MakerGeeks' Random Filament Package - A $20 Pain in the Ass

A while back, I made a post about a purchase I had made on MakerGeeks' website. It also informed other members here that they were (and might still be) having a $20 package where you got a random filament from their site. This is a total scam.

The first thing I noticed when I received the box was that it was already open. This might just be my local parcel, but it was open, then closed. I didn't even have to cut tape to open it. Another thing that I quickly noticed, when looking for the filament type and color on the box, was that there were a LOT of Chinese characters. Everything on the box aside from the shipping label was primarily in Chinese, then subtitled in English. At first, I questioned the quality claims MakerGeeks advertised on the item, considering the description for the item states "I also promise the the value will always be WELL above the $19.95 cost you spend (usually about double)." I really doubt my filament, which looks like it was forwarded to me straight from China, is even worth $10. The description also says "what you receive is new, sealed and in good shape; no junk here." Again, this is not what I experienced.

I received a lime green ABS. When I print with it, it doesn't even stick to a sprayed bed at 0.2mm off the surface of the bed. It clogs a LOT. I tried printing a hand to test it out. I'm now on my third attempt because, on the first attempt, it clogged and stopped printing after 2 hours, then, on the second print, it clogged in 15 minutes. I can't even get my MakerFarm filament to work now because it's so clogged.

Don't buy MakerGeeks' surprise filament package; not unless you want some Chinese filament that cost them $5, leaving you ripped off $15 and hours of wasted time.

Yeah, I tried the cheap china stuff. Just not worth the lost time and effort.

The makergeeks abs is garbage chinese junk. One of the worst abs i have used. Their service and other items are good though. Basically products from other companies that they are selling. Form futura, taulman, etc.

why not try the 16dollar filament from microcenter? 16bux+tax for 1kilo of abs is not a bad price. I just bought two spools. I will do a review on how it works at some point as I am about finished with my black chinese filament that worked flawlessly. I have not interest in paying for filament that is over $20bux per kilo. I have a .4mm nozzle on my printer at this point, and will be doing the opposite of what others do. I will be going bigger in orifice size as at this point I do not suffer from resolution problems but speed, may order a .5mm all metal j-head at some point.

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Originally Posted by jaguarking11

...may order a .5mm all metal j-head at some point.

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Why not just get an E3Dv6 and some extra nozzles? One hot end for all nozzles, and it goes from 0.25 - 0.80.

the stuff from microcenter is toner plastics. the stuff is fantastic. i have been using toner abs for about 8 mos now. all made in usa stuff and super quality. i cant believe what they sell it for. 6 mos ago i was paying 40 bucks a spool for it from other suppliers.

I sort of have a different view of the Toner Plastics stuff from Microcenter. I was thrilled at the possibility of being able to buy filament at a great price at a local store, often on sale no less. And yes, every body seems to love the TP stuff. So, I bought a bunch of 1.75mm ABS and PLA - basically a spool of every color the local store had in stock. So far I've printed from three of the ABS spools. It has all printed fine, except the "red" turned out to be more like outdoor extension-cord orange after it was printed. All the PLA got returned. I had two colors stop extruding at random points. On black, the worst of the two, prints would fail predictably from within minutes to within no longer than 1-1/2 hours. I eventually figured out that there were bumps in the filament that would hang up on the top end of the hexagon hot end that I have. I measured the bumps to as large as 1.93mm in diameter. That's a pretty big bump for 1.75mm filament. Toner Plastics couldn't or wouldn't resolve my questions on whether they thought this was just a bad lot of black PLA, so I returned all the PLA rather than risking prints continuing to fail with it. I even offered to send them samples of the bumps, but they didn't seem interested in getting them.

EDIT: I later realized that ALL the positive feedback I've seen on TonerPlastics is for their ABS...

I've had no problems with the MakerGeeks' $20 random spool. I've ordered two so far, and have received fluorescent yellow PLA and transparent purple PLA. Both came still sealed in their boxes and vacuum-packed bags. Both have printed without issue, of which I'm glad as this is the first PLA I've ever worked with.

All of the responses above lend support to this wisdom I'm about to lay down on you all:

3d printing is not the right place to introduce randomness.

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Originally Posted by Zulfe

Why not just get an E3Dv6 and some extra nozzles? One hot end for all nozzles, and it goes from 0.25 - 0.80.

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I may go that route. I have not decided on which all metal head to go with. Right now I have a normal PEEK jhead that has been chugging away flawlessly.

printbus......yes i have only used the abs. i dont ever print in pla so i have no input there. one thing to note though is that the bumps you speak of are 10 times more likely to happen in black filament than any other color. i have seen this from many brands. one of them i ended up working with the extrusion co for awhile to figure out the problem. it is caused by the black colorant making the plastic sticky. the plastic slowly builds up on the nozzle of the industrial extruder then the blob catches onto the filament when it gets too big which then gets spooled up. not that any of this has any usefulness to you, me or anyone else here. we just know we need bump free filament. ive been through atleast a dozen rolls of toner abs and every roll has been spot on accurate even the black.

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Originally Posted by jimc

printbus......yes i have only used the abs. i dont ever print in pla so i have no input there. one thing to note though is that the bumps you speak of are 10 times more likely to happen in black filament than any other color. i have seen this from many brands. one of them i ended up working with the extrusion co for awhile to figure out the problem. it is caused by the black colorant making the plastic sticky. the plastic slowly builds up on the nozzle of the industrial extruder then the blob catches onto the filament when it gets too big which then gets spooled up. not that any of this has any usefulness to you, me or anyone else here. we just know we need bump free filament. ive been through atleast a dozen rolls of toner abs and every roll has been spot on accurate even the black.

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Informative on the issue with black. What got me is that Toner Plastics says their tolerance is +/- 0.003in, monitored with a laser micrometer. That definitely wasn't the case on the spool I got, and is another issue they couldn't answer. They don't take exception to the color black. I'd be OK if they did - I just wouldn't buy it. I'm almost finished with a spool of black PLA from MakerFarm that has been perfect the entire roll.

you know its funny you mentioned the laser because every spool of black ive gotten that has a bump in it says they are laser measured to the same specs but yet somehow it makes it through.