Re: FIRST Choice 3D Printer Lottery
 

You'd think that, but Cube customers are more the plug-n-play, appliance-operator types. With a decent cash supply.

But yes, of course someone will hack it, figure out the system, and eventually be thwarted by yet another move by Cubify. Restarting the cycle...

Edit: Yep, been hacked already, but a costly solution. It appears that one can also 'reset' empty cartridges to seem full if you load older firmware - and then use generic filament.

Re: FIRST Choice 3D Printer Lottery
 

While we're on the topic, does anyone have a hack to reload Dimension SST 768 cartridges? Those things are $260 apiece for 56 cubic inches of print.

Re: FIRST Choice 3D Printer Lottery
 

This is way harder to hack. We have a stratasys printer that's smaller (and somehow more expensive to refill), and we're afraid to try it. If you're feeling brave, try here or here, which are for the sst.

If you're interested in this, let me know, and I can share where our team got to.

Re: FIRST Choice 3D Printer Lottery
 

Inkjet printer companies have been trying this for years and the best they've ever been able to do (to my knowledge) is have usage of 3rd party ink void the warranty (and even that is somewhat of a grey area).

I'm not too concerned about that in the case of the Cube, if the manufacturer wants to over charge for its supplies by a factor of 5 times or more, people will make a workaround for it until they come to their senses and charge reasonable prices.

Re: FIRST Choice 3D Printer Lottery
 

As for people who've owned the Makerbot Replicator2 in the past, quick question:

Is the addition of the blue painters tape very important? Necessary?

Re: FIRST Choice 3D Printer Lottery
 

I would not print without it on our Replicator2.

It makes it so much easier to remove a part.

Re: FIRST Choice 3D Printer Lottery
 

I would not print without it on our Replicator2.

It makes it so much easier to remove a part.

Re: FIRST Choice 3D Printer Lottery
 

I have over 1700 hours print time on my Replicator 2 and I've never, ever used tape of any kind (except the first couple prints).
I use Aquanet hair spray to give the platform a little stickiness, and use a paint scraper to remove the part from the platform.

Highly recommend this method.

Re: FIRST Choice 3D Printer Lottery
 

I agree: They generally have to prove your non-original stuff caused the problem. This isn't exactly apples to apples, but CAR warranties have to apply even if you use non-original parts, UNLESS the non-original part provably caused the fault. e.g., if the (aftermarket) oil filter fell apart and clogged the oil system, allowing the engine to melt, then it's not covered, but that has no bearing on the rest of the car's warranty.
The nice thing about Aquanet is that it is water-soluble, so in a 'situation' some water can work wonders.

Re: FIRST Choice 3D Printer Lottery
 

I have never heard of this before. We will be incorporating this method for sure.

Re: FIRST Choice 3D Printer Lottery
 

Wow, that is quite a bit of printing. What are you printing? large or small prints?

Do you have any suggestions for best work practices? maintenance, etc?

Re: FIRST Choice 3D Printer Lottery
 

I've heard good things about a dilute mixture of water + Elmer's school glue (PVA glue) for getting PLA and ABS to stick. Something like a 10:1 ratio, then you let it dry to a film.

Re: FIRST Choice 3D Printer Lottery
 

Small and large. The single largest print took 32 hours and was 5.5"x8"x5" (it was a Halo Warthog vehicle). On average I put 2-3 items on the build plate for total times of 4-6 hours. I usually time it so it starts when I go to sleep and is ready in the morning.

Regarding maintenance:
You should make it a habit to lube the Z-axis rod weekly. Very easy, I just move the plate to the highest position and rub lube along the entire rod.

Every 2 weeks or so (or after a jam), clean out the extruder drive gear. A little plastic dust builds up in there. I usually just use an old toothbrush.

Every few weeks I also lube up the non-driving belt pulleys.

I re-level the build plate whenever it's moved or after about 10 prints.

Also recommend getting a glass build plate, I got one custom sized for about $20+shipping at a local custom glass store. It makes the prints super smooth on the bottom and the plate is very straight and level (I had issues with the acrylic plate, as it was slightly warped enough for the parts to fall off mid-print).

Re: FIRST Choice 3D Printer Lottery
 

I've used a thin coat of gluestick on my M2 with PLA when I have had issues with parts sticking. It works very well.

Re: FIRST Choice 3D Printer Lottery
 

There's something about applying aerosols, liquids, films, and mixtures to my build plate that I don't like..

We once put a bit of ABS in a jar of acetone and then applied the acetone/ABS mixture on our build plate and it just messed it up pretty badly.

I'll stick with blue painters tape tyvm.