CTC Black 3D Printer for Makerbot Replicator 2 Dual Extruders, Warning: NO SUPPORT @ CTC

[JohnT]

CTC 3D printer won’t print a solid object, looks more like spaghetti. I’m using PLA heated to 230 degrees with a bed temp of 65c (if the bed is set above 0, but below 65c, the extruder(s) won’t heat up(odd I know.) Also I can’t update the firmware, and even though this is suppose to be their newest, it says it version 1 in the specifications. Help!

Warning: I purchase a CTC Black 3D printer on ebay about 10 days ago (Feb 8th, 2016). Almost every nut and bolt was lose, carriage was miss aligned, heated build bed was scratched and missing all documentation, 2 filament guides and a filament holder, etc. Since then I’ve been ebay mailing CTC/PrintChainStore with no luck. They take 2 to 3 days each time to respond, answer only one of my issues/concerns, ignore the rest, then offer $30 to remove my negative comments. They said they would give me a refund, but so far, no luck. So I’m advising you, don’t buy a CTC, no quality, can’t build anything a person can recognize, and absolutely no support! That’s why I’m here.

Thank you for your help!

[Adagio]

I’m very happy with my CTC… I think what you have is a really bad case of bad luck my friend…

My prints are so good, we’re taking the PLA prints I made to the foundry soon, to make parts for guns for my dads gun business…

Also. I think 230 is way too hot for PLA. I use 195C for PLA with 70C for the bed…

[Eduardo_Garcia]

Seems like bad luck and you got a bad one. With Ctc is hit or miss. I have no issues with mine and it prints great. I’ve done some mods to make it better. Pricing temps for pla are wrong. 230 is too hot and it will be a spaghetti. Bring that down to 197 to 200 and that will be better. Also take some time to align your rails and tighten everything. Also upgrade to sailfish. It will make a world of difference and will probably save your motherboard from frying.

[SEngineering]

As others have suggested 230 is too hot, shoot for 200. The default print speed is also too high, turn it down to around 40 until you are more comfortable with the printer. The CTC is capable of great quality prints, however if this is is your first or even second 3D printer buckle up; there will be a bit of a learning curve to get it where it needs to be.

[adamcooks]

And you dont have a rep2, your CTC is a rep1 clone. No matter what CTC tells you. You MUST use replicator dual profiles everywhere. Also, and I can’t prove this, but I’m pretty sure that CTC is not providing bootloader on the motherboard making updating firmware via usb impossible.

[JohnT]

OK, I’m a believer in 3DHubs.com! 2 responses within a couple hours! I expected nothing and got great advise that I couldn’t get from CTC in the past 14 days! I’ll lower the temp on both the extruder(s), heat bed and check the build/print speed.

Thank you each for the experienced advise.

[SEngineering]

You may be right, when I first got my CTC I attempted a USB sailfish update and ran into problems. What finally worked was using the ICSP headers to flash the Mega2560 directly.

[Adagio]

some examples of print quality:

using ABS

Bed temp: 110*C

Extruder temp: 230*C

Speed: 150mm/s

Resolution: 0.2mm(200Microns)

Using PLA

Bed temp: 70*C

Extruder temp: 195*C

Speed: 150mm/s

Resolution: 0.2mm(200Microns)

I’d also like to add something to what he said…

I’m getting 150mm/s speed, yet my printer says V1.0 on the OSD.

I thought only sailfish got print speeds of 150mm/s?

How do I know for sure what firmware I’m running?

[adamcooks]

CTC is using the 2560 mega? That is the first I am hearing of this. Can you post a photo of your chip?

[SEngineering]

Nope, sorry I mistyped; meant 1280

[MakeCoolThings]

The CTC Bizer is a Replicator Dual clone, not a Replicator 2 clone. 230°C is too hot for PLA, you want 190-210°C for most brands of PLA filament. If the printer is making nothing but spaghetti, then it sounds like first and foremost you have a bed adhesion problem to deal with. Make sure the bed is leveled and all that other jazz.

