Great post Nico. Glad your much happier with your printer this time !! 
1) Packaging of the plate. Completely agree. When I set my printer up I had no idea how to remove the plate and YES I heard that loud noise when I switched the printer on and thought I had broken something.
2) Test print. Agree on this too. I have a blue test print, yet the nozzle had remains of brown or silvery colour inside it.
I must get Robert`s chain too, it seems I`m the only one who doesn't have it yet lol 
Great to hear that you have a more capable printer now! I wouldn't worry about the last 1 or 2 mm³ of extrusion. I suspect a lot of that is down to the filament, or precise alignment of parts etc. The UM1's upper limit was somewhere in the 8-10 range too on most machines - it was just less dramatic when you started to hit the limit, because the extruder would slowly grind away the filament, rather than slipping back. In practice, 8mm³ is plenty for most real-world prints.
On the matter of the bed... I agree that the instructions should be better. But you can simply lift the bed up by hand, by grabbing it at the sides near the back, and pulling straight up. No need to get your fingers greasy, or have anything make bad noises.
5. 3rd fan
I hope it is not normal but my 3rd fan is loud as hell. It is either broken or pushed too hard against the aluminium wall.
New fans (brand name: Deep Cool :cool: ), spacers for the head screws, blue clips instead of red ones, and cushioning or something simmilar for the extruder motor. Not visible here but one can see it when peeking from the top. And now the printer is mostly free of black gunk that used to hang on the blackened parts of the case. Oh and the threaded rod doesn't wooble like before. And I don't know if the glass plates are coated with something special, but everything sticks like crazy (which is good). I even broke off a extrusion test cylinder when I took it off.
Now if you'll excuse me, I need to print Robert's cable chain (link), I feel so naked without it :mrgreen:
Congrats on getting back in the game with your new printer!!
I've had to replace all of my fans with ones I sourced from DigiKey, their bearings were all pretty ragged and made a similar noise (slight eccentric vibration resonating through the sheet metal fan shroud).
I am interested in the changes they've already made to the units.
I hadn't seen that cable chain before; that will be next in my print queue. I've been using a small ramp next to the printer bed that forced the cable out instead of under the bed, but the chain is MUCH cleaner (and a cool visual adder too)!
Nice that you finally have a working printer. Congratulations.
I also do not understand why my sample was yellow. During the first printing, also came a different color from the nozzle out. I think it was green or blue, at least not the silver-gray free filament. Well I guess that is grounded in the acute lack of time by Ultimaker.
What color are the Bowden brackets have, is in any case not matter. Also the design of the sticker is a matter of taste, I think it's fine the way it is.
The long screws for the print head could Ultimaker probably not order at the appropriate length, so presumably the additional distance-pieces. Shortening the screws would have been a more elegant solution, It will work, but now the print head has four more annoying small parts. This is a very bad Thing.
Well, the thing with the glass plate below the print-bed, I had already read a little about it. But a new customer is as well, proceed exactly as you described it. This is very annoying in any case for each other.
The good adhesion to the glass plate is unfortunately subside, with my glass plate, it was after a few cleanings over.
Oh, and sometimes are simply the screws of the fan a little over tightened.
What the hell, hopefully now comes joy from the NOZZLE, I wish it to you in any case very much. :smile:
Yay, finally you're back in the game Good to hear the new printer is working ok for you now (except for that stupid fan).
Hi Nico,
Many congratulations for the new printer.
Did ultimaker told you what was the problem with the older printer?
@Skint: You know, when you're the only one without, you're the pervert. Thankfully Robert designed a nice loincloth for the UM2
@illuminarti: You're right. I am not complaining. I'll still have to put the printer through its paces with real world prints, but I think it will behave fine.
Regarding the z-stage - I tried to lift it up by hand but it was truly stuck. Also noticed that some packaging material got into the threaded rod/nut. Maybe that's why it didn't move.
@Das_ENGINER: Do you by chance know which fans are needed? I don't want to ask Sander for any more spare parts. They sent me so many, I could probably build another UM1 by now
Regarding the spacers - I don't know why. I guess the screws are slightly longer. Also loosening and tightening them seems to be different now. Maybe they have the same effect like a nylock nut.
The cushioning for the extruder motor looks to be made of the same material as the cable sheating that runs along the bowden tube. Maybe it is not cushioning at all but just some cables that were re-routed.
