# Specific 3D Printers, Scanners, & Hardware > FlashForge Forum >  Those Black Replicator 2 /  flashforge clones going on Ebay for $500-$599

## Geoff

Well, I decided I needed a backup printer (to back up the other 7 lol)  and no, wife doesn't know yet. Like all the other printers..it will magically appear in my workshop and she'll say  "is that a new one?" and I'll reply "Nah had that one for ages..."  :Wink:  :Wink:  :Wink: 

I was looking for another flashforge original (FF pro still too price for me for what it is sorry, I'f I'm going to spend $1500 I'll spend $2k on an Ultimaker, seriously, they are ******* good printers, just expensive!

I paid I think $1200 for my flashforge dual years ago, and they are still like $800-$1000.... I can't believe they are still so high.

The Flashforge Finder?? only build plate of 140x140x140  :Frown: 
The Flashforge Dreamer?? Too many bad reviews, enclosed case, too many gadgets for my liking. 
The Flashforge Guider?? Hmm tempting!! the new Guider has a bigger build plate, but they are $2k 
(if you have not seen a guider, check this ebay sale out.. but a little too pricey.. Have seen them for $2100AU

So I saw these Black Replicator 2 clones on Ebay,  I thought $599?? so I check all comments on all sellers, and besides a few "ELECTRICAL HAZARD!!! BLEW UP! DO NOT BUY!!" , they also had good reviews, and youtube reviews were very good. Whether it's actually a CTC printer I don't know, it's just a black printer... no name.

*The Electrical hazard ...* I can only assume they did not check the power supply for the 110/240v!! sure.. it will explode if you put 240v into a 110v power supply!! it does say it in gigantic letters in the Ebay sale and pretty much every single printer manual that exists.. and computer manual... and just about every other manual since 1985 that involves international power specs. 

So apparently it will be here by friday says the Ebay note, it's been shipped, bought it last night... so will give a good review when it's here.

Has anyone else had experience with these? pic attached..

3pd.JPG

----------


## Grindeddown

Hmmmm, I have never even heard of the guider. It seems like the big improvement with that machine is the extra 3 or so inches on the y axis for build space. 

This clone (of a clone) seems like it could be a pretty decent deal. I will say that I purchased a refurbished FFCP here in the US direct from flashforge for only 800, which was a steal for me. They have bumped the price back up to 880, but even that is pretty good. Can you get refurbs direct from FF in australia?

Also, just out of curiousity Geoff, you have a whole number of printers and I am wondering what printers you are currently working with. I plan on purchasing at least one more to increase my workflow and would be interested in knowing what you work with. Any experience with delta printers like the Rostock Max?

----------


## Geoff

> Hmmmm, I have never even heard of the guider. It seems like the big improvement with that machine is the extra 3 or so inches on the y axis for build space. 
> 
> This clone (of a clone) seems like it could be a pretty decent deal. I will say that I purchased a refurbished FFCP here in the US direct from flashforge for only 800, which was a steal for me. They have bumped the price back up to 880, but even that is pretty good. Can you get refurbs direct from FF in australia?
> 
> Also, just out of curiousity Geoff, you have a whole number of printers and I am wondering what printers you are currently working with. I plan on purchasing at least one more to increase my workflow and would be interested in knowing what you work with. Any experience with delta printers like the Rostock Max?


I am betting this thing is refurbished or used, either that or it has a RAMPS board or something really cheap. I can understand the motors and other things being cheap but the boards flashforge use are pretty good - I've never blown one yet. Have seen refurbs on ebay in AUS but none available at the moment. 

I just spent all weekend re-doing the firmware on my prusa, so I have all my printers up and running now, so... in order of buying/building...

Flashforge Dual, PrusaI3, Kossel Mini(delta) x 3 (probably my favourite machine out of all of them - easy to build, cheap, awesome prints ) Reprap Fisher(delta) and a Printrbot Simple 1405, and soon the new Black thing.

I just like experimenting and building things, so it was good to try different types of printers- they all have their own characteristics. The Kossel mini, build volume of 180mmX/Y and 240mm Z height is probably the go.  Once you build one kossel mini and get it fine tuned you can print and build another one (if parts on hand) in one day and have it printing perfectly. Calibration is a breeze and for my non-mathematical brain, it makes alot of sense as opposed to prusa's with all their weird motor movement data... Delta machines, X/Y/Z is all working together, all speeds are the same... man it's just so easy to build and print your own parts.  You can build a crap kossel for about $300 or a really good one for $500.

----------


## Sebastian Finke

Not to change the subject but the FFs are Rep1 clones, not Rep2 clones...

----------


## cjalas

Why not get a QiDi Tech 3D Printer?

----------


## Geoff

> Not to change the subject but the FFs are Rep1 clones, not Rep2 clones...


