u/UngaHuman

I installed two spools with same filament, sliced model, on latest step it was only one head available to choose, I don’t know it’s an issue or not. Filament on spool 1 was finished and print paused with failure message… I tried manually to switch to another head, but without success. By the end I replaced spool and was able to continue. I hope everything will be Ok after few pauses I did. 41% of print :(
How it must to work? It looks like I missed something in settings, but I did everything by the book.

The bed attached with 4 bolt available for level configuration. Am I the only one wondering why it's 4, and not 3? It’s mission impossible, imho

I remember it was mentioned that U1 is nit so quick in single material printing. Yesterday I do my first print for about 2 hours. I had the sensation that not only the table was wobbling, but the entire house as well. Does anyone need it even faster?
I realize that my table is far from the most stable, but still...

Today I received my U1. I’d like to share my first impressions.

As someone with a engineering background, there are a few things I immediately want to point out. I’ll start with what, in my opinion, was not designed optimally (and honestly, I don’t understand why).

• Different toolheads. Why 3+1? Who came up with that? Why not make all 4 heads identical? Development, manufacturing, assembly, logistics, support — all of that could be simplified by using just one type of head.
• USB cable fastening. Tiny little screws? Seriously? Sixteen of them? Two different sets of screws? Was this a joke? I honestly don’t understand why simple plastic clips/snaps weren’t used instead.
• Why are there connectors on every head? Why not just route one more cable to the head adapter? (Like on the FF Creator 5, for example.)
• Spools mounting. Why not just use fixed spool holders? Then there would be no issues with different inner spool diameters. Why make such a complicated mechanism?
• Toolhead positioning adjustment. Please make those screws bigger so it’s not scary to turn them. Why miniaturize something like this?
• Belt tension adjustment. I almost cried. I’m too old for this kind of thing already — you can barely see anything in there… Somehow I managed.
• And why the carbon fiber parts? Honestly, I don’t really see the point.
• The small fans sound kind of nervous and whiny…

So, I assembled it, turned it on, connected it to Wi-Fi, but couldn’t connect it to the phone app… Fine, I’ll figure that out later. I start the calibration, the head bumps into the corner, and the printer throws error 0003-0528-0000-0027. Oops. Googled it. Seems to be belt tension. I loosen those two screws, wiggle the head adapter around, tighten them carefully because I’m afraid of overtightening and breaking something. On the second attempt, calibration succeeds. Relief.

I load the included filament and start printing the dragon. I select all possible calibration options before printing. The printer spends a long time seriously calibrating the flow rate. I’m impressed by that level of thoroughness. But apparently it didn’t help much — the first layer had horrible over-extrusion. Seriously? With the original filament and after flow calibration?

The printer is still working on the dragon (three hours is pretty long for a test model — this isn’t a Benchy). The outer surfaces look decent so far. I’ll wait for the final result and inspect it carefully. Tomorrow I’ll install Snorka and start printing test models and tuning profiles.

Now for the good part. This is a very solid machine. Everything feels well-made and thoughtfully assembled. With just a little more refinement, this could have been an absolutely fantastic printer. And the funny thing is, most of the things I’d want improved would cost practically nothing. To me, some design decisions just seem strange and unnecessarily complicated where simplicity would work better.

The build volume is amazing, while the printer itself remains fairly compact. Watching the toolhead changes is genuinely enjoyable. Brilliant concept. Now the main thing is for my kid to really get inspired by the idea and start doing multi-color printing for the models he creates.

One more thing: this printer needs a very sturdy table. I bought a Keter workbench from Costco, but it’s not enough — the printer shakes it around pretty easily. I’ll need something much more stable.

While I was writing this post, the dragon finished printing. I’m honestly impressed. The print quality is excellent — at first glance, there’s really nothing to complain about.

I ordered U1 yesterday. I'm getting ready to master this interesting device. There's just one small problem—I don't have a table for the printer. I stopped by Costco today and found a small Keter workbench unit on sale, so I hauled it home. But I’m not sure it’s up to the challenge. Is it enough? What do you think?

My experience consists of a couple of months of torture with gifted to me an aging FF Adventurer 3. I really hope to be pleasantly surprised by the progress made in the field of 3D printing over the last few years :)

Hello,

I ordered U1 and now, waiting it, going to read about tweaks and modifications.
I like idea with usage of IKEA bin as a cover, but what about temperature? I use PLA and PETG, cover will be as a dust protection. How to organize ventilation well into covered printer?