Ultimaker 2 Partial upgrade. One part at a time

[cesern 0]

Hi. I have a UM2. I want to upgrade to UM2+. I can’t quite afford the expensive official upgrade kit , but I can see the parts are available individually for a fraction of the price online.
 

My question is.. Is it possible to Upgrade one part at a time? I’m tempted to start with the motor & feeder and then save up a little more and then later in the year depending on affordability maybe upgrade the head and shafts.  Eventually I,ll get the least important stuff like the spool holder and sticker
 

My main concern is at what point do you update firmware. Do I have to update firmware of the printer for each part installed, I wonder how sensitive can it be? or Is it best to wait and install all in one go once everything is complete and ready to fully install?

 

I suspect the motor and feeder are the most crucial parts on the upgrade and maybe this is the only time that the printer really needs the firmware upgrade.  
 

I suspect I’m most likely very wrong about this idea, but please let me know your answers and how you upgraded.

Thanks. Much appreciated in any answer

 

[RudydG 62]

First: the um2 is not bad, upgrades are not mandatory, it is a perfectly working printer, the um2. The + upgrade, is a nice to have.

But if you are on low budget, and have to chose between filament or upgrades? Do you encounter problems like it is now?

Then i would upgrade the parts which give you limitations today. 

Personaly, i would stay away from third parties upgrades, Ultimaker machines are all about reliability, and therefore original parts are your best options.

And I, but that is me, would prefer the hotend upgrade as first, then you get more options in nozzle sizes, and easier to maintain the hotend. Working with the "old" feeder is more controllable, if you do not print at to high speeds with normal materials it is not a bad feeder.

 

Edited May 22, 2020 by RudydG

[g7kbr67 1]

After reading your message, I also have a ultimaker 2 and am not able to spend the 400 for the 2+ kit.  What would be the cost of a new print head assemble.

 

Also I had to replace the bearing housing the other day as it had cracked.  All went well but i had to cut the 1 inch black heat shrink off as I wasn't able to feed the white connectors through it.  At the moment it cut the heat shrink off.  Do I have any other options for this area.  I could purchase some new unshrunk material and fit or is their any rap around material I could use.

 

Regards

 

Paul

[Torgeir 242]

Hi Folks,

 

Welcome in here.

Since I built my printer I've had some issues and want to give you some hint.

The most important part for this plus upgrade is the feeder system, IMO.

This cause the feeder wheel (knurled) is connected directly to the stepper motor, so during a long time print this wheel can be quite warm (as it is heated directly through the stepper shaft it is fixed to). This thing in like a "warm knife in butter", under printing with some load (high pressure in the feeder tube) this wheel start grinding the filament and will cause under extrusion as the feeder cannot deliver the amount of filament needed.

 

If you want to go for a geared option (you can print the gearbox in PLA), make sure to turn around the original feeder unit.

This mean, to have the knurled feeder wheel to grab the filament at the inside of the loop path out of the filament roll.

I've used this since late 2015 and advice this many times here, but I'm not sure that people get this idea.

However, I now have seen that the UMS5 is using this approach as well, -so you can make your printer quite better at this point.

 

Further, I've also made a quick release system for the old feeder, I can feed the filament easily all the way without the need of using the stepper motor. The original stepper motor used by UM2 is a 400 step/360 degrees, but in the plus version (and kit) they use a 200 step/ degrees motor. So this is a little different, however, it is easy to change the step rate in the firmware, so no problem using the old stepper and the old feeder -as well the old firmware!

 

In my setup, I used same belt as the short one in UM2, (200 mm GT2) belt as it was easy and inexpensive to get.

Then you will need two pulleys with the right ratio differences. Here I've used a 16 tooth at the stepper shaft and a 23 tooth at the "feeder drive" shaft, this give a ratio gear of 1:2. By doing so the torque drive to the filament is doubled!

You will need a 5 mm diameter shaft at 45 mm length, plus two bearing that fits into the gearbox.

If you are using a 200 step/360 degrees motor, you do not need to makes any change to the firmware.

 

The top and the bottom of the extruder is easy to print in PLA, but over time it will be better with some equivalent high temp filament.

 

Next up will be the Ollson block, but you do not need anything else, the PT100 and the heater is good enough, no problem!

But here you might be very carefully when removing the heater and the PT100 from the old block.

