I think an interesting point here is that a big difference, in my experience, is that the less expensive printers tend to have more things slip through QA than more expensive printers (because there’s budget there for someone to actually test things before they leave the floor!). They are both good designs but I think Prusa has better QA and support options.
This affects more than 3d printers! Those kinds of trends are pretty prevalent across a lot of industries, especially tech stuff.
I’m kinda having more fun hot rodding my Ender than I thought I would, but that said I also don’t want to do it forever. I just want it to be more than adequate and give me all the material options I can muster.
I wouldn’t say a lack of QC but the fact that they are built down to a price, that’s how you keep the price down. Enders and other low cost printers have some lower quality parts at the get go, no secret but the lower price lets people get into printing. Once you have one then you can replace or repair as needed. On the Enders the fans are cheap and noisy but can easily, with little cost, be replaced. The same with the extruder and bed springs, they work just fine but have a limited life span and good replacement ones are cheap. Again no big secret. The other parts like the power supply, motherboard, servos etc are just fine and if someday something fails then replacement parts are accessible off the commercial shelf and reasonably priced. Only a couple of parts are proprietary to Creality and could be replaced with other branded equivalent parts if the originals where no longer available. The frame is sturdy and unlikely to be a problem but again an off the shelf item. All the other mods I did where not really required I just wanted to do them and have improved the print quality some, mostly by the ABL. All that makes the Ender 3 series infinitely repairable and infinitely upgradable, including the overall print area size if one wants a bigger printer. All of this can be done over several months or even years so the cost doesn’t hit the wallet to hard.
You can buy a Prusa or an even more expensive printer, all of those things will likely never come up and be perfectly happy but you will pay at least twice as much, maybe more, as my modded printer costs in total. If you have the money and don’t wish to deal with modding and replacing parts then you should get a Prusa or other high end brand otherwise have some fun and go cheap. It is all about what you want.
P.S. there are printers that are no longer made, parts are not available anymore and they can not be repaired, if they ever could because of the design. That is not an issue with the cheaper printers made with common part.
My creality suffered very poor QC. JST not connected to the board, pins loose, miss matched connectors duponts jammed into JST with hot melt glue to hold it in place. I know my machine seems to be an odd ball. It arrived UNSAFE to use. I am so glad the 3DPC gets the CSA Group to re approve every printer. I cannot fathom HOW that is possible and stay competitive, but they seem to manage. When I worked with CSA on an approval… well lets say I am stunned they can get each one checked.
Once the inspector is familiar it goes quick and they can do a lot of units in one visit. on these, I suspect they are just checking power cords and bonding and fuses for the 120v supply CSA does nothing for low voltage like the 24v stuff beyond the PSU
Glenn to be honest I wouldn’t really know. My only experience was being involved with a new product being inspected it took forever and cost, well a fortune. I was barely involved, photographs and design work. I do know that they chose CSA Group because they are so well recognized and trusted, world wide.
I rebuilt the printer and put completely new electronics (all cables, boards, power supply) adjusted or altered all the belts, lead screws and connectors. Gantry and XYZ axis all new bearings and belts. Basically everything but the metal skirt.
I got lucky and bought a first machine that worked right out of the box, had a great user interface, and didn’t make me give up.
Unfortunately, it was composed of cheap parts and eventually failed spectacularly.
But I had already learned a lot by that time.
I would suggest a balanced approach that @Gerk alluded to: buy a prusa knock off.
@mykepredko
Yes, cheap is what this individual wants. It is very clear.
Cheap and cheery, as my mom would say. We have a contributor singing the praises of his Prusa knock off and he prolly has more nerd power than the rest of us put together.
I have a feeling you are responding more to me than original posters on a couple threads, and if so, check yourself.
It is actually a fair idea. The print farm is full of Prusa’s they all get non stop print production. This will demonstrate any issues rather quickly they print 3 tons of filament a month. If there is a design flaw if will appear.
If there is a change needed like a adjustment for correct an issue over time (fan shroud for example) the consumer can just print their own and it is simple to switch over. If you have a roto mold it is 100000s to re build you can’t just release a quick change, it is a long expensive process.
All that in the end topic is what you want to get away 3d printing. To print and now no longer parent out the way to restore matters and overhaul and revamp, for example, download a model, placed withinside the slicer, and hit print, cease of story … or however assuming you want the all-out enjoy of scratching your head to try and find out why you are getting spout stops up, once more and once more, including redesigns, revamping, grafting in more connectors, For more printing services near me
