Remember that post a few days ago when I was trolling to make you think something bad had happened. Well, something bad had happened but it wasn’t really that bad in the end. This isn’t like that. This time something bad really has happened.
To save myself from having to tell the story twice I’ll just quote the message I sent to makerbot support:
My name is Joseph Larson, Cymon on Thingiverse. I am owner of Replicator #8566. I’ve had it for two weeks now and have been absoutly thrilled with it and absolutely thrilled with the timely and personal service I’ve received.
I was having trouble getting my replicator to successfully print yesterday. The prints were just failing, either detaching from the build platform or something so that most of the time I ended up with a sticky ball or squiggly nest of plastic. The extruder nozzles were getting pretty black with burnt on plastic so I unloaded the filament, soaked them in acetone and cleaned them as best I could then tried printing again. It was better at first then started failing again, so I followed the steps in your excellent maintenance video ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HA5TvWp5YJ8 ). I unloaded the filament, turned off and unplugged the replicator, disassembled the steppers and cleaned them (they weren’t really that dirty to my eyes) reassembled the steppers, greased the rods, and even changed the tape.
When I was done I plugged in and turned on the Replicator and noticed that the LCD didn’t look right. The top and third rows were black, the second and last were white. I let it sit there for a second, then turned it off and turned it back on. There was a flash and then nothing. Turned it off and on again and the LCD flashed white, then nothing. No fans running, no LEDs behind the “M” button. Nothing. There is a high pitched whine when it’s powered, the same sort of high pitched whine I hear from many electronics but many other’s don’t so that may just be me. For now it’s powered off and unplugged.
I think my chip board is fried. I’m disinclined to think it was related to the maintenance I did before it, nor that it’s related to the print failures.
So there it is. But never fear, Makerbot it awesome. I have no doubt they will know what to do to make it right. Because they don’t get that they’ll never stay in business if you actually put your customers first, even the ones who just won a contest. I’ve called them “insanity incorporated” and I stand by that.
I love Makerbot.