Do not re bend the sharp 90 degrees angle, move it without disturbing the current bend, as it may break. They tend to be stuck, try to push them out via the lock screw hole using a small rod without sharp edges, a little heat might help.

I will assume the plus upgrade might handle any quality issues that (was known?) and might improve the original somehow, but since I built mine with all the quality issues, shaft play etc. etc. I'll guess all that was not an issue later for me since I had no problem.  But sure I do not know..

 

Well, that's was maybe a little too much, anyway it may perhaps give a little inspiration.

 

Sure there it's lot's more, but later..

 

Here is some pictures of my setup (that's all in all contains some 11 different modifications, but still using same firmware):

 

Feeder and top part of extruder head.

 

 

Some modification to lo end of extruder head.

 

 

Extension of fan to improve radiator flow through.

 

 

The feeder unit with manull feed handle.

 

Regards

 

Torgeir

 

[cesern 0]

Thanks very much for all your posts guys. Thanks Torgeir for your detail post. very interesting set up, clever release handle. Maybe I should invest in printing out parts like this rather than actual upgrades 

[Torgeir 242]

 

 

Hi cesern and Paul,

 

Actually, I've made a mistake posting this one in the wrong topics.

I did not use much money on my feeder, but some parts and work for drawing etc. Well for this modifiation, I’ve used between 25-25 USD including freighth. Sure, excluding the tools mentioned.

 

 

You will need:

1 ea shaft diameter 5 mm and length 45 mm. The shaft for the “knurled wheel” filament drive & GT2-32 pulley.

2 Bearing 5mm (shaft) 10mm (outer diameter) 4mm (width)

1 Pulley GT2-32-5-6 ~USD 5

1 Pulley GT2-6-5-6 ~USD 5 (for the feeder stepper motor)

1 Belt 200-GT2 ~USD 6 (pack of 5 ea.)

11 ea SST Screw 3mm x 10mm (2mm hex key)

2 ea SST Screw 3mm x 30mm (2mm hex key)

2 ea SST Screw 3mm x 25mm (2mm hex key)

10 ea SST Washer 3mm (id) 6.6mm(od)

1 Hexagon (Umbraco) key 1.5mm (for the knurled wheel & GT2-16 pulley)

1 Hexagon (Umbraco) key 2.0mm (GT2-32 pulley – standard for all UM screws)

 

Note:

SST = Stainless steel (is not magnetic)

 

Pulleye GT2-32-5-6 Belt type 2mm (tooth space) 32 tooth, 5mm shaft and 6 (6.35mm) belt width.

 

Since the screw holes are threaded (3mm fine), it is wise to use threaded tool to clear out any "plastic remains" as this may cause crack in the wall due to the extra pressure this may cause.

 

The belt I’ve used 200 GT2, is the same type of belt that is used from X & Y steppers (200 mm GT2 belt). Doing so, as I’ve only have two types of belt in my printer (as before) and as this will lift the bowden tube approx 3” you can cut the original tube length 2 times. This to address the wear that’s occur at both sides of this tube.

 

Just a little warning here, if you’re using the advanced menu to feed the filament through the bowden tube (705mm), then if the tube is to short -it might go with full speed into the extruder!!! So do not do this..

 

Now some pictures:

 

Feeder Unit Details 1

 

Feeder Unit Details 2

 

Feeder Unit Details 3

 

Feeder Unit Details 4

 

A few word about this modification.

If you want to do this modification, you can use the old stepper motor.

As there is a single stage gear, the turning direction will be reversed, however as you turn around the feeder this does not matter. The only thing to change is the number of step, as we need to double this number. So for a standard UM2, the stepper amount is 282.

This modification using a 400 step/rev we'll change the rate by *2 = 564.

 

As the track line (from the knurled wheel) now is changed to inside loop of (most of the time) the bowden tube, the benefit is less drag forces due to less friction. Friction can only be between 0 and 1, but drag can be any number!

 

I will sure add some more in here soon.

 

Thanks

 

Torgeir

[g7kbr67 1]

Hi Torgeir

 

These feeder updates for the UM2 extended, can anyone supply a kit of parts with new fixing etc?

 

Regards

 

 

Paul 

[Torgeir 242]

Hi Paul,

 

Yes, I'll think @gr5 have a kit that is based on a 1:2 gear designed by @meduza.

