Printer to replace Z18

[pa9k]

WANHAO D5S MINI seems fine, but I don't think the D5 is a good option,
it is too tall and there is no support structure in front of the frame,
I am afraid it shakes in printing process.

Why not considering Ultimaker 2 Extended ?

EDIT (Sorry just realized the following question has already been answered): I agree with you on the D5S, plus being open means we could not do abs or nylon correct? Not that that alone is a deal breaker but seeing as most printers can do those materials its something worth considering.

The ultimaker 2 seems like a quality piece, however i noticed that the filament is 2.85mm. I have never seen this size before and dont want to get locked into a situation of were the only ones that make the filament for this printer so we can charge whatever. Are there other options for 2.85 filament, or would we be able to run 3.0 filament in the ultimaker instead?

[curious aardvark]

ultimaker is not that big a print volume.

Most printers can be enclosed with perspex sheets and magnets pretty easily. So unless it's an open frame like the 3dp - having an existing enclosure isn't really an issue.

have you tried printing with nylon ?
It's a real bastard.

[Magicolor]

Thanks for the suggestions guys! A lot of good looking printers here. I've bookmarked all of these and will be researching them over the next couple days.

And yes Estela we really do need the 12x12x18 build size. After all it is #1 on my list of requirements. We print exhausts, intake boxes, radiator/intercooler end tanks, intake pipes, and lots of other very large stuff. The z18's 12x12x18 is a lot better than the 5x8x8 ish we had on our old printer but something bigger than the z18 would be great.

I can see that you really want a large build volume 3D printer,
consider Mankati Fullscale XT Plus,
260*260*300 mm, dual E3D V6 hot end,
high performance and reasonable price.

[Magicolor]

To print with ABS and nylon, high temp hot end, hot bed, enclosed printer body are a must,
or else you can only print with very small objects.
So Wanhao D5S series are not for you,
they are not equipped with hot bed, and have a not easy to enclose printer body.

And for Ultimaker 2, 2.85mm filament is not a common specification indeed,
I think you can confirm the compatibility to them.

[pa9k]

The Mankati Fullscale XT Plus seams like a really nice printer with some killer specs. Heck we could even buy like two or three of them for what we paid for the z18. Anyway, it looks to me like it uses a bowden style extruder. So would that have issues printing flexible filament like ninja-flex? If so how hard is it to convert it to a direct drive extruder?

[Magicolor]

Mankati Fullscale XT Plus is OK for NinjaFlex, but do not print with a high speed over 70 mm/s, or else, the thick melt filament will make the flexible filament curve in the filament tube,
this kind of problem also happens in some direct style extruder system, the flexible filament curves at the area under the feeder gear.

And I don't think NinjaFlex is the best choice of flexible filament, I found PolyMaker's PolyFlex is a better option for bowden style extruder, because its higher tenacity.

[Estela]

Comparing the price and performance from Mankati Fullscale XT and Ultimaker 2, I find the Mankati is much comapetitve.
Can Ultimaker 2 print any flexible filament?

[Estela]

@Magicolor

The speed is so slow! speed over 70 mm/s Do you mean the speed is for flexible filament?
What is the normal speed?

[Ezio Auditure]

Hi Guys,

Weve been having a lot of issues with out Makerbot 5th gen Z18. Imagine that!! Anyway I think were about ready to dump this thing and get a replacement printer for it. So I'm looking for suggestions.

Heres what we are looking for in a printer.

1. Large build volume. The z18 has a 12"x12"x18" build volume and sometimes even that wasnt enough. Doesnt really need to be bigger but cant be too much smaller than what were working with now.
2. Ease of use. Must be relatively hassle free, push a button and print operation. I dont mind tweaking some settings or whatever but this is for work so I cant be spending hours working on this think like I am with our Z18.
3. Speed. The faster the better. I do not care at all about how low of a resolution it will print because well never use it. I print at the largest resolution our Z18 can do because we want stuff printing fast. With an average print time of 8+ hours and many 20+ hours faster speeds would be really nice.

Any suggestions will be appreciated and considered. Thank you for taking the time to read this.

Hi,

well, Z18 is only featured by its volume. actually you can find a lot of substitution if big volume is not a must.
usring small printers and separating the parts can also help save time from failure printing.
Actually from my experience, lots of printers like Zortrax, Ultimaker, Up can beat makerbot, of course not in volume.

[Magicolor]

Yes, I mean for NinjaFlex filament printing, a over 70 mm/s speed is too fast.

For normal printing, the highest printing speed I have tried is 200 mm/s.

In the slice software I can set it up to 300 mm/s, but I don't think at that speed the printer will give good results...