I spent the WHOLE day trying to fix my #Ender3 3D printer with no success...
It seems that I have an under extrusion issue but I tried
- Slower speed
- Higher temperature
- Recalibrating the extruder
- Changed the Bowden PTFE tube
- Changed the nozzle and cleaned the hot end.
Prints are still shit... Now it's either I go and buy new parts again, or just give up and save a bit to get a new one that is more user friendly (thinking of the #bambulab P1P... But I need to explore a bit)
Still exploring alternatives and updates to my Ender 3... I like the open/upgradable approach to Creality leading to a strong community, because I'm kind of scared of the Bambu environment being closed but with easy access to spare parts (and not too expensive).
But I hope some community can manage to retro engineer it to do some custom parts or firmware.
Still, I'm looking at the Ender S1 (£300) vs the P1P (£700)... And I don't know if the S1 is a better user experience, or if the P1P is a worthy upgrade
So, update on my 3D printer problem.
I got the direct drive upgrade, the video guide wasn't super accurate but managed to do it.
The whole thing is HEAVY and I think my Z Axis might not appreciate on the long term.
But it works again! A combination of better filament path and new extruder, but now I run my print at 85% speed to avoid stressing the Z-axis.
The Bambu Lab upgrade will be for a later date.
Which Creality printer is being so problematic? Just wondering. We are looking at buying a 3D printer.
@MaryPot I don't want to blame the printer I have (Creality Ender 3), because I had it for a few years and it "survived" a few moves. But here is a good "rule".
Cheap printer are not necessarily bad but WILL require maintenance and tinkering. The Ender series is often a really good entry point and depending on model goes for less than ~300€$£ but parts are easy to find.
But, if you get on the expensive side, you might lose the freedom of tinkering with it to really customise your printer at a low coast. But it's mostly "plug and play" and user friendly. But prices start at 600€$£.
Look on YouTube for videos about "entry" level printers, because there are other good brand than Creality that offers good products 🙂
We have saved up and want to get a printer that will give us the ability to print as large as possible without buying a gold-plated printer.
At the moment, we are looking mostly at Creality and Prusa.
From what I have read so far, parts for Prusa are pretty easy to get hold of. Hubby is a tech, so he can do all the investigations into those aspects, though - but I paste what folks tell me here.
Moving house is a risky business when it comes to tech.
@fyi That might be the issue with the placement of my filament spool that need too much tension for the extruder to feed properly.
I ended up buying the direct drive from Creality's store, but I'll have a look at the video you mentioned to get everything properly calibrated! Thanks!
@zeantwan ahhh. You are PATIENT.
I'll keep looking to see how that goes. After seeing the sag in the x axis, I didn't want to add more weight to my early ender 3 with DD.
I think linear rails eliminate the sag to a large extent, but a single z screw with v wheels is asking for sag on the far side that is tough to compensate with only bed leveling
Antoine Sarrazin 
MaryPot
jumblies
fyi