Continued Ultimaker Issues - Material Station, Errors, and Lost Prints

[boundaryllc 2]

The ultimaker pro bundle is giving me loads of issues. I get "Error at Extruder Head, please reboot." I have one bay that it simply will not recognize material in it. It seems like I have to unplug the entire system from time to time to make the material handler act correctly. Sometimes it thinks there is filament in the head when there isn't any, happily printing away with nothing in the head. Then when it fails a print, despite the print looking perfect when it stops there is no ability to restart it. I am scrapping an entire roll worth of material, and now have a CNC machine diverting its work because the fixturing this machine was supposed to create was lost overnight.

 

I use this machine to support my CNC manufacturing business, we use it to make fixtures, soft jaws, dividers, even some packaging. But instead of a competent piece of industrial machinery, I fill like it should be reserved for making chess pieces and little chunks of art. I just can't depend on it to deliver on time. 

 

Should I take the material handling station off and just direct feed it? 

 

This whole system and how removed you are from the 1's and 0's is just ridiculous. I know its as simple as a parameter that is incorrectly set, and if I could just access the parameter list I could go in and flip that parameter and away we would go. The same with the program. If it had the NC program in it when it halted, I could simply restart the NC program where it stopped, no issue. But I can't find a piece of code anywhere in this machine. Its like it was made for idiots. "If not work, turn off, turn on, try again" is the only answer.  

 

I need this machine to do exactly what I tell it. I need it to run the damn code, and I need it to make the frigging parts, I just don't know how to get there with what seems to be an entirely buggy material station.

 

Edited October 7, 2022 by boundaryllc

[UlrichC-DE 115]

I also have a mill like this and print technical parts with it as well. I feel virtually every word you say.

If I didn't have an old Ultimaker 2 that literally saves my ass sometimes, I would have been at the scrap dealer by now.

 

Of course, without a material station, the printer is more reliable. I also think about rebuilding the printer without MS every time.

 

I also had the problem you describe.

To fix it..

• I updated the firmware to the latest stable version.
• I cleaned the feeder.
• I loosened the four screws of the printhead to get to the plug of the printhead. (The plug of the printhead is exposed to tension, pressure and dirt. You have to clean and reset it from time to time.)
• There was also a new printhead for safety
• The front fan I had cleaned and looked that the rotates

 

Any of it helped .  Such problems are commonplace with the S5. Looking for the causes usually takes too long for me. 

 

My real tip

If you need the printer commercially for appointments etc., get a backup printer.

I have not yet experienced a 3D printer that does not cause problems. Always when you need it the least.

 

Many greetings

[Super_paulie 13]

Hear you. The U5, but more accurately the material station is the most frustrating, useless piece of crap I've ever worked with.

 

Like half an hour wait times for everything? Material stuck in it or not in it but thinks it is? yep. How about changing empty spools and the new filament not reaching the head but going ahead and continuing? Of course.

Nozzle leveling every single print even though the plate hasn't moved and wrecking your plate covering, sure.

 

The list could be a mile long sadly.

[UlrichC-DE 115]

For me, the S5 with material station actually runs day and night. If you understand how the thing ticks, it is easier to find errors.

The material station itself is not the problem. Only the interaction of printer and material station. The station acts like a filter for error messages in the direction of the user.

But of course I'm not talking about the majority of cases in which the new firmware is not working properly.
I have gotten out of the habit of updating.

A clogged printhead, for example, often becomes an ER6x.

If the material station stops feeding. It may well be that the printer went on alarm because it believes it has lost its printhead. Or something else. Mostly banal small things.