From 2019-08-09
I really like my Ender 3.
Before this I has a Monoprice Select Mini 3D V1 printer that I drove into the ground. But then newer versions of OctoPrint were warning me that it was a literal fire hazard, and I wanted a larger, less finicky printer anyway, so I went with the Creality Ender 3.
I got my Ender 3 from TinyMachines 3D. Along with ensuring the printer is ready to go for home assembly, they flash a custom firmware that has a bunch of support for, most importantly, runaway heaters. It looks like you can build the updated Marlin firmware for the printer from their GitHub repo. I couldn't find the actual firmware on the site anymore since they aren't selling the Ender 3, just the Ender 3 Pro.
Replace the springs on the bed leveling screws with these or something similar and you'll have to worry a lot less about constantly releveling the bed. The stock springs aren't super durable (unless that's change in the past year or so).
I used to use BuildTak on my old printer, and it's a super great surface, but prints can get really stuck on there badly and I end up damaging them pretty easily. Instead of getting one of their flexible plates, I bought a borosilicate plate from TM3D along with the printer to try out and that's worked out real well, with the added bonus that the bottoms of prints are really shiny.
Now, instead of aftermarket glass plates, they have polypropylene plates. Due to the weight concerns, I may have to upgrade to this, so that I can increase acceleration and jerk a bit on my printer.
I use small binder clips to hold the plate down. And while I don't still use BuildTak, I still use their print removal tool constantly.
I also got a silicone sock for the hotend. One of the issues with the MPSM was inconsistent temperature on the hotend. I've had no such problems with the Ender 3, and hopefully this contributes to that a little bit.
Get a Raspberry PI 3B or better and run OctoPrint. You won't regret it.
I've printed PLA, PLA+, PETG, and TPE on this printer with ease.
I have a Micro Center nearby, so I use a lot of Inland. I've had good luck with other filaments I get off Amazon. Hatchbox is the Ferrari of filaments, but I've also had good luck with Solutech.
I don't print ABS for a bunch of reasons, and I don't really have to with PETG being available. eSun makes great PETG, as does Hatchbox. I haven't tried the Inland PETG yet.
I can print NinjaFlex on here if I take it really really slow, like 10-20mm/s print speed.
I use Cura and there's plenty of guides on how to use it, but here's some quick hits of printing situations you should be aware of:
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Use a large Z-Hop, like 3mm or more.
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Turn down the acceleration and jerk. I use 100mm/s^2 acceleration and 10mm/s jerk for everything now. It may print more slowly, but you won't get 20 hours into a giant print and have the bed slip and screw up the top couple of centimeters.
Switching to a polypropylene plate might help with this as well. Glass is heavy.