Torgeir

Hi mrpasquale970, Welcome in here. You find all Cura versions here: https://ultimaker.com/en/products/cura-software/list Thanks. Torgeir.

Hi bastienb, As I followed this tread, -but cant help, think we will need to think over again this issue.. I've learned that you've changed nozzles at both of your two UM2+ about same time? Right.. The thing is, at that time you introduced this problem with one of your printer, the other one printed as good as before and had no problem. As this tread went on for some time, you also reported that the second printer also started to print as your first “problem printer” had been doing for some time. OK. I thought this; what other parts might suffer very much due to this reduced nozzle size? To me the answer is the bowden tube and the knurled wheel itself.. Sure we know that you changed the bowden tube, so.. I'll know that this knurled wheel can take a lot of «punches», but can it survive spinning through «plastic filament» for some «a long?» time without any issue? (Cause it will always spin under such condition and it's amazing that this actually worked as well as it did for sometime.) Did you check the sharpness of the small pyramids on the knurled wheel? It should be easy to compare the sharpness with your finger over the area the filament is tracking vs. on the sides of this area. You should feel the «bite» of the tip of the pyramids.. As you now are equipped with this new “super efficient” heat block, your extrusion seems to be very good, but to me -the feeder is not! Could it be that the feeder is still spinning due to this extraordinary issue from before, could it have spinning issues in both, forward and retraction direction as it is now? I'll ask this because your print with the new heath block really extrude lots of filament during movements in between first layer layout, when placing holes, squares etc. Of c. studied your latest pictures a lot. About the level adjustment, you really have to adjust it “some” closer to the bed. As an example, I do not use a standard (0.12 mm) 80 g paper for height adjustment, but a paper meant for those cashier printers and this paper is about 0.07 mm. Adjust so you just feel that the paper is close and barley touching. Do this very carefully and double check.. It is very easy to turn the adjustment wheel when pushing down to confirm first point (even a few click without noticing it), meaning it can be to high or to low at the first point. When printing first layer, -even black filament can be kind of transparent! As the glass bed can be some uneven, the nozzle tip may squeeze out a “very tiny” layer here and there due to this issue.. But when you'll success here, your prints objects first layer will be as a mirror, yes you will not feel any strings of the printing on this side with your finger nail if this is done right. (Bed cleaning is mandatory for this setup, hot water -as hot as your fingers can take and mild soap should do the trick.) Last thing, did you print some others print object that said your printer setting will be override? If such things happened, your basic printer setting can be corrupted and you may need to do a “factory reset”. OK. Good luck. Thanks. Torgeir.

Hi RetromanIE, This video is good for analysis. What we can hear here is a slamming shaft (twice), so either one of the across shafts (forward or after, or even both) may have to much play and is slamming to the end stop (the two pulleys inside the printer meting the bearings in each side of the side cover). You can actually check all four shafts by trying to put them in from the outside and then try to push them out from the inside, you should just be able to feel a little play not very much as you have here.. You'll need to loose the two set screw on the double pulley on the "after across" shaft, push the shaft in from the outside L/H aft. While holding the shaft in this position with the fingertip (don't press hard, it will be the other pulley that preventing the shaft to go further), on the inside of the printer push the double pulley toward the wall, re tight the set screw's but not very tight at this moment, as you might have to readjust. Now try to move the shaft out/in along shaft, there should be "just" a little play sometimes hard to feel -so pay attention to this little detail. When this is done, then tightening the two set screw. It might be good/smart to check the pulley set screws tightening on the other end of the shaft at this time.. Note: Do not turn the pulley when it is loose just push it along shaft. The same adjustment process can be used on the forward across shaft as well, but on this shaft there is only two pulleys. (It is important to note that, this is not any kind of calibration but just an adjustment to cope with a single play. There is tools and setup for such demand.) PS. By listening to the sound of the belt on your printer when moved manually, I'll think your belt is to tight. The hex tool to be used on the set screw here is 1.5 mm. OK. Good luck. Thanks. Torgeir.

