When it's printing all I hear is the movements, no fans.

Sometimes I end up manually moving objects around in Cura for optimal placement of multiples. For example, printing a bunch of triangles would make more sense if some are rotated 180 degrees to the next. You can put them closer together and fit more on the bed. Or if I need just a little extra time between two objects, I will move them to opposite, diagonal corners. The object I'm printing right now is a good example. Cura can only place 15 copies on the bed, however if I do it manually, I can fit 21 and still have room left for more. However, moving multiple objects is a tedious process as you can only select one at a time. Is there a way to select multiple objects and move them together as a group?

Yep, setting it to no brim and letting it build a skirt instead wors perfectly. It only does the outside and ignores the inner gaps.

A skirt isn't enough to hold the part down, which is why I'm using a brim. Guess I'll do it in the modeling software. Correction: a skirt might work. I had forgotten that you can change the amount of lines that the skirt lays down. So if I set that to 0.05 for distance and tell it to lay down 10-15 lines, that ought to be enough. I'm off to try that right now.

I'm printing some gears that have teeth on the inside. I need the outside brim to hold the piece down while printing and I'm using 15 lines), but I don't want/need the inside brim. It's a pain to clean it up between the teeth of the gear. Is there some way of controlling this? Using the latest Cura version.

You misread what I'm getting at. The *walls* of the cup are fine, and it's doing what it's supposed to. It's the BOTTOM thickness that I want changed, not the wall. That has, as far as I know, nothing to do with the walls getting spiralized.

So I just installed Cura 15.01 and I'm seeing an odd visual when I launch it. With the 14.12.1 version it displays the build area right in the center. But with 15.0a, it's offset to the left a bit. Is there something that needs adjusting or re-configured, if so, what? 14.12.1 And 15.01:

Well, this is kinda of annoying. I purchased my UM2 from a good friend who only had it a few months and is now moving out of the country. Both of us has the same desire: dual extrusion. Knowing that it was promised, and now being told it's not going to happen, it's never going to happen for the UM2. Had I known this back in December, I would not have purchased the printer, I would've looked at something else. So that's something that I will now have to give up on and start looking for another solution. The UM2 isn't useless as I'm still using it and can continue to use it, but for the purpose that it was purchased for, it's no longer viable. And that money spent could've gone to a different printer. Then there's the issue of those spare parts. I just placed an order for new insulators and a nozzle and heating block. The printer is still using the original one and I've been having clogging issues, particularly with PLA, although I'm slowly refining the process and just dealing with the clogs, and the insulator is damaged as well. I don't know if this is something I should just say, hey, send me a replacement nozzle because something's wrong with this (we have never been able to print PLA, not since day one) or just swallow up the cost of the parts. It's great that spare parts are now more easily available, but at what point does a replacement qualify as a 'free replacement'? Having never been able to successfully use PLA, we had given up and printed with only ABS. Now, I'm actually spending the time, baby sitting it constantly, as I try to figure out why it won't work with PLA. And while I am able to get some prints to work, it's all been very small and thin stuff. I can't print anything that's more than a few mm tall because it will fail, it will clog, something. I have now disassembled the entire head and nozzle assembly for cleaning so many times I can probably do it in my sleep. It shouldn't be that way. Which is why I have replacements parts on order. But I now question whether I shuold've paid for some of those or whether they should've been free replacement parts. Considering it's been almost 10 days since the order went in (sitting on day 9 here) and I haven't heard anything other than 'thank you for your order, we took your money' ... I don't know what to expect, other than 'yay, I have a UM2 ... that won't ever see a dual extrusion upgrade, even though we were sold on a promise of it coming avaiable.' Or I could also say, 'yay I have a UM2 ... that won't print PLA to save it's own life.'

Last night I did my first ever "cup" print and using the spiral option in Cura. The design file itself is a solid cylinder. In Cura I did the following: Layer height: 0.1 mm Shell thickness: 1 mm Bottom/Top thickness: 3 mm (I want a solid, heavier bottom) Fill Density: 0% Solid infill top: OFF Solid infill bottom: ON And in expert settings I turned on the Spiralize outer contour and set to print. It printed, spiralized the walls, great. Except for the bottom. The first two layers were fine, solid. But anything after that up to 3mm thickness, there are gaps between the extrusion lines, almost like the infil was set to something like 70 or 80%. As soon as it hit the 3mm it switched to the spiral and went on till it finished the full cup. So is there something I need to do to be able to get a thick solid bottom?

Oh ok. I thought there was some magical process. Other than taking the heating element and thermister out, I have disassambled the whole entire head before, so that shouldn't be too hard. Thanks for the guidance!

Yeah, and I lack the latter. But you are correct, I am highly suspecting the insulator and nozzle at the moment. The main culprit right now is the insulator because I found it to be so badly burned. And while I was able to clean it, resand the bottom flat, and all of that, I did also notice that the inside of it has developed a "ridge" where material tends to solidify and over time will cause friction. So I have to tear it apart after so many hours of printing to clean that out before I can continue again. It's a bit of a hassle but I need to get through these prints right now. By month's end I'll be done and I'll do a thorough cleanup and replacement of parts. Question, how do you do the "torch method" to clean the nozzle?

Will this require replacing a current UM2 board to the new one? Or are there exposed pins on the board that one can hack it? I suppose I can find this out myself, I'm just deep in printing jobs and don't feel like poking around at the moment.

