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Asked — Edited

My New Customer Makerbot Experience

Just like i did with the Solidoodle I am sharing my overall experience purchasing a new makerbot. I will compare some of the same prints i did on the solidoodle with makerbot. Take in mind 80 percent of the difference is firmware for the "reprap" makerbot controller and the Makerbot slicer is more consistent than the open source SLIC3R. Also I have a used unit that I have had for a week while still waiting on the new one. First things you should know is I like to get the best reasonable deal i can. I discovered a few Promos for Makerbot you can also take advantage of if you call their sales line. Take in mind not all promos work on their website. Currently ( as of April 7 2014) Replicator 2 systems are on sale at 200 dollars off without a promo code as well.

$200 off purchase price PROMO MAKERBOTFRIEND

Free Shipping PROMO LASTCHANCE
( this is emailed to you if you add any item to you cart and don't complete a order)

Filament 15% off BIRDHOUSE

at this time buy any 4 spools of filament get additional 10% off

20% gold conference pass BOT

Alternatively Amazon has makerbot filaments with free shipping if you need them quicker as well.


At this time the filaments i have and price before discounts to use are:

- Makerbot 4 rolls of white ( 8.8 pounds) $48 x 4
- Makerbot 1 roll of clear ( 2.2 pounds) $48

on the way are:

-Makerbot 1 translucent red (2.2 pounds) $65
-Makerbot 1 black filament (2.2 pounds) $48

-Ninja Flex black 1.1 pounds $60
-Ninja Flex red 1.1 pounds $60
-Ninja Flex white 1.1 pounds $60


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Synthiam
United Kingdom
#67  
I never said it didn't work, I said (XLRobots) contained errors and bad practice. W3C Check shows some errors.

Your flowernow site (homepage only);
Website does not display correctly on mobile devices.
Website does not display correctly in Firefox at 1024x768.
No robots.txt
No sitemap.xml

SEO report score of 52%
Google pagerank of 0

I could continue but there's no point as it seems you have taken offence to my comment where it was meant as advice. I don't dispute the site loads and brings in sales however, from a web development point of view it isn't great and gives a very poor google page rank.

XLRobots falls to the same issues. Unless people are given the link in one form or another it's difficult to find the site.
South Africa
#68  
Hi Anthony I was wondering which web builder you are using for xl robots
South Africa
#70  
Do you pay per month or anything like that
South Africa
#71  
So it's like a once of thing
#72  
Ok , so giving some thread CPR here. I have been through i would guess about 150 hours or more of printing on the replicator 2. Unfortunately BOTH my replicators extruder clogged the same day. Both are stuck like chuck. I have done the normal troubleshooting to get it unclog get so now I'm looking for more extreme method. I was bummed I have not been able to print today.
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Basically I have been printing practically non stop except maybe 2 to 3 hours between prints in some cases. I am printing the hulkbuster helmet is several segments I cut up from another 3d model a friend gave me. This was the progress in dark grey.
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#74  
Alright , taking Dj and Ants suggestions I utilized maker care for one machine and had to shovel out of pocket 153 dollars for a new hot end for each makerbot replicator 2. I received one yesterday and another in a couple days...
#75  
Hi @jstarne1. I solved the problem by purchasing new extruder tips. When it clogs I simply put a new one on and it is good for another x hours. I have however learned how to clean my old tips but I have a complete machine shop so it was easy for me but probably out of the norm for most. A new tip is a lot cheaper than a new extruder, heater or whatever. Just my experience.
#76  
@bookmaker , where are you getting your tips from? How much are they?

I wanted just to get a tip buy they wanted to sell an assembly. Maybe they were out of tips? Hmm. Your feedback is appreciated , I'm looking for a supplier that makes perfect direct replacements for the makerbot rep 2 and I will order a few of them for future use. Agian thanks
#77  
I run a E3D v5 hot end and I know a lot of Makerbot guys use them. I don't know how much trouble it is to adapt but I bet since so many are using them that their forum would be a good source.
E3D

It may even fit, I have never seen a Makerbot up close, just coveted it for a long time.
#78  
Ok so the makerbot support was nice enough to give me the model print nozzle they use. Mk6 .2mm extruder nozzle. I believe I found them for about 3 bucks each verses the 20 each from makerbot. Also they appear to be out of them right now..
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Also I found a cleaning tool set as well for easier cleanings in the future...
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#79  
I myself have been ok with 4 to 6 hour prints being unattended however i like to setup a camera so i can watch my printer from anywhere. Just in case a part peels up , or clog in the extruder i can stop it remotely.

Personally i prefer to hang the spools overhead about 16 to 18 inches on a wooden rod. It makes storage easy , feeding filament is effortless since you no longer need to use the guide tube when feeding from an over hang. I have used about 6 spools of makerbot filament and they have a thin but long spool which helps keep the filament from unspooling on accident. I have been using alternative filament without an issue. Every clog i have had was with makerbot filament.
#80  
Oh and thanks , ironman does rule haha
#81  
What brand of filament do you use? I bought a bunch of filament when I bought the unit... and it was all Makerbot brand. The pricing of their filament is high and their winding is garbage... I wonder if they wind it by hand? Lol. I need to get some more filament soon because I am running low so now is a good time to switch to an alternative! Also, how do you stop printing remotely, is there an input on the electronics for that? I might use such a feature with a filament monitor I might build.
#83  
That is a solid deal on the filament! Thanks again! I mainly queue most of my long jobs on SD card as my main machine is a Microsoft Surface, and it's pretty mobile.
#84  
The surface uses windows RT unless you have the latest model. I do have a dell venue pro 8 and a acer w3 as well , similar windows x86 distro tablets.
#85  
No, I have had the Surface Pro 2 and docking station running Windows 8.1 64 bit. It's a full PC and like an ultrabook. I run Geomagic Cad on it, Makerbot software, CAM...and all of my work Windows software...QuickBooks, CooCox programming environment for ARM, Atmel Studio, Visual Studio, Office 365 etc.

It totally rules, but I wish I new that the Surface 3 was coming out so quickly.

BTW, Surface was introduced with RT on the ARM model and WIndows 8.0 on the Pro model from the very beginning and at the same time: The first-generation of Surface devices (Surface and Surface Pro) were both announced on June 18, 2012.
#86  
Yea the "PRO" is the difference lol