Update --- Very good news! I'm pleased to announce that all reported problems with the Ultimaker S5 have now been fixed! Read my full post for more information.
Greetings to the Ultimaker community. This is my first post. I decided to join and share my experience in evaluating the Ultimaker S5 3D printer. This is going to be a very long post, in which I'd like to share in detail what I observed, the various issues that came up, and my overall impression of this machine. Also, I would really like to hear your own experiences and how they relate to mine, in the hope that I can determine if my observations were the exception, rather than the rule, and to help me decide whether or not this printer is suitable for our needs.
tl;dr: Received two (2) brand-new Ultimaker S5 printers in the space of one month. Both experienced frequent freezes/crashes in the touchscreen/UI, had to apply numerous power-cycles (i.e., turning the machines off/on using the power switch) to make them operate. In one machine, the BB print core was DOA. During the first couple of prints, both printers caused the print head to freeze mid-print, and deposit a big lump of molten PVA right on top of the printed object. Did I just get two bad apples in a row? Am I the only one out there experiencing this? Your feedback is greatly appreciated, many thanks.
The long version
I work in the defense sector, and was asked by my department to recommend a good, reliable 3D printer for our laboratory. I had heard of Ultimaker several years ago, as a well-respected company in 3D printing, that make high-quality, reliable machines. So, after reading about the biggest member of the family, the Ultimaker S5, it was an almost instant decision to recommend it. In fact, I recommended we purchase the Ultimaker S5 Pro Bundle, but was later informed that there were some delays in production for the entire Bundle, but we could have just the printer first. Was really looking forward to the day when the local reseller would come to our lab to deliver and demo the printer for us. Here's what happened:
1st Ultimaker S5 (December 2019)
Day 1: Reseller came to our lab, unboxed and installed the Ultimaker S5, installed print cores, loaded filaments, etc., and prepared to do the first test print. Waited 10+ minutes, nothing happened. Bed was not warming up. Touchscreen was unresponsive, s/w inside the printer had crashed. Had to power-cycle the machine. Upon powering up the machine, a "Finished Printing" message appeared next to a checkmark, which was odd, since it never actually started printing anything. Reseller had to do several power-cycles because the touchscreen/UI kept freezing and becoming unresponsive several times. Updated f/w to the latest version, nothing changed. Eventually, the printer managed to make a small print (one of the examples in the official USB stick). The print was good, I was impressed, but also worried about the odd behaviour and frequent crashes of the machine.
Day 2: I tried to print a simple, small object. Everything started fine, printing commenced, several layers were completed without issues. Suddenly, the print head froze in the middle of the print, and right on top of the object being printed, but the extruder kept extruding molten material. The head stayed frozen for several seconds and then resumed printing. As a result of this, a blob of material was formed on top of the object where the head had frozen, thus destroying the smooth surface of the current layer (see first 3 photos). This exact same thing (freezing-resuming) happened 3 more times, and eventually the head froze completely, and could never resume. Big blob on object, printout ruined. UI had crashed, had to power-cycle machine, "Finished Printing" message appeared. Not good...
Took photos/videos and spoke to the reseller, who agreed to take back the printer and replace it with another one. At least the reseller accepted there was a serious issue with the printer. I thought, "doesn't matter, it's a one-off, such things can happen, will be sorted out". Christmas holidays were coming, both of us would be away, I was assured the new printer would arrive in January 2020. And so it did. Read on...
2nd Ultimaker S5 (January 2020)
Day 1 (morning): Reseller came to our lab, unboxed and installed the new Ultimaker S5, installed print cores, loaded filaments, etc. As he was doing all this, the printer's stepper motors suddenly started making a loud noise, as if they were vibrating. Print head didn't move. He was surprised, had to power-cycle the machine to make it stop. Eventually, we came to the stage where the printer was preparing to do the first test print. While waiting for the printing to commence, I smelt something burning, which was something I wasn't expecting, as the previous printer hadn't done it. The printing never managed to start, but instead we got an error message (maybe ER28, can't remember for sure) about overheating in the BB core (at position 2). That's where that burning smell was coming from! Tried a second time (removed and reinserted BB core), same error message. We then swapped BB cores between the old and the new printer, and eventually (after at least 5 power-cycles due to the touchscreen/UI freezing), we managed to do a small test print, and it came out OK. "It was the BB core", I said, "we nailed it". Sent another, much larger print, which started OK. Reseller left the lab, I stayed until late afternoon to keep an eye on the printer and make sure everything's in order.
