Monoprice 121711 Select Mini 3D Printer V2 - Black With Heated (120 x 120 x 120 mm) Build Plate, Fully Assembled + Free Sample PLA Filament And MicroSD Card Preloaded With Printable 3D Models
Brand | Monoprice |
Material | Pla |
Color | Black |
Product Dimensions | 4.72"D x 4.72"W x 4.72"H |
Item Weight | 13.3 Pounds |
About this item
- The heated build plate and wide range of extruder temperatures allow this printer to work with any type of filament, from basic filaments, such as ABS and PLA, to more advanced materials
- Compact Desktop Design: Featuring a small footprint and basic, open frame design, this 3D printer is compact enough for any desk.
- Ready to Print: Unlike most other low-cost 3D printers, this printer ships fully assembled and has already been calibrated at the factory.
- We even include a MicroSDTM card with preinstalled models, so you can start printing right out of the box!
- PC and Mac compatible. Compatible with Cura, Repetier, and other software.Max. Extruder Temperature: +482°F (+250°C)
- NOTE: Check User Manual in Technical Specification before use. Maximum Power Consumption 120 Watts
- Build Volume: 103.8 cu-in (1728 cc)
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Product details
- Is Discontinued By Manufacturer : No
- Product Dimensions : 7.5 x 11.3 x 13.5 inches; 13.27 Pounds
- Item model number : 121711
- Date First Available : July 17, 2017
- Manufacturer : Monoprice (3D Printing)
- ASIN : B073ZLSMFT
- Best Sellers Rank: #167,188 in Industrial & Scientific (See Top 100 in Industrial & Scientific)
- #191 in 3D Printers
- Customer Reviews:
Product Description
MP Select Mini 3D Printer Too often, getting a low-cost 3D printer means getting a box of ill-fitted parts with poorly written and incomplete documentation. You end up spending hours on the internet, searching forums and asking for help to get the printer assembled and operating properly. That isn't how Monoprice operates and this 3D printer is a perfect example! This printer not only comes fully assembled, it has already been calibrated at the factory. All you have to do is perform a quick check to verify that the print bed is still leveled, in case it shifted during shipping, then load the included MicroSDTM card, load some filament, and start printing the preloaded model. Nowhere else will you find a 3D printer ready to print out of the box at such a low price! Affordable 3D printing for everyone All Filament Types: The heated build plate and wide range of extruder temperatures allow this printer to work with any type of filament, from basic filaments, such as ABS and PLA, to more advanced materials, such as conductive PLA, wood and metal composites, or dissolvable PVA. Compact Desktop Design: Featuring a small footprint and basic, open frame design, this 3D printer is compact enough for any desk. Ready to Print: Unlike most other low-cost 3D printers, this printer ships fully assembled and has already been calibrated at the factory. We even include a MicroSDTM card with preinstalled models, so you can start printing right out of the box! Features Factory Calibrated Heated aluminum build plate nozzle cooling fan for printing all filament types Quick-release steel gear filament feeder Easy to use color LCD 0.4mm extruder diameter Complete kit with bed scraper, and MicroSDTM card with preloaded model files Micro USB and MicroSD card connectivity PC and Mac compatible Compatible with Cura, Repetier, and other
From the manufacturer
Features
- Nozzle cooling fan and main board cooling fan
- Includes accessory kit
- All-metal nozzle
- Wi-Fi, microSD card, and USB connectivity
- 3.7" IPS color screen
- Windows and Mac compatible
- Compatible with Cura, Repetier, and other software
What's in the box
1x MP Select Mini 3D printer, 1x Filament holder, 1x AC power adapter, 1x AC power cord, 1x Micro USB cable, 1x MicroSD card, 1x Plastic bed scraper, 1x Bed leveling hex wrench, 1x Sample PLA filament
MP Select Mini 3D Printer V2
Too often, getting a low-cost 3D printer means getting a box of ill-fitted parts with poorly written and incomplete documentation. You end up spending hours on the internet, searching forums and asking for help to get the printer assembled and operating properly.
