Hello,
I am a new user from France of the very nice Sparkx I7 and I just had the following BIG problem yesterday.
I launched quite a big print and I had to leave and the following occured and here is what I discovered when I came back home :
The print came away from the build plate and the problem wasn’t detected at all, so the extrusion continued until it completely covered the extruder head.
This is a real disaster – what should I do?
Thanks in advance, kind regards,
Charly
First of all, I am so sorry about what happened to you; it’s a total nightmare. The first thing to do is avoid using brute force. Look for YouTube videos on how to remove a buildup of plastic (a “blob”) from the 3D printer; you’ll see that you need a heat gun, you have to heat the nozzle to around 280°C, and you need to be patient. Once you’ve managed to clean the printer without breaking anything, you’ll need to follow my tutorial, as Pritca mentioned. Your bed leveling map (bed mesh) is very poor; that’s why the printer can’t print onto the build plate. The surface has serious irregularities, and the prints aren’t adhering to the bed because of that unevenness.
Thanks so much for the quick answers.
I’m starting to watch videos about removing a blob, I prepared my heat gun.
When hopefully all is removed, I’ll go through your tutorial.
I’m still asking myself the question did this happen because I didn’t use glue until now? I printed already quite a lot of stuff and it all went perfect.
I’ll post the results here.
Cheers
No, you don’t need glue or even frequent bed cleaning; if you manage to adjust the bed to get a leveling mesh like mine (0.3), believe me: the prints will be welded to the base, and you’ll have to use the spatula that comes with the printer to pry them off XD. You want to know what my problem with the Sparkx i7 is now that I’ve fixed the bed mesh? It’s that now it’s damn hard to remove the prints, hahaha! I have to use the spatula, take out the textured base, and bend it to get the parts off; it’s the best thing I’ve done for this printer.
Using glue for prints is a thing of the past; it is truly absurd and unnecessary, as it ruins both the build plate and the printed parts. Its use is justified only in enclosed machines when printing with ABS—and even then, it isn’t strictly necessary if you know how to print and have your 3D printer perfectly tuned in every respect.
My point is that 3D printing is a BIG LIE; there is no such thing as simply plugging it in and starting to print. Sure, I suppose you’ll be able to print for the first few days, but over time, the machine will start to reveal flaws from its factory assembly… so no, the whole “plug & play” concept is a BIG LIE. You’ll have to learn A LOT and know how to adjust your machine; no 3D printer leaves the factory perfectly assembled, and none escape rough handling during shipping (believe me, I used to work in logistics). There’s no way to control whether a worker carelessly tosses the box around, potentially breaking the 3D printer before it even reaches your home. So no, nothing is perfect, and nothing comes out of the factory flawless; phones are small devices that are easier to manage during assembly and shipping, whereas this is large tech equipment—and it sells like hotcakes simply because it’s cheaper than a small phone
Hello,
After a few days’ holiday, I was finally able to have a go at my ‘blob’.
I used a few different methods. First, the Dremel to trim off small bits, a pair of wire cutters to remove the excess, and of course the heat gun to loosen the bits stuck to the extruder.
Unfortunately, despite all the care I tried to take, I’ve got two wires cut, and part of the fan has melted! (see the red arrows).
As for the fan, I don’t think there’s a problem, as the cavities aren’t affected.
But do you think it’s easy and worth the effort to re-solder the wires?
There’s also the extruder, which I can’t seem to remove. Do I need to heat it with a heat gun?
Thanks in advance, Charly
PS: I’m still wondering why my SparkX I7, which is supposed to detect this sort of problem with its camera and AI, didn’t spot a thing!!! Wouldn’t Creality consider this a fault?
It’s a sorry sight; the fan and heater most likely need replacing. I think you can order spare parts from China—try contacting tech support and explaining that the AI spaghetti-recognition system failed (and that this isn’t the first time it’s happened). Send them links to the relevant forum threads; they might send the parts under warranty—it’s worth a try.
Thanks for your return.
I’ll try this and I’ll come back here to post the results.
Cheers
Hey
did you manage to to fix this? It’s unfortunate you had this problem
Hello,
I managed to get the blob out, but with some damage unfortunately.
I opened a ticket to Creality and I am waiting for them to take it under guaranty since the IA didn’t detect it.
I’ll keep you informed here. Cheers
Ohh man,
That’s a pain I hope you get it resolved asap
Thanks, I got a good response from the Creality support so far. I’ll feedbak here.
That’s really good to hear! How is the printer then than the blob of death you had? Im thinking of getting another printer and been waiting for the K3
