chuckmcgee

Just seeing this thread and I have another going on these forums, but as of the latest firmware, I can confirm that I have had the exact same problem @kmanstudios has had - twice in the past few days. For me, it only occurs after the printer has been off for an extended period of time (a day or more) and when I do my first print. After I manually power it off and on (and acknowledge I have cleared the bed), the print automatically resumes and has no issue. It's just super annoying since there are no guarantees as to when it will happen and, when it does, if you aren't watching it, it will dispense filament up into your print head. It has already warped the silicon cover that protects the two hot ends. If you want to see my other thread (which includes YouTube videos of the event), go here: https://community.ultimaker.com/topic/21956-freeze-on-nozzle-purge/ Hope this helps (and we can get an answer to this).

Thank you for the explanation on the beeping. I did get some help to determine that was normal. A couple points of clarification regarding the rest: First, I do not know if the freezing/extended purge would have happened on the new power supply. That flickering started right away so it was suggested to use the original power supply. Second, I am currently powered by UPS. I have been for a couple months now. I have seen the extended purge happen on the original printer when not connected to UPS as well. Lastly, regarding the file to reduce power, my preference is to not make me or my printer a snowflake when compared to others. I just want my printer to work like everyone else’s. Just concerned about what it means for me later when new versions of code come out and I am using something custom. Through MatterHackers, I have been pointed to Erin Oliver at Ultimaker North America Support. She has been back and forth with me. The question I have for her (and you) is...does it make sense to try a replacement power supply? It’s the only component in common to both printers that have failed the same way.

no...sorry...two distinct issues. The freeze issue is the one that brings me here and has existed on both of the UM2E's that I have had in my possession since buying the printer in November. The flickering was a new problem that showed up on the replacement (2nd of the two printers) that seemed to be related to the power supply. I only share the flickering problem in response to your question about whether or not I replaced the power supply with the second unit I did not since the replacement power supply appeared to be faulty - causing the flickering. I just happened to record a video of the flickering as well.

That is definitely not me. That was the result of the replacement power supply running on the replacement printer. I still have the replacement printer, but because of that flickering/apparent power issue, it was suggested I try (and keep using) the original power supply. So far, the extended purge/freezing has now happened on both the old and new device, and the power supply is the only component in common to both units. Hope this helps.

I should have also said about the logs - the last freeze took place yesterday (April 24) sometime before 6:30pm ET. It was probably the last started print prior to that time.

Fantastic response - thank you robinmdh. I have only ever turned the printer off between uses if I know it will be a couple days or more between prints. Otherwise, the power off event was due to the fact that the extruder would not stop spewing filament until I did that. At the point where I have to turn it off hard, it has done an auto bed level and has heated the bed and nozzle. Regarding your questions: 1. The brick that came with the new unit was causing very strange behavior, including lights flickering (see this youtube link). It was suggested I keep the original brick, which I am still using. This is the only component that hasn't been replaced. 2. All of the hot-end cartridges are the new ones that came with the replacement printer (which was brand new from Matterhackers). Since the replacement, the freeze (or extended purge) has happened on both hot ends...I had to turn it off hard in each case). Also, in each case, it froze when that was the start of a print after many hours of being powered off. I did one print where I was using the right extruder exclusively. When it started on that one, it froze on the purge. 3. Ambient temperature is about 65-70 degrees F. Not too cold at all. Located in a small room in my basement where I keep the door closed. Hope this helps.

Sorry for the delay, but here are those logs... https://www.dropbox.com/sh/d6l83m7wtl41nbz/AAAfayNSkwq5GyGm45ifOYQOa?dl=0 This is still a problem, even with a replacement printer from Matterhackers and changing from wireless to wired. These are the logs from the new printer which has already experienced two freezes, including one yesterday.

Sorry for the late reply. It has happened on multiple versions of the software and firmware. I am not getting prompted to restart...mine just restarts the print after I power the printer back on and confirm that I cleared the print bed. It just happened to me tonight using the newest version of Cura (3.3) and the latest stable firmware (4.3.2.20180308) I am wondering what would happen if I turned off the blob in Cura. That will be my next test print. Although...I can't make this happen on command...it has a high probability of the printer has sat for a day or two without printing. The first print after the delay comes with this freeze up.

