Because there's not a lot of documentation for this printer, I thought I'd start a blog as a place to share my experiences. It will provide a place for me to keep track of important information, and maybe it will help others.
Let me begin with a list of pros and cons for my new printer.
Pros
- Great structure. Built with aluminum extrusions, which makes it light and rigid.
- High build quality for parts. Everything fit well and went together nicely. Some of the more complex subassemblies came preassembled.
- All-metal extruder head.
- Sockets, rather than screw terminals, for wiring components. Made the wiring nice and robust.
- Smooth roller system for axes.
- Twin-screw z-axis drive is very smooth and robust.
- Nice filament roll support system.
- Nice enclosure for the electronics (although I might prefer to have the electronics better integrated with the printer structure).
Cons
- Cryptic instructions. The printer came with a set of pictorial instructions. They were sufficient to build the printer, but I ended up moving backwards several times through the construction because I had missed something (or else it wasn't even covered in the instructions).
- No help once you get the printer built. Once the printer was built, I was on my own for getting it up and running. Fortunately, there is a robust 3D printing community, and this Tronxy is a prusa derivative, so most of the prusa i3 instructions will apply.
- Weak after-sale support. Whenever I asked a question of the seller on ebay, I got an offer for a partial refund, rather than the answer to the question I wanted. I felt like I was pretty much on my own.
- Although I bought an auto-leveling printer, the one I received didn't have the auto-level sensor. And Tronxy wouldn't send me one. They did give me a $20 partial refund, and I used that money to buy the sensor elsewhere, so I think I will soon have autolevel.
Summary
Would I buy this printer again? In a heartbeat. The price is right; the parts quality appears to be excellent; the printer works.
But I wish the documentation were better. I'll provide some notes that would have helped me had I had them.
Hello there!
ReplyDeleteI found your blog quite interesting as I myself have bought a X3A. I am still assembling it and, like you, found the instructions to be pretty bad. I do have a question: did you use the 8mm bolts to secure de buttress supports of the z axis? What about the motor mounts? I found that they would be loose if I used the 8 mm and switched to the 4mm instead but am a bit concerned. Any help and input on the build would be greatly appreciated.
For one of the motor mounts I ended up using shorter bolts, because I didn't have enough of the long bolts.
ReplyDeleteI don't remember exactly which it was. I do remember asking the seller about it and didn't get any useful information.
As long as you can get it secure, I think you are in good shape. As far as I can see there are no bolts that are super critical.