I have a design that is comprised of two pieces, a black ABS frame and an "insert" that's made with PLA. Basically the insert fits in the frame with edge clips that are printed on the frame. However, I'd like to just embed the piece in the frame while it's being printed, and with the PauseAtZ plugin, I can do just that. The PLA pieces are already printed, so I'm now doing the frames and when it reaches a pre-set height, the printer will pause for me to drop the PLA pieces in before continuing again. However, I've run into an issue with heat. When I drop in the PLA inserts, because they are raised off of the platofrm (by 0.9mm) and because the platform is at a higher temperature, they get soft and start to sag under their own weight (though I don't know if the same will happen if the platform was at PLA temperatures to be honest.) So I'm looking for suggestions here. At the point where the print pauses, the nozzle is only 2.6mm off of the platform. Does the platform still need to stay at the pre-set 90C for ABS, or can I drop it lower so the PLA doesn't get soft and deform? Or am I going to cause problems with the ABS that's stuck to the glass (with glue) starting to come off? An alternate method would be to print a support frame to put down under the PLA part which I suppose would be easier. I'm just curious if I can work with the printer itself here.

Yep, I found that thread too. I haven't had to touch it in a few days because I'm back to printing ABS which works great, though I attribute that to the higher temperatures. I'm going to have to switch back to PLA shortly here (possibly as soon as tomorrow) and my nightmares will start up again. Technically I shouldn't go past 230C with PLA, but the last batch of PLA prints I did I was working at 240C with 94% extrusion (going any higher and the PLA starts to turn into something completely different.) It's simply not extruding as it should, or as well as the ABS is. So setting (or leaving) the feeder at 100% causes it to constantly skip (even at full tension) and every time it slips, I lose what little pressure there is in the nozzle which results in gaps in the print. But it's working at the aforementioned settings. So I'm going with it for now till I can replace both the insulator and the nozzle itself. It's seen its fair share of isues in the few months that this printer has been in service. I think it's time to scrap it and start with a new one.

Yeah, disassembly is easy, I got that part. Reassembly is what I'm looking for. Specifically the tolerances between the ring holding the heater block and the block itself. Mind you, it's working great right now ... but that doesn't necessarily mean it's done correctly.

Hmm, yes, I suppose. I did clean up all the charred bits by gently scraping them off with an Xacto knife. The hole seems okay other than some scarring on the inside, but I can still slide a piece of filament through it without any resistance. I ended up sanding the outside because it flared out a little bit, making it a bit harder to put back inside of the insulator coupler. I didn't screw the coupler all the way back on, which basically pushes the nozzle out more, leaving a bit of a gap between the backside of the nozzle and the insulator. Once I did that and reassambled it, it's printing PLA right now. Still fiddling with speed and temperature but it things are looking up. I'm still going to order a replacement of course, in fact, two of them. Which brings me to my next question: is there a guide somewhere that explains how to properly put everything back together? I'm mainly interested in how far down should I be screwing the coupler that holds the nozzle in place? If I go all the way in, then the back of the nozzle touches the insulator, which is why I left it unscrewed a bit. But what's too much or too little? When I look at the assembly manual, it just says to turn the coupler till there's a 1mm gap between the coupler and the insulator and the coupler is "just not touching" the hot end. Well, that's where it was when all these problems started. So I've left it unscrewed more so it's further away from the hot end. So far so good, I've run several 20minute PLA prints through. About to try an hour long one to see what happens. Also, the pieces I'm printing with PLA are rather thin, only 5mm in height. Should I expect problems if I start printing something that's way taller than that, say 200mm?

@korneel: stock feeder So I finally had a moment to tear the head apart and pull the coupler out. It's not pretty. That's the bottom part that sits right ontop of the hot end. I suspect it was sitting low enough to be in physical contact with it and got burned to what you're seeing. Lots of burnt crud and what not came out. So I'm now stuck. I need another one, like yesterday. I don't think I can continue printing with this the way it is, well maybe ABS but I need to get some PLA prints done ASAP as well. Does anyone have suggestions on where I can get another one, quick, fast, and in a hurry? Or what I can do in the mean time other than twiddling my thumbs waiting for a replacement?

Alright, I'll check on it when I get back home later. Thanks for the suggestion.

Switched back to ABS, and it's printing just fine. No issues what so ever. I've now tried different brands of PLA as well and they all do the same exact thing. I'm more likely to blame the printer than the material. If it was all from the same vendor or brand I can see a problem there, but with different brands and it still fails, something's up. For the record, I made sure it has the latest firmware on it, recently downloaded from Cura (the latest that's online.) I did a factory restore to see if I screwed up the settings somewhere. Nothing. It simply will not print PLA. Unfortunately, the translucent that I want to use only comes in PLA. So I would really, really like to be able to print with this material.

PLA is easier than ABS ... Yeah, that's what everyone has been telling me, except I have never been able to print with PLA. I can load up ABS and print just fine. But no such luck with PLA ... Must be me. It always seems to get two, maybe three layers out then it clogs. Blah. Anyway, I just cleaned the tube, reassembled everything, no more white bits in the tube. Tried a print and sure enough it clogs again. Usually I can tell when I start hearing the feeder gear start slipping and it gets worse and worse to where it's constantly slipping and nothing is being extruded anymore. But if I try pushing on the filament (to help the feeder), out comes this black crud again. Why would it start just fine and slowly get worse and clog? Is the temperature too low? Is it too high? I started with the stock profile which has the nozzle temperature at 210C. It barely extruded anything. I'm slowly raising the temperature but I don't know if that's the correct course of action here. I honestly have no idea what else to check.