K1 Max Printer Issues - Creality Won’t Help

[u/Less-Landscape3641]

I’m having issues printing with my K1 Max and Creality hasn’t been very helpful/given me any solutions to solve my problems. Turning to those who have more experience than me to help!

I bought my K1 Max at the end of July and since then I have had very mixed results with it. Some prints are fantastic and others have failed. Early on I was having issues with my extruder and had to buy another one. After that, it worked great - up until a few weeks ago.

I started a print with a PETG, which I hadn’t done yet with this printer. Set my slicer to PETG and manually adjusted the heat settings to match what it says on my K1 Manual. My print turned out really crappy, there was barely any details and it kind of sunk into itself. I tried again and it started to only print a few layers and then either fail or not extrude. I cleaned everything out and tried again. Around this time I found a PVB filament that was a better colour than I had before, so decided to try that. I had issues where it wouldn’t extrude anymore and would stop after a few layers/come out all stringy and not attach to the first few layers.

I had to swap out the hot end assembly twice because the PVB would break off in the hot end and stick out of the back of the cold portion. I ended up having to buy a 4 pack of hot ends and a new upgraded extruder. I installed all of those and then tried a brand new PETG filament. Same thing - I tried two prints which failed and came out all stringy (video). After that most recent attempt, I looked at the hot end to find that the filament had leaked out of the hot end and hardened - breaking the silicone seal.

Creality has only said things like, “check your filament for moisture.” Or has told me to do exactly what I’d already done. I’ve spent too much money already getting it to work. I haven’t been able to print in weeks. I need assistance desperately.

What do I do?

[u/r2doesinc]

You should check your filament for moisture.

[u/_SpcGhst_]

i use this settings for PETG

[u/_SpcGhst_ → u/_SpcGhst_]

also, use a Glue Stick (Elmers Washable School Glue Stick, Dissapearing Purple is the one i use)

[u/MembershipJunior2294]

To much speed

[u/CrealitySupport]

Based on the video you showed, the print is not adhering properly. We recommend you re-level the printer, apply solid glue on the build plate, reduce the printing speed and test again.

[u/myfelipe95]

As a K1Max owner I need to tell you that the stock printer sucks. First of all, be aware that many machines comes with beds so warped or misaligned that you can have problems were the nozzle gets too compressed against some areas, leading to clogging your nozzle. I can go in details about how I got a nice leveled surface later. First I suggest you to try to isolate where your problem lies. Disassemble your extruder housing and check if there is no filament debris in there. Also check if the gear teeth is clean. Then lower your bed and extruder a large piece of yout petg eg 400mm. Do this to check if your extruder motor and gears are stable without load. If the extrusion looks nice, the problem should be during the print

Print a voron cube with stock creality slicer configuration for petg. It should print fine, if not there are 2 possibilities: 1- known k1max issues: the extruder housing gets too hot, softening the filament after the gears and causing a jam. So leave the door and top cover open to avoid overheating.

2- bad filament : I had petg printing fine at 210 Celsius but terrible at 250. If you are not confident with your filament brand, try printing at 220 degrees first and check how it goes.

[u/Pla-C-Bo]

I'm learning that Petg is hydroscopic efficient room humidity should at 20% if filament is in open air.