Commercial users.

I'm curious to see if there are any members that are using the Robo for commercial purposes. Anyone?

CleanO2 Carbon Capture Tech

 

It is my intention to use the machine to produce accessories for Remote Control Aircraft.: Specifically 1/3 scale "Warbirds". We have been using 3D printers to produce smaller scales but need an 8" build height to produce the 1/3 scale. I generally take my machines when I attend flying meet and shows.

I received my RoboR1 two weeks ago and the machine was sent with improper software and it took two weeks to diagnose the problem. Which proves that the customer service is very poor. After getting the right software the machine has failed to print very simple test models. Again it appears to be a software problem, because the computer loses it ability to communicate with the printer and the job stops.

Thus I can not recommend this machine for commercial use. It is basically non-functional. We will be looking act requesting a refund at this time.

Richard Delorme
Owner
Rosa Miniatures and Games

 

That's a shame Richard. So far it's been very helpful for our ability to test designs on our carbon capture prototypes. I would agree that from a "plug and play" point of view, this is not an ideal machine. However, since the department I work in involves "make it work", it's a perfect fit.

I hope things work out for you mate.

Cheers.

CleanO2 Carbon Capture Tech

 

I had high hopes for this machine, but if the machine can not finish a simple print job it is worthless. I have already had to repair the machine, which had some minor shipping damages (broken belt, broken wire). So it has not been an out of the "box plug and play" machine from the start. I am not sure what the problems at Robo 3D are: they were very slow shipping and cited some supply chain issue. They shipped the wrong software with the machine and know there appears to be a major bug in the software I downloaded to fix the first problem.

We have around 50 models on backorder waiting for a functional machine with a 8" build area. We have some smaller older machines (Afinia) that are real troopers: work wonderfully. We have some other machines that were less than satisfactory, actually had a new Soliddoddle machine right out of the box send out a shower of sparks and smoke because they sent the machine with a defective power supply. So I am willing to work out problems to get a machine that works. However, I am rapidly losing all confidence that Robo3D can get the problems fixed. Trying to do all customer service by email is a mistake, there are times when phones and remote access to the clients computer saves a lot of grief.

 

Since there are a lot if people that cam successfully print, perhaps you need to check out other thing that might be causing a problem. Like your computer in the case if the communication failing.

Assuming there are not broken mechanical parts

The software is from other companies. So far I have successfully printed from Matter Control and Repetier. Other love Cura, so it now falls back on setting up your printer properly so that it works like everyone else's that is successful.

You need methodical troubleshooting. This forum is full of others that have had issues and are solved. Re-read the threads and see if those solutions work for you. You can't expect someone to know what the problem is over long distance. You need to work it out on your own which will help you understand the printer better. If you don't have those skills, maybe there is some tech in your neck of the woods that can take a look at it for you.

 

Blame the customer is not a good corporate policy. I would like to point out: 1) software is supplied by the company to operate their machine THUS is RoboR1 job to make sure it works correctly; 2) there are no manuals for this machine so it is not really possible to trouble shoot on your own, 3) I have read the through the blogs and set up the printer properly. And for the record I have lots of 3D printing experience and it was very clear to me from day one that the initial issue was software, but I could not have know that the version sent with the machine was incompatible with out some reference (which are not provided).

I purchased the RoboR1 because the earlier version received good reviews, but there is a problem with the current batch.

 

I had issues with my Robo R1 in getting acceptable prints in the beginning. I was able to follow other users suggestions and mods to bring it to acceptable prints. I don't mind those mods as I'm learning from those and enjoy it.

However, I did have some quality issues with my DC power connector to the controller got melted, my AC power switch not working (wires came off their crimp connectors easily, the wire color codes were all wrong), etc... I was able to fix them with helps from SteveC and Mike Kelly.

I had to cancel my Y-Axis Bed upgrade order due to other users encountering the connector issues. I lost confidence in Robo 3D's quality control regarding safety issues.

It's very fortunate that Robo 3D has a great user support community. Without people like Mike Kelly, Tesseract, Ziggy, SteveC, Tonycstech, Cambo3d, and many others, my experience with Robo 3D would not have been tolerable. And I want to say thanks to these users.

Anyway, this does not give Robo 3D excuses for being sloppy on their quality control, especially on those safety issues stated above.

 

Richard I agree that they need to step up the game on documentation. But this is after all an open source printer, and with it comes open source support.

Matter Control, Repetier Host, Cura, Simplify3d, etc are all capable of running the RoBo3D. Pick which one's best for you. No one's forcing you to use MatterControl. This is the beauty of open source, you can use anything that suits your fancy.

Sounds like you're used to working with Closed Source printers. That's not how the R3D works. It's not fair to expect the same level of quality as your Afinia.

They, simply put, have very little resource. Almost all of their resource is going into putting printers out the door. They just don't have the capital to do extensive CS and TS like large companies such as Affinia.

I get you're frustrated, but the RoBo3d is a very capable machine if you're patient with it.

 

Richard, This is a user forum. There is no one here representing Robo3D . You are not our customer. If you need help getting your printer connected to a PC there are plenty of competent users here willing to help you out.