Howdy,
I’ve been working with the Flashforge printer now for a few months and so far I love it! The Creator Pro is a very robust printer platform, and Simplify3D is a joy to use. I would recommend this printer to anyone thinking about getting a 3D printer.
There are however two things that the Creator Pro does horribly wrong, and I highly recommend that the designers re-think these in the next release of the unit:
1. (Minor) The fan used on the underside of the unit (to cool the motor controllers) is a tiny, 24v, extremely loud and annoying fan. It was so loud that I had to replace it with a larger 12v fan that provides more air-cooling and is nearly silent. Add to this that tiny fans will fail alot faster than a larger one using ball-berings for noise and friction reduction. My Creator Pro is now quiet-enough to have right next to me on my desk without discomfort at any level. With the tiny fan, I had to put it far and away from my desk.
2. (Major) For some reason the Creator Pro was built with filament-spool holders that are 1mm too-large to fit many different brands of filament. Going all the way back to the MakerBot, the filament-spool holders were ~47mm at their widest, which filament spools with 50mm bore diameters perfectly, easily. The Creator Pro’s filament spool holders are ~49-50mm wide, onto which I _cannot_ fit filament spools from many different brands I have purchased filament from. This is poor in my view, and one could be forgiven for thinking that this was done to force customers into using a specific brand/vendor(s) to get filament from. I strongly recommend that the next versions come with spool holders that are at Max 48mm wide so that the Creator Pro can be used with Any brand of filament.
I solved the problem by removing the Creator Pro’s spool holders and getting a pair of older MakerBot filament holders (the design is the same) - but I shouldn’t have to do this - Flashforge can make a tiny change to these holders, and by doing so will make their printer much more compatible with the world of 3D printing.
Still a fan, after modifying the unit. 
Kris
2 Likes
cobnut
2
Hi @Miaximus I’ll admit I don’t like the reel holders either, but I’ve never had a reel that wouldn’t fit at all. Some reels are too “thick” so they don’t get held onto the holder (and often work their way off unless held in place by something heavy against the side), but others click into place very nicely.
I’ve been working on a new design for the holders to solve the variable width issue but haven’t finished it yet.
Not looked at replacing the fan underneath, but then my machine is across the office from where I sit so perhaps it’s not close enough to be a problem…
1. The fan on the underside of the printer- just disconnect it. It is not doing anything. Take the bottom off the printer and leave it off if you are worried about heat. That fan was added to solve a problem in the old makerbot days, but that problem was engineered out of the new mightyboard.
I have 1000 hours with no fan on one of mine.
2. yeah, they changed filament holders to match their brand of spools. There are several options available on thingiverse.
Here is what I use for spool holders my FFCP’s. I think they are excellent.
Upon my FFCP, I printed this item FFCP 2016 filament feeder (improved) by DrLex - Thingiverse
It helps pull the filament from the middle rather than the side and go behind to reel
