New to me LulzBot Mini 1.03 what should I do

recently acquired a Lulzbot Mini, seems to be v1.03 based on serial number

I own another 3d printer which I very familiar with. Wanhao Dup i3 which is based off the Prusa. I have been printing on it for 3 years now, upgraded a few parts, printed a few upgrade parts, etc… This is my first LulzBot, I know they are great machines, but wondering what I need to check and look over to make sure the machine is functional and operational. It is a USED machine, and I am getting it second hand for a steal of a deal. What should I look at and make sure is there ? Visual Inspection ? want to make sure I want to give it a good once over BEFORE i try to fire it up.

Welcome to the world of Lulzbot printing! You may like to look over our Open Hardware Assembly Instructions. This goes over the full construction of our printers from the ground up as well as the most common repairs and maintenance for them. https://ohai.lulzbot.com/
In terms of a basic inspection I would say make sure that none of the printed parts are cracked, check that there aren’t any screws that have been left loose, make sure that the belts are taut (should be able to pluck like a guitar string). Also make sure to flash the firmware on it to make sure that the firmware is compatible with the version of Cura you are using. Once you have done that you can run a test print of our rocktopus and see how everything is running.
Rocktopus.stl (2.31 MB)

Thanks for the info…

machine Look Good from visual inspection, actually came with Original Box & Packing.

LulzBot Mini Picture Album

did not see any visual issues, seems to power up, will need to FLASH it and CONNECT it. need to get some 2.85 Filament First, only have 1.75 for my Other machine :slight_smile:

Assume the upgrade to aerostruder is also 2.85 mm filament tool ?

I would clean the small cold-end fan, since it looks to have a ‘little’ build-up on it in the last of your pictures.

yeah saw that… will blow it all out and clean it up then see if i can power it up and get it to life

Took some time last night, and downloaded Cura, then connected to the Printer :slight_smile:

was able to move any and all axis both directions, home one at a time, home all. heat up extruder, heat up bed, coll them both down. run extruder stepper in both directions.

now have to wait for my 2.85 filament to arrive and then run a test print :slight_smile: getting excited, interested to see how it prints, If it prints :stuck_out_tongue:

did notice the x-axis belt was a little loose, figured it should be generally taunt ?! or should it be a little loose ??

An easy way to check the tautness of the belts is to pluck them, they should pluck similar to a guitar string. If you are concerned that the belt might be a little loose you can check out the link below for information about tightening the belt (Step 7). https://ohai.lulzbot.com/project/mini-104-mechanical-assembly/mini-v104/

well the X was loose, so tightened it up a notch or two, now feels good.

printed out the Rocktopus, and came out great, did it half scale and on quick print to run a simple DOES IT WORK TEST.

now running 3DBenchy using there recommended settings, see what I get :slight_smile:

well did a 3DBenchy Test, and was impressed

looks like the text on the bottom was eliminated, maybe to large of layer or smushed into bed pei

I posted something about this last year(I think it was that long ago.)

But yes your first layer is higher than the depth of the lettering on the bottom so it just gets ignored by the slicer.