UM2 First Impressions and Question about Accessory

[Nicolinux 288]

Hi,

I've got my UM2 today and although I am moving to a new apartment right now, I spared some time to set it up.

The question first.

What is this peculiar thing for? It is not mentioned anywhere and I can't guess what it is. Maybe it is related to the extruder. A manual extruder handle maybe? Or a dual extrusion filament guide?

And now to the first impression.

I printed the UM robot (which is equivalent to "hello world" in coding lingo). Here is a picture of my very first print on the UM1 and UM2 side by side.

I'd say the UM1 did a slightly better job although the UM2 robot shows more details. But this could be due slicing. They were sliced with the actual Cura version at the time the printer arrived.

Notice how the right ear is pretty messed up. I did already mention that the right fan on the UM2 is useless for small objects because it is not angled correctly. When compared to the UM1 robot, it could as well have been turned off. During printing I noticed that the right side was always soft and moved around when the head went over it where as the left side was stable.

@Sander: By the way, tell Norman (who build my printer) he is a moro.. fine gentleman. He hooked up the right fan to the connector for the 3rd. fan. Thus the right fan was allways on and the 3rd. was off. I was about to take the electronics board off to track the fan wires but then I saw the connectors above the print head and switched them.

Maybe you guys could improve your assembling workflow to add a visual check at the end to see which fan is running. Might be bad if the 3rd. fan does not work and the first Ultimaker experience is ruined by a potential filament plug.

And while I am "ranting" - there was no hex screwdriver included although the manaual mentions it. No big deal, I have one here but others may not. Also, what happened with the Ultimate Blue filament? I got silver which is nice too, but had I known it, I wouldn't have spent my voucher for another silver spool (amongst others)

Overall I am happy with the UM2. The printer looks awesome, it printed ok without tuning and it arrived in time for christmas (thank you!).

 

[gr5 2,267]

Or a dual extrusion filament guide?

 

Yes. I didn't get one but the newer um2's come with one. Slip it into the holes on the back of the UM and twist.

 

[Dim3nsioneer 558]

[...]

Maybe you guys could improve your assembling workflow to add a visual check at the end to see which fan is running. Might be bad if the 3rd. fan does not work and the first Ultimaker experience is ruined by a potential filament plug.

[...]

 

I can only recommend Ultimaker to introduce Poka Yoke for the UM2 electronics...

 

[gr5 2,267]

Never heard of it before. I had to look it up:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poka-yoke

 

[Dim3nsioneer 558]

It's usually a trade-off. In this case Poka Yoke would mean to have different plugs for the different fans. That would certainly lead to more different parts for the device (not very attractive due to increased costs) but decreases the risk of an assembly error.