Hi all, I decided to send an email to Ultimaker support and have been working with a gentleman named Joseph Williams in North America support. He is still gathering data, but I did (easily) capture the footage of the issue today, as it happens almost every first use of the printer after it's been off a day or two: What I noticed from this video is that the issue is happening before the print even starts. It is the final phase of the start up process where it purges the nozzle, that it fails. When I powered it back on after powering it hard off, I thought it remarkable that it automatically started the print up again without prompting me to do so. I did have to acknowledge the failure upon restart, but not to resume the print. This makes me wonder if my printer is flawed during that start up process. As I provided to Joseph, this problem has been happening for many versions of Cura and at least 3 of the latest versions of the UM3 firmware, including the one from earlier this month. I am still without a solution. Chuck

Hi robinmdh, I would be happy to. I will export when I get home. As for the print job, it's any standard gcode that comes from my slicer (Cura 3.2.1 this time). What's interesting is that, after the reboot - sending the exact same job - it works perfectly. This has happened with multiple versions of Cura, going back a few versions now. I am just tired of not trusting it when I start it for the first time after a day off or so.

Hi all, Anyone have any idea why my UM3+ freezes on the initial blob purge in the front left corner? It happens after every time I fire up the printer to use after it has not been used in a day or so. I have no choice to but to turn the printer off manually and move the bed down to get the blob cleared...otherwise, it will just keep dispensing filament until it totally ruins the print head. It has already almost nearly destroyed the silicone that protects the two nozzles. Otherwise, the printer is working great. Thanks for the advice.

do you have a link?

Sorry for the delay all. I had no luck with the filament I had and MatterHackers let me return it. They gave me a couple samples of Soft PLA and Pro FLEX PLA that I will try, but I am not interested in trying the oil given the fact that it seems risky to me and the printer was a significant expense to me. At this point, I am contemplating the Capricorn tubing as I have read a lot of good stuff about that - but not yet sure when I am going to purchase. For now - my desire to print flex is on indefinite hold. I do appreciate all of the help and follow ups here, though. What a great community!

Also...let me distinguish a difference between what that article says about oil and what was suggested earlier on by @SandervG (and likely as @gr5 meant). I believe the article is discussing the use of oil as a way to season the filament and I believe SandervG is suggesting a few drops in the Bowden tube to help with flow through the tube. Not sure if it fundamentally is different from the premise of needing oil vs not needing it, but I see no harm in the Bowden tube as a way to help.

Thanks @cjs. I have mostly been testing with the red filament which measures at 2.40mm in diameter (a mistake). I am going to try all of the ideas (minus the oil for now) with filament measuring 2.85mm. As a point of clarification, the MatterHackers Soft PLA I am using is 98A...harder than TPU95A. I chose this because I wanted it to be a little sturdier than the 95 or less.

Will do gr5. Bought some last night and will try it out today. Any suggestions on how exactly to apply it? It's the physical diameter. I believe it was meant to be 2.85mm. The support folks at MatterHackers are sending me a replacement roll. I am going to try a different roll that measures 2.85mm to see if that helps...between a better experience with the feeder and the use of the oil. We shall see. Trying today.

Thanks Geert. I had a similar thought and wondered if I could do the whole print, unattended, while bypassing the Bowden tube. Didn't seem like a smart idea, but I like your suggestion.

Thanks. The 2.40 is coincidental and I have a replacement roll being sent from MatterHackers. As for changing within Cura, I did...not on the material manager but in the profile settings. I will I’ll report back after I use a roll with 2.85 and with slightly tighetening the stepper tension.

