Surrey home help?

[neo-ninja 1]

Howdy Guys,

I finally bought an Ultimaker 2, been looking for a nice one for a while.

I have managed to print off a few bits bits but so far I must admit am a little disappointed. I would say 95% of prints fail in the first 30 mins or so. (It seems really random which will work and which wont)

I was wondering if there is anyone in the Surrey / Weybridge area who would be up for having a chat over the phone but also maybe checking out the machine to see if I have made any noobie mistakes.

Of course there is a dinner and a beer for anyone who can help

Thanks in advance!

[izzy 33]

Hi newbie, I live down the A3 from you near Petersfield.

How are your prints failing?

Also 3D Hubs & Colorfaff have a workshop in London next Tuesday evening the 24th March 1900-2100 maybe some tickets still available.

[izzy 33]

Sorry neo- origionally your name did not come up,

[neo-ninja 1]

Ah I will take a look!

First thing that my printer seems to be doing is starting to extrude before it actually gets to the bed, which means there is like a thin tendril of plastic sticking out the hot end that then tends to get mushed up with what it is tryng to print.

The things I has printed ok are the Ultimaker bot, but even that looks a little ropey, its under ears and arse are not really very well formed.

[skint 62]

Hi Neo, that bit of material that extrudes before it reaches the bed is done on purpose, to get the material flowing nicely before the start of a print. Best thing to do is watch the very start of each print and when the material starts to flow just grab it with your fingers and pull the material away from the bed until it reaches the print bed.

The ultimaker robot is not the best model to measure a decent print. It can be printed well by changing a few parameters but I wouldnt worry about it too much ( unless you want a nice ultibot ).

Post up some pics of other things that fail and we can give you more advice, keep playing though, its a good learning curve.

I would love to help and get a free beer... but i`m miles away

 

[neo-ninja 1]

I keep throwing them away in frustration actually! I shall keep the next few failed. I am trying a little owl now and a little ghost from Thingiverse.

Quick question for you though, when I input a object into Cura, should I be using the expert options or just the basic to output the gcode? Im not trying anything crazy, just a few small things.

IM also finding the machine quiet loud, not in a horrible clanky sound, more like a working fine sound but just that its noisey, has anyone built any sort of enclosure to help reduce sound and store it out of site?

[izzy 33]

I use the ultimaker robot as a test for all materials, I used to have a problem with the left ear side but that's now better as ive changed the fan housing, now the left ear is fine just a little prob on the right ear.

There may be some nuts and screws that need tightening, as well as making sure you have upgraded the firmware. I would recommend building and changing over to Roberts feeder.

For PLA and XT I tend to use hairspray for the bed adhesion, I print almost everything at 0.1 or occasionally 0.06mm layers and with a speed of 50mm/s, PLA at about 210 degrees C, using either Faberdashery or ColorFabb filaments.

[neo-ninja 1]

I use the ultimaker robot as a test for all materials, I used to have a problem with the left ear side but that's now better as ive changed the fan housing, now the left ear is fine just a little prob on the right ear.

There may be some nuts and screws that need tightening, as well as making sure you have upgraded the firmware. I would recommend building and changing over to Roberts feeder.

For PLA and XT I tend to use hairspray for the bed adhesion, I print almost everything at 0.1 or occasionally 0.06mm layers and with a speed of 50mm/s, PLA at about 210 degrees C, using either Faberdashery or ColorFabb filaments.

 

Do you have a picture of what your slooks like, as im not sure if im just expecting too much tbh. I saw the different fan mounts but what is the benefit? also I was a bit scared about unscrewing stuff!

I litrally haven't messed with any settings at all, do I do that in Cura or should I be doing that manually when the print is going?

[izzy 33]

Hi Neo,

It's ok to alter things, I have a few things on YouMagine inc photo of my machine with Roberts feeder, Roberts feeder is definatly the 1st thing to try, this will help with changing filament and getting good tension. I've also printed a guide for the bearing to keep the filament in line.

Ive also replaced the fan housing for better air flow, ive tried a couple, they are easy to print and change, although I will look at designing my own with adjustable outflows. My back fan was also noisy and waiting for one on eBay to come through in the next few days.

To start with I stayed with the basic Cura settings, but now I prefer 0.1 mm layers or steps, at 50mm/s, I usually print at 20% fill or 100% if I want a solid print. Temperature of bed and nozzle depends on the filament but for PLA I generally use 50 for the bed and 210 for the nozzle.

I use the ultimaker robot as a std print as it has there Gcode and I can see the differences between filaments, I now have 1 for each filament I have except for BronzeFill.

Another test print I like is the Treefrog I think from Thingiverse.

[neo-ninja 1]

OK goods news, I printed a little owl and ghost (pacman) and both are pretty good, I could see one side of the ghost lift on the first few layers, so I have recalibrated the print bed fingers crossed that will solve that, and other then that im pretty happy with it tbh. Wayyy better then the Robot.

Just think I need to keep tweaking on a few simple prints until I can get them spot on and then give a bigger thing a go.