I think the wobble is fine. My old printer wobbled more like 10-20 degrees. I am not entierly sure if it matters because the thick rods that hold the z-stage should cancel any sideways movement. But then again wobbling was a big issue for me with the UM1 and it has a similar design. One of the last things I printed on the old UM2 featured quite some visible banding.
Yeah, the cable chain... I wonder how long before Ultimaker merges it into the official design.
@mnis: Stickers are a matter of taste for sure. I just wanted to prived _my_ feedback. And non-photorealistic stickers might also be cheaper too.
I think the spacers are fine. I guess they decrease the weight of the head a little since plastic is lighter than the metal that's missing from the shorter head screws. And that's not a bad thing.
Good idea with the screws on the side fans. I'll try it. For the 3rd fan, that's not the case. Loosening the screws was the first thing I tried.
@IRobertI: Thanks, feels good to be back to the 3D printing self-help group 
@Mr. Waldorf: No, they didn't say anything. Maybe the punishment is not over yet and my old printer still prints Makerbot logos :twisted:
@Das_ENGINER: Do you by chance know which fans are needed? I don't want to ask Sander for any more spare parts. They sent me so many, I could probably build another UM1 by now
Regarding the spacers - I don't know why. I guess the screws are slightly longer. Also loosening and tightening them seems to be different now. Maybe they have the same effect like a nylock nut.
The cushioning for the extruder motor looks to be made of the same material as the cable sheating that runs along the bowden tube. Maybe it is not cushioning at all but just some cables that were re-routed.
I think the wobble is fine. My old printer wobbled more like 10-20 degrees. I am not entierly sure if it matters because the thick rods that hold the z-stage should cancel any sideways movement. But then again wobbling was a big issue for me with the UM1 and it has a similar design. One of the last things I printed on the old UM2 featured quite some visible banding.
Yeah, the cable chain... I wonder how long before Ultimaker merges it into the official design.
For my unit;
I replaced the plate cooling fans with the Orion OD3010-12HB:
http://www.digikey.com/product-search/en?x=0&y=0&lang=en&site=us&KeyWords=1053-1199-nd
However, the Sunon MC30101V1-000U-A99 are also a viable option:
I replaced the PTFE coupler cooling fan with the Sunon MC25060V2-000U-A99:
Good to know on the wobble!
Crap, they don't have them in the european version of the store. Will have to look elsewhere.
Thanks anyway. At least I know the size and the other specs now.
Crap, they don't have them in the european version of the store. Will have to look elsewhere.
Thanks anyway. At least I know the size and the other specs now.
I don't get why DigiKey does this type of thing. I have a very hard time believing that a fan company has export control regulations setup to prevent merchandise from being exported to Europe (especially when some of the stock fans on the UM2 are Sunon).
The Orion plate fans are available to Germany from DigiKey:
http://www.digikey.de/product-detail/de/OD3010-12HB/1053-1199-ND/2621104
The PTFE coupler fan should be able to be sourced through TME:
http://www.tme.eu/de/details/mc25060v2-a99/dc-lufter-5v/sunon/mc25060v2-000u-a99/
You can get the correct Sunon fan for the middle fan from a European supplier, I wrote about in a post in the umforums in december.
Here is a direct link to the supplier/fan:
http://www.tme.eu/se/katalog/?idp=1&search=MC25060V2-000U-A99&cleanParameters=1
It's 5EUR for a single one. For 50+ it's 3.85EUR per piece.
I decided to make my own spool holder, I just wanted something very simple, specifically for the UM and colorfabb reels.
I designed it around standard 608 skateboard bearings.
The main stand under extruded so badly over night, it's like a flimsy basket, it actually broke pulling it off the bed, hopefully my patch up job will keep it together. It rolls very nicely, first thing I'll try to print, is a better stand!
@Das_ENGINER, gadgetfreak: Thanks for the infos. But now that I think about it, I'd need to solder the jack onto the fan(cables). Meh... lazy
Alright, a few more observations and clarifications and also a question:
1. The cushioning for the extruder motor wasn't one. It was just a very long cable (sheating) that was squeezed behind the extruder motor:
2. I took the electronics cover off because it was bent (the printer must have been handled pretty rough. The dent corresponds to marks on the package - looks like it has been dropped :eek:). However, beneath the cover I just saw a loose cable. It is very short and doesn't reach up to a socket. I wonder what it is.
3. And a new theory about underextrusion (test fails at 7mm^3/s now)...
I noticed that with the new printer it is very hard to push filament into the feeder. Like really hard. I changed filament a few times and it also got stuck on the way out. I had to push the ball bearing away with a screwdriver in order to take the filament out:
The ball bearing pushes the filament very hard against the feeder case. There are already some pieces missing - and I had the printer for just a few days...