This printer not only comes fully assembled, it has already been calibrated at the factory. All you have to do is perform a quick check to verify that the print bed is still leveled, in case it shifted during shipping, then load the included microSD card, load some filament, and start printing the preloaded model. Nowhere else will you find a 3D printer ready to print out of the box at such a low cost!
Features
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Open SourceThe heated build plate and wide range of extruder temperatures allow this printer to work with any type of filament from any manufacturer. Additionally, the ability to use free, open-source software allows you to tailor your 3D printing experience to your personal tastes. |
Improved versionAn improved version of the 3D printer in the world. It features an all metal nozzle, insulated heated built plate, upgraded cooling, 3.7in IPS color screen, and wireless, Wi-Fi connectivity. |
Ready to PrintUnlike most other low-cost 3D printers, this printer ships fully assembled and has already been calibrated at the factory. We even include sample PLA filament and a microSD card with preinstalled models, so you can start printing right out of the box! |
MP Cadet | MP Mini V2 | MP10 Mini | MP10 | Maker Ultimate 2 | |
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Customer Reviews |
3.9 out of 5 stars
132
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3.9 out of 5 stars
3,134
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3.6 out of 5 stars
118
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3.3 out of 5 stars
138
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2.8 out of 5 stars
113
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Build Area | 100 x 105 x 100mm | 120 x 120 x 120mm | 200 x 200 x 180mm | 300 x 300 x 400mm | 200 x 150 x 150mm |
Resolution | 50 Microns | 100 - 300 Microns | 50 - 300 Microns | 50 - 300 Microns | 100 - 400 Microns |
Printing Speed | 40 mm/sec | 55mm/sec | Up to 100mm/sec | up to 100mm/Sec | up to 150 mm/sec |
Max Extruder Temp | 572°F (300°C) | 446°F (230°C) | 536°F (280°C) | 482°F (250°C) | 536°F (280°C) |
Heated Build Plate | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
Removable Plate | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Calibration | Auto-leveling | Manual leveling | Assisted leveling | Assisted leveling | Auto-leveling |
Connectivity | LCD Screen / USB / WiFi | Color LCD Screen / USB / Micro SD card / WiFi | TouchScreen / USB / Micro SD card / WiFi | TouchScreen / USB / Micro SD card / WiFi | LCD Screen / USB / Micro SD card |
Filament Material | PLA / PLA+ | PLA / PLA+ | PLA / ABS / PETG / Nylon / Wood Fill / Metal Fill | PLA / ABS / PETG / Nylon / Wood Fill / Metal Fill | ABS / PLA / PLA Pro / TPU / TPE / PET / Metal fill |
What's in the box
Product guides and documents
Videos
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6:02
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Customer Review: Amazing Printer, Awesome Price!
Elemino
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0:10
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Customer Review: This is the perfect entry level printer.
Llia O.
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0:05
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Customer Review: Perfect for small projects and newbie
trey howell
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0:23
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Customer Review: Loving this little gem!
D. Springer
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0:47
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Customer Review: A great inexpensive printer
Kristina Argust
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0:16
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Customer Review: Super cheap and super awesome!
Matthew E.
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Customer reviews
Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.
To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.
Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonCustomers say
Customers like the value, ease of use, and print quality of the 3D printer. For example, they mention it's cheap enough for each group to have their own printer, and it pays for itself in no time. That said, they appreciate the built-in tutorials and the single knob and control panel. That being said, opinions are mixed on performance, quality, size, and appearance.
AI-generated from the text of customer reviews
Customers like the value of the 3D printer. They say it's cheap enough for each group to have their own printer, and it pays for itself in no time. Customers are also impresseded with the quality of the prints.
"...When Monoprice came out with this smaller, highly affordable printer, his experience with my larger Monoprice printer made this Select Mini a..." Read more
"...Price is right, and you have really got to take a hard look at buying 4 or 5 of these compared to a biggees.. Well, ok it only prints a 4" cube,..." Read more
"...the best one for the pricehere are my tips and suggestions..." Read more
"...This is a nice machine for the money and I have been having a lot of fun with it. I'm sure you will too." Read more
Customers find the 3D printer easy to use. They mention it's simple to set up, with a great starter's guide to setting up, updating, and troubleshooting. They also appreciate the built-in tutorials and the single knob and control panel that are stupid simple to operate. However, some customers mention that the pieces of engineering are complex despite their inexpensive price tag.