Also need to work on noise, and its just sending vibrations through the house (we have super crazy thing walls)

[izzy 33]

Lol, check the various screws for being tight, my rear fan was about 67dB the one from eBay should be through in the next day or so, surposidly 27dB approx. others have said its a great improvement.

The edges curling of the bed could be the temperatures. Have you upgraded the firmware on The UM2 I got mine in October and was having problems untill I upgrade Cura and the firmware on xmas day then printed a lot better, my cooling fans are off for the 1st layer but the full for layer 3 (50% with the new fan housing) and I don't get warping. There are some good printing guides avaiable, I think Robert has them linked on one of his posts, search for him and you will get the links. I'll have a look for the little owl and give it a try, I like TH robot as it has inclines and bridging as well as being symmetrical so I can see the effect of each fan.

[neo-ninja 1]

Howdy bud,

Thanks for the help been having a real play with it at home tonight, getting much more confident, and had about 95% success rate tonight which is great. I have also downloaded 123d Design to modify some designs of various things online and am really happy with the results so far.

Do you have a link to the fan and Roberts parts, also can those be made in PLA or do I need to use ABS. As I am using it at home in an upstairs room I think I will need to stay away from ABS.

[izzy 33]

Hi Neo, great news that you printing better the link to Roberts feeder is https://www.youmagine.com/designs/alternative-um2-feeder-version-two

Can be printed in PLA or XT no need for ABS, talking to some other members ABS is not really required for things and it's higher temperature greatly reduces the life span of some of the head components that can't take the higher printing temperatures for long. Catch up some time for a coffee. Izzy

[izzy 33]

Forgot to say a great accessory is to get a lazy Susan bearing, and make a revolving stand. I've also drilled a large hole through the center to pass the cables through, it's mounted on some rubber feet so the cables pass out under it, this allows for easy access all around the printer as you can just swivel it around, a lot easier than trying to lean over, or manouver it about.

[neo-ninja 1]

You genius! Lazy Suzy! I was virtually planning out a little cupboard for it and wondering how I would get to the back easily.

So the only thing with the component you sent me is, the prospect of unscrewing stuff on my printer is a bit scary!

[izzy 33]

Lol the 1st time you think what is going to go wrong .

But with the feeder, I removed 3 of the screws rotated the feeder a little the but back a screw directly into the stepper motor without doing through the feeder then took out the remaining screw to remove the feeder. You then need to disassemble the feeder for the bearing and spring but the details are on Roberts docs for the feeder.

I got a small box of assorted length screws, I'll dig out the eBay details and add them tomorrow plus a few longer lengths, the kits were cheap and contains only a few of each length so I got 3 kits, of A4 stainless screws I think less than £15..

I have now assembled it by making 4 studs from 4 long screws, 4 nuts then keep the stepper motor in place, I then have some spacer covers over the nuts, then the feeder assembly, and held by 4 more nuts that are retained in a small knurled nut cover so that I can just use my fingers. You can see it in the photo OG my mod to Roberts yoke on YouMagine.

[izzy 33]

Kay's fasteners has a range of flanged button screws of various lengths,

The kit was from this link the kit is now larger.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/361-PIECE-A2-M3-FLANGE-BUTTON-HEADS-KIT-NYLOC-FULL-NUTS-ALLEN-SCREW-SS-08-/190967551339?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item2c768d956b

The bearing were from the UK bearing shop, in Kent, I went for a 300mm lazy Susan bearing, then used some decent shelving wood from home base.

[neo-ninja 1]

Howdy Izzy,

I meant to say I havent yet printed the new kit but thanks for the advice. I was just printing the Robert chain to try and solve a couple of issues at a time, (like making sure my bed was levelled, and the bottom layers are perfect every time).

I am now trying to print a perfect Marvin - although depressingly it doesnt look any better then it did when i first tried a week or so ago.

But I am asking lots of questions in the help threads.

To anyone else reading this, I am very keen to meet up if you are in the Surrey area.

 

[izzy 33]

Hi Neo,

I went to the 3Dhubs london event last night, it was an interesting evening talking about getting the best out of the printer finding the optimum settings, just waiting for the slides to be put on the 3dhubs london site, to get the details of the test samples. But the gist was the volume flow ie nozzel diameter, layer height and speed, all effect the melt, once you have found the ideal setting for your machine in mm cubed per second you can make adjustments about that rate. Improving retractions bridging etc.

When they post the slides I'll add the link.

[neo-ninja 1]

Oh wow that would be great. BTW where did you get your quieter fan? And how much more quiet is it?

[izzy 33]

Not recieved the fan yet delevery still has a few more days within delevery timescale, I also ordered some filament from GlobalFSD to try, they also do 5m lengths of some of the ColorFabb filaments.

I tried the CopperFill and BambooFill samples I got last Tuesday, print nice. And I'm printing some volume rate test pieces, ive run an Ultimaker PLA in 5'C steps to see the max rates, as well as ColorFabb XT, and ive run the BambooFill at 210'C. I'm putting together a chart of the results