Month: January 2015

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Update: FlashForge Dreamer 3D Printer

If you read my last couple of posts it dealt with my experiences with the FlashForge Dreamer 3D Printer, up to now i’ve always felt it was a good printer but my concerns with it’s reliability has stopped me from being able to recommend it.

My opinion is slowly changing, for the better. Since iMakr sent me the spare part to repair my last issue the printer has been pretty much running every day, including one mammoth 17 hour print. Through all of this it hasn’t missed a beat and the prints have all come out at the kind of quality i’d expect from a printer twice the price.

There’s still a way for me to go before I could give a wholehearted endorsement but I can definitely say that if you want an easy to use printer that produces really nice prints then you could definitely do far worse than the Dreamer.

As a side not if you’re a Student or a Teacher and you’re looking to get a 3D printer then iMakr are selling the Dreamer for £499 as part of their educational sponsorship program, this is a crazy deal and definitely moves the Dreamer into the must buy category.

Dreamer printing Skull

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Update: FlashForge Dreamer 3D Printer

Well what a difference a couple of weeks makes.  I reached out to iMakr to fix my printer and got connected to a pretty exceptional support guy called Lee, just from a few emails he managed to diagnose my issue and sent out a replacement board for my printer.  I’ve replaced it and the FlashForge seems to be all functional again (fingers crossed).

With this incident iMakr have at least given me faith that i’ll receive competent support, I feel a hell of a lot more secure in using the FlashForge because of that.

The Dreamer itself is still a tricky one, when it works it’s an exceptional printer, producing prints that rival machines up to £1000 more expensive – but it does seem to have some real issues that flare up occasionally.  Most of these problems seem to at least have workarounds and there is a fairly vibrant community that has hit a lot of them.

For it’s price the Dreamer is an incredibly machine, if the reliability holds up then i’d have no problems recommending it.  It’s easy to use and produces some very precise prints.

I will recommend iMakr as a source though, having experienced their support working as it should they seem to have some very capable engineers at their disposal, plus i’ve also purchased filament from them too and it was a great price and good quality.