"...The included user guide is pretty good for setting this printer up the first time. It's also available at the Monoprice website for download...." Read more
"...the bed is easy to leveleasy to load filamentheated bedcolor display..." Read more
"I wanted to love this printer, and for a while, I did. It was easy to set up and worked great for a while...." Read more
"...and found similar metric screws but since the unit does not contain an exploded diagram or parts list or maintenance procedures, I don't know..." Read more
Customers like the print quality of the 3D printer. They say it's superb, great, and flawless. They also mention that the first print was decent, and the printer is excellent for its build volume. Customers also say that it can print ABS and PLA, conductive PLA, wood, and metal composites.
"...Straight out of the box, the first print was quite decent (and looked fantastic to some other friends who had never seen a 3D print) and we had no..." Read more
"...print quality is very nicethe benchy boat printed flawlessly and even created a 8 mm bridge between two pillars to form the window and it does..." Read more
"...5. It can print abs, while I hear it's not easy to do and may take using some tricks to achieve it some people have been able to do it and it's nice..." Read more
"...Sure enough, it peels off. Astoundinf that they knew nothing about the printer and they were supposed to support it.)..." Read more
Customers are mixed about the performance of the 3D printer. Some mention that it does incredibly well, has a new arm, and works with Cura. However, others say that it never starts printing, behaves somewhat unpredictably, and comes to a sudden stop for no apparent reason. The cooling fan does not work out of the box.
"...So here's my beef with this printer: 99.8 percent of it is working great, really especially for the price...." Read more
"...None of those temps worked. I can see through the nozzle, I have disassembled and reassembled the heating element at least 30 times...." Read more
"...Overall, the concept is great, but there appear to be some severe design flaws and quality control issues that result in a potentially DANGEROUS and..." Read more
"...(thanks bad apartment wiring), the printer will reset and try to print the same file again, sending the arm down into your half printed part...." Read more
Customers are mixed about the quality of the 3D printer. Some mention that they were impressed with the quality, saying it makes good quality prints. They also say it is an excellent starter printer due to the simplicity of the design. However, others say that they have severe design flaws and quality control issues that result in a potentially reliable 3D Printer. They have had limited success with printer reliability and the build plate wiring will break over time.
"...other kinds of filament but PLA is the easiest to print and is best for beginners, IMO...." Read more
"...Let me just say, this printer is great -- it's my first one, so I can't really compare the output to any of the top-notch brands, but 98% of them..." Read more
"...is great, but there appear to be some severe design flaws and quality control issues that result in a potentially DANGEROUS and certainly prone-to-..." Read more
"...1. The quality of the parts on this device are great, I read a lot of negative reviews of people having issues but I can tell by looking at the..." Read more
Customers are mixed about the size of the 3D printer. Some mention that it's small, compact, and great for small print files. However, others say that the size issues and build plate size are limiting.
"...It has a heated bed. It's quite compact for people who are short on space. This would likely fit in any dorm room...." Read more
"...this printer can print most of what i need but the bed size can be limiting at times" Read more
"...Mine did not.The MP Select Mini v2 is a great printer for smallish jobs (like D&D minis!)...." Read more
"...to set up, leveling the platform was simple and it has held its tolerances over 15 prints so far with only one minor correction..." Read more
Customers are mixed about the appearance of the 3D printer. Some mention that it looks good, has clean lines, and the entire body is metal. They say it's a cute introductory 3D Printer due to the simplicity of the design. However, others say that it has a bad design that's not esthetically pleasing.
