Ken Jancef, here is my write-up of the problem I am having with my Monoprice Maker Select Plus

[G+_David Peach]

Ken Jancef, here is my write-up of the problem I am having with my Monoprice Maker Select Plus. The biggest problem is that it is taking almost a week each time I contact Monoprice support. The fact that the printer is not working as expected and that they are probably not going to replace anything bothers me much less than the fact that it takes so long to get anywhere with support.

http://www.mythoughtspot.com/2017/07/13/monoprice-maker-select-plus-burned-breakout-board/

http://www.mythoughtspot.com/2017/07/13/monoprice-maker-select-plus-burned-breakout-board/

[G+_Shooter_FPV (Shooter_FP]

David Peach I actually had better luck contacting them. I got my Select Plus in the afternoon, and the next morning I noticed that the thin metal plate below the heated bed was bent out of shape at 3 of the 4 corners, and the fan for the cooling block made a huge racket... so I got on the chat, and actually chatted with Carlos too...

 

Unfortunately they had to send a whole new printer, and charge me for it, then refund me when they got my old one. Luckily I was in a position to do that. When I received the replacement, the heated bed was fine, but the tower that holds everything (X-axis/Z-Axis) was lopsided... ugh...

 

So what I did was just replace the bottom assembly, and pack it up. And I also replaced the fan from the lopsided tower. The fan still makes a racket when powering up, but it goes away after a minute or so.

 

I actually tried doing the MOSFET mod, but for some reason it didn't work, I think the MOSFET was DOA. I'm leaving that alone for now. The only other mods I've done was the Micro-Swiss hot end, and just this morning I replaced the extruder plate and lever with the Micro-Swiss equivalent. This thing (so far) prints like a dream, especially in the enclosure I built. In my school district we have 2 MakerBot Z18's and 2 Replicators, and my printer prints circles around them... :)

[G+_David Peach]

The lower plate on my bed is bent too. But not unusable. Now that it seems like my warranty is voided I will pull that apart and see if I can straighten it.

[G+_Shooter_FPV (Shooter_FP]

Mine was REALLY bent, but it was useable. I just didn't want to mess with it, and figured I get it right since I just got it. I also bought a borosilicate (I think that's what it's called) glass plate and thermal pads to put on my bed eventually. I am still printing great with the stock bed, which is surprising. I make sure to wipe it with alcohol every few days or so.

[G+_Shooter_FPV (Shooter_FP]

David Peach So I ran into my first issue with my printer today. I started a print and it was going good, then about 20 minutes later I noticed that the filament wasn't extruding, and saw that there was a really weird bend in the filament entering the extruder. i cancelled the print, and then touched the stepper motor to look at the filament, and it was so hot I almost burned my fingers. I noticed that the extruder fan (the one on the left side) was spinning really slow... so I guess it wasn't cooling good enough and the filament heated up in the extruder/stepper motor area.

 

I did a support chat with Monoprice, and "supposedly" they are going to send me a new fan. I need to wait for an email tomorrow with details.

 

When I finally was able to remove the filament, it was pretty jammed... I hope nothing got wrecked. When the fan does come in I'll take it apart to inspect it all... so now I'm down for a while....

[G+_David Peach]

Ken Jancef?, sorry to hear that but glad to know the chat feature has worked for you. I still have not had a single chat session that worked.

 

Those fans are easy to replace and not too expensive. But it is good they are sending you one.

 

I have been unable to call this week during support hours to check again about the little board and whether they are going to replace it. My support call last week ended in, "we don't have them in stock. We probably won't replace it for you. Call next week and get an update." I've been in a training seminar this week from 8a 9p Eastern Time. So my follow up call hasn't happened yet. But today I can call again.

[G+_Shooter_FPV (Shooter_FP]

David Peach That stinks, but I'm curious to see where your situation goes. My printer is actually fixed for now, I think... I grabbed some 3-in-1 oil on my way into work this morning, dropped a few drops in the fan, and it seems to be spinning again.

 

But I also noticed something: I screwed together the fan assembly and screwed it pretty tight, and when I started the printer, the fan spun, but made a racket, like the blades were hitting something. I loosened the screws a bit, and the noise went away, and the fan spun as normal. For the heck of it, I tightened it up again, and got the same thing. So if the fan is too tight it won't spin freely...? Anyway... I'll still replace it with what Monoprice sends me, but I also bought 2 more from AliExpress, so I'll have them on-hand in case the fan(s) fail again.

[G+_David Peach]

Ken Jancef, I think I have gone as far as I can in getting them to replace my printer. They agreed that it seems to be a manufacturing problem, and that they realize that reflashing my board could have been avoided if they had responded to my support request sooner.

 

So, they have agreed to replace my printer if I will pay shipping costs both ways for the replacement. But shipping costs will be $68 from me to them. And I assume it will be about the same from them to me. For $140, I can recreate the board. This also saves me from having to disassemble all of my mods and go through the mess of shipping.

 

But them replacing the printer was not my main goal. My complaint with them, and I think the guy today finally understood this, is that they have not been overly responsive to my requests for help. I am glad you got through on chat, but I have tried about 10 times today and I immediately get a message that says there are no reps who can help me. Email support has taken several days each time to get a response.

 

Another goal was to help them see that there is a quality assurance problem. They agreed that the problem was poor manufacturing (but since I got them to agree to that on the phone, I have no record of it like I would if I could get through via email or chat). I realize they are not the manufacturer, but they can certainly pass the information along to Wanhao. i don't know that they will. Which is a great disappointment to me.

 

As for your fan, I can see that tightening it would put strain on it. When you tighten one corner so that it flexes it will pull the fan out of alignment. Hopefully your new fan will work well for you. Having a couple of extras isn't bad.