MakerBot Replicator 1 - Support

Replacing the Spools

The Replicator 1 uses uses two spools of printing material. At times you may want to choose a different color of printing material or the printing material may be depleted.

When replacing the printing material be sure to line the filament up according to the diagram on the back of the Replicator 1, to keep resistance at a minimum.

To replace the filament:

  1. Go the Replicator 1's LCD and press the down arrow on the keypad until you see "Utilities."Press the "M" button, this will bring you to the utilities menu.
  2. Press the down button again until you get to "Unload (right/left) filament."
  3. Press the "M" button again to select the filament unload option. This will then heat up the extruder that you want to remove the filament from.
  4. When prompted by the MakerBot, gently press down on the gray circular ring at the top of the extruder and pull back the gray tubing to expose the filament.
  5. Gently pull on the filament to remove it from the extruder.
  6. On the back of the Replicator 1 squeeze down on the two extruding spool holders and gently pull of the material spool.
  7. Obtain a new spool of material and slide the center of the spool onto the spool holders at the back of the Replicator 1. Be sure to match the rotation of the spool to the diagram on the back of the replicator.
  8. Repeat step 1 to enter the utilities menu.
  9. Press the down button until you see "Load (right/left) filament."
  10. Press the "M" button to select the filament loading option. This will heat up the appropriate extruder and the Replicator 1alert you when the extruder is hot enough.
  11. When prompted by the Replicator 1 pass the filament through the gray tube on the appropriate side and insert the filament into the the top of the extruder.
  12. Guide the gray tube back to the top of the extruder and press down on the gray ring at the top of the extruder.After some time you should see a thin piece of filament coming out the nozzle of the extruder.
  13. When about 4 inches have come out of the extruder press the "M" button to stop the the filament. At this point you have successfully replaced the filament and are ready to make a print

Leveling the Plate

At times the Replicator 1's printing platform may become unleveled causing the 3D prints to be distorted or miss aligned. To alleviate this you can level the build platform.

To level the build plate:

  1. Go to the Replicator 1's LCD and press the down button untill you see "Utilities" highlighted.
  2. Press the "M" button to enter the utilities menu.
  3. Press the down button until you see "Level build plate" highlighted.
  4. Press the "M" button again to bring up the leveling instructions on the LCD.
  5. Carefully follow the steps on the LCD to level the plate. Note this will involve adjusting the screws located under the build plate and the platform may be hot!
  6. Tighten all four screws.
  7. During the calibration the extruders will be placed in five different positions to level the plate. Rotating the screws clockwise will increase the gap between the extruders and plate.
  8. Rotating the screws counter-clockwise will decrease the gap between the extruders and plate. There are four adjusting screws.

More About the MakerBot Replicator 1

Overview
Tutorial
FAQ

Unless otherwise stated, the content of this page is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License