"...a replacement knob for the printer which is easier to turn and it looks great and fit perfectly...." Read more
"...into the bed (two different printers) and they were both making an awful racket when the the bed wasn't moving, or was scraping the metal off the..." Read more
"...Does it print great looking 3d prints, absolutely which is why despite all its quirks and problems I think it's worth every penny of the $220 I paid..." Read more
"...Overall, the concept is great, but there appear to be some severe design flaws and quality control issues that result in a potentially DANGEROUS and..." Read more
Customers are dissatisfied with the temperature sensor of the 3D printer. They mention that the bed does not stay hot enough for large ABS prints, the build plate does not heat up, and the bed has a lower high temperature than their Prusa. The printer nozzle has been so hot that it melts the insulation around the nozzle head. The gcode and sometimes forget to even heat up the extruder or bed, causing the filament to jam and the exterder to overheat. The print nozzle also gets pretty hot, but having a small fan resting on the z axis arm, and it needs to cool down after printing. One aborted print due to the hot-end not reporting the temperature correctly during the pre-heat, and do not set the temperature desired.
"...the x axis motor gets pretty hot, but having a small fan resting on the z axis arm quickly cools this down and the same probably goes for the driver..." Read more
"...having a problem with the heated bed where it would display very erratic temperatures and not heat properly, apparently due to poorly designed cable..." Read more
"...Because the bed has a lower high temp than my Prusa, I'm not sure how well the ABS will stick.The printer is supposed to work via wi-fi...." Read more
"...3. The stock hot end is only good for PLA, and is prone to jamming due to a gap being between the PTFE tubing feeding into the heatsink and the hot..." Read more
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I've owned Monoprice Maker Select 3D printer for 2 years now and my young friend has printed quite a bit on my printer. When Monoprice came out with this smaller, highly affordable printer, his experience with my larger Monoprice printer made this Select Mini a natural choice for gifting him. He was here for Christmas break so I helped him set the printer up and he printed non-stop for 2 weeks and I had the opportunity to work with the printer closely during that time.
The features of this printer are quite impressive considering the price. It has a smallish build volume - 4.7" x 4.7" x 4.7" - but larger models can be split up into pieces or sized down. And really, the recipient (a 16 year old) has not found the build volume to be especially limiting. It has a heated bed. It's quite compact for people who are short on space. This would likely fit in any dorm room. It also comes fully assembled and ready to print. This is especially nice for people who have zero experience with 3D printing. You can print via a microSD card, a USB cable connected to your computer or over wifi.
There is a 3.7" color IPS screen on the front and the user interface is very friendly and easy to use.
I am writing this review for people who are completely new to 3D printing so experienced users will likely want to skip this. First of all, 3D printing is about as hands-on, DIY as you can get. For example, every filament is different - even from the same manufacturer. There can be variances in diameter, variances in printing temps, etc. That will affect your prints. The settings in your slicer are also critical and tweaking those settings is a part of the process. Your print bed must be very level and on this printer, that is done manually. It will seem daunting at first but soon, you'll be able to do it in your sleep. The main thing to understand is that there is a constant learning curve. Especially with a budget printer. However, there is a vast community of 3D printing folks who are extremely helpful and have posted countless videos and blogs that are filled with helpful information. There is likely an answer out there for any issue you will encounter.
The included user guide is pretty good for setting this printer up the first time. It's also available at the Monoprice website for download. The printer ships with a plastic spatula for removing your prints, a tiny Allen wrench for leveling the print bed, the filament spool holder, the power adapter, a USB cable, and a microSD card that contains important files. More on that later.
I suggest that if you purchase this printer, you order at least one spool of PLA or PLA+ filament because it only comes with a sample amount of filament. I have had great luck with Hatchbox brand. Be sure to order 1.75mm PLA. This printer will also print other kinds of filament but PLA is the easiest to print and is best for beginners, IMO. Also, I suggest buying some filament cutters like these Hakko CHP-170 Micro Soft Wire Cutter, 1.5mm Stand-off, 16 Gauge Maximum Cutting Capacity and some inexpensive calipers to check filament diameter FineSource Electronic Digital Caliper Inch/Metric Conversion 0-6 Inch/150 mm Carbon Fiber Gauge Micrometer Extra Large LCD Screen Auto Off Featured Measuring Tool - Black
The microSD card comes with the install files for Cura, free slicing software you install on your computer that allows you to adjust your printer settings and send the model to your printer, as well as monitor the printing process. It also comes with a model of a cat to print. The included sample of filament is enough to print this cat model. Cura will need to have certain values entered that are specific to this printer and that is covered in the manual however, there are updated Cura settings available for download from the Monoprice website.
