UP Box+... Any Better or still Biggest waste of money (and Time) ever spent

So following on from my first UP Box post, I had left a review on the Tiertime forums, roll on a couple of weeks, Tiertime emailed me after I had posted my annoyance on their forums, to offer me the latest version of the Up Box, the UP Box+ which they promised has fixed all the issues I had seen. 

So after much thinking I gladly accepted this. This was back in March time and so this is an update for the UP Box+

So eventually I received the new printer, unboxed it, and started it printing. Two prints in, the printer stops working, little did I know that the printer now needs to be registered with UPBOX via the internet and the upbox software, meaning you need to sign into the software in order to register the UP Box.

Once we were back up and running, I decided to run an auto level, which ran ok after the third attempt (the biggest issue was the Height detect, which sometime didn't detect correctly - it requires a really clean nozzle and also appears to be the newest updated feature, before there was a small lever that the nozzle pushed down to detect the height I am guessing that this was removed as a weakness - although never had an issue with that one).. Anyway This now has failed completely after a few months use (this then means that you have to manually perform bed levelling).

Also now with the UPBox+ you receive the flex build platform which doesn't work all that great..

On the plus side, the issues that plagued the first UP Box appear to have been fixed, the cable to the print head is now secured with an injection moulded clamp as opposed to a 3D printed part, and the print head is now secured by a screw to the drive mount.

Finally it appears that the new UPBox+ is finicky with what manufacturer of filament it will print with, currently I can only use RigidInk to reliably print anything.

To summarise:-
Would I now recommend the UP Box to anyone else? NO... It still not a great printer.
Whilst the weak parts of the previous UP Box appear to have been fixed, that is the print head cable strain relief - which was the biggest problem for print failures.

New problems that are now seen:-

1. Doesn't correctly level all the time (Takes a few attempts to level correctly) - Even the technical support guy who delivered the printer said it takes a couple of attempts, and that he normally ends up manually levelling. After a month or two, the auto height detect no longer works (the operation of this has changed), therefore you can no longer level the print bed automatically, and are left to manually level.
2. Occasionally you get a motion error control notification on the software at the end of a print. This means you have to switch the printer off and on again to clear the error.
3. Now appears to be very fickle with filaments, really doesn't like using many different filaments and the only one that is 100% reliable is Rigid.Ink (But then this is really good stuff), but I would have expected formfurtura to work fine, but end up finding that the printer will start air printing part way through!

UP Box... Biggest waste of money (and Time) ever spent

Can I say that the original UP box has been the biggest waste of money ever - We have been using this for just under a year (purchased from CPC in Feb 16, even though we find out from the UK distributor that the printer (from the serial number) is now out of warranty from the manufacturer! - 1st bad point).

So in this time we have had several failures,

1) It has had a replacement CPU board,
2) 6 x print head FPC cables (In fact this is a serious design flaw of the UP Box, and requires regular maintenance),
3) The brackets that hold the print head board on need regular replacement...

4) We are on our second print head (£250 for a new print head and extruder), when all that was needed was a new extruder wheel on the stepper motor

5) Where we used to be able to print a whole platform, now restricted to just the middle area of the platform, otherwise the printer stops printing mid way through - from not extruding, to prints lifting.

6) Latest error after replacing the FPC boards (as we suspected the connector on the board had now worn out), the up box levelling system has broke (this happened, as the levelling system came switched on on its own at the start of the print and them proceeded to crash into the print bed, destroying the microswitch in the process) - Levelling system seems to stay off until the print head is about to start printing, and then randomly starts to move down and up!!!

7) Front door doesn't close properly (appears to be warped, and the hinges need to be twisted inorder to close correctly)

So conveniently now we have a printer that appears to be out of warranty from the manufacturer - and they don't recognize that it was brought new a few months after it was manufactured! and is now developing major issues just outside the warranty!

Would I buy an Up again? - given the issues here, No... And actually I have recently purchased for myself a Cel-Robox, plus a Raise3d printer for the office as a second machine. Note the Raise3D N1 has the same build area as the Up Box, is dual extruder, build quality is twice (if not three times as good) as the UP box, and is only £500 more that the UP..What this says to me is that the Up Box is overpriced for what it is.

Oh did I say I now need to get the thing working again!! = more money

Rigid Ink Nylon 12 with the UP! Box Printer Review

It has been a while now since my last post, I have been meaning to get a write up done on the RigidInk Nylon filament done for some time.

Following on from My PMMA filament review med UP! Box Printer, I was interested at se how the printer handled Nylon filament. Rigid Ink do a nylon 12 filament som enligt specification prints in the same region as ABS (260) nemlig setup on the UP! Box.

Now I have ulterior motives for trying out Nylon, in as much as I would like to print out some parts to make a Drone, and I have been reading up that Nylon might just be the material-to-use.

As you can see even on the basic abs settings of the UP Box printer, the Nylon filament prints really well. In fact yet again the Filament from Rigid Ink works really well, with consistent results.

Only issue I have seen with some other prints is that because the filament is being extruded at a higher temperature than recommended, there is quite a bit of oozing afterwards, which has been a problem with intricate parts. I am sure that if the UP software allowed for adjusting of temperature then this would be no problem.