Ultimaker 2 Questions/Concerns

[eric-lester 1]

So, I'm about to order an Ultimaker 2! The reviews of the product seem amazing, but I was a bit curious as most useful information came from early 2014. Given that 2015 is just around the corner--and knowing how responsive the Ultimaker company and community is--I was wondering

 

• Are there any major packaging issues still present? (I'd heard of some of these early in 2014, but it seemed as though the packing method has changed since.)
  
• Has the US support (for parts especially) improved? (I know that there now is US support--I'm looking at getting mine from imakr.us anyway. This could be more a where-you-bought-it issue, but it was kind of unclear if they actually had the parts. If they don't, who aside from Ultimaker does?)
  
• Dual nozzles? (I've seen tons of sources dating back to 2013 saying that the Ultimaker 2 is on the cusp of dual nozzle extrusion, but alas nothing seems to have come from these plans. Am I missing something?)
  
• Anything else I should know?
  

I have built a 3D printer with my bare hands. I know how they work, and I'm confident that--if the device lives up to its specs--the Ultimaker 2 is my next step forward.

Disclaimer: I'm obviously new here, and I will admit that I haven't looked over the forums as well as I probably should have, but I was tired of just finding threads on concerns about the Ultimaker 2 near its release. I know that changes have occurred, so if anyone with recent experience or advice cares to chime in I would be most appreciative!

 

[Labern 718]

Hi,

I don't know about support in America but I had one shipped to New Zealand a few months back and it was packed well and arrived with no issues.

Dual Extrusion is commented at the end of this article: https://www.ultimaker.com/blogs/news/2014/09/20/introducing-ultimaker-original-and-a-heated-bed-upgrade-kit

More info: http://cdn.makezine.com/make/magazine/V42-preview.pdf

It's a awesome printer and although some people experience slow responses from support sometimes. The community on this forum makes up for it with a lot of experienced users providing an extensive amount of information and help where needed.

most problems can be resolved here without the need to contact support and there are a few people from Ultimaker reading posts on the forum that provide help also.

[nallath 589]

I'm not aware of any packaging problems these days. We have improved it significantly, but I don't know the exact state / quality of it at this moment.

We have a reseller (and production site) in america these days. This should improve the support time / shipping time / cost.

There is no official upgrade to get dual extrusion working.

On the final part; If you have a lot of experience with building printers yourself, you might be better served with an UMO+. They tend to need more tweaking but my personal experience is that it's easier to tweak the UMO+ compared to the UM2 (although some people swear by the UM2, so it could also be a personal preference thing)

 

[shiremog 0]

I'm in the UK, so can't comment about US points.

I've had my UM2 for a few weeks now, my first go at 3D printing,although I've had some experience of CNC.

I found the UM2 well packed, no problems at all. The only problem I've had with the machine is with a number of the pulleys coming loose, just needs a quick tighten of the grub screws.

The only slightly negative comment I have about the machine is that the bed is rather flimsy which allows it to judder while printing.

Hope this helps.

 

[eric-lester 1]

Thanks for all the advice and the information on dual extrusion! As for the UMO+, I really did consider it, but I don't see the ease of making tweaks as the issue--the issue is the need to make tweaks. I have no problem spending hours to get the thing dialed in just right, but I just want it to stay that way. I know that the UMO+ doesn't really need that many tweaks too to be honest, but I just preferred some of the specs (and, yes, looks) on the UM2, and both were in my price range.

 

[SandervG 1,097]

The packaging has improved indeed, and will be improved even more in the (near) future.