They are all clones of clones, even the makerbot was a clone lol 

Yeah the FF is a Rep1, where as the new Flashforge coming out looks very much like a rep2

----------


## err404

That photo looks like a CTC with the front stickers removed. You can almost see the logo behind the skull. In fact I have seen printers sold as CTC on eBay using that same photo. 
I got my CTC for $409 shipped. It's actually a very nice device for the price. 
The question is if you want a metal frame. If you do, get a Qidi. 
For me wood was fine. With some minor mods to improve rail stability, it will print every bit as good as the metal frame models. That said, if you dont want to tinker, the Qidi may be a better choice.

----------


## Geoff

Well..
Guess what turned up today! as promised, 5 days from China, delivered! can't complain with that at all.

Yes, it is a CTC printer, it has CTC logo's on it and all the warranty info...

I'm about to roll off the first print ... but so far, wow... it was packaged very very well, it was better packed than my flashforge, looks better... they even supplied all the feet with it, only 1 spool holder - but they did also supply an external spool holder which is handy... 4GB SD card, all the things you expect...

It does have 18 hours on the clock, but that's not too bad - it is definitely NOT a refurb - it is brand new - not a scratch on it, nozzles are fresh (one has never been used) there was a small glob on the buildplate so I guess they printed the feet that they send out with it, so it's good to know they tested it properly - at least 18 hours anyway.

If this thing performs I will buy another one for sure, they look pretty much like a flashforge pro, how it prints... I will be finding out tonight..

----------


## cjalas

> Well..
> Guess what turned up today! as promised, 5 days from China, delivered! can't complain with that at all.
> 
> Yes, it is a CTC printer, it has CTC logo's on it and all the warranty info...
> 
> I'm about to roll off the first print ... but so far, wow... it was packaged very very well, it was better packed than my flashforge, looks better... they even supplied all the feet with it, only 1 spool holder - but they did also supply an external spool holder which is handy... 4GB SD card, all the things you expect...
> 
> It does have 18 hours on the clock, but that's not too bad - it is definitely NOT a refurb - it is brand new - not a scratch on it, nozzles are fresh (one has never been used) there was a small glob on the buildplate so I guess they printed the feet that they send out with it, so it's good to know they tested it properly - at least 18 hours anyway.
> 
> If this thing performs I will buy another one for sure, they look pretty much like a flashforge pro, how it prints... I will be finding out tonight..


Welcome aboard the CTC train  :Smile:  Honestly it's a great printer for the price...

But if I had to go a second time around, I would definitely be buying myself a QiDi Printer instead. I love my CTC don't get me wrong, but I had to spend a lot of time, money and headaches to upgrade it to the point where it doesn't constantly fail prints. Even now, I still get issues with my extruder jamming every so often (planning to change the throat and nozzle soon with all metal non ptfe tubing types.

----------


## Geoff

> Welcome aboard the CTC train  Honestly it's a great printer for the price...
> 
> But if I had to go a second time around, I would definitely be buying myself a QiDi Printer instead. I love my CTC don't get me wrong, but I had to spend a lot of time, money and headaches to upgrade it to the point where it doesn't constantly fail prints. Even now, I still get issues with my extruder jamming every so often (planning to change the throat and nozzle soon with all metal non ptfe tubing types.


Well, this really was just a spare (#8  :Stick Out Tongue: ) ideally I would like to make the next one an Ultimaker 2, the output quality on them looks sensational - but still a little expensive to be honest, if I am going to spend $2000 on a printer or more, really, I will go SLA because I already have enough FDM printers - my workshop was built to house 10 printers, so that's where I'm aiming.

I forsee I will most likely have all the same issues with the CTC as the flashforge, luckily they will play of eachother as the components are virtually identical, so spare part heaven  :Smile:

----------


## Geoff

It seems I may have spoken too soon..

When I removed the blue tape on the bed that came with the machine, I found it was covering a massive gouge in the aluminum bed - a gigantic Z shape .. considering I want to print raftless shiny based ABS with this, that is a big problem for me - the Z will come out in the print base and that's actually the top of the print (I print upsidown alot, the base layer looks better than the top layers for me generally) 

So have contacted them for a replacement heatbed, i'll see what their response is first. 

First print... hmm not fantastic, a lot of layer splitting but I did print fast and had the air-con going, so this probably created the splits from cooling the ABS too fast. The bottom half, or first 5 cm of the print look really good, very tight layering and no splitting... it was only in the top half that started to occur so I need to tinker with it more.