I suggest after ordering that you watch a number of the great YouTube videos that demonstrate how to set up and print with this printer. It will make it even easier to start printing right away when your printer arrives. You should also read on various 3D printing websites about the basics of 3D printing that are common to all filament printers and then pages that are specific to this printer. There are also many videos that cover the modification I suggest later in the review.
I purchased a small, tool bag for my young friend to keep his tools and supplies handy. I added a box of gallon zip lock bags to store his filament in because PLA can absorb moisture from the air so should be stored in something air-tight. I also place my printers on a single, ceramic tile so that I am sure it's on a completely flat surface. A 12" x 12" tile or larger is plenty big enough for this printer. You can buy single tiles at Lowes or Home Depot.
Straight out of the box, the first print was quite decent (and looked fantastic to some other friends who had never seen a 3D print) and we had no issues with printing at all. We tweaked the settings a little for the filament we used and the next print was even better. Again, 3D printing is a hands-on process. We immediately printed a replacement knob for the printer which is easier to turn and it looks great and fit perfectly.
I do have a concern about the gantry, which the print head moves along. It is only attached on one side and I can see at some point that it could begin to sag, which would definitely affect printing. There are already a couple of modifications that require only simple, 3D printed parts and a metal rod and some linear bearings. The parts cost ~ $25. This mod is next on my list. Search "MP Select Mini X Gantry Support + Camera Mount [Reinforced and Realigned] by svideo" on Thingiverse for the 3D printed parts and links to the necessary hardware.
I also added a piece of glass to the print bed because I'm used to printing on glass and it provides a mirror finish to the bottom of prints. Google and you will find a template someone made to cut the glass the correct size. I just used glass from a cheap, Dollar Store picture frame and a thermal mat to adhere it to the bed, but you can use small, bulldog clips instead. FBApayipa 400mm x 210mm x 0.5mm Silicone Thermal Pad for CPU GPU Heatsink
There are hundreds of thousands of models available for free on several websites. Thingiverse is one of the largest and you can find loads of models to print, all free for your personal use.
Make no mistake - this is a budget printer. However, it's wonderfully affordable and produces nice prints reliably. NOTE: It's often on sale on the Monoprice website so check prices before buying.
Ok, the dinosaurs were then wiped out by a giant asteroid, we had an actor or two (who really knows?) as president, and the computers in cars have more or less taken over everything but ordering your special brew of coffee at Starbucks.
Let me just say, this printer is great -- it's my first one, so I can't really compare the output to any of the top-notch brands, but 98% of them come out better than I originally expected. Price is right, and you have really got to take a hard look at buying 4 or 5 of these compared to a biggees.. Well, ok it only prints a 4" cube, but most of my stuff right now is that size.
So what does that have to do with a "check engine light" you ask...
Ok -- can you imagine your car not doing self diagnostics and telling you that your anti-skid break's are working or that the automatic transmission isn't connected? Sure, I don't know 100% if it's actually doing those things but there is some warm fuzzies knowing that it probably should be doing so. There are some diagnostics going every time you start up the card. All I can say is that I haven't had any major accidents, or been tee-boned by others in my life.
So what does this have to do with this printer?
There is no self-check or diagnostics in this printer as far as I can tell. Yes, there is a "Home Axis" button -- but actually that is the tip of problem -- it should do more.
You get in your car, push the break peddle, and expect the car to stop. Everyone around you expects your car to stop. Sleazy lawyers make a good living when your car doesn't stop.. You expect it -- the manufactures design diagnosis into the car to continually check for it. It's even the law.
Why can't you expect this printer to work like you expect the printer to work? It's so damm close to doing that !
So here's my issue -- after printing a few great prints -- the first I've every done myself, the motors drove it's extruder head (the thing that the hot filament comes out of) into the bed, tore holes in the print surface off it, and might have bent up the print nozzle.
