krys

Hi, I see you are in the US. In which case you might want to look at / talk to fabrc8. They probably are the ones that made your printer anyway. The other source I know of in the US is gr5. They carry Ultimaker parts and also 3rd party mods. There might be other good sources, but those are the two I know and have purchased from. Plus they are both active members on this forum. Hope it helps.

It would be cool if we could find a DIY way to do it, but I suppose getting it professionally done first as a proof of concept would be good. Also, max temperature support would have to be a consideration. Some of us like to print @ 300C. And lastly, if the coating did not completely cover the nozzle tip, say 0.5mm away from the hole, for example, then I do not think we would have to worry too much about damage. Just no more Scotch Brite (sp?) or steel wool for cleaning. Oh, and no coating around the driver/wrench contact area either. Anyway, those are the thoughts your words triggered in me.

Hi there, I agree with @JohnK. Absolutely rock solid, especially if you stick to materials and configurations you know/are comfortable with. I.e. take some time to learn and develop a few "known good settings", and if you stick to that, you are golden. Experimenting with new/weird stuff still mostly works excellently, but again give yourself some time to learn a/some good configuration(s) for that case. I cannot speak to the UM3 or to other brands, but the UM2/UM2+ are rock solid machines that are particularly known for their consistent reliability. I can personally attest to that too. (Almost 2 years and > 2600hrs printing.) The only times the printer did not do what I wanted is when I did not now what I was doing. For me, at least, the limiting factor has pretty much always been my ignorance as I learn 3D printing from scratch, not the machine. Especially since the 2+ fixes all the rough parts of the UM2 (mostly the feeder and the fan shroud). Regular maintenance is well documented and the community is very helpful if you run in to issues. The one point that I think you should double check, is the max print area. The marketing info says 20x20x20-ish, but it might be a bit less in practice, factoring in skirts and the clip tabs etc. I am not sure here, I have never really tested this aspect. It will be pretty close to that 20x20x20 though. Anyway, I hope this helps! Good luck!

That is an interesting idea. I wonder if anyone has already tried it and/or figured out why it is a bad idea? I.e. I wonder why it is not already commonly used?

... Or, is there just a silicone/something coating we could just dip/coat the nozzle in? If it is bonded to the metal, then there would be no seam for plastic to push under. Some kind of silicone oil but with an adhesive? I dunno, just thinking out loud. Something less mechanical and more chemical? But then again, non of this is wiper related.

I am reminded of those adhesive rings you could get for 3-hold paper to fix broken holes. What about some kind of high temp, high-ish shore value, reinforcing ring adhered around the hole to reinforce the fibers and give them a fixed/protected end point? It would have to be really thin though, and the adhesive would also have to be high temp. I am not materials guy, but a reinforcing ring seems like an obvious first thought. I guess the devil is in the details. Anyway, I am glad you folks are exploring this topic. I guess the idea is just not fully baked yet. Keep up the really insightful work though!

This feels familiar: https://ultimaker.com/en/community/7577-um2-bed-levelling-mission-impossible?page=2&sort= Hope it helps.

I have the fuzzy memory of someone else having a warped frame (one foot not touching) on a UM2 maybe a year ago. Maybe it was @Titus or @NicoLinux, not sure. As I recall what he did was to loosen all/several the frame screws just slightly, then press all the top corners down so all feet touch the ground, then re-tighten all the screws. The ground needed to be really level though. Anyway, this is just a fuzzy memory and my details might be wrong. But a bit of searching for warped frame or something might lead to help. Also, if your printer is still new enough, the contacting your reseller is probably the smarter first step. Anyway, hope it helps. Good luck!

