Common Mistakes at Assembly

[spooner777 0]

Hi guys, I am about to assembly my ultimaker. Today I painted everything. (might give it a second paint job. was very hard to paint over the black.)

I already read through the assembly instructions and noticed in the comments on the electronics part that some switch was labeled wrong. So I don't know if that was already changed because the comment is 3 months old. Also wondering what other knows issues there are that could be done wrong. Maybe it would be worth making a sticky with common mistakes that users make at assembly?

Spooner

[Daid 306]

If we had common mistakes then the boards would be flooded. But just read carefully and you'll do fine.

The X min/max switched act wrong in Marlin, so you need to swap those around. (the real question is, is the firmware wrong or the labels?)

Other then that, take a good look on where to put the cable guides, taking your frame apart because you put those in wrong is no fun from my experience. And make sure the big wheel is tightly screwed on the hobbed bolt.

[IRobertI 521]

I didn't have to swap those switches on my 7-8 month old Ultimaker as far as I can remember. So either you got yours before me and they fixed it by the time I got mine or they screwed it up later which seems unlikely.

[will_57 0]

My Ultimaker that I ordered about 2 months ago and that arrived about 1 month ago had the issue with the switches needing to be swapped.

[concreteturtle 0]

Mine arrived about 3 weeks ago, and needed the X-axis limit switches changed. Cura has a really nifty check routine that can help you sort this out.

Otherwise, check out the videos in this post: viewtopic.php?f=21&t=1036#p6083

They are a bit bandwidth heavy, but really helped me with setting things up correctly / filled in the blanks.

[spooner777 0]

Thanks, Ill be careful about the switches.

Got another question: "Check if the Z-Axis rods (the really thick ones) fit the 2 holes of the Top and Bottom panel. There are 3 holes, check the ones on the left and right. If it is not possible to push them through with a bit of force, stick some sandpaper onto a smaller rod (like a screwdriver) and do some light sanding. Don't sand too much. You only need to push the rod through, it should not turn easily."

I tried this and I can get the rods into the holes but only about 5mm. I can't push them through all the way. Do I have to push them through all the way or only that much to get them in and align the end area with the board?

[Daid 306]

The Z rods extend all the way from the bottom of the machine to the top. So you need to put them in all the way. Else you'll never be able to put part 3B in place ;-)

The pictures are pretty clear on that. Just make sure you don't forget to put the platform in. And if you sand down the holes, do so very lightly, because if you have play in these rods it will effect quality of your prints in the end.

[spooner777 0]

Thanks for your help I assembled everything took me 3 Afternoons and I made about 20gb of Fotos for a time lapse.

Had some problems with the fan mount on the bottom. The Guide could really get an update.

Main things I am concerned with:

-belt tension ( I think I maxed out the tensing screw but not sure if the tension is right. Feels a big sloppy to me.)

-paralelness of the rods.(is there to much friction?)

-will the whole nozzle assembly work or will hot plastic drop everywhere?

[Daid 306]

1) Printed belt tensioners are not uncommon on Ultimakers. I just replaced mine with these:

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:19892

2) The rods should be square and parallel. You square it out in this step:

http://wiki.ultimaker.com/Ultimaker_rev ... e_XY-frame

3) The assembly works. Don't worry about it.

[rewolff 0]

Don't worry about the belt tension for now. It prints quite reasonable with QUITE a lot less tension on the belts than the video recommends as "perfect".

In the video you hear a "ploing". Mine vibrates just below hearing range. Quite acceptable prints. Nothing hints at "belt tension too low" for me.

[update] after writing this, I later went to the machine and found that NOW the tension on the belts is quite a lot more than when we had just assembled it. So it changes after a few prints. Don't worry about it in the beginning.

[phut 0]

For me it seemed that part of the belt crept and lengthened over time, initially I couldn't get anything near the noise suggested by the video for the belt tension with the block tensioner alone (the sound was always a bit too high once I put in part C - but my deflection assessment suggested it was too low) but after a few nights the pitch settled to slightly below the suggested adjustment. I don't know if it's my mistake or something else happened. From assembly it looks like the X and Y rods should probably have their own clamp and location hole but they must have had a reason to do it the way they did.

 

I tried this and I can get the rods into the holes but only about 5mm. I can't push them through all the way. Do I have to push them through all the way or only that much to get them in and align the end area with the board?

I personally pushed the rods in from the bottom up. If you look really closely the laser cut pieces are all tapered - for anything else it's two tenths of nothing but on an interference fit like the Z rods you can really feel it.

It shouldn't require much force to push them in from the bottom up (where you're pushing into the taper of the laser cut pieces) just get it square with the piece and a small rotation as you go in. If it does require any more force or seizes after a few mm, sand it as recommended as there is a risk of splitting the wood.