This is a good design IMO, but I do not think you can turn the feeder unit at this one, unless it is modified for for this. If this happen you can use it on both sides and with the original feeder unit turned (reversed). Maybe it can be modified to use the release handle I'm using?

I'll think this might be a good combination.

 

I'm sure gr5 can give an advice here.  🙂

 

Thanks

 

Torgeir

 

 

[g7kbr67 1]

23 hours ago, Torgeir said:

Hi Paul,

 

Yes, I'll think @gr5 have a kit that is based on a 1:2 gear designed by @meduza.

This is a good design IMO, but I do not think you can turn the feeder unit at this one, unless it is modified for for this. If this happen you can use it on both sides and with the original feeder unit turned (reversed). Maybe it can be modified to use the release handle I'm using?

I'll think this might be a good combination.

 

I'm sure gr5 can give an advice here.  🙂

 

Thanks

 

Torgeir

 

 

 

[g7kbr67 1]

Hi Torgneir

 

I have just emailed @gr5

 

Did you see my first print?  i have attached a jpg, its not easy to check out as its in black.  But it looks like its fine.

 

[nitrotech 2]

@Torgeir 

 

Did you use a specific nut on the bowden tube quick coupler?

[Torgeir 242]

 

Hi Paul,

 

That's great, congratulation with your first print!

Now the fun begin...

 

Way to go!

 

Regards

 

Torgeir

[Torgeir 242]

Hi nitrotech,

 

This is just a flat nut that I collected from an old mic jack..

So i filed it down to fit inside the feeder (~11.4mm).

Here's a link to the thread specs:

 

https://www.qualitymill.com/2965619/Product/Dormer-0099285

 

And here to a link to a "similar" pneumatic strait tube adapter:

 

https://no.rs-online.com/web/p/products/1216221/?tpr=2

 

Before I found this flat nut. I've tried to print a nut in PLA, but this did not take the pressure..

Well I'll thought that nylon will do the trick, but could not print nylon at this time.

 

Here is a picture of a template and parts made for thread adjustment of this modification.

 

This variant can be used as it is with the spacers, however it's made for a belt gearbox.

 

Thanks

 

Torgeir.

 

 

[Torgeir 242]

Hi Folks,

 

Here is some more details about my feeder gear box and arrangement.

 

The pictures is from Fusion 360.

 

Here you can see the attachment for the electrical cable and a carbon rod (1mm) support.

This support avoid cable to be bent uneven and create cable rupture during long time printing.

It also support prevent conflict between the bowden tube and the electrical cable.

 

 

This arrangement is also made on the other side.

 

 

The upper part of this box hold the 32 tooth pulley and the original feeder unit with release handle. In this 

The lo part in here, is where the feeder stepper motor is installed with a 16 tooth pulley.

 

 

This upper cover also hold the second bearing (5x10x4)mm, for the 5mm drive shaft that's attached to the knurled (original) feeder wheel driving the filament.

 

Here's the last picture for today, self explaining. -

 

Next will be the release handle and test template, etc.

 

Thanks

 

Torgeir

 

 

[Torgeir 242]

Hi Folks,

 

Here's a little more about the feeder and the release handle with "hold open" lock.

 

Some pictures:

The feeder is here mounted with spacers (as wall thickness of UM2) into a stepper motor.

 

This picture shown with the hand lever set to open locked position.

 

This picture shown with the hand lever set to normal (unlocked) position.

 

Here it is in open locked position where you can insert the filament by hand.

Here the hand lever is released and filament can be driven by the stepper motor.

 

Here is the gcode file made with Cura 2.5 end of February 2017 (the latest revision):

Print temp 200 deg. C. Bed temp 60 deg. C. Nozzle 0.4mm PLA.

Can be printed with all UM2 versions, (but if you have a plus version you do not need this one).

 

Gear_Release.gcode

 

 

I've also put up a test block, for making 16mm, 8mm and 3mm hole. In addition there is also a threaded hole for 1/4" quick connect adapter to be used for the bowden tube.

This one is sliced with Cura 2.5 and same settings as above.

 

 

 

UM2E_Dimension_Test_Block.gcode

 

Good luck

 

Thanks

 

Torgeir

Edited June 7, 2020 by Torgeir
FIle positions change.