3D Printer or Printer Parts Ordered On a Whim (or drunk)?

[Demosth]

I wanted to reach out and start a fun discussion, prompted by a fellow members username.

I have made many a bad purchase online; sometimes you get a bad vendor, sometimes you get over-marketed on a part, sometimes you have the absolute BEST experience from ordering something on a whim (or while intoxicated)

I don't want to limit the discussion to good or bad, but want to hear some great stories!

[SteveThatcher]

One of the reasons I really like Amazon Prime...  just a few months ago, I was researching commercial level printers to replace my aging Anycubic i3 Mega-S printers.  I looked at a lot of printers and discounted some because they didn't bother to identify technology used like 32 bit controller, used custom parts for hotends, etc. Personally, I have had good experiences for the most part with Anycubic (I did replace the electronics, extruder, and hotend v5 to v6 these last few months).  I have three of these upgraded printers running.

I actually bought a Anycubic Viper - 32 bit, flexible PEI pebbled bed, and auto leveling.  Ran it for three days and didn't like the pebbled bottom on prints and I wasn't liking the results from the volcano for what I print. It also turned out it was a sort of v6 but a proprietary top mount. Called Amazon and sent it back - did not meet expectations - full refund.

Bad printer

Good thing I bought from Prime

Made me look further for open source and that was when I found the Voron 2.4 design.

Edited March 23, 2022 by SteveThatcher

[ozzy09]

I have had Creality Ender 3 V2 printer for almost 3 months now from amazon link, and i can say that I have had no really big problems with this 3D printer from Ender. For a novice 3D printer person, this device can do a lot of things. Yes, there is a few twikking that needs to be done from time-to-time, but if you have the patience, this thing can really be fun for you and the family. Once again, the biggest thing is getting the bed level but usually you don't have to worry with that until after 8-10 prints.

i use the Blue Painter's tape for the filament to adhere to and i also used the Purple Glue Sticker. For smaller and more detailed prints, using these 2 things can make for removing your print a little difficult. I use a little rubbing alcohol and it will come loose. For finer prints where things are more detailed, you might also want to slow the speed of the print from 100% to about 50-70%. I have printed some pedals or flowers for the hummingbird feeder that i made and the print speed needed to be adjusted and really did a fine job. Using the faster speed (100%), the detailed flowers were messed up. I would still recommend this to everyone.