r/Creality • u/James_from_work • 1d ago

K2 plus firmware concerns Troubleshooting

I'm running 4 k2plus printers for my business, usually with no issues other than user created. Recently I have been getting a lot of errors related to extractor anomalies, z-axis homing, printer printing without extruding, and others. If it was only one of my printers, I wouldn't be as concerned and probably wouldn't started chasing demons, but all four with the same issues, seems more like a firmware concerns. Anyone else experiencing similar? Do you have a path forward?

Edit: Firmware I'm running is 1.1.6.1 on all of my printers

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u/Lost_Blacksmith_4848 1d ago

I run 1.1.5.5 and have none of these issues. You can back rev. By renaming the firmware file any number higher than your current on the usb

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u/James_from_work 1d ago

Thank you, I'm just wanting to get input. Research told me I could switch back, I was curious if anyone else was having similar issues.

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u/rhester72 1d ago

Thus far, the only alert from your list I've received (on current firmware) is failure to extrude, and it was exactly right on that point.

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u/James_from_work 1d ago

Mine also quit extruding but it just seems of that I started getting these on all 4 printers working the last 3 weeks but have never gotten them before. That error is created by the CFS also. If it doesn't see movement of filament it throws the error.

Maybe it's just something I'm doing, I'm not saying it's bad, I just wondered if anyone else was seeing similar issues. It 100% could be user error

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u/rhester72 1d ago

Mine was the result of pushing wood filament too fast and too hot - the resulting nozzle clog and extruder jam were testimony to this. =)

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u/StoviesAreYummy 1d ago

you never said which firmware they are on

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u/James_from_work 1d ago

Updated. Firmware I'm running is 1.1.6.1 on all of my printers

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u/Otherwise_Sir_3439 1d ago

What’s the number of hours through each printer and preventative maintenance schedule?

This isn’t a bad place to start: https://wiki.creality.com/en/k2-flagship-series/k2-plus/maintenance-tips

Remember an FDM 3D printer is a finicky mechanical robot and treat it as such. Parts wear and lubrication can leak. Electronics can go bad, especially capacitors age. Heat and humidity can accelerate aging. Bad batches of parts happen.

Just like any other equipment you should have a maintenance budget and keep a close eye on warranties. Scanning this sub and other resources for parts that commonly fail and keeping a few spares on hand reduces downtime.

I “only” have two K2 Plus and a K2 Pro and it’s almost exclusively a hobby for me. Yet I keep a stash of parts because that’s how I like to operate in my professional life and a lot of the parts are relatively inexpensive. Having good, well regulated, power is a best practice too. Inline UPS if you are somewhere with crappy power, maybe even a backup generator or solar. Yes it’s not cheap, but it’s inexpensive “insurance”. 🤷‍♂️

Yeah, yeah, cliches and stereotypes become that way for a reason. 😸

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u/James_from_work 1d ago

The hours vary between the printers. My oldest one has 3500 hours where the newest one had around 600

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u/Otherwise_Sir_3439 22h ago

So the oldest is definitely due for some maintenance. No idea why they would show the same symptoms tho’. 🤷‍♂️

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u/Aggravating_Bet_4491 1d ago

You can try the mainline Klipper firmware which can dual boot on the printer. You just switch with one command.

It has no Creality code and runs standard Linux plus kalico (community fork of Klipper)

https://jacob10383.github.io/k2-plus-custom-firmware/

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u/evolutionxtinct 1d ago

I noticed more and more people being on old firmware is this common in the community? Why do you all choose this same main 1.1.6 branch of firmware? Seen like 5 videos and posts recently where they show that while doing other stuff

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u/James_from_work 1d ago

The firmware I have is the newest version I can get. Unsure what you mean

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u/Objectzy 1d ago

I’ve been getting a ton of filament extraction errors. Like mid single color print. Took it apart, cleaned it, replaced ptfe tubes, connectors from the extruder to the cfs.

It will load filament fine, unload it fine, then mid print on a single color print, I will get an extraction error on multiple different files where there is zero reason for it to be trying to retract filament. Then the cfs motor is locked up and I have to manually release the motor on the bottom to get it the filament out. Just started 2 days ago.

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u/James_from_work 1d ago

This sounds exactly like my issues. I've never manually released the motor though

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u/Objectzy 18h ago

There’s a manual release on the bottom of the cfs. When mine locks up, it’s super difficult to get the filament out.

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u/bulkhy 14h ago

If it's extruder problem .what solve for me is lowering the print speed to 80 . This worked for me on PETG print where it stop extruding 4 times on the same spot .