SOLVED Ulitmaker S5 - several prints resulting in the extruder and carriage rods laying on the bed

[jeffroe 3]

We have 6 of the Ultimaker S5 printers installed at work, and one of them has experienced the failure shown in the attached pic.

 

The first time we were able to remove the large blob of material from the extruder and reassembled everything, but it happened again a few days later.  We ran a short test print (or two) to confirm it was running correctly after the first reassembly.

 

A similar incident occurred on another one of the machines shortly after we deployed them.  That one had a massive blob on the extruder and we ended up getting that extruder replaced under warranty.  (The blob couldn't be removed).

 

Does anyone know what may be happening here?  It was running unattended, so we don't know what caused the issue.  Maybe the part(s) came off the bed and caught on the extruder? Is this a common failure mode with these machines?  They are just over a year old now (maybe 14-15 months?).  The material in this print was Matterhackers Blue PLA, which we have run successfully through these printers (at least 10 spools worth).

 

I am assuming that there is no way to record timelapse video from the webcam (like Octoprint can)?  Thinking about setting up a camera feed separately to see if we can see what is causing this.

 

Thanks!

 

[ccmaker2020 2]

This happen to me this morning as I found the rods had fallen off and my print was destroyed. I placed the rods back in the bearing and while running a calibration test, I noticed the rods began to move out of place again. Any solutions to this? 

[gr5 2,210]

There's no mystery.  They pop out of the slider blocks.  There are I believe newer slider blocks although this is irrelevant.  If your printer is still under warranty you should be able to get a set of blocks and belts plus instructrions for free.  Even if outside warranty - possibly it's free.  Contact your reseller.  And they aren't that expensive either way.

 

Check for cracks on the blocks.  Even if no cracks they are popping out too easily.  There are temporary fixes like this one:

https://www.youmagine.com/designs/cracked-slide-block-cap

[ccmaker2020 2]

Thank you for the help. Slider blocks were fine however aligning the xy rods fixed the issue.