Ultimaker 3?

[Gamliel 1]

Hello,

I am planning of buying an Ultimaker 2 printer sometime in this year.

However, I've started wondering whether there is a planned upgrade for the printer, I mean a completely new release not a firmware upgrade or a version of a different size.

Does anybody have news on the matter?

Thanks.

[ultiarjan 1,223]

I'm sure UM is working on the next printer... but the people here who know details will for sure not be allowed to tell you ...

There will always be a next version, you can spend your whole life waiting for it or just start now and have fun and learn..

Edited May 31, 2015 by Guest

[Dim3nsioneer 557]

UM has always been interested in developments done by the community. So a look at recent modifications done by community members such as @iroberti, @foehnsturm, @ultiarjan and many others might give you a hint what UM is looking into.

UM is currently testing a new Cura which will lack dual extrusion at its start. This is mainly caused by the withdrawal of the UM2 dual extrusion announcement. But multiextrusion will be implemented in the new Cura later on. You actually don't have to be very visionary to assume that proper multiextrusion will be something UM is working on. So if this is the key feature for you, then wait. In all other cases get yourself an UM2 and you will be happy. If you want to produce larger prints, go for the UM2 Extended. If you're looking for something easily to be transported, the UM2 Go might be interesting (but be aware that the Go has no heated bed; but I expect a community mod for this quite soon).

[gr5 2,172]

It may be safest to get a UM Original. The UMO is not called the UM1 because it keeps evolving. Many/most of the advantages of the UM2 over the UMO have since been incorporated into the UMO (better temp sensor, heated bed, metal bed, newer circuit board). So maybe. Possibly. After the UM3 comes out (I assume there will be such a thing some day) UM will hopefully incorporate the most important things back into the UMO and there may be upgrade kits or simply parts you can print.

[mtmvetultimaker 1]

Ultimaker will have to change a lot of things to get a good and reliable printer.

If you decide to buy an Ultimaker 2, be aware that you will have to” baby sit” it all the time and develop several new skills such as changing printer parts ,checking filament dimensions, solving clogging problems, and other issues.

You always will get support replies from the forums, but, do not count with a good official company support. My printer is not working for several weeks and I am still looking for a solution.

Ultimaker´s support recommended changing the mainboard (600 euros CIF Brazil) but the advice from the forum mentioned a power supply problem.

Maybe, GR5 recommendation of buying an original Ultimaker is a better option ( if you like to change/print new parts to the printer) or, consider another brand.

Good luck!!

[IRobertI 520]

I'm sure UM is working on the next printer... but the people here who know details will for sure not be allowed to tell you ...

Yup, spot on.

mtmvetultimaker is right to an extent. You will, eventually, have problems that you will need to fix. You can't compare these printers to your photo copier at the office (which also have maintenance issues btw), we're just not there yet. And frankly, I don't think we ever will see a completely maintenance free printer. That said there are many many many people with UM2s that press print and walk away and then come back to a finished print, it's just that you rarely hear much from those people.

[nallath 1,120]

I've never had to change any parts in the UM2 (Apart from teflon part, but you get a spare one), despite it being very easy for me to do so.

It could be possible that more extreme conditions (eg; Brazil is a pretty extreme climate compared to ya know, The Netherlands) give you more complications. We do test for that to some extent, but 'our' climate is tested the most, as every engineer at Ultimaker has at least 1 printer that they use to print with.

With regards to new stuff; We'd love to share it, but this is sensitive information. I do think that a new machine will not automatically make the old machines useless. Look at the difference between an UMO and the UM2; the UMO can still stand up to its younger brother with regards to print quality / speed, it just needs a lot more tweaking & maintenance.

[mtmvetultimaker 1]

Sorry guys, where I live in Brazil , there are no extreme climate conditions. If the printer is built just for the Netherlands conditions, do not sell it overseas. Also, if you review the foruns, one can find several similar complaints from users from Europe.

When I bought my printer, it was advertised as a “Plug and use” printer. No one told me that I would have to print new parts, not to use the original spool holder, etc, etc. Maintenance issues are totally different from changing the printer original project.

[gr5 2,172]

If the printer is built just for the Netherlands conditions, do not sell it overseas.

It *is* built for extreme conditions. It just doesn't get tested for months and months in those conditions by every engineer in the company. That's all.

For some lucky people it *is* "plug and use". But for most people it's just nothing like a paper printer as far as simplicity and reliability. There aren't any printers like that on the market as far as I can tell. I've talked to dozens of people who have a UM and one or two other branded printers and they ALL say the UM is the best.

[nallath 1,120]

I'm merely saying that it could be something that has an impact on what you do. A number of small 'flukes' such as those could stack together and result in larger, previously unknown problems. If you re-read my post you could see that it's simply tested more in 'our' conditions, not that we never tested extreme conditions (we did that, but no test is 100% sure and more testing brings it closer to the 100%)

Extreme conditions are also things like high humidity, as PLA does not play very well with water.

Also note that nothing I say about this is meant as an excuse, its meant as a possible reason why you could have these problems.

I'm curious why the original spool holder didn't work for you, as I've not had problems with it.

[mtmvetultimaker 1]

The original spool holder does not allow the filament to enter the feeder vertically.

Keeping the filament on the floor is better. I believe GR5 just mentioned the same a few minutes ago in another post about UM GO.