Hey All,
Just a heads up I installed Firmware 2.5 on my Z18 last night and ran my first print with a Tough extruder & unfortunately the XY carriage went up in smoke, not sure if it was over voltage or something.
It might not be firmware related and may just be a coincidence but just a warning in case it is the firmware.
Oli
Oh damn and on a z18 thats a pain in the arse and expensive! Which part is burned out?
Well I happened to have a spare Carriage assembly that a friend gave me [I’m not 100% sure that it works]
I plugged that into the Ribbon & that still didn’t work. My gut is that its probably taken out the main board in the base of the machine.
There is no visible damage to the data cable.
I’m guessing its the power draw of the tough extruder vs the new firmware - I’ve spoken to my MB supplier
and he’s trying to get bits too me asap :-/ but yes could up been quite expensive especially if its one of the main boards.
If its proven to be the firmware MB should be paying!
Well, did you change anything at all? or just regular firmware update as usual?
Nada - Normal Firware update though the machine itself which is hocked up by LAN In terms of the print only bit changed were
Infill,Raft & Thicker print Base
In the new firmware looks like when you start a print or try to change the filament, the first thing happens is that the extruder feeds the filament at max speed for a few seconds (to push the nozzle down I think) and then starts to heat up. This puts too much load on the motor and drains too much current, maybe that’s why, probably fried all your components and wires. Specially when you have the tough one, older extruders just chip off the filament, yours probably was more resisting to feed the filament trough a cold nozzle.
Yea the new Pre move is horrible… I ended up turning on the unload setting after each print just to avoid the horror of that noise!!
Thanks for the heads up. Ill hold off updating to the latest firmware for now.
I would - The new “pre-feed” moment that shahramrobotics describes is horrible and it sounds like it will break your machine every time.
I’ve had no official word back from MB but if I do hear anything I’ll let you know!
time foor the cr 10 500mm 500mm 500mm :@)
I have 2 fifth gen replicators and one replicator plus. 2.5 does a cold extrusion at the start of every print. It will cause jams by for sure! If you don’t want to downgrade you can change the makerbot’s settings to autounload after each print.
wow. that is kind of weird… unrelated, but on a similar vein… I tried to run the new makerbot software, makerbot PRINT, and it would not even recognize my replicator 2 printers on USB… sigh…luckily I was able to reinstall the old makerbot desktop and am back up and running. Probably won’t be buying another makerbot though.
I think They disabled USB support on Print for a while - if memory serves it was only the most recent version of print that brought it back!
typical makerbot, i regret the purchase everyday. the z18 is way overpriced for its limited capabilities… pffft pla only!
SE+ is also overpriced garbage that lasts a few months at best, I’ve replaced it 4 times so far, I sent the last one off for repairs over 2 months ago to Objective3d here in Australia. was told it isn’t repairable (error was it didn’t stop the build plate raising up when it does its z axis calibration at the start of every print), they haven’t sent it back and are completely ignoring me.
To top it off they have no clue whats wrong with it.
I made a custom glass build plate topped with 3m blue tape and made a jig that holds a dial indicator allowing me to level the bed within a couple micron accuracy. I can print an object the full size of the bed Raftless but you also require Simplify3d to achieve this.
I have 3 Smart Extruder + on 3 separate Makerbots and they all work perfectly, the one thing I’ve noticed is that sometimes when trying to load filament it ends up inside the SE+ mechanism and not through the nozzle. The best way to make sure this doesn’t happen is to straighten the filament and cut the end off before attempting to feed it in.
The original smart extruder also seems to work decently if your using makerbot filament, using aftermarket filament is a no go with this one (it will jam alot!), but I have had some success with an original SE and PET filiment.
i find the best way to have no issues with the m bot is to leave it in the corner under the dust cover myself they also just about to bump there spares up to by 20% its not like there cheap anyhow incase u havent had the heads up on that. … click click crunch on every start up :'l
Hi Wayne,
I noticed that you mentioned Simplify3d to control your makerbot, I have a Replicator 5th Gen but cannot get Simplify3d to connect or control the MB through USB cable at all. I have setup S3D with the required MB firmware.
Or are you perhaps outputting .stl files and running through a USB stick or SD card ? Any advice you could give would be most appreciated! thanks
You can use simplify3d to output sliced files for a USB stick. This is the best way since Simplify3d is not yet supporting newer firmwares. Simplify3d will output a .makerbot file.
could you share your profiles? cant seem to get s3d working with the makerbots
hey mate,
more than happy to share the s3d profile for my mb z18, I’ll flick you an email and help you get it sorted.
