Creality Ender 3D - "Wish you would have known"

[ilikefish69]

I have my ender 3 3D printer coming with some PETG filament in the mail today. Watching all the YouTube videos, but hoping to have some advice from people who have used these printers.

What do you wish you would have known on the first day you started 3D printing items for your reef aquariums?

 

[ShepherdReefer]

My brother prints some of the items I need. He used a professional grade, works great.

 

[MikeIkerson]

Print slow (30mm/s), low fan speed, increase your retraction rate, dry your petg, and turn off zhop if you can with your slicing software. Will help with the stringy-ness and oozing that is often associated with petg. I don’t own an ender, but I have a sovol.

 

[ilikefish69]

Print slow (30mm/s), low fan speed, increase your retraction rate, dry your petg, and turn off zhop if you can with your slicing software. Will help with the stringy-ness and oozing that is often associated with petg.

Wow I just got another hint at how unprepared I am for this. That sounds like a different language lol

 

[MikeIkerson]

Wow I just got another hint at how unprepared I am for this. That sounds like a different language lol

Yeah I did about a month of research before I got my printer and then still felt overwhelmed when I initially set it up and didn’t know the difference between a .stl and a .gcode. I would suggest watching videos on tinkercad and cura. These are the two softwares I am using for designing and slicing. You will learn a lot more when you actually get to printing and have some trial and error. You’ll figure out what works for you and what doesn’t.

 

[ilikefish69]

Yeah I did about a month of research before I got my printer and then still felt overwhelmed when I initially set it up and didn’t know the difference between a .stl and a .gcode. I would suggest watching videos on tinkercad and cura. These are the two softwares I am using for designing and slicing. You will learn a lot more when you actually get to printing and have some trial and error. You’ll figure out what works for you and what doesn’t.

Well it showed up about 6 P.M., got it assembled, got the 20mm cube for printing, go to put SD card in MacBook. Stupid MacBook Air doesn’t have USB port. So I have to go get a USB-C adapter today. What a disappointment lol

 

[fr3n0z]

if u print something that is not in contact with heat, just use pla when you start. petg isn't hard, but printing with pla is much more straightforward. If you are worried it will degrade in water, don't be, it does not really work that way, it will not melt.

 

[((FORDTECH))]

Anyone here use a ender 5 s1?

 

[immo]

if u print something that is not in contact with heat, just use pla when you start. petg isn't hard, but printing with pla is much more straightforward. If you are worried it will degrade in water, don't be, it does not really work that way, it will not melt.

I printed a media basket in PLA (2mm walls) and within 2 months it was so brittle I couldn't move it to change media anymore. Just my experience.

 

[immo]

I run and Ender 3 to print all my stuff. It's been a pretty rough road for me to get mine to print consistently, and it's still not 100%. I had a lot of trouble with the extruder (couldn't get it to quit slipping, tried adjusting the tension, changed out the tensioner for a metal one, no luck) switched it out for a Sprite Pro extruder (I would not recommend this until you're very comfortable with your printer, and compiling firmware) which also gave me an all metal hot end (so I could reliably print higher temperature filaments - PETG is borderline with the stock hot end). Also added a CR Touch (auto bed leveling) which is also a pain with the Sprite extruder.

 

[Joe31415]

I love my Ender. If you (OP) have never done any 3D printing before, do yourself a favor and learn to print with PLA. Get your skills honed in until you can reliably print with that, then worry about moving to PETG. PETG might not be harder to print, but it exaggerates the problems that you learn to overcome with PLA. PLA is stringy, PETG is worse. If you're pulling your hair out trying to get PLA to stick, PETG is going to make you throw the printer through a wall.

On top of all that, there are countless resources for help learning to print, but they're typically geared towards learning to print with PLA. If you're looking for help learning to print with PETG, a lot of those resources will make the assumption that you have PLA experience meaning instead of teaching you the basics, they're teaching you how PETG is different.

If getting a printer and some PLA is like learning to drive, getting a printer and PETG is like learning to drive a bus. You can do it, but it's easier to start with one then move to the other.

I printed a media basket in PLA (2mm walls) and within 2 months it was so brittle I couldn't move it to change media anymore. Just my experience.

I've had a PLA frag rack in my tank for years with no problems. It gets bumped into, taken out and scrubbed, the suction cups break loose and it falls. It feels as strong as the day I printed it.


Also, something worth noting about the Ender 3 (and probably most commercially available hobby grade printers), it will work out of the box. I've seen many, many times where people buy it, upgrade the board, the firmware, the hot end, adding a BL Touch, covering the build plate with tape or glue or hairspray etc, and it still won't print correctly. My first question to them is if they ever had a successful print (particularly before all the upgrades). Assuming they haven't, it's a lot harder to figure out the problem. Is it simply an environmental problem (ceiling fan blowing on it, too close to an AC vent?), is it a slicer issue? A firmware issue? The BL Touch isn't calibrated? Who knows? But if you make sure you can print, and print reliably, before you start changing things, it's a whole lot easier to troubleshoot.

