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Posted · essential hacks

hi everyone

I'm fairly new to the ultimaker (had it for about one month). there have been some ups and downs (things you've probably encountered on your way as well), but I'm now pretty happy with my ultimaker.

I noticed that there are some things that are easily changed and that make a huge difference in printing quality...

and for a newbie these things might not be so obvious to find out. so:

what I'd like to do in this thread is listing upgrades I (and you fellow ultimakers) regard as essential (including with thingiverse link if it applies).

please add your suggestions below, I'll add them in here...

SOFTWARE:

- I found using cura to work best for my printing needs.

- maybe we could add specific profiles or settings?

UPDATE: cura does almost not work with thin objects. kisslicer worked better in that case.

HARDWARE:

- the new hot end V2 (!). I recieved it today and it works perfect (

https://shop.ultimaker.com/en/parts-and ... grade.html

)

- bertho's feeder upgrade. works phenomenally for me (

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:26094

)

- fan shroud: I like this design quite a lot:

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:29431

- belt tighteners: I'm using these one right now, maybe there are better ones? (

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:19818

)

I found new belt tighteners that won't wear themselves over time:

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:17058

thank you for all your recommendations!

yves

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    Posted · essential hacks

    Sure I'll add my current config:

    Feeder:

     


    • -custom tap-hobbed bolt
      -ball bearing feeder upgrade
    http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:25490
    -Bolt-based bowden bracket
    http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:26686
    -Custom filament reel modified to hold larger diameter
    http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:8317

     

    Bowden:

     


    • -PTFE 4mm ID tube
      -Bowden clamp modified to use bolt screwed onto the bowden tube
    http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:11864
    -Short section of 3mm ID tube before the V1.0 hot end; another bolt screwed onto the short tubing and clamped between wood and aluminum plates leading up to the nozzle.

     

    Etc:

     


    • -chicken wire used to tighten belts; also
    http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:19892
    -Fan shroud
    http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:21182
    -Panelmax viewtopic.php?f=6&t=906
    -build platform homes to Z max
    -Heated platform made from 1/8" thick aluminum plate, heated by 120 ohm of alu-clad resistors JB-welded to underside, powered by 120VAC via solid state relay
    -Kapton tape with hairspray on top for build surface
    -oven bags taped over the holes in the sides to hold in heat
    -motherboard fan replaced with radial fan from old dell power supply

     

    Oh also, I print with ABS now :D

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    Posted · essential hacks

    +1 for Bertho's feeder upgrade:

    - it is simple, both because it just replace one part of the feeder (not all the feeder) and because it is easy and fast to print (which is good when you can hardly print because you lack a good feeder!)

    - it has a spring, which seems mandatory to accommodate slight variations of filament diameter

    - it looks nice (see how it looks with 2 additional caps at

    http://www.thingiverse.com/derivative:33076

    )

    - and... it works wonderfully

    There are other very good models on thingiverse but I did not find one complying with the 4 above qualities (yes, it's a biased advice as I defined myself the qualities I was looking for :p , and look is also a matter of taste)

    Anyways, I just wanted to thank Bertho for this, and for all his other contributions, always comprehensive, and rigorous in their methodology. Thumbs up, Bertho!

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    Posted · essential hacks

    some more +1 for Bertho's extruder. it's an excellent piece of work.

    and Bertho's pic has a panda in it, everyone loves pandas.

    seriously, Bertho's mod is the only one that has survived the test of time on my UM. many other 'upgrades' started looking good but wore out or fell to pieces when subjected to the tests of time.

    PS. why is your octopus on fire?

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    Posted · essential hacks
    SOFTWARE:

    - I found using cura to work best for my printing needs.

    - maybe we could add specific profiles or settings?

    HARDWARE:

    - the new hot end V2 (!). I recieved it today and it works perfect (

    https://shop.ultimaker.com/en/parts-and ... grade.html

    )

    - bertho's feeder upgrade. works phenomenally for me (

    http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:26094

    )

    - cooling shroud: I'm not so happy with ultimakers shroud, not sure though what's the best to use...

    - belt tighteners: I'm using these one right now, maybe there are better ones? (

    http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:19818

    )

    I like this list!

