Torgeir

Hi cloakfiend,

Hi David, You should use; "PT100 circuit found in the Ultimainboard V2.X". Have you checked the installation manual note on page 26? I've looked a little into this and think the problems seem to be in the Ginge's Marlin builder software, since you cannot deselect the "old" reference amplifier used for the "K-thermocouple", the AD595. This old temp ref is added to the new absolute temp sensor and make this error reading. I'll guess someone have a suggestion for this, but the best will be to have the software you're using updated to cope with this problem. The manual is here: https://ultimaker.com/en/resources/249-assembly-manual Thanks. Torgeir

Hi Folks, Just made this last picture of two of my "3D Bechy Boat" print, the boat to the left is printed before I made the configuration change to the main PCB. (It's not a hack, just hardware configuration.) The boat on the right side is made after this change. It is the same gcode file that is printed as close as possible to the front of the printer, some vibration here when the extruder accelerate/decelerate. Anyway, as you can see -there is no zebra stripes anymore. I also printed Valcrow's «curve-test-print», to see how this print will be. However, I never printed this before this change, so I have no idea what to expect. https://www.youmagine.com/designs/curve-test-print I made 3 picture of this print, so here they are for you to see. Thats all. Thank you. Torgeir.

Ah, yes. So sorry, forgot to state material. The um2+ was printed in PLA and m200 in ultrat (supposedly an abs blend with something else) i believe. I originally thought it might be a difference in the motor choice because as i understand from the specs i can find online, the m200 has an x/y precision of 1.5 microns whereas every other 3d printers specs that i have looked at shows 12.5 microns (including the um2+). However, Torgeir's post might have just killed that theory. Absolutely not, you're right here I'll think. Thanks Torgeir.

Hi DrR1pper, Well, there is "no problems" -but solutions... I can improve the resolution a lot... But the speed of printing may suffer. The Ultimaker is “one of a kind” when we talk about “performance adaption”... This is open source -and it will improve, very much. How fast can your M200 print compared to a UM2+? Thanks. Best regards Torgeir.

Hi SandervG, Just a note here, the most used driver for stepper motors is the one from Allegro A4988. Also in the application data sheet, they advice this: By pulling the ROSC pin to ground, mixed decay is set to be active 100% of the time, for both rising and falling currents, and prevents missed steps as shown in Figure 3. If this is not an issue, it is recommended that automatically-selected mixed decay be used, because it will produce reduced ripple currents. - This might be the reason, why there is so many printers make those line patterns. Just to mention this. Thanks. Torgeir.

Hi DR1pper, I'll think this is caused by the same problem, the missing step. Thanks Torgeir.

Hi SandervG, Thanks. Well, by sharing this I'm trying to give a little back to the forum and Ultimaker for the veld of information there is open for everyone to see and use for their ideas. Yes it was the same printer that printed the Bency-boat and the Tail of the A-380 that I've now modified. (With shafts from scrapped scanners... Well.) I don’t think so, because they use same firmware, same slicer and same stepper driver. Hmm, a really tricky question. When this stepper driver is doing micro stepping, this stepping is made with very low current, typically around 0.1 Amp (or 100 mA). When stepping in this mode, the feedback (EMF) is monitored by the stepper circuit in order to keep the current steady. In some application where micro stepping at low speed is necessary, a lack of EMF pulses can cause the current to increase rapidly in the actual stepper winding, -resulting in missed steps cause it will jump two steps instead of one. At such low current micro stepping, it can be the stepper motor, the impedance or to long feeders (increased resistance), or to low «stepper voltage» that is «creating» this problem. A fix might be to move the stepper drivers closer to the stepper motors. Might work, but... I just changed the mode of operation on all stepper drivers from; «automatically-selected mixed decay» to «mixed decay set to be active 100% of the time». This will increase the current, the noise and the ripple current (more EMC radiation). Thanks. Torgeir.

Hi neotko, Thanks for the flowers. Well, here is two pictures and this first one is the "X_Y_Z_Stepper_driver.jpg". The second is "Extrude_&_Extra_Stepper_driver.jpg" I used two cords of (tinned copper) 0.1mm diameter and twisted. I started on the side of resistor close to the driver IC, then after soldering the first point made a loop toward the other side on the top of the resistor, parings here and soldered. This last picture is named "the_third_hand.jpg" Hope this will do. Thanks. Torgeir.

