Feature request: Enable printing with only one extruder plugged in (on UM3)

[timotub 1]

As the title says, can you ultimaker developers make this possible?

What time would you require until this feature is available?

And when do you plan to release it?

 

This feature would be very helpful for people who have lost a print core or who cannot use the second extruder for various reasons!

[Smithy 1,146]

I don't think it will come, because I read somewhere that it is important for the print core cooling (airflow) to have both print cores installed. And the printer comes with 3 print cores, so you have to loose 2 of them to get into this situation. 

[nallath 1,124]

Correct. With only  a single core it causes a whole bunch of problems.

[timotub 1]

Thank you for the answers!

I have suggested this feature, because actually the lift switch of the printer that I'm using is not working properly. The printer cannot switch nozzles, so the active leveling fails. Recalibration of the lift switch positioning didn't help either.

 

Workaround was to set automatic leveling frequency to 'never' and do a manual leveling. Nevertheless, I would suggest to  implement one of the following solutions

1. remove the second extruder and circumvent the switching issue in this way or

2. manually act on the lift switch to set the active extruder before printing and let the printer know that it should not use both extruders during automatic leveling and printing

 

Another idea was that the printer could make use of the camera to detect if the lift switch works properly during automatic leveling and inform the user about this, giving instructions to make printing possible even though the problem persists.

[nallath 1,124]

Is the entire switch broken? The switching itself is pretty reliable in my experience.

[timotub 1]

7 minutes ago, nallath said:

Is the entire switch broken? The switching itself is pretty reliable in my experience.

The switch is not broken, it seems to be old and often-used. I guess the force required to switch has increased. I also observe that one axis misaligns during the switching calibration. This misalignment is then healed when the print head moves to the home position again.

[Smithy 1,146]

But it seems your printer is not in the best condition and needs some service or repair. I don't think it makes sense to implement or deimplement features to get a partly broken printer to work again.

 

I think it is better to check why the switch is not working, maybe some filament is inside the printhead and prevents a proper functionality.

[CarloK 204]

A misaligned axis that corrects itself again sounds like a problem with one or more pulleys being loose. I agree with @Smithy that your printer is to get some TLC.

Most likely this article will help you out: https://support.ultimaker.com/hc/en-us/articles/360011490220-Check-for-play-on-the-axles-of-the-Ultimaker-3

 

Maintaining the Ultimaker printers is simple, but you have to do it once in a while or print quality will degrade.
https://support.ultimaker.com/hc/en-us/articles/360011597119-Ultimaker-3-maintenance-schedule