Hi womacki, Great.. The resistance when pulling out the filament at 90 deg. C. is normal, because the filament is switched from soft liquid toward solid. This will glue remaining filament residues collected up inside the nozzle. When removing the filament at 90 deg. C. this will be visible on the removed tip end as other colored filaments, or rest from previous used stuff built up inside the nozzle unit. Sometimes this method is needed to be repeated until the removed filament tip is clean and without dents. The two side fans normally start up after the first layer is done, with or without a brim or skirt. Those fans are cooling the filament when extruded to the object in order to avoid soft plastic inaccurately placed. The third fan one on the back will start when the printer is turned on and stay on as long as the printer is switched on, and this should be true for your standard UM2. This fan is very important for the functionality of the hot end feeding. Make sure you have spare couplers, they need to be changed from time to time.. Does your printer still skip? You never told us the kind of filament you're using and print temperature.. OK. Good luck with your printer and printing. Thanks. Torgeir.

Hi womacki, Ok. 1250 mA is the default value so this is ok. When going higher than this the motor will be hotter.. The total running time can be found under the maintenance menu, then to advanced menu and roll down to the second last (i'll think) "running time".. You probably have to high friction in the extruder, can be residue of other filament type stuck in the nozzle preventing proper feed. Here is a method to clean the nozzle, but follow every steps carefully. https://ultimaker.com/en/resources/19510-how-to-apply-atomic-method Or maybe a faulty coupler, the white (Teflon) device isolating heat block from the cold side. This coupler tend to shrink on the hot side over time (less inner diameter) and this prevent easy feed of the filament. Also note that the fan on the back of the extruder need to work/running properly, this fan prevent hot melted filament to "crawl" upward into the cold part of the extruder. If this happened, the filament will be very much restricted to move through here. OK. You now should have something to check out. Lets hear hows going. Good luck. Thanks. Torgeir.

Hi womacki, Welcome in here! I've seen your first posting about this (when I looked at your profile), so I'll know you have an Ultimaker 2.. You also have tried to variate the nozzle temperature without any success, right? Well, there is a few thing to check here, first go into maintenance menu, then select advanced setting, roll down the menu and find motion setting. At the very end you'll find a setting; Current E (the electrical current to feed the feeder motor with), check that this current is set to minimum 1200 mA (milli Ampere). What you have is a stepper that is skipping, -as we say. This is happening if the energy (the torque) the stepper motor can do, is set to low and the filament inside the bowden tube is compressed and act as a spring and pushes back the stepper motor when it come to it's limit. So the skip back is not normal, -but it is a kind of protection and your feeder motor would not suffer.. Next question to ask is, how many printing hour does your printer have? Ok. Let us know how this go before next step. Thanks. Torgeir.

No, a Bondtech would not help here. This problem is made due to high compression of the filament and it is actually working as a compressed spring. When there is a retract there is still feed from the nozzle due to the compression effect. This is why your print have all this issues. High friction in the nozzle decrease flow and make the pressure rice at the input of the extruder. So more feeding pressure here would not help. Edit. ops did not saw your answer neotko. Thanks. Torgeir.

Hi Aiden_Pearce, What you describe here is a typical error to be expected sooner or later. The bed heater and the bed heath sensor wiring is moving every times the bed is mowed, so this wires will break at some time. Move the bed a half way up, then move the wires a little to see if the error MSG. show up at the display. There is two places that's the wires are more prone to break, this is close to the bed "strain release" clamp and at the place where the wires enter the printer. This is a weak point of the printer and should be the first place to check for such an error. The same is true for the wiring going to the extruder head and this one suffer much more due to high intense movements. So to conclude here, this is the first places to expect this type of error. Thanks. Torgeir.

Hi rwig, As amedee says, you'll need a hex tool (set) metric and 1.5 mm for this set screw. Thanks. Torgeir.

Hi RetromanIE, There is four 8 mm shafts (or rods) that the pulley are installed into. We also have the two 6 mm shaft in the "middle" moving the extruder around the bed. When you said locked in, do you mean the two in the middle locked into the black colored sliding block's. Those two bars should be locked by the friction in the traces/cutout for the bar in the sliding block. It should hold it quite good.. If you mean the 8 mm rotating shafts, they are hold in place by the pulleys. If the shafts can be moved/have play in out (alongside the shaft), this can make noise. Do you have play on the shaft itself, or only at the pulley(s)? Do you have play on the extruder unit? There should be no play here, if there is play this will make noise and sometimes also amplified by resonance in the stainless steel fan housing. Thanks. Torgeir.

