I kinda feel shafted

My ROBO3D R1 printer died a heat death after four months of use. It took six weeks to get it and it broke down repeatedly during its lifetime. There were times when it was running so beautifully smoothly for weeks in a row that I really felt content with my ROBO. Looking back on the experience as a whole it was overall a positive one.

But when I tell people that my first printer, which cost me $800 plus shipping, died a death of improper design at four months, they act surprised, as if i really got the short end of the stick. They ask about a warranty and I tell them there's a parts warranty but I gutted the thing with plans of rebuilding it anyway so I guess that's too late.

I dunno, I still have a working set of mechanicals but it's in storage cause it won't fit in my nursing home room and I can't finish my restoration project because of this. And then I've heard stories of people who's ROBO never worked at all. Then there's that viral photo of someone who smashed up their ROBO, presumably due to similar frustrations.

This all leads me to feel kinda shafted, like I was stepped on in ROBO3D's climb to success. I do realize that this was an early stage, early adopter technology, but now that all the bugs are worked out and ROBO R1's actually live to print another day, I just feel shortchanged.

Les

 

I'm not totally sure what caused the failure, but RoBo3D really does care about their users and wants them to be happy. Even though they say it's just a 6 month warranty they often will replace parts for little to no cost.

 

Thank you Mike, you're responsive and positive minded as always. The printer is too far gone after my teardown of the electronics to rebuild with standard parts, and really there are some major flaws in the design that I don't want to print with anymore, most notably the way that the hot end is held in place with those two screws hugging it sideways on either side - what's up with that? And other stuff like that.

I have since bought a Printrbot Simple Metal and now I know what a quality printer is all about. I'm not sure what I expect ROBO to do, I don't expect a refund and I don't want a new machine. I'm just left with a printer carcass and some mixed memories. Go figure.

Les

 

The cold end is called a "Greg's wade extruder" It's a common and proven design. Nothing's wrongs with the securing method and many many people use it: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:65939

If you want to ship me your printer I can get it up and running for you free of charge.

The printrbot simple metal is a truly great machine. I suggest it to everyone. I never would have suggested the printrbot simple however. It took them many generations to get the design right.

 

Wow Mike, that's a generous offer, I think I'll take you up on it. The mechanicals are sound and I have the power supply somewhere. I would have to go to my storage bin again and dig it out, which we did last weekend (me and Raul) to get my filament. I'm sure though that asking Raul to do so much work on a social visit is asking a lot. Let me wait a while and then I'll take you up on that offer my friend.

Les