Flashforge 3D Creator forum.

[Geoff]

It always amazes me how different people's experiences can be. That's what makes it tough for people having problems to fix things just based on recommendations from others. There's always some tweaking you've got to do on your own. I think it was our resident expert Geoff that noted in another thread that he's never been able to print PLA on blue tape without heating the bed (correct me if I'm wrong on that, Geoff). But then there's a Makerbot page I read that said you should never print PLA on blue tape with a heated bed because it won't stick.

One of the few things I like about Makerware is that its raft is actually really easy for me to pop off. My experience is usually that once my bed and print cools, the model will pop right off the raft. Replicator G, however, has given me several rafts that have welded so tightly to the model that I had to throw the entire thing out. The first raft I ever used with Rep G was actually responsible for tearing off nearly half of my Kapton tape on my old Creator. Rafts are buggers no matter what though.

I just finished some interesting reading about this PET you spoke about. I have to admit I'd never heard of it, but I'm one of those kinds of people that will stick with what works (PLA at the moment) until it no longer works. It's a shame it's double the cost of PLA, but I may store that option away in the back of my head for future experimenting.

PLA and blue tape is just a good as a stick as any, will make a video this weekend when i have time

[roykirk]

Geoff - What's your diagnosis when you have an extruder "clicking" and yet filament is continuing to flow normally? I'm running black PLA at 195 with an extrusion speed of , so I'm not certain if the issue is that it's too hot or it's too cold? Or print speed is too fast/slow for the extruder temp? Although the clicking seems to be present regardless of print speed, so perhaps it's simply an issue of extruder temp.

[Mjolinor]

My extruders ticked, much dismantlement later with much cleaning and reassembly and it still ticked. I then noticed that it only ticked in the Y axis direction and it turned out to be loose ends on the layshaft at the top rear of the machine. The noise was absolutely the same as slipping filament but only in the Y direction.

Long shot but easy enough to check, with the machine off, manually move the head and see if it ticks.

My machine is a Wanhao.

[roykirk]

My extruders ticked, much dismantlement later with much cleaning and reassembly and it still ticked. I then noticed that it only ticked in the Y axis direction and it turned out to be loose ends on the layshaft at the top rear of the machine. The noise was absolutely the same as slipping filament but only in the Y direction.

Long shot but easy enough to check, with the machine off, manually move the head and see if it ticks.

My machine is a Wanhao.

I appreciate the suggestion and I'm going to look at it.

[Geoff]

Geoff - What's your diagnosis when you have an extruder "clicking" and yet filament is continuing to flow normally? I'm running black PLA at 195 with an extrusion speed of , so I'm not certain if the issue is that it's too hot or it's too cold? Or print speed is too fast/slow for the extruder temp? Although the clicking seems to be present regardless of print speed, so perhaps it's simply an issue of extruder temp.

I have this same issue with my mini kossel, but not with the flashforge. I do run PLA at 200c usually tho, so that could help even just a few degrees. I have noticed now after using PLA alot, it shreds itself on the gears much much more than ABS does and also the PLA tends to really have an inconsistent thickness...

What I found is the PLA is forming a bubble above the extruder gear when it slips and clicks too much. That causes heat and friction , which then causes a small bubble. This bubble in the filament is often just that bit too wide to fit into the little hole,, so it will extrude sort of normally, but click all the time and slowly stretch the filament through. The reason it still extrudes is because the blockage is not in the gear path, its in the hole and the stepper motor has enough torque to keep pulling (but slipping) and pulling that PLA through.

The heat from the clicking and friction also causes the filament above the feed tube to become warm, which allows it to be pulled through easier, but as you said still clicking...

[skf1883]

hi jfrost
You need to check thermocoupler ,
show on display "Limit Reached" thermocoupler is fault....
seyfi şimşek
mechanical engineer

[James___UK]

This looks like it will save me hours of headaches, many thanks to you Geoff!

[Serena]

Hi there! First official post, all though I've been lurking around the forums for a couple of months while researching printers. Just wanted to say thank you to Geoff and all the others who have taken so much time to help and inform others. It has been really helpful to me. I've been in research mode for a while trying to get up the nerve to actually purchase a printer and begin. But I finally pulled the trigger and my flash forge creator pro should be arriving this afternoon from amazon! I'm so so excited! I cannot wait to start learning first hand everything I've been reading about. I've got tons of bookmarks saved with all the great tips I've found from this forum and other online resources but you may be hearing from me with questions anyway.

[Geoff]

Hi,
I've had my flashforge for about 8 months now, running it off of makerware. I noticed you said running the machine at a 90mm/150mm will kill it, but makerware's default speeds are these. My question is what happens to the machine, and is mine about to die, since I've been printing at these speeds for so long?
Thanks

Missed this one originally, sorry..

I wondered about that also. When you hit default in makerware, its feeding at 90ms.

Can any of you guys print that fast? and I mean actually in some form of decent quality? I sure can't Since it is makerware, and was designed for makerbots I really did not read too much into that default setting, I just played with them until I literally found the magic setting for each print.

Honestly, the best I can get from my Flashforge is 75ms feed and 120 travel at 0.3mm.

If I try and print at 0.2mm using the same settings, the print is not good.

So far the fastest I can print is on the kossel, which Im up to 110ms feed and 150 travel, and still stable printing aiming for 120ms, but needed a geared stepper to go above 70-80ms

[jfkansas]

I think it depends on the machine and how many extruders are installed. If it is the Replicator 2 with single print head the amount of mass to move is about half that of a dual print head. There are some 1st and 2nd law of physics going on here. I have the left feedstepper removed along with all the wiring and hot end and I can definitely print at 90mm/s and travel at 150 (Creator X with pro upgrades). However generally I print at 80mm/s and travel at 120. It also depends on the part size I am printing. For small parts I usually back down to 60mm/s and travel at 80. On small parts there just isn't that much travel and I would rather save the wear and tear on the machine. With small parts and acceleration it really doesn't have time to get up to full travel speed anyway.

I am assuming the default 90/150 is for the Replicator 2 with 1 extruder.