UM2 Problems extruding

[peter-parnes 0]

Got my UM2 today (finally, woohoo) and I happily unboxed it. Followed the instructions to get PLA into the machine, bed levelling etc.

BUT it cannot get the machine to extrude anything. There is no PLA coming out of the nozzle.

The load instructions says to wait until PLA is flowing out of the nozzle but the material feeder just keeps grinding into the PLA without anything coming. I retracted the PLA and cut away the piece with the "grind and loaded again. Still same issue. Interrupted it and tried to manually extrude vie the "mover material" in the menu. Still Nothing. Tried to just let it print as I thought it would slowly get material out (even if it was into thin air). Still Nothing. Raised the temperature to 230. Still Nothing.

Any ideas on what to try next?

Thank you in advance!

/Dissapointed

Ps. I have many more comments on the machines itself (loose screws, left fan making a lot of noise, LED-list being loose, dirty machine including human hair!).

 

[IRobertI 520]

I had trouble loading PLA on my first try as well. In my case it was left over PLA in both the bowden (the plastic tube) and in the actual feeder that created enough friction to jam it. I removed the left over PLA in the feeder with a pair of tweezers and then I manually fed the PLA in with the "Move material" option going back and forth a few times when it started clicking. Eventually I got it through.

Also make sure that the nozzle is actually up to temperature by touching it with a bit of scrap PLA and see if it melts.

I had a bit of dirt and a hair or two in my machine as well. They are aware of the LED list issue as well as the fan noise and are working on fixing it. For the fan you might want to try tightening the screws holding the metal shroud and the screws holding the fan and see if that helps. They will likely rivet the fans in place in the future.

 

[mattkaz 0]

As long as it is Human!? If you get it working what colour is the filament that is left over from factory testing? Mine was grey coming out of the nozzle but the test print included in the box was red!

 

[geeks 1]

Yes, good idea the stuff of which fall on the bottom outlet of the nozzle. :wink:

 

This allows not to jeopardize the heater for future jam.

 

That said, I wonder. I thought to see a pressure adjustment on the initiator. What about your respective régflages? :ugeek:

 

[IRobertI 520]

mattkaz: It could be any colour. Mine happened to be clear which made it hard to see in the tube. A couple of years of fiddling with the original UM was on my side though so I found the problem pretty quickly.

Geeks: Normally I can figure out what your google translate is trying to say but this time I have to admit I failed. I have no idea what you're trying to say.

 

[geeks 1]

Hum! In fact, I have not been vigilant enough! :oops:

 

So here, I said it was a good idea. The principle of using a piece of fillament placed on the nozzle to test the temperature.

 

This avoids having a jam by forcing the fillament.

 

I think one thing. On the extruder, there has an adjusting screw of the pressure exerted on the fillament. If this is the case, what are the settings you used? :ugeek:

 

[peter-parnes 0]

The PLA reaches the and then stops inside the covered part of the head. I am guessing that there is a left over piece of PLA inside the print head that isn't pushed forward. When the new PLA reaches this stop in the print head, the feeder starts slipping and starts grinding. The new PLA doesn't reach the "hot part" as the end of the PLA is not melted at all if I pull it out.

I have tested the temperature but holding PLA to the head it melts fine. I have also raised the temperature of the head to 260 but it doesn't make any difference. I have seem a very small amount of melted transparent PLA coming out of the head (the new one in pink).

This feels like a clogged nozzle :(

 

[mattkaz 0]

IRobertI I was trying to say that the filament that was left in the nozzle from ultimaker was grey but the test print was red it seams a bit strange thats all. hope that translates ok

 

[IRobertI 520]

Sorry mattkaz, I read your post a wee bit too fast there hehe. That is a bit strange I have to admit. With the amount of machines they're trying to cram out the door it seems unlikely that they'd have time to be putting several different colours through the same printer. Then again maybe they saw something they didn't like on the test print, adjusted it and then did a new test with the closest roll that was around. I don't have insight into the specifics of what goes on right before a printer ships out so I'm only guessing here though.

 

[ian 32]

Peter. I also had a lump of blue pla stuck in my hotend when it arrived.

You can take the hotend apart pritty easy and it takes only 5 minutes... just be careful about the little fans.. they are very delicate and also when you are putting back the hot end black housing.. make sure you dont pinch and cut your fan cables that go into the middle of the hotend ! that can happen if the cables are accidentially squeezed by the corners of the black housing..

I think when you pop out your old clogged PLA.. you should have no problems... cant wait to see your first cool UM2 prints :-)

Ian :-)

 

[peter-parnes 0]

This morning I did a quick test via a factory reset (again) suddenly I did get some of the old PLA (transparent burned) popped out and I got some flow but much thinner than on my UM1. Did an unload and load as I once again had grinded PLA and after the load nothing comes out again.

Dismantling the head on a brand new machine feels like a "no-no". How can it be shipped this way?

To me this is a machine that is DOA - DeadOnArrivel and should be replaced if it cannot be fixed easily.

/Peter who is losing faith in the Ultimaker company and production

 

[gr5 2,173]

I think everyone who has a UM2 will have to spend some time unclogging a nozzle some day. Fortunately I haven't had to yet. This means everyone who has a UM2 will hate it - on that day that they get a clogged nozzle. But hopefully that will pass. It's very unfortunate that this happened to you peter on your first day.

I watched a UM employee unclog a UM2 head under pressure in about 3 minutes. He kept the nozzle hot and unscrewed the 4 screws and it happened so fast I don't know what happened after that although it involved some metal tools (small screwdriver maybe?) digging out the clog. Personally on my UM Original I removed the nozzle completely and brought it over to a gas stove and burned everything out and used wires to unclog.

Daid says every UM2 should possibly ship with an acupuncture needle to clean it out (push the clog back the other way). Some people own a .4mm drill bit that they use to clean it out (while the nozzle is hot).

In my experience I would get the nozzle to work for only 10mm of filament and would repeated reclog until finally I got the object out the back - whatever it was just wouldn't fit through the .4mm hole. I used a copper wire strand removed from a power cord - fished it through and pulled out out the other side bringing pla and such out.

 

[peter-parnes 0]

Are there any instructions available on how to remove the nozzle on an UM2? Video?

 

[cor3ys 28]

Hi Peter

Not sure if this thread helps look at daid post second one down....

http://umforum.ultimaker.com/index.php?/topic/3458-how-to-switch-nozzles-for-the-um2/

 

[peter-parnes 0]

Thanks but that is something that feels rather strange to do on a brand new machine for €2000!

I wonder if Apple would ever recommend that on a brand new laptop?

 

[IRobertI 520]

This is the equivalent of a paper jam in a regular printer. When a paper jams in a printer you sometimes have to open up several doors and reach your fingers inside to try to grab the paper bits and get them out (damn you old HP printer at my last job!).

Here you have to unscrew a couple of screws instead of opening a door so it's not quite as convenient but it's essentially the same thing.

 

[peter-parnes 0]

Woohoo success! The problem was that the bowden tube didn't go all the way down into the head so the PLA never reached the heated nozzle. Removed the tube, pushed loose PLA into the head and started flowing, pushed back the bowden tube and now I am printing my first print. Woohoo.