Mechanical sympathy - Auto Shut-Down after print fin??

[cerberus-3d 0]

First off, hello world of clever people. Its splendid to meet you all!

Im just starting off with what is probably a very rookie one but...

I love my new(ish) UM2 and im having some cracking successes with it (as well as some hair wrenching fails), but I am TERRIFIED of it "going wrong". I treat it like its made of an incredibly rare and fragile butterfly wing and, accordingly, print at very low speeds, avoid transporting it at any cost and worry about it dying probably more then I strictly should.

Here's the possibly laughable question. Is there a function that I can enable which will shut down the UM2 if I leave it to run in my office overnight? I'm currently printing off 200 little push-pull clips for a lighting company and im loving the quality, but its taking forever. It would be great to just set a batch of them going as I leave the office, safe in the knowledge that the fan(s?) wont be running all night causing any additional wear and tear. Ive never taken a 3D printer apart to replace the components before but im assuming its not the easiest thing in the world; also despite being a professional multi-axis machinist (not "engineer") im the sort of guy who takes his car to the garage to be fixed rather than risking doing it himself... im worried id do more harm than good. I realise i'll HAVE to fix the blighter eventually but id like to minimize that timeline.

Thanks for any useful advice

Or assurances that it wont somehow explode and kill itself.

 

[donmilne 2]

Actually, I don't think you need to be quite so paranoid about breaking your printer. Yes, it's an expensive object, but if it you look at it it is mostly just standard bright steel rods, stepper motors, threaded rods, tubing etc. All easily replaceable if they break. The only specialised parts are the controller and bits in the hot end - and I'm sure you can get spare parts of those from UM.

In regards to your question, I don't know of any internal feature: the power supply is probably quite basic. However you can easily buy a timer power socket.

 

[DidierKlein 729]

Hi and welcome to the community

When the printer finishes a print, the fan behind the head will continue blowing and the leds will stay on (unless you changed the settings). I don't think much damage can happen to the printer while being idle, but if you need it to shut down after the print, one easy way to do this is to set a timer power socket and be sure to shut it down after the print is finished

 

[Labern 774]

HI

The printer does require a bit of tinkering every now and again but its normally very reliable.

I leave mine going over night or when I go to work without any problems.

you don't really need to worry much about it killing its self but there can be a few problem that may occur when your not around but are rear.

1 being the item comes unstuck from the build plate and you end up with a ball of extruded filament

You might also experience material jam or nozzle blockage. This will mean you end up with a half finish product.

just put a few drops of oil on the rods when they get to dry and that's the main thing you will need to do.

 

[IRobertI 520]

Don't be afraid that it'll break if you look at it the wrong way. They are quite sturdy and can take a bit of abuse (not that you should be banging them around, but they're not fragile in the true sense of the word). I've taken apart pretty much everything on these printers more than once (except the frame) and the only thing so far that has been really frustrating to put together was trying to assemble a sliding block while things were still mounted in the printer. That got the blood pressure up a bit... Oh, and getting the standoffs to stay in place for the electronics, I hate those things. Other than that everything is quite straight forward.

I've done things to these printers that would probably give you a heart attack

 

[cerberus-3d 0]

wow that's some really great responses thanks guys!

I think the idea of a timer on the power socket is a great solution and not something that I thought of.

In truth, I am more paranoid about electronics frying than anything, but it sounds as if you are all finding the kit to be more mechanically reliable then I have given it credit for. Maybe I should consider taking it home with me now and then if you don't think some careful "lugging about" will destroy it (assuming I don't drop it down the stairs). I'm praying an Ultimaker3 (or 2"S" lol) will come out in the near future so I can have a home and office printer, as I have to transition between the two quite a lot. But sorry ive gone off topic...

As for repairs, im assuming there's a big list of youtube videos someone has made on the interwebs somewhere; I found a fantastic one for changing the "hot end" which makes it appear pretty simple so long as I don't hurt the sensor/heating probe thingy.

If such a video list does exist and someone is feeling super helpful, I don't suppose they could point me in the right direction?

thanks again everyone

I wish customer support were this fast ;-)

 

[IRobertI 520]

I don't know of any specific video for stuff like that, but, the assembly manual is available that might help:

https://github.com/Ultimaker/Ultimaker2/raw/master/um2%20assembly%20manual%20V1.1%20_english.pdf

 

[cerberus-3d 0]

ah thank you

 

[nallath 1,120]

We might have at some point had a printer 'accidently' drop down from the first floor two times in a row. It did survive the first time relatively unscathed. The second try not so much.

But really, we've been leaving printers on overnight for the past year at the office. Generally speaking we've got a few handfull running at night. We haven't had any problems with it. You can also transport the machine quite easily, we also do that quite regulary. If you don't mind scratches, this shouldn't prove a problem.

 

[cerberus-3d 0]

ah great to hear I shall stop being so precious with it. I just get freaked out because its currently my only one and I need it running as much as possible as I have a TINY little startup and ive run out of funds lol

 

[drayson 75]

Some time ago, I found an istruction for UMO how to implement a relais to exactly do what you want, but I can´t find it right now. I would suggest to keep it just idling as nothing can happen during nights:-)

 

[axislab 8]

One thing I have been looking into is a couple of these. http://www.belkin.com/us/p/P-F7C027/

They allow to remotely kill power from your phone.

For long prints, I am already in the habit of using a camera to watch it remotely. With this I could easily kill the print remotely as well.

All can be done other ways as well, (octoprint for example), But this way it all can be set up without the need for a computer, or ras-pi.

If you have an old smartphone laying in a drawer somewhere, then you already have a wifi connectable camera you can re-purpose it into.