Do not rely on Paypal to protect you

[Pak36]

Hold on .... the slicing software doesn't work?

That's not the printer though...that's third party software that is taking your model ( STL or whatever) and turning it into GCODE for the printer to print.

What software did they provide to do that with? Cura, for example, is fre and open source. I have a Wanhao I3 printer, and I have never used the slicing software that came with it. I use Simplify3D, which was loads better. Maybe using different software to prep the GCODE is a better solution than fighting a losing battle with return goods to China?

[AlwynTurner]

're the PayPal saga, how do you pay through PayPal? If you pay PayPal via your credit card, then you may have recourse through your credit card. If the credit card company will raise a case you may then be barred from PayPal but given they aren't helping you then maybe that's not a problem. Just a thought (which may be of no use).

Alwyn

[lmcq11]

The reviews for that printer are very poor on Amazon. But I see one customer that was able to make it work with a software update from the manufacturer.

[Max-U52]

Hold on .... the slicing software doesn't work?

That's not the printer though...that's third party software that is taking your model ( STL or whatever) and turning it into GCODE for the printer to print.

What software did they provide to do that with? Cura, for example, is fre and open source. I have a Wanhao I3 printer, and I have never used the slicing software that came with it. I use Simplify3D, which was loads better. Maybe using different software to prep the GCODE is a better solution than fighting a losing battle with return goods to China?

This printer will only work with the software that comes with it "3D Creator". I sent an email to simplify3D and unfortunately their software does not support the LD-001. Cura also does not support this printer. Right now the only software in the world that's compatible with this printer is the stuff that comes with it. They also sent two different software packages, neither of which work on either of my windows 7 computers (they advertise that the software runs on windows XP or newer). The last package wouldn't let me see the bed (just a big black square), but even when i loaded a file and sliced it blind it wouldn't work. I got the same thing as with the original software (I also had to open an account at dropbox to access the software file, then I had to sign up for a free trial of winRAR to run it, even though they claim it runs on windows 7). In case you missed it, here's the video showing exactly what i'm doing and how the printer responds.

phpBB [video]

At Creality's request, I signed up for yet another free trial so I could convert the video to MP4 (they can't watch it on youtube) and sent it by wetransfer. I also sent one of the pngzip files that the printer uses, after slicing it with the supplied software, and they never even bothered to download either file from wetransfer. Due to the poor customer service and tech support I don't think I can even recommend the CR-10 series or the ender anymore. I won't recommend a product if I know that any problems will meet with the same garbage customer service that I received.

Louis, could you possibly post a link to what you saw about one customer getting it to work? With any luck I'll be able to contact them and get the same software, but I ain't holdin' my breath. The guy that had the beta software in Canada replied to my email and says he no longer has either the printer or the software (it was just a demo for review) and he can't remember exactly what software he used to make the thing print.

I think I'm done with 3D printing all together. Just too much money and way, way too much frustration for an old dog like me.

[Model Builder 4]

I feel your pain Gary, nothing worse than bad customer service it's a real shame that the trouble and stress of this situation is making you think of giving up the 3D printing side of things you've made some really nice stuff, hope you get it sorted out and stick with it

Cheers, Lee.

[Pak36]

Man...that stinks.

They make it so you HAVE to use their software..and then don't bother to make it work properly.

I presume it's becuase it's using a resin based system with no x/y xis motor instructions, so presumably they wrote custom routines to drive the thing. Fine if it works. Leaves you up the creek without a paddle when it doesn't.

[lmcq11]

Louis, could you possibly post a link to what you saw about one customer getting it to work? With any luck I'll be able to contact them and get the same software, but I ain't holdin' my breath. The guy that had the beta software in Canada replied to my email and says he no longer has either the printer or the software (it was just a demo for review) and he can't remember exactly what software he used to make the thing print.

Hi, sure, here it is



of interest are the following comments on the first review at the bottom;

The only problems I've had with this printer are in the software. There are problems with the printers built-in software when using it over WiFi. The wireless interface works great to send and start the print, but it doesn't show the correct information while the print is running, things are misspelled, it stops working, refresh in the browser doesn't work, and when it does update correctly, it's very slow and takes several tries.

Then, there's the slicing software. After switching from is default Chinese to English, it still has many remnants left in Chinese (the About page has only a couple things I could read). That's not a big deal because other than one large issue, it works rather well. I know it's new, but the software shouldn't crash so much. I can't save settings or get it to slice models reliably at all. In trying to ask Creality some questions about it directly, their customer service department asked for a copy of my invoice and then refused to answer my questions because I purchased it from Amazon and not Creality directly. 3rd party software is not available and I have no alternatives, yet.

If I can't solve the software issues, it's going back. I have two weeks left.

Update 2018-10-10: Turns out the email address I got (from the software) was a seller with a name (and email address) containing "Creality" but they were not the actual manufacturer. I got an Amazon email from someone who claimed to be with the manufacturer that said they do have updates available, but I haven't heard back from them again to get a download link or anything. I raised my rating to 3 stars in anticipation of future support, but still reflecting the current problems in the software. Also, added a picture.

Update 2018-10-15: Got a new version of software directly from Creality and they have been great to work with. It is working MUCH better than the one that came with the printer as long as I save the temporary slicing files on a local disk drive. The previous issue with the customer service contact information was due to me following a link on the "About" screen in the software and ending up at a reseller's site instead of the actual Creality company. With the new software, I have been able to do some fantastic prints and am looking forward to many more. I don't have a problem with the smell (a small exhaust fan nearby does just fine on low). I've used a lot of tri-fold towels keeping things clean (5 or 6 for each batch of prints) because I HATE wearing gloves and would rather just be extra careful. Now, off to order some more resin...

[Max-U52]

Yeah, it doesn't use G code like the CR-10 series, it creates what they call "bitmaps" that tell the screen where to shine the light for each layer, and it comes out of the slicing software as a pngzip file (Erik calls it a "ping" file). That's where the trouble starts, the printer won't recognize the zip file, and it's the same results if I use one of my stl files or if I use the stl test files they include with the printer. The video shows what it's doing so I won't re-hash it, but without functional software it's basically a $500 paperweight.

And all I wanted to do was print a high-quality tire for the WC51 trucks!

I've been searching the web for software and so far I've found the 2.0 64 bit and the 1.3 versions, neither of which will work. If anyone happens to stumble across a software download for this thing that I haven't tried I'd truly appreciate you letting me know. We'll try anything once, right? It's called "3D Creator".

[Saracen]

> then you may have recourse through your credit card.

I tried that once and the credit card company said that, as I'd used Paypal as a third party money handling service,
the sale wasn't their liability as they hadn't paid the supplied directly. Worth a punt though.

I've also has Paypal refuse to pay out for a bad transaction on the basis that there was no balance in the seller's account.

Adrian.

[Max-U52]

I used a debit card through paypal so I'll have to check with my bank. I don't think lack of funds will be a problem with creality, but at this point nothing would surprise me. This thing was supposed to be RTR out of the box, but almost two months later i'm still trying every version of the software i can find, from facebook or wherever, and still can't make the damn thing print. It's a shame, too, because the print quality is seriously excellent. I mean, it's shapeways quality and takes very little clean up.