Same here I got a P1S and my Ender 5 hasn’t done anything sense. It was reliable, but took a lot of tuning. May use it for parts to build something else. 🤷♂️
@@meanman6992 I was skeptical before I bought my P1P. The day after it arrived I sold all of my other printers. I have not had a single failure on my P1P that wasn't directly caused by me doing something stupid like selecting the wrong filament in the slicer and even then sometimes it still works.
Bro you and me both. Nothing is worse than all of the endless wars with compiling firmware, scrolling GitHub, ruining probes crashing them into the bed because you compiled a version in vs that used the z probe pins vs the BL touch pins lol…I bought an X1C for the family to play with this week- I’m sparing them from any of these headaches I endured a few years ago.
Love tinkering, cheap printers and then the price doubles with the upgrades but.. the knowledge gained on how to troubleshoot, fix and understanding what’s happening to the machine is invaluable, the fixes and upgrades you did to the elegoo, six years ago i would of been head scratching for months trying to solve it, but thanks to your work and many others I’m able to diagnose my machines quickly to determine if it’s hardware or firmware, and don’t get me started with maintenance.. 3D printers are a tool and after certain amount of use they will need something adjusted or replaced and then recalibrate and keeping parts lubricated and retention of belts , couldn’t do any of that and more without tinkering to learn
I have been forced to learn similarly and couldn't *disagree* more. All that time spent could be spent having fun learning the specific things I wanted to learn doing projects I planned to do. After buying an X1C I stopped using my older franken printer (modified to the gills) and got enough time back to learn the basics of pcb design. It was so freeing to have a printer that just printed and just enabled the maker hobby I have. I don't want to be forced to have a 3d printer hobby, actually more specific than that, bad 3d printer fixing hobby. If I want to get into 3d printer enthusiasm, I'll make a custom printer. If I want to do anything else I now have a printer I don't have to worry about.
I had some serious flashbacks watching this. I bought an Ender 3 a few years ago as my first 3D printer, and by the time I sold it, about the only original bits remaining were the frame, axis motors and power supply. It was one hell of a learning tool, though. It got replaced by a Prusa Mk3s and I was properly amazed. I just bought my sister a Bambu Lab A1 for Christmas. 😁
I had an ender 3 V2 for years. I spent so much time upgrading it and working on it. Added a direct drive extruder, BL touch ABL, and magnetic flexible bed. Added a Raspberry Pi for print server and changed to klipper firmware for faster printing. I’ve spent countless hours tinkering and setting up this printer. Recently I tried printing a model and the material was curling due to the ambient room temperature. I went to Microcenter, bought a P1S with AMS and am not looking back. If you want to print get a good printer. If you want to waste half your life messing with a printer buy a cheap one.
If you’re tempted to get someone a cheap printer for their first one, just get them an a1 mini for 179 that dramatically outperforms its price. I’m a Voron guy but my wife got one of those and I’m shocked how easy it is use, and she is actually enthusiastic about printing now because it just worked with no fiddling like she’s been seeing me do for years.
This video made me remember the period between 2019-2020. Ender 3 and 3-pro was the greatest... How much technology releated with 3d printing and 3D printers have developed in 5 years... it is an incredible process.
When I first got interested the most popular choices were a kit using acrylic parts that might already shatter during shipping, making the kit unusable (tevo tarantula) and one where people debated whether it can really burn your house down (anet a8). I'm glad I waited and bought the Prusa Mini, the thing has been almost maintenance free to this day (though not a good choice today)
Watching you do the live level on the Elegoo took me right back to the many, many hours I spent on my Ender3 messing about trying to get it level. So glad I bought a P1S and left those days behind me.
This video couldn't have come at a better time, or been more on point. My brother just called me last week and asked if there were any sub $200 USD printers that were worth getting, and I told him that unless he wants to tinker and upgrade and fuss with it, the answer is no. All the Ender 3 clones are a labor of love, and I told him he'd be better off buying a Bambu. He's never had a 3D printer before, and doesn't know anything about the workflow of getting something to successfully print. I sent him a link to this video. For the record, I'm running an Ender 3, and tinkering with it all the time. I've got it pretty dialed in at this point, but I'm also in to it about $600. I've had it for several years, so it's not exactly fair to say that I should have bought something different (Bambu didn't exist when I bought it) but if I had cash in hand now, and had all my choices to make, I'd definitely not pick the Ender at this point.
@@ichisaur I wouldn't want to recommend the A1 mini to anyone though. It's a good printer, but it's super limited by its size. Id rather save up for the full size A1.
It's a really good point. Get something known to be easier to use even if more money. Unless that person wants to enjoy fighting a machine day after day. Which can also be enjoyable. I got a P1S and love it. No fighting it which makes running it more enjoyable. Although some bits of it are still a pain. If not for Bambu I don't know when I would have gotten a printer. I've wanted one for a long time and glad I got into it finally. But I would have known a lot more if I did it a decade ago like I first wanted.
That Micro Swiss hotend is worth twice as much as the entire printer. That's definitely what I call putting lipstick on a pig. I agree with all the upgrades but I wished you would have mentioned/used a more budget friendly hotend. The cheapo V6 clones work well and they have plenty of STL's to print the carriage. I know, that maybe too much for the beginner, but I had to say it. All in all, nicely done video.
@ Yeah, I think in this instance that would fit the price of the printer way better. I have a micro Swiss on my ender 3, but only because I’ve done other upgrades that really highlighted the pitfalls of the original hotend.
I spent 350€ on my ender 5 pro and then like 1000 in mods over the years, wouldn't do it with the current market tho, I did it 4 years ago right before COVID start, I learned a lot but didn't print much but mostly modded and fixed stuff. It works great now and I'll a chamber heater soon but it was a hobby, not a tool, today I'd get and A1 mini/normal/p1s
When I was giving a lot of advice I started telling people around 2019-2020ish and especially post 2022 that while there was an abundance of good entry level machines, that those machines usually require a bit more work (always remember to level the plate and mentioning bowden-gap jams were common things I'd mention), and I especially emphasized that there was a price floor, under which you were getting something that was going to be a project, not a tool. Specifically back then I was referring to the still present abundance of bare bone i3 kits using old MK8 / MK10 extruders, frames made of acrylic or wood, and poorly fabricated parts you could find for less than 200 USD, which in my experience make the issues encountered on cheap E3-pattern machines trivial. Forget simply changing hotends (though I absolutely had to do that too) and adding ABL- the one I made the mistake of getting basically had to have it's Z and X axis basically rebuilt, due to parts being poorly fabricated and thus misaligned. It makes sense that as the standard for machines improve the floor moves on, especially for people who want a tool. But, to me, for someone who wants to tinker with machines as a hobby, these are still very much relevant as base machines.
Not just "cheap" printers, but the "kids special" ones like the ToyBox featured on Shark Tank are terrible. When an A1 mini is an option, there's no reason for "kids" printers to exist. The toybox is more expensive, harder to use, less accurate, slower, and they try to tie you into their expensive filament ecosystem.
