Jumping UM3

[MechDesigner 3]

GR5,

My printer will not do any more diving soon unless it can jump up 1 inch and over retaining 4 boards,

 

I myself do not understand how this can happen, no one was here at the time.  The printer does not move that fast to make it jump or slide.

The only think I can think of  if something got stuck and there was hard movements,, which I do not see happening.

 

[Brulti 177]

Thta's quite a mystery indeed...

[geert_2 557]

I noticed that your tables do have wheels, and the frames are rather thin. Usually such tables are not as stable as fixed tables, at least not the ones I have seen here. So, do they wiggle when you touch them or hit them, or are they rock-solid?

 

If they wiggle, maybe they came into resonance while printing a specific part of the model, and this resonance was just enough to make the printer move?

 

If Nicola Tesla could destroy a whole building with a little device as big as a cigar box, due to resonance, then I could imagine resonance can make a printer move too? Also you might google in Youtube for films of the Tacoma bridge coming into resonance, swinging meters up and down like rubber, and finally collapsing after an hour or so. In only moderate winds.

 

Anyway, be sure to put a rubber anti-slip mat under it. The ones that have a very sticky feel should work well, and they reduce sound as an added benefit. If I were in your place, I would also glue or screw a little border around the table, so nothing can roll off or slide off.

 

We do not disbelieve you, but in problem solving, when we try to comprehend what happened, we look at the most logical reasons first. And kids or pets throwing something off a table are way more likely than a printer walking around due to resonance (or whatever else). So we need to eliminate the logical causes first. That is all. Don't take it personally, it's just technical. 

 

[Brulti 177]

I hadn't thought of resonance, but it seems like a good possible explanation.

[dxp 23]

So as soon as you get an identical printer at that very same place, please load this deadly gCode, install a webcam and post us a video!

[CharliesEcho 0]

Did you guys ever figure this out? It happened to the UM3+ at our office this weekend - we came in and the printer was face down on the floor struggling to finish a print. We are completely mystified as to what happened to it as we've had it for over a year on the same type of table with no crazy problems.

[MechDesigner 3]

Charlies,

No I never found out what happened,  still puzzled even now that an UM3 took a dive.

I hope yours is still working after the dive off the table.

 

Frank

[CharliesEcho 0]

No, ours has very much ruined its print head with this fall. I am intrigued as our printer managed a very similar faceplant to yours, with the material spool holder at an angle and one flying off. We also had a buildup of PLA surrounding the cores, but not quite as extreme as yours. I'm running through possible scenarios but can't seem to come up with anything plausible - unless something went terribly terribly wrong with the print and caused the machine to "vibrate" its way off the table.

[geert_2 557]

Or resonance due to a particular model geometry? Or due to the nozzle banging into curled-up overhangs, or into a half-detached print, or so? Were the models still stuck to the glass? Or had they come off (maybe you can see if they came off before the jump, by analysing any spaghetti)?

 

If you can get it to work again, try the same model again, but now stay around?

 

Anyway, it seems like a good idea to glue or screw an edge to the tables. Or maybe put rubber antislip/antivibration feet or mats under it?

 

[Enigma_M4 119]

Resonance -or vibrations in general-, possibly caused by the layout of the print, may be able to move the printer in "Y-direction", because it sits on its side-panels, on four nearly skid-shaped surfaces.  And traveling over the edge of the table, gravity will do the rest...

I had an eye on possible vibration-related movement of the printer (UM3) since first use (about 1 1/2 years ago), but since i made a set of these:

www.thingiverse.com/thing:3059433

from TPU, there is -till now- no movement of the printer at all - and a lot less vibration.

 

[amb93 0]

Hello,

I had the same problem today, I ran the 10-hour print last night and came back this morning with a heart breaking view of my ultimaker 3 on the ground with an error message about the x axis limit switch. Weird enough the spool was like 2 meters away from the printer which made me think about a dog or cat but that was unlikely, I still didn't watch the surveillance footage but there was no signs of forced entry and the door was locked.

the last image printer camera should me appeared to be still on the shelf with filament all over the place so maybe there was something wrong with it. I'm still trying to figure out how it tipped, the surface is kinda flat.

Luckily, the damage was minimal and there was no clogged filament in the cores , however there is a misalignment in the y axis that makes a noise when moved. 

I'm trying to align it and see if it works or not.

I expect more fault detection from a 3,500$ 3D printer.

[SandervG 1,521]

Hi @amb93, sorry to hear about your Ultimaker. I can totally imagine this is a startling scene to walk into! 

 

On 8/22/2021 at 10:28 AM, amb93 said:

the last image printer camera should me appeared to be still on the shelf with filament all over the place so maybe there was something wrong with it.

I'm sorry, I'm not really sure what you mean here. 

 

On 8/22/2021 at 10:28 AM, amb93 said:

the surface is kinda flat.

Perhaps the source of the accident lies here? In the unboxing manual we specifically say that it must stand on a flat surface. When the surface is also quite smooth and perhaps not flat/level, your printer may have gained some momentum due to the moving parts on the inside and slid of your desk? 

 

I'm glad that there is minimal damage. To prevent this in the future I would make sure the surface is really flat/level, and perhaps put the printer on a rubber mat to be safe.