JohnInOttawa
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Posts posted by JohnInOttawa
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4.3.3 is a known stable firmware release, so I doubt that is the issue.
Are you using auto-levelling?
Any chance that filament has had a lot of retractions recently, maybe a chewed area from feeder grinding within the first metre or so? Usually when I get a nozzle clog or something like that, I find that flattening and the filament will stop feeding at that point, even after I clear the clog.
Just also would like to know which Cura version you sliced your model with. (assuming you used cura).
This is a good community. I'm confident someone (as in someone smarter than me) here will figure this out. Keep the faith.
John
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Can you provide a bit more information?
Firmware - did you recently update? What is your current firmware level?
UM3 or 3X
Print material, if it is PLA or nylon, when was it last dried?
printcore nozzle diameter?
When was the last time you did a printcore cleaning?
J
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I'd like to know more about the titanium choice as well. At this point, my guess is less warping of the build plate when heated when compared to Aluminum. I seem to recall plate flatness at temperature was a a factor when the S5 abandoned the option. Maybe they should have tried another metal.
From the interweb, coefficient of expansion for Titanium:
Coefficient of Linear Thermal Expansion – 8.6 x 10-6 K-1 (this is a little lower than steel but half that of aluminum)
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This concern has been coming up in other settings.
At the risk of a repeated or cross-post - I understand that Ultimaker wants to continue to innovate and move ahead and there are only so many resources, so maintaining legacy printers may not be possible.
Looking to the aviation world, older designs like the DeHavilland Twin Otter and Convair 580 are now built, rebuilt and new parts manufactured under licence. The OEM no longer has an involvement, but end users have full support.
Given how successful the Ultimaker line has been to date, would Ultimaker consider such an arrangement? I know, open source, etc. But something more formal would be very helpful to those whose living depends, in part, on these devices.
Thanks for your consideration
John
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Yes it is an interesting setup on the heat block and nozzle. Normally when a machine screw joins two parts, the first part is not threaded, just the 'destination' part, so the screw pulls the parts together and doesn't end up jacking them apart.
The Ultimaker design with threads in both the heat block and the heat break requires that the heat block be fully threaded onto the nozzle first (fully torqued), which effectively makes that one assembly. Then the heat break can be threaded on in a single assembly step without fear of the two parts working against one another. This can be done with the parts in the print core frame and before the top level and 'trumpet' are reattached.
Your note on the heater and sensor wired reminded me, I have a very wordy post that describes my voyage through nozzle replacement including dealing with those stiff wires. If you have trouble sleeping tonight, I suggest you read that post. It ought to do the trick 😉
Stay well!
John
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If it doesn't leak and you get autolevel to calibrate then you're good to go.
WRT increased torque to set the new nozzle. A few things that I found really reduced the torque for my MicroSwiss install.
1) when the old nozzle is removed, carefully clean the threads inside the heat break and heat block as thoroughly as possible. Also, the very top of the nozzle seats against an internal brass lip in the heat break. Cleaning that as well will also help make a better seal.
2) If you reassemble in two stages, you can first freeze the nozzle and warm the heat block, then thread the nozzle into the heat block until it is tight. Once they are together, freeze that assembly and heat up the heat break before the final joining. That will reduce the torque and give the best chance at seating the nozzle all the way, as it is much easier to feel when the nozzle 'bottoms out' in the heat break.
But like I said, if you aren't leaking and getting things to level, then it has all worked out fine for you.
J
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I had something like this on my 'rescue' UM3X. It turned out to be wiring from the capacitive sensor and axial fan were out of position and interfering at the back. I've also had a certain amount of trouble with a print core whose frame had warped over time. A pic of the open cavity without the print cores installed might help.
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@UlrichC-DE, it looks like two solutions to the same question on different threads.
Have a look at the link above, it is not necessary to modify the heat block, but there is a particular order of reassembly to both fully seat the nozzle in the heat block and get a tight seal on the cooling tower.
Agree completely with your warnings...in my opinion this should be the last option before throwing a core out, as there is a good chance it will come to that anyway.
John
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Is this a repeat of your question, posted here?
If so, Maybe ask admin to merge them, much easier to compare solutions that way.
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A bit late to the party.
I suggest a read of this thread.
I've done this with a MicroSwiss nozzle. All of the warnings about why it is a bad idea are valid. It can be done but with great care not to destroy the threads, the heat break, or the print core frame. The torque involved is small and precise. Too little, you will leak, too much and you'll destroy the core.
The steps I followed are detailed in the thread. Prints with the new nozzle are identical to the OEM but the print core frame appears to deform with heat over time and will ultimately decide end of life.
Good luck!
John
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Great news! Thanks for the update.
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Maybe print a sealing strip out of TPU that could snugly fit one side and have a lip to cover the gap?
J
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Hmmm. That seems annoying. If it also happened with the old print core and another filament type, I would go out on a limb and say the issue is external to both the print core and the filament. Back to that cooling fan. There are degraded modes that do not involve the fan being completely stopped. If it were me I'd be looking at that fan with magnification to see if anything is interfering with airflow or rotation. I recently pulled nearly 30 cm of wound, hair fine filament from around my cooling fan.
There are two ways I might go about removing this print core. One at a time.
It's hard for me to get a true sense of the gap from your photo. Do you have room to get a very thin (credit card thickness or less) strip of metal in between the top of the print core and the structure of the print head? If so, you might want to consider heating up that thin strip and using it as a knife to melt/cut the PLA. There is some risk of melting anything else you touch with your hot knife though. You could employ a similar strategy with thin wire - again, unsure how much lateral room you have to work with getting the wire looped around the PLA might not work.