It all comes down to doing your research and tempering your expectations. Budget machines are good for tinkering and customization. I decided on the Ender 3 v2 with the full intention to upgrade with a dual z , 400mm extender and the usual upgrades. The reason for this decision was it met my printing needs for bigger items on a budget and I can use CR-10 parts like the frame supports and the dual z kit.
The first sentence is no longer true. You can pay 180 and get an A1 Mini. Further, the type of "tinkering" you're forced to do with worse printers isn't something the vast majority of people want and for learning value, you'd be better off having the time to learn the specifics you care about in a more fun way.
A1 Mini (without AMS) is under $200. I hate to be a shill but after 6 years of dealing with the upgrade-fix-maintenance-upgrade cycle on cheap printers buying a Bambu changed my entire perspective on what 3d printing could be Would've been funny if the video opened with "Buy this one and just save yourself the trouble" with a photo and then a false ending 😂
I have a Prusa Mini and an A1 Mini. I'm not a fan of Bambu but it simply made other entry level printers obsolete, it's impossible to beat in value in that price range.
I have bought 15 printers in the last 2 years. It's been a total crapshoot but anything older (SV04, SV05, X5SA Pro) always had a ton of issues. This generation felt cheap, copied and not particularly usable without a lot of work. The SV05 cube printer was the only one that operated fine but was very slow and limited in print quality. Of the models less than 1 year old, most were including new features or speeds, and it was a mixed bag. Most issues were with "auto" anything. So many of these machines claimed to deliver Bambu ease of use and automatic leveling etc and completely failed to deliver on any of it. The SV08 has the most warped bed ever, a cover that pops off mid print and destroys the print, and a few other issues. The Anycubic Kobra 3 Combo works well after a few updates. That took 2 months to get working though. The only 2 machines that worked properly out of the box were the Infimech TX and the Flashforge Adventurer 5M. The FF I moved on because it was too locked down to print in my normal methods. The infimech I have now. I have a Two Trees SK1 on the way, we will see about that.
Had I not bought an ender 3 all those years ago (or so it seems) I would never have found your channel😊I still believe that there is great value to be had from learning to use and troubleshoot cheap bed slingers.I learned so much from you because of them.
This was awesome! This video would have been so amazing to have years ago, but I am certain it will be an amazing resource for soo many people still. I love that you were able to show off your site and resurface it, pretty cool. Thank you for such great content and your contributions to the community!
2:02 And this is why I subscribed to Teaching Tech! Thank you Michael for begin the definition of honesty and integrity!!! 👏👏👏👍👍👍 P.s. I also own a Elegoo Neptune 3 Pro and it is a good machine, but do agree that what Elegoo did is wrong and makes them look bad as a company and could hender them from receiving any additional sales from the viewers of this channel.
I love our cheap 3D printers. They taught me a lot, got me comfortable modding and troubleshooting and do a good job of throwing you in the deep end. But for our mostly production use, they’ve become more work that they’re worth
Even the ender 3 fanboys are realizing there's just better machines out there. Absolutely no reason to buy the cheap 3d printers when for 50$ more you're in a bracket of machines that have auto bed leveling, direct drive, etc.
It was just about a year ago that I got my first printer. After being indecisive about it for a while, I opted for a printer that came with some nice additional features right out of the box -All metal hot end -ABL sensor -PEI sprint steel build plate And even upgraded to klipper about 2 months in. Learning to get the printer to produce high quality results presented a lot of learning and challenges by itself. If I would have been fighting the printer the whole way along, the learning curve would have been much worse. For this one user, it was worth it to spend extra for those features. This has really turned into a hobby I enjoy greatly. And no, I don't want to drop the make/model. Out of respect for the channel.
I usually have to manually re-level the bed of my Ender 3 pro using a piece of paper as a feeler gauge evey time I start a print from a cold start. Once a print is finished, I can print several more items without re-leveling the bed. Also I know that the bed is a bit lower in the middle than near the corners and sides. So I usually avoid the middle when slicing prints if possible. Otherwise, I adjust the manual leveling so the middle isn't too far off, while the corners are not too tight. It's possible to find a good compromise, just takes a bit longer to set up. Creality does have a BL-touch add on solution for the Ender 3, as well as a second Z axis motor add on, and both are probably good ideas. I've converted an other Ender 3 Pro into a Voron Switchwire, and right now I'm finishing up with that project. So far it looks like a nice improvement, but not worth the overall cost. However it was a fun project, and a goo learning experience. I did upgrade my first Ender 3 hot end with an E3D CR Revo and the build surface with a PEX magnetic one. The Ender 3 Pro has a magnet on the bed already that works fine with the Wham Bam magnetic plate. I think there will also be a Klipper upgrade in the future, and I will add an inductive probe as well. Yet another item to be swapped out will be a Voron M4 extruder to replace the Creality one. This is still a Bowden extruder, but it is gear driven and will mount on the printer frame, not the X gantry. This will reduce the weight on the X axis. I'm on the fence as to adding the second Z motor as I don't really want to spend anymore on this printer (the M4 extruder is left over from my Switchwire conversion, there I changed my mind on the extruder after the new Galileo2 came out. I built the Switchwire using the new E3D PZ probe equipped Revo Voron hot end.
Yep, you are spot on. I'm still using a Ender 3 clone and 2 Ender 5 clones. As their stock parts die I standardize them all with the same upgrades (when possible). My game changer is Klipper on cheap printers. My next big upgrade is a Z offset calibration sensor. If you're new to 3D printing follow the advice given in the video
I cringe to think anyone is buying these printers in 2024. We have come a long way. Printers are so much easier to use now and you can see that exhibited by how many people are now in the commercial print space (ie selling prints at craft fairs, online, farmers market, etc)
Don't even own a budget machine, but watching your videos is like absorbing valuable info. Thanks for the engaging content. For the beginner, it makes the plunge into 3d-printing far less intimidating. PS - If you are in the market for a so called 'budget machine'... take a look at the Bambu Lab A1 or A1 Mini. But if ya happen to find one of these 'budget machines' laying in a dumpster, it might be worth tryin to get it to work, but probably not.
This is a trap I tend to fall in! I tell myself that it'll be ok, since I have some raspberries with multiple klipper instances on them, so I can just plug them in and convert them to klipper. But other expenses always creep in. Recently, Artillery 3D was selling out old X3's for 170$ I think, luckily I missed out on it before their stock ran out, but on cyber monday I saw SP-5 v3 for around 200$, and I just couldn't resist. I know it was always a troubled child among 3D printers, but that just gives it more charm in some way. I still prefer V6 style and open source, which many new printers don't provide, and there are also companies like Trianglelabs that offer cheap, (mostly) acceptable upgrades to "fix" older printers and bring them close or up to modern standard. But in the end, I just find it funny that I'm willing to go so far for an older printer, while something Infimech Tx does it all for similar or smaller price...
