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..."

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
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 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 ) 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