I am in the market for a printer that is step or two up from my Ender 3V2. I want it to be faster, reasonably easy to use, good customer support and $700 or less. The Ender 5 S1 is strong consideration since the price has come down to $389 at Microcenter. This price makes far more sense for this printer now that the K1 is shipping. However it sees the timing of the Ender 5 S1 release may limit its adoption, and thus community support for this printer, which these printers rely on. I have watched the video review several times. The recommended settings towards the end are helpful. Dr. Shapiro was expecting tuned profiles to help the performance of the printer, but as of this date, any custom profiles don’t seem to exist. I have searched the FB forum and there aren’t many posts on this printer. Hence my suggestion this may have limited support and adoption. I don’t have enough knowledge of slicers to do much tuning so this is a negative for this printer.
Are there profiles or support information that I have missed on this printer? I can afford a M5 or P1P, but i don’t want to overbuy for this hobby. I have been successful with the Ender 3 so staying with that brand and I can buy the E5 at my local MC are pluses. It is just too slow to get a good quality print for the next prints I want to make. Any thoughts from anyone that has this printer?
I have reviewed both the Ender 5 S1 and the Ender 3 S1 and S1 pro. While I have no special insights I do not expect Creality to orphan the Ender 3 S1 line as it will always be less expensive than the Ender 5 S1 line of machines.
In addition other then the physical frame they share almost all of the other parts. Specifically the new sprite extruders and the hot ends.
I opted to buy the E5 S1. Microcenter had it at $389 and the salesman was really knowledgeable and patiently answered my questions. I couldn’t justify the extra $$$ to jump up to the M5, P1P or K1. Totally happy with the purchase.
I did find that the print plate was really sticky and the prints were nearly impossible to easily removed. I tried Magigoo and that improved the release without effecting the stickiness. The bottom surface also was much better.
I used the Creality Slicer for the prints, which worked well enough, but is one major release behind Cura. It also had a 300 mm height in the E5 S1 profile, which is incorrect. Next prints will be off of Cura instead. I saw the recommended setting in the video on this printer and also fount another option at this link: Ender-5 S1 | Cura Settings & Profile – Guide & List
So this is odd. I set up a profile in Cura 5.3.1 based on the Ender 5 and made the modifications from the video. The printer did an ABL, which was expected from the G29 command added. After the ABL the bed and HE were heated, even though I had already preheated both before starting the print. It must not keep the temp setting while it is doing and ABL.
The Creality start code omits G29 and M420. I assume the firmware has he mesh from the leveling process. What was strange is that the printer would pause, raise up, then start again. This may explain why the estimated print time was more than one hour longer than the Creality slicer. I listed below the start gCode that i used in the profile. I also show the start code from the creality slicer for comparison. I would continue with the Creality slicer, but I shuts down after I save the gCode and I have to reopen it again to do a next print. I can’t imagine why the Cura slicer creates such a slow file. Any thoughts?
Cura slicer, Ender 5 profile with modifications from Video:
M221 S100 ;Reset Flowrate
M413 S0 ; Disable Power Failure
G28 ;Home
G29 ; Auto Bed Level
G92 E0 ;Reset Extruder
G1 Z2.0 F3000 ;Move Z Axis up
G1 X10.1 Y20 Z0.28 F5000.0 ;Move to start position
G1 X10.1 Y200.0 Z0.28 F1500.0 E15 ;Draw the first line
G1 X10.4 Y200.0 Z0.28 F5000.0 ;Move to side a little
G1 X10.4 Y20 Z0.28 F1500.0 E30 ;Draw the second line
G92 E0 ;Reset Extruder
G1 Z2.0 F3000 ;Move Z Axis up
From the Creality Slicer Profile start code:
G28 ;Home
G92 E0 ;Reset Extruder
G1 Z2.0 F3000 ;Move Z Axis up
G1 X10.1 Y20 Z0.28 F5000.0 ;Move to start position
G1 X10.1 Y200.0 Z0.28 F1500.0 E15 ;Draw the first line
G1 X10.4 Y200.0 Z0.28 F5000.0 ;Move to side a little
G1 X10.4 Y20 Z0.28 F1500.0 E30 ;Draw the second line
G92 E0 ;Reset Extruder
G1 Z2.0 F3000 ;Move Z Axis up
I changed the G29 to M420 S1. It seems to work well without the new leveling and i will see if the bed level changes with use. Doing a bed level each time seems unnecessary, but perhaps there is another reason, other than a precaution? In the grand scheme of print times, it is a minor delay.
Sorry I missed your post. I too rarely bed level (the command is not in my start g-code). I only map the bed when I change the nozzle, bed surface or something major goes bad.
I guess if you are printing really fast (or with very thin first layers!?), knowing the current bed shape precisely becomes more important.