Just got my FlashForge Creator Pro 2 weeks ago and been printing nothing but ABS. The last few prints I’ve noticed the first 1/4" of print is disformed, I’ve looked and most say it’s printing too fast or the temp is too high. I’ve reduced the printhead to 210c and even slowed the print to 30 but it dosn’t seem to help. The print bed is always 110c and I’ve tried turning on the fan to see if that helped but no luck. Any thoughts or ideas?
Lowering ABS temp isn’t good. 230min.
Buildplate is good at about 95 or so. 110 is too hot.
Hi,
For upward curves like that, it is best to have an external fan blowing in to the object. Install a fan duct, there are a lot of files on thingiverse. I also set my bed only to 100C.
Hi MadVampy, I tend to use 100C for ABS, but I’ve printed at 110C without any problems so I don’t think it’s the bed temperature that’s the issue here. From the looks of the photo, it looks more like the filament temperature is too *low*, not too high. The raft seems to be composed of almost entirely distinct threads of filament and is clearly not adhering well to the bed.
Does this happen when it’s your first print of the day? Does it happen if you do a second print immediately after the first? I’m wondering if the first few layers are too cool and not adhering well to each other, then as the print continues the entire head warms up enough to “pre-heat” the filament coming through just enough to make a difference. I could be wrong.
I print ABS at 230C - at the default settings - and haven’t seen this problem with a Creator Pro only a few weeks old.
Hi,
I have just observed that your raft are lifting. Feels like your too far off the bed or extruder temp too low. I print abs at around 230 min to 240max.
Hi I see you have used painters tape for ABS. ABS doesn’t stick well to painters tape. Try using thin layer of ABS slurry over the painters tape. Recomended bed temp is 100c. Anything higher will deform the bottom layers of the print. When printing with raft use at least 2 top layers of raft without disabling bottom layers. This is for simplified 3d. Otherwise separating the part will be a pain. Keep extruder temp 230 - 240. Cheers
When printing ABS, I like to start my bed at 110 and drop it down to 100-105 after the 3rd layer of the print, depending on what the external conditions are like that day. This helps the print to stick well, but prevents the bottom from deforming (elephant foot) from it being too hot for too long, although with a raft this doesn’t really matter. Printing at 210 is too low for ABS; even if it prints nicely you’ll end up with poor layer adhesion. Definitely try to keep it at 230 or higher, 225 being the absolute lowest.
If you’re getting a lot of upward curl, try printing a sacrificial object simultaneously with the main print; this allows the layer that was just laid down some time to cool before heating up again so you don’t have heat creep issues. You can also try editing your gcode so the extruder head pauses briefly between each layer, but this is a bit trickier and will require some background knowledge/learning of gcode commands.
When was the last time you leveled the printer? Based on your raft peeling and curling, I’d try to re-level before printing again, it looks like the extruder is a bit too high off the bed for the first layer of the print.
Thanks for all the responses. For the first 5-10 prints there was no issues what so ever with the lifting of the rafts or melting of the prints. I only tried the painters tape in an attempt to resolve this issue, normally I print directly on the blue stick mat that came with the printer. I’ll bump the temps back up so thats no real issues and usually there is no real issue with the temp of the room because it’s at least 70*F plus in the room I do the printing in. I have tied the cooling fan on and off but that seems to make no difference (I know it’s usually used for PLA). I’ll go into the settings on the printer and override the bed temp and set it at 100*c and bump the temp of the extruder back up to 230*C. Also I level the bed very 3rd print. 
I already ordered the glass bed upgrade so I was planning on using slurry for that.
Found a great way to fill holes and gaps though, I use a pencil soldering Iron and a piece of filament and basically weld in filler. If you asked my friend I’m a real life MacGyver! LOL
Ok I’ll try messing with the settings when I get home from work. Again thanks for your help!
Out of curiosity (and to eliminate all potential variables) has your filament been out in open air for the last two weeks?
ABS, like all other plastic used for 3D printing, is hygroscopic. Meaning if it’s in an environment with moisture in the air, the plastic will absorb the water out of the air and into it’s molecular structure. Wet filament is very difficult (impossible) to print cleanly with, and it would make sense that your first dozen or so layers are the most problematic and that you didn’t have any issue at first. Printing the first layers uses the filament that is in the outermost layers of the spool, which are also the layers most exposed to the external environment.
Proper storage is really important for all filaments once you open them. You can use any airtight bin/container and throw some dessicant in with it, or buy a mini-dehumidifer to go into the storage bin.
You have ringing. It’s when the print head is moving too fast and you aren’t ad hearing to the bed correctly. Undercuts like these get pretty messy if you don’t have speed and heat settings correctly. You might want to add a raft or turn up the bed heat more. I have yet to solve a similar issue when I switched to hatchbox brand, seems they have inconsistent equality that also doesn’t help with tuning problems like this.
just my experience out there
cobnut
11
Just as a heads up, when you fit the glass bed you’ll need a z-axis shim and a couple of corner pieces to hold the bed in place (if that’s how you want to do it). Remember to print these before you remove the existing blue mat or, like me, you’ll be kicking yourself and having to put a new blue mat on just to print these items, then feeling you need to make use of the new mat for a while 
The files for the creator pro shim are here: Creator Pro 5mm Z-axis Shim by Makersome - Thingiverse and there’s a link to the corner pieces. The shim on Thingiverse is 5mm, but I found my glass was only 3.25mm thick so I edited the shim to be 3mm (I wanted a bit of extra play in the adjustment screws).
I’ve noticed that the blue surface plates are really sticky for a few prints then deteriorate rapidly. Dip a rubbish part in acetone for a handful of seconds and slide it over the bed to get a bit of abs down, do it a couple of times. The print should stick to it. Next time you print you should be able to just lightly wipe the bed down with a paper towel and acetone. I haven’t had any issues with abs lifting using this method.