So maybe over time the filament guide inside the feeder is bent and broken in such a way that the filament has a hard time passing through (like Ian suggested some time ago).
Nico, if you print in PLA you should reprint the feeder housing in PLA. https://www.youmagine.com/designs/ultimaker2-feeder-printable#!design-information.
You're grinding away at the ABS feeder and slowly building up ABS flecks and dust in your print head which will eventually jam because of this.
Hm... I'd rather wait a little and print Ian's or Geek's new feeder. Also maybe Ultimaker will release an improved version if the theory of ABS feeder flecks clogging the nozzle proves to be widespread/true.
I believe they're trying to get their supplier to use a different material for the feeder.
+1 on Ian or Geek's feeder designs. I'm sitting on my hands in anticipation!
The spare cable is just a spare. It doesn't go anywhere.
I saw another printer at the 3DPrintShow get its cover crushed in like that too. I think the packaging could still use a little extra work under the machine.
The spare cable is just a spare. It doesn't go anywhere.
I saw another printer at the 3DPrintShow get its cover crushed in like that too. I think the packaging could still use a little extra work under the machine.
Did you happen to see the packaging for the Bee printer. I forgot the full name, that was so well done.
@Pikey: Hehe, me too. I am about to send Ian and Geeks some "comfort beer" over in order to speed up the creative process
@illuminarti: Ok, thought so. About the cover, I just wrote Marrit and suggested to improve packaging with a hard bottom inlay (wood or plastic). Good thing it missed the board. I don't know if I'll survive another printer replacement.
It's really disheartening to see you having such issues with your replacement UM2! I've been trying to keep negativity out of my own posts regarding under extrusion etc (I'm sure a few unhappy comments are slipping through) but really, there should be no need whatsoever for you to be pulling apart your new printer.
I have colleagues and random people who follow my work asking my thoughts on the UM2, and I try and focus on the printers good points, but with my own experiences, and situations like yours, I'm becoming conflicted about my responses.
If this were any other consumer product, it would be unacceptable. A certain degree of slack has to be given due to the nature of the technology, and the start up status of the company, but the users here are a lot more understanding and patient than your average consumer, who are the target market for the Ultimaker 2.
The UM2 is marketed as plug and play, and it simply isn't that simple. If it were not for this forum, I'd of smashed mine to pieces by now.
#flipdesk
@Pikey: Hehe, me too. I am about to send Ian and Geeks some "comfort beer" over in order to speed up the creative process
@illuminarti: Ok, thought so. About the cover, I just wrote Marrit and suggested to improve packaging with a hard bottom inlay (wood or plastic). Good thing it missed the board. I don't know if I'll survive another printer replacement.
Well I think it is due to the nature of the product. 3D printing is new (for the masses) and these devices still bear the falair of hackable projects. The reason I went to great lenghts to avoid a replacement printer, is because I hate wasting resources. Shipping hardware across Europe is no fun for anyone. And UM was very fast to attend to the case and send replacement parts. It is hard to hate someone that sympathetic.
However I think many issues could be avoided if the QA process/staff at UM steps up its game. Missing or loose screws, wrongly connected or broken fans. This is basic stuff. No need for highly trained QA workers. Some of these printers would fail to pass the test even for the untrained eye. The only way I can explain it, is because the UM2 has been such a smash hit. They need to pump out new units really fast and sadly it shows.
But what is the solution? Stop production until everything has been improved? Or hire many new people? I don't think this is feasible (at least not financially).
On the other hand, it is a bit our own fault. Nobody said that we couldn't wait for the second revision. I think we all know that every first revision sucks to some degree. Even huge companies like Apple don't get it right in this regard.
So with the replacement printer I'll just swap out the fan, leave the electronics cover off (or install it if the send me a new one) and I'll print below 7mm^3/s until the community has a better feeder or UM comes up with an improved one.
braddock, I feel your pain. I kept my sanity thanks to the forum too. And I can barely remember my experience with the UM 1 (which up until now has been worse then anything I encountered with the UM2).
I agree with that, and I don't have any grievances with Ultimaker, as Sander in particular is always quick to respond, and is as helpful as he can possibly be.
This still doesn't alleviate frustration when all you want to do is print something on your new $3000+ printer.
Whenever I kick off a print now, I'm actually anxious, I can't relax and just let it go, it needs constant baby sitting.
