New Printer Upgrades Released?

I was going to order the PLA only model of the Robo3d, but now that the price has gone up another $100, I am unable to afford it at this moment. Is it worth in with the upgrades they have put on the new model to still purchase it? Are the "older" models still available to purchase?

Thanks.

 

It's worth the upgrade in my opinion. I would email them directly and ask if they have old stock to purchase.

 

I have not been able to get my printer to print that great even with new parts sent to me by robo3d so I would stay away for now. Going to try and put a e3d head on it and if it still doesn't print good I am just about done with it.

 

bret that's a very strange thing to say. "can't get my printer to print" is as effective as saying "my computer isn't computing"

 

Would you know if this is the replacement ABS/PlA Printer, I dont see the printer I ordered online anymore ..
I ordered my printer a few weeks ago, Im order # 2318 . Will I receive the newer version with the newer upgrades or do I have to cancel my order to get the newer version? I would be upset if I got the older version when the one I bought is no longer available and I still dont have any printer.. Do you know what the deal is? Thanks John

 

The printer with the new linear rails is $100 more. You should send them a contact request and they can probably just have you pay the difference if you want the new version.

 

What's even stranger is the long post I made back to didn't show up here. Of course your right, but I've been going through a lot trying to fix my printer. I have been talking with Jerry at robo3d about the problems my printer has had. Did many of the upgrades and then some and it has gotten better but still prints poorly. I have worked on it for about two weeks now. Many hours spent that I could have spent building one of my other printers.

The only thing left to replace is the hot end. I have an e3d hot end coming this week and I am betting that is going to fix it. Took the stock hot end off today and looked at the tip where the plastic comes out and it has a larger than normal taper around the .4mm hole in the end. It also has a nick on one side of this hole. That is what may be causing my prints to go bad now.

I didn't start this to bash robo3d. But not everyone is having a perfect experience with their printer. As I tried to say in my last post that got lost somehow, anyone can see that lots of upgrades are being made to get these printers to work better. I also have to say that with all the upgrades this can turn out to be a good machine. But now at $800 for the heated bed model, I think with $150 - $200 in upgrades it should be able to print nice. Of course some will get one that prints great out of the box. Hopefully most people.

 

If you were less vague about your issues people on here can help you. Right now for all I know your first layer is too high and that's what's wrong with your printer. You'd be shocked how 99% of the print resides in the first layer. Beyond that it's preventing shifting.

Through my times with my robo more often than not, it was something I did/software did that caused the print to fail than anything the printer did.

I didn't put more than $5-10 (springs) into my printer to get it working excellent for months. Wasn't until my ptfe tube cracked that I swapped in the E3D, which was in my plans anyways.

 

Like I said, I have been working with Jerry on the problems with my printer. I have designed and built printers so I really do not need help figuring things like first layer height out. You are 100% correct on how important the first layer is to getting a good print.

I really didn't want to mention it here but I guess I will now. The printer sent to me seems to be one that was not inspected or it was some kind of experimental unit for testing. Jerry told me at the least it was not inspected like most others are before shipping. Just about everything was poorly put together. Motors were all loose. Z axis smooth rod supports were cracked. Z axis couplings were running way out of round. The threaded z axis rods were bent making them run way out. The y axis drawer slides were bent with pliers by the looks of them to make the bed so loose that you could pull the bed right off the rails.

One of my friends just the ptfe tube go bad in his too. He is also going with the e3d. I have the e3d on one of my other home built printers and they really are great hot ends.

I replaced the z screws with m8 x 1.25 screws and machined up some new couplings for them that are perfectly in line with the motors and screws. I also replaced the stupid 5/16" smooth rods that they use in the 8mm bearings in the x and z axis. Now the machine runs really smooth. .004" slop in the bearings is just bad engineering.

So as you can see I have been busy rebuilding it more than using it. Even with all my problems I am betting that I just got really unlucky. My friend was printing some really nice things right out of the box until the hot end went bad on him. So it seems this printer found the right home with someone that will take the time to fix it up.

I think if robo3d improves their product over time (like we see them doing with the new bed) they may be one of the 3d printer companies still be around when others fade away.

 

Sounds more like it got josseled around in shipping. Just out of curiosity how long ago was this?

With everything there's bound to be a few bad eggs. The thing about Robo 3d is they really work hard to get you the replacement parts needed to get your printer fully up and running.

 

This was about two weeks ago. It was not damaged in shipping. It was never put together right. The screws that hold the z and axis motors had no washers on them so they were to long and bottomed out in the motors. This let the motors float all over the place. Put one flat washer under each screw and the motors are locked in place the way they should be.

You can see the marks on the y axis rails where someone used a tool like pliers on them to bend the out. Also the entire machine housing was really dirty. Jerry says that is the way they come from china. They clean every one and go over them. That is the reason he thinks someone skipped checking this one out. Maybe someone in china bent the y axis rails because they thought it would be funny.

Jerry has been great about sending me parts. After ordering my printer he did promise that I would get one of the new ones with the new bed, then someone shipped this one out and he kind of forgot about that it seems. But all in all he has tried his best to help me get it working.

 

So .. They're making changes to a product to fix some known issues, but are still going to send out ones with the older set up for those who've already made their order? If that's what getting out of this thread.

 

That's not what's going on in this thread. This thread is if you want to get a version with linear rails that costs $100 more than a version with drawer slide rails.

 

Last I heard from Jerry was that the next batch would have the new rails. Maybe they are going to only have those to ship. You should email robo3d to find out what you may get.

 

Sorry , I didn't entirely mean to make it sound like faulty product being sent , just more of they're doing a new process and abandoning the older model and were stuck with it or not even mentioning customers who's on order about the new change. Kind of like buying that new phone and then they release the new model the next day.

 

It was the same thing as a phone launch. For those paying attention to the rumor mill will know there's a new product coming and hold off. Others just want the phone and don't care about the latest and greatest so they'll buy the old one, and maybe be frustrated they didn't wait afterwards.

I've seen people who want the new one wait, and people who want to save $100 buy the older version. Just depends on personal preference.

 

That's right Mike. No matter what 3d printer you buy you are going to see new models come out that are going to have improvements over your older one. One thing that is cool is that you can upgrade the old bed to the new one they are putting on the new printers. Many other 3d printer manufactures would have you buy an all new printer for one or two thousand dollars more than this one when a new model comes out. Onehundred bucks for a new heated bed and rails is not a bad deal.

 

I had sent an email to jerry about my printer I had ordered back at the end of March because I had noticed there was an upgraded version and I was interested in purchasing the upgrade if possible and he had said that it was going to have the upgrades already on it and should be shipping out in around a week J

 

Just to ease your mind, I have a stock Robo 3D printer. Once you are Familiar with all the issues, such as loose bolts, once tightened, the Robo prints right out of the box.

You don't need the upgrades as it is. If you want a Farrari then those upgrades will really help make the experience that much more rewarding or expensive. But you don't need it. You need to concentrate more on the models and how you are going to print them; support or not, sideways,
Vertically etc. The size
Of the build platform is amazing.
You have nothing to worry about as long as everything is working.


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