Day 1 (afternoon): Everything was going smoothly, until... BANG! The dreaded blob issue again! Print head stopped mid-print for around 5-10 seconds, leaving a blob of material on top of the object being printed (see last 2 photos). Subsequent layers gradually covered it, and printing continued. I left the printer to continue printing overnight, at the suggestion of the reseller (would complete the next day around 1:30 pm). Left the lab puzzled, frustrated and disappointed.
Day 2: Printing from previous day completed successfully and came out beautifully. Really nice to see! But still, the freezing of the head the previous day just spoiled the fun. The blob of material is now buried deep inside the object and cannot be seen. But, what if it happened on an outer surface? What then?
My conclusion
The Ultimaker S5 is a beautiful machine. Large build volume, dual extruder, choice of easily-swappable print cores, good selection of standard and advanced/reinforced materials, auto bed levelling, Wi-Fi, semi-enclosed chamber (fully enclosed on the Pro Bundle), quiet, aesthetically beautiful, it has it all. Or, has it, really?
Well, my experience on 2 brand-new Ultimaker S5 machines painted a somewhat different picture. My impression is this: when this printer works, it prints beautifully, and can produce stunning output. But the problem is that it doesn't always work! The f/w (the software running on the small computer inside the printer) appears to have many bugs and freezes far too often to be considered acceptable. During printing, the print head can freeze right on top of the printed object, releasing a big blob of molten material and thus ruining an otherwise near-perfect print.
The most worrying part of my entire experience, though, was that the problems happened on both printers! Not one, but two! I really thought the first one was just a bad apple, the exception to the rule. But seeing the second printer having issues too, I'm beginning to suspect that this is something that really has to be looked at by Ultimaker's design team. 2/2 of problematic machines may be an indicator that something may be wrong in the design and quality control of this printer. It's just very worrying to me, that two (2) machines came out of Ultimaker's production line exhibiting the above problems.
Being an Electronics Engineer, with 25+ years of embedded systems design experience (PIC, ARM Cortex-M4/M7), I worry that there may be something bad happening in the embedded system inside the printer. I read about a Linux mini PC that communicates with an Arduino. This may sound OK from a makers' perspective, but may not suit a professional-grade product. If that's true, then there may be bugs that cause those freezes and crashes. The UI crashing regularly during routine operations, such as changing print cores or loading/unloading filament is not a good sign. Most importantly, the print head freezing its movement mid-print and making blobs of material on the print is a major issue that needs to be addressed, no matter how rarely it may occur. The design should be robust enough to guarantee that such a thing is never allowed to occur.
Back to my story, the reseller agreed (in fact, they requested) to take back the printer and test it at their own lab, with special G-codes that Ultimaker will send them, so that they are able to observe and address any issues. I must say that I was satisfied with the reseller's customer service. I had to suggest to them that we may have to look at another brand of 3D printer, to which they agreed. However, despite what happened, I really like the Ultimaker S5 (when it works as it should). Cura is also a very powerful slicer. There's a lot to like in this setup, and that was one of the reasons I recommended it. I really hope I get flooded with replies from happy users saying that they've never experienced such unstable behaviour from their machines.
Request to the Ultimaker community
Please let me know what you think about all this. What are your experiences with this printer? Has anyone had (or is still having) issues similar to mine? Am I the only one to experience such unstable behaviour from an Ultimaker S5? Could it be that I was just too damn unlucky and got two bad apples in a row, while the majority of machines out there work as they should? Be harsh, be critical of my methods, I don't mind. Just tell me I'm wrong. Tell me I did something wrong... If you want any more specific information, just ask.
Many thanks for reading my story. I see that the first two posts of a user are moderated, and I hope that my post makes it to the public forum for everyone to see. It may sound negative, but the intent is wholeheartedly positive. What I'm saying above is the honest truth. I can back it up with photos and videos. I have nothing against Ultimaker, and I do hope that the 3rd time the printer comes to our lab, it works flawlessly without any issues. But I want to know if I'm alone in this, or there are others that can relate to my story.