Hi gr5, Thanks. It was a real change for sure... I noticed a little increase in the sound while micro stepping, you will hear "this singing" but not as loud as other 3D printers. (I may say; a version 2 singing.) The mod itself is: X-stepper driver U8 R84 shorted. (High ref resistor R81 is originally not installed). Y-stepper driver U10 R85 shorted. (High ref resistor R82 is originally not installed). Z-stepper driver U11 R86 shorted. (High ref resistor R83 is originally not installed). Extrude-stepper driver U12 R102 shorted. (High ref resistor R100 is originally not installed). Extra-stepper driver U13 R103 shorted. (High ref resistor R101 is originally not installed). And here is the actual wiring (Board Rev: 2.1.1. wiring page 4): The resistors that are shorted is colored yellow. Thanks Torgeir

Hi, You've made good progress here. As your printer suddenly become like this, I would check the soldering of the connectors (or soldered feed through pins) with a good magnifier glass (X5). Look at the soldering around connector pins on the "stepper driver PCB" and on the other side mating connector. If you're lucky it might just be a pin that become loose or just not soldered at all. Ok. Good luck. Torgeir.

Hi Voltronx, As I have listened to your video, there is this sharp clicking sound, just like a belt is trying to climb off a pulley. Have a closer look on the two belts (left and right), make sure they are aligned so the belts are aligned exactly in the center above the two shafts. The position of the pulleys (forward and aft) is the place to adjust if the belt do not align. I.E. If the belt is offset at the slider block, the closer the slider (where the belt is offset) is to the pulley the more the belt will tighten and try to climb off the pulley. Also a little to high tension on the belt also increase the friction, and sometimes give some additional high pitch noise. I'm sure that you'll make it after some adjustment and try. The friction in steppers (with open wires) of same brand should be «about» the same, however when they are brand new they tend to differ a little... Ok. Hoping for a good progress in fault finding and good luck. Torgeir.

Hi Folks, I did this "shortening of the ROSC (reference oscillator) adjusting resistor" modification, in order to avoid missing steps caused by lack of back EMF. This was suggested by “nope head” at the “hydraptor” web site here: http://hydraraptor.blogspot.no/2012/04/stepstuck.html I did this modification on all five stepper drivers, X, Y, Z, Extruder1 and Extruder2. As I found this Airbus (A380 right?) made by Valcrow, I could not resist this “class one” object for everyone to print, thanks Valcrow. Anyway, yesterday I printed the tail fin of this plane as this is a typical place to see these phenomena. And yes, our zebra stripes are very easy to see here on my print before this modification. But not on the little piece just under, but knocked off. Ok. after the modification there is no Zebra stripes anymore… The stripes visible here is just the infill, it was knocked of the bed again... But the surface is nice. Yes, the left one is after modification. However, this modification requires quite some skill with the soldering iron, and it’s not for anyone to do. (The “biggest” soldering iron for this job must have a tip of max diameter of 2 mm.) I have a few pictures of this modification, if of any interest. Thanks Torgeir

