After a day with question marks, I ask myself, is this only important to me?
There were times when they tried to get printing times from 24 hours to 6 hours. This was also about the fact that you couldn’t let the things work independently or maybe a surprise was waiting and everything started again.
Today it’s in the basement and I’ll go there maybe after 2-3 hours - maybe even after 6 hours. Whether it takes 24 hours - you get endless running time, so it`s importand to me how many of the 8760 houers a year the printer get.
So one of the most important thing about a 3D printer for me is trust to run continuously for as long as possible, Whether the printer is an hour faster doesn’t matter, the number of unsuccessful parts will safe much more time.
Furthermore, it is important, at least to me, how much work it imposes on me - how often do I change a nozzle? Every 400 printing hours? I don’t leave my office and go down 2 floors to end up saving 15 minutes to install a larger nozzle - and as much as I like 3D printers, my office has a different purpose.
Furthermore, maximum applicability at a reasonable price. Here come things like, how many problems can he solve. Printable materials, size (256 is the end for me), Error detection and user-friendliness.
What I don’t value at all is Color change, but I’m slowly getting the feeling that I’m really the on and only how thinks like this. I love the AMS, but if you want to be honest you should really rename it into “ACS” at least as long it can`t handle Manufacturer proffed TPU.
So my question is, what is important to you about a 3D printer? I don’t will leave a comment at all becouse this is all about you.
Colour change doesn’t matter to me at all now. I tried it once but the negatives (extra cost of device, specific colours that I may not use again, tripling the time, increased chance of failure) greatly outweigh the desire for limited multi colour uses. Multi filament types may be useful but again, very limited in its uses (for me).
Reliability to not only complete prints without failure but to make nice looking prints is the most important to me. So far my modified P1P hasn’t really excited me in that regard. But I’m sticking with it for now. My prusa mk3s+ did produce nicer prints and was more reliable but was a lot slower and at the time I was doing a lot of prototypes so time meant a lot to me. Not so much now, as I’ve gotten better at CAD I don’t need as many test prints to perfect the design. I wish the P1P had a regulated, heated chamber. To me it’s just an appliance, I don’t have any brand allegiance. The Qidi x-plus 3 looks good on paper but I’d wait until it’s been around a bit longer.
Not at all. I would describe the #1 feature for me as model in, print out. Done.
My printer is 200m and 3 stories away from the computer. I like to go there 'cause it’s free exercise, but there’s a limit…
I do care about speed because often I want to print a test model, try it out, see it in real life, and then make some changes and repeat or print the “final” one. 20 minutes vs 2 hours makes a real difference there. I find that the start-up time is more a limiting factor than the mm/s or mm/s^2 'cause I often print just a small piece to verify fit.
I really like the AMS even though I don’t do multi-color. It allows me to go back to the computer with a test print, try it out, perhaps make some CAD changes, then decide whether I print another test version using $15/kg filament or the real thing with fancy filament. Or if I have to thin/model for a while I can send a “filler” print, i.e. something I have in the queue to print when idle. Basically, the AMS means I don’t have to decide ahead of time with which filament I set-up the printer.
Some of us could care less about color change until its made more efficient. Yesterday, I printed a little black cat with yellow eyes that my daughter wanted and the prime tower took more filament than the cat. It also took longer than a creality. 1 of 10 prints of mine may be multicolor and thays only because I go searching for a multicolor print to justify the 8 ams units. They are great for storage and saving time of filament swapping.
Quality and upgradability are most important to me.
In a word, the output.
What matters in a 3D printer is the ability to provide a reliable, accurate and automatic printing process. I.e. the 3D printer converts the sliced model into the expected output with accuracy, precision, and a high success rate without my intervention.
I typically print more demanding materials, so detailed maintenance and troubleshooting procedures are welcome. Having available at a reasonable price is also critical.
I do multicolour prints, but not that often and almost exclusively by swapping at layers. I only did two “real” colourful prints (for my daughter). And I only expect to do it again if she asks and I don’t find another way.
Nevertheless, I cannot imagine working without an AMS. I love to have four filaments on hand, and printing by object became a habit as it permits me to keep tight tolerances, better use the bed area and print multiple parts in different colours.
EDIT: I forgot that it must be able to deal with demanding filaments, i.e. high-temperature hotend and bed, and appropriate extruder and hotend materials. Getting even higher temperatures(500ºC and 130ºC) would be great, but not obligatory.
Speed is excellent but only noticeable in large prints. I tend to print slightly slower than the default settings, and I only tested Sport and Ludicrous for less than a minute.
It is still early to be secure, but in general, the X1CC seem to fulfil all my needs. I have some concerns, but time will tell.
#1 reliable printing Send the model and print with out issues
#2 Up time ( running time vs fixing time)
#3 Accuracy in the models
#4 AMS as an automated way to select what material to use - no multicolor , no multi material ( as too slow)
#5 Networked with camera
#6 Multi material for support but not on X1C as too slow (dual extruder would be nice)
#7 Speed - not anymore so much as the materials does not allow it for a good print
#8 Acceptable price
#9 Easy swap nozzles
#10 heated chamber
#11 500C print temp - that is not so essential
X1C covers almost everything for me apart from dual extrusion (6), and nozzle swap (9), and heated chamber (10). The one which covers all my current requirements is 6-7 times more expensive than X1C with AMS , and if i add the 500C print (11) then is even more
So for me price vs my requirements X1C with AMS is the best on the market at the moment
EDIT: Network camera feature is at the bottom of the list , and for reliable printing Z offset is probably most important
Accuracy: printed parts fit together as designed in CAD.
Ease of use: press a button, wait a reasonable time, collect your part.
Reliability: machine doesn’t break down after five prints.
Hi @JayZay the one i want is Ultimaker S5 Pro Bundle. but in New Zealand X1C with AMS is 3.1K NZD , the S5 Pro Bundle is 20.4K NZD. Dual extrusion , 6 rolls ams, and when they say 280C on the nozzle it is 280C and better chamber control. Not sure about the S7 version as never experienced it.