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Update --- Very good news! I'm pleased to announce that all reported problems with the Ultimaker S5 have now been fixed! Read my full post for more information. Greetings to the Ultimaker community. This is my first post. I decided to join and share my experience in evaluating the Ultimaker S5 3D printer. This is going to be a very long post, in which I'd like to share in detail what I observed, the various issues that came up, and my overall impression of this machine. Also, I would really like to hear your own experiences and how they relate to mine, in the hope that I can determine if my observations were the exception, rather than the rule, and to help me decide whether or not this printer is suitable for our needs. tl;dr: Received two (2) brand-new Ultimaker S5 printers in the space of one month. Both experienced frequent freezes/crashes in the touchscreen/UI, had to apply numerous power-cycles (i.e., turning the machines off/on using the power switch) to make them operate. In one machine, the BB print core was DOA. During the first couple of prints, both printers caused the print head to freeze mid-print, and deposit a big lump of molten PVA right on top of the printed object. Did I just get two bad apples in a row? Am I the only one out there experiencing this? Your feedback is greatly appreciated, many thanks. The long version I work in the defense sector, and was asked by my department to recommend a good, reliable 3D printer for our laboratory. I had heard of Ultimaker several years ago, as a well-respected company in 3D printing, that make high-quality, reliable machines. So, after reading about the biggest member of the family, the Ultimaker S5, it was an almost instant decision to recommend it. In fact, I recommended we purchase the Ultimaker S5 Pro Bundle, but was later informed that there were some delays in production for the entire Bundle, but we could have just the printer first. Was really looking forward to the day when the local reseller would come to our lab to deliver and demo the printer for us. Here's what happened: 1st Ultimaker S5 (December 2019) Day 1: Reseller came to our lab, unboxed and installed the Ultimaker S5, installed print cores, loaded filaments, etc., and prepared to do the first test print. Waited 10+ minutes, nothing happened. Bed was not warming up. Touchscreen was unresponsive, s/w inside the printer had crashed. Had to power-cycle the machine. Upon powering up the machine, a "Finished Printing" message appeared next to a checkmark, which was odd, since it never actually started printing anything. Reseller had to do several power-cycles because the touchscreen/UI kept freezing and becoming unresponsive several times. Updated f/w to the latest version, nothing changed. Eventually, the printer managed to make a small print (one of the examples in the official USB stick). The print was good, I was impressed, but also worried about the odd behaviour and frequent crashes of the machine. Day 2: I tried to print a simple, small object. Everything started fine, printing commenced, several layers were completed without issues. Suddenly, the print head froze in the middle of the print, and right on top of the object being printed, but the extruder kept extruding molten material. The head stayed frozen for several seconds and then resumed printing. As a result of this, a blob of material was formed on top of the object where the head had frozen, thus destroying the smooth surface of the current layer (see first 3 photos). This exact same thing (freezing-resuming) happened 3 more times, and eventually the head froze completely, and could never resume. Big blob on object, printout ruined. UI had crashed, had to power-cycle machine, "Finished Printing" message appeared. Not good... Took photos/videos and spoke to the reseller, who agreed to take back the printer and replace it with another one. At least the reseller accepted there was a serious issue with the printer. I thought, "doesn't matter, it's a one-off, such things can happen, will be sorted out". Christmas holidays were coming, both of us would be away, I was assured the new printer would arrive in January 2020. And so it did. Read on... 2nd Ultimaker S5 (January 2020) Day 1 (morning): Reseller came to our lab, unboxed and installed the new Ultimaker S5, installed print cores, loaded filaments, etc. As he was doing all this, the printer's stepper motors suddenly started making a loud noise, as if they were vibrating. Print head didn't move. He was surprised, had to power-cycle the machine to make it stop. Eventually, we came to the stage where the printer was preparing to do the first test print. While waiting for the printing to commence, I smelt something burning, which was something I wasn't expecting, as the previous printer hadn't done it. The printing never managed to start, but instead we got an error message (maybe ER28, can't remember for sure) about overheating in the BB core (at position 2). That's where that burning smell was coming from! Tried a second time (removed and reinserted BB core), same error message. We then swapped BB cores between the old and the new printer, and eventually (after at least 5 power-cycles due to the touchscreen/UI freezing), we managed to do a small