I'm ready to upgrade

[frierson22]

I am looking at printers to purchase again. I have had my Tronxy for a few years and it's time to upgrade.

I had lots of issues with getting spare parts for my Tronxy. Sounds crazy, but everything I tried to order from Amazon seemed to be wired backwards. Dealing with Tronxy was pleasant enough, but slow. In retrospect, I bought my printer from Amazon, and I think I got one that was discontinued and that's what made getting parts from the manufacturer so difficult.

But I still would like something that was from Creality or at least compatible with their parts.

I wanted a larger build area ( currently 220x220), auto level, filament detection and 2 color prints. My budget is under $1000 - actually closer to $500 but I can get away with more for the perfect printer.

Nothing from Creality. I found the Geeetech A30 Pro. With the auto level upgrade, it seemed to check all the boxes. I almost ordered one yesterday.

Then I woke this morning with a "duh" moment. It only has one extruder. I can print 2 colors, but only one type of filament - one nozzle temp. I want to be able to experiment with different types of filaments.

So I found the Tenlog TL-D3 Pro. That has everything except that it does not support auto leveling.

So, is auto level as awesome as it sounds?

Is there a printer out there that will meet my needs?

Thanks for any advice.

Donna

[curious aardvark]

Yep - this one. My current favourite recommend: https://www.amazon.com/HICTOP-Indepe...45&sr=8-4&th=1

Although this - I think - is a slightly newer model: https://www.amazon.co.uk/TENLOG-TL-D...s%2C192&sr=8-5
That's the one I'd look for.

As far as I know it's the ONLY i3 currently being sold with linear rails on all three axis.
And everything else follows the same high spec. Makes creality machines look like the cheap, unfinished poorly designed kit they are.

As far as autolevel goes - it's pretty much not needed if the printer comes with an actually flat bed.
And with borosilicate glass - it's a lot more likely to be flat than cheap aluminium beds.

Would I take autolevel over linear rails ? Not in this lifetime !

Anyway that's pretty much the best specced un-enclosed sub $1000 3d printer you can currently buy.

And it's IDEX :-) Oh yeah !
Did I mention hi-temp 300c hotends ? It has 300c hotends :-)

UNless that's just the smaller one. https://www.amazon.com/TENLOG-Hands-...8CSHTKNG&psc=1

Hmm, ah here we go: https://www.tenlog3d.com/tenlog-tl-d...rsion_p11.html

[curious aardvark]

And depending on where you live and (probably) when they unblock the suez canal - they have country specific warehouses for less hassle delivery.

Okay what is autolevel ?
Well the one thing it DOES NOT do is to actually level your printbed.
That you will almost always have to do by hand.

All auto level does is to make a topographical map of the printbed - which for a physically flat bed is kinda pointless.

For cheap and bumpy beds it allows the prnter to constant;ly move the z-axis up and down to adjust for the cheapo bed.

It will ALWAYS be better to have an actually physically flat bed than to rely on autolevel.

A good autolevel will possibly also help to calibrate the bed (properly with the knobs) but it's a;most as pointless as filament run out :-)

They are both really cheap addons that cost companies less money than actually making quality and flat printbeds.

[frierson22]

Yep - this one. My current favourite recommend: https://www.amazon.com/HICTOP-Indepe...45&sr=8-4&th=1

Although this - I think - is a slightly newer model: https://www.amazon.co.uk/TENLOG-TL-D...s%2C192&sr=8-5
That's the one I'd look for.

As far as I know it's the ONLY i3 currently being sold with linear rails on all three axis.
And everything else follows the same high spec. Makes creality machines look like the cheap, unfinished poorly designed kit they are.

As far as autolevel goes - it's pretty much not needed if the printer comes with an actually flat bed.
And with borosilicate glass - it's a lot more likely to be flat than cheap aluminium beds.

Would I take autolevel over linear rails ? Not in this lifetime !

Anyway that's pretty much the best specced un-enclosed sub $1000 3d printer you can currently buy.

And it's IDEX :-) Oh yeah !
Did I mention hi-temp 300c hotends ? It has 300c hotends :-)

UNless that's just the smaller one. https://www.amazon.com/TENLOG-Hands-...8CSHTKNG&psc=1

Hmm, ah here we go: https://www.tenlog3d.com/tenlog-tl-d...rsion_p11.html

Thanks. That's what I was hoping you would say. I like that one.

[frierson22]

Thanks. I kind of figured that. You know what they say about things that sound too good to be true.

What's wrong with the filament detector? I have ruined prints by running out and it's hard to use the last of a roll without standing over the printer watching.

[AutoWiz]

I had lots of issues with getting spare parts for my Tronxy. Sounds crazy, but everything I tried to order from Amazon seemed to be wired backwards. Dealing with Tronxy was pleasant enough, but slow. In retrospect, I bought my printer from Amazon, and I think I got one that was discontinued and that's what made getting parts from the manufacturer so difficult.

But I still would like something that was from Creality or at least compatible with their parts.

All of these parts are more interchangeable than you could ever know.

The LEGO Movie | "I am a Master Builder!" Clip [HD] - YouTube

[frierson22]

LOL. I ran my printer for a couple of weeks with the 2 pin connector to the extruder motor plugged in backwards while I was waiting for a replacement from Tronxy. It worked fine like that. But only during the day - I didn't leave it running while I was sleeping.

[AutoWiz]

But the extruder motor should be a 4p connector. because stepper motors require 2 sets of coils to walk from one step to the next. Wig wag the 2 PWM drivers is how stepper motors turn. 2p connectors at the extruder might be the temp sensor, the heater cartridge(both of which can be wired backwards without concern), A extruder fan, a part cooling fan, and some might have a z or x sensor on the extruder carriage. If it is just a simple microswitch it can also have just 2 wires and be ok to be wired backwards. Only the fans would be hurt if wired backwards. And because of the electronics internal to the fans they will not spin backwards. They will let out a tiny puff of smoke and usually that circuit in the mainboard gets burned. For your description you either had the thermistor or heater cartridge plugged in 'backwards'.

[frierson22]

It's been a while and I definitely don't know much about electronics.
I'm pretty sure it was one of the servo motors, now that I think about it - might have been the x.
It ran backwards when I hooked it up, so I flipped the connector to see what would happen and it worked.

[curious aardvark]

there are two types of filament runout detector.

The first - and cheapest and most common - consists of a physical endstop in a tube. The filament runs through the tube, keeping the switch closed.
It only does one thing and that is to stop the printer if you actually run out of filament.
Now assuming you look at your filament spool and slicer before printing. You SHOULD always know whether you have enough filament for the job.
So you should never run out of filament - well in 8 years and thousands of prints, I never have
So type 1 is pointless. But you do get a spare endstop - and they are always useful :-)
Hell I've even used them as on/off switches for computers :-)

Runout sensor type 2.
Consists of an optical sensor and a roller. - pretty much like how the old computer mice used to measure movement. And I wouldn't be at all surprised if those sensors are exactly what they use.
And that's the key phrase: type two measures actual filament Movement.

So while you should never run out of filament, there are a bunch of reasons why the filament might get jammed or just stop feeding.
Type 2 will register this and stop the print.

So filament sensor type 2 is a potentially valuable addition to a 3d printer.
Type one is a free endstop :-)