UM2+ Extended - Extruder and X-Y calibration problems

[tps2000 0]

We have problems with our company's UM2+E printer that has existed since is came out of the box. Please excuse me if I sound completely exasperated...because I am.

1. The Extruder - the plastic drive gear was broken and constantly slipped and as a result produced prints that, at best, had layers that pulled apart but usually ended up as spaghetti. Why is this gear plastic on a $3K+ machine? We printed a new gear on a small ($400) machine that actually produces nice parts and installed it. It fixed the problem. However, over the course of the next year we have had limited success with this machine. It now seems that the filament drive is not consistent. The drive gear is ok but if you watch the slotted shaft, visible at the back of the extruder, it will stop and click from time to time unless the print speed is extremely slow. At least three people have taken a whack at fixing it to no avail. Is it possible that the stepper motor is bad / underpowered?

2. The X-Y calibration has been off since the beginning by about 2%. Why is there no way to calibrate this printer in the field? I saw some post about re-flashing the controller board with new calibration numbers...REALLY!!!?, and rescaling everything in Cura is a pain. I have a $250 Creality CR-7 that just allows you to set and steps/distance calibration number. Why not with the UM2+?

So if anyone can help us with these problems we would be very appreciative.

Paul

[Amer_pl 0]

Tinker firmware,

https://ultimaker.com/en/community/33482-tinker-firmware-introduction

has option set steps/mm.

It has option to move filament manually allso. It will helpYou to find extruder issue. Feeder motor has very low rpm. It is no easy to see it move or no. You can change motor current too.

Good luck Paul!

[tps2000 0]

A much belated thanks but I this is a printer at my work and as much as I would love to try this, I'm not sure I want to chance screwing up the controller.

Paul