Those Black Replicator 2 / flashforge clones going on Ebay for $500-$599

[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...

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.