Can I fix this myself? Or do I just send them in for repair?

[ASL_MILL 1]

On Friday this happened on one of the 2+. That is orange PLA completely encasing the wires. I thought it was a bit of bad luck and would box it up and send it in for repairs.

Today I walked in and found a failed print in one of the new 3's and this mess.

I assume I have to send them both in for repair, but thought I would check to see if anyone had an idea why this was happening.

Both were using RS Pro PLA. And both had just had successful prints from these filament reels. The 2+ has been in use for about 8 months and the 3 for less than 6 weeks.

[SandervG 1,521]

With a blowdryer you can get most PLA, but be careful when removing the final bits that you do not bend or break any wires etc. The Ultimaker 2+ is less sensitive in this case, and as your PT100 survives you should probably be good.

The Ultimaker 3 is more sensitive. I would recommend to indeed reach out to your salespartner and look for a solution with them. Good luck!

[kmanstudios 1,120]

That is what my cores looked like last week. I heated both cores up and managed to get them out. I pulled a lot of plastic out while still attached. I cleaned the BB core while hot with Needle nose pliers. But by the time I got to the AA core, the plastic was soft, but not really able to let go and pulled out two wires because the plastic had hardened just enough to be problematic. I bought backups.

But, if I had a small heat gun, I think I could have gotten the AA core cleaned no issue.

[geert_2 558]

Is this caused by leaks in the nozzle? Or by the model coming off the build plate? If the latter, to prevent this from happening again, you might want to have a look at your bonding-method too.

For example, try a difficult test print? A rectangle of 50mm x 10mm x 10mm, with 3mm chamfers at the bottom, 100% filled. This will be a very hard test for any bonding method.

Stay with your printer (!!!) until finished, and watch if corners do lift, and if the model comes off. If it does, find a better bonding solution first, before starting a real print.

[kmanstudios 1,120]

I know in my case it was a quick infusion of humidity into the apartment. All is working now that I keep the air at a fairly constant temp and humidity level.

I wonder if the moisture caused a binding with the PLA as it was the one that gunked up the printhead. My PVA was messed up real bad also but not gunked up around the nozzles. Kinda wondering what the environment would be in the shop mentioned in the OP.

Edited June 26, 2017 by Guest

[SandervG 1,521]

Without speaking for ASL_Mill, I can speak with almost 100% certainty that for the Ultimaker 3 the model came loose from the buildplate.

For the Ultimaker 2+ I am pretty certain, although there is a very small chance of a leak if the nozzle was not inserted properly but this seems not likely.

[kmanstudios 1,120]

Without speaking for ASL_Mill, I can speak with almost 100% certainty that for the Ultimaker 3 the model came loose from the buildplate......

That would be a big possibility as I was not here to see my problem evolve. Maybe, in my case, the lack of support structure (PVA Stopped printing) let the Plastic spool out and gunk up a bit as it dragged over smaller, earlier areas of print. I did notice that some of the spots that should have had something on the plate was not in place and bits of PLA around the model.

Wonder if the humidity cut into the PVA slurry and let it not bind the PLA to the plate.

I wish it had just made a spiderweb of plastic though.

[ASL_MILL 1]

You are correct SandervG the model on the 3 came loose. It was a long (30hr) print with multiple parts (not set-up by me) which was bound to fail from the start. I was not there to veto.

The 2+ print also failed, but in an odd way. It was running overnight. In the morning i found half the object printed on the bed, but the printer was showing a z axis error and I found a huge blob of PLA under the print bed.

[ASL_MILL 1]

That is what my cores looked like last week. I heated both cores up and managed to get them out. I pulled a lot of plastic out while still attached. I cleaned the BB core while hot with Needle nose pliers. But by the time I got to the AA core, the plastic was soft, but not really able to let go and pulled out two wires because the plastic had hardened just enough to be problematic. I bought backups.

But, if I had a small heat gun, I think I could have gotten the AA core cleaned no issue.

I'll give it a try, don't think I can make things much worse.

[ASL_MILL 1]

Kinda wondering what the environment would be in the shop mentioned in the OP.

Humidity might have been a factor.

It is a new space with a new climate control system. I've not measured the humidity, but it doesn't seem humid. It is very chilly, however. The AC is set low and I don't have local control over the setting.

The problem is, the AC is usually turned off over the weekend so the climate in the makerspace would have changed. I am sure the humidity would have increased.

[kmanstudios 1,120]

I'll give it a try, don't think I can make things much worse.....

Can't really hurt. I guess. It is how I learn. Let us break things to learn how to put them back together.... But, I am a doof that way.....

The problem is, the AC is usually turned off over the weekend so the climate in the makerspace would have changed. I am sure the humidity would have increased.

Someone else from the UK had mentioned extra humidity this season around your parts. Could very well be. I saw it kill my print within a half hour of shutting off the A/C in the apartment.

[J_Trust 0]

Hey,

I had the same Problem with a model I printed over night on the UM3. I was using Polycarbonate which lost adhesion to the Buildplate (propably due to to much warping over the long printing time). The AA Printcore was covered in PC. I managed to completely dissasemble the Printhead except the parts which were molten together. By using a soldering iron for more precision, removing the PC was possible.

I was able to assemble a working Printcore again after the repair with one or two spare parts.

[geert_2 558]

At the very beginning, I also noticed that in dry weather (freezing cold, blue sky) bonding to the untreated glass was reasonable. But on warm, rainy weather, it was almost non-existent. Putting down a straight line of filament on the glass is one thing, but I have models with lots of tiny circles, which are much more difficult to make stick.

With Ultimaker and colorFabb PLA now I get a very good bonding with my "salt method": first clean the glass with isopropyl alcohol and then with warm water. No soap, no detergents, no window cleaners, as they all reduce bonding (nothing sticks to soap). Then using *salt* water, wet a paper tissue, and wipe the glass plate with this. Keep wiping very gently while the water dries. So you get a thin mist of salt stuck to the glass plate, almost invisible; it just looks a little bit dusty.

Heat the plate to 60°C for PLA. When hot, this gives a very strong bonding: I can lift the whole printer by a pulling on a model of 10mm x 10mm x 10mm. But after cooling down, the models pop off by themself, no force required.

This salt method does *not* work for ABS, and it works a bit but not really good for PET, NGEN, etc.

For the full manual, see: https://www.uantwerpen.be/nl/personeel/geert-keteleer/manuals/

Others have good results with hairspray (spray on a paper tissue, then wipe the glass; never spray in the printer); or with white wood glue dissolved in water (1 part glue, 10 parts water).