2023: is anyone still using their Makerbot Replicator 5th Gen?

[sunjwd]

Hi.

Here in February 2023, is anyone still running their Makerbot Replicator 5th gen?

My company bought a 5th gen ten years ago (~2013 or 2014?) for some project work. The extruder was really bad and the printer became unusable.
We ended up buying a much more expensive Uprint SE Plus which was more reliable.
Recently we found the 5th gen in a corner. We also found that Makerbot had sent new-design extruders.
A few test prints show that the new extruder works well and didn't suffer the old problems. The 5th gen is back in service, albeit
for non-project use.

If anyone is still running their 5th gen, please share part and consumables suppliers:
- where do you get replacement extruders?
- which PLA filament do you recommend that works well with these old printers?

The 5th gen, though it seems to print well, still uses that quaint blue tape method of build surface.
I'm going to order and retrofit a magnetic mount spring steel w/ PEI surface.

[sunjwd]

An update. I ordered a magnetic mount spring steel PEI build surface from Aliexpress. In the beginning the builds would not adher to the build plate as the 5th gen does not have a hot plate. After some forum reading I tried smearing glue stick on the plate and now there is good adhesion. No more blue tape! PVA glue stick is much more available and economical than blue tape.

[Joe Jones]

This is distressing! I just acquired a good used Gen 5 Z18, and now I am reading that I bought a dinosaur! I hope that is not the case! Joe