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Hello! And, a question...


dan0h

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Posted · Hello! And, a question...

Hi UM forum! Another Ultimaker 2 user in the UK here... Had my UM2 a few months now and am loving it... Just a quick question though if I may, a friend of mine asked me how long the life expectancy of the machine will be, and I couldn't really offer an educated answer... So, whats the highest hour count machine still operating here on the forum? How has reliability been for daily used UM2s?

Very many thanks, and happy printing :)

 

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    Posted · Hello! And, a question...

    I believe there are some people here that have 2000 hours on their UM2. Personally I have 700 in the 4 months I've had mine, and only had to replace the PTFE Coupler at around the 500 hour mark. That will vary depending on what type of material you're printing regularly.

     

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    Posted · Hello! And, a question...

    Dear Dan!

    Think of it as an aircraft, lots of different parts, each part with different service life.

    The motors need change after a while, the electronics, the rubber seals,

    the pumps, the other pumps, even the seats, and eventually the pilot!

    Take the 747 as an example, one of few machines which has given name to

    a "size", - Jumbo... it is used in other contexts, jumbo chocolate, burger,, etc

    . this is totally beside the point.

    A little over 1.000 747's are built. A comparable (and better) aircraft today

    costs many hundred million dollars EACH. ( Have you got a calculator with many digits?).

    Out of these 14 have crashed. They could not be repaired.

    Digression here:

    Now.. Most of the other ones are still in service, they have 10s of thousands of flight hours, easily outlasting any pilot!! And they are fantastic!! Once, before 9/11, I was allowed to sit in the cockpit from before push-back until dock.

    It was an empty semi cargo from Gothenburg to Oslo.

    The seats in front are electric, they slide into position after you get in....

    There are 8 engine control leveres in the middle between the captain and the XO.

    I was sitting in a 4th seat behind the captain. This is ca in 1982.

    On the start grid, "Scandinavian 211 you are cleared to take off RWY 28, no wind, next Whiskey point 1, 4.000" or something similar BOTH the captain and the XO had BOTH their hands on the 8 engine control levers.

    These levers control power and forward/reverse. All 4 hands moved the levers to the front in a surprisingly long movement.

    After 2 secs, there was an enormous build-up of thrust, and almost no engine noise at all.

    Just the push in he seat, more- and more and MORE!

    When rotating (remember I am in the nose of the plane, not in monkey-class in the back), the lift upwards is enormous, even before the main gear has lift off. Its fantastic. It is like taking an elevator from 5th floor to 10th floor in 3 secs.

    The captain later told me they use considerably less than 1.000 meters runway for the take-off!

    Now.. this was an old plane even then.

    A lot of parts have been changed, even the toilets... get it?

    Eventually, the upkeep and cash lock-in is more expensive than buying a new model,

    so prices of the old ones go down to fill the gap. ( you canprobably pick one up for only 50-75 million dollars with thousands of hours left in it!)

    Your UM2 is going to last a long time, and you will be replacing some

    parts as you go along. In 3 years, no wait, in 1 year you will be able to

    buy a multi-color printer doing ca the same as an UM2 for the same

    price or lower, possibly from Ultimaker themselves...

    I am personally a total fan of Ultimaker, it is maybe not the best printer in every

    respect, but overall, its the best, in my subjective opinion!

    Enjoy the ride!

     

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