CTC Creator Dual 3D Printer - Initial Review (Page 2 of 4)

Let me know how this works for you. I would think the solvent in plastic model cement would be too aggressive, but I have never tried it. I have glued parts together with superglue and I do know that discolors your prints, but works. With ABS, you might be able to smooth it a bit by brushing on some acetone on troubled spots and then washing off the part right away.

On the SD4, I had a lot of trouble with layer splitting (and warping) I was able to fix some by using a heat gun to warm up the part and let it get a little gooey then sit. I also tried a toaster oven with some success. The problem is that there is a very precise point between perfect temp and turning to goo and it happens very quickly. The toaster oven worked the best for warping as long as the part had enough weight to it to flatten itself out. You really can't touch the part without deforming it.

I'm so glad I am not having any of these problems anymore!

Well, it has been a few months of using this printer and I am still rather pleased with it. I have fully went through about 3 spools of filament with very few failed prints. I have upgraded the mightyboard by installing the parts that were missing for the RGB LED driver (still having installed an RGB light, though) and added the FET for the cooling fan. I installed a high output fan on a nice duct I found for the flashforge. Bridging always worked quite well with the combo of Simplify3D and this printer, but now I have been able to print parts I just couldn't do before.

If I have any complaints they would be:

1. Bed doesn't seem to stay level. Originally I found the wingnuts (for adjusting the bed) had stripped out and that was causing some of it. I replaced the screws and made up some knobs for it. Helped a little, but I still have to fudge with the leveling every few prints. I am beginning to think it is the acme leadscrew used in the Z-axis. Seems to have quite a bit of play in it. That and the Z-axis platform design seems to be able to twist. I found stiffeners you can buy for the makerbot, but I am thinking of just installing some 1/4" rod across the two plastic L brackets to stiffen things up. I also want to add some weight to the front of the platform to help keep it level.

Still, better than my SD4 which had a warped aluminum plate and the triangle adjusting design always frustrated me.

2. Build volume. The X axis has far more movement available than the bed size (160mm more!) Maybe easily solved by installing a larger glass bed and changing settings in Simplify3D. But I am concerned that the heat might not stay consistent since the bed heater is smaller. Given the way this printer is designed, it looks like it would only take a few parts to make the whole printer bigger. I just bought a laser cutter (my current project ) So, just might have to give making some new panels a go.

3. 24V system. Pain in the butt for add-ons.

4. Integration of the mightyboard firmware in Simplify3D is just not quite there. I have heard that sailfish might allow me to run it marlin compatible, but not really finding any real confirmation of the that. If it still needs the X3G formatted g-code, I am no better off, really. With the X3G, your options for running the printer are fairly limited.

5. Not a simple upgrade to DRV8825 for 1/32 microstepping. The mightyboard uses digital pots for current control (which is actually nice for keeping the steppers quiet and not getting so hot) most modules have an integrated pot for this. Strangely, I have not a DRV8825 upgrade for the mightyboard. *Shrug* maybe I will break down and design one.

Did I mention that this printer is pretty quiet even while running? Bonus, the fans are all individually controlled. So they only run when needed. So, when it is idle, it is almost silent except the fan on the power supply.

6. Non-standard nozzles. They are *kinda* MK7 or MK8 compatible, but not quite. With the thermocouples, I can likely crank the heat up quite a bit to work with exotic filaments, but I don't trust the filament tubes to stay cool enough. I have been looking at the buddha hotends and with some custom work, I might be able to throw them in there.

This thing really is a workhorse. Very reliable. I just ran an 8 hour print while I ran off to do something and came back to a perfect part. My motivation to upgrade it has been very little since it runs so well. Everytime I think about changing something, I find myself muttering something about not fixing something that ain't broke.

Who would have guessed that such a cheap printer would have performed so well?

Yeah. That's the same, but in the metal version. Much more expensive. Mine is plywood. It is more like the Flashforge Creator in appearance.

But, that printer, the Wanhoo, Flashforge, etc... are all pretty much identical. CTC is just the brand.

I have a CTC and printed great right out of the box.... I upgraded to the sailfish firmware and prints better and faster. However, I didn't do a step before I upgraded the firmware. That step was writing down the toolhead offsets for the dual extrusion. So does anyone have any ideas or suggestions of what I can do to correct my mistake so I can print with both extruders? I tried factory reset but the printer still says it has the sailfish firmware.

I read on a review site on them some place it was 35mm

Hi everyone,

Just bought my first printer is the CTC and first off they shipped it with no SD card? i have sent them emails asking for the software but no reply.

I have downloaded Cura and loaded the Makerbot image and saved it to my own SD card.

then with the printer set up and all up to heat i selected Pring from SD card but there is no image shown?
display just reads >exit

any help?

Thanks for the reply, will give it a go now.
thanks again.

I am really tempted to pick up a CTC Creator now, with all the good things I have been hearing. Maybe I'll buy one for a friend as a housewarming gift.

have a look here for a video tutorial with links to download firmware and upgrade software

http://caddrones.com/blog.htm?a=&ni … 61C4A2DD6A

I've had nothing but trouble with mine, some of it my fault, some of it not.  I've had the extruder carriage apart more times than I can count, it's spent more time being worked on than printing, with failed print after print.

Main issues I've had are the board going wrong, and not measuring temperature on the right side, multiple blockages, which are mainly user error, the feed bearing in the right hand feeder failing, the thermocouples being flimsy and breaking, one heater cartridge shorting due to the sleeving not being in the correct place, this may or may not have been my fault, I was working on the hot end at the time, could have also came like it. Constant slipping,  before and after I upgraded the feeders and feed gears. This is what I'm trying to solve at the moment. I have tried setting the feed rates, changing the the filament types and to one I know is fine. I've changed the temps to high and low, changed out the throats/nozzles but still the same thing,  checked the feed rate when it decided to stop slipping for an hour and it's fine pretty much dead on when telling it to extrude 100mm. This one's stumping me.

The only constant is the stepper motor, but there's no play in the shaft of either, so it leaves me with either the thermocouples are off as they've been twisted back together, soldered and clamped using a screw, basically temporarily fixed until my new ones arrive, or the feed rate is way off as it's trying to push too much into the hot end.

All in all, my experience with it has been very frustrating.

::Edit::
I'm a dolt - I have Sailfish installed and had Extruder Hold on. I thought it was a temp hold, after doing a little more research into setting the Steps/mm I came across this buried in the Sailfish documentation. It's basically designed to put more pressure on the filament for 3mm diameter. I'm using 1.75 (ish). Have the first test cube printing now and no skipping and it looks like a pretty much perfect print.  Finally I can get on and work on my projects.

Aye, it's been a roller-coaster, I still have issues with PLA, at least the spool I have, I've ordered a couple more to see if it's the Filament I have. Funnily enough, apart from the print that failed overnight, wrong settings room not hot enough. I can print that without an issue. I definitely need to enclose it though, that'll be the next addition.