My first print on Ultimaker 2

[nickwu 0]

Hallo Everyone, I recently received my Ultimaker 2, and I've made the first print,

see the images below:

as you can see, the button edge of the body was a bit distortion, I was wondering what would I do to improve that.

Any tips would be appreciated!

 

[ian 32]

go into Cura with your robot and set the layer to .1 layer height.

then drop the print temp down a bit to maybe 200ish.

print speed 50 should be fine...and have the fan cooling on 100%

good luck !!

PS... the robot model is actually not so so good for printing !! i know it is the company symbol for ultimaker but the model itself for printing is not the best.. so dont shoot yourself about this robot and printing it perfect... I never got the damn little guy perfect and Im printing big detailed prints all the time... and all super :smile:

Ian :smile:

 

[gr5 2,265]

Most important things:

1) 100% fan by the time it gets to the overhang - there is probably zero fan on the first 2 layers.

2) not too hot. 220C should be okay but 210C better. 200C even better but then you have to print more slowly or it will underextrude.

 

[nickwu 0]

Thanks for the tips from lan and gr5 :-) , I will give them a try as soon as possible, and get back to you guys .

I am a beginner in 3d printing, and I had a great interest in this area.

Thank you again

 

[nickwu 0]

Here is the second print:

print settings:

layer height: 0.1mm

temperature: 210c

speed: 50

support: None

cooling fan: On

model file:

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:18271

It's still got some of distortion at the lower body of owl, should I turn on the support or use the 0.06mm layer height,

any suggestions?

Thank you

 

[illuminarti 18]

Are all three fans on your print head running after the first few layers of the print? (The one on the back should be running all the time).

[illuminarti 18]

You should also set the minimum layer time in Cura to at least 7 seconds, to make sure the plastic has enough time cool between layers.

[gr5 2,265]

Something is wrong. If this guy in the video can do it, you should be able to. The only 2 things I can think of:

1) Buildplate too hot - try 60C. 75C is definitely much too hot. I usually print 60C to 70C. Try 60C for this print which shouldn't have much "lifting" issues. After you click "print" and choose model, go straight to TUNE menu and set buildplate to 60C.

2) Side fans not working - if the side fans aren't coming on this would also explain what we are seeing with the lower part of the owl. The side fans don't come on until 3 to 5mm up.

Going thinner than .1mm is unlikely to help and might even make it worse. .1mm is a good layer height.

 

 

[nickwu 0]

Thanks for all the great tips!

I've made my third print with Ultimaker 2 this morning, I scale the owl model down a bit from the original size,

I've set the minimum layer time to 7 seconds in Cura and build plate temperature to 60C ,

here are the rest of the Cura settings:

 

Here are two clips that shows the printing process:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvong1inMv8&feature=youtu.be

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyoW6vWnhr4&feature=youtu.be

Here is the result:

 

The middle part of the owl was still got some distortions , I've found the back fan on the print head was running over the printing, but the two fans on the side were coming up randomly, as you can see at 3:50 in the first clip.

and in the second clip you can see the side fans were not moving at all, is it normal?

 

[illuminarti 18]

No the side fans should be on full after the first few mm. Pull the mesh sheathing back above the head and look at the wires there. The green wires go to the two connectors that power the two fans in series. Check that the connectors are properly seated, and the wires aren't loose. Note that there will be one loose connector on wires coming from the back of the printer that does not connect to anything.

[gr5 2,265]

You have a bad connection. This happened to MANY people who bought the UM2. The shipping is just very rough I think and those wires not so secure. I even watched Illuminarti fix one with nothing much more than chewing gum and his fingers. He didn't even use chewing gum. He had to strip a wire and shove it in some little hole and shove a piece of metal in after it to hold it in. It held throughout the next few days of printing and should last through the NEXT show.

Anyway - here's what you do. Turn printer off. Turn it on. Go to print menu select anything to print and then immediately go to TUNE menu. As long as you don't exit the tune menu it will not start printing. Set the fan speed in the tune menu to 100%.

Now if the fans aren't turning, grab that mesh stuff above the print head and slide it up - like sliding up a t-shirt when you want to take it off. Just grab the edges and lift.

Inside you will see the connectors. As you play with them and touch them the fans may come on. Somewhere in there is probably a very loose wire.

 

[nickwu 0]

I went to TUNE menu and set the fan speed to 100% , the fans ran and reacted

to the fan speed command in the menu correctly, but when printing was starting the fans became on and off randomly, please see the video below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3zgwI7snmo

It seems like the movement of the print head randomly stopped the fans, I guess.

Also , before I start to check the wires I wanted to be sure the red line in the picture below is the mesh sheathing stuff, right?

 

[nickwu 0]

I've just checked green wires in the mesh sheathing above the print head as images below:

I haven't touch anything, Do you guys find anything wrong?

 

[IRobertI 521]

From the video it sure looks like a bad connection. As the head moves around the cables intermittently get contact and the fans start up, the head moves again and the connection is broken.

Try tugging gently on all the connectors, are they all securely connected to each other? If they are, start tugging gently on the individual wires going into the connectors and make sure they're in there solid. I had a connector on my printer on which one of the wires had come loose inside the connector.

If any of the wires comes loose do the following. Disconnect the connector. Now try inserting the wire into the housing again, you should hear a very faint *click* and you should no longer be able to remove the wire. Then re-connect and try power things up again.

If the wire refuses to stay in there first try to rotate it 180 degrees and see if that helps. If it doesn't it's likely that the small barb on the little metal connector has been pushed in and you'll need to bend it out again. Here's a random picture I found via google of a similar connector. See that little bent piece on the top? That's what's stopping the wire from coming out: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_nw6qmkwwuYE/Swq5TmbZeXI/AAAAAAAACZw/ChEnD0zIzOs/s1600/power_pin_up_close.jpg

 

[gr5 2,265]

Follow my directions above to get the fan power going, then jiggle all the connectors and wiring. Try to get the fans to come on and off repeatedly such that you know the exact connector that has problems. Then potentially take that connector apart and possibly solder the wires in or something.

 

[nickwu 0]

gr5 and IRobertl, thank you for the advice.

I have found the wire on the image below is the problem, I have marked the problem wire:

when I was going to TUNE menu and set fan speed to 100%,

the fan didn't run, but when I push the wire toward the connector , two side fans came on.

so the next step I need to do is disconnect the wire and reconnect it and see how it works.

wish me luck!

 

[nickwu 0]

when I was trying to pull the wire from the connector, I found it is broken

and the metal part inside it is exposed, maybe I've pulled it to hard :eek:

Is there a simple way to reconnect it back securely?

Thanks in advance.

 

[gr5 2,265]

Remove all the black rubber with a knife. Use a soldering iron and solder to attach wire - before soldering it would be good to add heat shrink but not mandatory.

If you don't have

1) Soldering iron

2) Solder

3) Heatshrink tubing

then maybe a friend or neighbor does?

 

[nickwu 0]

I don't have any soldering stuff around me, but I have some extra wires,

the width seems to be the same:

 

Could I remove the old one and replace it with a new one?

 

[nickwu 0]

I've replace the broken wire with a new one:

It seems matched perfectly, and now I am running a test print to see how it works

 

[gr5 2,265]

Excellent!

 

[nickwu 0]

Side fans are working properly now:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8g5Cr8UjnNM

and the test print looks better now:

Thanks for the advice, I am glad to be part of the user community!