Ultimaker S5 "Pro Bundle" unboxing to first print.

[wyojustin 1]

This is my third Ultimaker.  I have an Ultimaker 2, and an Ultimaker 2 Extended.  Both work great.  I choose Ultimaker because I don't want to be a 3D printing hacker/troubleshooter.  These previous machines were very well documented and worked out of the box.

 

This "Pro Bundle" has  a lot to live up to at $10,000+ and so far it has fallen far short of expectations.  First print is printing now, so cross your fingers.

 

Here is what I wish I'd known.

 

1. Provide a "Pro Bundle" quickstart guide rather than three guides that contradict one-and-other.

2. Don't tell me to follow the software.  Show me what to expect.  The Material Station was not being detected, but I had no idea that it was even supposed to be auto detected.  I searched endlessly through the menus to configure the Material Station to no avail.  Then I unplugged everything and replugged everything, and walla!  I wish the printed manual showed a screenshot of what to expect.

3. Lift switch did not work out of the box and I had no idea that the S5 was attempting to switch the switch, so I'd wait 25 minutes for the print to fail none-the-wiser.  So I tried bed-leveling, xy-calibration (failed because of switch), and when I finally discovered what it was trying to do, I finally found the "lift switch" calibration thumbing though the menus. 

 

This was frustrating and painful and could have been much clearer in the instructions.