Get Your Ender Here: http://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/YfeAM3z
Also here: https://www.gearbest.com/ender-2-_gear/?lkid=14102299
Or here: https://ebay.to/2KWJ22r
TH3DUF Firmware: https://www.th3dstudio.com/knowledgebase/
The reason I have bought it because you can fit two Enders in the space where only one Prusa i3 can fit and the print quality after some modifications is on a par with the Prusa i3 Hephestos.
This is a great small 3D printer having a 150 by 150 mm build plate and build height of 200mm. The printing speed is advertised as up to 200 mm/s, but this is hardly achievable without modifications and we will talk about this here later. It will accept gcode files generated by many slicers including Repetier and Cura. Also, it can be connected directly to the computer and run by a host like Repetier. Now for what we need to fix to avoid unnecessary frustration with low quality prints. Perhaps I got my printer from a night shift or this is just an early version of the printer; either way, it needs some work to be done.
First of all, it has an incorrect thermistor fitted so the printer thinks it is printing with a 200 temperature where in reality the temperature is 160 degrees Celsius.
This will make the print brittle and the extruder will constantly skip. This is probably a one-off case but if you get brittle prints with this printer I recommend checking the printing temperature.
Another is a design flaw that may have some consequences in the future. The aluminium extrusion parts have sharp corners. What I have noticed is that the belts touch those sharp corners from time to time and marks have been left on the belts already. So, I simply took sandpaper and sanded down those sharp corners.
Do not forget to tighten the grub that is facing down and is located on the heating block. If it gets loose you will get brittle prints and it will be frustrating for days. This can be done without removing the capton tape - just make a hole next to the nozzle and tighten the grub. For me it is a bit weird that they use this insulation on the heating block. I have 5 3D printers and they run just fine without any additional insulation here.
One more mod - upgrade the hot end fan. This can be found on thingiverse. I did not like the original design because it also cools down the heating block and prevents accessing the hot end when I need to clean it quickly or visually inspect the printing.
If you need additional part cooling, a separate fan can be fitted or two fans like they have on the Ultimaker.
Please do not forget to tighten all the screws that came fitted from the factory, especially the nut on the z axis rod (the two screws were loose) and of course the grub holding heating element.
Replace the gear on the extruder. The old one has small teeth and it will skip on high speeds. Buy the one that has less teeth (it should have about 29 teeth).
One more thing that I needed to do is to tap three bed nuts with an M4 tap. From the factory they came with very tight fit; I couldn’t even turn them.
Also, buy M4 washers and serrated washers to stop those three nuts unscrewing itself.
Now there is one thing that I do not know how to overcome without flashing a new firmware on the printer. Occasionally you will get prints that will indicate the bed levelling to be set too low. Here is what this actually is. The firmware is set to hold the motors for about 60 seconds if there are no movements. Sometimes the hot end heating will exceed this 60 seconds and as a result the z axis motor will switch off and occasionally the z axis will move down a bit. Well, you can imagine the result. This can also damage the build surface or even make a scratch in the hot bed. I have fixed this by flashing a firmware from TH3D studio (www.th3dstudio.com/knowledgebase).
Without the flashing thing the two nut and a spring assembly for z axis rod would fix this or any other brake device that would prevent Z axis rod from turning so easily.
Let’s talk a bit about the power supply. I found the power supply noisy and replaced it with another one. Actually, I used a 30A 12V power supply that is connected to my other 3D printer, a Prusa i3. So now one power supply powers two 3D printer beds and Ender 2 electronics. The interesting thing about those power supplies is that the price of the 40A version is very expensive in comparison to the 30A one and the 50A version price is reasonable again.
Quality of prints. I found that in general the quality of prints is on a par or even better than the Prusa i3. This is because it does not use bearings and uses rubber rollers instead, which gives the smallest vibrations possible when the axis move. The Prusa i3 can’t match it because it uses standard 8mm bearings. Of course, if we replace with a Igus Solid Polymer LM8UU Bearing then I would say the quality will be almost the same.
