Which first 3d printer - unexpected Xmas present!!!

[ched]

I've been down that route and did a lot of research and imho BL Touch is the neatest and most reliable system. You get a few spares in the kit, it's a bit of a faff doing the changes to Marlin but for a few AU$ you can download the file ready done by TT. He also has done his own mount which brings the hot end nearer the centre of the bed. I would also recommend the Bullseye vent too. Not sure it makes too much difference with PLA but did with PETG. Something else to watch out for is the nozzle and bed temps. The monitored temps on my E3 are about 20 deg higher than actual. All of the LH mods are very worth doing as well. I also did away with the tape around the hot end and replaced with a silicone sleeve. I have also rigged 2 rows of rc model led strip to improve the view of the print.

Thanks very much for the tips. Only a few more sleeps till I get to play  :D :D :D :D :D

[iwan_canobi]

Ive also got the ender 3 and its been awesome! Maybe I was lucky but I didn't need to mod mine at all, it printed great out of the box and has been ever since. Only thing I did is get a flexible aluminium build plate which is a must in my opinion. Sheet of build tak like stuff on it and PLA sticks perfectly, never had any adhesion issues and then you just take the plate off and give it a slight bend to release the part. I lost the rag on my older printers having to use spatulas and knives to get the prints off then end up damaging the print surface and/or the part, with this there are no issues at all!

You'll love it either way, its a great hobby!

[ched]

Ive also got the ender 3 and its been awesome! Maybe I was lucky but I didn't need to mod mine at all, it printed great out of the box and has been ever since. Only thing I did is get a flexible aluminium build plate which is a must in my opinion. Sheet of build tak like stuff on it and PLA sticks perfectly, never had any adhesion issues and then you just take the plate off and give it a slight bend to release the part. I lost the rag on my older printers having to use spatulas and knives to get the prints off then end up damaging the print surface and/or the part, with this there are no issues at all!

You'll love it either way, its a great hobby!

Thanks. It came with an additional glass bed so I will try that first. Just watched a vid from Thomas Sanladerer on unbox, build, etc. His print did stick a bit too well  :D

[BigT]

Ive also got the ender 3 and its been awesome! Maybe I was lucky but I didn't need to mod mine at all, it printed great out of the box and has been ever since. Only thing I did is get a flexible aluminium build plate which is a must in my opinion. Sheet of build tak like stuff on it and PLA sticks perfectly, never had any adhesion issues and then you just take the plate off and give it a slight bend to release the part. I lost the rag on my older printers having to use spatulas and knives to get the prints off then end up damaging the print surface and/or the part, with this there are no issues at all!

You'll love it either way, its a great hobby!

I am writing this for members future reference. Research on the different forums has shown:  There are 2 distinctive kits. 1 made from parts that pass QC and sold by Amazon, Creality and some licensed franchisees. The other is from kits that fail QC and generally sold by the likes of Gearbest, Goodluckbuy and various eBay outlets purporting to be U.K. based but shipping Drop Shipmfrom the big Chinese Sheds.

. This is a general policy followed by Chinese manufacturers, for example as I discovered to my chagrin, DLE Engines. For a long time it was common believe that there where factories st up to produce "knock off" products but logic would tell that it is not economical for such small production runs for items at low prices.  DLE engines components that fail QC are sold out the back door complete with genuine paperwork. I know cos I bought one off eBay which turned out to be a dropship from a shop in Hong Kong and returned  it to the factory when my wife was out there on business. The MD admitted it was an engine made from there components but was not retailed by one of their dealers. No refund given.

However, of course there are knock off factories. For example the government built a copy Land Rover factory and are making a pure clone of the new Discovery. There is a factory with exact copies of the machines used to make vintage Rolex watches and produce clones named Rolex and are so very very difficult to spot even Rolex dealers get taken in.

My Ender 3 came from Gearbest and had all of the known QC fail issues. IE distorted bed, faulty hot end set up, loose Bowden, oval carriage wheels, bed carriage and x axis motor out of line,  xt60 connector overheated to 100c, build bed levelling screws binding in the carriage, old Marlin firmware, faulty SD card.

When I bought from Gearbest I was as green as grass and had no idea, just went for the cheapest.

