First 3d printer

Hi all.

Have been looking at getting an ender 3 s1 pro. They never seem to bee in stock where I look.

Wondering if people would recommend waiting for it or maybe look at something else.

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Hi Brendan,

Welcome! :slight_smile:

What were you looking to do with your printer?
The only real difference I could spot with the S1 vs S1 Pro was the all metal hotend - most makers can get away without one if they’re just looking to print PLA and other low-temp filaments.

All of the Ender series are excellent printers to get started with, regardless you’ll learn lots about tuning the printer to make precisely what you want (fast prints vs high detail). Inevitably you’ll want to upgrade some part to make it truly yours.

Personally I’ve got an Ender 3 Pro and a V2 from Core and added a few of my own mods to it and will still continue upgrading it for a while.

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@Liam120347 Thanks for the reply.

To start with just a bit of messing around but later more practical parts.

I was thinking about the metal hot end was to have the flexibility with different materials down the track.

That’s why i am kind of thinking maybe just getting an v2 or something and then with the money saved get something later on.

What mods have you done to yours?

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Hi Brendan

Welcome to the forum!! :slight_smile:

It looks like @Liam120347 has got you off to a good start!

I’ve gotten my V2 to print TPU well, to get it printing well I turned off retraction in Cura and designed out any Z-hops as much as possible - where there were any making sure it was easy to cut away any stringing.
PETG is another great filament for beginners, there are a lot of discussions around on the net about the degassing temperature of the PTFE tubing though I personally havent seen anything with solid evidence.

PS: No doubt you would have seen Zack Freedman’s video on every filament, there are tons out there: https://youtu.be/vSwumoSlZTo

I do think it’s worth making the jump sooner than later and grabbing something local and ready to go!

As for mods: one of the first I added was Octoprint + some plugins, then QOL additions, moving the spool holder around to accommodate different spools, a bit of cable management…the list goes on :smiley:
I recall @Liam120347 mentioning some mods a while back, there might be some more now though!

Scott Yu-Jan has a great video about some mods he did: https://youtu.be/kG_YKeJDaX8
Just note here that inside the power supply there is the 240V around, licensed electricians are required to work on those voltages and voids the certification from Meanwell

Liam

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Hey,

List of mods:
I’ve got Octoprint (been meaning to add Clipper/Clippa???)
Upgraded the main board on the E3 Pro
Hotend swap, tried getting my hands on a cheapish all metal clone but haven’t had any luck so far
A few 3D printed add-ons found on Thingiverse

I’ve got a nice Pine frame with both printers inside, previously had a sealed enclosure for the BE but ditched that for the time being

Currently working on a Pico based add-on to Octoprint that you only see on high-end printers, stay tuned :grin:

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Hi Liam,

Klipper is my connection system of choice, with Fluidd (my pick, and by extension FluiddPi) and Mainsail being slick UIs on top.

If you pick up a standard E3 V2, you can always add nice things like a BLTouch later.

If you have any more questions, many of our staff have had Ender 3 V2s, so fire away!

-James

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Hey James,

Cheers for correcting my spelling :smiley:
Yeah completely forgot about the BLTouch, makes automation waaaaay easier, its worth trying without it for a little while to learn how crucial a level bed is.

Magigoo is also a godsend

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Thanks for the reply’s.

I have been doing a lot of YouTube video watching today and reading. And think I might go down the Cr10s pro v2 route.

Main reasons being has bl touch, duel gear extruded duel a rods and a large print bed then the ender 3.

I think in the future I will want the bigger bed and if I am spending money spend it once.

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Flashforge Dreamer is my first 3D printer which i choose after reading this review, and was selected because I wanted a novice-friendly printer for someone who’s all thumbs when it comes to assembly. Using “rafts,” I have had little problem with “bacon” and the only couple of hairballs I’ve printed are down to me making stupid mistakes.