Creality makes me loose the interest in 3D printing

Ender-3 V3 Printers
1

Hey everyone,

after my own experience with the Ender 3 V3 SE in combination with the Nebula Smart Kit i have to write this, because i am almost done with creality.

Last year i bought the Ender 3 V3 SE, it is my first 3D printer. I started to print with TPU and i had some really great results so far. Now i used the printer more and more and when i was tired to move always to my printer in the kitchen, i had a look for wifi support and found the nebula smart kit. Seems like a great Kit and upgrade at all. Not just wifi support, a camera, use the smartphone at work to check a very long print maybe?!

Yeahhh thats nice!!!

So i bought it, installed it, made the firmware update, g sensor whobble test and so on and everything was working well for the first couple of prints. I was really impressed, fast and got for that speed a great result and then everything turned into all the negative things you are able to read everywhere about this kit. Why it is always the same, you just find the bad stuff, when it is too late?

The noozle scratched the bed, while i started the selftest, while to measure and or autolevel the bed. Sometimes i have the z bug and the printer seems to print the first layers straight above the bed and after a while of printing the printed part just fly away and you get not really tastefull spaghetti. But a bit more annoying is that i also got the Y layer shift, whats really nice after you got finally a good start and after 3 hours of printing the part get the shift…

After i got all the problems, i found out that i am not the only one with such issues. It seems it is usual for this pad and i was reading so many things how to solve, i have to root, have to install weird stuff onto my computer, to make something to get onto the printer config, so much videos i was watching about something what you can do to solve some problems…

Creality, is this your intension to your customer? That i buy your product and have to do such stuff before your product will work?

I want to buy something what i want to use and not i just want to try make work. I already lost almost 1 kg of filament for trying stuff to get this printer pad combination work, without to root or to hack into the printer just to get to a config. Who is gonna pay my free time i lost, i had to invest, just to get more and more dissapointed of this product and had to put more and more money, i mean useless plastic into my trashcan… I run out of good mood and you make me loose my interest in this hobby.

The printer as V3 SE itself printed ways more better than now after this massive “Downgrade”. And there you also had more options to configurate. For example, why i do not have or get access onto the printer config, or have or get the possibility to set the acceleration to the speeds the printer is really able to work with and not have to use the standard configuration of 5 times too much acceleration or speeds which you creality set as standards into the config, what also may causes damage to the printer itself, like the motors or belts.

I tried to change the acceleration and speeds in creality print before slicing and even then i got those issues. Belts are tight but not too tight and in great condition.
Is there no easy and official solution, instead of rooting or to hack myself into the printer?
Do you really ignore all the negative comments and reviews about this? When are you going to solve all those problems? When we, your customers can count with a solution to make the printer work great?

Should i buy more stuff? Add new stronger bars, add better motors buy a z axis stabilizer, a new printhead maybe until everything works like the config says it has to work? Or i habe to hack into the system, root the stuff to use better software and configs instead of your owns? Is this your intension to us customers creality?

I just know, without a simple solution, i will not print any longer with this thing. I do not waste my money and my time any longer with this, just to throw everything away i was printed for tests, tests and even more tests. Because i know, i will not get anything back of you. I wasted too much money and time already. It is a gamble to print over and over again one single piece for a result i will be happy with! After kilos of wasted plastics and money until i got finally a good printed part? Is this your intension creality?

This is no fun any longer, i am really dissapointed!

Thank you for reading and for understanding.

Michael

1 Like
2

I can understand the frustration.

But you may see it like this: Ender 3 are low end printers (even in the Creality brand) that had gotten better over the time.

Now they come “ready” out of the box. And without much effort people get great results.

But over the time when the printer is used a lot the printer needs maintance and the ability to find faults and sometimes even replacement of parts to maintain print quality.

The faster you print. The more problems get obvious or the easier something gets out of tune. Like with the Z-Axis in your case.

Those things can be fixed. But that takes much more knowledge than the initial assembly.

And here is why some people pay thousands of bucks for printers with industrial grade components and endless factory support.

If you have an Ender 3 you need to repair things yourself. And every of this printers will need some fixing sooner or later.

And I would now seek for fixing Z-Axis Ender 3 V2. Probably other people have had the same issue before you. (May be the same for the original Ender 3, the Ender 3 pro, the Ender Neo - all that have a single Z-rod.)

It could be things like Bet-tentions. Rollers having been used and the carriage gotten play, allowing the axis to be deeper. Or other things, that I am not aware at the moment.

It probably is not a software issue, if it has worked.

3

Thank you for your advice.

But the wear and tear itself is not the problem. The Problems started after the Nebula upgrade.

I printed at least 20 pieces since i bought the SE. Small parts, like for a 3 inch drone a cover or a small holder for the drone onto a stand.
The biggest pieces was for an angle for an 10 inch airflow hose. But always just a few grams of tpu or pla.

