New to 3D-printing, Ultimaker 2 Extended Plus nozzle hitting the build plate metal clip

[Blasty 0]

Hey! I've purchased a used UM2E+

I connected it via USB, did build plate leveling. Started a test print with Cura 4.7, the nozzle hit the build plate metal clips, aborted print.

Updated Cura to version 5.7, factory reset the printer, updated the printer firmware via Cura, the printer firmware updated to V: _3.3.0ex

Tried to test print again, nozzle still hitting the build plate metal clip.

 

I did the build plate leveling again.

In machine settings I set the printer X width and Y depth to 200.0mm

There were some pre-existing G-codes in machine settings which are pasted below:

Start G-Code
G0 F3000 Y50 ;avoid prime blob

END G CODE
;Version _2.6 of the firmware can abort the print too early if the file ends
;too soon. However if the file hasn't ended yet because there are comments at
;the end of the file, it won't abort yet. Therefore we have to put at least 512
;bytes at the end of the g-code so that the file is not yet finished by the
;time that the motion planner gets flushed. With firmware version _3.3 this
;should be fixed, so this comment wouldn't be necessary any more. Now we have
;to pad this text to make precisely 512 bytes.

 

I've removed these G-Codes and the problem persisted.

 

Otherwise the machine seems to work fine, fans are running, material extrudes, build plate and print head moves normally, etc. 

What steps should I take remove this issue?

I have only tried to print via USB, I am yet to get myself an SD card.

I've attached screenshots of machine settings.

 

Thank you in advance!

 

Edited June 20 by Blasty

[GregValiant 1,346]

@Torgeir or @gr5 may be able to help with this.

[Torgeir 262]

Hi @Blasty

 

First, welcome in here.

 

This is a new one for me, -but sure possible..

I'll guess that the clip the nozzle hit, was the forward left one, as this is the place the nozzle are to put the filament bleeding when clearing for proper feed. Next, the head move down and moving a little aft before setting course to start making the skirt or brim.  But when the head moving down, it's just collide with this left forward clip, right?

 

This is what I'll think happen..  If this is right, I'll think the Y limit switch might be moved to much forward by some reason.

In this case, the stop offset switch for the Y axe are moved to much forward and make the nozzle to move too much and overrun the max limit on the build plate.

 

When looking on the object  to be printed on the heat bed in Cura, you can see the valid print area clearly visible and the area where the clip are located are shaded black. If you try to move your object into here your object will change color with stripes to indicate; at this place the object will cannot be printed. This will work if the above adjustment are right..

 

The old versions of Cura (4.13.1 and older) will show this dark shadow over the clip when the build plate are empty, while the later Arachne version of Cura (after version 5.0 I'll think) only show this when an object are present on the heat bed.

 

For the UM2E/E+ the X & Y are set to 225 and Z 305.. 

 

Well, lets see how this go.

Good luck

Torgeir

 

 

[ahoeben 1,986]

On 6/20/2024 at 7:10 PM, Blasty said:

I've purchased a used UM2E+

I connected it via USB,

The Ultimaker 2 family do not (officially) support printing via USB. Print via the SD card instead.

 

If you really want to print via USB, you MUST change the G-code flavor from "Ultimaker 2" to "Marlin" (in the Machine Settings dialog). This will override some functionality on your printer (specifically material selection) and add that functionality to Cura. The gcode produced via "Ultimaker 2" g-code flavor misses some elements that are required to successfully print over USB (because the Ultimaker 2 would normally insert these elements automatically when printing via SD).

[Blasty 0]

On 6/22/2024 at 2:16 AM, Torgeir said:

Hi @Blasty

 

First, welcome in here.

 

This is a new one for me, -but sure possible..

I'll guess that the clip the nozzle hit, was the forward left one, as this is the place the nozzle are to put the filament bleeding when clearing for proper feed. Next, the head move down and moving a little aft before setting course to start making the skirt or brim.  But when the head moving down, it's just collide with this left forward clip, right?

 

This is what I'll think happen..  If this is right, I'll think the Y limit switch might be moved to much forward by some reason.

In this case, the stop offset switch for the Y axe are moved to much forward and make the nozzle to move too much and overrun the max limit on the build plate.