Hi there, Underside curves can be tricky. Sometimes/often it is the radiated heat from the headed bed itself that causes the roughness. That is why it goes away higher up. In the past, I have worked around the issue by printing on a cold bed with blue painters tape (wiped with alcohol), and/or printing with thicker layer heights (0.15 or 0.2). But these are very old school techniques and not really a solution that shows off your printer's awesomeness. I know the UM2/3 can do much better. Maybe try lowering the bed heat after the first layer is put down? Maybe try that in combination with slower. Generally slower = better prints. Also maybe try lowering the nozzle temperature by 5-10 degrees after the first layer. Most PLAs can tolerate that. I suppose raft might technically help too, but that feels like another ugly hack to me. Beyond that I never really solved it though. I just got good enough and moved on. But I am positive others on this forum know how to address it properly. Anyway, I hope this helps and maybe gives you some ideas to play with. Good luck!

Silicone oil is an interesting idea. Hmm... It got me wondering about some kind of silicone or whatever wiping cloth/thing. Something where hot plastic would prefer to stick to it and to brass/steel(/ruby), but maybe when cold, then plastic does not want to stick anymore. With a specialized wipe instead of paper tissue, maybe the oil/sock/sheet would not be necessary. It would have to be heat proof of course. Then again, that would not address the curling aspect. Anyway, thanks! You got me thinking in an interesting direction!

Wow! I have never seen it that bad before. ... I got nothing. Sorry. But DidierKlein and ultiarjan know everything, so you are in good hands! Good luck!

We are a pretty helpful bunch around here. I hope you keep us updated with your progress! Good luck!

Yes, 2 fans in series, 1 single plug and a Y in the wiring. That is an important detail. The PWM controllable bit is an important too. I don't think all fans necessarily support that. Good info!

Hi folks, Bump. Is there any new news on this? The thread seems to have died mid conversation. I am also interested in this, but I do not know where to start if I am going to DIY my own. Was there a final verdict in what works best/easiest? Any feedback would be much appreciated. Thanks!

I never thought to doing an offset to widen the font explicitly. Good idea! Suguru is also a nice idea! I guess I have been lucky as I have done several massive retraction prints before and never had an issue. But I see your point. Thanks!

Hi @neotko, It figures that you would have success here, base one what I have seen of your other works! Those are really nice results! That's with a 0.4mm nozzle? Though I do see that you are using a sans-serif font with a nice wide line width. That is quite different to what @rich17222 has shown us. I do stand by what I said that rich17222's model will need to be changed. Still, glad to see it is doable at the sizes rich17222 is talking about! I knew other clever people would have good answers! Thanks for sharing!

So, I check the UM2+ bill of materials https://github.com/Ultimaker/Ultimaker2Extended/tree/master/BOM and I found this info: Model Cooling Fan 12VDC 0.1 A I also found a drawing: https://github.com/Ultimaker/Ultimaker2Extended/blob/master/1313/B1313-A.PDF This does not tell you anything about the airflow, however. One bit of info that might help: The UM2+ side fans are supposed to be identical to the UM2 side fans. So do not limit your searching to just the 2+. There are older conversations about the UM2 side fans that might give some insights. Anyway, hope it helps.

Hi there, I recently measure the airflow out of the stock 2+ fan shroud with my anemometer. I measured 1.8m/s air speed. I have no idea what that means for the fans themselves, so maybe this is not useful info, but then again, maybe it is. Hope it helps. Good luck!

Hi there, One thing I did not see you mention (maybe I missed it), do you tighten the nozzle while it is hot? If you tighten when cold, then when the nozzle heats up it expands a bit, which would loosen the threads again. Though, by the sounds of things, that is not your main/only issue, if it is leaking that much. So, yeah, what DidierKlein asked. Good Luck!

