Good workshop printer

[Mr Fro]

You're probably right @carbon . I run through the bed levelling every print which is lengthy & tedious. Our bed has been abused over the years with all sorts and has area of glue and other muck on it.

I already use retraction but I'll see if I can dial it up a bit.

Good call about the extrusion check, I'll definitely give that a bash.

 

[tflnemesis]

I use watered down PVA glue on my bed, everything sticks well on 1st layer, is easy to repair and fairly easy to clean off once the buildup is too rough.

 

[m_c]

6 prints, 3 fails , expected more from a 700€ printer. Playing around with different temperatures but will probably send it back, upgrade to a prusa and learn to live with the smaller build volume.

If it does finish a print it is flawless though.

First fail

View attachment 366217

2nd fail, the bottom layer didn't stick probably, bed temp was only set at 50° so hoped that was the issue

View attachment 366216

3d fail, upped the bed temperature to 80° as per filament instructions, looks like it's way too hot now:

View attachment 366215

Guess my plan to invest some money into troublefree 3d printing failed, at least for now.

You've definitely got bed adhesion issues.

I personally prefer smooth sheets for PLA, but textured does work.
As has been said, bed cleanliness is the usual reason for failure, but a coat of PVA/hairspray/3DLAC will improve adhesion.
I'd strongly suggest some 3DLAC to start with, as it'll eliminate any possible issues from inconsistent/unknown cheaper options.

Also checking first layer height is essential. I always keep an eye on first layers, to make sure it looks good.
This guide is far better than trying to explain in text -

 

[ukracer]

My Ender 3 printed it’s first reel of eSun PLA+ filament perfectly using the default settings. When that filament ran out I put a new roll in, exactly the same PLA+ apart from the colour and I immediately got adhesion problems. I had to start using a raft on every print, and still sometimes had problems getting the first layer to stick. I always clean the bed, with brake cleaner, between prints.

What bed do you have??

 

[ukracer]

You've definitely got bed adhesion issues.

I personally prefer smooth sheets for PLA, but textured does work.
As has been said, bed cleanliness is the usual reason for failure, but a coat of PVA/hairspray/3DLAC will improve adhesion.
I'd strongly suggest some 3DLAC to start with, as it'll eliminate any possible issues from inconsistent/unknown cheaper options.

Also checking first layer height is essential. I always keep an eye on first layers, to make sure it looks good.
This guide is far better than trying to explain in text -
View attachment 366294

3Dlac on reversed creality glass sticks fine for me. Usually harder to get off than needs.
I usually use baby steps (Marlin and a creality silent board) and adjust as its printing the brim. This was mainly as I did not know how to save the adjustment of baby's steps after setting it during printing.
Then one day I saved it. (Not sure how) and I no longer need to adjust baby steps.

 

[Bladevane]

A cheaper alternative to 3DLAC is L'Oreal Elnett Extra Strong Hold in 400ml cans. Currently available at Superdrug at £10 for 2. I use it all the time (sometimes on my printer!). I tried cheap hairspray but it didn't do the job.

 

[choco]

The Prusa will have failed prints aswell. It's not the printer. You have to invest a little time and figure out how it works. First thing is make sure the bed is leveled. Clean the bed with water and then wipe it down with alcohol. Set your z offset. Run bed leveling before the print and try again

 

[carbon]

I have just put a roll of Sunlu white PETg on to replace transparent Overture filament. The transparent prints perfectly at 235C but the Sunlu strings horribly at that. It seems OK at 230C though.

Yes, unfortunately with these printers there does seem to be subtle differences between filament, z offset and temperatures etc need to adjusted to suit when swapping to a new roll.

 

[Mark_C]

I managed to get PLA to stick okay most of the time but could not print PETG at all, just ddn't stick, cleaning with washing up liquid, clean with IPA, decorators tape all failed miserably.
I now use a smear of a purple gluestick for everything on the smooth side of the glass, works a preat, never have adhesion problems. Using this one at the moment: https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/281468460

 

[Bladevane]

I always wipe down the bed (smooth or textured) with window cleaner for PETG as opposed to IPA and hairspray for PLA. Works well.

 

[Newlands]

What bed do you have??

It’s just the standard bed that came with the machine.

 

[choco]

What material is on the bed? The newer printers bed material should be ok for PLA and PET. I switched mine to an IKEA mirror a few years ago and works great. I have another printer with a PEI sheet on it and it works ok. Prefer the mirror and glue stick.

 

[ajlelectronics]

What material is on the bed? The newer printers bed material should be ok for PLA and PET. I switched mine to an IKEA mirror a few years ago and works great. I have another printer with a PEI sheet on it and it works ok. Prefer the mirror and glue stick.

I have the textured glass bed that comes as standard. I find it very good once I stopped smearing molten kitchen paper roll all over it!