Hi again, I did not say this, but I've studied the last print very much. As I've got a fantastic program named "Paint Shop Pro", made when Windows 95 was new... (This program still works well, even with Windows 10!) When you look closely to the print, you can see the printing sometimes looking toward what it should be. Said that, we need to do what we do more… Strange, but we would have to print even slower, or increase the temperature (if we can, but with some risk) in order to improve. The green rocket prints, was done with some slack in the Bowden tube. Due to this slack, the printer had a “little” time out, yes a little rest so the temperature could climb a little, this is why we could see some normal printing. When the slack is gone and the speed is decreased, but not enough, this is what we can see now. The miss is very much shorter, but still very visible. I’ll think this is an improvement, so it’s time to try the next… Yes, I’ll know you’ve been printing so many times… How about this; You’re printing several objects on the same shot, I’m printing one by one. So if I see there is some problem after -say print no 7, I will have seven good prints, -at last. Yes, or no, hmm. Have a look on this! There is a very good topics, a must read; Custom heater block to fit E3D nozzle on Ultimaker 2 ("The Olsson Block") -------------------------------------------------------------------- esteban-pachecoTalented TechLevel: 15 Points: 219 Posts: 165Location: GermanyPrinters: Ultimaker 2 Posted Jul 2, 2015 - 10:25 PM • Edited Jul 3, 2015 - 10:38 AM Hello Forum!, i've been printing for a while with an Olsson Block, and i want to update the information and share my experience with this upgrade ( I TOTALLY RECOMMEND IT) after getting the Olson Block, i experimented a temp error because in this block, the nozzles is more influenced by the side fans, plus the weakness of my Heater Cartridge, it other words, it was unable to deliver the amount of energy required (above 230 C), usually wen having the fan at 100 %. Following the advice of many people in here, i got convinced to change the heat cartridge to a more powerful one (35 W) i was kind of sceptic, because I'm very careful with electronics ( one error and that'S it). so far everything is working just fine, theres a few remarks: A) theres some little fluctuations in the temperature.. (-+ 1 C), thats not so dramatic... B) if you're printing lets say at 215C, and you want to go to 210 C, the temperature will go for a few seconds below 210 C (say 204) but it will recover quickly and stabilises at 210 C, and stays so.... the other way around, i haven't seen any strange behaviour. C) i just got Once the Temp error, i was testing the configuration and i turned the temp to 260 C and fans 100 % Suddenly (usually i don't print anything above 235). so thats also NOT a big deal... I'm really happy now, ill keep you informed about my experiences... ------------------------------------------------- Start reading from here: https://ultimaker.com/en/community/8689-custom-heater-block-to-fit-e3d-nozzle-on-ultimaker-2-the-olsson-block?page=27 Ok. Mate, Good luck. Torgeir.

Hi, Great, I like this one much better, even with the same problem... I'll think the problem is the lack of enough "heat capacity". The stringing we see here is “maybe” due to rising temperature -and "oozing". You never said what kind of heater you are using, are you using the standard heater? Well, -a good example of this kind of problems is the simple extruder test with PLA. In this test you start extruding; 3 mm³/second. Then the flow and the speed are increased gradually until we reach the top where there is extruded 10 mm³/second. This test takes just about 10-11 minute. Normally I'm printing PLA at a temperature 203 Deg. Celsius. To be able to do this test without under extrusion you are recommended to set the temp to 240 Deg. Celsius! I do not have Olsson block, but just the basic one with 0.4 nozzles. I’ve also been reading about Olsson’s recommendation, he said the old heater “can” be used, but for high demand material you must use a 35 Watt element. The XP printing temp is from 240-260 Deg. Celsius. Hmm... As some heater elements might have (delivered with) less effect that others, it might be time to measure the resistance of the heater element in order to find the effect of the heater. Let’s check the resistance in the element. The effect of a standard element is: P=U*I. The resistance is: R=U2/P. The standard element resistance (Rs) is: P=25 W and U=24V. Then we have: Rs=U2/P=24*24V2/25W=23.04 Ohm. The “Olsson” element resistance(Ro) is: P=35W and U=24V. Then we have: Ro=U2/P=24*24V2/35W=16.45 Ohm. Note: In an element like this, the resistance will increase a little as the temperature increase. Ok. What do you think? Torgeir.

Hi, Someone asked about conductive filaments some time ago, but never had any answer on this. This time there was also a link to some producer with resistance examples, however they never gave the important physical parameters for their filament. So their resistance data was useless. Your reference here is very interesting. Actually, this was one of the reasons for me to have a double extruder head... At it is right now, the resistance is kind of high, as we can’t run much current here, but for data it may work well. PS. You can off course decrease the resistance by having a high number of "strings" in parallel, but how good this will be is yet to see. Thanks Torgeir

Hi Joelmongeon, Interesting print you have there. I do not use the I2K insulator, but I do know about this insulation "washer" is kind of dark brown colored. I'll agree it looks like a high temp issue, but if this was true it would not come back printing perfectly like this, I'll think. Intermittent temperature issue, sure a little fluctuation may be, but not sky hi suddenly, I'll think. (There is another tread in here with more information about this.) Maybe the filament itself is polluted (with some gunk) and making this "burnt" layer. I’ve read a lot about such polluted filament, anything might be possible. Your own theory might be as good as any other, but a check will give you an answer. Good luck Torgeir.

