Ultimaker Original + Hot End / Nozzle

[darkglove 3]

I have an UMO+ that I have had for 4/5 years now and I think my nozzle has finally had it after printing a load of Carbonfill.

 

So over the last half a decade there seems to be a lot of changes so I'm hoping that someone can give me an idea of my best option.

 

I wanted to get a hardened steel nozzle but it seems that they don't make them for the UMO+?

 

So how much of the hot end do I need to swap out to use more up to date nozzles?

 

I can't actually tell if the replacement hot end kits I've seen are just a replacement that puts me back where I started or will allow me to use different nozzles.

 

Any advice appreciated.

 

[darkglove 3]

OK, so looking at the Olsson Ruby 2.85mm / 0.4mm    compatibility list  it says it's compatible with

 

Ultimaker Original+ *1 *2
*1 = You will need to adjust the fan shroud since the nozzle is shorter than the original nozzle.
*2 = You will need to mount it with the nozzle not placed against the front face of the heater block but against the heat break/isolator tube to create a seal.

 

1, I presume is as simple as printing this fan shorud or just chopping bits off of my one

 

but I'm not sure what 2 means.

 

Anyone done this?

 

[darkglove 3]

Ah, does it mean the base of the nozzel shouldn't be flush with the block and that the 2 threaded parts should be tightened to meet each other inside the block to create a seal?

[darkglove 3]

bump?

[fbrc8-erin 272]

I can't say I've ever tried to put an Olsson ruby on a UMO+. I do remember someone purchasing a steel nozzle from me (with threading intended for the Olsson block) that he planned to install on a UMO+. He did mention having to make adjustments for the threading, but when I checked back with him, he said it worked. You definitely want to make sure the 2 threaded parts are tight against each other to prevent leakage.

[darkglove 3]

Thank you for responding

 

I seem to be stuck between a rock and a hard place atm. I can only find one place that sells the original nozzles (but I have to buy 4) or I have to buy the whole hot end kit.

 

Neither of which I want to do as it seems I need to upgrade it now to future proof it before it becomes useless. Nor do I want to shell out for a nozzle that may or may not fit and print.

 

All upgrades I've seen involve printing parts which at the moment I can't do...

 

Maybe I should bite the bullet and order 4 of those nozzles and sell 3 of them on ebay or something, and print the parts I need to upgrade.

 

I had no idea that this printer had slipped into the world where I can't easily get replacement parts, especially as they still seem available to buy (and not cheap)

 

 

[calinb 11]

It's not difficult to adapt the UMO / UMO+ to other nozzles. I've used Makergear nozzles of various orifice sizes along with Makergear brass "barrels" in the past (instead of my UMO brass "tube"). Now I have the cute little "tin" can nozzle kit of smaller (external dimensions) in a wide range of orifice sizes from E3D and they work well with the original UMO brass tube that's shown here:

https://github.com/Ultimaker/UltimakerOriginal/blob/master/1053_Hot_End_Isolator_Tube/B1053-A2P-A.PDF

 

Okay, the actual "tube" doesn't quite look like the .pdf but you should recognize it as the original Ultimaker supplied part.

 

I think E3D offers harder "premium" nozzles in the same form factor as my brass kit of nozzles. I highly recommend E3D nozzles as drop-in replacements for the UMO nozzles. You'll gain a little max Z height by using the E3D nozzles too.

 

Even my old UMO is easy to maintain. I'm on my second set of long belts (ditched the short belts long ago for "direct drive"). Actually I just changed out one of my replacement custom length long belts that I installed long ago. It has always been a bit funny and never fit quite right so it wore out faster than the other three belts. I also just changed all eight bearings and my X stepper. (Worn steppers cause the "scratching" sound, as I've heard it described in these forums, but I think it's more of a creaking sound.)  My Y stepper is starting to make the scratching/creaking noise too. I'm planning to order a set of new Soyo exact replacement steppers (except the wire length and connectors are not a fit) but I did an emergency install of a cheap BIQU stepper that I've had on hand as a spare for now. It's working fine. I've upgraded all the stepper drivers too but I'm on my original Ulticontroller board (several repairs made over the years) and the Arduino and driver boards have never been problematic (though UM OEM and super cheap Chi-com replacement clones are available, if needed).

 

Don't count out the viability and performance of the first Ultimaker products. Satisfaction all depends on how much of a tinkerer you might be. I assembled my UMO in 2012. I have an E3D Cyclops/Chimera hot end (to be water-cooled modified), BLTouch sensor and I'm designing and spinning an all new head and X/Y blocks to support the new goodies. I installed a custom 1kW 120 VAC heated bed in Mic6 precision aluminium long ago (1kW is way overkill--even for Polycarbonate or "PC", but it heats up super fast) along with many other mods. I see no reason to upgrade to a new printer. I've run many configurations in the past, including a Garcad watercooled hot end to print PC. It was never commercially available and sadly I think Garcad has passed away. He was a virtually unknown early innovator, because he'd never sell anything that he thought could be improved.