Let me make this very very clear -- the MOST important calibration on these printers is the distance from the print nozzle to the print bed -- we are talking about one 10'th of a mm or more accuracy or more here - the thickness of a piece of paper. This printer completely and totally lost the ability to do that calibration and put itself out to pasture.. (OK customer support was great, and it's on it's way right now to be repaired free of cost)
So what did I do next? -- well of course I did the smart thing and bought another one... I Got 30 or 40 really cool prints (I'm now to the point where I can create my own designs, crude yes so far -- using freeCad and cura -- but I can really get an idea of what these things can do)
Then of course, the exact same thing happened -- lost Z calibration, nozzle into the bed, ripped up the covering -- but I caught it before it did too much damage.
So -- here's what is actually happening -- its so stupid, and cheap to fix, and should have been caught at manufacturing time. Someone was trying to save a penny or two, or maybe software guys were designing hardware. I've spent hours talking to Customer support and getting my printer shipped back because of it.
This printer is using a very tiny mechanical limit switch with a very thin spring steel bumper arm on it to detect that infamous "Z" axis height position. In fact -- this printer has absolutely NO idea of where the print head is other than its relative position (number of steps) from the home position. AND (yes, it gets worse) -- it has NO way to know if it missed a step, (something got in the way) and is totally out of alignment. (more than one step out of alignment on any of the three axis is going to cause a bad print)
What happened was for some reason, is that the printer lost it's Z position and then slammed the print head down so far that it bent that tiny little spring steel arm on the most important part of this printer -- the "Home Z position" limit switch. It then tried to use this wrong position as it's Home, thinking that the position was ok, not having any way to verify that it wasn't, and proceeded to tear up the bed the next time it ran.
This is a 2 cent part, that I finally figure out that I could bend - because who in there right mind would ever make this super critical part, that the entire adjustment of the printer is based on, able to be bent? Why would I even expect that?
But I got past expecting that engineers don't make mistakes, and ending this tiny piece of spring steel back to a more workable position. Note that bending spring steel is not a high accurate operation, so I needed to re-calibrate the bed height compared to the printer nozzle Z home position. Trust me, after you've calibrate the bed height a few times, and you won't think it's a big deal -- it takes a couple of minutes.
Helpful Hint: Use 2 pieces of paper, a big flat one on the bottom, and a 1" or so piece you slide under the nozzle. Big piece shouldn't move when you move the printer head. upper piece should be difficult to slide under printer head, and then head should then be hard to move. Congratulations, you've now calibrated the print head vs bed height to 0.10 mm!
Back to my story -- lets just say my next print was gorgeous :-).
I called product support -- the folks there completely missed this. When I finally prompted them with the right question - the guy on the chat line admitted "this could happen", referring to the bent limit switch arm. Had I not seen this happen twice I would probably not figured it out either.
So here's my beef with this printer: 99.8 percent of it is working great, really especially for the price. But the MOST IMPORTANT PART on it, at least for getting accurate repeatable prints, is a 2 cent piece of cheap bendable steel, that anyone in their right mind would never expect to be there!
There is no "check engine light" concept on this printer -- there's no self diagnostics -- in fact, there's probably nothing in the printer that could even drive this type of diagnostics.
Easy to fix if it happens, just be sure to bend the bumper arm in the middle, you can reach it from the slot that the arm holding the spool of filament rests on. Be sure to re-level the bed after the you re-bend the arm.
But IT SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN BENT!
I measure it -- it bent at least 2mm !. Keep in mind that layer height of the print is 0.2mm or so!
But can this happen in normal operation? -- If you continually need to re-calibrate the bed -- it sure is ! It's not the bed or the print head that's getting screwed up -- it's this nice little happy bottom Z axis limit switch arm!
VERY STRONG Recommendations: (about $2.00 in parts)
This bottom-Z-axis limit switch should be optical limit switch for better accuracy and repeatably - There is at least 2mm hysteresis between on and off due to the arm bending (watch the attached video) -- and read all the reviews saying that you have to should "Home" it multiple times to get any accuracy out of it-- This cheap bendable arm is the WHY! It would be "best" if all 3 "Home" position limits switches were optical - but the Z-axis position is super super super (times a billion) critical.
