S5 Initial Impressions

[Guest]

hi! 

this is my first post to this forum, although i have several thousand hours of printing on an ultimaker 2. I have now added an S5 to my tiny apartment workshop.

I am posting my initial impressions in the hopes that perhaps some folks have some feedback / suggestions / tips that may help me.

 

first, i have only done about 15 hours of printing on the S5. My initial impressions are that this printer is a big step up from the ultimaker 2+ i have been using.

I am EXTREMELY impressed with this machine so far, and i want to be clear my concerns while i do care about them arent intended to detract from what is a SUPER nice printing experience, so far.

Rather than focusing on the many great things I want to post my initial concerns.

 

1. the larger diameter rods rest on turned down ends clipped into the same cheap plastic clips to the belts, these have always been a problem with my ultimaker, also im not certain the extra diameter does a ton if the load carrying surface is so much smaller, but perhaps I am wrong.

2. the web cam... where to start. its a cool idea but seems very poorly executed.

    a. The camera needs to be higher and angled down more to be of any use. when the print starts its too low to see what is going on, and when the print finishes the much of the bed is out of the field of view. so for short parts the camera is basically useless

    b. time lapse... for the love of god add a time lapse capture mode. even if you just save a still of each layer for me to assemble i should be able to do something useful with this camera

    c. let me stream this to the app the way i can with my nest camera. I was hoping to get rid of my own web cam hanging over the printer but thats not going to happen with this thing. My use case is that i watch my next cam on my iphone or watch and if there is an error i can shut the power down through the internet with a smart outlet. I also print things for friends and give them my nest cam link and they can watch their parts print. I had such high hopes, but this cameras poor positioning and lack of streaming, and inability to save video or pics makes is a bit silly.

3. the spool holder design is a bit too fiddly. I dont have a suggestion here but i am certain it could be easier to use.

4. would be fun if the LEDS had a bit more control, like changing the color.

5. would also be fun to have an Alexa skill so i could ask for status and be told what percentage of what print the machine is at, or how long is left. this is super unnecessary but would be fun.

6. i wish the bed leveling wouldnt do the full check for EVERY print and just do it after X number of prints or X number of printing hours.. 

 

overall i absolutely LOVE working with this printer, we will see if that opinion holds up after a few hundred hours of printing over the next month or so.

i am happy to learn i am wrong about some of this stuff so please tell me. 🙂

 

thanks!

Edited November 15, 2018 by Guest