Review on Upgraded Creality 3D Printer 300x300x400mm with Meanwell Power Supply and Extruder Motherboard by Richard Edwar

I first got into 3D printing in 2019 with Ender 3 and have had fun printing cool things from Thingiverse. I then started modeling some of my own creations and some of them became so popular that I started a small 3D printing business at the same time. I needed a second larger printer to make it work and one of the Creality CR-10 versions was near the top of my list. There were several trim levels to choose from back then and in January 2020 I settled on the CR-10 V2. Since then I've been working with him as often as I can, first on orders for my shop, then making parts for face shields for Covid healthcare workers for a while, and then back to my products. Here are some thoughts on my likes and dislikes about this printer after about 8 months of heavy use. Pros: - Easy to install out of the box - Good print quality once everything is set up - Good price compared to some premium printer brands - Works well with OctoPi - Huge printing platform! - Enough power to print with PLA and PETG (ABS ) haven't tried it yet but should work) - Super quiet! Very practical, since my workshop is directly under my children's rooms. I hardly hear anything except the fan. It's amazing compared to my Ender 3. Love having the controller and power supply in a separate box on the side. It was easy to replace the motherboard. One of the reasons I went with this version of the CR-10 was the new hot end design and it worked great. The standard glass platform holds up great. Cons: I had a few issues with the printer. Luckily the FASTTOBUY seller was a pleasure to work with and he sent me some replacement parts very quickly and emailed me back.- The main problem I had was the bed heater. He couldn't get the bed temperature right and I had a lot of bad casts. I believe the main problem is that as the bed moves back and forth, the wires connecting to the bed will bend badly and eventually one of the wires will break or fray. The new bed wiring seems to have solved this problem and I put a piece of tubing around the wires as a bed for strain relief (see photo - I cut the tubing lengthwise and wrapped it around the wires). was that the Y-axis belt broke. The original band is just rubber and I have a replacement band with metal wires inside and it seems much stronger. Maybe I overtightened it or maybe it just didn't work because I type so much. I think my next printer will have automatic platform leveling. It's not that hard to level the bed, but this one needs leveling more often than my Ender 3 due to its size and it gets tiring. - The glow indicator doesn't work at all for me. I don't know if this is a hardware or software problem. Today I broke the filament on the print and it has continued to work. Usually it doesn't matter much. Recommended Upgrades: - The Capricorn Bowden tube is certainly good. - I added a tensioner knob to the Y-axis when replacing a broken belt and it's great. Eventually I'll add one to the X axis as well. If you're printing larger models that don't require as much detail, try the 0.6mm nozzle. It's MUCH faster! I got the hardened steel nozzle after clogging the brass nozzles and it's really worth the extra money, especially if you're printing at higher temperatures. I tried adding a two wheel extruder like the CR-10S Pro but it didn't work for me at all. I had some printing issues which I traced back to the extruder and when I went back to stock it printed great again. I'm a Creality fan and they're very valuable if you're not afraid to go under the hood and fix things like swapping out the motherboard when you're having problems. Unless you're tech-savvy or buying one for a kid's education, it might be worth spending more on something like the Prusa, but I've seen issues with it as well. For my purposes, they've been great (with a few tweaks) and the print quality is pretty good.