Note also the 'z" shape on the bed thats etched in

1.5 hours, 2 shells, 10% infill ABS, 0.2mm, 80ms Feed, 120ms travel, 9cm high.

unnamed (2).jpg

----------


## cjalas

> It seems I may have spoken too soon..
> 
> When I removed the blue tape on the bed that came with the machine, I found it was covering a massive gouge in the aluminum bed - a gigantic Z shape .. considering I want to print raftless shiny based ABS with this, that is a big problem for me - the Z will come out in the print base and that's actually the top of the print (I print upsidown alot, the base layer looks better than the top layers for me generally) 
> 
> So have contacted them for a replacement heatbed, i'll see what their response is first. 
> 
> First print... hmm not fantastic, a lot of layer splitting but I did print fast and had the air-con going, so this probably created the splits from cooling the ABS too fast. The bottom half, or first 5 cm of the print look really good, very tight layering and no splitting... it was only in the top half that started to occur so I need to tinker with it more.
> 
> Note also the 'z" shape on the bed thats etched in
> ...


I'd get a replacement aluminum bed, but honestly you don't need to replace it even with the scratches if you go with a 1/8" borosilicate glass bed.

----------


## Geoff

> I'd get a replacement aluminum bed, but honestly you don't need to replace it even with the scratches if you go with a 1/8" borosilicate glass bed.


I could do with it as is, and already have about 5 glass beds spare,  but I don't like buying something new and having it damaged when it arrives. All I asked for was a new aluminum plate, which will cost them practically nothing, so yeah we'll see.

----------


## err404

Build plate scratch aside, I think that print came out quite good for a test print at that speed. Especially considering that you have not dialed in extrusion multiplier or temps. 
One thing I noticed with my CTC, is that the temp of of the hot end appears to be higher then is reported by the firmware. You may need to dial in the right working temps for that specific printer.

----------


## Geoff

> Build plate scratch aside, I think that print came out quite good for a test print at that speed. Especially considering that you have not dialed in extrusion multiplier or temps. 
> One thing I noticed with my CTC, is that the temp of of the hot end appears to be higher then is reported by the firmware. You may need to dial in the right working temps for that specific printer.


The hotbed is getting a little too hot. I set it to 110, it gets to 115 before it starts to cool down... and same as the hotend so yeah I think you are definitely right, temps not being sent correctly or possibly slightly less quality thermistors. I am running the identical firmware to my flashforge - same hardware, the machines are for all purposes identical clones.

They agreed to refund me $53 (they started at $20) but the cheapest plate I can find is about $30 U.S with shipping ,so yeah that's nice of them. 

I think I Will have to buy another one to be honest, I printed and installed an active cooling mount for it today and the PLA prints on it are pretty damn good, way better than my old flashforge is doing.

----------


## Geoff

Had to print a cooling duct for it, but so far it's printing OK. 

Left extruder won't feed at all, not sure what's wrong there only using the right so far.. hopefully just holes not aligned for filament feeding.

Jet came out ok in PLA, but yeah cooling needed so get the blades printed.

Image-1.jpg

----------


## jfkansas

I got a couple Qidi's. Not too bad, just know that some of the extruder parts aren't compatible with Flashforge. The barrels of the thermal tubes are bigger in diameter. If you have to replace a thermocouple you can't use Flashforge ones. Qidi changed to a 5mm thread size on the thermowell mount into the hot block. 

Qidi z axis isn't nearly as robust as Flashforge is. They still use 8mm guide rods and Flashforge changed to 10mm about a year and half ago. It makes a big difference in lateral stability especially when the build plate is in the middle of the up/down travel with the flex is most noticeable. The metal platform on the Qidi seems to be much more flexible than the Flashforge also. I have talked with Qidi support and they said next run they would look into upgrading the Zaxis. Funny once you say FlashForge does something they scurry and say we can do that too..lol

----------


## Geoff

> I got a couple Qidi's. Not too bad, just know that some of the extruder parts aren't compatible with Flashforge. The barrels of the thermal tubes are bigger in diameter. If you have to replace a thermocouple you can't use Flashforge ones. Qidi changed to a 5mm thread size on the thermowell mount into the hot block. 
> 
> Qidi z axis isn't nearly as robust as Flashforge is. They still use 8mm guide rods and Flashforge changed to 10mm about a year and half ago. It makes a big difference in lateral stability especially when the build plate is in the middle of the up/down travel with the flex is most noticeable. The metal platform on the Qidi seems to be much more flexible than the Flashforge also. I have talked with Qidi support and they said next run they would look into upgrading the Zaxis. Funny once you say FlashForge does something they scurry and say we can do that too..lol



hahahaha...  :Big Grin: 

I laugh because you are so right...  The steppers are compatible luckily, so that's all the problem was for me in the case of the left extruder not working, just a lazy ass stepper. I put an old flashforge in and bam, she's now dual colour printing just fine.

I also laugh because one of the first things I noticed was the Bed wobbling to the left and right... WTF? I see they use 8mm rods in the Z axis and they barely fit the guide holes, so they wobble around..

To fix this, I drilled holes either side of the rods at the top of the frame, and cable tied them to the back panel of the frame - just enough not to wobble freely, but not so tight it lifts the bed up.. problem appears to be solved and the lines I was getting in the layers seems to have gone.

----------