    I don't have the V2 extruder but it seems like it's well done so by the looks of things I'll be getting one in the future...

    Notes:

    slic3r seems to be able to produce a bit more consistent quality than Cura does, but at the same time it's quite more aggressive doing retractions. Bertho's feeder upgrade or similar is mandatory to use slic3r to full benefit (in fact it's just mandatory for any machine imo!)

    The cooling shroud, I use a similar high-flow fan shroud that is like the one that came with the original machine except printed. The only thing different I guess I would do to my current one is have the outlet centered around the nozzle instead because sometimes features on the far side aren't adequately cooled. Not essential though, usually you can change the model orientation if you know the problem exists.

    I'm actually using the same belt tensioners too, one thing I had to watch out for is that if the tensioner protrudes from the block it can interfere with the head clearance and also the endstop switches.

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    Posted · essential hacks

    Hi,

    I would say if we are just talking ESSENTIALS here and not "nice to have but can live without"...

    1) Bertho extruder mod

    2) Nylock nuts on everything possible

    3) Fan cooled hotend/bowden junction (see attached image for my design)

    I have had completely trouble free printing since cooling the hotend. Not once plug, jam, leak..nothing.

    Not saying dont buy a V2 nozzle, but IMHO they fixed the problem in their own way....and I fixed in mine.

    One cost me an 8Euro fan, and some PLA...the other costs....anway I should probably add that I have only

    been running my hotend cooler for 10days. So perhaps another couple of months before I can start patting myself

    on the back. Perhaps it will jam tomorrow morning (but I dont think so). The Aluminium plate is now so cool

    that it is barely warm during printing. I can also leave it on after the machine is off, thus preventing heatsoak, which

    was also IMHO at least 50% of the problem with V1 Hotend (which I still have installed).

    Regards

    Calum Douglas

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    Posted · essential hacks

    3) Fan cooled hotend/bowden junction (see attached image for my design)

     

    Nice! That's exactly what mine looked like until I started using a heated bed and all my PLA upgrades melted :(. But for ABS I think it doesn't matter as much that the aluminum plate is cooled because the ABS is more rubbery/solid when it's heated up so it doesn't form plugs as much. Also screwing a bolt onto the bowden tube helps keep it from riding up as well. Almost as good as threading the PEEK

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    Posted · essential hacks

    nice solution snowygrouch. I've been working on a similar 'cold end' myself and found the results to be excellent.

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    Posted · essential hacks

    STL file is available to anyone who wants it.

    PM me, did 7 hour print through the night last night..not a single cough, glitch, complaint or sign of any issue.

    This was also using retration which brings on the plug issue even faster in my (limited) experience.

    Calum

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    Posted · essential hacks

    Yesterday I discovered some new belt tensioners that I like quite a lot.

    Due to the design the won't wear over time. Has been working great for

    me so far...

    http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:17058

    I have another question now, though. What is causing infill not reaching

    the perimeter line? That is a new issue for me I haven't had before...

    belts (long & timing belts) are super tight, so that cannot be it.

    researching here on the forums has only brought up two possible reasons:

    - pulleys slipping (I'll look into that)

    - motors skipping steps (not sure it's really advisable to change pot is?)

    the weird thing is that it does not reach the perimeters in a very consistent way.

    I would imagine that something like slippage would create a more random print?

    thanks for your help!

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    Posted · essential hacks

    Slicing in Cura allows you to determine your overlap percentage, which you can bump up if your machine is accelerating back too quickly to provide a good infill to perimeter bond (had to tweak myself)... I don't think it's a mechanical issue due to the fact you say it is consistent..

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    Posted · essential hacks

    backlash would result in a very consistant gap between infill and perimeter. Depending on which belts are having backlash the gap should be skewed in one direction or another. Note also if your infill lines are overlapping each other/ don't have symmetrical gaps. That's another sign of backlash.

    Infill should look like this ||||||

    If yours looks like this II II II

    that's a sure sign of backlash

    Keep track of where the gap occurs. Is it near the beginning of a layer or towards the end? Sometimes my extruder would act like it needed some time to build up pressure so lines at the beginning were thinner than at the end of a layer. This is an extruder problem and I'm not quite sure yet what causes it.

