Help (Some questions about the UM2)

[marta-langowska 0]

Hello,

I would be very grateful for some help.

I have a few questionsabout Ultimaker 2:

1 / How long can the printer work without stopping?

2 /Does the nozzle diameter provide high accuracy when printing small parts?

4 / Is the thickness of 20 microns is achievable in any material?

5 / For how long approximate can we use one filament, and how fast the printer works?

6 / Is it possible to install 2 nozzles, and then can you print, for instance in2 filaments / colors?

Also, a question about the printing material.

He would like to print parts that are kept outside so we need a filament that is resistant to sunlight and the temperature of about -30 C degrees ?

I was looking for some answer and maybe PET filament would be good but I don’t know if it works with Ultimaker 2?

Maybe poly carbonate?

I would be very grateful for the answers.

 

[IRobertI 520]

1. I'm not sure anyone has tested that. People have ran 40-60 hour prints without issue if that is any help?

2. Depends on what you mean by "small". The nozzle is 0.4mm in diameter but there are other factors at play.

4. Yes, but it's not worth it in my opinion. 0.06 is plenty and much faster.

5. Until it runs out? I don't understand the question. Print speed depends on material, what's being printed, layer thickness etc. A "standard" speed is 0.1mm layers at 50mm/s.

6. There will not be an official second nozzle. You'll have to figure it out yourself or wait for some other company to come up with a solution.

 

[jonnybischof 60]

...

Also, a question about the printing material.

He would like to print parts that are kept outside so we need a filament that is resistant to sunlight and the temperature of about -30 C degrees ?

I was looking for some answer and maybe PET filament would be good but I don’t know if it works with Ultimaker 2?

Maybe poly carbonate?

I would be very grateful for the answers.

 

I would suggest using Colorfabb XT (or another brand PET filament) in transparent or bright color. Don't take black - it heats up much more in direct sunlight than brighter colors.

XT prints very well on the Ultimaker 2. You might have to experiment a little to get it to stick nicely on the build plate (I'm using a special PEI build plate which doesn't have these issues).

There shouldn't be any problems with low temperatures. If you need maximum strength of your printed parts, then print them solid, a bit hotter than usual, and with as little cooling as possible (depends on the complexity of the model - a cube needs pretty much no cooling at all, while small and overhanging structures need more cooling).

XT is not the cheapest filament out there, but I dare say it's probably one of the best.

I made this test piece which, when printed with XT like I described, at 100% infill, oriented as it is in the picture is impossible to break by hand. It can be broken using a machine vise, but it takes a huge amount of force.

I wouldn't recommend polycarbonate. It's just not that suitable for being 3D printed. And it needs very high printing temperature which decreases the lifespan of the Ultimaker's hotend.

/edit:

I once did a 0.03mm layer height print. It worked perfectly fine, but it takes much longer to print (3x the time of 0.1mm layers).

It's also important to know that thicker layers improve part strength as well as the ability to print overhangs and bridges.

 

I've recently started to print everything at 0.2mm layers, except if I really need the higher resolution. Print speed is great, accuracy is good enough for most things I print, and the parts get really strong and well-defined overall (great overhangs without "beards", almost flawless bridging).

 

[nallath 1,120]

We've had printers run for about 110 hours. We did add a UPS (Uninterupted power supply) between the printer and power, so we wouldn't loose the print in case of a power surge.

 

[stu_le_brew 42]

We've had printers run for about 110 hours. We did add a UPS (Uninterupted power supply) between the printer and power, so we wouldn't loose the print in case of a power surge.

 

That's really impressive and ambitious, I turned a job down because it would have run for 50 hours, need to reflect on that perhaps next time

 

[nallath 1,120]

Well, those kind of prints are very annoying if they fail. I wouldn't accept a job for 50 hours, because if the print fails it would cost me a lot of time to re-do it.