The Perfect First 3d Printer -- Does it exist?

[Ender5r]

I have noticed that different filaments, of the same type (e.g. PLA, PETG) can have quite different printing characteristics. In fact, I am currently printing 2 more Nintendo Switch game racks/trays. I was printing with 1 red filament and was having some issues with layer adhesion. On a whim I switched to a new spool of a different brand and it's printing beautifully. On top of that, it's actually a better, richer red color.

Why are you concerned about the freezing temperatures? Are you printing outdoors?

[roon4660]

I guess I should have paid my electric bill..... just joking.

[roon4660]

I am now getting a "heating error- all the time. I thought it might be the thermostat but that doesn't seem to be the case.

[Ender5r]

in your apartment or on your printer?

[roon4660]

It certainly isn't in my apartment I will tell you. I run the clothes dryer regularly to help heat the place. Good thing we don't pay California electricity prices or have their abominable service. I lived there for 8 years.

[Ender5r]

So your printer is giving you "heating error" messages. That sure sounds like thermistor or heater cartridge problems. What I mean is, either the thermistor is not reporting the temperature to the control board or the heater cartridge is not working. When you tell the printer to heat up, have you touched the heater block to see if it's actually getting hot?

[vankichline]

@roon4660; if the thermocouple is in place in the hole in the heater block and you are getting heating errors, it seems that something must be wrong with the thermocouple itself (have you had it out of the block, subjecting it to stress?) or the wiring between the thermocouple and the controller board. Any joints in the wiring? Are the connections to the board sound?
New thermocouples and heaters are cheap and easy to get on Amazon, but the reviews indicate that they all come with wiring too short for an Ender 3.
To avoid extending the 40W wiring of the heater and the resistance-sensitive wiring of the thermocouple, I ordered and entire new Creality hot end to get a properly wired heater and thermocouple. It was only $15. If your time is worth $1 an hour, it seems like the cheapest way to go to me.

[roon4660]

That was my first concern. I ordered a screw in thermistor with a connector so that is one place to have a poor connection but I want to make it work because I absolutely hate those funky little dime a dozen ones. I'll bet it is in that connection. When my head settles down and I get my energy back I will improve that connection.

This brings me to one of my favourite gripes about Ender 3 pro compared to Ender 3. Why do I have to turn the damn computer over every time I need to get into the wiring for the main board. I don't understand why they changed that. It is so inconvenient.

[Ender5r]

Tell me about it. Every time I need to work on my Ender 5 Pro I have to flip it on its side or back. I am seriously thinking of completely moving the electronics out from the bottom to 1 side or the back of the printer.

[vankichline]

@irvshapiro; it seems to me that the Perfect First 3D Printer has at least as much to do with community support as with construction, feature set and packaging.
The reason I'm happy I started out with and Ender 3 v2 is that I can search for solutions or instructions tailored specifically to my printer, and I don't just find one, I find a dozen. When I ask a question, people have answers from experience with the exact same hardware.
A new machine may be a little easier to assemble, have one or two more additional features, but how long (if ever) will it be until you have that much help solving problems? And there will be problems.
I would guess that 9 out of 10 issues never get posted; people search for and find the answers themselves, so it's important to have access to existing high quality information.

[roon4660]

I would not have started 3d printing out of the blue when I was 73 years old if there wasn't a ton of information on youtube. My printer would still be in the shipping carton if I didn't have internet. The Ender 3 et al is the model T Ford of the 3 D printing age as far as I can see. It would be quite easy to change it into an engraver or laser engraver if you got bored with plastic.

[vankichline]

@roon4660, exactly! I've told a few friends: if you wish you could have been there to have a Model T Ford or a Jenny biplane when they were new, that's where 3D printing is today.
Early adoption is fine for making contributions, but the excitement comes when the first cheap, usable commercial products roll out.

[roon4660]

I don't know anyone here that has a 3d printer but everyone knows about them. I remember we had a few people over a few years ago including my daughter and her husband and I showed them what I had been making with my new 3d printer and I chuckle to think how they were gob-smacked. At my age you seldom get to feel that satisfaction.

[itmservnet]

I was looking for an appropriate place to discuss this problem. I hope I've found it. If not, point me into the right direction.

MINGDA MAGICIAN X NOT PRINTING FILES SLICED BY CURA. PRINTING INCLUDED FILES PERFECTLY.

I bought a Mingda Magician X printer and it printed fine right out of the box. It'll print the 3 files included on the SDHC card that came with it. I didn't have any problems setting up Cura. But almost any thing I try to print (from Thingiverse) just doesn't. The extruder just pumps out PLA and rubs it all over the bed.

It looks as if the g-code isn't telling the printer to move the extruder up on each pass. It just blobs up and pushes whatever was layed down all over the glass.

Like I said, the included files print beautifully. The files sliced with Cura seem not to work. I've compared the g-code between the good files from Mingda and the Cura sliced files. I really can't see anything terribly wrong.

I'm thinking about unloading Cura and finding another slicer; OR downloading and installiing a fresh copy of Cura since it's seems to be Mingda's slicer of choice for the Magician X.

Anyone have any thoughts or suggestions?

[roon4660]

I would suggest making it a new topic so everyone will see it. There are a lot of wizards lurking in the woodwork here. I know I have benefitted a lot by their knowledge and experience.

[itmservnet]

Thanks... I wasn't sure how to start a new topic. Learning

[Ender5r]

Have a look here: https://3dmingdaofficial.com/pages/m...iver-and-video. There is a version of Cura there plus, more importantly, profiles for PLA, ABS, and TPU.

My suggestion would be to download Cura and the profiles. Start with the version of Cura provided by Mingda. If that works out well, then you can look at updating Cura and test again.

[itmservnet]

Thanks for the help.... I'll try reloading Cura.

[Ender5r]

I would say the profiles are the most important thing.

[JaffH]

I purchased Creality Ender as my first printer. Have some problems at the beginning, like everyone I guess. Found it here https://43dprint.org/best-3d-printers-under-200. Was pretty happy printing with it.

[roon4660]

The Ender 3 is to 3d printing what the model T Ford was to the automobile industry. In my biased opinion.