1

Hello,

I own a new Creator Pro and have been experiencing two problems:

1) warping of large objects using ABS. The bed temp is 100C and the exxtruder is set to 260-270C.

2) When I the layer attached to the rafts is not smooth at all (see attached). I use makerware and it’s set to .20 layer height and I have 60m/s for the travel speed of the extruder.

Any ideas would be very helpful. Thank you very much.

Erik

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2

Lower your extruder temp. 260-270 is way too hot for ABS. Try lowering to around 220-230 the adjust in 5 degree stages to find the ideal temp.

2 Likes
3

Yep way too hot. 235 is my standard temp for ABS. Try 94 on the Build plate. ABS sticks best with a nice thick slurry on glass.

4

Warping is an issue with ABS. Especially large parts. I’ve had good success with Buildtak, or alternatively, blue painters tape with a squirt of hairspray.

5

Just from the picture it appears that while the raft is being placed it is not sticking in different parts.

My Creator Pro runs ABS at 110 for the Bed and 230 for Nozzles.

I usually use Buildtak or ABS slurry to keep the part down.

I found 110 for bed to be Ideal.

Rule One, do Not open the door while its printing, ABS is touchy and can warp from simply opening the door to take a peek at your job, Avoid opening altogether, unless it’s absolutely necessary, but remember you cqan warp by opening.

6

Hi,

Here is what worked for me so far, even with big ABS parts :

1. I Use glass build plate, with the flashforge sticker on it, and silicon pads taped underneath to keep it from moving during printing. (This is the only way to ensure you have a level non warped build plate)

2. For ABS, I print with 240C Extruder Temp, 110 Bed Temp. (overkill but it works all the time)

3. For alignment, I use a .10 mm thick bond paper as guage, make sure it has quite a bit of friction, tight with the nozzle on all corners. (make sure it has the same feel of friction for all corners)

4. I preheat my nozzle and bed for at least 10 minutes before I start printing.

5. I do not even use raft if my object is large, but instead I use liquid adhesive spread liberally on my build plate, applied before preheating. Use elmers glue stick or Hairspray if you want.

Level your build plate, It goes a long way to ensure you have good prints. I even go to the extent of leveling my build plate before every print, since I remove my glass build plate every-time I remove printed object.

Hope this helps.

2 Likes
7

Hi Again,

By the way, if you plan on going for the glass build plate, I suggest printing first a spacer that goes at the back of the flashforge logo plate, which is same thickness as the glass plate you are planning to install. This spacer will hit the limit z limit switch which will stop stepper motor from over travelling. By the way I have recently printed an object almost as large as my build plate, rectangular in shape and same thickness as yours and did not have a warped edge. Don’t give up, you will get the hang of leveling build plate and you can even do it before every print. The key is once you get it right, be consistent the next time you level your build plate, what I mean is, the friction that you felt when you leveled the build plate and got it right should be your benchmark for every print.

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I wouldn’t mind betting that your teflon tube was damaged from that excessively hot temp. Wouldn’t be able to tell unless you pulled the nozzle off but I would be very hesitant to advise you to do this as it can go very wrong if you don’t know what you are doing.

It looks like you could be under-extruding material as well, check into filament diameter and multipliers in the custom settings.

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Try going 230/110.

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Also: print on glass, works way better with ABS. And best results (specially with large objects) are when heating your chamber. I can give you tips on how to do this…

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I would say your extruder temp is too high. Try running the extruder around 230c and if you’re worried about the part not sticking to the bed maybe increase the bed by 5c. If you have control over it maybe increase your extruder retraction speed as well to help keep it from making those strings. I think drastically lowering your extruder temp will help a lot (1.75mm filament?).

12

Thank you for your responses! I realize I made a typo… my extruder temperature runs at 230c not 260! oops

Also, I just purchased the Creator Pro so it is on their new blue kapton surface. (Not glass, but they assured me it is an improvement).

I printed last night with the settings of 220c and 230c for the extruder and 110c for the build plate which I leveled.

Seems like my settings are in sync with everyone’s comments save having a glass plate.

It is strange, I notice that my rafts aren’t even built smoothly. When I used the REplicatorX it was like night/day difference. After the raft layer it is smooth, but before it is sloppy. Should I update the new blue kapton surface?

Thank you. I also tried building curtains around the objects so it would retain heat.

Also, maybe I need to calibrate the z height of the extruder? I am ordering a glass build plate from amazon

13

Here is a great resource for diagnosing and fixing print problems:

https://www.simplify3d.com/support/print-quality-troubleshooting/#print-not-sticking-to-the-bed

14

I had that problem when I tried using makerware. There are so many options to change, and I’m still new at navigating them. I usually use replicator g/skeinforge, with 230 hotend, 109 hbp, feedrate 60, .2 layer with raft and external supports for abs, and it comes out beautifully. Skeinforge makes a very easy raft to remove.

15

Hey Erik,

260-270 is a bit too hot for ABS in my opinion. Try printing at around 230-240 deg.

Looking at your layer finish you might be under/over extruding (under extruding tends to leave gaps in the model). What’s your infill percentage ? Have you calibrated your extruder ?

With regards to warping, you can try a few things:

- Put your bed temp up to 110 deg

- Do a pre-heat and leave it for a while so the FF enclosure is nicely warmed up. Make sure you keep the enclosure closed

- Add a raft or additional “mouse ears” at the corners to a larger surface for the part to adhere to.

Hope this helps

16

Great! I appreciate the response. I wrongly typed 260 when I have my extruder temp at 220-230. I have just ordered a glass plate as well. I have also noticed that slowing down my speeds for the first layer and raft helps a lot.

As far as calibrating my extruder, if have only leveled my build plate. Do you have a resource to look into to do this for the FF creator pro?

Thank you again.

17

Hi, glass + liquid adhesive gets my vote, but try also buildtak. Buildtak is very sensitive to z height, so get that nailed first. Standard PVA glue should suffice in the meantime. Try the glue on a test print and depending on your experience removing the part after printing, you may wish to water it down. Your next problem could be the part sticks too well!