You absolutely get what you pay for, and I think it's far too easy to get an interest in the hobby, only to have that cut short by mediocre hardware. I got my start tinkering with an Ender 3, before I got in touch with a number of printer manufacturers who were happy to send me Amazon return units for a very low price. At the time, $250 machines were coming in under $100! Often times, you got lucky and they simply never built it right, or couldn't figure out bed leveling. I picked up an Ender 3 V3 KE for my brother last year, thinking that because it automated first layer calibration, it might be a decent machine for a decent price. He ran into issues within the first month, and it sat for most of the year until this past month, when I got a chance to modify and upgrade everything. Now it's screaming and reliable, but it took someone with experience to get there. Spend the little extra up front, to save yourself a lot of time and headache down the road.
This has pretty much been my exact experience with my Neptune 2. I’ve added dual Z, direct drive, and converted to klipper. Feels almost like a reliable machine now.
My first printer was a Wanho i3 that had manual bed leveling and no removable bed. It was OK, but I never got the hang of leveling the bed, and constantly ran the nozzle into the blue painter's tape. I upgraded to a Prusa MK3 with auto leveling and a removable bed. It's so much better than that old Wanho ever could have been.
Great video and a very accurate depiction of my traumas in the recent past. Except mine were with Prusa i3 clones. As they say, "Buy once, cry once" (if your primary objective is to actually print stuff and not to tinker with the printer.)
while i agree with the point of spending a little more and getting modern QoL upgrades out of the box, i still think it is necesary to go through a bit of pain and learn how these machines work, kinda like learning to drive manual before switching to automatic, i do find concerning the amount of apple-like mentality of people just recommending a specific machine as the only viable option today, best piece of advice is do your own research, look for all the pros and cons and find a sweet spot between price and features that suits you
These three upgrades represent the innovations that turned 3D printers from unreliable novelties into dependable tools, in my experience. There's no way I'd recommend anyone get a printer without them, given how affordable printers that do have become.
I bought cheap Ender 3 long time ago (6 years?). Only changed the motherboard for the silent one and replaced the plastic extruder when it broke. Had no problems with it since then. Can't remember the last time I had to do manual bed leveling. I might do things recommended in this video in the future but don't see any reason to do them when everything works for me. (Just to add an opinion into the mix.)
I'm still rocking my Ender 3 that I bought way back in 2018. Upgraded it a bunch over the years (Micro Swiss ND hotend, dual Z motors, PEI print bed, Raspberry + Klipper for input shaping, bl touch, etc) and it has been phenomenally reliable for me during the time. There have been no grave errors that I haven't directly caused as a user, so I have been extremely happy with the printer. Granted - The extruder system did in fact eventually give out, which is what prompted me to do the Micro Swiss ND upgrade, but really it has been fantastic especially considering the price If you're a handy man and you can be very careful and precise when building the printer yourself (because that's 80% of what determines your print quality imo) then these cheap printers are a good idea.
@@BeefIngot damn that's true Hang on though 1) the A1 mini is especially cheap *right now* because of black friday / xmas sales right and 2) an ender 3 has bigger build volume. Print quality with my upgrades is about the same, but granted the bambulab is faster. A better comparison would be the A1 which is slightly bigger but much closer in size and here the price advantage disappears.
I went though several 3D printers from Creality, FLSUN and Flashforge and yes they worked but also required a lot of tinkering. My Bambu X1C is pretty much plug and play I have printed 1000 items in total and only had 6 failures and I can bet they were human error related. There is no harm in getting a cheap 3D printer and for a person who enjoys tinkering more than making it's a better way to go but if your a person who prefers to design and print go for something like a Prusa or a Bambu
I was about to give up on 3D printers. I would get 3 prints done and a part would break or the prints started to show something was out of adjustment. The Bambu printers showed me that a 3D printer could be a tool and not a tinkers hobby. I now have four Bambu Lab printers.
I've got an Elegoo Neptune 4 Pro and it was working great until I encountered the dreaded blob of death. That was actually fairly simple to sort out and clean up, but it seems to be stuck with the problem that caused the blob in the first place, which is it catches already printed layers. The initial layers go down fine, but as soon as it speeds up and starts doing in-fill, it'll catch something and that disturbance usually results in disaster. I've levelled the bed so many times, and made sure that Z-Hop is enabled, but it won't print anything successfully. I even swapped to a new nozzle in case that was causing problems. At this point I'm out of ideas, other than replacing the whole extruder.
Aren't we supposed to be building a SteathChanger on a cheap 3D printer? I look forward to the conclusion of the project. I have my concerns about the attachment scheme of the heads to the gantry. I see a lot of StealthChangers in progress, and not a lot of finished parts. Which makes me hesitant to jump into the project.
I've been saying this since options like the A1 Mini came out. When you can have one for 180 USD on sale, saving an extra few more bucks really makes no sense. People who don't know what they're buying see printers that look relatively similar and just don't understand the differences that matter like vrollers vs non vrollers or features like auto z or more. They often (the _really_ "value" oriented ones (the real scrooges)) just think "but I can get more build volume for slightly cheaper" as if blind to anything they don't understand, and end up with a printer they hate. To be fair my first printer was an anycubic chiron.... so you can see I was not immune to this either. I then spent more than the price of the printer fixing it. People don't get that the frustration is not something its easy to put a price on.
picked up one of the neptunes when the second batch dropped, and got the adjuster/spring upgrades. dialed it in, haven't looked back. i've had to adjust it again _once_ in how many years now? i've done some minor things like, putting the creality glass plate on it, a psu exhaust shroud, and a hotend shroud to direct the air better. it pretty much just works.
As a noob watching this video made me wonder what a wealth of functions It seems I've missed. My first and short lived printer was a used original Flashforge Creator Pro. It had issues that I did not understand, but my wife saw the value of what a 3D printer could have. So we bought a new Bambu Labs A1. It's been perfect, which means I have have no idea what could possibly make it better.
I still have my original Ender 2 and Ender 3 machines, the Ender 3 is upgraded within an inch of its life, I love working on them when things go south. My X1 Carbon apart from the odd filament snap never goes wrong.
yep. My first was an acrylic plastic framed piece of chinesium which I replaced with the Prusa MK2 when it came out because the MK2 had the induction sensor for bed leveling. Now I have the Sovol SV08 which has more quirks than my old MK2->MK3S, but is still nicer to use.
Check every extrusion. Make sure they are straight and the grooved channels are all the same. I got bad prints till I figured out a extrusion channel was bent a little and a groove expansion in it.
Atleast for me the Elegoo Neptune 4, which is i think 5 years newer than the 2? has worked marvelously and got int on sale for 200 and it's a dammn good machine for that price on sale. At the regular 350 price im not sure about that. But it's basically fixed everything wrong with the old Elegoos.
I got into the hobby with a decent-ish machine in the Ender 3 Neo v1. Pretty good for what I paid and it hasn't let me down yet, but I do still have to tinker sometimes, definitely getting to old for that so my next machine will be something more expensive like a Bambu labs P1. I do appreciate the ender though, learned a lot about how these things work.
