Filament tip forming shoulder after print

[danilius 118]

Weird problem that has only started recently. After printing, the filament is left with a little shoulder (by the green arrows) that prevents the filament from feeding through for the next print. Sometimes that little shoulder will jam in the bowden if I try to remove the material.

What I do at the moment is simply to remove the bowden from the head, extrude some filament, trim off the end and pop the bowden back. Not exactly something I want to have to do ten times a day.

Any idea why this might be happening? The printer has done at least 1400 hours.

[IRobertI 521]

It's very likely that you need to replace the PTFE coupler after that many printing hours. It's the little white piece you can see just below the spring in the print head. These deform over time and can cause issues like this.

[cloakfiend 996]

Ahh mine does the same thing, i thought it was just the feeder causing all the problems. I have been printing almost non stop since last November, just curious but when do you think i will start to need replacement parts, say fans or this coupler? shall i just wait for things to fail, or would it be wise to get a few things in advance so it doenst disrupt my workflow?

How long can i run it with the above problem, or is is minimal as i really dont mind pulling out the bowden as i do it everytime to load filament anyways.

P.S. that bit of filament you posted doesnt look like you've done it right or its the couplers fault, as the sides of the filament should be melted? these are an example of what my pulls look like and what i aim to get the tip out looking like.

Note the plastic is not shiny at the end, and there are no grip marks at all. When i atomic pull i always push it in slightly while it is cooling down to make sure its touching the sides and cleaning the best i can get it too.

Edited June 10, 2015 by Guest

[danilius 118]

It's very likely that you need to replace the PTFE coupler after that many printing hours. It's the little white piece you can see just below the spring in the print head. These deform over time and can cause issues like this.

 

Aaaargh. Um, thanks for that.

[danilius 118]

Thing is, the Ultimaker website for the UK does not seem to sell the PTFE coupler. Anyone know where I get it from? How much it costs?

Also, I don't recall anything in the literature saying that this was effectively a consumable. I don't want to sound like I'm moaning, but I felt pretty disappointed when the dual-head printing I bought the UM2 for did not pan out, and now this seems to be a consumable they forgot to tell me about that I will have to spend precious time fitting myself because I cannot afford the downtime and probably not the courier either.

Sigh. I think it's a matter of getting used to the way they do business. I was just hoping that with all the open-source and yada Ultimaker would not be in the habit of shafting their customers, but clearly that's the only way to do business today. Never mind. Rant off.

[IRobertI 521]

It's available here: http://3dgbire.com/collections/spare-parts/products/ultimaker-2-ptfe-coupler

Call them up or shoot them an e-mail, they might be willing to send it to you for free.

Replacing it isn't very difficult. Shouldn't take you more than 10-20 minutes. I wrote a little guide for it that might be helpful:

http://support.3dverkstan.se/article/56-replacing-the-ptfe-coupler

[danilius 118]

It's available here: http://3dgbire.com/collections/spare-parts/products/ultimaker-2-ptfe-coupler

Call them up or shoot them an e-mail, they might be willing to send it to you for free.

Replacing it isn't very difficult. Shouldn't take you more than 10-20 minutes. I wrote a little guide for it that might be helpful:

http://support.3dverkstan.se/article/56-replacing-the-ptfe-coupler

 

You are a godsend!

[danilius 118]

Oh well, I've emailed Ultimaker GB and let's see what happens. I actually got a reply from someone there telling me the filament was bent or somesuch, so I have no idea what to expect, really.

[SandervG 1,521]

Hi Danilius, I am sure you are in good hands with GB, they are great guys and really care about service! If you need any further help please let me know, happy to help!

The teflon was only considered a consumable later after talking and listening to our community and for that reason we are now shipping an extra teflon with each Ultimaker 2 Family. If you didn't get it when you received your order (if you got yours before that decision), and you are in need of a new one we will make it right with you

Edited June 11, 2015 by Guest

[danilius 118]

Yay, thanks for that Sander. I will see how support goes and report back my findings here.

Everyone who has bought an Ultimaker has effectively invested in the company, so it's in everyone's interest to make sure Ultimaker as a business succeeds.

[cloakfiend 996]

Could someone possibly tell me whats the longest that this coupler will last or is expected to last, just out of curiosity?

[gr5 2,234]

I don't think anyone knows. I've heard "500 hours" but at what temperature? Maybe 500 hours at 230C and 1000 hours at 100C? And 10 hours at 260C? This is all a guess. I think it's different for different people because they tend to print at different temperatures.

If you are printing at 290C all the time like Anders Olsson, then he has some alternative materials for you from 3dsolex.com (the IPM) but it is horrible for PLA. Then there is the i2k from 3dsolex that can keep the white isolator at 100C. But only if you do zero retractions. I think even though this machine is 2 years old everyone is still figuring this out. Most people simply know what works for them and tend to stick with that.

[cloakfiend 996]

Thanks, fair enough, I guess like everyone, when something goes wrong, i'll just come here for help! All good so far.

[SandervG 1,521]

That is impossible to say, it depends on a variety of influencers like the amount of retractions, the print temperatures, the choice of filaments, the overal global time it is being used and overal time it sits idle.

