3 months of hell and my replicator 2 is still a paperweight

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bleudeciel16
 
Posts: 12
Joined: Sun Jul 01, 2012 2:10 pm

3 months of hell and my replicator 2 is still a paperweight

Post by bleudeciel16 »

Cliff notes:

bought replicator 2 adafruit edition just shy of three months ago

it hasn't printed right this entire time, even after 6 support tickets (7 if you count the two open ones i have now)

they keep sending replacement parts and it keeps breaking--what happens after their warranty is up? they suggest i buy a new one? HAHAHA no way

open a ticket. takes few days to get assigned. takes week of back and forth before they decide their plan of action. then another few days until their shipping dept. prints a label. then another couple days until it's actually dropped off at post office. then they close my ticket when i reply to the ticket saying it didn't fix my issues, which means i start back at point A again with another two weeks of hell to fix ONE problem.

$2300 + 3 months and all i have to show for my investment is a large box full of failed prints and rats nests (and 4kg of wasted filament i bought out of pocket)

opened thread here at adafruit asking about my options a month or so ago and you guys said if they don't help me that you can help me. you good for your word? I might need you at this point. link to that thread: http://forums.adafruit.com/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=41061

current ticket i finally put my foot down after being so calm and polite all these tickets, and they finally agreed to having me send printer to them so they can "fix" and send back. would prefer a new one at this point considering the wear and tear its gone through each time i take it apart (which is MANY times at this point) but oh well. their PDF instrucitons for packing mention printing and attaching label that i got in my email. checked email over and over, even spam folder. no such email. replied to support ticket asking about it, and a week later, no reply. it's like they're ducking out of my reply to keep from having to pay for shipping, despite their own instructions saying they do.

pretty ticked off at this point. maybe stratasys buying makerbot out will help their next printer be more reliable because the current one is terrible. (know 2 local friends who own on, both have similar issues with reliability to mine, so that's 0 for 3, pretty pathetic)

please help--i'm starting to feel scammed at this point by a super overpriced printer for the incredibly poor reliability level. replacing one parts. fine. two parts? silly, but ok. three? how about a new printer, it's a lemon at that point. but fine. four + five? now six? come on now. i don't have time for this crud. any help would be GREATLY appreciated.

i already had a raspberry pi, and have no use for the minty boost or the watch kit. i willingly paid the extra money to get it from adafruit since i really like your customer service. right now i'm hoping that was a really good idea.

oh and i mentioned in the original thread, but i'll mention again, i'm no noob at this stuff. i'm an ee. i'm a maker/tinkerer. i built my last 3d printer. (reprap mendal prusa) i know how to build, maintain, calibrate, adjust, repair, troubleshoot, etc. the problem doesn't lie in the owner. it's the unreliable printer. i've replaced three thermocouples, one motor wiring harness (all three axis), one extruder carrier assembly (nozzle too), and botstep driver. still no dice.

adafruit
 
Posts: 12151
Joined: Thu Apr 06, 2006 4:21 pm

Re: 3 months of hell and my replicator 2 is still a paperweight

Post by adafruit »

sorry to hear that, what is the current status of your open ticket with makerbot, the reason we sell these is because with service and support from makerbot. you had mentioned you had friends also with makerbots with issues, were they able to get them resolved with makerbot?

bleudeciel16
 
Posts: 12
Joined: Sun Jul 01, 2012 2:10 pm

Re: 3 months of hell and my replicator 2 is still a paperweight

Post by bleudeciel16 »

well, I opened a second ticket to get their attention since a week has gone by and they haven't responded to me asking about the missing shipping label email. that got their attention and they replied saying they aren't paying my shipping and that they attached the wrong PDF. (they were supposed to attach the one saying that I pay for my own shipping) That's probably going to be a good $50 or more for such a large box, out of my pocket (as well as the filament), due to their extremely unreliable printer. :(

My friends have had issues, and they were able to get them resolved, but like mine, they don't seem to go long before needing another replacement part, so they've had a ton of down time. I'm not sure what their current situation is but when I checked a month ago, both were waiting for replacement parts. (one a botstep driver, the other a thermocouple)

adafruit
 
Posts: 12151
Joined: Thu Apr 06, 2006 4:21 pm

Re: 3 months of hell and my replicator 2 is still a paperweight

Post by adafruit »

please let us know if they do not resolve the issue and we will try to help you escalate it with them.

rocketmouse
 
Posts: 3
Joined: Sat Aug 17, 2013 5:32 am

Re: 3 months of hell and my replicator 2 is still a paperweight

Post by rocketmouse »

Hi bleudeciel16, We also have a Replicator 2 and want to offer some info on what we learned the hard way (you seem pretty expert but we will post what we learned in case it helps anyone out there):

IMO:
1) Don't use the clear filament, throw it out, other colors extrude much much better without clogging. Especially if the base width of your model is wide the clear just doesn't cut it for us and often has issues.
2) Add tape to the base. If it doesn't stick then try roughing it up a bit so it does.
3) If the filament isn't moving through, there may be a small piece stuck inside that you can remove with pliers (take the small fan off to get access).
4) Try adjusting the temperature up if it doesn't extrude out, I've read forums saying that the temp sensor may fluctuate.
5) The Normal setting and Quick work best in the software, more issues with best quality setting.

Hopefully you get it up and running and Makerbot comes through for you!

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