Hi rwig, Why not use locktite blue, this will allow you to change the knurled wheel if needed and this is the "glue" that's meant to lock a "set screw". Thanks. Torgeir.

Hi Skippy7, I've been following this topics a little and have some experience with this latter video. The "amplified" noise is due to the resonant frequency for the fan housing that's on your printer. When you make this first layer, at lo speed during 45 degree and 135 degree movement the tiny stainless steel plates on the housing go into resonance. I used aluminum tape to dampening the plates and to directing the air from the right fan more precisely toward the printing object. The real improvement here was when I printed Laberns fan housing and started using this on my printer. No resonance anymore. However, your main problem is still there, so I think if you remove the X-axis stepper motor and then try to move the extruder all the way back and forth to see if there is any noise then.. I'll think you might have a bad bearing on the rotating inner Y-axis l/H side as you suggested. A picture of this corner would be interesting to see. Anyway, good luck with your fault finding. Thanks, Torgeir.

Hi bastienb, When I look at the "atomic pull", I'll think you have some serious error in your setup.. It looks like your "replacement" nozzle is 1.75 mm? As we see the filament size 2.85 versus the tip size I'll believe is 1.75 mm, this restrict the flow and increase the pressure inside the bowden tube. Check the nozzle on the printer and compare the inlet side of the nozzle you're using. Thanks. Torgeir. Torgeir.

Hi bastienb, Most of your problem is in the inner part of the build plate, true? If you print with high flow demand, as fast as you can, you may see some sort of under extrusion on object made on the "Northern" side (inner side) of the heat bed. This is the sign of close to the max flow for that nozzle size. However, this might occur at an earlier stage if some parts do not function properly. This might be the tfm-coupler (as Neotko suggested), even if the distance is right the compression might been a little to high from the beginning, so the dimension passage is shrink-en gradually over time. This increase the pressure on the bowden tube, on top of all this the track line (from the knurled wheel) is on the outer part of the inside of the bowden tube, so here the friction increase the drag forces making the situation worse. Actually, this is why the problems is first visible on the “Norther” placed objects. So this is the reason for pressure difference (variable extrusion) that will occur all over the heat bed when things go wrong. Since you've already changed the bowden tube, Neotko's advice is next.. Thanks. Torgeir.

Hi, Sure, it was the color on the wires that's not correct according to the picture. Sorry, just learned that the original printer is built different than my printer. As I've built my printer, I've got a fan with the smaller JR connector preinstalled so I used this type and "installed" them inside the extruder head. I've later seen most of the printers have the connectors outside the extruder that's I think is to bad -and actually lead to this problem.. I've been reading through all write up in here and noted that you said you had a problem with spark (static electricity?) since day one, I'll thinking you are living in a very dry environments, right? Working on electronics board without any antistatic protection is very risky, as it can permanently damage such sensitive electronics. Its hard to see this card is completely dead, at least you should see the “connect light” for the USB as this is controlled by another micro controller (ATMEGA16U2-MU) on the main board. This one can also be “programmed” by using ICSP2 port J2. The main micro controller is ATMEGA2560-16AU, this one can be programmed by ICSP1 port J1. You will need a programmer for this update, such programmer could be another Arduino controller card with proper software and connecting wires. As I have never updated my printer this way I cant advice in this matter. Display power (5VDC) can be measured at TP22 and TP45, but I'll think you cant see anything without the main card working. Been thinking about a master reset line that’s kept down all the time, but not likely.. Anyway, good luck in fault finding. Thanks. Torgeir.

Hi, I must say this is really strange or.. Just checked the schematic and found that pin 1 is + (positive) and pin 2 is ground. If you connect this one to the J34 connector the polarity will be wrong.. There must be a history behind this? Another thing is about those small fan and the polarity, some of those fans do not tolerate wrong polarity as the electronic controller will be damaged if polarity is swapped. Just so you know. As far as I'll remember the connector at the main board is bigger than the connector at the 5VDC fan. Well, you got plenty of good advice in here. Good luck. Thanks. Torgeir.

Hi cloakfiend, Got the same error yesterday, could not send anything - but today it's working again.. Thanks. Torgeir.