Lastly, it sounds like you bought it from a scuzzy seller, can’t really blame the printer or CTC for that. My printer has been absolutely rocking it for just over a year now, and when I did encounter a problem-- the failure of my left extruder’s thermocouple –my seller sent me a replacement part for the cost of shipping, because it was still under warranty. Choose eBay sellers wisely…just because there’s a thousand people selling the same cheap Chinese bootleg 3D Printer or laser cutter with identical listings, doesn’t mean they all do business with identical morals and principles.

[Tappit]

My replicator 1 dual ctc clone had a number of problems from day 1, missing screws, and SD card, after tightening up all screws, and checking the power supply was set to UK voltage, I switched it on, there was a loud bang, the power supply had blown, after checking the wiring, I noticed that the mains wires were connected wrong, the supplier sent a new power supply, and supplied a link to the software. After all that, it printed well for about a month, then came the “Heater failure #1 error”, I checked all the connections, they were all ok, after several emails to supplier, they sent me some new k-type thermocouples, this did not solve the problem, I replaced the 24v 40w heaters also, but the error was still there, more emails to supplier, and more of the same replies from them asking for photo of error, I decided to investigate the Main board. I noticed after the thermocouple socket was 2 MAX6675 temperature chips, these must be where the problem lies, after many emails to the supplier, and not getting anywhere, I decided to replace the MAX6675 chips, once I put the board back in, and connected up the wires, the printer now works fine. I now have enough knowledge to maintain the printer, funny though, I wanted to buy one, and not build one.

[TSen]

DO NOT BUY a 3D printer from “printchainstore”, I also had several problems with the printer and the seller is ignoring my complaints. I sent emails directly to the company, but they are ignoring me as well. They say they give 1 year warranty for their products, but then when there’s a problem, they simpy ignore you. There are countless things not working properly on the printer, very low quality, I don’t think it’s bad luck because I’ve read several other complaints on the internet (unfortunately only after I have already bought it).

Sorry if my post didn’t help the OP solve the problem, but hopefully it will help other people avoid the problem in the first place.

[Tappit]

Thanks for your reply, I managed to repair my main board myself, the problem was with the MAX6675 surface mounted chips near the thermocouple connector, I got some on ebay. I wrote direct to CT’c, and they eventually sent me another main board, but on close inspection, I can see that the replacement board had many track lifts, and was not brand new, I will not use this board because it might not work.

[JohnT]

Resolved by returning the CTC Black dual extruder to ebay’s printchainstore and purchasing another through ebay’s superstar-cartridge. WHAT A DIFFERENCE! I can’t say enough bad about printchainstore so I’ll try to stop (read below for Chinese business ethics/lack of).

This may sound prejudice and it might be, however I have learned, categorically, over more than 10 years of working with many Chinese based companies( many doing business as a company while actually working from temporary rooms or their own homes/apartment etc), nearly all say “trust me” (sounds like Donald Trump and I don’t trust him either) and nearly all claim to be “honest” (again, an relevant term used whenever necessary to make a sale, but not necessarily genuine or sincere), making misrepresentations and do not honor their warranties and/or guarantees and, nearly, never return money or follow through on RMAs unless they receive something additional in return/trade(you lose) in return.

Anyways, buy from companies in America, they have few ethics also but at least you have a chance of taking them to court or waging an public support campaign.

3DHub.com, thank you all for your help, even the first CTC 3D printer worked a little bit after following many of your members suggestions. You all are great!

Buy American and vote if you have a chance and happen to agree or like what any of the self-centered politicians have to say. Also, support 3DHub for giving me the help and a chance to ramble.

Problem solved, thx.

[Cobra]

Also if you upgrade to sailfish, make sure you follow the directions to the “t”. If your replicator has the reset button, when it comes to that point, first hit the upload button and then the reset button. That’s how I was able to download sailfish. I’ve had my replicator a couple of months and the extruders quit working! I’m waiting on the seller to get back with me, but from the sounds of it I may not hear a thing.