Edit; missed these last comments. George already got you covered

Edited June 11, 2015 by Guest

[cloakfiend 996]

Lol, i just looked at my coupler as i kicked of a print just now, and from the looks of it its pretty badly melted and not even touching the base. I have been forcing prints for the last month or 2 due to the change material doing nothing but grinding due to getting stuck at the head, but i wondered that this was unsusual as i never had to do this before, but i just got used to it as both preheating the nozzle and base and moving a bit of material right before i kick of a print is the only way i can do it now. so i think i need this coupler also. I think i needed it 2 months ago. Lol. Can i get one sent also? Ive had the printer since november, so my guess is that if you print all the time, at 210 you'll need one every 6 months or so. I did briefly experiment with abs at higher temps for a month at the start, so i admit its hard to tell. Ill post pics of it once its finished tomorrow.

[SandervG 1,521]

@cloakfiend, let me check with our support-team and I will have someone reach out to you.

Can you send me your ordernumber and email in a DM?

Thank you!

[danilius 118]

Sander, do you have any idea how long I should wait for a reply from the GB team?

[SandervG 1,521]

Usually you should receive a reply pretty fast.

Where did you send it to?

I would be happy to reach out to them, if you send me some details on what you send and to whom and when

Send it to me in PM.

Thanks!

[cloakfiend 996]

Cheers Sander, i got the printer via my work, so ill have to get the details off them first thing monday. Ill PM you as soon as i do.

 

@cloakfiend, let me check with our support-team and I will have someone reach out to you.

Can you send me your ordernumber and email in a DM?

Thank you!

 

[danilius 118]

Looks like I have a new coupler on the way! Hopefully it will be here by the end of the week.

[SandervG 1,521]

You see, we're not that bad

Good to hear it got solved! If you need any guidelines, we wrote down a guide to help you out!

[danilius 118]

You see, we're not that bad

 

Well, you have certainly proved it now! A hot end pack arrived today, so it looks like I'm going to have to take my heart in my hand and operate on my baby. I need to find some down-time, though, since I run it almost 24/7.

 

Good to hear it got solved! If you need any guidelines, we wrote down a guide to help you out!

 

I have bookmarked that guide and it looks less painful than some of things I have had to do in my workshop, such as the time I had extract a rat-tail file that got embedded in my arm, and I am very squeamish!

All in all, well done!

[danilius 118]

OK, I have replaced the PTFE coupler and that seems to have done the trick. Some observations are in place though. These are not criticisms, but observations. They might be helpful in designing the UM3! Then again, maybe not :-)

The biggest issue I had was with the wires. I was really worried that they might snap because of the force I had to use to get the old coupler out. What would be useful here, now that the PTFE coupler has become a consumable, would be to have a plug that all the wires would go into, and in that way when working on the head one would simply unplug the connector and the whole thing can come free. It would make servicing the head much easier.

The process was very fiddly. Now, I used to work as a jeweller, making high-class jewellery. So working with parts that are less than 1mm in diameter in very restricted space is something that has become second nature to me. Yet I still found the process quite fiddly. I think that my observation regarding the plug to make the whole head removable would go a long way to making the process easier.

These two issues amongst all the other ones the Ultimaker suffers from should really explain why 3D printing is not ready for prime-time. Your average Joe cannot be expected to deal with all those issues, unlike their washing machine or car which usually just plods along doing its thing.

It was worth doing nonetheless in order to gain a better appreciation of the design, machining and build quality, all of which is really superb.

Ultimaker is still a young company, and that means that service is a bit, how should I put it, wobbly. Not bad. Not poor. Just not quite polished yet. Nonetheless, service GB came through quite quickly for me. I had no hassle from them. I am not complaining about the service, just observing that there is some way to go till the service is as good as the product! If you have ever dealt with John Lewis, for instance, then you will know what I'm talking about.

Having said all that, the Ultimaker is still one of the finest machines out there for the money, and if someone asks me what to go for, it's still the Ultimaker. By far.

[gr5 2,234]

3D printing is not ready for prime-time.

The phrase "3d printing" is already a problem - right from the start. It evokes images of reliability of 2d printers (which in the 1970s needed constant servicing). Some people prefer other phrases like "additive manufacturing". I like to compare it to a lathe or milling machine. 3D printing is still not ready for the average user.

[danilius 118]

Some people prefer other phrases like "additive manufacturing".

There are scientists who would love to rename "black holes" and "the big bang". Ain't gonna happen for 3D printing either.

 

 I like to compare it to a lathe or milling machine.  3D printing is still not ready for the average user.

 

Bang on. The biggest issue by far, well before the ease of use of the printers, is the fact that 99.99% of the world's population have no practical way of modelling anything they need or want, and what's more, that is not going to change for the foreseeable future.

Even Sketchup - which is really unsuitable for 3D printing - is only used in the most simplest of ways by most non-professional users. I have watched professional users of Sketchup trying to design something for 3D printing and have winced in sympathy.

So, far more important than getting 3D printers easy to use is to get end-users an easy way to model things. Now that is one helluva challenge. I fail to see how that can be done for anything more than the simplest of use-cases.