Sh!tty build quality

General LulzBot TAZ
1

I’ve just unpacked my new TAZ5 and I’m a bit disappointed with the overall build quality…

  1. The main frame, top to bottom, is about 14mm off the vertical, it’s the first thing I noticed when I set on bench - it is visibly out of shape. None of the main struts are bent so this is unlikely to be shipping damage, all the same, it will need straightening out before use.

  2. Two of the pins on the print head connector were broken, these appear to be the DC feed for the micro-fan adjacent to the print nozzle. I’ve had to solder in replacement pins and thankfully noted the polarity first because the feeds on the other side of the connector are both orange so there is no intuitive way to check the polarity. It’s a bad choice of connector for the purpose; cheap and nasty and totally unsuited to the application, the pins are so weak and any undetected break could seriously damage the print mechanism. I’m looking for an alternative and I’ll replace it ASAP.

  3. Every cable tie has been over tightened so that they’re crushing the actual conduit that’s supposed to protect the conductors. I used to joke about sending people on cable tie courses, maybe this isn’t funny ant more.

Thankfully none of these issues should require replacement parts from Lulzbot. All the same, these are unnecessary problems that could be avoided with some better quality control.

ST.

2

Did you order yours direct from Lulzbot? 14mm deflection on the frame is pretty dang far out, and definitely isn’t normal. They use alignment guides and templates during the assembly process, and then print a test piece on that printer before shipping (which you should have received with the printer) so a variance of that much would be quite noticeable. Was it squished over left to right, or front to back? Can you post a picture showing which areas are off? If there is any shipping damage to the box, it’s possible the frame torqued out of alignment in a corner drop, but that would have to be one hell of a drop. You should probably call support and see if they can do something for you to get that resolved.

The pins are a new connector recent to later model taz 5’s. They offer more connection points than the previous clip latch units, but those pins could stand to be a bit bigger.

The zip tie issue I think is more personal preference.