U3 to S3 Retrofit Kit?

[adam.rankin 0]

Hello,

 

Are there plans to implement a U3 to S3 retrofit kit?

 

Regards,

Adam

[DidierKlein 729]

Hi,

 

While it's probably doable with quite some work, this probably won't happen (not official upgrade kit).

 

A lot of components are different and would need to be changed, the price and the effort is probably higher than selling the um3 and buying the S3

[Crystalvalen 3]

As someone who works with both UM3's and UMS5's (but who hasn't gotten their hands on an S3 yet), I have a few thoughts. As someone who does not work for Ultimaker and thus cannot know when or if such a kit would be made available, take them all with a grain of salt.

 

The main improvements that I think you would be able to see from an S-line upgrade kit to the UM3 are all a result of the improved feeder assembly: the lever on the S-line models is a vast improvement over the thumb button on the UM3 in terms of user experience, the hardened version of the knurled knob in the S-line allows users to print with coarser materials (in conjunction with the CC0.6 ruby tip Print Head), and it has a cleaner aesthetic overall (although notably, this is less important).

 

There were some talks a year or so back about developing a flow sensor for the UM3 like the one on the S-line, but so far, I don't think anything official has come of it. Perhaps a third-party option exists, but it would involve a lot of manual tinkering with wires and programming. I know third-party kits for doors/other enclosures also exist. Other upgrades (e.g. the touch screen or the better air flow in the housing) would be very difficult to implement in an upgrade kit and would probably not add enough of an improvement to the user experience to be worth the cost or effort, much like DidierKlein said.

 

I also agree that we will not likely see an official upgrade kit, but if you are interested in some of the changes I mentioned with the feeder assembly, it shouldn't be too tough to find those parts and make the adjustments on your own.

[Dim3nsioneer 557]

It's pretty safe to assume that such an upgrade kit will never happen due to those reasons:

- there has never been an Ultimaker upgrade kit when the model name changed

- an upgraded UM3 would not be a S3 as that machine has a different frame / belt size; it would mean adding another model to firmware and Cura with material profiles

Also keep in mind that for custom mechanical changes you will have to make changes in the firmware which will be overwritten at the next firmware update.

 

Edited December 4, 2019 by Dim3nsioneer

[adam.rankin 0]

Thank you all for your insight.

[Jls667 0]

I have a UM3. What would be involved in upgrading my feeder so I could print with abrasive materials? I would probably also have to get a CC printcore. Could I buy an S model feeder? Would cure recognize a CC printcore in my UM3 and set default settings accordingly?

 

[JohnInOttawa 104]

I have a UM3 that I converted to permit abrasive filaments.  Feeders went to Bondtec DDG (via gr5 store) and I added 3d Solex Hardcore (also from George) with a set of hardened and ruby/sapphire nozzles.  I've printed a fair bit of abrasive stuff since without issue, currently using Nylforce CF and Murano, have run Copperfil in the past without issues (except for some clogging at .25 nozzle, but that was on me).

 

The bondtec feeders work pretty well, the firmware needs a tweak after each change, as they don't use the same steps/mm as standard.

 

WRT the 3dSolex printcores,  changing nozzles has to be done EXTREMELY carefully to avoid shearing the heat break.  There is some optional programming (check out gr5's related posts on this) that will reprogram the hardcore to look like an AA 0.4 to the printer, which saves having to override it each print.  I run a hardcore 0.6 with some of the higher particulate filament to prevent clogging and it's been great.

 

Good luck!

John

[Jls667 0]

Thank you for that great answer. Does it matter that you are using a .6 printcore, but Ultimaker thinks it is a .4 AA printcore?

[JohnInOttawa 104]

Since Cura allows for line width adjustment, it's really just a matter of specifying the correct line width for line height, temp and maybe tweaking flow rate.  For PLA I can print with a 0.55 line at the temperatures I am using, for Nylon and some of the hotter printing filaments I find I need to increase the line width to avoid overextrusion. 

 

It would be better if Cura allowed user specified nozzle diameters, but for now we have to work around Cura.

 

J

[zorwick 1]

I have my U3 converted to use abrasive filaments. The upgrade cost around 600 bucks. Around 200 for the feeders, and 400 for the Ultimaker printcore. The Solex print cores are cheaper, but I decide to go with the Ultimaker RED core.

 

The feeders were replaced with Bondtech ones and I use the CC 0.6 Ultimaker printcore for abrasive materials. All works fine, there are error messages here and there, but just click OK for all. Usually with filament errors you have error message on the printer and in Cura. Click "OK" in Cura (Monitor tab), not on the printer, at least that how is works for me. 

 

Here are my sources how to:

 

ULTIMAKER 3 + Bondtech feeders

 

https://www.3djake.com/bondtech/extruder-ddg-kit-for-ultimaker-3

 

With latest firmware enable the developer mode. 
● System -> Maintenance -> Diagnostics -> Developer mode Your Ultimaker 3 will reboot. 

 

Download a SSH/Telnet client like Putty (http://www.putty.org) and install it on your computer. Locate the IP number of your Ultimaker 3. The IP address is shown on the main screen of the printer on the first line as well as in System -> Network on the last line.

 

For this example we use the following IP address: 192.168.1.133 Please read the whole guide from this point at least once before changing the values on your own machine. Open Putty and enter the IP-address in the Host Name field and click on Open.

 

The first time this Alert will pop-up and you need to click OK to accept the connection. 