Way to go mate! Cheers. Torgeir.

Hi Lysaer, Since you've upgraded both printers to the + version yourself, I'm sure you find the problem. When you said it's weak, do you think the stepper is weak or is it the feeder tension you think about? Also you said that this issue occurred “kind of overnight”, there might be an electrical issue. You need to find out if the feeder motor is weak or not. Load a filament and try to hold it after it is entered the Bowden tube. You may see feel if the stepper is weak and step back or if it just start to eat into the filament. You may also have a look at the current setting for the feeder in the menu at the Ultimaker controller, just compare the UM2 and the UM2-Ext. Btw, if the feeder spring is too loose, it will eat into the feeder. Good luck in your findings. Torgeir

Ok. No problem, next time it's my turn... This new pictures are all really different compared to the green rocket. Here I’ll think we can see massive under extrusion. As you say this is printed with Colorfabb XT, which I have no experience at all with, however I recall that the XT is demanding a kind of high extruder temperature, right? Then I come to think about you have changed nozzle to the Ohlson block type, as I’ve also think about doing. I know you can buy this block with four different nozzles, a screw driver and a 6 (?)mm pipe to change the nozzle with. I’ve understood that many people just use the standard heater, said to deliver 25 Watt. Did you also change the heater? If you still are using the standard heater, this might be the problem, and also somehow explain why the print stay up even with such an under extrusion. This can occur if the heater element (plus block) does not have enough heat capacity to melt filament as fast as we (well, the print) demand. As a test you can reduce the print speed,quite alot , in order to conserve heat capacity for the amount of filament required any time for this print. Then Just do a little print to see any improvement. Also be aware that, the outer shell of the heater might be higher than the core temperature here. You never said that you have installed a 35 Watt element, I’ll think –so I assumed a standard heather element. Just a shot in the air… Ok. Good Luck. Torgeir

Hi, When you have swapped the connectors (x/y steppers), check that the "loaded" sound you have on the y-axe has moved to the x-axes. You can also check that the movement "friction" is about the same with both (x and y) connectors removed. All this is to be done by pushing the extruder manually, without power. Next and last thing to be done, is to swap just the two stepper driver PCB's, leaving all the remaining connectors and wiring in its original place/position. If the faults swap, you have a faulty "y-stepper PCB", that’s to be repaired or replaced. Good luck in fault finding, -and hoping for success! Torgeir.

Hmm. This looks worse than ever, like you said... However, you touched something here. For this problem it is not that important that the length of the Bowden tube is plus minus a cm or so (the normal length of the Bowden tube is 705 cm if I’ll remember right). The most important is that the Bowden tube is all the way down into the” Teflon coupler” and WELL locked with the white “knife lock” at the top. When you lift up this white lock, the small knifes will be forced (due to the cone) toward the Teflon Bowden tube. So you really need to keep this "lift" pressure up to assure a correct lock. On my printer one clip (red or blue) is not enough in order to keep the Bowden tube in place so it would not slip, I must use two! The same is true on the feeder side off the Bowden tube were I also had to use two lock clip. You should not have any play here. So keep focus on the Bowden tube lockers. Again, on my printer, one clip did not hold at all. Have a closer look on the white lockers to see the small knifes. The length specified for the Bowden tube is more about movement freedom and prediction number of steps the feeder need to go, due to "auto" feeding, so it do not ram into the extruder at full “mating speed”. I can’t think of anything else that can make such a strange pattern. Hmm... Anyway, good luck. Regards Torgeir.

Hi Lance, Did'nt you turn the pulley on the x-stepper motor? Some steppers have a flat part and some not, so if you turn around the pulley -things change. The thing is; does your pulley jump up and down? Of course, the shaft might be bended. Just my two pence. Good Luck. Torgeir.

Hi Lance, This problem might be a wobbling pulley. As I built my printer, I've got a few pulleys that’s had to go to the bin! They wobbled way too much. However, I found they was drilled and had offset and was oval on one side. I made some shims, to put on the side where there is no set screw, in this way it was possible to correct. However, in your case you may have a warranty that’s still valid, so no problem... Well just for your info. Regards Torgeir.