 

I think I first installed a water cooled Garcad hotend in late 2013.  I think Garcad sold a very few of these in 2016:

https://www.youmagine.com/designs/garcad-hotend-ultimaker-original-umo-adapter

 

This hotend is either here nor there now as it's no longer available, but it's an example of how the UMO launched a bunch of development and much of it is still viable, if you like to tinker.

Edited August 22, 2020 by calinb

[darkglove 3]

Thankyou @calinb

 

I love to tinker but my issue here is with the time I currently have to tinker on this. 

 

I'm in the middle of developing something and needed to do a load of test prints (so this is obviously when it gave up) so I think I'm going to have to just get those 4 replacement nozzles, keeping in mind that I need to devote some time to upgrade and tinker with it if I want it to carry on being as good as it was out of the box.

 

I've been very lucky in the fact that I've lasted this long on my first nozzle!

 

Have you documented all the changes you have made? Would like to see some photos of the mods you have mentioned.

 

 

[calinb 11]

On 8/22/2020 at 4:48 AM, darkglove said:

Thankyou @calinb

 

 I think I'm going to have to just get those 4 replacement nozzles, keeping in mind that I need to devote some time to upgrade and tinker with it if I want it to carry on being as good as it was out of the box.

 

Have you documented all the changes you have made? Would like to see some photos of the mods you have mentioned.

 

I think the E3D nozzles are available individually too. They are a plug and play installation on the UMO/UMO+, or nearly so. Just make sure that when you tighten the nozzle it bottoms against the brass tube rather than the aluminium heater block such that the nozzle seals against the brass tube inside the heater block. You'll have a very small gap between the nozzle hex and the block that way--perhaps not even visible to the eye. You will probably need to adjust the position of the brass tube to get the nozzle to bottom against the brass tube correctly (without an excessive gap at the heater block), but that's the case for any new nozzle installation. When removing and replacing the nozzle, it helps to heat up the block first, because there's usually a little filament residue and stickiness gumming up the nozzle and brass tube in the heater block threads. I usually run the nozzle up to temp and then turn it off and let it cool down while I'm working on it. I've done it many times so I usually don't burn myself anymore. 🙂

 

Also, my bed is of my own design and I don't know if your bed will reach the Z-min limit switch, given the extra Z gained by the shorter E3D nozzle. If that's the case, you can devise some kind of spacer or extension for the Z-stage's limit switch contact point nub. I've used a small spent brass ammo casing (45 ACP, IIRC) in the past. Flattening and squaring-up the sides of the casing using small pliers makes it fit like an elevated hat on the Z-stage's switch contact nub. Of course the casing may not be available to you but other solutions can easily be devised, including repositioning the switch slightly but just pressing-on a cap is the most easily reversible solution. You might be able to print a cap ahead of time using your original nozzle too. It doesn't have to be pretty-looking.

 

I posted countless howtos on the original UM forum many years ago. It was very time-consuming to take all the photos. They were all lost in a forum migration to support UM's never-ending quest to realize a very trendy-looking forum. Then I lost more posts in another migration and I finally gave up on making very time-consuming but sadly proven to be short-lived contributions here.

Edited August 23, 2020 by calinb

[darkglove 3]

Thanks again @calinb

That is a shame about your howtos, to be honest until now I've been perfectly happy with the quality of prints so have been in the "if it aint broke, don't try and fix it" world, so if I can still get nozzles to fit then I will probably end up leaving it as is for another few years until it's completey obsolete.

 

I did see someone say that the E3D nozzles fit so I blindly ordered one and the one that arrived was a nozzle for ants.

 

Is it the cyclops that are compatible? 

 

 

[calinb 11]

On 8/25/2020 at 10:27 AM, darkglove said:

Thanks again @calinb

That is a shame about your howtos, to be honest until now I've been perfectly happy with the quality of prints so have been in the "if it aint broke, don't try and fix it" world, so if I can still get nozzles to fit then I will probably end up leaving it as is for another few years until it's completey obsolete.

 

I did see someone say that the E3D nozzles fit so I blindly ordered one and the one that arrived was a nozzle for ants.

 

Is it the cyclops that are compatible? 

 

 

The V6 nozzles are compatible:

https://e3d-online.dozuki.com/c/V6_nozzles#Section_Documents

 

I have the Fun Pack:

https://e3d-online.com/collections/nozzles/products/nozzle-fun-pack

 

The Cyclops nozzle is too small.