 

[Mr Fro]

The Prusa will have failed prints aswell. It's not the printer. You have to invest a little time and figure out how it works. First thing is make sure the bed is leveled. Clean the bed with water and then wipe it down with alcohol. Set your z offset. Run bed leveling before the print and try again

My experience is that Prusa just work. Yes they block nozzles and occasionally material fails to stick to the bed but more often than not they just work.

The Creality on the other hand, whilst bigger, is a pain. 5 people have tried optimising it (and 2 of them were printer nerds) yet it still fails often and gives sub standard prints.

For home use, yeah they're fine but losing half an hour to set up every time when you're running a business doesn't make sense.

 

[ajlelectronics]

The Creality on the other hand, whilst bigger, is a pain. 5 people have tried optimising it (and 2 of them were printer nerds) yet it still fails often and gives sub standard prints.

Evidence?

 

[choco]

My experience is that Prusa just work. Yes they block nozzles and occasionally material fails to stick to the bed but more often than not they just work.

The Creality on the other hand, whilst bigger, is a pain. 5 people have tried optimising it (and 2 of them were printer nerds) yet it still fails often and gives sub standard prints.

For home use, yeah they're fine but losing half an hour to set up every time when you're running a business doesn't make sensethat change .

Those 5 people should maybe invest a little more time on research lol. There are millions of people including myself happy with creality printers. I print pla, petg, TPU , nylon, Carbon fibre. My cr10 is modded, but it's a hobby and why I changed things. Creality printers work absolutely fine out of the box especially the new ones.

Unfortunately with so many variables with 3d printing and different filaments. You have to tweak settings. That's including the prusa. That's just the way it is.

When you buy your creality printer. Manually Level the bed. Clean it. Check the z offset. And print one of the stock PLA profiles.

 

[Mr Fro]

Evidence?

Of what?

Those 5 people should maybe invest a little more time on research lol. There are millions of people including myself happy with creality printers. I print pla, petg, TPU , nylon, Carbon fibre. My cr10 is modded, but it's a hobby and why I changed things. Creality printers work absolutely fine out of the box especially the new ones.

Unfortunately with so many variables with 3d printing and different filaments. You have to tweak settings. That's including the prusa. That's just the way it is.

When you buy your creality printer. Manually Level the bed. Clean it. Check the z offset. And print one of the stock PLA profiles.

That's the difference isn't it - it's a hobby for you. There's only so much time a business can put in to tweaking something before it becomes unviable.

For me, the creality is soured because it's had so many people spending so much time on it. I wouldn't mind if it yielded good results but it hasn't.

We bought our fourth Prusa a few months back. The set up was taking it our of the box, plugging it in to an enclosure, putting a reel on it and running a print. It's been chugging our work every day since without a fault and zero fiddling.

That is my experience. The Creality may be great if you throw loads of time and mods at it but for instant production, the Prusa is hard to beat.

 

[choco]

Everyone to their own i suppose. There are a lot of printer farms out there using creality machine work horses.

 

[ajlelectronics]

Of what?

That's the difference isn't it - it's a hobby for you.

No, I use it to produce items for resale.

There's only so much time a business can put in to tweaking something before it becomes unviable.

Of course, but the tweaking is required to suit the variables of filament, rather than the printer being unreliable. I put in upgrades to allow me to print "exotic" filaments and it has been successful. The only real issue that I have had is a broken wire due to motion and its routing, not a deficiency of the printer.

For me, the creality is soured because it's had so many people spending so much time on it. I wouldn't mind if it yielded good results but it hasn't.

Like who? Perhaps a few people enjoy tinkering and seeing how far it can be pushed? I get some fabulous results off mine.

We bought our fourth Prusa a few months back. The set up was taking it our of the box, plugging it in to an enclosure, putting a reel on it and running a print. It's been chugging our work every day since without a fault and zero fiddling.

That was your choice and an unusual experience unless your usage is very narrow.

That is my experience. The Creality may be great if you throw loads of time and mods at it but for instant production, the Prusa is hard to beat.

You are starting to sound like an "Android Fanboi" here, when confronted with an iPhone..

 

[Mark_C]

Funny how people have different perspectives, I had someone tell me unequivocally that any creality printer was a waste of time and that they don't work without hundreds of hours of fiddling and then next time you need to print it won't work again.
My experience of my E3V2 is it works fine, I put the thing together and got prints off, the only problem I had was bed adhesion as above, I didn't even calibrate it, I've even managed to print TPU with the standard extruder. This didn't go down well and I was basically told I was wrong.

From what I've seen alot of problems are down to improper construction or installation of numerous modifications all at the same time and then an expectation that it'll work immediately. I do think that the lower end of the market like creality sees more of this because people are willing to give it a go for a couple of hundred quid - £700+ on a Prusa is far less likely, they're bought by people with some experience already or those who are maybe more dilligent.

The Prusas certainly have a good reputation, for a business if the return on investment works out then sure, why not, but I wouldn't take it as a given its the only machine that'll work.