If you don't know better than not to buy a printer with a 2 or 3 star rating...well... Even with a 4+ rating for ANY item it's always a good idea to read the lowest rating comments to see if there is a common complaint.
The thing this missed which I have experienced trying to gift printers is the software. All the settings are confusing. BBL printers slightly remedy this with pre sliced files from maker world but at some point they will have to slice their own and then in my experience they just give up.
If i could go back in time and do it all over again, I would save up and buy a nice 3D printer instead of all the cheap ones I bought and sunk money into.
I recognize the firmware display format. It is MKS Robin firmware the Elegoo tweaked. But I notice that the board seems to be MKS clone, because I never seen a red MKS board. I have the MKS Robin Nano v1.2 board and it doesn’t look like that. I changed the vendor firmware for the MKS one and it made the printer a whole lot better
Probably going to get some flak but, every printer I’ve bought since so got rid of my ender 3 v2 has been a refurbished Anycubic printer from their Vyper/Kobra lineup. I have had the max, the Neo, and the vyper. All 3 were pretty good out of the box. I’ve replaced a couple parts and had to ask for a build plate for the max, but they sent it out to me for free! IMO Buy an anycubic machine, they’ve been great to me.
Cheap temu printer❌ Second hand old but upgradeable printer✅ Where i live i can find 80$ ender3 that already get bl touch and some direct drive upgrade
People still want $200-300 for stock ender 3's around here. Crazy. And I've seen stock Ender 6's for like $400-500. Like,... The FlashForge 5M Pro exists. No way I'm paying those asking prices.
I loved my neptune 2. while it was and ender 3 clone, the interface was better, and being an E3 clone parts were easy to find and lots of troubleshooting resources online!
If you’re looking for a budget 3d printer with great quality and reliability, and ease of use, definitely get a Bambu lab a1 mini. Or an a1, the a1 mini is only $200 brand new and the a1 is only $300. Great printers.
Little surprised you'd recommend and A1 mini over an Ender 3 V3 SE. I has more features for lower price. I've been using it for over a year with great pleasure.
Before even going far into the video Yes they are too much trouble my ender 3 pro even though it's a good printer I had lots of problems regarding bed leveling and multiple problems just get something better even if it means you pay a little bit more it will save you massive headaches and time
My university has a bunch of Enders that I am in charge of servicing. They are constantly be broken or having issues. They are considering upgrading all the printers. Do you think Bambulabs is a good company for a makerspace setting? Or do you have other suggestions?
what about the sovol sv06 ACE ? It looks like yet another ender clone, but with every needed upgrades. I think it is sold for around 260-280$. I have a highly modified ender3 v2, tbh if the sovol works as it is described, i'd say it would be a great recommendation for an entry level printer. the bambu is still pretty expensive.
Honestly, I encourage people to get the cheap ones that they need to tinker with. Because even on your $1500 Bambu lab, eventually *something* is going to break--and if you had to tinker your way through getting an Ender 3 printing well, you'll have the knowledge to diagnose your Bambu. Hobbyist-level 3D printing is still not at the point that normal people can use it--it reminds me of home computers back in the 80s, when I was kid. You had to have a certain level of technical competency to use them.
What i dont understand is if they have auto bed leveling, why have manual nobs? My Neptune 3 pro has no manual adjustment and its only $160 right now and works great (it is slow though)
Am I the only one using artillery printers with no mods/nothing done besides calibrate esteps, basic leveling and increase bed mesh to 15x15 with extra probes and have no problems?
I got a couple Ender 3 v3 KEs and they suuuuuuck. SUUUUUUUUUCK. Spend more, cry less. And if you want stuff that just works, don't buy a printer with a plan to upgrade it to not suck. Just buy something that doesn't suck in the first place. By the time you're done upgrading, you've spent far more time and money than necessary.
0:07 ok i know for a fact my cr10 max is in wors shape than yours so how did you manage this? Also you nust have a pretty big nozzle if you expected that to finish before the heat death of the universe.
I think the experience of upgrading a printer to be more useful than out of the box grants some experience and know how, for the future, when things go wrong. You've given yourself the ability to repair and identify problems that can occur. My 2 cents. I'd probably recommend a flashforge adventurer 5 tho instead, you can achieve some impressive speeds n print quality for 300 bucks. And you don't have to worry about anyone watching you if you want.
1:44 ok i want to see a video of you designing and building a printer using only a bespoke motion system you came up with by yourself that matches or exceeds its closest competition. Not trying to be mean, this would be legitimately cool to see as a video but the thing is its not as simple as "quit cloning a successful arrangement" if you look at mills or lathes for the most part you wont find much variation in how they move because of practicality and cost. Still definitely no reason to buy the bottom of the barel stuff
I refuse to suggest anything but bambu anymore. I tell everyone I will not support your creality printer... you are on your own if you buy that. After 10 years of 3d printing I am done dealing with all these issues that come with these cheap printers.
Something I think is a valid option is getting a stripped down cheap one knowing it has issues but accept it as a learning experience just so you can learn the systems as you fix it. Its what I did, but I went in knowing it wasn't going to be a good out of box experience.
This whole video gives me PTSD to my years of 3D printing before My first BL printer.
right, had a bunch of good prints on my e3, but it wasnt worth it in my eyes, to much upkeep.
Same here I got a P1S and my Ender 5 hasn’t done anything sense. It was reliable, but took a lot of tuning. May use it for parts to build something else. 🤷♂️
@@meanman6992 I was skeptical before I bought my P1P. The day after it arrived I sold all of my other printers. I have not had a single failure on my P1P that wasn't directly caused by me doing something stupid like selecting the wrong filament in the slicer and even then sometimes it still works.
Just bought a P1S and Amen to that
Bro you and me both. Nothing is worse than all of the endless wars with compiling firmware, scrolling GitHub, ruining probes crashing them into the bed because you compiled a version in vs that used the z probe pins vs the BL touch pins lol…I bought an X1C for the family to play with this week- I’m sparing them from any of these headaches I endured a few years ago.
Love tinkering, cheap printers and then the price doubles with the upgrades but.. the knowledge gained on how to troubleshoot, fix and understanding what’s happening to the machine is invaluable, the fixes and upgrades you did to the elegoo, six years ago i would of been head scratching for months trying to solve it, but thanks to your work and many others I’m able to diagnose my machines quickly to determine if it’s hardware or firmware, and don’t get me started with maintenance.. 3D printers are a tool and after certain amount of use they will need something adjusted or replaced and then recalibrate and keeping parts lubricated and retention of belts , couldn’t do any of that and more without tinkering to learn
I have been forced to learn similarly and couldn't *disagree* more.
All that time spent could be spent having fun learning the specific things I wanted to learn doing projects I planned to do.
After buying an X1C I stopped using my older franken printer (modified to the gills) and got enough time back to learn the basics of pcb design.
It was so freeing to have a printer that just printed and just enabled the maker hobby I have.
I don't want to be forced to have a 3d printer hobby, actually more specific than that, bad 3d printer fixing hobby.
If I want to get into 3d printer enthusiasm, I'll make a custom printer.
If I want to do anything else I now have a printer I don't have to worry about.
@@BeefIngot There's a saying, there are two hobbies: 3d printing and 3d printers
I had some serious flashbacks watching this. I bought an Ender 3 a few years ago as my first 3D printer, and by the time I sold it, about the only original bits remaining were the frame, axis motors and power supply. It was one hell of a learning tool, though. It got replaced by a Prusa Mk3s and I was properly amazed.
I just bought my sister a Bambu Lab A1 for Christmas. 😁
I had an ender 3 V2 for years. I spent so much time upgrading it and working on it. Added a direct drive extruder, BL touch ABL, and magnetic flexible bed. Added a Raspberry Pi for print server and changed to klipper firmware for faster printing. I’ve spent countless hours tinkering and setting up this printer. Recently I tried printing a model and the material was curling due to the ambient room temperature. I went to Microcenter, bought a P1S with AMS and am not looking back. If you want to print get a good printer. If you want to waste half your life messing with a printer buy a cheap one.
If you’re tempted to get someone a cheap printer for their first one, just get them an a1 mini for 179 that dramatically outperforms its price.
I’m a Voron guy but my wife got one of those and I’m shocked how easy it is use, and she is actually enthusiastic about printing now because it just worked with no fiddling like she’s been seeing me do for years.
This video made me remember the period between 2019-2020. Ender 3 and 3-pro was the greatest... How much technology releated with 3d printing and 3D printers have developed in 5 years... it is an incredible process.
When I first got interested the most popular choices were a kit using acrylic parts that might already shatter during shipping, making the kit unusable (tevo tarantula) and one where people debated whether it can really burn your house down (anet a8).
I'm glad I waited and bought the Prusa Mini, the thing has been almost maintenance free to this day (though not a good choice today)
Watching you do the live level on the Elegoo took me right back to the many, many hours I spent on my Ender3 messing about trying to get it level. So glad I bought a P1S and left those days behind me.
This video couldn't have come at a better time, or been more on point. My brother just called me last week and asked if there were any sub $200 USD printers that were worth getting, and I told him that unless he wants to tinker and upgrade and fuss with it, the answer is no. All the Ender 3 clones are a labor of love, and I told him he'd be better off buying a Bambu. He's never had a 3D printer before, and doesn't know anything about the workflow of getting something to successfully print. I sent him a link to this video. For the record, I'm running an Ender 3, and tinkering with it all the time. I've got it pretty dialed in at this point, but I'm also in to it about $600. I've had it for several years, so it's not exactly fair to say that I should have bought something different (Bambu didn't exist when I bought it) but if I had cash in hand now, and had all my choices to make, I'd definitely not pick the Ender at this point.
The A1 mini is actually sub $200 right now.
@@ichisaur I wouldn't want to recommend the A1 mini to anyone though. It's a good printer, but it's super limited by its size. Id rather save up for the full size A1.
It's a really good point. Get something known to be easier to use even if more money. Unless that person wants to enjoy fighting a machine day after day. Which can also be enjoyable. I got a P1S and love it. No fighting it which makes running it more enjoyable. Although some bits of it are still a pain. If not for Bambu I don't know when I would have gotten a printer. I've wanted one for a long time and glad I got into it finally. But I would have known a lot more if I did it a decade ago like I first wanted.
@@thebillyd00 Nah, at that point I'd just go directly for an enclosed printer. The Mini format can be good enough for many and is actually cheap.
When it comes to choosing printers, you're either gonna pay with your money, or your time. Pick wisely.
Hey now there are plenty of outdated printers where you pay with both, like lulzbot printers. Price doesn't mean quality.
That Micro Swiss hotend is worth twice as much as the entire printer. That's definitely what I call putting lipstick on a pig. I agree with all the upgrades but I wished you would have mentioned/used a more budget friendly hotend. The cheapo V6 clones work well and they have plenty of STL's to print the carriage. I know, that maybe too much for the beginner, but I had to say it. All in all, nicely done video.
The micro Swiss MK8 hotend he installed is only about $50.
Yes, it’s a $110 printer. But it’s not twice as much as the printer.
@dogoonubs997 it would seem I missed the price of the micro swiss a bit. Although you can get a V6 clone kit for $10.
@ Yeah, I think in this instance that would fit the price of the printer way better. I have a micro Swiss on my ender 3, but only because I’ve done other upgrades that really highlighted the pitfalls of the original hotend.
I spent 350€ on my ender 5 pro and then like 1000 in mods over the years, wouldn't do it with the current market tho, I did it 4 years ago right before COVID start, I learned a lot but didn't print much but mostly modded and fixed stuff. It works great now and I'll a chamber heater soon but it was a hobby, not a tool, today I'd get and A1 mini/normal/p1s
When I was giving a lot of advice I started telling people around 2019-2020ish and especially post 2022 that while there was an abundance of good entry level machines, that those machines usually require a bit more work (always remember to level the plate and mentioning bowden-gap jams were common things I'd mention), and I especially emphasized that there was a price floor, under which you were getting something that was going to be a project, not a tool. Specifically back then I was referring to the still present abundance of bare bone i3 kits using old MK8 / MK10 extruders, frames made of acrylic or wood, and poorly fabricated parts you could find for less than 200 USD, which in my experience make the issues encountered on cheap E3-pattern machines trivial. Forget simply changing hotends (though I absolutely had to do that too) and adding ABL- the one I made the mistake of getting basically had to have it's Z and X axis basically rebuilt, due to parts being poorly fabricated and thus misaligned.
It makes sense that as the standard for machines improve the floor moves on, especially for people who want a tool. But, to me, for someone who wants to tinker with machines as a hobby, these are still very much relevant as base machines.
2:02 huge appreciation to this channel For this stance
Not just "cheap" printers, but the "kids special" ones like the ToyBox featured on Shark Tank are terrible. When an A1 mini is an option, there's no reason for "kids" printers to exist. The toybox is more expensive, harder to use, less accurate, slower, and they try to tie you into their expensive filament ecosystem.
Truly. Get a kid toycad and an A1 Mini and they're way better off.
It all comes down to doing your research and tempering your expectations. Budget machines are good for tinkering and customization.
I decided on the Ender 3 v2 with the full intention to upgrade with a dual z , 400mm extender and the usual upgrades. The reason for this decision was it met my printing needs for bigger items on a budget and I can use CR-10 parts like the frame supports and the dual z kit.
The first sentence is no longer true. You can pay 180 and get an A1 Mini.
Further, the type of "tinkering" you're forced to do with worse printers isn't something the vast majority of people want and for learning value, you'd be better off having the time to learn the specifics you care about in a more fun way.
A1 Mini (without AMS) is under $200. I hate to be a shill but after 6 years of dealing with the upgrade-fix-maintenance-upgrade cycle on cheap printers buying a Bambu changed my entire perspective on what 3d printing could be
Would've been funny if the video opened with "Buy this one and just save yourself the trouble" with a photo and then a false ending 😂
I have a Prusa Mini and an A1 Mini. I'm not a fan of Bambu but it simply made other entry level printers obsolete, it's impossible to beat in value in that price range.
I do wonder how many people got Ender 3s and gave up 3d printing as a result.
I have bought 15 printers in the last 2 years. It's been a total crapshoot but anything older (SV04, SV05, X5SA Pro) always had a ton of issues. This generation felt cheap, copied and not particularly usable without a lot of work. The SV05 cube printer was the only one that operated fine but was very slow and limited in print quality. Of the models less than 1 year old, most were including new features or speeds, and it was a mixed bag. Most issues were with "auto" anything. So many of these machines claimed to deliver Bambu ease of use and automatic leveling etc and completely failed to deliver on any of it. The SV08 has the most warped bed ever, a cover that pops off mid print and destroys the print, and a few other issues. The Anycubic Kobra 3 Combo works well after a few updates. That took 2 months to get working though. The only 2 machines that worked properly out of the box were the Infimech TX and the Flashforge Adventurer 5M. The FF I moved on because it was too locked down to print in my normal methods. The infimech I have now. I have a Two Trees SK1 on the way, we will see about that.
Had I not bought an ender 3 all those years ago (or so it seems) I would never have found your channel😊I still believe that there is great value to be had from learning to use and troubleshoot cheap bed slingers.I learned so much from you because of them.
This was awesome! This video would have been so amazing to have years ago, but I am certain it will be an amazing resource for soo many people still. I love that you were able to show off your site and resurface it, pretty cool. Thank you for such great content and your contributions to the community!
2:02 And this is why I subscribed to Teaching Tech! Thank you Michael for begin the definition of honesty and integrity!!! 👏👏👏👍👍👍
P.s. I also own a Elegoo Neptune 3 Pro and it is a good machine, but do agree that what Elegoo did is wrong and makes them look bad as a company and could hender them from receiving any additional sales from the viewers of this channel.
I love our cheap 3D printers. They taught me a lot, got me comfortable modding and troubleshooting and do a good job of throwing you in the deep end. But for our mostly production use, they’ve become more work that they’re worth
When the A1 mini exists, this is a whole different conversation.
Even the ender 3 fanboys are realizing there's just better machines out there. Absolutely no reason to buy the cheap 3d printers when for 50$ more you're in a bracket of machines that have auto bed leveling, direct drive, etc.
It was just about a year ago that I got my first printer. After being indecisive about it for a while, I opted for a printer that came with some nice additional features right out of the box
-All metal hot end
-ABL sensor
-PEI sprint steel build plate
And even upgraded to klipper about 2 months in.
Learning to get the printer to produce high quality results presented a lot of learning and challenges by itself. If I would have been fighting the printer the whole way along, the learning curve would have been much worse.
For this one user, it was worth it to spend extra for those features. This has really turned into a hobby I enjoy greatly.
And no, I don't want to drop the make/model. Out of respect for the channel.
I usually have to manually re-level the bed of my Ender 3 pro using a piece of paper as a feeler gauge evey time I start a print from a cold start. Once a print is finished, I can print several more items without re-leveling the bed. Also I know that the bed is a bit lower in the middle than near the corners and sides. So I usually avoid the middle when slicing prints if possible. Otherwise, I adjust the manual leveling so the middle isn't too far off, while the corners are not too tight. It's possible to find a good compromise, just takes a bit longer to set up. Creality does have a BL-touch add on solution for the Ender 3, as well as a second Z axis motor add on, and both are probably good ideas. I've converted an other Ender 3 Pro into a Voron Switchwire, and right now I'm finishing up with that project. So far it looks like a nice improvement, but not worth the overall cost. However it was a fun project, and a goo learning experience.
I did upgrade my first Ender 3 hot end with an E3D CR Revo and the build surface with a PEX magnetic one. The Ender 3 Pro has a magnet on the bed already that works fine with the Wham Bam magnetic plate. I think there will also be a Klipper upgrade in the future, and I will add an inductive probe as well. Yet another item to be swapped out will be a Voron M4 extruder to replace the Creality one. This is still a Bowden extruder, but it is gear driven and will mount on the printer frame, not the X gantry. This will reduce the weight on the X axis. I'm on the fence as to adding the second Z motor as I don't really want to spend anymore on this printer (the M4 extruder is left over from my Switchwire conversion, there I changed my mind on the extruder after the new Galileo2 came out. I built the Switchwire using the new E3D PZ probe equipped Revo Voron hot end.
Yep, you are spot on. I'm still using a Ender 3 clone and 2 Ender 5 clones. As their stock parts die I standardize them all with the same upgrades (when possible). My game changer is Klipper on cheap printers. My next big upgrade is a Z offset calibration sensor. If you're new to 3D printing follow the advice given in the video
I cringe to think anyone is buying these printers in 2024. We have come a long way. Printers are so much easier to use now and you can see that exhibited by how many people are now in the commercial print space (ie selling prints at craft fairs, online, farmers market, etc)
Don't even own a budget machine, but watching your videos is like absorbing valuable info. Thanks for the engaging content. For the beginner, it makes the plunge into 3d-printing far less intimidating. PS - If you are in the market for a so called 'budget machine'... take a look at the Bambu Lab A1 or A1 Mini. But if ya happen to find one of these 'budget machines' laying in a dumpster, it might be worth tryin to get it to work, but probably not.
This is a trap I tend to fall in! I tell myself that it'll be ok, since I have some raspberries with multiple klipper instances on them, so I can just plug them in and convert them to klipper. But other expenses always creep in. Recently, Artillery 3D was selling out old X3's for 170$ I think, luckily I missed out on it before their stock ran out, but on cyber monday I saw SP-5 v3 for around 200$, and I just couldn't resist. I know it was always a troubled child among 3D printers, but that just gives it more charm in some way. I still prefer V6 style and open source, which many new printers don't provide, and there are also companies like Trianglelabs that offer cheap, (mostly) acceptable upgrades to "fix" older printers and bring them close or up to modern standard. But in the end, I just find it funny that I'm willing to go so far for an older printer, while something Infimech Tx does it all for similar or smaller price...
After finally upgrading to an X1C I can totally say YES!
You absolutely get what you pay for, and I think it's far too easy to get an interest in the hobby, only to have that cut short by mediocre hardware. I got my start tinkering with an Ender 3, before I got in touch with a number of printer manufacturers who were happy to send me Amazon return units for a very low price. At the time, $250 machines were coming in under $100! Often times, you got lucky and they simply never built it right, or couldn't figure out bed leveling.
I picked up an Ender 3 V3 KE for my brother last year, thinking that because it automated first layer calibration, it might be a decent machine for a decent price. He ran into issues within the first month, and it sat for most of the year until this past month, when I got a chance to modify and upgrade everything. Now it's screaming and reliable, but it took someone with experience to get there.
Spend the little extra up front, to save yourself a lot of time and headache down the road.
This has pretty much been my exact experience with my Neptune 2. I’ve added dual Z, direct drive, and converted to klipper. Feels almost like a reliable machine now.
My first printer was a Wanho i3 that had manual bed leveling and no removable bed. It was OK, but I never got the hang of leveling the bed, and constantly ran the nozzle into the blue painter's tape. I upgraded to a Prusa MK3 with auto leveling and a removable bed. It's so much better than that old Wanho ever could have been.
Great video and a very accurate depiction of my traumas in the recent past. Except mine were with Prusa i3 clones.
As they say, "Buy once, cry once" (if your primary objective is to actually print stuff and not to tinker with the printer.)
while i agree with the point of spending a little more and getting modern QoL upgrades out of the box, i still think it is necesary to go through a bit of pain and learn how these machines work, kinda like learning to drive manual before switching to automatic, i do find concerning the amount of apple-like mentality of people just recommending a specific machine as the only viable option today, best piece of advice is do your own research, look for all the pros and cons and find a sweet spot between price and features that suits you
These three upgrades represent the innovations that turned 3D printers from unreliable novelties into dependable tools, in my experience. There's no way I'd recommend anyone get a printer without them, given how affordable printers that do have become.
I bought cheap Ender 3 long time ago (6 years?). Only changed the motherboard for the silent one and replaced the plastic extruder when it broke. Had no problems with it since then. Can't remember the last time I had to do manual bed leveling. I might do things recommended in this video in the future but don't see any reason to do them when everything works for me. (Just to add an opinion into the mix.)
I'm still rocking my Ender 3 that I bought way back in 2018. Upgraded it a bunch over the years (Micro Swiss ND hotend, dual Z motors, PEI print bed, Raspberry + Klipper for input shaping, bl touch, etc) and it has been phenomenally reliable for me during the time. There have been no grave errors that I haven't directly caused as a user, so I have been extremely happy with the printer.
Granted - The extruder system did in fact eventually give out, which is what prompted me to do the Micro Swiss ND upgrade, but really it has been fantastic especially considering the price
If you're a handy man and you can be very careful and precise when building the printer yourself (because that's 80% of what determines your print quality imo) then these cheap printers are a good idea.
The ender you just described is straight up more expensive than a A1 Mini. Your advice is outdated.
@@BeefIngot damn that's true
Hang on though 1) the A1 mini is especially cheap *right now* because of black friday / xmas sales right and 2) an ender 3 has bigger build volume.
Print quality with my upgrades is about the same, but granted the bambulab is faster.
A better comparison would be the A1 which is slightly bigger but much closer in size and here the price advantage disappears.
Recently bought a P1S after years with an Ender 3 and then a Neptune 4. So happy to just be printing now.
I went though several 3D printers from Creality, FLSUN and Flashforge and yes they worked but also required a lot of tinkering. My Bambu X1C is pretty much plug and play I have printed 1000 items in total and only had 6 failures and I can bet they were human error related.
There is no harm in getting a cheap 3D printer and for a person who enjoys tinkering more than making it's a better way to go but if your a person who prefers to design and print go for something like a Prusa or a Bambu
I was about to give up on 3D printers. I would get 3 prints done and a part would break or the prints started to show something was out of adjustment. The Bambu printers showed me that a 3D printer could be a tool and not a tinkers hobby. I now have four Bambu Lab printers.
I've got an Elegoo Neptune 4 Pro and it was working great until I encountered the dreaded blob of death. That was actually fairly simple to sort out and clean up, but it seems to be stuck with the problem that caused the blob in the first place, which is it catches already printed layers. The initial layers go down fine, but as soon as it speeds up and starts doing in-fill, it'll catch something and that disturbance usually results in disaster.
I've levelled the bed so many times, and made sure that Z-Hop is enabled, but it won't print anything successfully. I even swapped to a new nozzle in case that was causing problems. At this point I'm out of ideas, other than replacing the whole extruder.
Aren't we supposed to be building a SteathChanger on a cheap 3D printer? I look forward to the conclusion of the project. I have my concerns about the attachment scheme of the heads to the gantry. I see a lot of StealthChangers in progress, and not a lot of finished parts. Which makes me hesitant to jump into the project.
I've been saying this since options like the A1 Mini came out. When you can have one for 180 USD on sale, saving an extra few more bucks really makes no sense.
People who don't know what they're buying see printers that look relatively similar and just don't understand the differences that matter like vrollers vs non vrollers or features like auto z or more.
They often (the _really_ "value" oriented ones (the real scrooges)) just think "but I can get more build volume for slightly cheaper" as if blind to anything they don't understand, and end up with a printer they hate.
To be fair my first printer was an anycubic chiron.... so you can see I was not immune to this either. I then spent more than the price of the printer fixing it.
People don't get that the frustration is not something its easy to put a price on.
picked up one of the neptunes when the second batch dropped, and got the adjuster/spring upgrades. dialed it in, haven't looked back. i've had to adjust it again _once_ in how many years now?
i've done some minor things like, putting the creality glass plate on it, a psu exhaust shroud, and a hotend shroud to direct the air better. it pretty much just works.
As a noob watching this video made me wonder what a wealth of functions It seems I've missed. My first and short lived printer was a used original Flashforge Creator Pro. It had issues that I did not understand, but my wife saw the value of what a 3D printer could have. So we bought a new Bambu Labs A1. It's been perfect, which means I have have no idea what could possibly make it better.
I still have my original Ender 2 and Ender 3 machines, the Ender 3 is upgraded within an inch of its life, I love working on them when things go south.
My X1 Carbon apart from the odd filament snap never goes wrong.
yep. My first was an acrylic plastic framed piece of chinesium which I replaced with the Prusa MK2 when it came out because the MK2 had the induction sensor for bed leveling. Now I have the Sovol SV08 which has more quirks than my old MK2->MK3S, but is still nicer to use.
Check every extrusion.
Make sure they are straight and the grooved channels are all the same.
I got bad prints till I figured out a extrusion channel was bent a little and a groove expansion in it.
Excellent timing
Atleast for me the Elegoo Neptune 4, which is i think 5 years newer than the 2? has worked marvelously and got int on sale for 200 and it's a dammn good machine for that price on sale. At the regular 350 price im not sure about that. But it's basically fixed everything wrong with the old Elegoos.
Great advice, as always.
I got into the hobby with a decent-ish machine in the Ender 3 Neo v1. Pretty good for what I paid and it hasn't let me down yet, but I do still have to tinker sometimes, definitely getting to old for that so my next machine will be something more expensive like a Bambu labs P1. I do appreciate the ender though, learned a lot about how these things work.
If you don't know better than not to buy a printer with a 2 or 3 star rating...well...
Even with a 4+ rating for ANY item it's always a good idea to read the lowest rating comments to see if there is a common complaint.
The thing this missed which I have experienced trying to gift printers is the software. All the settings are confusing. BBL printers slightly remedy this with pre sliced files from maker world but at some point they will have to slice their own and then in my experience they just give up.
Add a trip to the hardware for some steel or aluminum spacers and remove those bed springs. You have a probe system on that now.
If i could go back in time and do it all over again, I would save up and buy a nice 3D printer instead of all the cheap ones I bought and sunk money into.
In a way all the upgrades did taught us something about the hobby 🙂...and cost some nerves 😀
I'm learning a lot with my Sidewinder X2. Calibrating and tuning are a lot of fun.
Iphone users should buy a bamboo printer
Buy two cheap ender 3 for 50 a piece and build yourself a corexy over the holidays
Very Vintage, Very Demure, Very Thoughtful!
I recognize the firmware display format. It is MKS Robin firmware the Elegoo tweaked. But I notice that the board seems to be MKS clone, because I never seen a red MKS board. I have the MKS Robin Nano v1.2 board and it doesn’t look like that. I changed the vendor firmware for the MKS one and it made the printer a whole lot better
Depends if by "Fun" you mean fixing the design flaws in a 3D printer
Probably going to get some flak but, every printer I’ve bought since so got rid of my ender 3 v2 has been a refurbished Anycubic printer from their Vyper/Kobra lineup. I have had the max, the Neo, and the vyper. All 3 were pretty good out of the box. I’ve replaced a couple parts and had to ask for a build plate for the max, but they sent it out to me for free! IMO Buy an anycubic machine, they’ve been great to me.
When buying cheap printers, always buy two. That way you have a spares machine to fix it when it breaks!
Or two broken printers! At least you should have two cutters to use with your third printer.
@@See-essEll I see you have seen my basement setup.
200 will get you an A1 mini which is a great machine. Sure you can get a cheap printers which I've had and no longer use. Mine have been trouble free.
Cheap temu printer❌
Second hand old but upgradeable printer✅
Where i live i can find 80$ ender3 that already get bl touch and some direct drive upgrade
People still want $200-300 for stock ender 3's around here. Crazy. And I've seen stock Ender 6's for like $400-500. Like,... The FlashForge 5M Pro exists. No way I'm paying those asking prices.
@ i also seen ender5plus for 200$
This video should be labeled "flashbacks"
ptsd: the video
Sadly not everyone can afford those more reliable ones.
Simply not true. An A1 Mini is 180 bucks.
If you can't afford that, you can't hope to afford the filament for 3d printing anyways.
That’s a false economy. Spending time and money to constantly fix a printer is crazy, unless your time is worthless
I loved my neptune 2. while it was and ender 3 clone, the interface was better, and being an E3 clone parts were easy to find and lots of troubleshooting resources online!
I love my army of "slightly modded" Ender 3 but I would never recommend it to anyone unless they know what they are doing 😅
bambu lab a1 mini for the win especially now on the sale
If you’re looking for a budget 3d printer with great quality and reliability, and ease of use, definitely get a Bambu lab a1 mini. Or an a1, the a1 mini is only $200 brand new and the a1 is only $300. Great printers.
It's more than double the price of what an Ender 3 costs...
@@cosmefulanito5933 not to mention that spares are as expensive as proprietary stuff gets. If you manage to fund them that is
Little surprised you'd recommend and A1 mini over an Ender 3 V3 SE. I has more features for lower price. I've been using it for over a year with great pleasure.
Before even going far into the video Yes they are too much trouble my ender 3 pro even though it's a good printer I had lots of problems regarding bed leveling and multiple problems just get something better even if it means you pay a little bit more it will save you massive headaches and time
My university has a bunch of Enders that I am in charge of servicing. They are constantly be broken or having issues. They are considering upgrading all the printers. Do you think Bambulabs is a good company for a makerspace setting? Or do you have other suggestions?
what about the sovol sv06 ACE ? It looks like yet another ender clone, but with every needed upgrades. I think it is sold for around 260-280$. I have a highly modified ender3 v2, tbh if the sovol works as it is described, i'd say it would be a great recommendation for an entry level printer. the bambu is still pretty expensive.
FlashForge is a great choice
Gore watching I’m going to comment: a few are, most aren’t
Honestly, I encourage people to get the cheap ones that they need to tinker with. Because even on your $1500 Bambu lab, eventually *something* is going to break--and if you had to tinker your way through getting an Ender 3 printing well, you'll have the knowledge to diagnose your Bambu.
Hobbyist-level 3D printing is still not at the point that normal people can use it--it reminds me of home computers back in the 80s, when I was kid. You had to have a certain level of technical competency to use them.
4:50 Just give it a good knock on the side with an iPhone
What i dont understand is if they have auto bed leveling, why have manual nobs? My Neptune 3 pro has no manual adjustment and its only $160 right now and works great (it is slow though)
Yes they are.
Its an Elegoo roast 😂
Am I the only one using artillery printers with no mods/nothing done besides calibrate esteps, basic leveling and increase bed mesh to 15x15 with extra probes and have no problems?
I miss the mustache
Yes.
Havent watched the video yet, but yes
I got a couple Ender 3 v3 KEs and they suuuuuuck. SUUUUUUUUUCK. Spend more, cry less.
And if you want stuff that just works, don't buy a printer with a plan to upgrade it to not suck. Just buy something that doesn't suck in the first place. By the time you're done upgrading, you've spent far more time and money than necessary.
is it me, or was the gantry really saggy to the left.
Yes, yes, yes
just get the A1 mini for $180
0:07 ok i know for a fact my cr10 max is in wors shape than yours so how did you manage this?
Also you nust have a pretty big nozzle if you expected that to finish before the heat death of the universe.
This is a legitimate question by the way, I would like to avoid this.
I think the experience of upgrading a printer to be more useful than out of the box grants some experience and know how, for the future, when things go wrong. You've given yourself the ability to repair and identify problems that can occur. My 2 cents. I'd probably recommend a flashforge adventurer 5 tho instead, you can achieve some impressive speeds n print quality for 300 bucks. And you don't have to worry about anyone watching you if you want.
sigh! Yes. Get a bambu mini. Be prepared to call support when it doesn't do what you want it to do because you know nothing about 3d printers.
if you want to print stuff rather than learn how to build 3d printers, buy a A1 mini
Moustache is kill 😢
1:44 ok i want to see a video of you designing and building a printer using only a bespoke motion system you came up with by yourself that matches or exceeds its closest competition.
Not trying to be mean, this would be legitimately cool to see as a video but the thing is its not as simple as "quit cloning a successful arrangement" if you look at mills or lathes for the most part you wont find much variation in how they move because of practicality and cost.
Still definitely no reason to buy the bottom of the barel stuff
I refuse to suggest anything but bambu anymore. I tell everyone I will not support your creality printer... you are on your own if you buy that. After 10 years of 3d printing I am done dealing with all these issues that come with these cheap printers.
What abt Prusa?
Something I think is a valid option is getting a stripped down cheap one knowing it has issues but accept it as a learning experience just so you can learn the systems as you fix it. Its what I did, but I went in knowing it wasn't going to be a good out of box experience.