1st page in manual & parts don't match !!

[naser404]

Just started putting the kit together & relized that on page 7 of the manual I need to fix beam 2 to beam 1 BUT, beam 1 on mine has only "two" drilled holes not three to fix beam 2 to it.

It's not a big deal I can always drill out, but 1st I need to know if that hole has to be centered in beam one.

And what's annoying is that I barely just started the 1st step & already facing small but annoying issues, does that mean I am off to a bumpy ride ?!? It's all to be seen.

You need o check each part & not just count the parts needed & tick them off.



Naser

[gfeliksdal]

Hi Naser,

Sorry to hear you have this problem. The production made a mistake and I will arrange for them to fix it. All parts are double checked with a checklist, but they are unfortunately not robots so mistakes happen.
Mistakes are rare, so I don't expect further issues. Since the printer is build up modular you should be able to finish most parts and put it all together when the final beam arrives.

Kind regards,

Guillaume

[naser404]

Does that hole need to be centered ?!

[gfeliksdal]

I've sent you a technical drawing via the mail

[daveinhull]

Hi Naser,

I had the same problem, so I just drilled it out in the centre and it was fine. I started building my printer on Thursday 10th and worked on it a little each night. I finished last Friday and yesterday (Saturday) got my first print.

The assembly manual does have a few pictures of the previous model but in general it guided me through the assemble reasonably well. There were a few areas where the manual didn't help as well as it could have done:
1. Page 13, when mounting the Z-axis to the carrier it says use small washers but when I did I found that to (even) loosely tighten the nuts the carrier stopped sliding, so I used two small washers instead and even then you can't tighten it very much before it grabs the carrier.
2. Page 14, it says don't mount the z-axis limit switch until later as it can get damaged easily, which is fine, it should also say that the instructions for mounting it are on page 42, or indicate that it is mounted later during calibration - not a problem but it would have been good to know.
3. Page 22, mounting the motor to the x-axis was very very fiddly, especially the back bolts past the frame - be patient....
4. Page 22, last picture is of the old x-axis bearing parts, the new one is a single part (there are posts on this in the assembly forum). I found the gap to be much wider than the suggested construction of the bearing and washers and ended up with small washer, large washer, small washer, bearing, small washer, large washer, small washer, which after tightening the bold was quite a snug fit. However, getting the last small washer in place was quite fiddly, use the tweezers.
5. Page 25, the second picture shows the bolt through the heated plate and held with a crinkled washer, large washer and nut. In the end I found that the z-axis could lift the plate high enough without hitting the x-axis motor (again posts exist on this). I also received too few crinkled washers, so what I did was to replace the crinkled washer with an extra nut. Apparently the crinkled washer is acting as a lock for the nut, but you can do the same with two nuts and this also increases the height of the plate.
6. Page 27, the parts list was very confusing, well to me anyway - just use what is needed as you go through the construction.
7. Page 28, not enough crinkled washers to build the structure shown, but see 5 above.
8. Page 33, the case has changed and the fan is now in the lid
9. Page 34, the second frame mount near the power supply fan had broken, it’s quite flimsy, so I had to glue it back together - seems to have worked.
10. Page 34, it says shorten all wires from the power supply large connector but it doesn't say to what length, not a major problem, but I ended up shortening them to about 4/5 cm - they don't get used and you just need to heat shrink on them to stop them shorting. It says (later) to use 2cm heat shrink which is a little too much in my view, and I ran out of the small heat shrink later - probably about 1cm is fine
11. I used double sided tape to hold the other connector block in place
12. It also says shorten all but 2 yellow and 2 black but later on the page it talks about 1 black and 1 red, so I didn't shorted 2 yellow, 3 black and 1 red, so I could deal with those later.
13. It also mentioned dark red wire and says not to mix it up with the salmon red wires - in my view (although it could be old age sight problems ) my power supply had red and orange.
14. The wiring diagrams were not too much help so I just worked from the schematic on page 32 which was great. I put all the wires in mesh sleeves and this needed them all to be planned well in advance and therefore the wiring took by far the longest to do. When I finished and plugged it in everything worked except for the two of the optosensors which I had plugged in the board the wrong way - correct and all working fine.
15. Be very careful of the z-axis long threaded bold as it can get knocked easily while turning the printer over and back a few times while constructing bits. My bolt was perfectly straight when I first installed it but when I came to run the printer it had clearly got bend slightly and this causes the plate to wobble. I managed to straighten it but in my view it should not be mounted until much nearer the end. I don't really see why the whole plate mount can't be constructed off the printer and then mounted at the end.
16. I'm not too happy with how the heater plate wirers are held on to the plate using just tape, would have preferred something more solid to tie-wrap them to take any stain.
17. Could also use some feet for the left side of the power supply as it is held in the air by the right side bolts.
18. Page 41, be careful with the heat sinks as mine are only held on with thermal paste and this takes tie to dry-off a bit.

I'm working through the software aspects and this is where the manual/instructions could do with a little update, but, the guys on this forum really help.

Hope this helps and I've attached a few pictures of my finished printer.

[naser404]

Got it thanx, will drill it out when I get the time & no need to send one by mail, I appreciate it.

Dave, thank you for taking the time to post all these usefull tips, this post by you should defiantly be updated in the manual or at least be a sticky on top, would be handy for new builders.

Thanx again.

P.S: I already have major hacks in mind but ill hold off until I'm done & will hopefully document them here.

Naser

[gfeliksdal]

Wow that is a lot of feedback on the manual. I'll study it and include it in the next manual version. Thanks!

[gfeliksdal]

@ daveinhull: Thanks for the time you've taken to give the feedback. I've updated the manual with most of your comments.

16. It is recommended to guide the cables via the small aluminum beam and tie-rap them onto that little beam. This will provide tension relieve for the table wires.

[naser404]

Guillaume,

Thank you for sending a new Beam & some extra washers etc.. You really didn't have to, so just wanted to mention this here, excellent support. Also thank you for updating the manual, I suggest people with the 1.5 version to download the new manual.

Awesome work.

[framirez]

Hi yesterday I received my package to build my Felixprinter. As I wanted very hard to start the building unpacked everything en started downloading the manual.
Already on the first instruction I was brutally halted by the awareness that something was not right, from the start on. I felt a cold wind of desperation blowing from my very first assembly task concerning beam 1 and 4, and the bolts and nuts going with it. As I repeatedly started reading page 7, over and over again it became clear that the central holes, which apparently have been threaded for something like M7 bolts, in the beam would never match neither of my two M5 bolts screwed on their nut, supposed to join the two beams.The nuts and bolts that I received are totally different from what is presented on page 7. From the 17 nuts I got, 15 are for M4 and 2 for M5. I have nothing of an M6 as stated on page 6, which probably wouldn't fit in the central threaded holes in the beams, as these are bigger than 6 mm and more like 7 mm. A voice from the darkest side of my head told me: "It ain't gonna happen soon". Dishonor is upon me, as I will have to face this week a horde of feared UltiMakers users in our fabLab, who I bravely challenged with my future FelixPrinter, I'm afraid to end up as the fab's laughing-stock.
I call upon the wisdom of Guillome for help....