Just got my Ultimaker 2 but couldnt even get trough the setup process without problems.

[JureSotosek 0]

So i just got the Ultimaker 2 and when i hooked it to power, ran the setup and the calibration I encounter the problem when it came to inserting the filament in to the feeder.

The feeder/stepper motor started spinning but i couldnt insert the filament. I read you need to use some amount of force but no matter how much force i applied it wouldnt "catch on", the motor wouldnt grab the filament so i tried pointing the end of the filament and it worked but it started doing [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hm1qzvgJ8SU) and as you can see in the video if i took the filament and applied force by pushing it in to the feeder it would go as it should but i would really have to press hard. So then i decided to move in with the set up process and ignore the problem since the filament had caught on and when i pressed the main button it did [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTYfv10QRRQ).

After doing some research i decided to "lower the tension" between the feeder housing and the stepper motor by turning a screw on the top and moving up the white thing on the upper right corner of the housing. Then i decided to redo the setup process and when it came to inserting the filament i was able to do it without pointing the end of the filament and the motor caught on but the same thing started to happen just not as bad, [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPRZcdetJ_k) is the video. The motor jumped back about every 1/4 of a turn so again i decided to just move on with the setup and pressed the main button. And then [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjBhDsaBUd4) happened. Here is a picture of the filament when i took it out.

[Here] are also some pictures of the inside of the feeder housing.

So what should do? Do you maybe have a solution? My guess is that the tension in the feeder is too big which makes the motor not spin as it should but even at the lowest tension setting the tension is still too big?

TL:DR The feeder wont catch on to the filament/wont turn probably(jumps back).

Edit: I should also add im using the standard filament that came with the printer and i also got the sample print which tells me that it worked at the factory?

Edited June 5, 2015 by SandervG

[gr5 964]

Someone recently fixed a similar but different problem by loosening the 4 screws you can see on the feeder and pushing the feeder housing to the left (while filament is in there I think). The motor shaft should stay where it is. then tighten it all back down again.

It could be that there just isn't enough current going to the feeder. This is controlled by the board underneath the printer. Or it could be a bad feeder motor. If the loosening trick above doesn't fix this you should create a support ticket at support.ultimaker.com. Hopefully they will send you a new stepper and a new controller board (it's more likely the controller board). Or even better send it back - this is a trickier problem to solve than average I think.

[JureSotosek 0]

Someone recently fixed a similar but different problem by loosening the 4 screws you can see on the feeder and pushing the feeder housing to the left (while filament is in there I think).  The motor shaft should stay where it is.  then tighten it all back down again.

It could be that there just isn't enough current going to the feeder.  This is controlled by the board underneath the printer.  Or it could be a bad feeder motor.  If the loosening trick above doesn't fix this you should create a support ticket at support.ultimaker.com.  Hopefully they will send you a new stepper and a new controller board (it's more likely the controller board).  Or even better send it back - this is a trickier problem to solve than average I think.

 

I saw that and tried it but it unfortunatelly didn't solve the problem. I will try to get in touch with the Ultimaker support then. Thanks

[IRobertI 429]

How long into the tube is the material when click the continue button? It looks like it's fairly far in, it's not all the way to the head is it (that's way too late to push continue)?

The scary noises are simply the motor skipping steps because it's meeting more resistance than it can handle.

Make sure to clean the knurled sleeve that drives the filament now that it has grinded the filament down (it's probably clogged up with plastic now).

I would go through the startup guide without inserting filament and then abort once you're asked to start printing. This should get you into the menu without having to go through the guide every time you start the machine. From there I would do an Atomic: http://support.3dverkstan.se/article/10-the

The reason for that is that I've seen some printers have a real hard time loading filament on the first go due to old PLA being semi-cooked in the nozzle.

Or you could also try pushing like you did, but push harder and for longer. If it has reached the head and just sits there ticking away this could help clear out old plastic in the nozzle.