TheodorK

Thanks y'all for the responses, these are all quite usefull tips. I know have the marlin source files so the editing can start. The goal is to integrate a filament flow sensor into my um3 3d printer. Once there are any updates, I'll let you know (but probably in another thread)

I have an UM3 for quire a while now and want to make some modifications to the firmware. After some reading on the forums I fount that the UM3 firmware is available on request, but Ultimaker is systematically ignoring my requests. So is there anyone who has gotten the UM3 firmware, or knows how to get it? I doubt that Ultimaker itself will be of any help, since they are still ignoring my emails.

I also used to have this issue, and in my case it was fixed by decreasing the print speed. Because the gaps only show on long straight lines, and nog in the corners or in short lines, it is probably because there is nog enough plastic extruded to compensate for the movement speed.

The number one rule I have for preventing filament tangling, is to NEVER let go of the end of the filament when loading/unloading and handling the spools, and always tie it to the spool when it is unloaded or when handling the spools. This rule prevents any issues with the filament wrapping under itself of any kind, since this is impossible to happen when the filament is manufactured, so it is almost always a user error.

First check if the pads on the printcore pcb are not damaged and if the contacts on the printhead pcb are also not damaged. the printcore might nog be recognized because something bent while it was jammed or during removal. it might help if you post some pictures of the printcore and printhead and printhead pcb so we could take a good look at it.

In most cases having the tension gauge in the middle is fine, when the material is grinding away there is most likely a clog in thecore. Have you checked if the material extrudes normally when loading the filament, and have you already tried to clean the printcore?

for a quick fix, you could wrap some electrical tape around the bearing (to make it thicker) and then reinsert the bearing arter loosening the screws, than the bearing might just stay in place.

What was the issue? Was the fan jammed with some filament stringing or was the connector not propperly connected?

If the front fan is dead, like @AndersK mentioned, it would explain all of your problems. Is the jam happening with both of the printcores? Check the connector on the back of the printhead and check if is is in place propperly, press it down and wiggle it a little (you dont want to break the connector). Then heat a printcore to about 100 degrees (at this point the front fan should definally be spinning), if the front fan still isn't moving, it is probably dead and needs replacement.

Thanks a lot! This document will be very helpfull. Just one more question, is it neseccary to have the interface board present on the olimex board while flashing firmware? because when looking at the schematics, I only see a couple of small IC's and a translating transceiver IC, so not any 'intelligent' electronics which could affect the flashing process, am I correct? Also, I think that there is a really small mistake in the PDF file, where the line of LED T is pointing to capacitor C4 instead of the LED to the top right of C4, noting bad but I small detail I noticed.

@robinmdh Is there by chance any documentation/product-guide available on how to flash the software on the olimex board of the UM3/S5/S3?

If you select the option 'support blocker' on the left side you can set the settings of the block that appears as 'print as support' this will force support in all areas of that block, and thus in between both cylinders if you place them there. If you enable a birm and enable z-hop there is also little chance for the narrow cylinder to get knocked over and then you probably dont need pva support

Is there a way to get my hands on the recovery image? My goal is to implement the display of the S5 into my UM3. Thus far I only have a bare A20 board and the LCD but no firmware yet.

I was wondering where I could find the recovery image for the ultimaker S5?

It could be that the plastic contains an electric charge because plexiglass can be staticly charged. but it is highly unlikley because the nozzle itself is probably grounded via the heater cartridge and thus removes any charge from the print plastic. Also the printer is sensitive to static charges (ESD) and this could damage the electronics, so it makes sense that the printers are propperly grounded. If you suffer from any charge you could fix this by 'grounding' the filament and so remove any charge present. But I highly doubt that PLA of some sort could hold an static charge, because it is plastic, non concuctive and there is not much chance for the plasic atoms to become charged. I have never heard of this and (as an electrical engineer) I think that it is never going to hapen because there is nowhere for electrons to build a charge inside a printer plastic part. It just doesn't make any sense, but it is nice to wonder abount these kind of topics, good food for tought.

When the green tough PLA is loaded, does the printer retract the filament when it continues printing? If so, does it also reinsert the material when the green payer starts? It sounds like the filament is retracted but not reinsertes, causing the first 5 layers to print nothing, and after 5 layers the filament has reached the nozzle and starts extruding. You can hear if the filament is retracting by the sound the feeder motor is making (listen carefully tho because the S3 has trinamic stepper drivers, which are a lot quieter than the older drivers)

Have you tried to print a temperature tower? At what temperature was this printed? In most of the cases the stringing gets really bad when the print temperature is too hot for the plastic. this wil cause the plastic to still be soft afther the printer has printed a line, causing the plastic to warp and shape differently than intended, as you showed in the pictures.

What material are you trying to print and at which temperature?

That is also a result of plenty of plastic being extruded during the first layer. It shoulds matter much because this is only a brom as it seems, but maybe the result is better when the brim is disabled. (Personally I only use a brim on thin and long objects)

To prevent the nozzle from touching the support you can enable the option 'avoid support while traveling' in the travel menu. the first layer looks like this because for an UM3(E) the first layer line width is set to 120%, this makes sure that there is plenty of plastic on the botom layer to ensure that the print sticks to the build plate and doesnt come loose during printing. This can be fixed by changing the initial layer heigth and the initial line width. But do note that the default initial layer heigth of 0.27mm is much more forgivint to small inacurracies in the build plate than a 0.1mm initial layer heigth

As for higher temps, yes an all metal hotend can achieve much higher temperatures than one with a PTFE tube, because the PTFE starts to degrade at about 280 ish degrees, as where an all metal hotend (obviously) does not have a PTFE tube. However, do make sure that the plastic holding the hotend and fans together is heat resistant, because the heat radiation from the heaterblock might cause the softening of the material. It is thus recommended dat you insolate the heaterblock to prevent this.

Printing PLA with the E3D V6 is very well doable, I've been doing this for a year now with really good results. But propper cooling is really important, like mentioned in the other thread. As for retraction settings, I use the default settings for the UM3, because I have the UM3 feeder. These retraction settings work perfectly in combination with PLA. When switching between PLA and PETG it is, like @tinkergnome mentioned, asking for problems. However these problems are easilly fixed if you clean the hotend with ultimaker cleaning filament (I love this stuf). If you think it is the material, make some test prints with different materials, from different brands and see if the results are different. Personally I use Makerpoint PLA (a dutch brand)) and the quality is really good but the rolls are slightly more expensive. This is their webstore: https://www.makerpoint.nl/nl/3d-printen/materials-supplies/filament/makerpoint/

I hope so. If you are looking for inspiration, this is the design I used as a base for the redesign of my hotend: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2023947 This design allows for a restricted and good airflow past the fins of the heatsink, however make sure that the fan is always spinning, of start to spin when the nozzel temp is above 40 degrees C.

by previously you mean before you switched to the E3D v6? It once happened to me that there was not enough airflow flowing past the heat sink of the hotend (cold zone) which allowed heat to creap up past the heatbreak, this caused my filament to stick to the walls of the heat sink, making retractions a lot harder. This could be the case but that totally depends on the design of the hotend/extruder. In most (older) hotend designs this was not much of an issue because a PTFE heatbreak was used to isolate the filament from the metal parts of the hotend, the E3D V6 is an all metal hotend, and thus without a PTFE heatbreak, making propper cooling even more important.

this guy has done some nice things with a 5-axis 3d printer: https://makezine.com/2019/01/03/5-axis-3d-printing-brings-new-possibilities/