If you do succeed in severing the PLA, once the print core is out you can manually push the PLA down through the (now empty) print core opening and cut off any offending wide point. That would still leave you with a blocked print core but I think you would be OK to navigate from that point.
John
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On 4/10/2021 at 3:25 PM, X-Type said:
It seems I will need special nozzles, where can I find those? Or will a standard nozzle do for replacement?
I got a second hand S5 and it seems the print cores I got with it are worn out. And I have plenty of high quality more or less brand new nozzles from my UM2+ that I would be happy to use.
While @Smithy has given you the best advice, if you elect to attempt this, you will need specific nozzles made for the UM3/S3/S5 print core. I bought ones made by MicroSwiss. The rest of the caveats are in my TL:DR post a bit higher in the thread.
My print core is working well with no leaks and I find the print quality pretty much indistinguishable from my unaltered OEM cores, however the plastic frame is a significant factor, heat seems to deform it over a long period, such that it's more difficult to install and remove. If I could replace that frame, I would.
Good luck with your decision whichever way you decide to go.
John
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Hi Sina. I'm running some jobs with regular materials and print cores for the next while so won't have much chance to get photos.
The good news is that the changes I made (which I learned about here, there are a number of related threads) are very much off the shelf. Bondtech and 3D Solex have resellers in many places. I went with the Bondtech DDG, which is a straight swap for the UM3 extruders. 10 minute job. The hardcores can be ordered with an everlast nozzle already installed.
Where are you located?
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The warning on the quick demise of brass print cores and feeders should be heeded.
I bought a used UM3 that had (i understood) about half a kilo of Nylon/CF through it. Print core and #1 feeder heavily worn. AA 0.4 was already at 0.6 and visibly shorter and flatter tipped than spec. The feeder was already worn to the point of slipping and mishandling retractions.
There is a solution though. Both of my UM3's now run Bondtech feeders (hardened and replaceable drive gears) and I use 3dSolex hardcores when printing abrasive stuff. Not a cheap upgrade but way less than an entirely new printer. I have been running this configuration for 18 months and no visible degradation.
Hope this helps!
John
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If you have a heat gun with a narrow nozzle and can shield the print core frame so it doesn't warp, you can focus on the nozzle area and gradually work outward.
It looks from your photos as if you did not get much material on the heater or sensor cables. That is a win. If it is mostly on the heat block, slow and steady, you should manage to get everything off.
John
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I haven't used Timberfill, and my printer is a UM3, not S5, but have printed a fair bit with Colorfabb Woodfill which might be similar.
Bigger nozzle size is definitely needed for the particulates. If Timberfill is recommending 0.6, then it's likely not related to 2.85 vs 1.75, it's because smaller nozzles can block. I think your choices in the UM line would be an AA 0.8 or a CC Red 0.6, in my case I went with a 3DSolex Hardcore and put a 0.6 in it.
I'd also pay attention to retraction settings, particularly retraction distance and maximum number of retractions. I did find my filament tended to grind with too many retractions.
Hope this helps at least a bit! Keep us posted!
Cheers
John
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So if I understand it fully then, you have two primary issues:
1) Firmware is at 5.xx.xx and likely needs to be flashed back to 4.3.3 and
2) You are missing the capacitive sensor cable.
The cable is a part that can be ordered from a reseller. They are not expensive and do not require any soldering, you only need the ultimaker screwdriver to install the part. Availability varies by region though. Where are you located?
John
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Just a thought here. Since you mentioned both Ultimaker 3 extended AND firmware update, I thought you might find the following threads helpful. I tried everything with both 5.xx firmware levels, also changed the capacitive sensor cable, did not work, I had to revert to 4.3.3 as recommended in the thread, normal operations.
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Thanks! the variable temp adjuster makes some sense. The advance mechanism will likely be the money part of the thing. I'll look for those brands.
All the best!
John-
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I've read some of the threads here on 3D pens. In my region, it seems everything offered is more toy than tool, so my hope is that within this group someone can help get me sorted.
I've seen plenty of options that handle PLA, or PLA and ABS. Most of these also have reviews that include things like 'broke on the third try'. I don't know if any options handle semi-rigid options like TPU, perhaps that is a function of the 1.75mm filaments used (I find 2.85 plenty robust in the Cheetah line).
My application is a custom retaining ring for a clear acrylic face 'crystal' within a 3d printed bezel that has an undercut groove to hold the crystal and then a ring. It would be so easy just to lay in a ring of hot filament. Printing it in advance and trying to wedge it in there is not working too well, the gap is so small that a printed wall thickness that fits is too weak to take off the bed or push into the gap without deformation or tearing.
Thanks for your thoughts!
John
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This is great! The layer line advice is good. Fortunately the level of detail is low so I can smooth aggressively. I am looking at potentially just getting some polysmooth filament and manually treating it with isopropyl. Haven't used it before, so maybe overthinking things a bit.
With a wind chill below -20 these days, the notion of anything generating heat gets me excited, but I will heed this warning 😉
John
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OK. This sounds like the wisest plan.
I've been looking for an excuse to try mold making. Looks like I found it 😉
Now a bit of homework for me....
Thanks again!
John
Ultimaker 3 stops printing after first layer
in UltiMaker 3D printers
Posted
Yes, Cura could be the problem, as could the the firmware, as could a combination of the two.
I had to back my UM3X to firmware 4.3.3 and run Cura 4.6. Not the latest, but stable. later firmware and I had extrusion problems much as you describe. The fact that your Gcode test file ran though, suggests you should start with Cura. Bad firmware would likely not have allowed a good test print.
Good luck!