Ultimaker Original Plus converted to an Ultimaker 2 plus

[spark101 1]

I bought myself an Ultimaker Original Plus about a year ago, and its great.

someone at work has an Ultimaker 2 and it has some improvement that were appealing so i looked at the design of the Ultimaker and found that the two are very simular (Ultimaker Orignal Plus has almost the same hardwear as the 2)

any way, i have replaced the Ultimker 2 type control PCB with the diplay, replayed the X and Y wooden runners with the platic ones that support the Heater block, modified the purchased Ultimaker 2 Heat block with the olsson block, then pushed the support rods through the Heater block assy and was about to clip them on to the new X and Y axis plastic runners but they are too short. Dam!!!!

the rods that go through the Heater block assy are 26.7cm long and i need them to be 2.6cm longer

so that they can reach the four plastic X and Y runners.

how long are the ones for the Ultimaker 2 and where can i buy them from?

 

if they are the same size then i need longer ones, any one know what they are made from? (Stainless steel?)

[neotko 1,417]

x/y 6mm shafts are indeed longer on um2. All the specs are on the 'ultimaker 2 github' (google that 3 words). You can ask an ultimaker distributor for the shafts or buy ones cut at the length you need on igus or misumi.

[fbrc8-erin 272]

Sounds like you've done a great job on the mods!

We've got the UM2 shafts in stock at fbrc8, though we haven't added them to our sales website yet. You could place an order through Sales@fbrc8.com to get a price quote since they're not on the website yet, but since you're in the UK, shipping from the US would probably be more than if you can find them from one of the European distributors.

Edited April 30, 2016 by Guest

[spark101 1]

I panicked a bit at the time, since then i looked at parts for the Ultimaker 2 and found the 6mm rods on Ebay (should arrive wed) . fingers crossed they are not bent!

just need to work out how to cut the holes at the front of my wooden panel for the control pcb and display and a way for the limit switchs to make contact with the sliding blocks.

may be later turn the Ultimaker into a Extended version, looks like the threaded rod for the Z axis are available too.

[neotko 1,417]

Ebay, china rods are 99% of the time bad quality. Igus, misumi and ultimaker diliver good quality. When you get them, insert them on a linear bearing and push the rod to check if they don't wooble. Also 6mm rods are quite easy to bend so unless they are properly packed...

I designed some sideblocks for umo+ to use the um2 shafts but they ain't finished sinxe I don't have the long shafts to test and adjust. But if you want to advance the design it's here: https://www.youmagine.com/designs/beyond-umo-um2-slideblocks

Edited May 1, 2016 by Guest

[spark101 1]

if i cant find an easy way to activate the limit switchs, i will use your design. thank you

i have just been coverting the .step files from github to .stl so that i can use the front design of the Ultimaker 2 to modify for the Original plus in Tinkercad. :-)

can any one tell me why the Z limit switch is on the base of the Ultimaker 2 where as its on the top part of the case for the Original?

a part of the bed setup on the Ultimaker original + sets the bed at the highest point and stops when it activates the Z limit switch, how does the switch work on the Ultimaker 2?

[neotko 1,417]

Just remember my design isn't finished

[spark101 1]

Thanks for your help so far, i thought i could just fit the Ultimaker 2 parts in and it would be that simple.

the X Y limit switchs are in different places the support rods for the heater block are longer and the Z switch is at the bottom. just found out that the Ultimaker 2 lowers the heated bed and raises it up by a set amount, so if the Z motor steps are different then the heated bed will hit the heater block.

i will continue until it works.

when im done i will share the info so that every one can do the same if they want to.

[neotko 1,417]

Well unless you plan to change the ulticontroller to um2 oled screen with um2 firmware, you don't need to go that far. The x/y limits are very easy to rearrange since it's as easy as make a few drills or play with the endstop rotation. The z limit can be realigned very fast and it works with um2 hotend. It all depends on how far you want to mod the umo+ to be a um2 or just a umo+ with um2 hotend.

Also if you plan to use the bigger print area that you gain by using thinner slideblocks, you need yo rewrite the start gcode or the hotend will hit the bedclips.

Edited May 4, 2016 by Guest

[spark101 1]

I have changed the ulticontroller to the um2, got longer rods to reach the new ul2 slider blocks and repositioned the limit switchs + changed over the hotend assy as you know. today i switched it on and updated the firmware.

the front display started to work and i calibrated the heater bed (i thought it might hit the hot end and had my finger on the power button but it didnt).

so it all sounds like it worked.

one problem, the software (already set it um2 plus) doesnt wait for the hot end to heat up or raise the heater bed before printing. the hot end block doesnt even home itself.

if i control the um2 + using the ulticontroller it functions fine, i can heat up the hot end and heated bed and control the height of the heated bed.

i have even downloaded and updated the firmware with the beta 2.1 cura version. i have no idea what to do!

[spark101 1]

i have looked at different posts and found that its something to do with g-code and unicode or something like that, where by printing via the USB wont home the hotend or heated bed. i will try via SD card but i have lost it, will have to buy one tomorrow.

hope it works.

i think im getting a bit paranoid that i have do something wrong or that my printer will just blow up.

[gr5 2,167]

If you print with SD card you can save it in "ultigcode" mode which lets the *printer* set the temperature of the filement.

If you print with USB cable you MUST use "reprap non-volumetric" mode (this is all in cura machine settings).

You should be able to do it either way.

[mr_go_man 0]

Hi there @spark101. I've just got a quick question regarding the Ultimaker 2/2+ control PCB and display. Could you please explain how you got this working? Did you have to upgrade the firmware of the Ultimaker original to make it an Ultimaker 2? Also, how did you mount the display and click wheel? Thanks very much,

Greg