test print, and it came out OK. "It was the BB core", I said, "we nailed it". Sent another, much larger print, which started OK. Reseller left the lab, I stayed until late afternoon to keep an eye on the printer and make sure everything's in order. Day 1 (afternoon): Everything was going smoothly, until... BANG! The dreaded blob issue again! Print head stopped mid-print for around 5-10 seconds, leaving a blob of material on top of the object being printed (see last 2 photos). Subsequent layers gradually covered it, and printing continued. I left the printer to continue printing overnight, at the suggestion of the reseller (would complete the next day around 1:30 pm). Left the lab puzzled, frustrated and disappointed. Day 2: Printing from previous day completed successfully and came out beautifully. Really nice to see! But still, the freezing of the head the previous day just spoiled the fun. The blob of material is now buried deep inside the object and cannot be seen. But, what if it happened on an outer surface? What then? My conclusion The Ultimaker S5 is a beautiful machine. Large build volume, dual extruder, choice of easily-swappable print cores, good selection of standard and advanced/reinforced materials, auto bed levelling, Wi-Fi, semi-enclosed chamber (fully enclosed on the Pro Bundle), quiet, aesthetically beautiful, it has it all. Or, has it, really? Well, my experience on 2 brand-new Ultimaker S5 machines painted a somewhat different picture. My impression is this: when this printer works, it prints beautifully, and can produce stunning output. But the problem is that it doesn't always work! The f/w (the software running on the small computer inside the printer) appears to have many bugs and freezes far too often to be considered acceptable. During printing, the print head can freeze right on top of the printed object, releasing a big blob of molten material and thus ruining an otherwise near-perfect print. The most worrying part of my entire experience, though, was that the problems happened on both printers! Not one, but two! I really thought the first one was just a bad apple, the exception to the rule. But seeing the second printer having issues too, I'm beginning to suspect that this is something that really has to be looked at by Ultimaker's design team. 2/2 of problematic machines may be an indicator that something may be wrong in the design and quality control of this printer. It's just very worrying to me, that two (2) machines came out of Ultimaker's production line exhibiting the above problems. Being an Electronics Engineer, with 25+ years of embedded systems design experience (PIC, ARM Cortex-M4/M7), I worry that there may be something bad happening in the embedded system inside the printer. I read about a Linux mini PC that communicates with an Arduino. This may sound OK from a makers' perspective, but may not suit a professional-grade product. If that's true, then there may be bugs that cause those freezes and crashes. The UI crashing regularly during routine operations, such as changing print cores or loading/unloading filament is not a good sign. Most importantly, the print head freezing its movement mid-print and making blobs of material on the print is a major issue that needs to be addressed, no matter how rarely it may occur. The design should be robust enough to guarantee that such a thing is never allowed to occur. Back to my story, the reseller agreed (in fact, they requested) to take back the printer and test it at their own lab, with special G-codes that Ultimaker will send them, so that they are able to observe and address any issues. I must say that I was satisfied with the reseller's customer service. I had to suggest to them that we may have to look at another brand of 3D printer, to which they agreed. However, despite what happened, I really like the Ultimaker S5 (when it works as it should). Cura is also a very powerful slicer. There's a lot to like in this setup, and that was one of the reasons I recommended it. I really hope I get flooded with replies from happy users saying that they've never experienced such unstable behaviour from their machines. Request to the Ultimaker community Please let me know what you think about all this. What are your experiences with this printer? Has anyone had (or is still having) issues similar to mine? Am I the only one to experience such unstable behaviour from an Ultimaker S5? Could it be that I was just too damn unlucky and got two bad apples in a row, while the majority of machines out there work as they should? Be harsh, be critical of my methods, I don't mind. Just tell me I'm wrong. Tell me I did something wrong... If you want any more specific information, just ask. Many thanks for reading my story. I see that the first two posts of a user are moderated, and I hope that my post makes it to the public forum for everyone to see. It may sound negative, but the intent is wholeheartedly positive. What I'm saying above is the honest truth. I can back it up with photos and videos. I have nothing against Ultimaker, and I do hope that the 3rd time the printer comes to our lab, it works flawlessly without any issues. But I want to know if I'm alone in this, or there are others that can relate to my story.
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