Flashforge 3D Creator forum.

[pveaston]

Hello all, only had my printer for a week or so now and found this forum very useful.
Initially my printer arrives with a couple of bolts securing one of the z axis guides missing, this caused me a few headaches as I couldnt get repeatability when levelling the heat bed, with that fixed I have had some success and fitted wing nuts to ease levelling.
I'm concerned that there appears to be little tension on the springs when I have leveled the plate, and I think this is still causing instability when I level things.

I guess this is related to the height the plate raises to during the levelling process.

Is this easily adjustable or am I worrying about nothing ?

[Dave Bodnar]

Geoff - I have the same FlashForge printer that you describe in your posting. I have a plugged up extruder and have followed your (excellent) suggestions and still have troubles. I am unable to remove the filament by pulling quite hard. I can push it through just a bit (a thin string of filament sometimes comes through) with lots of clicking. When I try to pull it out I get lots of clicking but it will not come free.

The only thing I haven't tried is removing the fan & cleaning the gear. Is that the next logical step?

I appreciate your help!

dave

[Geoff]

Geoff - I have the same FlashForge printer that you describe in your posting. I have a plugged up extruder and have followed your (excellent) suggestions and still have troubles. I am unable to remove the filament by pulling quite hard. I can push it through just a bit (a thin string of filament sometimes comes through) with lots of clicking. When I try to pull it out I get lots of clicking but it will not come free.

The only thing I haven't tried is removing the fan & cleaning the gear. Is that the next logical step?

I appreciate your help!

dave

Hi Dave yes but it's not as bad as you think.

This is how it will go down..

1. Undo the screws on the fan usually theres only 2. These lead all the way through to the motor, so once you unscrew, pull off the fan, try not to lose the screws.
2.Unplug the motor, it will come out easy now.
3. If it wont come out you might have filament still loaded? if so cut it so you can get the motor out. DONT worry about any filament left in the metal cylinder thats under the motor. That whole cylinder gets hot and melts the plastic, so its ok if there is some stuck in there.
4. On the stepper motor you will see your gear. If its full of plastic which it most likely is, as they get clogged after a bit, run the hobby knife ion between each fine gear, clean it out and it should be good to go again.


I am literally about to swap a nozzle tomorrow, so i will take some photos and put up a tutorial. Even tho I worked with photocopiers for nearly 10 years, I was still hesitant to mess with this printer, but I learnt early on.. you are going to get your hands dirty at some point, no matter what printer you own

[Dave Bodnar]

Geoff - thanks for the tips - I disassembled the unit, managed to remove the filament and cleaned the toothed gear - it was pretty clean. On reassembly it still will not feed - It appears that something is blocking the nozzle - I should think that the next step is to remove and clean the nozzle.
Your notes indicate that the next step is to drill out the nozzle - did you remove the nozzle before drilling? That is not clear from your description. I guess the hole could be drilled out while it is mounted but it makes more sense to remove it and try a solvent (acetone?) first.

Thanks again for your help.

dave

[Dave Bodnar]

Geoff - thanks for the tips - I disassembled the unit, managed to remove the filament and cleaned the toothed gear - it was pretty clean. On reassembly it still will not feed - It appears that something is blocking the nozzle - I should think that the next step is to remove and clean the nozzle.
Your notes indicate that the next step is to drill out the nozzle - did you remove the nozzle before drilling? That is not clear from your description. I guess the hole could be drilled out while it is mounted but it makes more sense to remove it and try a solvent (acetone?) first.

Thanks again for your help.

dave

Geoff - here is an update on the plugged left extruder. I contacted FlashForge tech support and Tang, a very helpful technician, led me through dis-assembly of the print head and removal of the nozzle where we discovered that the small plastic tube was distorted and plugged - he is sending a replacement.

I expect that I will be back in business when that arrives.

Thanks again for your assistance.

dave

[Terteros]

Hi
I will get the flashforge dreamer soon, so I will prepared very well for my first 3D-printing :-)
How do you fix your opject while printing on your heating plate? With the capton or with hair spray? (I read this somewhere in the internet).

Thanks
Thomas

[roykirk]

Hi
I will get the flashforge dreamer soon, so I will prepared very well for my first 3D-printing :-)
How do you fix your opject while printing on your heating plate? With the capton or with hair spray? (I read this somewhere in the internet).

Thanks
Thomas

That special tape that the units come with on the build plate didn't work worth a darn for me. Hairspray worked okay, but what I eventually ended up going with is what they call the ABS "Juice." Lots of recipes out there. Works great so far.

[JClegg]

Hello,
recently I purchased a flashforge creator and so far it's been great. I have been wondering, however, would it be possible with the replicatorG software to use one extruder to print support material and the other to print the object? Thank you.

[Petmagnet13]

As I was disassembling my extruder, I seemed to have lost both of the small spacers. Are these important for printing? If so does anyone know what size they are?

[Dave Bodnar]

As I was disassembling my extruder, I seemed to have lost both of the small spacers. Are these important for printing? If so does anyone know what size they are?

I also lost one when working on my extruder - the spacer is important as it allows you to tighten the bolt that holds the fan without distorting it. I made a replacement from a piece of brass tubing - It is about 10mm long. Any diameter will work so long as it fits the bolt.

Of course, I found the missing part after reassembly!

Good luck!

dave