My XYZ Printer Review

[Turbo442]

A little back history about me. I built the ORD Hadron printer when it first came out. (The blue printer that use makerslide) I started with the qu-bd extruder which is utter crap in its original form. I have tried many different extruders and hot end designs. Currently running the SEEMECNC extruder with a modified MK7 hot end. It has taken me almost two years to get to the point of a nice looking print. I still start to shake a little when I see an original qu-bd extruder.

I picked up one of the $499 XYZ printers from Amazon for $499 with 2 day free prime shipping. Let me say that again 2 day free shipping on a 51 lb package. I like the way that feels. SOMEBODY IS LOOSING MONEY AND ITS NOT ME! It arrived 4-4-14 one day late so I have had a few days to play with it. I picked up two of the cartridges before they went out of stock. I figured if it was utter crap I would throw in my own RAMPS 1.4 board. How could I go wrong at $499 ???

Notes so far:

The printer its self is made of a complex multi part sheet metal stamping with a plastic enclosure.
The printer ships with a 300g cartridge. The extra cartridges you buy come with 600g.
The chassis build quality on a 1-10 scale - 8
Overall printer engineering and design execution on a 1 -10 scale 8 possibly 9
Value for the money on a 1-10 scale 9 ( I would give it an 11 if the chip allowed for any 1.75 filament)
Software on a 1-10 scale (for a beginner I will say a 9) (For an expert I will give it a 3)

Positives:

+ Auto nozzle wipe before print start
+ Auto bed leveler wipe
+ Auto bed calibration routine from three touch pads
+ Heated glass bed (heats to 90C in about 5 minutes from cold)
+ LCD display with input buttons
+ little hopper that collects filament as it ozzes out, also collects during the wipe. Cool
+ Entire Print uploads to printer - not dependent on PC to run during print
+ So far this extruder has been amazingly reliable and consistent
+ Full enclosure with the top door open sensor. Temperature stability.
+ Filament resides inside the enclosure - helps to warm up the filament
+ One Z screw - less Z wobble issues.
+ Precision ground rod guide bearings - in my opinion cheap, precise, low drag, accurate
+ has internal LED's that turn off automatically
+ Has a built in power supply with a variable speed cooling fan.
+ Purchase from Amazon so you have a pretty clear return path if it turns out to be utter crap.
+ XYZ support center appears to be up and running although I have not used it.
+ Filament cartridge chip records remaining filament, type, color
+ no problems using my own .stl files so far

Negatives:

- Filament cartridges have a chip - at the moment proprietary
- Slicing software is locked down with out a bunch of the usual options.

My first few prints with the printer, while reliable didn't look the best. Round holes were not quite perfect. Probably off by 10-20 thousandths of an inch. Not terrible but I was hoping for better. I decided to watch the printer carefully during a print and found the Y carriage motor drive belt was pretty loose compared to the other belts. Tightened this belt up and the prints look much sharper now. Very pleased. I would say replicator 2 quality. I don't know much about the extruder yet. About 10 prints so far and not a single issue. Pretty amazing.

Here is what I can tell about the extruder so far although I have not taken it apart or really examined it much until this very moment.
It appears to be an original design.
It appears to be geared and not direct drive (Thats a good thing)
Its construction is stamped sheet metal.
There is a fan riding on the back of the extruder.
It appears to have a spring loaded idler wheel with a lever to release the wheel.
All electrical connections appear to have a connector on the extruder.
There is a little nub next to the hot end nozzle used to calibrate the printer bed height.
I am impressed so far, the extruder just works.

While it sucks that I don't have a way yet to use my 50 + reels of 2kg 1.75 and 3mm filament, I can honestly say this thing is so darn reliable so far I am making up the difference in lost filament. I can concentrate more on my Solidworks designs and not worry if the spool is going to tangle and drag the printer on the floor. At some point one has to decide is the printer the hobby or is the hobby the printer.

Here are a photos of the XYZprinter so far.

I have a few prints running now I will update with photos later.

I was kind of ready to spend some $$$ on a new printer but I am just not seeing anything quite at the next level from Makerbot or Utilmaker to Justify the $3000. This thing will help me bridge the gap for another year. COME ON HP HURRY UP AND GET YOUR $HIT TOGETHER!