1 Topic by Stoney

  • Stoney
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  • From: Gold Coast, Australa
  • Registered: 2012-08-08
  • Posts: 181

Topic: Solidoodle working fine

as usual with forums all you ever see is negative posts and problems, its the nature of the internet forum beast.

so I thought I would just chime in with a 'I have had zero problems with my solidoodle'.

extruder has never blocked, nothings jammed or snapped. it just works.. everytime..

only modifications I have made are really cosmetic, add panelolu board and larger atmega 128. printed a modifed electronics case with a big 12v CPU fan in it. door handle, rear grommet and filament tensioner arm, glass bed .. everything else is stock and never adjusted.
I calibrated the extuder, not done the X and Y yet .. I think they should be fairly accurate off the shelf.

I do not use it a huge amount, but it gets a run at least weekly, probably extruded 2kg of filament so far.

my only complaints .. speed of bed heating, filament hitting underneath of case. not deal breakers.

I am sure I will get a filament blockage, hot end failure, bed heater failure or similar at some point. I will tackle them as they arise and likely change things for the better. I think they are part and parcel of 3d printing .. its still newish.

I thank solidoodle for what I consider a good,cheap and at least for me reliable off the shelf solution. I think they have trimmed the profit margin to a very non greedy level, thats appreciated. i hope they continue to expand and make lots of printers, I have sent their details on to a few schools here in Australia who where considering other far more expensive solutions .. with a few warnings perhaps, but I still think they are great value.

I know these things are buildable from parts but trying to obtain these parts in a country like Australia makes it uneconomical and I just wanted a 3d printer, not a kit .. that may come later now I have the ability to build many parts as required.

I hope a few others with no hassles will also reply and maybe we can tilt the perception you would get by browsing here.

2 Reply by GoolGaul

  • GoolGaul
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  • Registered: 2012-08-19
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Re: Solidoodle working fine

I'm with Stoney...

While I print much more than he does - I got my SD2 in late August and have burned thru 6 KG reels already...

Early on I had a couple of clogs, but after a week I was all done with the beginner's blues. All I've done is: the firmware update, and glass beds.  I lightly grease the smooth rods and belt pulleys monthly, and that's about it for maintenance.

I have had the occasional mid-print-shift, and some sticking issues, but I'd say overall, I lose 1-2 prints out of 100.  My longest print is 7:45, and the most common parts I print are 2.5+ hours, and I've done about 50-60 of those alone.  And I have printed 100's of things so far.

My SD is pretty solid, and never lets me down.

3 Reply by nickythegreek

  • nickythegreek
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  • Registered: 2012-11-18
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Re: Solidoodle working fine

I chose the Solidoodle because I wanted a printer that I did not need to assemble and would print out of the box.  I knew I could get discouraged if I didn't make those 2 things a priority when making my selection.  I do not regret that decision! I have met some other 3d printer owners at a local monthly meetup and they are all amazed that my printer worked out of the box and are impressed by the quality of stuff that it can churn out.

I have had no real huge issues with my printer.  It worked out of the box and produced some great .3mm prints.  Some of that was just dumb luck and alot of forum research (this printer would be a sad panda without soliforum).  It is really easy out of the box to have your extruder turned on and idle without any warning that this is good way to cause a clog.  I learned this quickly and set my gcode to control extruder temp and auto shutoff when printing is done (software needs to be prepreconfig software!).

My biggest recommendation to Solidoodle would be to keep getting those printers out the door and to shore up the Getting Started documentation and rework the default software configs (for accurate prints and auto turn off extruder) as soon as possible.  It is important that new owners fall in love with their printer before it starts yelling at them.

4 Reply by Gordym

  • Gordym
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  • From: Adrian, MI
  • Registered: 2012-08-10
  • Posts: 317

Re: Solidoodle working fine

I received my printer in Early August. I have had very few issues with it. I've used many of the techniques described in this forum to adjust my printer and all has worked well. Until recently, I've never experienced a significant hot end clog. The printer has worked as described and expected out of the box. I've done very few modifications to it. I have plans to do more but would rather print. I am totally satisfied with my printer and expect to use it often. It is currently down because I have a clog and haven't had time to clear it. I know where the problem is and how to fix it, it will probably take a half hour to correct.

All in all, I am very pleased with my unit. I plan to powder coat the case to make it look unique. I also have a fan controller from a PC that I will add to control up to 5 fans in my unit. I will use the thermisters in my controller and program them to turn on at certain temperatures. The fans will be strategically located over the electronics and the stepper motors. I will also use one at the hot end that will be manually controlled for now. 

Overall, my experience has been great. As long as maintenance is performed periodically, the printer will work for years. The current jam is my fault as I left the hot end on too long between prints. I was called away from my printer before I started the print and left the hot end on. Support has been responsive when I contacted them directly, the email support has not been as responsive. When you contact an individual, they are very helpful and competent. The product has no warranty so I expect to be charged for most replacement parts. The only exception in my mind would be if something was not correct when the product shipped or damaged in shipment. I have no complaints with the company or product and would recommend them to a friend that wanted a printer.

SD2
E3D V6
MK5 V6

5 Reply by g00bd0g

  • g00bd0g
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  • Registered: 2012-12-02
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Re: Solidoodle working fine

I have had my SD2 about a month now. It did have a number of QA type issues as received. The worst of which was badly misaligned z-stepper motor and a bent z-axis shaft. Once I fixed that, the machine performed to my expectations. With some further tuning, tweaking, aligning, greasing, and a boro-glass bed, it is now printing better than I expected. Not perfect, but pretty good. If I can just get my hands on a nice straight z-axis threaded rod, this machine might really start to shine.

6 Reply by creationblur

  • creationblur
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  • From: Titusville
  • Registered: 2012-08-10
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Re: Solidoodle working fine

GoolGaul wrote:

I'm with Stoney...

While I print much more than he does - I got my SD2 in late August and have burned thru 6 KG reels already...

Early on I had a couple of clogs, but after a week I was all done with the beginner's blues. All I've done is: the firmware update, and glass beds.  I lightly grease the smooth rods and belt pulleys monthly, and that's about it for maintenance.

I have had the occasional mid-print-shift, and some sticking issues, but I'd say overall, I lose 1-2 prints out of 100.  My longest print is 7:45, and the most common parts I print are 2.5+ hours, and I've done about 50-60 of those alone.  And I have printed 100's of things so far.

My SD is pretty solid, and never lets me down.

+1! I've have mine since Oct 22nd, and apart from the initial busted jigsaw, it's been a superb printer. I've had the mid-print-shift as well, twice, and one other mystery problem that it just stopped printing 30 min into a print, but that's all. And I print something literally every day.

...sativas are for smoking!

7 Reply by GoolGaul

  • GoolGaul
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  • Registered: 2012-08-19
  • Posts: 66

Re: Solidoodle working fine

in typical fashion, I spoke too soon...

Yesterday, my SD2 would not heat the extruder.  So I started poking around.

Sure enough, when I sent it to the X & Y home, the extruder started heating,  but once it passed the center of the bed, the temp started dropping.

Within moments, I found that one of the twisted lines to the extruder heat element has frayed within the wireloom, right at the bend point.

Stripped a quarter-inch and dropped in a bead of solder... fixed.

Now I am contemplating printing a cable-guide or one of those chain-thingies.

8 Reply by jon_bondy

  • jon_bondy
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  • Registered: 2012-09-27
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Re: Solidoodle working fine

The wires from the controller to the hot end failed on one of my printers, and Solidoodle provided replacements.  This is not a common failure, but it has happened to others.