Fifth Gen issues...

I own a Velomen K8200, a Makerbot Rep 2, and, sadly, a Makerbot 5th Gen.

I cut my teeth on the K8200 (A beautiful kit) and love that fact that you have access to just about any setting you can imagine. Then I added the Rep two.

I consistently get top quality prints from the Rep 2 but would give anything if the desktop software would allow you access to finer control of the print parameters. The thick plexiglass build plate works perfectly for me - never a dis-attachment, never a curl, ultra clean separation of the object from the raft, etc. I purchased an all aluminum filament drive gear and roller and all feed problems simply went away. Truly, I could not be happier with the machine.

But, the 5th Gen is at the other end of the spectrum! What follows is a (not complete) list of issues with the machine.

What is the deal with the glass plate? No matter how careful I place the tape (a pain in the neck in the first place), the raft will curl. The first several layers a simply a mess - but one would expect this with the curl.

This is the slowest 3D printer to start up that I have ever experienced. The "Calibration" phase take about thirteen minutes on my 5th Gen.

And after trying many different versions of the firmware, no matter what I try, the machine will not process the self (help system really) leveling routine. It starts, then tells me to remove the filament (even when no filament is present - makes you wonder about its claimed ability to halt the print process and notify the user of loss of filament) - so I go through the motions of removing filament at which time the printer asks me to remove filament again - it goes through this loop a few times and then informs me that the build plate has been leveled. This without ever being notified as to which adjustment screw I should be, well, adjusting.

It is constantly pulling filament away from where it should have been deposited when going around a curve. It is like the machine has no idea where in Z axis it is actually located.

It is beyond me why Makerbot can't release a firmware package that would at least process the plate leveling aid.

My frustration with the 5th Gen has lead to my turning it off and placing it under my bench. Perhaps someday Makerbot will do the responsible thing and via firmware, smart extruded advances, etc, turn this machine into something even close to what they advertise it to be.

Until then, I have to say that if you are looking at a 5 Gen, do yourself a huge favor and look elsewhere!!!

I agree with pulling filament, I am very disappointed with our z-18 and their customer support.

You aren't alone...see my thread reviewing the 5th Gen and comparing it head-to-head with our Rep 2s.

http://3dprintboard.com/showthread.p...ead-with-Rep-2

Makerbot's competitors are paying attention. Is Makerbot?

What other 3-d printers can do a comparable print volume to the z-18? If i could find something better we would send this POS Z-18 back.

We have had it since early July and was only able to print with it for about 2 weeks before it messed up. A 4 weeks worth of emails went nowhere with makerbot support, they just quit responding, I've called them 4 out of 5 days this week and its still not working. I've literally spent 2-3 hrs on the phone this just on hold this week to get this thing working. Its having multiple issues and they cant fix anyone of them.