So, further info, warranty:
Amazon and Amazon Prime: no quibble return and money back
Creality Direct: will replace faulty and broken items but only after prolonged argument and negotiation
Gearbest and all Chinese Sheds. Basically forget it. You have to pay for return, good luck with that, most say it will disappear even with a signature and postage is huge so don't bother, just fix it.
U.K. Franchise: 50/50 chance if you stand your ground and have paid with a credit card which is a must IMHO
eBay drop ship: well we all know how that works. If you have opened the box and built the machine, forget it unless paid by credit card, then section 75 claim through your card provider may work.

All of the above faults can be rectified, Luke Hatfield mods do work and will improve the performance of even a genuine QC pass machine.

Anyone who wants a plug and play 3D printer and is not a tinkerer should look at something like a Flash Forge.

My borosilicate glass bed shiny side up is amazing. No hair spray or anything used, parts stick like the preverbial u TIL the bed cools down then they just pop off. Like Iwan says the stock bed needed a hammer and chisel. One thing about the borosilicate, it's a soft glass so will scratch.

[ched]

Thanks for the post BigT. As I had so much to do n Christmas day (cook dinner, flt newly arrived Mobula7, and build ender 3) I was 'allowed' to open the ender 3 yesterday afternoon  :D
So I followed the detailed instructions from Luke Hatfield. It is a good guide but there are a couple of errors or maybe that is my misunderstanding. i.e. he says to modify the z limit switch by cutting off the ref nub! Maybe this was wrong but I put the limit switch in the designated place and adjusted the bed to match? He also tells you to bolt the vertical extrusions in so they can be twisted but then never tells you to fully tighten them!

Anyway I bought mine from Technology Outlet for £169 including a Creality glass bed with 4 extra clips and some extra nozzles. Interestingly it came with a build surface that is sort of rough on top and maybe fibreglass on bottom it is attached to the ali bed via 'bulldog' type clips. It does stick very well, if a little too well, but can be unclipped and then bent to pop off print. I haven't tried the glass bed yet. The ali bed looks fairly flat, well using a plastic ruler it doesn't seem to bow or dip in the middle.

So it did take me 2hrs to assemble but that was due to reading instructions over and over to make sure I knew what I was doing plus the x axis had to be removed about 4 times to get it level.

First prints seem great using default settings. All worked perfectly. I am going to try and print something I 'designed' today and see how it come out dimensionally.

I still have to add a boot loader and then update the FW to add over heat protection. So that should keep me busy today  :)
Thanks to everyone for the tips they were/are very helpful.

[BigT]

I think removing  the nub on the z limit is to give greater adjustment when you have locked in place the bed levelling screws. In any case you will remove the switch if you fit a BL Touch. Don't recommend bending the build surface, just let it cool down and I used a very thin spreader blade to flick it off. Worth taking a note of the slicer settings for the stock builds. Glad it's all goi g well.

[ched]

Cheers. From the vids I watched I was expecting the build surface to be bonded to the ali bed but my one is not! My first design printed fine  :D it was within 0.1mm accuracy wise so I am pleased.
When I say 'bending' the print bed I more mean flexing a little and I can hear it easing off. Think glass will be better for finish wise.
I still have the bootloader to sort so guessing that I need to make a not of the settings somewhere. Will watch a few vids to make sure I am doing it correctly.
Then I will give the glass bed a go.

I am am very pleased how well it's going so far but I don't really have anything to compare it to in terms of print quality.

Thanks

[iwan_canobi]

Ah good info there Big T, I bought from Amazon, mine is branded Elegoo but all the stuff is creality marked, so I'm thinking they may be a licensed distributer, either that or I haven't noticed the reason for a QC fail yet, but it has printed flawlessly for the last 3 months.

Mine had the fiberglass Flexi bed as well, it works just as well s the aluminium one but I'd ordered the alu one before the printer arrived as I didn't realize it came with the Flexi one. I cut the fibreglass one down and use it on my ender 2 now and it's great! Once you've used a Flexi bed it's hard to go back to a solid one, although I've never tried the borrosilicate ones which sound ideal as well.

Look forward to seeing some prints on it!

[chris-s]

I think we'll have to start a 'What I printed today' thread to compliment the 'What arrived today' one :)

Happy printing!

Chris

[jono44]

I also use mirrors, you can get a pack of 4 from ikea for about £16.00.

[Coyote]

I think we'll have to start a 'What I printed today' thread to compliment the 'What arrived today' one :)

Happy printing!

Chris

That's not a bad idea ! Done :)