The Ender 3 pro was a very easy build I had it ready to print in 1:15 hours and it’s printed through two rolls of filament now and I’m amazed with the quality of prints and the over quality of the printer. It was worth every penny I spent on it. Also, the shipping took two days, so that was amazingly fast. The only thing I had to alter on the printer has been the bed leveling springs for ones that are stiffer. A $8 fix. The magnetic bed cover is great for getting parts off the bed. You just have to get the shiny new off it by washing and I put a little Elmer’s glue on it. No unstuck prints what so ever running 60deg on the bed for pla plus. The only thing I’d change about this machine is making the bed larger. I love the printer and most people that have had experience with printers before will find this one a breath of fresh air.Read full review
This is my first 3D printer, but with my electronics degree and 20 years experience in Networking and IT, plus some machining experience, I feel confident I can make it go. I assumed this unit was in good working condition, but it is used, so minor items may need some attention; however it should "work" with no major repairs needed.
Pros:
It's a very good price for an Ender 3.
Shipping speed was good.
New fastener set
Cons:
Z Axis stepper motor shaft was bent. This caused the Z Axis shaft to wobble about an inch at the top, causing the print to not operate
Z Axis shaft was damaged on one end. This was bad enough it would not fit into the Z Axis collet which attaches to the Z Axis motor shaft. I was able to deburr it with a file, and sanding so it could be used in the collet.
Fastener set was missing 2 screws for Z Axis limit shaft, and one t-nut.
Old firmware with fire safety shutoff missing
The Ender 3 is good for starting out, but has several slights where Creality went really cheap. Some of these can be upgraded with some labor, such as flashing a bootloader to the mainboard, which allows you to upgrade your firmware via the USB port. I used my Arduino Uno for this which I already had. This allowed me to flash the latest Marlin firmware which has the fire safety enabled for the hot-end, and allows any number of customizations, and some upgrades. If you want to change out your stepper motor drivers, you need a mainboard which is RAMPS compatible. The MKS Gen L, is around $20. The main reason for changing this out would be to change stepper motor drivers, more space in flash, so other accessories work better like auto bed leveling. For example manual bed mesh leveling (no sensor required), enabled in Marlin, with a stock mainboard, and requires the boot screen to be disabled, due to a lack of space.
I also have a Z Axis motor spacing issue which causes the shaft to tilt out at the top. This can be adjusted by bending the plate which houses the Z Axis Shaft screw, ensuring its square at 90 degrees. For now, I've spaced my Z Axis Motor away from the vertical cross brace as a temp fix, so I can use it until I can tear it down.
Overall if you don't expect the printer to just work out of the box, and don't mind working on it, the price is good. I've learned much in the last 4 days about 3D printers, and overall my Ender 3 will have the following costs.
Cost of repairs:
New Z Axis Stepper $15 (more on this later)
Longer screws for Z Motor spacing, $2
Total for operational Ender 3
$165.00
Upgrades so far
Borosilicate Glass Bed: $20
PEI Build Surface Sheet: $15
Nozzle Kit: $9
Raspberry Pi: $38 (Re-purposed existing Pi 3B+)
USB mini to type A for Pi: $7
Octopi: FREE
Total with current upgrades
$260 (includes Pi 3B+)
Future Upgrades
Auto Bed Leveling: $60
Tighten Y carriage: 0 - $50 depends on DIY vs buy
Swiss Hotend: $65
MKS Gen L Mainboard: $20
TMC2130 Stepper Motor Drivers: $35
MKS TFT28 Color Display: $35
Dual Z Axis: $60
Total after upgrades: $550
Why bother with all the upgrades, well it's turns the Ender 3 into a very accurate, machine capable of printing in any current material including Teflon and Polycarbonate, which allows me to make parts that are wear and temp resistant to repair many parts around the house and outside like lawnmower and tractor parts, plus I get to learn more for a reason. I also think it makes the Ender 3 comparable to the Prusa i3 MK3 which is around $750 as a kit and $1,000 assembled. I also know this thing inside out and can repair it as needed in nearly all aspects including hardware, electronics, and software.
