Review on Enhanced Precision and Control: ANYCUBIC Photon Monochrome Printer Delivers Next-Level Printing Performance by Edwin White

The printer arrived well packaged and the product appeared to be well designed. However, I have not yet been able to produce any successful prints and have used up the supplied 250 ml resin bottle. As background I am an IT engineer with 20 years of experience building and working with CNC machines, laser cutters and several 3D printers in the last 5 years. I followed the instructions (and also carefully watched their instructions on YouTube) and calibrated the printer. The first print (included Cube file on the supplied USB stick) failed, the print did not stick to the construction platform. So I cleaned the tub (the tank that holds the liquid and the build platform), then calibrated the machine again. The second attempt to print the attached cube file also failed. This time it failed towards the end, the bottom of the print is distorted, so I started the cleaning and calibration procedure again (see picture, I also contacted the manufacturer) Third try: The printer has the fans and the z-axis about Stopped 1 minute after printing and had to restart. Then it worked So I cleaned the machine again and ran the cube again after calibrating the machine 4th attempt: Now the print failed again, nothing stuck to the print platform So I went ahead to replace the tub (the cloudy one became). Bath foil is a separate topic. The included instructions on the back of the box forget to mention that you need to use a 13mm bottle cap to make a bulge when installing new FEP sheet between metal plates This is mentioned in their YouTube video, which I luckily saw and used a 13mm bottle cap to install the film. ml of resin (which would cost about $25 bought separately) and about 8 hours of labor. Meanwhile, my other 3 FDM-3d printers work without any problems. I will update my review after the next print attempt is complete. Update: The fifth attempt also failed. The print will not stick to the build plate. Started leveling again and sent the device to its home position, interestingly the home position it went to is not the one previously set. That's about three times the thickness of the sheet of paper he needs. Sixth (and final) attempt: Go back home to the thickness of the sheet of paper and start the final attempt. I won't open a new resin bottle if that doesn't work so this is a last try. If that also fails, the printer will be returned (including any extra resin, FEP film, and other supplies I ordered). Try 7: This print stuck to the build plate but for some reason didn't work in one corner. For the seventh try I'm using my own cut file, the problem may be with the demo file (although this is unlikely). Updated 06/09/2018. Anycubic support contacted me and tried to fix the issue. Your support is working well so far and I hope the issue gets resolved. Update 06/16/2018: Even after troubleshooting and emailing with Anycubic, the printer does not work reliably. 80% of prints fail because the printer either shuts down after a few shifts (the fan turns off but the printer "head” stays in the resin tank). I've tried several USB dongles and the errors seem to pop up randomly. One day the print works, the next day the same print does not work. The printer seems to lose Z-axis calibration in the middle of a print, or at least between prints. If you have a lot of time to play around with it (and money because playing around costs a lot of wasted resin and consumables like FEP film, paper towels, mesh filters, rubbing alcohol, gloves, face masks, etc.) it can give good results, but I would rather consider it as a beta version and unfortunately not as a ready-to-sell product. I know this printer is a lot cheaper than the competition, which can cost $3,000 or more, but a cheap product that doesn't work reliably isn't worth the money either. stick to not wasting time and materials - fix problems that cause the machine to turn off the fans and not move the Z-axis.