 

When looking on the object  to be printed on the heat bed in Cura, you can see the valid print area clearly visible and the area where the clip are located are shaded black. If you try to move your object into here your object will change color with stripes to indicate; at this place the object will cannot be printed. This will work if the above adjustment are right..

 

The old versions of Cura (4.13.1 and older) will show this dark shadow over the clip when the build plate are empty, while the later Arachne version of Cura (after version 5.0 I'll think) only show this when an object are present on the heat bed.

 

For the UM2E/E+ the X & Y are set to 225 and Z 305.. 

 

Well, lets see how this go.

Good luck

Torgeir

 

 

 

On 6/22/2024 at 9:02 AM, ahoeben said:

The Ultimaker 2 family do not (officially) support printing via USB. Print via the SD card instead.

 

If you really want to print via USB, you MUST change the G-code flavor from "Ultimaker 2" to "Marlin" (in the Machine Settings dialog). This will override some functionality on your printer (specifically material selection) and add that functionality to Cura. The gcode produced via "Ultimaker 2" g-code flavor misses some elements that are required to successfully print over USB (because the Ultimaker 2 would normally insert these elements automatically when printing via SD).

 

Hey, Thank you for the answers! ☺️

I tried to print with an SD card now, and the printing started normally! So in that sense I'm in the clear.

The first print failed though, the print layer is extremely thin and the material doesnt retain its rigidity during the print. I calibrated the build plate once again and got the same failed result.

I printed with default settings, with the print in the middle of the build plate.

I'll attach a screenshot of the print and the settings. 

I suspect I should change the nozzle, it might be clogged. I don't have 100% information what nozzle it is, but I think its a brass 0.4mm.

I'm using standard 2.85mm black PLA, which doesnt feel too brittle, but has been exposed to air for at least months, probably more.

 

 

 

 

 

[Blasty 0]

Changed the filament to a new one, and the result was a bit better. On normal print quality settings.

 

Edited June 24 by Blasty
Attached the correct image

[gr5 2,225]

Quote

The first print failed though, the print layer is extremely thin and the material doesnt retain its rigidity during the print. I calibrated the build plate once again and got the same failed result.

I had no idea what you meant until I saw the photos.  We call that "underextrusion" and it has hundreds of causes.

 

Okay since it happened only on the old filament I'm guessing the problem was cracked filament.  Did the old filament come out of the bowden in many pieces?

 

PLA does not need to be kept dry or away from air.  It does however crack if you straighten it for a day so for example if the PLA has been in the printer for weeks, it's often best to remove that last meter or so of filament and cut it off.  The filament that had been straightened.

 

Again - to get cracked filament you have to do 2 things: filament has to be old PLA, you have to leave it straightened for at least 12 hours.  It only affects the last meter or so of filament.  The symptom is you often get underextrusion when one of the cracks gets stuck somewhere inside the print head.

[Blasty 0]

41 minutes ago, gr5 said:

I had no idea what you meant until I saw the photos.  We call that "underextrusion" and it has hundreds of causes.

 

Okay since it happened only on the old filament I'm guessing the problem was cracked filament.  Did the old filament come out of the bowden in many pieces?

 

PLA does not need to be kept dry or away from air.  It does however crack if you straighten it for a day so for example if the PLA has been in the printer for weeks, it's often best to remove that last meter or so of filament and cut it off.  The filament that had been straightened.

 

Again - to get cracked filament you have to do 2 things: filament has to be old PLA, you have to leave it straightened for at least 12 hours.  It only affects the last meter or so of filament.  The symptom is you often get underextrusion when one of the cracks gets stuck somewhere inside the print head.

 

Actually the new filament which was out of the box seemed to crack quite easily, whereas the previous filament was a bit more bendy.

I'll do a few more test prints and see how the situation evolves.

 

This printer has not been used probably in years, I got it from a bankrupcy auction, the runtime stats are:
Machine on for 1223:17

Printing 266:15

Mat:248m

 

I'm glad the initial problem got solved with not using "print via USB" 👍

[LauraBrown 0]

It sounds like the nozzle hitting the build plate is likely due to incorrect build plate height or Z-offset calibration. Try recalibrating the Z offset or adjusting the build plate height in Cura settings to ensure proper clearance during printing. In previuos days i also faced th sam issue.