Now i started to design more parts, like an holster for a flashlight or parts for the printer itself. So i bought the nebula upgrade kit. The first prints was great and then it started all the issues. So i was starting to read about those issues and everything i found about it, should be the incorrect printer config, where creality sets the acceleration and speed too high.
I already checked the hardware, belts are great and tight, screws are tight, everything works well until i start to print, like i explained already. It really seems the software and or the configuration is the problem. Thats why i asked, why we do not have access to the config to use or try different accerlation speeds? At the SE standard it was possible, but with the nebula pad not.
So the only way to test and to find out the problems are to root the printer or hack into the config. Install another software like Fluidd maybe… This is why i ask also, if this is the intension of creality for us customer.

And before i try something, like to install weird software onto my PC and hack myself into the printer, i really want instead an official solution, what works. But as it seems the issues are known and creality do nothing against it. Because the issues are known since the release of the nebula pad.

Thank you and have a good day

Michael

4

Did you use Creality Print 5.1 by any chance? I cannot use it with my V3SE+sonic pad and have had to revert to 4.3.8. Works great with the right combination of software. I have 3 Ender machines and they are all much harder work than my Snapmaker A350T or either of my Qidi machines. I can see why they can be frustrating. I guess I was lucky in that I got the Snapmaker first so I could fall back on a working printer whilst fiddling with my Ender (oo err)

5

Thank you for your advice.

I use the latest software of Creality print and also the latest firmware for the pad and the SE.
When i am back home after work, i will try to install your recommended version and i will try to revert the printer and pad to an older firmware. Maybe to a version where the root option is available.

If it not work, so then i have the possibility to root and to install “fluidd”. This would be my last chance i give to the nebula SE combination. And hopefully it will work again without any issues.

Have a great day and best reagrds.

Michael

6

I also have in mind, that maybe the issues are coming from the g sensor calibration. I will try to reset the pad to default and try a run without the g sensor calibration.

7

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image1214Ă—730 72.4 KB

Just noticed in Creality Print 4.3.8 there is the Nebula Ender 3 V3SE version available, don’t know if this helps. This is in addition to just the Ender 3 V3SE version (not sonic, not Nebula) that I use on my V3SE attached to Sonic pad. I did try the Fast Sonic Pad version but that would overextrude and layer shift so I changed back to the plain version.

8

I installed a pre rooted version and was able to install and run Fluidd and Klipper now. Right now i make all the calibration for print and installed the camera. I also have access now to all the configs of the printer itself. After i checked everything, i want to run a test print and will see if there is a difference.

I will give an update later.

Thanks for your help so far

9

Update:

As expected, the printer works really well with the rooted firmware and fluidd.
I set the acceleration down to 1000 and the speed to 250. I am also able to edit the printer config like i want and have full acces to everything you need.
After naming the camera, it was working immediately without any issues.

No Y layer shift, no Z bug, very fine stringing here and there, but everything should be fine tuning for now on. Now i can try to find out maximum acceleration speeds and printing speeds to get faster prints in still great quality.

I can absolutely recommend to try to root the nebula pad and to use fluidd or mainsail as (Browser based) printer software. It sounds a bit more complicated to make it run and to install, but it was very easy. There are a few “How to” videos on youtube, so please check them out.

I resetted the printer, put the original ota img 1.1.0.23. to Usb Stick, then into printer installed this older version. Then download the rooted img of the youtube links and installed it the same way like the original firmware. Do not be confused, the printer itself on the pad shows version 1.1.0.23 but it has changed. On my PC i installed Putty and typed in the adress of my printer. Once you are in, you use
Username: root
Password: creality
There you just go into install menu by type 1 and from there on you can install, klipper, fluidd, mainsail and so on. Go into your browser and type there your printer adress with the additional port for the software you want to use.
For example: XXX.XXX.X.XX:4408 (Fluidd)
XXX.XXX.X.XX:4409 (Mainsail)
When the printer is on, you should have access.
I had no trouble and everything worked immediately.

10

FWIW, I found that the Creality Print 5.1 version was garbage! I have the K1C, and after I abandoned the Creality software and installed the Orca slicer, my world was a much better place!

Here’s just one example of a simple “perfect” cylinder printed with Creality Print 5.0 on the left, Creality Print 5.1 in the middle (multiple versions, they all printed the same), and Orca 2.2.0 on the right. Which one would you pick?

CP 5.0 was OK, but it had other issues and would crash regularly. CP 5.1 never printed right, it forgot how to print curves! Creality should stick to hardware, they clearly don’t have the touch for software.

___Cyl Print N1
___Cyl Print N13441Ă—1069 244 KB

11

After just about an entire year I am still in “conversation” with tech support about the poor print quality of my KE. Creality has admitted via email that there is a QC issue because I am finding as I converse with them tri-weekly that my Z rod was not set correctly at the factory, my gantry was not level out of the factory, my bed was warped… This should just not be a “thing”. While my prints are getting better with each tech support contact, the 1st layer still won’t print properly, the manual Z offset via the Pad won’t work sometimes (non responsive) and other things as well. I get this is a “low end” printer but Creality needs to be honest in their marketing, and they’re not. Had I known about the QC issues before I purchased I would have gone elsewhere. I’m not a 3D printer “geek” (in a nice way) and I don’t want to have to spend $$$ and time on mods to get to work correctly. That being said, if I ever purchase a new printer it’s fair to say, via my extensive less than good experience, it will not be Creality brand. The upside is that I now have more technical experience than the average user via the school of hard knocks.

