Bed screws bent - shipping likely culprit

deflaminis · May 5, 2014

When I first got my Ultimaker the bed screws were... angled. I didn't realize there was a major problem until I tried to level the bed. Some of the screws would turn but they only seemed to work in one direction, and making it perfectly flat was very difficult and in the end one of the screws wasn't really making the connection it seemed. (A bit loose). I've never owned an Ultimaker so I didn't know any better. I figured maybe this was how it's designed.

I did manage to get it to pass the paper resistance test, though not perfectly even across all 3 screws. It took 3 hours of basically luck and fiddling, and I was starting to worry. Since then, not 1 successful print that wasn't 1 inch by 1 inch and on the center of the plate.

I've had every problem listed on this site pretty much. Prints didn't stick to plate, one side was a bit off from where it should have been, things were angled very strangely vs. the glass plate itself, wobble, weird noises, underextrusions, overextrusions (dropping), sloping/melting corners, etc. etc. etc. I've read so many threads here and made so many tweaks trying to solve this I would imagine I'd be pretty good at tinkering by now if the bed plate wasn't messed.

So I spent the first 7 days trying to get a print to finish at all. So many of the threads here have posts by mods and admins saying that you have to tinker with it to get it perfect, and so I tried. Convinced that the problem was me. Even did a simple rectangular box and there would be issues on various parts. The coffin box parts would get hit by the fans as they went by occasionally, most likely because of the bent screws.

So I figured that before I file for a refund I'd check the screws themselves by pulling them out of the bed. (Easy.) This is what I found:

Clearly this happened in shipping. Can't blame Ultimaker for that. Only problem is I'm in the US so finding someone who carries this exact screw has not been easy. I would consider putting in 3 extras of them for all the new Ultimaker orders just in case. (Because I'll have to return the whole thing if I can't find them in the next day or two because I'll *still* not be sure if it works properly and three grand isn't an amount of money I'll just throw away.)

Finding this exact screw/bolt at lowes/tru value/home depot has been not doable thus far. Asking for a new UM2 to be shipped is going to have the same problem (shipping itself), and there isn't enough time left to mail screws.

I'm skipping work tomorrow and driving out to some specialty hardware store but if they don't have these then it's a huge shame to have to return it just for these reasons. But in the end, it's your 2 week policy. After waiting 8 weeks, customs forms, and a 3k dollar price tag, you'd think that it would be a bit more forgiving.

But my 2 week testing time will be reduced to 2 or 3 days, which in itself makes me very nervous. I urge you to reconsider that two weeks and make it 30 days because I can't be the only person with this problem.

illuminarti · May 5, 2014

I'm sorry to hear about your difficulties; those screws are definitely going to be a problem. See my PM (via the icon in the top right corner of this screen).

gr5 · May 5, 2014

1) Request 3 screws from support.ultimaker.com - get your ticket in soon.

2) They are M3 threads. I don't know about the screw heads but the thread and length are easily found in a typical Ace or True Value (but not home depot).

3) Also order them from mcmaster. They have everything. And it's quite cheap to order just 3 screws from them.

http://www.mcmaster.com/