Flashforge DREAMER User manual

FlashForge Corporation
Dreamer User Guide | www.FlashForge.com
2
FlashForge Dreamer 3D Printer
User Guide

Flashforge Corporation
Dreamer User Guide | www.FlashForge.com
3
This user guide
is suitable for
Dreamer Firmware
Edition
Flashprint Software
Edition
20171222
3.20.0
Update Date
Update Chapter
Update Content
Dec 23r d, 2017
Chapter 7 7.3
Add Dr eamer password lock function
Jan 5th, 2018
Chapter 7 7.3
Modify Dreamer passwor d lock function:
Add " need to enter old passwor d function"
when turn on/off passwor d-lock，in which you
can choose to reset passwor d or tur n on/off
password-lock.
March，28th，2019
Chapter 3
Change the unpacking pictures
March，28th，2019
Chapter 8
Add new Chapter 8: Maintenance and
solutions
V4.0 10.13.2015

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Content
Content................................................................................................................................................. 4
Introduction.......................................................................................................................................... 6
Notice....................................................................................................................................................7
Chapter 1: 3D Printing Technology................................................................................................... 10
1.1 Process..................................................................................................................................10
Chapter 2 . About Dreamer................................................................................................................ 12
2.1 About Your Dreamer............................................................................................................12
2.1.1 Main view:.........................................................................................................................12
Chapter 3. Unpacking.........................................................................................................................16
Chapter 4 . Hardware Assembly........................................................................................................ 19
4.1 Mounting the Extruder Set...................................................................................................19
4.2 Installing Filament............................................................................................................... 21
4.3 Plugging in Power Cable&USB Cable................................................................................ 22
4.4 Loading and Unloading Filament........................................................................................ 22
Chapter 5: Build Plate Leveling.........................................................................................................26
Chapter 6: About Software.................................................................................................................29
6.1 Software Installation............................................................................................................ 29
6.2 Exploring FlashPrint............................................................................................................ 29
Chapter 7: Basic Printing................................................................................................................... 54
7.1 Single-Extrusion and Dual-Extrusion Print......................................................................... 54
7.2 Methods of printing..............................................................................................................61
7.3 Printer password lock...........................................................................................................64
Chapter 8: Maintenance and solutions............................................................................................... 67
Chapter 9: Supports and Service........................................................................................................70

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Pr eface
Note: Each device must be tested before leaving factory. If there are some residues in
extruder or some tiny scratches on the build tape, it is normal and won’t affect the
printing quality.
On the completion of this User Guide, thanks all FlashForge engineers and the
FlashForge 3D printer users for their unremitting efforts and sincere assistance.
The FlashForge Dreamer User Guide is designed for the Dreamer users to start their
printing journey with FlashForge Dreamer. Even if you are familiar with earlier
FlashForge machines or 3D printing technology, we still recommend that you read
through this guide, as there is lots of important information about the Dreamer for you
to get a better 3D experience.
For a better and more successful printing experience, you can
refer to the following materials:
(1) Quick Star t Guide
Users will find the Quick Start Guide together with the printer accessories. The Quick
Start Guide will help you start your print journey as soon as possible.
(2) Official FlashFor ge Website:http://www.flashforge.com
The official FlashForge website contains the up-to-date information concerning
FlashForge software, firmware, device maintenance and so on. Users are also able to
get the contact information from there.

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Intr oduction
Notes：
The FlashForge Dreamer 3D Printer User Guide contains the information needed
for you to set up and use this device.
This User Guide includes the following parts: Preface, Introduction and
After-sales service.
The Preface section includes resource acquisition channel, the overall framework
of the manual, and the problems that should be paid attention to.
The introduction section contains the presentation of 3D printing technology,
equipment introduction, unpacking and installation of equipment, software installation
and usage.
After-sales section covers how to get the support and help.
·Please read FlashForge Dreamer 3D Printer User Guide carefully before use.
·The User Guide is written based on Windows 7 OS.
·The version of the FlashPrint is the latest.

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Notice
Safety Notice
! Notices: Read all the instructions in the manual and familiarize yourself with the
FlashForge Dreamer User Guide before setting-up and using. Failure to comply with
the warning and instructions may result in individual injury, fire, equipment damage or
property damage.
PLEASE STRICTLY FOLLOW ALL THE SAFETY WARNINGS AND NOTICE
BELOW ALL THE TIME.
·Work Envir onment Safety
①Keep your work place tidy.
②Do not operate Dreamer in the presence of flammable liquids, gases or dust.
③Dreamer should be placed out of children and untrained people's reach.
·Electricity Safety
①Always use the Dreamer with a properly grounded outlet. Do not refit Dreamer’s
plug.
②Do not use Dreamer in damp or wet locations. Do not expose Dreamer to burning
sun.
③In case of device damage, please use the power supply provided by FlashForge.
④Avoid using the device during an thunderstorm.
⑤In case of uncertain accident, please unplug the device if you do not use it for long
time.

