In this section of the forum, I hope to create a community of people interesting in discussing the 3d printers they like and dislike. This IS NOT the place for detailed discussions about how to use a printer, how to use a slicer, or which filament to use. (Those questions should be posted to the general 3d printer topic.) Instead, this is the place to discuss which printer you would like to purchase or never ever purchase.
For example, there is a healthy discussion in the 3d Printer community about open source vs proprietary 3d printers. As a specific example Creality vs ANET. This is the place for that discussion. Another example is a discussion about Monoprice rebranded 3d printers, would you recommend them or not.
I currently have nine 3d printers and expect to add to my collection if I can find the room, but my viewers and community members will be able to add information about printers I have no experience with.
I have a CR10 mini. I purchased it instead of the cr10 in order to save space. I feel I should have purchased the full size CR10 since I find most accessories are available for the CR10, but not for the mini.
I have a ender 3 v2. I was thinking about getting a Ender 5 Plus.
What do you guys recommend? Is there a better one out there for around the same price?
Unless you only want to print PLA, I would not recommend a JG Maker Artist-D or Artist-D Pro. I found the extruders are just not up to the task of using higher temp filaments such as PETG or ABS/ASA.
I had an Elegoo Neptune 2 as a starter a year ago. I liked it at the start. Would say that it is a great starter. But we have power outages often here, no oversurges, and it started accumulating problems with each. The 6th power outage in a month killed it when it was 7 months old. Amazon read the long list of issues and workarounds up to the point of the 6th power outage, and refunded, no replacement.
Bought an Ender 3 S1. Problem started after the first power outage: Despite being leveled perfectly, it often just started printing higher or lower without finding a cause. 3 power outages in 3 months and that problem go so bad, leveling it with each print did not even help anymore. Their helpdesk gave incorrect advice, completely ludicrous and beside the point, over and over. Amazon intervened once more and refunded, not replaced.
So, very fed up at that point, we invested in a Prusa i3 mks+ and installed it on an APC battery. Bliss.
I have been watching reviews on youtube and I must say that just one more upgrade to my ender 3 V2 (Dual screws on the Z Axes) will put it as good as most printers.
Am I wrong? I have already upgraded to direct drive (love it). All metal Extruder. Lots of spare parts. I was just looking for a printer that is a bit faster than mine.
An APC isn’t a bad choice, but I suspect it’s not 1 of their “full sinewave” models, because theirs are expensive. Full sineware is important for protecting computer type circuits. I use CyberPower PFC UPS’ (that’s what they’re called BTW: Uninterruptable Power Supplies). The CyberPower PFC units are full sinewave and are considerably less costly than the APC. I mostly use the CP1500PFCLCD model: [U]https://www.cyberpowersystems.com/product/ups/pfc-sinewave/cp1500pfclcd/[/U]
One other thing: be prepared to replace the battery or batteries at least once every 5 years.
We needed a new battery. Living in the EU, it’s not that easy to get one here, due to various laws and our Belgian customs being so strict. So, we asked where to get one, as we could not find one back then. We asked several times, no reply form their helpdesk.
I’m surprised those batteries are so hard to get in Belgium. I have a possible option for you: the batteries used in most UPS units are the same ones used in most security systems. So, if you can’t find them elsewhere, look up companies that supply equipment to security companies. Here’s an example:
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Here’s an image of the kind of cabinet often used for door access security systems in many commercial buildings. You can see the metal tab that holds the battery in place at the bottom of the cabinet.
To put this thread back on topic, I have a Snapmaker A350 which has a very reasonable build volume (320x350x330mm) for 3D printing. But the other 2 functions (CNC milling and Laser etching) which initially attracted me to the Snapmaker units are not functions I use.
I have on order a Bambu Lab X1 Carbon combo that should arrive in the next 2-4 weeks. The printing speeds the X1 is capable of are the main reason I ordered it (I get impatient for prints to finish). The ability to use up to 16 colors of filament (with their Automatic Material System(s)) in a print is interesting, but I doubt I will ever use more than 3 colors, or 1 color and a support material in any print.
What is sold within the EU is no problem regarding items with chemicals, but importing them is hard. We noticed when we still had pinballs till a few years ago. Thanks so much for that tip! Will look into it!
To get back on topic, I wish Prusa had better build plates. They are good, but I have used better ones. A textured one which came with my Elegoo and 1 PEI I bought on Amazon. So, Improvement is possible.