Hopefully, my new zero friction spool roller above will help somewhat. I'll test it tonight.
Well I think it is due to the nature of the product. 3D printing is new (for the masses) and these devices still bear the falair of hackable projects. The reason I went to great lenghts to avoid a replacement printer, is because I have wasting resources. Shipping hardware across Europe is no fun for anyone. And UM was very fast to attend to the case and send replacement parts. It is hard to hate someone that sympathetic.
However I think many issues could be avoided if the QA process/staff at UM steps up its game. Missing or loose screws, wrongly connected or broken fans. This is basic stuff. No need for highly trained QA workers. Some of these printers would fail to pass the test even for the untrained eye. The only way I can explain it, is because the UM2 has been such a smash hit. They need to pump out new units really fast and sadly it shows.
But what is the solution? Stop production until everything has been improved? Or hire many new people? I don't think this is feasible (at least not financially).
On the other hand, it is a bit our own fault. Nobody said that we couldn't wait for the second revision. I think we all know that every first revision sucks to some degree. Even huge companies like Apple don't get it right in this regard.
So with the replacement printer I'll just swap out the fan, leave the electronics cover off (or install it if the send me a new one) and I'll print below 7mm^3/s until the community has a better feeder or UM comes up with an improved one.
braddock, I feel your pain. I kept my sanity thanks to the forum too. And I can barely remember my experience with the UM 1 (which up until now has been worse then anything I encountered with the UM2).
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Hey guys,
Ultimaker replaced my old UM2 (thanks!) and the new one just arrived. The first thing I did (after tightening the pulleys) was to print the extrusion test. (230°, 60° bed, with half empty spool on stock spool holder).
Well I wish I had one of those machines illuminarti tested that refuse to fail, but no luck here. Maybe I'll just have to disassemble the head and put it back together (will definitely do - the 3rd fan drives me crazy - see below):
It starts to underextrude at 8-9mm^3/s. I loosened the head screws a wee bit but this made the extrusion test worse (object on the far right).
Then I installed Robert's fantastic low friction spool holder (link). Now it is a bit better. It starts to underextrude at 10mm^3/s with some visible artifacts from underextrusion at 9mm^3/s.
Well it is actually a world's difference to the first printer. I can't complain. But if I wanted to complain, here are some small things I noticed (also feedback for Ultimaker - Sander if you are reading this, please realay it to whom it may concern):
1. Packaging
The glass plate was stuck beneath the z-stage. This is a clever idea because this way it can't move and wouldn't break. But it is not possible to get it out without powering on the printer. And guess what happens when the first run wizzard tries to move the z-stage down :/
Well, it is possible to get the glass plate out - just by turning the threaded screw. But this isn't mentioned anywhere. Besides a new user wouldn't know that the first run wizzard will try to move the z-stage down. It makes a hell of a noise and you'd think your printer just destroyed itself...
2. Testprint
Guys, if you really perform those test prints on the machines you ship, it might be a good idea to inspect them before shipping. Here's a side by side comparison of the test print from the first UM2 and the second one. Underextrusion is hard to miss on the first one...
And by the way - how many test prints do you run on one machine? My test print was done with blue filament but the nozzle was full of green filament so clearly the last thing printed on my machine wasn't the test print.
3. Heated bed reverse logo
I noticed that the heated bed has the Ultimaker logo engraved on the bottom. It is reflected on the aluminium plate but it is backwards. If you want to make it look cool, just flip the logo so it reflects correctly:
4. Stickers
Finally, stickers in every box! Thanks! I dig the UM robot but the "photo stickers" look cheesy. Might want to go with an abstract illustration of the printer instead of a photo.
5. 3rd fan
I hope it is not normal but my 3rd fan is loud as hell. It is either broken or pushed too hard against the aluminium wall.
Check this out (volume up!)
And now a few observations. Judging from the number on the box my first UM2 was shipped in, I had unit 349. The second printer seems to be unit 1434. And it shows. Here are some visible changes:
New fans (brand name: Deep Cool :cool: ), spacers for the head screws, blue clips instead of red ones, and cushioning or something simmilar for the extruder motor. Not visible here but one can see it when peeking from the top. And now the printer is mostly free of black gunk that used to hang on the blackened parts of the case. Oh and the threaded rod doesn't wooble like before. And I don't know if the glass plates are coated with something special, but everything sticks like crazy (which is good). I even broke off a extrusion test cylinder when I took it off.
Now if you'll excuse me, I need to print Robert's cable chain (link), I feel so naked without it :mrgreen:
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