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  1. #1

    Flashforge Creator X printing problems

    I have a Flashforge Creator X that I bought from a co-worker. It worked fine for a while but then started exhibiting a strange problem when printing. It almost seems like it is not extruding enough plastic when printing. The raft prints fine, but then everything after that is very thin. The picture shows two prints. The one in green I printed a few weeks ago, the pink I printed today. I had switched to the pink spool as I was concerned I had a problem with the green filament as it was doing the same thing. I have throughly cleaned both heads, the ptfe tubes are good, and I cleaned the extruder gears. I am using Simplify3D plugged directly into the printer (eliminated the Astrobox just to make sure) and used the default settings for the high quality setting.
    IMG_3476.jpg

  2. #2
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    Looks to be under extrusion. Make sure to measure the filament diameter over several spots along five or more feet and enter the average into the slicer.

    What speed, temp and what material?

  3. #3
    Extrusion multiplier is 1.0. Using ABS at default temp of 230, also tried 235. Will check speed after work but should be default from S3D for the flashforge creator pro profile as I reset back to default setting to make sure I hadn't screwed anything up.

  4. #4
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    If I remember speed is 3600mm/min for the FFCP in S3D which I think is to fast for ABS. I am generally at 2400.
    Also make sure to measure the filament diameter at several places and enter it into the slicer.

  5. #5
    Super Moderator curious aardvark's Avatar
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    You've got crud in the nozzle, try the same settings with the other extruder

  6. #6
    No crud, the nozzles are clean. I soaked both nozzles in acetone overnight and using toothpicks, scraped any crud out and took a scotch brite pad lightly to the outside to knock off any charred plastic there. They look pristine on the inside and outside now. PTFE look a little cooked on one side, but the other side is clean. I ordered new tubing, but the filament slides through without any restriction in both tubes. I've tried on both extruders and am getting the same result on both. I've tried 4 different spools that were supplied with the machine from the gentleman I purchased it from (he supplied me with 16 spools of filament, some unopened). Three of those spools I had successfully printed from in the past including the green you see in my first printing. I only just delved into the pink ABS after experiencing problems with blue, green, and a yellow.

    I will measure the filament that I have when I get home. All of the filament he gave me was from Prototype Supply.

  7. #7
    Yes, it is my first and only 3D printer. I obtained it about 2 weeks ago, and everything started off well, then started to degrade from there. I did try to tangle with utilizing a Raspberry Pi with Octopi at first, but the gcode to x3g plugin never worked right, especially for the left nozzle which would print everything ~30mm to the left. I then switched to Astrobox which worked great as it just uploads the raw x3g file from S3D to the machine. But I've eliminated the pi and am connected directly atm with the problems I have been having. There is an option in S3D 4.0 that is a reset to defaults all settings back to a fresh install state, even have to reauthorize the copy. I've done that to make sure I've eliminated all detrimental setting changes I may have inadvertently made.

    I did measure the filament as I do have a pretty decent set of calipers. I checked the four spools and was quite surprised with the consistency of the measurements with the smallest measurement at 1.74mm and the largest at 1.78. median measurement was pretty consistent at 1.76.

  8. #8
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    Also, try doing your prints from the SD card and not tethered at all. Some have reported odd issues with prints that went away when they printed from a SD card. Probably a long shot but it happens.

  9. #9
    Super Moderator curious aardvark's Avatar
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    Hmm, that is odd.
    And yep - try a different slicer, that way you can narrow down whether it's the slicer or the printer.

    Did you change anything at all between the good prints and the bad ones ?

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