Thank you for the reply, Sander and Rebekah! I will try the oil, but would like to do so as a last resort. I don't know why, but it seems so radical and unnecessary since the printer shows TPU 95A as a default material type. As for the feeder tension, I am assuming that is the meter on the side of the feeder which is controlled by the hex screw on the top of the feeder assembly where the Bowden tube exits up to the hot end. If so, that is currently at the midway point. Seems ample tension as I am having to squeeze pretty hard on the trigger to manually push the filament through the tube to the hot-end. Finally, as for temps - happy to attempt to lower, but wondering why being excessively high wouldn't eliminate the hot end as the bottleneck. Since the issue is under extrusion caused by inconsistent feeding, just figured using a temp at the upper end of the range might make for a messier print with lots of stringing. At the moment, I would welcome that issue I will await your reply for what to try next. Sounds like it may be worthwhile to still attempt some of the things above...just looking for confirmation based on my responses. Thanks again for the reply!!

I am wrong...under extruding again. Stopped feeding altogether...but I did get almost all of the brim done. Removing the filament shows the same issue...a corkscrew effect on the filament inside the feeder.

My Lord...I may be the largest noob ever. I hope I am wrong. I have a print going now that seems to be goign well. My big mistake was to create a custom material in Cura 3.1.0. That was not overriding the settings in the default profile in Cura. So while I thought I was setting the values above - alas - they were not the values actually being printed. more to follow...going at 20mm/s speed, 235 hot end temp, retraction 0.5mm, and using the TPU 95A material type (with modifications).

Hello all, I have searched for anything current on this topic and can't seem to find anything. I have an Ultimaker 3 Extended (relatively new printer). I have Soft PLA from Matterhackers that I just bought and have been having trouble getting it to print. After extensive troubleshooting with an engineer at Matterhackers, I can't believe the issue is me, but you never know...so I am bringing it to this group in hopes of finding an answer. The problem is that I can't get the filament to feed reliably...it under extrudes (or stops extruding altogether) on every attempt. Here is what I have tried: Bypassing the automatic load feature of the feeder and manually feeding the filament through the Bowden tube to the hot end Printing at slow speeds (tried 15mm/s and 20mm/s...nothing faster or slower) Set hot end at 240 to make sure it wasn't a chore to get the filament through the hot end Retraction off or as short as 0.50mm Unfortunately, none of these things have made a difference. I read older posts online about oiling the Bowden tube, but I didn't do that and don't think friction in the tube is the issue. The filament feeds freely (diameter of 2.40 as measured with calipers). In my last attempt (manually fed filament to the hot end, speed of 20mm/s, retraction at 0.50mm, and hot end temp of 240), filament stopped coming out even at the jump when it dispensed into the blob on the corner. When I stopped the print and removed the filament (manually) from the printer, this is what the filament looked like inside the feeder. Is it me or should I just return this filament and give up on the UM3 for printing anything flexible...(and I purposefully chose Soft PLA with a value of 98A as a less flexible option with some rigidity).

Well...for the record, I can tell you I don't think the bed was too hot. At 50 degrees, I can see the corners of the print have curled off the print bed. The nozzle is pushing down on those corners while it prints. So...back to trying to understanding what is going on with why that print layer from the pics above look so melted.

Also - I know it sounds crazy, but tempted to do another print upside down with supports or on a raft, to attempt to get a matte finish on the bottom. The quality of the inside of that case is breathtaking. The bottom shiny side - not so much as you can see. I wouldn't mind having the inside be the outside in this case.

Thanks kman I will get those extra settings set up. I didn't see any lifting as, upon close inspection, the whole surface was well adhered (almost too much so). Because I can't explain that smudge in the bottom middle of the side, I am chalking that up to my eagerness to hold the case. I took the glass out of the printer within a minute of finishing, so things were still warm. I thought I was being SUPER careful with attempting to remove the print so it didn't crack, but I think my attempt may have smudged that side with as warm as the print still was. That print was very stuck to the bed...I should have waited longer for it to cool. Before I left for work, I started up another print with a bed temp of 50 degrees just to see how it goes. It should finish well before I get home from work and be properly cooled. Will use that as another review. I also didn't say so, but I have it in an enclosure...that no doubt may be holding a warmer temp on the bed, but who knows. Again - brand new printer and using default generic PLA settings - which with a bed temp of 60 direct on glass - I have never seen issues like depicted above. I will report my update later this evening. Thanks again!