Cosmetic Issue - Bits & Pieces of Filament on the Print Table

I noticed that when I printed two objects of different colors, little bits and pieces of filament would end up on the print table.  This puzzled me because I knew that the Cube 3 had two wipers that should have taken care of that problem.  So, I decided to investigate and send the Cubify engineers my observations.

As some of you know, I often use the tools I learned as a science teacher in my analytical efforts.  But, I also have a video production background that also comes in handy from time-to-time.  And, that is what I turned to in this case.

I first shot a sequence of video that captured what was happening.  My camera is not capable of true 200 frames per second high speed capture,   But, it is capable of shooting at high shutter speeds resulting in sharp images of moving objects.  So, I used video editor to slow the action down as much as it could.  This resulted in this video sequence.

As you can see, the action happens very quickly in real time.  So, even slowing it down a little bit was helpful in determining the sequence of events.  Even so, it still wasn't completely clear how those bits and pieces where forming.  So, using Camtasia to capture my screen as I operated the shuttle in my video editing application I was able to analyze the video, and document what was taking place, on a frame-by-frame basis in this next video.

The Cubify Team is aware of the issue and working on correcting it.

I expect it will be addressed in a future firmware update.

Observation Conclusion:

• The issue is cosmetic only.

• It involves the resting placement of the print jet and possibly the extruder control (Prevent dripping)

• It affects both left and right print jets

• Most commonly seen in SOME two color prints (same layer color changes)

• It should be able to be addresses entirely in firmware

• Should hardware changes be required, it will only be to user replaceable parts such as wipers or wiper try assembly

I consider this a very minor issue that will not be permanent to the Cube3 user experience as it appears to be something that can and will be addressed through firmware updates.  While it's ugly, it is definitely NOT a "show-stopper" in terms of making a purchase decision.  While it does affect the first layer of all pieces, it's not a big issue unless the design of the object requires same layer color changes. 

This is the kind of thing I expect to see in an entirely new product.  And, is typical of the issues discovered so far with the 3rd Generation Cube 3D printer in that they do not demonstrate any flaws, serious or otherwise, in the hardware design of the basic printer itself.