My other thought is that the hardware needs to be able to figure out if the printer is actually moving when it's asked to step. As I said, the print head was driven into the bed (two different printers) and they were both making an awful racket when the the bed wasn't moving, or was scraping the metal off the print head. Hell, even a microphone here to know it's making too much noise would be helpful. The motors stalled, and yet the software didn't know about it. If the motors simply were able to send out a signal when they rotated once (48 steps) -- and stop the thing if you ran it a couple of revolutions and didnt' see a rotation step.
The filament heater didn't come on a couple of times when I started a print. The motor that pushes the filament into the head joyfully kept spinning against the non-moving filament the entire print job.. It was a wonderful totally invisible print with the exact same density and optical optical characteristics as air -- which would have been nice, but I was using white filament at the time.. In other words, nothing was printed, and the printer had no clue that was happening. Come on!
Understand that this is a inexpensive printer, and the manufacture is going to cut corners. -- but what I'm asking for is just some basic critical simple idiot proof diagnostics, and alerting mechanism to indicate something isn't right in Denmark.
In other words, this printer (and ALL printers like it) needs a "check engine light", and some basic sanity level sensors to drive it.
Honestly, if I knew the printer could tell me when it was broken, I'd give it 6 stars, and recommend it to all my friends.. This problem is just plain stupid..
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I attached a video of the Lower Z axis limit switch getting triggered on a "Home" cycle. This is after I bent it up.
It was completely flat before I did so. I probably changed the Z limit position about 3mm -- further than I really needed -- but it's now printing fine so I'm not complaining. Look at the arm bend! See and hear that hysteresis!
This is the switch that NEEDS to be a optical.. But till then, what's above explains how to fix it -- Bend the arm in the MIDDLE, don't just pull it up and bend it at the point where it's joined to the actual switch.
Top reviews from other countries
De construcción sólida y muy elegante para ponerse en cualquier lugar.
Reviewed in Mexico on December 30, 2018
De construcción sólida y muy elegante para ponerse en cualquier lugar.
Pros:
- Unbeatable price for value. How is this even possible? Good job Monoprice!
- Very little setup required. It is fully assembled. You only have to check the height of the bed and load some filament and you're off!
- System has more processing power than many other introductory printers. This one is not based on the ATMega like many others are. It is more advanced.
- WiFi, USB, and mini-SD capabilities.
- Able to print from SD card without needing a dedicated computer.
- Very good quality prints. Mine is running almost 24x7.
Cons:
- Difficult to tune heating controller PID parameters. But it can be done. This is not necessary but it does mean you get to temperature faster and you maintain a more even temperature.
- WiFi is not straightforward to set up. You need to write code in a text file on a card to set it up. Instructions can be found on the internet.
- The wheel for user interface is a bit clunky. It works but not the nicest design.
- the spool holder is a bit tight to get a spool off. I had to use a hammer and pry bar to get an old spool off the holder.
- buy some buildtak for the print bed. Works beautifully.
- the SD card comes with an older version of cura. I downloaded the newer version online.
- the cooling fan is quite low quality. Mine has started making noise and it's probably going to stop working soon. I printed an upgrade so I can replace it with a larger fan if necessary. I will see how their warranty responds before I go about modifying, but I have a backup plan just in case.
- The extruder is great, but very custom. I don't think a replacement would be easily found. I printed an adapter in case this one goes I can buy another one to replace it.
There is also a known issue with prints failing after some time. This happens with larger prints and it is related to the SD card. The one that comes with the printer is used and not very stable. I reformatted it and also only put one file on it at a time. Since this, my prints don't fail anymore. I wonder how many were returned for this solvable issue. You could also just use your own SD card...
It looks like these things are all sold out. I hope they make more because I would buy another one... Or two.
Configurar el wifi no es nada intuitivo, hasta lo calificaría de difícil, ademas que enviar a imprimir por wifi es muy lento, la impresora crea un servidor a donde uno sube la pieza que deseas imprimir y el cargar la pieza por wifi es una pesadilla. Tal vez lo más rápido sea por tarjeta sd, ya que vía usb no pude a traves de mi mac.
La calidad de la impresora es muy buena y si la recomiendo.