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·Personal Safety
①Do not touch the nozzle and build plate during printing.
②Do not touch the nozzle after finishing printing.
③Dress properly. Do not wear loose clothing or jewelry. Keep your hair, clothing
and gloves away from moving parts.
④Do not operate the device while you are tired or under the influence of drugs,
alcohol or medication.
·Cautions
①Do not leave the device unattended for long.
②Do not make any modifications to the device.
③To lower the build plate before loading/unloading filament. (The distance between
the nozzle and build plate should be kept for at least 50mm)
④Operate the device in a well-ventilated environment.
⑤Never use the device for illegal activities.
⑥Never use the device to make any food storage vessels.
⑦Never use the device to make any electrical appliance.
⑧Never put the model into your mouth.
⑨Do not remove the models with force.
·Environment Requir ements
Temperature: RT 15-30℃
Moisture: 20%-70%
·Place Requirements
The device must be placed in a dry and ventilated environment. The distances of the

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left, right and back side space should be at least 20cm, and the distance of the front
side space should be at least 35cm.
·Filament Requirements
Do not abuse the filament. Please make sure you use the FlashForge filament or the
filament from the brands recommened by FlashForge.
·Filament Storage
All polymers will be degraded with time. Do not unpack until filament is needed.
Filament should be stored in clean and dry conditions.
Legal Notice
All the information in this document is subject to any amendment or change without
the official authorization from FlashForge.
FLASHFORGE CORPORATION MAKES NO WARRANTY OF ANY KIND
WITH REGARD TO THIS DOCUMENT, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO,
THE IMPLIED WARRATIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A
PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
FlashForge shall not be liable for errors contained herein for incidental consequential
damages in connection with furnishing, performance or use of this material
This document contains proprietary information protected by copyright.
Copyright © 2017 FlashForge Corp. All Rights Reserved

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Chapter 1: 3D Pr inting Technology
3D printing refers to transforming three-dimensional models into physical objects that
you can hold and touch. It is also called additive manufacturing because the 3D model
is created by “adding” layers upon layers of material until the object is fully formed.
Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) is the most common method of 3D printing. It is
also the method that the Dreamer uses. It works by melting plastic material called
filament onto a print surface in high temperature. The filament solidifies after it cools
down, which happens instantaneously after it is extruded from the nozzle. 3D objects
are formed with the filament laying down multiple layers.
1.1 Process
3D printing involves three steps:
1.) Make or download a 3D model
2.) Slice and export the 3D model
3.) Build the 3D model
1.1.1 Make a 3D Model
Currently, there are three ways of making a 3D model.
·Designing From Scratch You can use free CAD (computer-aided design) software
such as 3DTADA, AutoCAD, SolidWorks, Pro-E, and our own software Happy 3D,
which is suitable for the beginners, to design your own 3D model.
·3D Scanners An alternative method to making a 3D model is to scan an object. 3D
scanners work by digitizing a physical object, collecting its geometric data, and saving
it to a file on your PC. There are also apps that can turn a mobile device into a 3D

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scanner.
·From the Cloud The most popular way of obtaining a 3D model is to download it
from websites that allow users to upload 3D models that they designed.
E.g. www. thingiverse.com
1.1.2 Slice and Export the 3D Model
Slice software is the software that prepares 3D models for printing and turns them into
instructions for the 3D printers. FlashPrint is the slicing software used for the
FlashForge Dreamer.
Using FlashPrint, you can prepare .stl files to be .g or .gx files for printing. Then the
files can be transferred to your Dreamer via USB cable, USB stick or WiFi.
1.1.3 Build the 3D Model
Once the output file has been transferred to your Dreamer, it will start to turn the 3D
model into a physical object by laying down layers of filament.

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Chapter 2 . About Dr eamer
2.1 About Your Dr eamer
2.1.1 Main view:
Top view：
Left view：
1. Lid
2. Cooling fan
3. Nozzle
4. Ventilating fan
5. Front door
6. Z axis guide rod
7. Touch screen
8. Build plate
9. Filament slot
10. X axis guide rod
11. Timing belt
12. Spring presser
13. Filament intake
14. Turbofan
15. Side panel
16. SD card slot
17. Power switch
18. Power input
19. Reset button
20. USB cable input

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2.1.2 Accessory Box
Filament*2 Power Cable USB Cable Side Panel*2
Turbofan Baffle Tool Bag Build Tape Quick State Guide
Tweezers SD Card Leveling Card Screwdriver
Scraper Screw Box Carving Knife Stamping Wrench
Unclogging Pin Tool Allen wrench Grease

