I have a leapfrog creatr, and I’m very disappointed with the product. I’ve already replaced two stepper motors and a motherboard. I’ve not manage to keep it calibrated nor be able to print anything the good accuracy. I do not recommend getting one.
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I’ve been printing for a year or 2 now on my Leapfrog Creatr dual extruder. I find the printer pretty reliable. I have the first or 2nd iteration of this printer and had some issues with the feeder tubes. All sorted out now and the printer still works like a charm.
Had a thermocouple fail and was replaced very fast under warranty by their support.
One thing though. The stepper motors are very loud. Something to take into account.
Sorry for the typos, typing on my mobile phone… ^^
pics or it didnt happen:
see print quality here:
I have a ca 2 year old Creator with 2 printheads. I have done some small fixes but nothing radical
and I’m happy with the machine. I print pla and abs down to 0.1 mm layer height. The only complaint I have is that its noisy. I have not compared with other printers so I don’t know if other printers are as noisy. It’s a big, very sturdy and heavy machine +30 kg.
Hi,
I own one since November 2013.
Since 11 September I haven’t been able to print anything anymore.
The motherboard has been replaced twice. The complete double extruder unit with all the wires has been replaced twice.
First time they sent a steppermotor. Then they sent a damaged extruder unit. Finally a working one arrived.
The X-axis rods have been replaced.
And sending something takes between 10-14 days.
They gave up helping me printing with PVA. I did a few of testprints with their values. When it didn’t work, it was my problem again.
But since then I haven’t printed anymore.
A few times the hermistor and heat cardridge have been exchanged.
The printer has been exchanged twice now.
First time a lot of bolts and nuts were not tightened. And one levelhole for the glass plate was broken. So I couldn’t print.
They exchanged the printer and the nuts and bolts are not tightened, but they don’t want to talk about it anymore.
Everything works ok on the printer now, expect printing. The printer gives a temperture reset.
They are investigating my model to find the problem. This model I always print when I make a change in the machine.
just to be sure that it works they way I want.
The first printer was all metal. Heavy but sturdy.
The second printer was all pastic and loos. And the third one looks like it has been assembled with parts that came back.
Got plastic parts, metal parts. And lot of stickers on the electrical parts.
The last one didn’t come with a print of cone and the levelprint. That is not what their quality inspection report says, but who is counting. The printsticker is on and you can see that is has never been used.
Ohw and the old motherboard prints smooth, but since they changed some components on the board the startpoint of your print shows.
The service department have no idea what they are doing. Everything they send comes from Rumania. Hence the long delivery times.
The way the investigate the problem is not hopefull. My problems started when a thermistor was broken. For that problem the motherboard got replaced.
The only way to communicate with the service department is by eticket.
If you have a nice person, you are able to ask 4 times a question. Some just don’t react.
Please don’t urge them to hurry up, because you have paying customers waiting. It will cost you a week before any progress is made.
Returning the printer costs money. You will pay for the transport fee and a 15% use-fee.
So all by all, I regret the buy of this printer.
I understand that the printers are not plug and play. But the long delivery times are killing for sure.
And I know that machines have issues and need some tweaks. But then you loose garantee.
The design is poor. The assembly is really poor. And a glass plate can’t be perfectly straight. But if we print a layer with a height of 0,1 how bent is the glassplate allowed to be?
No answer. They replace the printer.
I hope you will have more luck when purchasing a Leapfrog.
I have the original Dual head Creatr from 2013. At first it was a big headache and took almost two months of troubleshooting to get it working. Things like incorrect firmware, thermistor going bad, low print quality, etc… The Extruder heads are not the most efficient but I am working on replacing both of them with E3D hotends. However, once I worked through the issues and switched to Simplify3D the print quality jumped up tremendously and I couldn’t be happier with it!
The Creatr is a great printer but I would not get it if you want “plug and play.” Requires a bit of knowledge of 3D printing to get everything working.
So you see, all have differnt opinions. Plug and play does not excist because you have to know tour printer.
To work with simplfy3D software is very good and youl get the hang of it in a few months because every model you print will have tere own characteristics and you will become more experienced over time
The Leapfrog is good value for the money , i work with is one and an half year
I had a CREATR DUAL since April 2014. When arrived I was impressed by the construction, I started printing in very few hours. Unfortunately I had a big problem and they changed for free the complete printer, the replacement was not good as the first, it was clearly a refurbished one. I have also experienced problems with the fans of the extruders, it is difficult to perform maintenance since it is not engineered very well. It is noisy and only USB connected. On the other side I used to print some spare parts for a customer, it worked for many hours without a problem. Having an enclosure open to the top doesn’t help with the heated bed but it is possible to cover with little effort. It is not easy to set but with SIMPLIFY software you can have very good results, check some of what I did here:
What I strongly suggest is to use good quality filaments, those received with the printer where not exactly top of the pop…with VOLTIVO ABS it works like a charm, I am also very happy when printing with NYLON. All in all a honest printer, probably you can find something better on the market. One of the selling point is the large working area, it helps a lot.
Based on the feedback I don’t think ill get it .Thanks Guys
Hi,
I’ve been using my creatr for a year now.
Reading the comment already posted i have little to add. I’ts a good machine but the leapfrog R&D can still do allot to improve. If you like to tinker with your printer than you can buy a creatr. If you have no mechanical skills maybe its not the printer for you. Can’t advice on what since i have no other experience.
As for the build size, yea its nice if you need it.
Personal i have good experience with the economy line filament of theirs, never had to try anything else.
Leapfrog support is good.
The guys and girls there really want to help you get your printer going again if anything go’s wrong.
My best advice is to really think about what you need and visit a trade show. Don’t believe the marketing wank they throw at you! Talk to the people that have used the printer and are printing the type of thing you want to print. (but i guess you’re already ding that)
Hi, I am the current Mayor of 3D Hubs in Seattle. I love the Leapfrog line of printers. I have a creatr, and an HS on the way. Solid workmanship, Made of metal. VERY easy to calibrate and many great features. I am also a reseller of Leapfrog 3D Printers and I off a package that includes live unlimited video and training and support. Let me know if I can assist you in anything at all. Craig@coho3d.com