Flashforge Creator Dual / Pro How to fix Dual Extruders dragging across prints.

[Geoff]

I don't know, maybe I'm just lucky, Or too stupid to know the difference.I just got my printer to weeks ago, and I've been running it overnight virtually every single night and have not had a single problem.

Most of us don't . I's like Curious... hasn't been able to properly print in ABS, yet for me, it's my preferred plastic.. and I have the older machine. Some people can get warping, some don't... some people need all this cooling fan mumbo jumbo and heated chambers... some dont .. some need to print super hot while others can print the same thing super cold. Some can print faster...

For us practically all having the same machine it's amazing how differently they run. I often think 'man.... am I just lucky? " I read through alot of forums and people having issues and It's like... 'nope... never had that problem.... nope never had that one either..."
I still have my original motherboard from my FF that has firmware v1.0, it's like my backup that never fails.

[Rickmc3280]

Most of us don't . I's like Curious... hasn't been able to properly print in ABS, yet for me, it's my preferred plastic.. and I have the older machine. Some people can get warping, some don't... some people need all this cooling fan mumbo jumbo and heated chambers... some dont .. some need to print super hot while others can print the same thing super cold. Some can print faster...

For us practically all having the same machine it's amazing how differently they run. I often think 'man.... am I just lucky? " I read through alot of forums and people having issues and It's like... 'nope... never had that problem.... nope never had that one either..."
I still have my original motherboard from my FF that has firmware v1.0, it's like my backup that never fails.

So i just found these forums a few days ago.

I'd been having the scraping problem where it pulls my part off of the board. I adjusted the height using the advice in the original post and now my left extruder prints nicely without the right one pulling it off.


Unfortunately the screws holding the extruder in place are not that great and mine was stripped out using the allen wrench that was provided when I tried to calibrate them so that I could use both.

I am considering making another Replicator so I can have 2 of them and just use the other extruder, since it never gets used anyways.

Do you have any advice or insight on how difficult it would be to make another, know where to get the allen screw that is securing the heating element etc?



Rick

[Geoff]

So i just found these forums a few days ago.

I'd been having the scraping problem where it pulls my part off of the board. I adjusted the height using the advice in the original post and now my left extruder prints nicely without the right one pulling it off.


Unfortunately the screws holding the extruder in place are not that great and mine was stripped out using the allen wrench that was provided when I tried to calibrate them so that I could use both.

I am considering making another Replicator so I can have 2 of them and just use the other extruder, since it never gets used anyways.

Do you have any advice or insight on how difficult it would be to make another, know where to get the allen screw that is securing the heating element etc?



Rick

Hi Rick,

The screw is just a simple Grub screw, the same size that is locking in your extruder feeder gear - I have never bought them as a seperate item, but when I buy a hobbed gear, they usually come with a few grub screws (you would have some spares in your other extruder)

But as you said, you may have stripped it a little. This isn't the end of the world.

All that grub screw is doing it pressing against the heating element (the silver bullet thingo) and keeping it in that metal head so it doesn't fall out. It serves no other purpose. The ceramic heater yes, does work a little more efficiently when it is pressed against the metal block inside by the grub screw, but I have also stripped my kossel screw hole - I do not really notice alot of difference. If you are lost and cannot keep the screw tight enough, put the ceramic heater in and tape the absolute crap out of it with the thin kapton tape - basically so the ceramic heater cannot fall out of the metal block.

The hole the heater fits into is pretty snug. It's not exactly flopping around in there so even with it taped together holding it in, it still gets enough contact with the metal block to transfer the heat to the extruder piping.

[jfkansas]

If you are interested, I designed this to get rid of the little grub screws. It also increases the contact area on the heat barrier tube since it wraps tightly around it. With the stock design the grub screw will always push the tube to one side and leaves an air gap on the grub screw side.

It is designed to be easy to change the extruder heights and set the to exactly the same height.

http://store.wmdproducts.com/index.p...&product_id=62

[Geoff]

If you are interested, I designed this to get rid of the little grub screws. It also increases the contact area on the heat barrier tube since it wraps tightly around it. With the stock design the grub screw will always push the tube to one side and leaves an air gap on the grub screw side.

It is designed to be easy to change the extruder heights and set the to exactly the same height.

http://store.wmdproducts.com/index.p...&product_id=62

they are for sale now ? buying one!!

[Stigern]

Would this upgrade help with Ninjaflex?

[jfkansas]

they are for sale now ? buying one!!

Yep, better hurry. lol But making more...

[jfkansas]

Would this upgrade help with Ninjaflex?

No difference in NinjaFlex. I have an extruder plastic upgrade that works though. PM your email and I will send the files.

[FrankV]

This thread is an interesting read but I get slight scraping from either extruder when the other is printing. This suggested a different cause than head and bed levelling. First thing I found was that too much plastic was being extruded - printing a cube with 100% infill delivered a domed top. Having sorted this the problem is less severe but still there. Even the same head will scrape its own layer if it happens to go back over it before the next layer starts. Could it be that I am not setting enough gap between the heads and the platform during levelling, so the plastic is squeezing up around the nozzle? I use a sheet of 80gsm paper, 0.1mm thick, adjusting so the paper just drags but without folding up when pushed. Both nozzles seem to excerpt the same drag once the bed is levelled.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

In an ideal world, the head should be able to be retracted vertically by a small amount when not in use. Thinking about reducing the heavy head mass by switching to a Bowden cable solution, perhaps I can think of a clever way to incorporate a small up/down mechanism. Even wondering if having a sprung head with 0.5mm restricted travel and using the extruder pressure to force the head down could work - probably create more problems somehow!

[soofle616]

In an ideal world, the head should be able to be retracted vertically by a small amount when not in use. Thinking about reducing the heavy head mass by switching to a Bowden cable solution, perhaps I can think of a clever way to incorporate a small up/down mechanism. Even wondering if having a sprung head with 0.5mm restricted travel and using the extruder pressure to force the head down could work - probably create more problems somehow!

I've been thinking along the same lines recently. Unfortunately, while I have the mechanical and design prowess to come up with a variety of solutions, I don't have the programming knowledge to make any needed changes to the firmware for an active head retraction method. Something passive like your spring retract might work though.