# 3D Printing > 3D Printer Parts, Filament & Materials >  Ender 3 V2 upgrades and addons

## stealthrt

Hey all I am very new to 3d printing. I am looking to purchase the Ender 3 V2 but before I do I would appreciate some advice on what I should purchase as the upgrades/addons for it. I'm not sure as to what I would need for the V2 since most websites are for the original Ender 3 so I don't know if the V2 already has that upgrade/addons or not when compared to the original. I would rather get all the upgrades/addons and the Ender 3 V2 at the same to save on shipping and all. 

Pretty much the only upgrade/addons I have constantly seen is the auto bed level. 

So if anyone can help out a first time 3d printer noob then that would be great!

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## xayoz

Now that Aardvarks predictable "Down with Ender" speech is done.  If you have the budget and want something that just works, a Prusa MK3S is great and needs no upgrades or mods.  If you are not afraid of tinkering and modding, and enjoy that process and want to learn about your machine that way, the Ender series can be a good budget printer and is fully capable of producing some very nice prints.  Whatever printer you land on, the best advice I can give is to play with it stock, do not mod anything.  Once you get to know the printer well, and know its quirks and what you feel could use improvement, then start modding to fix your perceived downfalls.

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## curious aardvark

get something else :-)
 Is the best advice I can give. 

 It looks like they've changed things since the version 2 was first announced and the frame no longer looks as bad as it did originally. 
But as far as I can see it still has the design flaws of the first machine. 

But it won't make as much noise :-)

Love that on the creality website they make a big deal that it uses  a BRASS !!! nozzle. 
Like it's an upgrade - and not the cheapest option around and the one most printers come with. 



> New Nozzle?Brass nozzle with heat resistance.


For me - if I had to buy an ender 3 (maybe at gunpoint and using somebody else's credit card) Then the two crucial upgrades would be a second z-screw and stepper motor for the right hand side of the gantry and after that, change the bowden extruder to a direct drive extruder.  But it's a really bad idea to make it a direct drive without stabilising that right hand side of the extruder gantry. 
Pushing a long heavy beam up by just one end was never a good idea. 

Auto bed level - well with the way the bed is mounted - yeah probably a good idea.
A central rail with side mounted wheels - is never going to be perfectly level throughout it's full travel.So even if the bed is really flat - which it should be as it's now glass. You'll still need to have the 'bed level' to map the changes during travel. 

But there are better machine around for not that much more money.

And definitely :-)



> Whatever printer you land on, the best advice I can give is to play  with it stock, do not mod anything.  Once you get to know the printer  well, and know its quirks and what you feel could use improvement, then  start modding to fix your perceived downfalls.


I'm not 'down with enders' - I am pro good design and common sense machanics.

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## stealthrt

> Now that Aardvarks predictable "Down with Ender" speech is done.  If you have the budget and want something that just works, a Prusa MK3S is great and needs no upgrades or mods.  If you are not afraid of tinkering and modding, and enjoy that process and want to learn about your machine that way, the Ender series can be a good budget printer and is fully capable of producing some very nice prints.  Whatever printer you land on, the best advice I can give is to play with it stock, do not mod anything.  Once you get to know the printer well, and know its quirks and what you feel could use improvement, then start modding to fix your perceived downfalls.


Hum.. $700+ is quite a bit more. $300 would. E my max. And thanks for the suggestions.  :Smile:

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## Gambo

Hi I have got no experience of the Ender 3 V2 but I bought an Ender 3 for a development project and am quiet pleased with it it is a very basic piece of kit but does the job it didn't even cost $300 but beware there are a lot of rip off versions of ender machines I don't think that is true of the V2 but the Chinese rip-off  merchants are very ingenious !! I managed at first to get stuck with one!!!!!!.    What I have found that the variation in performance of different makes of filament even of the same type makes an enormous difference to the performance of the machine so ask around  and by good quality filament  $700 - $300 buys a lot of filament

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## curious aardvark

for the $300 price range then have a look at the corexy machines. 
Much better engineered, faster, silent and really good quality out of the box. 
My twotrees sapphire pro2 has fast become the go to machine both for speed and quality in my workshop. 
Retals at $300. 
No hardware upgrades required or should ever be needed. 

I printed a bracket to convert mine to direct drive and an elevated filament holder.
And that's it. 
I do have an I3 I also have a couple of deltas and a replicator pro. 
So I've pretty much got all the current fdm mechanical styles covered. 

The corexy has been a complete revelation. You've got the speed of a delta with the rock solid engineering of a replicator pro and the simplicity of build of an I3.
I think the only reason more people aren't making these is that they do require avery solid and stable frame. 
The sapphire pro is a beast ! 
The top plate is 6mm aluminium plate with quality linear rails attached. 
The base is made from 2.25 mm steel. It's a heavy beast and the frame size is large for the build volume. 
But that said - if i ever have to buy another machine or set up a print farm - it would be corexy all the way. And the sapphire pro 2 is a great example at an amazing price.

I mean i didn't pay $300 I got mine second hand for a lot less. 
But it's one of the few printers around that are a really good buy.

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## Gambo

I agree with you Aardvark if I had known of the Two Trees product and what core xy was when I was buying my machine I would probably have bought the TwoTrees unit. Having said that the reviews of the machine on their website indicates some pretty pore QA.  And the only under $300 unit I can see is form BangGood at £206 and £265 inc an enclosure. and I am not sure of BangGood if there were to be a problem. Haviing said that when I need to put another machine on line I will certainly look at the Sapphire core xy.

Incidently that said the Ender 3 pro is doing splendidly working much of each day making parts for our designers.

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## 686 Shooter

> Incidently that said the Ender 3 pro is doing splendidly working much of each day making parts for our designers.


I am happy that everything is working well for you. Contrary to what Aardvark constantly says, the Ender series of printers are very capable machines and your Ender 3 will serve you well for a long time. The facts speak for themselves. Literally tens of thousands of users all over the world produce excellent quality prints with Ender 3's every day. But your going to hear different on this forum because all these Ender 3 users experiences are completely negated by the opinions of some users on this forum.

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## growthlyzet

This is really a great stuff for sharing. Keep it up .Thanks for sharing.

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