FlashForge Creator Pro vs MonoPrice Clone - found a big difference

[Ward]

My Monoprice printer arrived today. I was surprised to find it was not fully encloseable like the Creator Pro.
I had just assumed it was.

There is no acrylic door for the front or top.

Just so you know if you're thinking about buying one.

I have no clue at this point if I even need it fully enclosed. I think I read that ABS works better in a fully enclosed box.

I suppose for the difference in price I can easily make a front and top acrylic door.

[ssayer]

I got everything with my MicroCenter version. First print I tried with ABS, and with the smell, I knew I'd be using PLA only (and then PETG came in which is now my staple for printing). So, I never have a top or front on mine (and never even think to mention it as a feature any more)...

[Ward]

ok. With the PETG filament, do you still print in a garage or space away from your living space?

[ssayer]

I used to print across the room from where I'm sitting right now, but it was just noisy enough to bother me watching tv and playing on the computer (no smell with PETG). Now it's 4 feet away from me but on the other side of a door (in the furnace room).

I never noticed any smell with PLA either, but oh that ABS! No way Jose!

[dunginhawk]

PETG is a game changer... stronger than ABS, slight flex, no warp. Its my go to filament as well. its just harder to print with

[ssayer]

Curious as to what you find harder to print with it than? I find it's way easier than ABS would be as it doesn't warp. Pretty much on par as PLA prints, except it (usually) doesn't need active cooling like PLA does.

[dunginhawk]

its harder to dial in settings on petg. For instance, white petg is 10 degrees cooler printing temp for me than say clear or another translucent color. It oozes a LOT more than ABS or PLA, so you have to account for very unique retraction settings.
You also have to account for oozing when changing layers, so I have wiping enabled. Once you get it all dialed in, its not bad, but it took me a LOT more work than abs to get right. ABS was just easy.

[Ward]

PLA is very brittle? If I need my builds to have some flex in them would PETG be ok or do I need ABS or something else?

[dunginhawk]

PETG is the right answer... ABS is good, it just has adhesion and layer peeling issues for some. Petg is sooooo much better

[Sebastian Finke]

You can get brilliant prints with ABS provided you enclosed your printer properly and preheat adequately. I use ABS almost exclusively (some HIPS every now and then) and it works fine.