I am at my wits end with this printer. This printer being the K2 Plus Combo. I have had nothing but issues with it since the day I purchased it.
I’m on the latest firmware: 1.1.4.8.
It has a new nozzle.
New extruder.
The bed is in perfect condition.
It’s been calibrated (many, MANY times) and passes all self tests.
Filament is all new and dry.
It’s clean and lubed.
I’m printing a plaque. It’s a large 12”x12” piece.
The upper right corner will sometimes come perfect, but others… well, take a look at the photos.
And note that the issue is not limited to the upper right corner. It once happened in the lower left corner.
Does anyone have a suggestion or potential cause as to what is causing this? Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
Also note, even with the auto everything bed leveling, I still need to adjust the Z-offset +.150 to get a good first layer. Well… sometimes… as this could change between prints.
Personally, I think I got a lemon and have been BEGGING Creality to put me out of my misery and send me a replacement. This is definitely not the only issue I’ve had with this printer. I’d be happy to send this one back to them.
Hello ! Can you share a picture of your leveling ? (You can see it by Fluidd using the IP adress of your printer followed by :4408 in the URL bar of Edge/Chrome/Firefox..etc)
I can’t tell from your post but it seems like you’re only chasing two sets of diagnostic paths, firmware and hardware. What I didn’t see was any mention of troubleshooting the settings. If you want to upload your 3MF, I can take a look and see what the slicer may be doing to the model.
Questions
Is the problem happening with all filaments or just one?
It looks like the deformation is happening on the top surface only, is that correct or is the bottom also affected?
You mention it happens from time to time, have you found a test model that is particularly troublesome? In other words, can you reproduce the problem?
If you have a model 12x12 that is consistently failing, have you tried taking that model and cutting it so that only corner sections remain. This would give you a smaller test sample that you can reiterate experiments with far less filament and time wasted.
Did you ensure that your build plate is clean by washing it under hot water with dish soap, not alcohol, that may not be enough.
Theoretical causes that don’t involve hardware or firmware
Corner separation due to possible thermal contraction of the filament. Potential remedies are:
Use of brims if room on the build plate allows.
Increasing the first layer bed temperature to ensure bonding(found in filament settings)
Change the speed setting for first layer or top layer depending on where the deformation is happening. For diagnostic purposes, cut the speed to 25% of value just to gauge impact. Note: Top layer distortions are usually not affected by temps but speed and top layer thickness is.
Try increasing the number of top or bottom layers. In one of your photos it’s unclear if the infill pattern is showing through. Also, increasing the affected top or bottom layer with a change in speed combination can do wonders for this type of defect, you’ll have to experiment for optimal effect.
One single click diagnostic method I found helpful is to simply change the speed at print time to a lower value, yes, it takes more time to print but is a one-click troubleshooting measure as opposed to going into each setting to micromanage each speed parameter individually. If that has an effect, at the print level, then that alone tells you speed is a factor and now you can go back into each setting and slow down the individual parameter like top layer speed.
I don’t typically run Orca, just Creality Print, but I actually loaded it last night for that specific reason, to get a snap shot of my bed level.
However, I’m trying to keep up with orders for the holiday season.
I threw the photos of the issue into ChatGPT of all places, and explained the situation. It said to turn off my side fans. So I tried that last night and wound up with an acceptable print.
I’m trying it again now to see if it’s consistent, but won’t know until the plaque print completes, which is in about 10 hours.
Wish me luck. But as soon as I have a break, I’m going to get that bed level photo up here for the both of us.
Hey Joe, thanks very much for your analysis. It is appreciated!
Is the problem happening with all filaments or just one?
This particular plaque is only one color and it’s the first time going to the upper right and bottom left corners so it’s the first time I’ve experienced it. Most other prints have been fine, outside of having to replace the front extruder cover 5x now!
It looks like the deformation is happening on the top surface only, is that correct or is the bottom also affected?
Bottom is fine.
You mention it happens from time to time, have you found a test model that is particularly troublesome? In other words, can you reproduce the problem?
I’ve had 3 of the 10 plaques I’ve made so far be “unsellable”, one was acceptable, the others have been perfect. So it’s real strange as to why it happens sometimes and not the others. Again, all with the same filament and settings.
I do already have extra top layers set as well as slowing my top and bottom layers down to 40mm/s. Those setting are always part of my plaques and flat prints. I also have my bed temp already set to 60C.
I have not yet tried Stable or Silent print speeds. I may need to, but I’ve got orders piling up! It’s a good problem to have, but would be better with a reliable printer.
If you have a model 12x12 that is consistently failing, have you tried taking that model and cutting it so that only corner sections remain. This would give you a smaller test sample that you can reiterate experiments with far less filament and time wasted.
I have not tried that. Although no corner in any print I’ve done has displayed this issue. It’s only been on this model and only in the upper left and right corners. All the other corners have been just fine.
I agree with you and think it’s a good idea, if the issue continues, to model JUST the corners in the print to see if settings can get it dialed without wasting the time and filament on entire plaques.
Did you ensure that your build plate is clean by washing it under hot water with dish soap, not alcohol, that may not be enough.
Always! You can come and eat off my plates. They are always washed, and cleaned with isopropyl after every print. There is no adhesion issues on the affected corners, just the rough printing.
As I mentioned in another reply, I took a bunch of photos of the affected areas, along with my settings and threw it into ChatGPT. It said to turn off the side fans. I did that last night and woke up to a completed model without issues. So I’m currently printing another one to see if the result is consistent. Fingers crossed.
Just keeping the fine folks who tried to help me here updated.
As it turns out, turning off the side fans as ChatGPT recommended has POTENTIALLY solved the problem. I’ve been through 3 plaques now, and I haven’t seen the issues in the corners since I’ve turned the fans off.
I will keep you posted as to whether or not this fortunate result continues.
And now 5 perfect plaques, so I’m going to call this one solved. Should anyone have a similar issue, turn off the side fans for full bed plaques/signs and give it a shot.
Thanks to those who tried to help me out with this!