Great info Marten! Yes the extruder driver can handle 1250 mA, no problem as all the drivers is same type/setup. Thanks. Torgeir

Hi rshuck, Welcome to this forum. Sorry to hear this, but the high rotating resistance when the X stepper is plugged to the main board indicate a shorted stepper driver circuit. It is possible to change this circuit, but it has to be done by experts with proper tools etc. Buying from China is a risk and also takes some time. Maybe you can ask fbrc8 if they can advice a repair center for the main board? There should be lots of repair centers in US with this kind of capability, also the complete wiring for the board is open source and available for this use. Good luck. Thanks. Torgeir.

Hi Ultiarjan. Way to go!!! Thanks. Regards Torgeir.

Hi rhino_aus, I have to say I'd been looking at this interesting post a few times. And you're absolutely right in your assumptions, -but as owen said; this is kind of normal for an Ultimaker. Well, all kind of bowden printers suffer more or less of this problem, this is one thing I've tried to address many times in this forum. When we increase the flow we might increase the feeder speed or/and the nozzle temperature. So for the feeder, more speed and higher pressure on the bowden tube, right? Lets analyze a little here; "the pressure from the filament running through the bowden tube is trying to push the tube upward". So when the filament is pressed/forced to follow the upper part of the inside of the bowden tube, this will act as an old drum brake and create a "drag force" due to the friction. The higher the feeder speed is, the higher the bowden pressure will be as well as the drag forces. This can be increased until the feeder wheel start grinding into the filament -or one of the bowden lock popp out. The rest of the story we all remember.. However, there is one worse thing to note in here; this is that the track line, made by the knurled or the hubbed wheel on the filament is most of the time on the upper side of the loop inside the bowden tube. This factor actually increase the friction factor and make the bowden pressure (the filament feeding) varying all over the building platform as the extruder changes position. (When this occur the (EDIT) filament turn back and forth inside the bowden tube making the friction factor changes). Soo... There is ways to avoid this and one of the best I've seen so far is: https://ultimaker.com/en/community/35608-zero-gravity-direct-drive-extruder This is an extraordinary way of doing smart things and you have no pressure difference here due to movement around the building platform. I havent go that far at the moment, but I did changed the trackline to go on the underside of the filament inside the bowden tube (mostly) during printing. Hope this help. Good luck. Thanks. Torgeir.

Hi obus3d, Sorry to hear about this, but this is one of the things can happen.. There is two end stop switches, located L/H inner corner. The one on the left side panel is the Y axis stop and the one fixed to the top panel is the X axis stop. I'll assume it go either to the left or to the bottom, say half way home? In other word if on of the switches is activated, the "little computer" think this axis is already home, so no movement needed here.. As the switches make contacts when operated (pressed in), there must be a short of one of the two switches (making contact all the time). This could be the switch itself or simply a short between the feeding wires for the switch. People have found wires clamped between the stepper motor and the attachment walls that's caused failure like this. In order to do a first easy check, try to activate the switches by pressing on the actuator arm. This is best done by moving the extruder head from right side to the left side until you hear a click (X-axis). Same with the Y-axis, from mid position and into the printer until you hear this click. A faulty micro switch may not click, so do not use force here, just observe when the shaft hit the Y switch actuator arm or when the inner sliding block hit the X switch actuator arm. If this test go OK., there is a good possibility that the switch is in good condition (but not always like this). Next is to check the wires from both micros witches is in good condition and not clamped some places on the way to the main board. The last thing is to measure the two switches from the connector that's connect them to the main board(yes the connector is to be removed (pulled out) before measuring). Wish you good luck. Thanks. Torgeir.

Hi, The easy way of identifying the wires is; the two tiny (less diameter) is for the temp sensor (PT100) and the two heavy wires is for the heat bed (this since they carry up to 7.5 Amps). Thanks. Torgeir

Hi RayvenMaker, Why not try your first method?? This is not high class electronics, just a wire wound heat element and a PT100 temp sensor, well plus a contact. All of this can stand 60 deg. C. water, no problem.. But after this bath, -put it in to a "hot air" oven with about (50-60) deg. Celsius for an hour or so. Next is to heat it up some in the normal way. This is the method that's less risky and do not ruin your day! Sure, I'm assuming there's no active electronics in this unit. Well, as neotko "said", -crazy ideas might not be as bad as most people think -it's only a little different way of thinking. Oh yes, been working most of my life with electronics so this should be an easy one. OK., good luck. Thanks. Torgeir.