Hi there, Long post ahead. Sorry. Hope it helps. I have on several occasions, and just recently too, done some letter printing. Here are some observations of your situation based on my experiences: First, as others have said, nozzle size. I mean physically. If your printer has a 0.4mm nozzle, then thinner lines are either not possible or tricky to get working. And even with tricks, there will be a physical limit on what you can achieve. For a 0.4 nozzle, depending on font, I can get down to 8 or 6mm high lower-case letters max. With a 0.25mm nozzle I can get better detail, and probably smaller font size too, but I have not personally tested that case. The thing to remember is, if the line is too thin, Cura will just not render it. Will not send it to the printer. So if it is not showing up in the Layer view, it is because the lines are too thin. This is not a bug, this is just Cura doing the best it can given the physical constraints of 3D printing. I suspect Slic3r would be the same, but I have not experience with it. Second, font choice makes a big impact. Like DaHai8 said, sans-serif fonts are better. Those little serif pointy bits are just too thin, except on larger size letters. If you look at Gr5's pictures, you will see the "Anne" one is small and sans-serif, whereas the serif ones are all larger single letters. And they have pretty fat serifs at that. Also some fonts just have thinner lines than others. Or thin horizontal lines and thicker vertical ones (that was my recent issue). So picking a 3D print-compatible font is important. Not just any old font will do. Third, as mention by peggyb, your vertical direction (Z) has much greater resolution, so if you can turn your model sideways, you might get better font results. But in my experience, the results often look worse in different ways. (Drooping, etc.) Still, it might be worth a shot. If you do try this, then keep your lettering indent/outdent shallow. 0.5mm - 1mm. If it overhangs too much, you will get drooping. Fourth, raised vs sunken writing can make a difference too. If the writing is sunken, then it is not the nozzle width you have to worry about, it is just the accuracy of the head movement. The negative space with no plastic is your lettering, rather than the extruded plastic being the lettering. Sunken is not always what you want. And I have, with the above-mentioned aspects in mind, had good results with raised lettering. Just not as tiny as your attempting. Basically, at the size you are trying and with the font you have shown us, I do not think there is any software setting that will get you want you want. IMO, you will have to change your model and maybe try a smaller nozzle if you can, to make something work at your size constraints. Either that, or print bigger. But that is just my opinion, and others here might have some smarter tricks! Anyway, I hope this info is helpful. Good luck! And welcome to the community!

Good to know about the copper tape! Thanks!

The Kapton tape idea came from an older/different shroud design by someone else (I cannot remember who). They even suggested several layers with some copper tape in between. I had printed that shroud in XT and it did, after many hours of printing eventually warp around the nozzle. But the polycarbonate Labern one I have is still going strong. I found the copper tape did not do much, as far as I could tell. Kapton tape is supposed to be able to take up to 260C and not transfer much of it. It is also as thin as Mylar or celophane. Real NASA stuff. It is also somewhat good for bed adhesion too, I hear, but it is expensive for a tape. Anyway, to answer your question: No, no infill. Labern's description said it was not necessary, as I recall. And it came out fine. It is mostly all thin walls anyway, so there is not much room for infill. Hope this helps. Good luck!

I had a bit of a small world story happen to me yesterday. Just on a whim I looked at the Ultimaker App. It turns out it has a maintenance section and a few maintenance articles, along with troubleshooting, etc. So maybe this stuff is written down somewhere! Anyway, hope it helps.

So, is your version specifically for the UMO, or did you just do some generic improvements? It would be cool if you two combined your efforts or at least both reference each other when/if you share your results. That way the vast majority of the UM community would be covered by this mod. ... Just thinking out loud.

Regarding the front calibration, I too see that. If I want to get a similar resistance on the calibration card/paper/feeler gauge, the bed has to get pushed down and the nozzle basically touches the bed. Also, I find the front of the plate easily flexes up and down if I put any amount of pressure on either side. While I cannot say that this has ruined any prints or anything, it has bothered me for a while now. And I have had some adhesion issues because of over/under calibrating the front. So, all that being said, if you decided to share your design, either publicly (preferred) or just with me (and @neotko obviously), I would certainly be grateful. I would even post back about any advantages/disadvantages I see. I think you have something here that many in the community would be interested in, especially those are that particular about print quality. Thanks for sharing your experiences with it!