falken wrote:I like the dreamer too, but it gets so hot inside I feel like it will do damage to the PLA roll if I leave it in there. I'll just print spool holders and screw them into the wall above the machine so I can feed the spools from above and outside the machine.
There are different Dreamers out there. Some have extra cooling fans on the back. Some have an extra cooling fan on the print head. As I understand it, newer ones have both. Mine only has the extra fan on the print head. If my Dreamer is completely closed, and I'm printing ABS on both heads on a heated built platform, it can heat up so much that the print carriage deforms. The internal temperature of my Dreamer can reach over 60 C when it's completely closed while printing ABS. That is absolutely not good for PLA. If you're printing ABS, don't put the lid on, unless your Dreamer is one that has fan on the back that automatically come on if it overheats. My Dreamer doesn't have that feature. It will go above 60 C and start having problems with I print ABS with the lid on.
From what I understand, newer Dreamers will have both back cooling fans and a print head cooling fan, and they monitor the internal temperature of the printer. If it gets too hot, the back fans turn on. If you're Dreamer is like that, then you can safely leave PLA in the printer. My Dreamer is not like that. There are no back fans. There's no internal temperature monitor. I can never leave the lid on when I print ABS. This is a design flaw, that's apparently been fixed by FlashForge.
falken wrote:I don't like the way they have the filament tug while the carriage is moving all over the place. I don't like their propriatery SMALLER rolls of plastic. The software that came with it makes terrible prints of the items I'm trying to print. (Items that have .6mm girth walls are printed too flimbsy, they come out perfect on the rep 2).
I also don't like their proprietary smaller rolls. But I've solved that problem by printing my own spool holders for larger filament spools. The software the Dreamer comes with is pretty basic. I'm not crazy about it. I use Simplify3D for all the 3D printers I use, so I don't care about the software a printer comes with. None of manufacturer's printer software is as good as Simplify3D that I've seen.
falken wrote:I was not used to a HBP and the dreamer seems to lose it's level much quicker than the Replicator. I can do 50 prints before I have to relevel the Rep 2. I need to relevel the Dreamer every other print. Is it those wingnuts? Do they twist while the printer is going? Is there a better way to keep this plate from going out of balance so often?
I never need to re-level my build plate unless I replace the surface with new Kapton tape. I use the heated build platform all the time. It's not the heat requiring the re-leveling. It stays level. Maybe your printer has gotten some grease on the nuts? If that happens, you'll having leveling problems.
Actually, if you print ABS with the lid on, and you have the same Dreamer version that I have, and it gets too hot, then the print carriage will slowly deform, and you'll need to re-level your build plate every time you print. That could the issue your seeing. Take a look at your print carriage. If its not 100% flat, then your Dreamer has been overheating and slowly deforming the print carriage.
That's a serious problem with FlashForge is supposed to have fixed in newer versions. I wish I had the newer version, but I don't. So I never put the lid on when I print ABS or my print carriage could deform. It's happened 2 times when printing with the lid on.
falken wrote:I bought this because I wanted to streamline volume printing, but lacking knowledge of HBPs, I had no clue it would take so long to heat everything up. It takes forever to heat up. As it is, I think I'll just leave preheat on all the time so that when I start a print it will go right away. If I don't and I print the same item on the Rep 2 and this machine. The rep 2 is over 30 to 50% done before the dreamer has even heated the extruders because the HBP takes so long to heat up.
If you leave preheat on all the time, and you have the same Dreamer version I have, and you leave the lid on, your print carriage will deform and eventually your printer will no longer print.
falken wrote:I would buy this machine for my brother, but the software that comes with it sucks. If I can get a working profile for it, I'll probably end up buying another one for my brother. (And another copy of S3D for him)
If you do get another Dreamer, please make sure that you get the model with the 3 extra fans and the automatic overheat protection. The model of the Dreamer I have is prone to overheating. There's nothing to prevent the internal temperature reaching well above 100 C. It's possible, if printing with the lid on, using 230 C for both print heads, and 115 C for the build plate, for the internal temperature to reach over 100 C, deform the print carriage, and deform your filament roll (if it's inside the printer). After that, the printer needs to be fixed. That happened to me 2 times. Now I never print with the lid on.
I am installing my own additional cooling fans on the back of my printer so that I don't need to worry about the printer overheating if I print with the lid on. My printer doesn't have an internal temperature monitor like the newer ones do, so I'll keep my fans on 100% of the time. Contrary to popular belief, I have found that cooling fans blowing at the extruded ABS filament actually make the print higher quality, just as they do with PLA. I'm not sure why some people advocate printing ABS without a cooling fan. That has always produced inferior results for me, especially if the prints are small. I tend to print small items mostly when using ABS. Without a cooling fan the small ABS prints come out looking a bit sloppy here and there.
Take a look at this video. This guy has the same Dreamer model I have. Look at the quality improvement from adding more fans on the Dreamer (he's printing with PLA):
Flashforge Dreamer - Active Cooling Upgrade