gpitts

I have an issue where models that previously printed fine are now exhibiting a problem on my Ultimaker S5 (if it matters). At the end of the print, two of the last two (different) designs resulted in the print head colliding with the top of the print. I'd never seen this one before, and it began showing up on Cure 4.10.0. Anyone else seeing this?

I bought my printer mostly for hobby use plus to learn a new "skill" (not that I'm skilled 😁). I've considered buying a second printer for improved throughput, so this consideration is definitely relevant for people in a similar situation to mine.

I posted a reply to someone asking about longer-term reliability here. SandervG was kind enough to provide some thoughts on my issues and suggested a new thread if I had further comments or concerns. This is that thread. From my prior reply, I experienced a flood of the print head back in early-March of 2020. The print head was shipped to Ultimaker and they "bent it back into shape" per the Local Tech. I've had issues since that time, but the most recent issues have been communication error with the print cores (ER34), flow sensor issue (ER65), and I2C communication error (ER35). Because of these issues, I've been at a hard-down state for a week now. This is in addition to the estimated two months that my machine had been down for previous issues. My understanding is that Ultimaker is sending a new print head cable to try. Based on this onesy-twosy approach, I fully expect to be down the balance of the Winter. I also explained my experience with my material station being suboptimal. By that, I mean that I get interference between adjacent bays in the station such that I can't put material into adjacent bays - sometimes I need to skip two bays to avoid interference. I learned the trick of locating the spool to the very left-most side of the bay that SandervG suggested after having spools deemed to be unreadable by the S5, but that does not address this issue. I'm more than a little frustrated that a significant investment I made specifically because of the Ultimaker brand promise of quality and reliability has really been a disappointment. To use the automobile analogy, this printer has been a "lemon" based on the problems I've had in less than one year of ownership.

Hi Sensebellum, For the first four months of ownership my S5 behaved very well. Since that time, it's been one thing after another. I had an extrusion issue where the material flowed back up into the print head, which opened the print head door during printing. Bad form. Ultimaker "bent the print head" back into shape, which was a bit of a red flag for me, but it printed fine. Until it didn't. My most recent issues have been communication error with the print cores (ER34), flow sensor issue (ER65), and I2C communication error (ER35). I'm presently in conversations with my dealer as to how to deal with this situation. Out of almost 12 months (i.e. the warranty period), my S5 Pro Bundle has been down at least two months for repairs. I've started multi-day print jobs that ended with one of these errors in 5 minutes on some occasions, 36 hours in others. Right now, it's in a hard-down situation and is back at the dealer. One other issue I'll call out here is with the material station. While the concept is brilliant, my experience with my particular setup has been underwhelming. The material station has six bays, but if I place a spool of material to an adjacent bay with material in it, I just get a "?". Apparently proximity of multiple RFID tags in adjacent bays (sometimes more than just the adjacent bay) cause an issue of reading good information. Sigh. If I had a do-over, would I buy the same printer? Honestly, I'm not sure. I probably would look at other manufacturers a lot more closely. I bought the Ultimaker brand promise of reliability, quality printing, etc. I got the quality printing. When it works, the quality of its prints are excellent. When it works. I seem to have gotten a unit minus the reliability part of the brand promise. Regards, Gene