Common Problems for the Flashforge Creator Pro 3D printer

Common Problems of the 3D printer

Our Printer

The Two printers currently in the makerspace are the Flashforge Creator Pro and the Reprap Guru. In this blog post, I will be focusing on the creator pro printer, although, a lot of the information in this post should apply to both printers.

Problems

Plastic does not adhere to print bed

This is the most common problems that affects the 3D printer and has a very simple solution. When the plastic extruded onto the print bed comes off the bed while printing, it is most likely because the print bed is too low under the extruder, so the plastic cannot adhere and becomes unstuck.

To align the print bed, go into the utilities menu and select "level home plate" to begin. Then take the thin plastic sheet (at right) stored with the printer's tools. To level the build plate, slide the paper under the extruder of the printer, then manually move the extruder around the plate and slide the paper around underneath it. The goal of this is to have the paper be able to move, but the extruder plate should be high enough to cause a small amount of friction between it and the paper. in any areas where this is not true, adjust the hight of the print bed in the different areas by twisting the knobs underneath the print bed

Loading and Unloading Filament

One of the most common practices of the 3D printer is to load and unload filament, switching them to a different color or plastic type.

To accomplish this, first select "filament loading "in the utilities menu

From there, select to "load right" or "load left" depending on which extruder you plan to change. Do not select unload, even when unloading filament, instead, plan to unload the first filament and load the second while the printer is heated for loading the correct extruder. To avoid clogging when loading, make sure the printer is "loading" not "unloading", and be sure to preform the entire transfer without stoping the printer from heating.

After the printer is heated, to unload the first filament, press down the switch on the right or left of the extruder (depending on which side you are loading) in order to release the clamp on the filament, then pull the filament out of the extruder and removing it from the plastic tube that leads from the back of the printer, where the filament spools rest, to the extruder. (these tubes can be easily pulled out of and into the extruder for convenience). Do not hit the "ok" button yet as that will stop the printer from heating.

Once the first filament is removed, feed the second filament back through the plastic tube and into the extruder. Once the filament enters the extruder, it should be caught by the clamp inside and will begin to be slowly pushed into the extruder. Allow this process to run until the filament begins to exit the extruder. Once this is completed, hit the "ok" button to stop the process and the filament loading is complete.

Replacing the Sticker on the Print Bed

To replace the sticker on the printer bed, first preheat the bed. Use the "preheat settings" in the utilities menu to adjust the temperature to be 80 degrees Celcius.

Once the print bed had been heated, peel the sticker off the bed, watch out as the printer bed will be very hot, so use some sort of tool to begin the peeling, then use your hand one the sticker begins to come off.

Clogged Extruder

A clogged extruder can be one of the most obnoxious problem for the 3D printer. It can often be hard to fix; however, proper loading and unloading of filament should prevent this from happening.

The first step is to preheat the extruder to its maximum temperature. Since clogging usually happens when the plastic melts before entering the extruder, it is important to heat the extruder as hot as possible and allow the plastic to heat up. the first possibility is that the plastic is just partially melted and will come loose if you load another filament and press down with it to push the first filament out.

If the filament remains stuck, more drastic measures mist be taken. If possible, get a paper clip or other extremely thin metal pole that is straight and hold it using pliers. Then apply pressure into the extruder, pressing the switch on the side of the head to remove the clamp that normally blocks the path of the metal.

If this fails, the the best course of action is to disassemble the extruder and search for another possible problem. Make sure the extruder has cooled before attempting to open the extruder.