The only thing I don't have a problem with people swapping out ahead of time is the build plate. IMHO, the Creality glass plate is considerably easier than the factory magnetic one, but that's me. And, with that, remember, it will work out of the box. Don't go slathering all kinds of stuff on the plate if you can avoid it. If stuff doesn't stick, clean it and then clean it again and keep cleaning it until it sticks. If rubbing alcohol doesn't work, try taking it off and cleaning it with warm water and soap. And don't forget, there's no rule about printing in the middle. If it's not sticking well, try printing it off to the side.
And then when it finally prints, you really don't need to go to town trying to chisel this thing off the plate. PLA, especially on a glass plate, will, if you let it fully cool, release from the build plate with no more effort than picking it up from a table.

Anyways....off to thingiverse to find something fun to print today.

 

[Joe31415]

And r/ender3 on reddit and Teaching Tech on youtube are your friends during this journey.

 

[fr3n0z]

I printed a media basket in PLA (2mm walls) and within 2 months it was so brittle I couldn't move it to change media anymore. Just my experience.

sry man but i think you just printed it wrong. Maybe underextruded, maybe you wanted to go faster or pla wasn't good (but i dont think since i print with lot's of cheap amazon/chinese cheapest PLA i can find. I have many parts printed in PLA, from frag racks to return nozzle for months in saltwater (and for 3 years in freshwater) and never had any problem and no different from parts printed in ABS or PETG. Only thing i would prefere petg that is easier to make a part completely water tight (better layer adhesion with the right setting) I would say it's just user error or bad luck. But then, PLA isn't better than PETG, it's just easier for new users.

 

[AbjectMaelstroM]

Biggest thing I learned....I should have started with something like a Prusa($800)/Prusa Clone ($335) vs. rather than an Ender 3. That being said, I did learn a lot of from fighting my Enders and when they worked, they produced impressive prints that rivaled that of a $400+ printer. But it felt that for every hour of printing there was a half hour of tinkering. I also spent enough money upgrading parts that I could have just bought a Prusa clone and would have been off to the races.

I now have 3 Prusa MK3S clones (Fystec), two Vorons (2.4r2 and a V0.2), and now a Bambu X1C. Two of my Frankenstein Ender 3's are sitting in the closet...may turn them into Switchwires at some point. The Prusa clones have been absolute workhorses, all I did was change hotends to Dragons. The Vorons were a bit of an impulse buy combined with wanting increased print volume (350x350mm), V02 is small but stupid fast for small/single part production. Recently got the Bambu X1C, had a rough start as it essentially came in broken with a Z rod out of its notch and I couldn't even initialize the printer...had to be my own tech support (took about 20 minutes to ID and fix the problem) as Bambu took two days to reply with a bunch of less than helpful suggestions; but since then it has been printing flawlessly and fast nearly around-the-clock, about on par with my Vorons.

 

[lynn.reef.nerd]

Same as above, tried to save money by getting the cheaper Ender. Ended up trashing it for the Prusa anyways.

 

[twelvefive]

Upgrade your springs

 

[thecitadel]

I have an Ender 3 v2 Neo and got it on sale for $169. I got it about a week ago with 0 experience in 3d printing and have been non stop printing. Sure, other printers are easier to use probably but I've failed 2 prints due to not leveling it after moving it, the other 100+ things I've printed at this point have been flawless. New random flow generators, dosing line holders, new loc line connections, all sorts of upgrades on the printer etc. The thing has paid for itself. You just need to pay attention to the level of the bed. Get it as close as you can, and the neo version comes with a bed leveler. So after you manually get it where it needs to be, auto bed level, let it do its thing and enjoy. Don't be scared by those who say Enders are no good. They are great, you just need to know how to level the bed properly.

 

[Joe31415]

They are great, you just need to know how to level the bed properly.

And a lot of people don't. I had the Ender V1, but adding the BL Touch made it so much easier. I went from leveling the bed at least once a day to every once in a while as the BL Touch did a good job of compensating for any issues with the bed not being flat. In fact, any time I went to use my printer, regardless of if it was the first time today or first time in 2 months, if the last thing I printed worked, I didn't make any adjustments.
Personally, I think a lot of people unknowingly blamed bed leveling issues for bad first layers when, in reality, it was more likely to be a bed adhesion issue and/or a problem with the filament. But playing with the bed gives immediate results (good or bad), but cleaning the bed for the third time, not so much.

 

[thecitadel]

And a lot of people don't. I had the Ender V1, but adding the BL Touch made it so much easier. I went from leveling the bed at least once a day to every once in a while as the BL Touch did a good job of compensating for any issues with the bed not being flat. In fact, any time I went to use my printer, regardless of if it was the first time today or first time in 2 months, if the last thing I printed worked, I didn't make any adjustments.
Personally, I think a lot of people unknowingly blamed bed leveling issues for bad first layers when, in reality, it was more likely to be a bed adhesion issue and/or a problem with the filament. But playing with the bed gives immediate results (good or bad), but cleaning the bed for the third time, not so much.

For me, adhesion hasn't been much an issue as I run the bed hot. But today, printing the clip links for my wires, I actually had issues and used some hair spray for the second attempt and worked great. The neo came with the BL Touch, and I auto level every print, but since placing it where it sits, I've yet to adjust the bed knows. I really do enjoy mine.

 

[coralnutz]

I had an ender 3. I wanted to get I to 3d printing as a hobby, not fiddling with 3d printers. I gave that one away on marketplace and got a bambu and it just prints (so far) without any jacking around. Hope you have better luck with yours.