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  1. #1
    Student
    Join Date
    Dec 2021
    Location
    New England
    Posts
    1

    IS there a printer that's idiot proof?

    I've owned a Prusa i3, and now own a FlashForge Creator Pro. I printed a few hundred times on the i3, and now about two dozen on the FlashForge. And... my prints fail more than 90% of the time. If I print something small, the chances are so-so that it'll print correctly. If I print something large, my chances of winning the lottery without buying a ticket are better. I know how to level, I get reliable first layers and good adhesion, and I'm using new filament out of the just-opened package, so moisture shouldn't be a problem. I used to run these in a warm room, but have moved the FlashForge to a cooler room on advice of a few people regarding the problems. I've tinkered with extrusion temp and bed temp, I can make things worse but haven't managed to make them better. I don't think slicing is the problem, but I've only tried Cura and Simplify3d. Even simple and straightforward parts fail to print, pretty much invariably. The i3, I eventually got tired of the near-zero chance of getting a good print out of it, and gave to a more experienced person. Its problems mostly revolved around bearings that were worn, and of course the usual "stop printing for no apparent reason". I replaced the bearings once, added a borosilicate glass bed, replaced fans, replaced hot end, replaced thermocouple twice, replaced Bowden tube, replaced bed springs and hardware, etc. I probably ran three kg or so of filament through it in all the various prints. I got maybe a dozen prints that were at least nice enough to salvage, and hundreds of failures. I got this used, but it worked well for the previous owner, and he was able to get good prints out of it after I could not. The FlashForge Creator Pro homes all axes correctly, and the bed is level. Its usual method of failing is to shift layers - if I make a cube, it comes out looking like a stack of crackers skewed to one side, in Y often and X occasionally (it sometimes indicates a failure to home, at that point). Before I picked it up they ran 24 hours of prints on it - it worked flawlessly. I have managed a dozen failed prints, one successful print, followed by dozens more failures. So, is there a printer that works for inept and/or incompetent users? I'm getting less and less picky about features... I'd love to have a printer where success is not the rarest of results. Autoleveling would be nice but I can do without it - leveling isn't a problem. I don't need dual extruders, I don't plan to print anything more complicated than PLA, ABS and TPU, I can make do with a modestly sized build area. I do not ever wish to touch a used printer again - I don't care if it's free, and comes with free beer. And, since I'm trying to eliminate areas where my own lack of skill can ruin things, I don't want a kit. So - are there any possibilities at all?

  2. #2
    Super Moderator
    Join Date
    May 2020
    Posts
    595
    In my experience I have not had a printer that did not give me problems regardless of price.

    Saphire Pro that would not work, sold to a member on here who has had good success with it.

    Reconditioned Ultimaker that had the extruder wired backwards.....returned for refund.

    Flashforge Creator 3, this printer was incapable of printing supports in the right place.....returned for refund.

    Raise3D-E2, a really nice printer and nearly plug and play, however there is no direct manufacturer support and problems have to generally be relayed to Raise 3D in America and then they in turn relay any problem to China, then the reply returns by the same route. My Raise3D-E2 was away for five weeks without a satisfactory answer to a problem....returned fo refund

    BCN3D Epsilon W27, first one replaced after a month with a problem, after a lot of tinkering over three months and all too frequent adjustments the replacement was returned to retailer and after three weeks I have just had a refund for that.

    At the moment I do not have a printer and I might look at the new Prusa XL when it comes out, but at the moment there really isn't a printer that I feel would be a good buy for me personally. Other peoples mileage will obviously vary.

  3. #3
    Super Moderator
    Join Date
    May 2020
    Posts
    595
    3D printer manufactures seem to have a different business model to most other manufacturers.

    If I buy a new 3D printer ready made and have a problem, it seems to be a case of having a new part sent out so that I can do the repair myself.

    If I buy say, a new washing machine and it breaks, I don't expect to have a new part sent to fit it myself.

  4. #4
    Staff Engineer Roberts_Clif's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2017
    Location
    Washington State, USA
    Posts
    1,141
    Add Roberts_Clif on Thingiverse
    Wish I could help.

    I purchased my printers both on E-Bay used, the first one showed up without assembly instructions.
    As they were used I expected some missing parts, so before purchasing these used 3D Printers I searched the Internet.
    My search found many YouTube videos of my future purchases. they included every aspect of these 3D Printers including assembly videos.
    My suggestion is to search You tube and find all that applies to your 3D Printer and the problems you are having a watch.

    To get future help you could post specific information such as slicer settings along with Photos showing how Prints look.
    This would make it much easier to help you diagnose your printer and allow us to post suggestions that could help you.

    Also your one paragraph sentence photo-less post only make a diagnosis much more difficult.

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