The motor for $16 was purchased on Amazon because the one I received was bent, and I didn't want to rely on the seller to provide a replacement. I did contact them, explain everything, and send a picture (see below) and they stated it was not bent, so you be the judge. They want a video now and I really don't feel like removing the motor again, installing a bad one, shooting a video, then fixing it again.
Pictures below
Z Axis Cube pic was too blurry to be usable.Read full review
I'm very happy with this printer, it did come with a few scratches from being a refurbished model (as to be expected) but some of the components were already assembled and all of the hardware was there, packaged as if it were new. So far the printer has been printing perfectly after I adjusted some screws on the bed to tighten everything up and now its printing on its own without any trouble. I haven't even had to relevel the bed since getting it down the first time. The magnetic pad is working better than expected so I'm not rushing off to get a glass plate yet but I can see that it won't last forever. Overall a great purchase for the money and its printing better than some systems I have at my work which cost several hundred more.
I purchased this printer used at about 75% of the cost of a new unit. This was as a replacement to a cheaper (Labists) mini printer once I knew this was a hobby worth pursuing. It has all of the features you should be looking for if you want to get into 3d printing without major hassles: a heated bed, control board, and a community of modders and manufacturers with upgrades. I was left high and dry with the Labists; I couldn't get good adhesion, had no real time control of temperature, and the print area was small to boot. Plus, there was hardly any support online.
Enter the Ender! This thing is worth the hype. It's amazing what features you can get for the base price of $160, let alone the $120-ish you can get this for used. I already had filament so I was up and running in just a few hours. It looked brand new when assembling. It wasn't until I tried my first print did I discover existing filament in the hot end, otherwise I would have never known.
First tip: watch setup videos. Pay attention to the areas where you need to be precise and align well. Notably, the angle of the X axis bar has some play to it, so align it as well as you can to the bed so the bed can level with minimal adjustment. Pay attention to the Z stop and know how it works. Make sure the printer is on a level surface and has no wobble.
Leveling is pretty easy but finicky. You'll have to level every few prints just to make sure something hasn't moved. In stock, the printer prints with high precision and I was excited to have a few great prints pretty quickly, and I learned more as I used it. I'm now at a point where I understand issues as they pop up and how to fix them. Luckily, in 3d printing, you know pretty quick if there will be a more common issue, so there's not much waste.
Once you are happy, you'll find yourself wanting to get more out of it, but at stock this works amazingly well. Most of the upgrades are not critical but make the process easier.
My top 3 recommended upgrades are:
1.) Tempered glass build plate- better adhesion and release. The stock plate sticks well but almost TOO well, and I hate jabbing at the print with a scraper to get it to release.
2.) Auto-bed leveling kit- leveling isn't hard and it gets better the more you learn, but an AL kit just makes the whole process easier. You k kw you will get consistent first layers every time.
3.) Silent board- I got this because I wanted compatibility with the AL kit without needing an adapter but I ended up loving how quiet the printer becomes as a result. ALL of the high-pitch whines are gone. It's almost all fan noise now. It's great, especially since the printer is in my office where I'm often on Zoom calls.
4.) The rest are low priority, but you can get a bigger print space with extenders, change to laser cutting/engraving, better extrusion, etc. Great upgrades but this far unnecessary. The point is that you CAN do those upgrades because they are all available.
Buy with confidence. You'll be printing in no time!Read full review
After looking through my options out there I decided on an Ender 3 Pro. I’ve used a TAZ5 beforehand and those are not within the same comparison, but I’m aware of how to work the 3D prints. I’ve made a handful of figurines to operating parts successfully and with hardly any issues. Make sure to purchase decent filament and you won’t have to fight the thing. I recommend watching one of the many YouTube videos while assembling so no issues arise during use. I do a simple wipe clean on the bed after each use and so far it’s been a joy to operate. If you’re interested in 3D printing, this is a great one to start out on.
