SOLVED Ultimaker S5 prints not square

[wraypa1 4]

So i have had two S5 printers (one was replaced as it was damaged in delivery but i managed to get one print off it) and it appears they both have exhibited the phenomenon of the prints not being square.

 

The print from my first printer (i dont have a photo on me for evidence) can be seen by eye to be very slightly not square.

 

Attached you should find a couple of images of an item i printed last night. this needed to be quite precisely square but as you can see, it is not (i added some right angles to the image for clarity). the second image also shows that the print has bowed vertically. has anyone else seen this or do you know why this might have happened? i had a look on google for answers but didn't find anything quite the same so apologies of this has been answered before.

 

Edit: This was printed using ultimaker grey abs on recommended settings and 0.2 mm layer height

 

Many thanks

Edited September 21, 2018 by wraypa1
forgot a detail

[Dim3nsioneer 558]

Do you get the same result when checking physically with a engineer's square?

[wraypa1 4]

HI, Thanks for your message, yes, i do, indeed this has to fit into another item which is square and the effect is probably worse than the photo makes it look.

[Dim3nsioneer 558]

Have you already checked if the print head axes are parallel to the main x/y axes? Do you have lateral play in one or more of the axes?

[ultiarjan 1,223]

https://www.youmagine.com/designs/ultimaker-s5-axis-alignment-tool

 

Handy tool to check you axes...

[gr5 2,224]

This is a common problem because when UM printers are shipped I think they use elephants to move your printer from one truck to the next.

 

Seriously though - it's a common problem and you just have to realign it - it's pretty easy to do.

 

More serious is if the entire frame is warped so check that the frame is also perpendicular/square.

 

[wraypa1 4]

Dear All,

 

Many thanks for your posts, sorry for my slowness to reply - its is my work printer and work has kept me busy with other non-3D printing related work this week. i will have a go at these suggestions this afternoon/next week and let you all know how it goes.

 

[SandervG 1,521]

Hi @wraypa1, any updates on this?

I'm curious if you could also reprint this model in (tough) PLA, see if the cooling properties of ABS have anything to do with it as well (or perhaps emphasize something else).

 

Thanks!

 

[wraypa1 4]

HI SandervG,

 

thanks for the response. I am actually pretty sure that the device came with misaligned axes, following the posts above, i now know what to look for and the axes are out of alignment to what looks like the exact same degree as the print i showed above. i have really only had a few minutes to play with the printer so i havent had time to fix it (the instructions that i found on the ultimaker website arent brilliantly clear). but i will for sure do some of the testing you suggested when i am back in the office.

 

Many thanks

wraypa1

[wraypa1 4]

Dear All,

 

I finally had a little time to play with the system and following realignment of the axes it seems fine.

 

Many thanks for all your help.

 

wraypa1

Edited February 24, 2019 by wraypa1

[Shadowman 53]

Great news and I for one truly appreciate the fact that your thread was full circle.

 

Initially you presented a concern and worked through it and then presented the resolution.

 

I dislike threads that do not have closure.

 

Thank you.

[AdaptiveTony 0]

Dear Patrick I have just found that my S5 exhibits the same non square issue as you have started the thread about.

Thank you for this and thanks to everyone who added solutions to the issue.

I am going to try to realign the axes over the next couple of days.

 

Best Regards

Tony

[CTotten 18]

Same issue here.  First print job on the new S5 that actually required precise alignment of screw holes.  Spent about 10 minutes scratching my head, thinking my PCB was not symmetrical or was mis-cut, then I check the square on the part and it was off by about 2 degrees.  Printing the larger alignment pegs now (had the 8mm ones already for my 3E), so I will try to re-do the alignment tomorrow.

[CTotten 18]

I just unboxed our second S5 machine.  It is way off in terms of the axis alignment, right out of the box.  Our original S5 was also off.

 

But I noticed that the instructions for aligning the axis is not found on the Ultimaker website.  Is this procedure still available?  Why was it removed?

[Smithy 1,145]

I already reported that to Ultimaker, that the instructions are not online anymore. I am sure it was a mistake and not intentionally.

 

In the meantime you can follow the instructions here:

https://ultimakernasupport.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/115004168943-Aligning-the-Axes

 

[sensebellum 2]

Looking at ordering an S5 or S3 and I am curious if there are safer ways to ship these? 

 

Say if we are based in the USA can MatterHackers ship with a better company?

 

It would be really nice to have the new machine in working order when it arrives. I know shipping can be tricky though.

[Smithy 1,145]

I would not worry about it, there are for sure only a few cases where something happens during delivery. But when you want to buy at MatterHackers, ask them if they have any alternatives.

[Trueblondegod 1]

I realise this is an old thread and there may be newer ones that explain better this issue.

 

I too bought a brand new 5S last week and its axis are >5mm of in x & y over 110 mm! It print diamonds not squares 😞

 

I printed the suggested tools that are great!

 

However, i can only do 1 pulley on one side of the axle before i have to rotate to get access to the other pulleys allen screw. This obviously throws off the squareness each time i rotate to get tool access. Not great.

 

How can i take off the belts to rotate the pulleys (so they are atleast at the same angle) so they can be done up at the same time without the need to rotate the shaft?