 

The connection window opens up. Enter root as the username and ultimaker as the password.

Type in the command matching the firmware version of your Ultimaker 3 and press enter.

 

Firmware Version Command 
3.6 vi /usr/share/griffin/griffin/machines/jedi.json 
3.7 – 4.2.5 vi /usr/share/griffin/griffin/machines/um3.json 

 

Tip! If you copy the command above you can paste it directly into Putty console by pressing the right mouse-button in the window.

 

The editor opens the configuration file. Scroll down using the arrow keys until you find “default_steps_per_mm” row and use the arrow key to move the cursor to the value for the extruder “369.0”, then press the “I” key to go into edit mode and update the value to “311.0”.

 

Press the Escape key to go back to command mode and then enter “:x” and press enter to save the file and exit the editor. If you make a mistake you can use ctrl+z to exit without saving and start again. To change the length that the material feeds during a material change you can edit the parameter Bowden_tube_lenght, as default it is 700, if you want it to feed 30 mm more edit the value to 730.The parameter is located at row 23.

 

We also need to change the value for the speed used when loading/unloading material. Type “vi /usr/share/griffin/griffin/printer/procedures/wizard/moveMaterialProcedure.py” and press enter. Change the speed on line 16 from 85/u to 70/u. Press the Escape key to go back to command mode and then enter “:x” to save the file. Press enter and reboot your printer. To reboot your printer type “reboot” and press enter. Wait until the printer has rebooted. 

Do not shut down the printer by turning off the power!! 

 

Important notes: 
1. after changing the settings you can disable dev mode 
2. after a firmware update, you must enable dev mode and change the settings again! 
3. in vi, there is command mode and type mode. You start in command mode. Move your cursor to where you want to edit, then press “I”. change the value, then use the escape key to go back into command mode. In command mode use “:x” to save and exit. If you make a mistake you can use ctrl+z to exit without saving and start again.

 

Source: Bontech users manual pdf

 

ULTIMAKER 3 Printer code instruction for Printcore CC

 

The files below can be put on a USB and printed on the UM3 and it will rename the core in the left slot. Including the BB gcode file(s): left slot.

 

First put your UM3 to developer mode - it's in the menus on the printer. Your machine needs to be on your network (wifi or ethernet) if it isn't already. Once it's on the network it will show the IP address at the top of the main screen.

Next you need ssh which is built into linux and Macintosh terminal but not windows. For windows I recommend putty:
https://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/latest.html

In putty you don't type the "ssh" part but just put the ultimaker@111.222.333.444 part and click "open".
ssh ultimaker@1.2.3.4 (don't enter 1.2.3.4 - enter the ip address listed on your UM3)
username/password:
ultimaker/ultimaker (much easier than root/ultimaker as it takes you straight into the utility to do send gcode)

Choose the type and size from the list below - T0 is left slot and T1 is right slot so before running any of these make sure the core you want to program is in the left slot if it will be AA and in the right slot if it will be BB
After programming the core, slide it out and back into the slot at which point the UM3 will re-read the eeprom and realize its new state. The software that does X,Y,Z offset calibrations for a core goes by serial number and that can't be changed so you won't lose any calibration data when you do the changes below.

 

AA 0.4

sendgcode M151 T0 A8 D7800000000004141
sendgcode M151 T0 A16 D20302E3400000000

CC 0.6

sendgcode M151 T0 A8 D7800000000004343
sendgcode M151 T0 A16 D20302E3600000000

BB 0.4

sendgcode M151 T1 A8 D7800000000004242
sendgcode M151 T1 A16 D20302E3400000000

AA 0.8

sendgcode M151 T0 A8 D7800000000004141
sendgcode M151 T0 A16 D20302E3800000000

BB 0.8

sendgcode M151 T1 A8 D7800000000004242
sendgcode M151 T1 A16 D20302E3800000000

AA 0.25

sendgcode M151 T0 A8 D7800000000004141
sendgcode M151 T0 A16 D20302E3235000000

Source: http://gr5.org/cores/

 

 

 

 

 

[zorwick 1]

On 6/11/2020 at 9:31 PM, Jls667 said:

Thank you for that great answer. Does it matter that you are using a .6 printcore, but Ultimaker thinks it is a .4 AA printcore?

Yeah, the printer thinks it is a 0.4, but its fine as long the line settings are corrected to the 0.6 print core.

[zorwick 1]

As an example, here are my setting for colorFabb metal-fill filament:

 

Hardware: Ultimaker 3 extended + print core CC 0.6 (Bondtech feeders)

Bed surface: Kapton tape

Model (scaled up 150%): https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3593749

After some testing, this is the profile which I found OK for this material

Cura print profile (set with 0.4 print core):

Layer height: 0.15 mm

Line width: 0.58 mm

Infill: 25 %

Printing temp: 205

Build plate temp: 50 °C

Flow 100%

Print speed: 40 mm/s

Infill speed: 40 mm/s

Travel speed: 150 mm/s

Retract at layer change: yes

Retraction Distance: 6.5 mm

Retraction speed: 25 mm/s

Cooling: 75%

Post process: absolutely easy to sand and polish. This material is just beautiful. Very heavy, the prints feel robust, and it sticks to magnets.

[tinkergnome 927]

2 hours ago, zorwick said:

after a firmware update, you must enable dev mode and change the settings again!

 

quick tip: this can be avoided by using an "override" file instead of editing the original: