Nice review. :) I see yours still has the BLTouch bed level sensor, mine had issues with "Failed to Deploy" errors and then "Failed to retract" errors which prompted Qidi to replace it with a magnetic sheet as well as an inductive prox sensor. If you aren't getting these errors then I would stick with your BLTouch. Your X-Max 3 has the early version of the hotend covers which has only one fan in the front. The current(?) version has two fans for the front cover as well as a fan in the rear cover. To provide a place to connect these new fans there is a small board that you need to install on the back of the extruder below the toolhead controller (the Canbus card). This, along with a new cold & hotend, fixed a problem that I was having with material melting at the entrance to the coldend and stopping it up. This made feeding in the start of a new spool of filament impossible to do if your spool ran out during the print. A bonding wire and a new Canbus USB-C cable were sent out to fix a problem that occurred where the controller would have random resets. It turns out that a supplier manufactured the USB-C without a ground wire (or maybe it didn't have the negative wire). Don't do what I did and put it away as a replacement until I needed it. In fairness to me, no one mentioned that the USB-C cable was defective. :) I got a new extruder, I'm not sure why, but having learned my lesson it got installed. My Canbus controller board blew a diode and Qidi sent me out a new controller board. --- Current bugs in the firmware that I have noticed (and reported): When you do an Auto Level routine you have to hit the "Completed" button on the touch screen or it will not store your offset that you created with the plastic sheet under the nozzle. This will occur if you start an Auto Level routine and then load a new project from your PC. Should you do this you can still manually raise the bed to where your offset should have been by using the "Z Offset" button. Lowering the bed to the bottom and then raising it will raise the bed in 10mm increments regardless of what distance you have selected. An earlier bug (which appears to have been fixed) prevented the Auto Level routine from starting if you had your bed fully lowered. I had to reboot the printer to recover from this. Qidi is aware of these nuisance bugs. I have the camera from Qidi. It is very helpful to have it. I'm in the last hour of a 25hr print and things are all good. I had to start a new roll of filament as my original roll ran out. No drama there. And this is the latest in a series of never ending prints that take around 18 - 26 hours each. In general it has now problem printing these. Each print uses all of the build plate as I am print toys as part of a Toys-4-Tots competition. But my printer has been running nearly non-stop for a month or so. Overall I am over the moon with the quality of the X-Max 3, as well as the support from Qidi. This is my 5th or 6th printer, and prior to the X-Max 3, support was non-existent. I'm no stranger to modifying my printers, but it is so nice to have the company fix things for me.
Thank you. Since this video I was having the communication issues with the printer. Can’t remember what the message said exactly. QIDI sent me the bed magnet sheet, new head covers with fan upgrades and the new cable. After those changes she is working great!
@@thelightersideofrc You're welcome of course! The USB-C cable (not having a ground wire in it) is that prime suspect for the crashes. And if you get the bonding wire sent out to you (you should), follow the installation video especially concerning the orientation of the printer as shown in the video. I didn't, and had to remove the power supply to shake out one of the nuts from the cover that found its way into it. Doh! And my printer has become a completely different printer once the upgrades had been installed. This is the fifth 20+ hour print in a row. No problems at all. :)
@MrWaalkman, Thanks for your comment, I'm looking at buying the XMax and between watching a number of reviews, and what you've said, I'll be ordering one (with a camera and 32 Mb expansion) as soon as my finances allow it 👍
@@Smokeyr67 You're welcome! And I'm still happy with my Qidi. It's not perfect, but it's very good. :) One tip that I would like to share is that the "new" method of removing, or swapping out, filament is to release the Bowden tube from the top of the hotend each and every time. Yeah, not sustainable... What I did was to release it from the hotend and put a short piece of clear Bowden tube and simply let the two tubes pull together as the filament feeds into the hotend. Much simpler. In any case, I hope that you enjoy your printer once you get it. :)
For sheer simplicity and ease of use, the BAMBU wins for sure! I like the size of the Qidi but if im doing a quick print or mockup, the Bambu gets the job.
I have a QIDI tech x-CF still in the box, i am returning it to get this instead. save $300. Get a bigger print bed. Heated enclosure and klipper🤷♂️ how can I lose
Now thats a nice peice of kit 😮. Bugger to expensive to get to bottom of the world 😊 be useful machine for you not having to wait for replacement part.😊😅
I have been having the worst experience with the Max 3 I received. It’s been few weeks and I still can’t get a decent benchy from this machine. Don’t fall for the‘ qidi sent me this’ quality of the machine they pass a quality check that is difference from yours. Loose belts, bolts and plate from day 1!
Interesting to hear. My first bency didn't work. Tightened belt as it was slipping and it's been great since. I have put through 2.5kg of material so far and it's been flawless. Printing a Massive SLUG for my daughter right now. Silk PLA and uses 560 g filament. 38 hour print. Sorry your having issues.
@@thelightersideofrc Im glad you are able to print things for your daughter, I unfortunately have spent about two rolls just on benchys and test cubes. Everything is loose and the bed for some reason decides to go out of sync on a regular basis and hit the nozzle which resulted in a scraped sheet on both of its sides. Anyway just warning potential buyers to be aware especially the newbies like myself.
I’d like to update and also mention that their support is very good, and that I was sent replacement parts that fixed the issues I was having. It’s now printing fine thankfully 😅
I got mine last month with the latest updates. I have not experienced any problems at all. Usually the problems with any printer is user error or not setting it up correctly. If you are new to 3d printing, you have a learning curve you must climb.
What will you do with all of those old versions of the equipment you get from your dponcer. I think they should let you do a nice door price like some of the other giveaway stuff you've done. I could easily win one of those printers and prinf domething for the set of candy lights i already won. 😅😅😅😅😅😂😂😂😂😂😂😊
Check out the QIDI Xmax 3 Here! s.zbanx.com/r/4ZFIiXYdgEXz
Nice review. :)
I see yours still has the BLTouch bed level sensor, mine had issues with "Failed to Deploy" errors and then "Failed to retract" errors which prompted Qidi to replace it with a magnetic sheet as well as an inductive prox sensor. If you aren't getting these errors then I would stick with your BLTouch.
Your X-Max 3 has the early version of the hotend covers which has only one fan in the front. The current(?) version has two fans for the front cover as well as a fan in the rear cover. To provide a place to connect these new fans there is a small board that you need to install on the back of the extruder below the toolhead controller (the Canbus card). This, along with a new cold & hotend, fixed a problem that I was having with material melting at the entrance to the coldend and stopping it up. This made feeding in the start of a new spool of filament impossible to do if your spool ran out during the print.
A bonding wire and a new Canbus USB-C cable were sent out to fix a problem that occurred where the controller would have random resets. It turns out that a supplier manufactured the USB-C without a ground wire (or maybe it didn't have the negative wire). Don't do what I did and put it away as a replacement until I needed it. In fairness to me, no one mentioned that the USB-C cable was defective. :)
I got a new extruder, I'm not sure why, but having learned my lesson it got installed.
My Canbus controller board blew a diode and Qidi sent me out a new controller board.
---
Current bugs in the firmware that I have noticed (and reported):
When you do an Auto Level routine you have to hit the "Completed" button on the touch screen or it will not store your offset that you created with the plastic sheet under the nozzle. This will occur if you start an Auto Level routine and then load a new project from your PC.
Should you do this you can still manually raise the bed to where your offset should have been by using the "Z Offset" button.
Lowering the bed to the bottom and then raising it will raise the bed in 10mm increments regardless of what distance you have selected.
An earlier bug (which appears to have been fixed) prevented the Auto Level routine from starting if you had your bed fully lowered. I had to reboot the printer to recover from this.
Qidi is aware of these nuisance bugs.
I have the camera from Qidi. It is very helpful to have it.
I'm in the last hour of a 25hr print and things are all good. I had to start a new roll of filament as my original roll ran out. No drama there. And this is the latest in a series of never ending prints that take around 18 - 26 hours each. In general it has now problem printing these. Each print uses all of the build plate as I am print toys as part of a Toys-4-Tots competition. But my printer has been running nearly non-stop for a month or so.
Overall I am over the moon with the quality of the X-Max 3, as well as the support from Qidi. This is my 5th or 6th printer, and prior to the X-Max 3, support was non-existent. I'm no stranger to modifying my printers, but it is so nice to have the company fix things for me.
Thank you. Since this video I was having the communication issues with the printer. Can’t remember what the message said exactly. QIDI sent me the bed magnet sheet, new head covers with fan upgrades and the new cable. After those changes she is working great!
@@thelightersideofrc You're welcome of course!
The USB-C cable (not having a ground wire in it) is that prime suspect for the crashes. And if you get the bonding wire sent out to you (you should), follow the installation video especially concerning the orientation of the printer as shown in the video. I didn't, and had to remove the power supply to shake out one of the nuts from the cover that found its way into it. Doh!
And my printer has become a completely different printer once the upgrades had been installed. This is the fifth 20+ hour print in a row. No problems at all. :)
@MrWaalkman,
Thanks for your comment, I'm looking at buying the XMax and between watching a number of reviews, and what you've said, I'll be ordering one (with a camera and 32 Mb expansion) as soon as my finances allow it 👍
@@Smokeyr67 You're welcome! And I'm still happy with my Qidi. It's not perfect, but it's very good. :)
One tip that I would like to share is that the "new" method of removing, or swapping out, filament is to release the Bowden tube from the top of the hotend each and every time. Yeah, not sustainable... What I did was to release it from the hotend and put a short piece of clear Bowden tube and simply let the two tubes pull together as the filament feeds into the hotend. Much simpler.
In any case, I hope that you enjoy your printer once you get it. :)
I just noticed your hand. Have you tried printing one of those hands that open and close with the movement of your wrist?
I've only every known this. I have joked that if hand transplants were possible I would still say no. It's helped me become who I am.
Always enjoy these new product vids Thanks
Thanks for watching!
After 4 months of use how do you feel about the qidi compared to the bambu?
For sheer simplicity and ease of use, the BAMBU wins for sure! I like the size of the Qidi but if im doing a quick print or mockup, the Bambu gets the job.
I have a QIDI tech x-CF still in the box, i am returning it to get this instead. save $300. Get a bigger print bed. Heated enclosure and klipper🤷♂️ how can I lose
Been a great machine so far.
Epic 😊
Thanks!
Now thats a nice peice of kit 😮. Bugger to expensive to get to bottom of the world 😊 be useful machine for you not having to wait for replacement part.😊😅
Yea I can imagine! It's been very handy!
I have been having the worst experience with the Max 3 I received. It’s been few weeks and I still can’t get a decent benchy from this machine.
Don’t fall for the‘ qidi sent me this’ quality of the machine they pass a quality check that is difference from yours.
Loose belts, bolts and plate from day 1!
Interesting to hear. My first bency didn't work. Tightened belt as it was slipping and it's been great since. I have put through 2.5kg of material so far and it's been flawless. Printing a Massive SLUG for my daughter right now. Silk PLA and uses 560 g filament. 38 hour print. Sorry your having issues.
@@thelightersideofrc Im glad you are able to print things for your daughter, I unfortunately have spent about two rolls just on benchys and test cubes.
Everything is loose and the bed for some reason decides to go out of sync on a regular basis and hit the nozzle which resulted in a scraped sheet on both of its sides.
Anyway just warning potential buyers to be aware especially the newbies like myself.
I’d like to update and also mention that their support is very good, and that I was sent replacement parts that fixed the issues I was having.
It’s now printing fine thankfully 😅
@yasoos6813 awesome! That’s great to hear!
I got mine last month with the latest updates. I have not experienced any problems at all. Usually the problems with any printer is user error or not setting it up correctly. If you are new to 3d printing, you have a learning curve you must climb.
No over the air firmware update is disappointing
Yes, updates are a pain in the butt!
What will you do with all of those old versions of the equipment you get from your dponcer. I think they should let you do a nice door price like some of the other giveaway stuff you've done. I could easily win one of those printers and prinf domething for the set of candy lights i already won. 😅😅😅😅😅😂😂😂😂😂😂😊
I like your thinking!