Bought a used 5, and it's in sad shape.

Hi there, I’m new to the 3D printing world. I know there’s a “intro” post, but I didn’t see the point in making 2 posts in rapid succession. For myself, I’ve been a fan of 3D printing since the only printers available were RepRaps and you had to assemble them yourself out of old printer components. Suffice to say, I had neither the time, knowledge, or money to build one then and have been biding my time waiting for an opportunity to get one. I’ve been following several printer makers for a while, and Lulzbot has been one of my top picks if I could ever get one. Well that finally happened, and I got an Amazon Warehouse Deal on a used 5 for a pretty good price.

Man was I excited! Christmas came early, and I was finally getting something I’ve been wanting literally for more than a decade!

What a deal. :unamused:

The box was waiting for me when I got home a couple days ago, and I could tell something was off. It was definitely not original, wasn’t “sealed” and had a hole or two in it. S**t. The previous owner had returned the unit with the bed detached from the frame, a couple cables unhooked, the hardware tossed loosely in the box, and no protective packaging under the printer and a couple foam pads on top. The power supply was free to bang around in the box along with everything else.

S**t x 2.

Immediately I notice the print bed is shattered. Then I note there’s a frame piece floating around and bits of plastic in the bottom of the box with a couple scattered screws and springs. The corners are shattered on one rail, broken on two others. The LCD is missing the knob and the post to the PCB rheostat or selector is missing.

S**t x 3. Man…I wish I could send the offending party a nastygram.

Well…I always wanted to build one, so at least I’ll get to do a partial R&R build. For their part, Amazon has been great. They immediately gave me a hassle-free partial refund sufficient to pay for a replacement heated bed kit and LCD (which unfortunately is out of stock here at this time) and assured me that if it was unsalvageable even after my repair efforts I could return it. While I’m not happy that they didn’t do any inspection of the unit or the packaging, or worse yet, tossed it in a box and sent it to me like this, it was still such a good deal I’m willing to suck it up and do the work to get it going again. While the product has issues, their customer service has been very good.

At any rate, I’m here to see if I can get some assistance sourcing/buying replacement parts. Because of the perforated box, lousy packaging, and half-a**ed disassembly, a bunch of tiny parts are missing. I’ve only got big-box hardware around here and they don’t carry tiny stuff.

What I need to find:

Print bed springs, washers, allen bolts/nuts, fingers.
Print head idler arm hardware (springs, washers, bolts, nuts)
Print bed frame rail mount
Complete LCD/PCB

I can get the print bed kit, the bed corners and the corner brackets here from the site store.

Ironically, if I had a 3d printer I could print some of my own parts.

I did power the unit up carefully and the PSU/PCB/Firmware seem OK so far, but I’ll undoubtedly find some more issues as I progress. No idea as to the state of the print head.

Thanks in advance for any advice, help - and feel free to point out anything I should be looking for or gotchas in the printer. Sorry about the WoT, thanks for reading.

Edit: And if there are any good upgrades that I should make while conducting repairs, let me know. If they’re in the budget I’ll try to make them.

You can get the GLCD from RepRap Discount: https://ultimachine.com/collections/electronics/products/lcd-smart-controller-kit-from-reprapdiscount

If your extruder has lots of problems you might want to look at upgrading to the Taz Aerostruder or a new V2 single extruder.

In case you get really stuck with it, there is the Lulzbot repair service: https://www.lulzbot.com/lulzbot-repair-service

I found a “ding sale” LCD over at IT-Works3D, $30, I’ll be happy with that as long as it works properly and is readable. I don’t think I’ll replace the hot end unless absolutely necessary, it’s one of the more expensive parts. If I do need to I’ll certainly consider what you’ve said about upgrades in that area. I sent a message to the lulzbot tech support asking about parts, but I haven’t heard anything from them yet.

It’s just the miscellaneous parts that are holding me up. I can have all the major hardware, but if I can’t bolt it together I’m stuck going nowhere. It’s a real pity they don’t have kits for this stuff here.

You should be able to get any parts needed from sales@lulzbot.com, I have emailed them a few times when something isnt listed on site or shows out of stock.