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2.1.3 Terms
Build Plate
The surface on which the Dreamer builds an object.
Build Tape
The blue tape that covers Dreamer’s build plate so that
the object can adhere to the build plate well.
Build Volume
The three dimensional amount of space that an object
will use once it is completed. The largest build volume
of Dreamer is 230*150*140mm.
Leveling Knobs
Knobs under the build platform that are used for
adjusting the distance between the nozzle and build
plate.
Extruder
The device that draws the filament from the spool,
melts it and pushes it through a nozzle onto the build
plate.
Nozzle
Also called “print head”, which located at the bottom of
the extruder where heated filament is squeezed out.
Cooling Fan
To cool the outer assembly of the extruder and gear
motor.
Filament Intake
An opening located at the top of the extruder .
Filament Guide Tube
A plastic piece that guides the filament from the
filament box to the filament intake.
Unclogging Pin Tool
A tool that used for cleaning and unclogging the
extruder.
Stamping Wrench
A tool that used for seizing the nozzle’s metal cube.

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2.1.4 Reference
Name
Dreamer
Number of Extruder
2
Print Technology
Fused Filament Fabrication(FFF)
Screen
3.5’’ color IPS Touch Screen
Print Accuracy
±0.1-0.2mm
Positioning Accuracy
Z axis 0.0025mm; XY axis 0.011mm
Layer Resolution
0.05-0.4mm
Build Volume
230*150*140mm
Nozzle Diameter
0.4mm
Build Speed
10~200mm/s
Maximum Extruder
Temperature
240℃
Filament Diameter
1.75mm（±0.07）
Filament Types
ABS/PLA/Conductive PLA/Flexible Filament
Software
FlashPrint
Support Formats
3MF/STL/OBJ/FPP/BMP/PNG/JPG/JPEG;
GX/G
System
Win xp/Vista/7/8/10、Mac OS、Linux
AC Input
100-240V~/4.5A-2.5A
Device Size
485*344*382(402)mm
Net Weight
10.7Kg
Connectivity
USB cable, SD card, WiFi

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Chapter 3. Unpacking
(Reference video:Unpacking)
This chapter will present you the whole unpacking procedure of Dreamer 3D
printer.(Note: Make sur e you read the whole unpacking guide)
1. （3-1）Put Dreamer package on the clean, tidy workbench, using a knife to cut the
tape, then you can see a quick start guide, a leveling card and two build tapes. Please
read the quick start guide first and start you 3D printing journey with your Dreamer
3D printer.
3-1
2. （3-2）Remove the top protective foam pieces, which also houses the Dreamer’s
lid and put them aside. The Dreamer unit and a power cable will be exposed.
3-2

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3. （3-3） Firmly grasp the two side handles of FlashForge Dreamer. Lift it out of the
box and place it on a stable surface. Then you will see the Tool Box and USB cable
in the shipping box. In the Tool Box, you can find a Carving Knife, a Scraper , a
bag of Gr ease, Tweezer s and a Screw Box,which contains a SD car d and some
screws, Wrenches.
3-3
4.（3-4）You can find an accessory box on top of Dreamer, which houses the extruder
set. Remove the box and the foam sheet from the Dreamer, and gently lay the extruder
set on the Dreamer build plate.
Inside the accessory box, you will find a dual-extr uder,a turbofan baffle, and two
pieces of r emovable side panels.
3-4
5.Use scissors to remove ties

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3-5 3-6
7. (3-7) Elevate the build plate up carefully.
3-7
(3-8)Take out the two filament carefully which is under the build plate.
3-8 3-9
(3-9)You’ve finished unpacking your Dreamer. Next we will move on to the hardware
assembly.

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Chapter 4 . Hardwar e Assembly
The Dreamer comes pre-assembled and is almost ready-to-print (ARP). All you need
to do is to mount the extruder set, and install the filament. It will only take 5 to 10
minutes to start up the Dreamer and prepare for your first 3D print!
4.1 Mounting the Extruder Set
4-1
(4-1) Lay the extruder module on the top of the extruder support with the two extruder
fans facing the front.
(4-2) Fix the extruder module onto the extruder support with two M3*12 screws from
the bottom up.
4-2

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(4-3) Use the M2.5 Allen Wrench to unscrew two turbofan bolts. Take the turbofan
baffle from the extruder’s accessory kit. Install the turbofan baffle to the turbofan.
Align the bump on the turbofan seat to the hole in turbofan sub-assembly. Place the
turbofan sub-assembly besides the turbofan seat. Insert the bump on the turbofan seat
to the turbofan sub-assembly. Screw the two bolts in. Take a M3 * 6 bolt from the
extruder’s accessory kit and complete installation.
4-3

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4.2 Installing Filament
(4-4) Lock the filament in place with the filament spool holder and turn the scroll
roller counter-clockwise.
4-5
(4-5) Insert the filament through the filament guide tube. Attach the guide tube into
the two filament guide tube buckles.
(4-6) Stick the build tape to the build plate after installing filament, as picture shows.
4-4
4-6