2 Likes
12

I may just be lucky…or…I haven’t tried all of the “upgrades” that people seem to “need”. Left alone, my 3 ender printers all work just fine.

Yes, I added neoprene spacers, and I replaced the broken ejector. That’s it.

Nearly every bad print that I have made were bad because of something that I did. Bad design, bad settings (deviating from the standard ones on the slicer), etc.

Yes. 5.1 didn’t work. Ten minutes on the internet told me to switch to the older version. Some users make a lot of their own problems by not researching things first.

Quit "improving’ the Enders out of the box and they will work better than you can believe. After reading how so many guys/gals just had to add a bunch of unneeded nonsense,and then lots of problems come up.

13

This! I work as a SharePoint Developer in IT, yet I do NOT want to be a 3D printer expert! I just want to print, and I totally regret buying this printer because I waste so much filament just trying to get a good print. I do not want to buy new parts or upgrade parts, or tweak settings, or become a linguist on settings. I just want to print. I make miniatures as a hobby when I’m NOT working, but this printer makes me have to get mentally back into work mode and takes away from the joy of creating. I JUST WANT TO PRINT.

1 Like
14

It’s not their fault they feel the need to mod the printers. If they actually worked out of the box like Creality advertises then there wouldn’t be any posts about this. I’m on my second V3KE because the first was defective out of the box. I have no special mods on my current one and you can see by my other post that the issues I am having is definitely a factory issue by Crealitys own admission and not software per se. Consider yourself one of the lucky ones :wink: but don’t fault those who are just trying get their printer to work like Creality said it would out of the box.

1 Like
15

I’m sorry that you seem to have a bad one out of the box. What is puzzling to me, after 3 years and 4 printers, is that 99% of the “issues” that come up on sites like this seem to be from people who have screwed around with their printers. I’m not saying the Creality is perfect and every $100 printer arrives perfect. But, the numbers that I have read say that a lot of “issues” are operator error. There is so much good info available on tweaking the settings for free on the internet. Replacing the transmission in your new car doesn’t make ANY sense to me.

16

I haven’t modded or made any changes to my printer, and I don’t even tweak any of its settings, yet I still get hit-or-miss on a good print. After only 4 months of having this thing, about 75%-80% of my prints are filament messes WITHOUT changing anything.

What I DID do recently is downloaded the Orca slicer not thinking that would make a difference, but surprisingly IT DID. It seemed to slow down my print job, which is fine with me as long as I don’t have to keep redoing it. Gonna keep working with this slicer to see if it’s consistent over time, but if so, what others have said about Creality’s software being a POS must be true. WHAT A WASTE that so many alternative tools have to be used to make this 3D printer usable.

17

What printer do you have…?

Maybe we can figure out what is causing all the problems you are having…

Usually bed adhesion and Z offset cause the most problems as they are not always set right.

As with any of these machines whether it’s a CNC, Welder, LASER or 3D printer there is a learning curve getting the best results and knowing how the machine works.

I use Creality Print 5.xx exclusively and haven’t had any serious issues. I know that Orca is a little better but I haven’t had time to learn it yet… :slightly_frowning_face:

18

And yet, I have 3 Creality printers that worked out of the box. I can’t explain your bad luck. I hope you get it worked out. Good luck.

19

That’s TWO bad ones out of the box. I think you’re approaching it as a user with hands on technical experience who’s been printing for 3 years. I have decades of practical experience with electrical, mechanical, software, plumbing… you get the idea, so I’m not a stranger to fleshing things out which is what I’ve been doing for 11 months! However, that is not what Creality is selling to the masses. Creality is selling/marketing an out of the box solution for 3D printing: Assemble a few parts, set it up, have perfect fist layers and a great looking fast benchy and go print! That is what consumers are being sold and that is what what consumers expect and should receive. They don’t expect to have to jump through hoops and become an expert of all things 3D printing. I know I didn’t. Unless you’re a tech geek (I am) you’re not going to screw around with the printer unless something is going horribly wrong. Again, most average users just want to get the print quality and speeds promised and not fiddle around with settings. If they have a poorly constructed machine from the start then it’s logical to start seeking solutions they can “easily” apply. If they are guided by more experienced users who tell them to tweak this and mod that then whose fault is that? Not the poor schmuck who just wants to print and not receive a masters degree in 3D printing after the fact.

Today I just received another correspondence from Creality on a ticket and they are now leaning towards a bad stepper motor. This is in addition to the replacement bed and Z rods they sent. For the time I spent and the replacement parts they have sent me from China they could have just sent a new printer. I would have never expected, in a million years, so many hardware issues. If the actual maker of the printer can’t figure it out then how are the average users they market to going to?

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20

It appears that you are not going to be happy with anything Creality makes or does to help you. Return it; sell it, and/or forget it.

Life is way too short to put up with as much pain as this thing is causing you. No matter how lucky I am, and how unlucky you are…get rid of it and move on.

If you lose your investment, its just the price of moving on. Be happy its a cheap printer and not a $50,000 car or a $$ house. Good Luck going forward.