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    Posted · essential hacks

    thank you both for your replies. not sure though yet how to handle

    that problem. the gaps are consistent but always only in one direction

    so that sure sounds like backlash. but my belts are super tight...

    long belts and timing belts, so that can't be the issue. does pulley

    slippage have a similar effect on the prints? I'll check this afternoon...

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    Posted · essential hacks

    Hi - Can you explain more or send some diagrams or pictures of the following please ?

    "Bowden:

    -PTFE 4mm ID tube

    ....

    -Short section of 3mm ID tube before the V1.0 hot end; another bolt screwed onto the short tubing and clamped between wood and aluminum plates leading up to the nozzle."

    For the first - is this just the main tube or simething different ?

    It would be good to see what the second looks like. I'm having trouble with a V1/Bowden junction and will consider

    some try-outs before heading for a V2 purchase.

    Regards,

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    Posted · essential hacks
    Hi - Can you explain more or send some diagrams or pictures of the following please ?

    "Bowden:

    -PTFE 4mm ID tube

    ....

    -Short section of 3mm ID tube before the V1.0 hot end; another bolt screwed onto the short tubing and clamped between wood and aluminum plates leading up to the nozzle."

     

    Here's a picture of my hot end

    svHIKl.jpg

    You can see I have a nut wedged between the nozzle assembly and the wooden plate. Here's a diagram of my setup:

    a1aEQl.png

    The reason why I left a bit of 3mm ID at the bottom is if you don't leave that, then molten plastic will travel up the PTFE tube and form a plug. You can also see I put some smaller nuts on the four mounting bolts of the hot end and that's because the actual head box has those corners cut out and that allows the wooden plate to skew when you apply a lot of pressure from the mounting bolts (which is what I did to make sure that tube is tight to the PEEK) so the nuts prevent skewing and transfer more pressure to that short section of 3mm ID tube.

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    Posted · essential hacks

    destroyers solution is a slightly more elaborate version of what I had before going for the v3 metal hotend - it works quite well!

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    Posted · essential hacks

    One word: Oil!

    After switching from the provided grease to Singer sowing machine oil I can finally print at Marlin default top speed / acceleration. Before this it would occasionally skip a few steps on a layer. Probibility tended to make this happed a long way into large prints.

    I still have a few reliability issues with the extruder so come a rainy day I will try the V2 hot end and V3 bolt (currently still using V1 bolt).

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    Posted · essential hacks
    STL file is available to anyone who wants it.

    PM me, did 7 hour print through the night last night..not a single cough, glitch, complaint or sign of any issue.

    This was also using retration which brings on the plug issue even faster in my (limited) experience.

    Calum

    I have exactly similar setup but my "bowden fan" is just mounted there with some tape and aimed with piece of packing plastic. It's been now there for three days, running pretty much all the time and no more problems with the plugs :)

    Can you share the STL to me, I'll print your design right away.

    I cannot send PM's yet as this is my first post...

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    Posted · essential hacks

    I hope Snowygrouchs coldend ugrade will help me too.

    initially i thought i could split the airflow of the Standard Printhead Fan.

    So i reaches Print and Coldend just leaving the heaterblock uncooled.

    But i didnt want to make this fan run all the time so...

    I will build this upgrade with a 60x60x15mm Radial fan.

    like this i dont have to design a fanshroud and actually save space.

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    Posted · essential hacks
    STL file is available to anyone who wants it.

    Can you share the STL to me, I'll print your design right away.

    I cannot send PM's yet as this is my first post...

    I would like to have that stl too.. but cant find the download on thingiverse...

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    Posted · essential hacks

    There is no download on Thingiverse, if you want to use a different fan ; you wont be able to use it anyway.

    If you want to use a 40x40 fan I will email you the file if you pm me your email address.

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    Posted · essential hacks

    I have another printhead fan upgrade for you:

    Swiss Design.. including cheeseholes and maximised perfomance to weight ratio. ;)

    http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:35324

    derived from Daids massive kickoff Fanshroud. ->

    http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:34603

     

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    Posted · essential hacks

    tempted to print that just cos it's awesome.

    multi-function fan - cools random other stuff as well as your print ;)

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