Is the Creality Ender 3, Pro?

Is the Creality Ender 3 Pro better than the standard Ender 3? Does it make a good beginner 3D Printer? Why does Creality have so many 3D Printers anyway?!

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[schmidtyschmidty]

Been getting virtually no stringing on mine! In Cura, set Shell / Outer Wall Wipe Distance to 2mm or so, Material / Retraction to at least 6.5mm, Travel / Combing to Not In Skin, activate Travel / Retract Before Outer Wall and all Avoid options, deactivate Travel / Z Hop. I also like to run 120% extrusion on my first layer to compensate for the slightly dodgy print bed. Pretty solid results, and I can usually pop prints off without moving the bed and thereby get away with 2-3 prints without re-levelling. So far haven't had any luck with slicers other than Cura but I'm not trying that hard because Cura's fine.

[DanielBooth]

Disclaimer: this is my first 3D printer. I bought the Ender 3 Pro about a week and a half ago, and after watching many videos highlighting issues with the Ender 3 I found that mine has many little tweaks done from factory that address them. Mine did come with the Silicon sock so I think I have pretty much the latest iteration. My magnetic bed sheet does align fine so that the logo can face out. I have been running this thing almost non stop with different little things, mostly upgrades (thank you to all the designers out there putting out improvements that I can print!). I have had only 1 print with adhesion problems, but that was before I figured out how to level the bed properly (thank you youtubers for the tips!). What I am finding is that the adhesion might be a little TOO good... I'm finding most prints are leaving little bits that I can't even scrap off, usually part of the fence. I don't know if that's an issue with my settings or just because it is so coarse. If you have any tips on cleaning the mat surface I'm all ears. So far the biggest "issues" are in the gantry and the print head rollers. I'm assuming since I see folks adding a 2nd Z screw (either with a belt or an additional stepper) that I'm not alone in the thinking that the gantry needs better support on the right side. I've tweaked with the rollers and got it as good as I know how, but it just seems a bit off (in my very inexperienced opinion). The other issue that I have is that to keep the print head from being very wiggly I had to tighten it and that has caused the rollers to start showing wear. I've tried to tweak it to a happy medium, but mine goes from too tight to too loose in the most minutia of tweaks... I guess I'll just be replacing rollers? While I've not done many complicated prints yet, I've had almost no hair issues that I see others reporting. Maybe I'll start having that problem when I get into more complicated prints, but so far its been very clean. Overall, I'm extremely happy with my purchase and I'd certainly do it again! As a hobbyist, I think having things to upgrade is half the fun! I have ordered a few little after market upgrades that should be here today, but a better tube wasn't one of them. Maybe I'll take your advice on that one too! Thanks for the videos, please keep making Ender 3 related content!

[FilamentFriday]

Thanks for the mention. The price difference between 3 and 3 Pro use to be more. And for the record, I’ve yet to get my hands on an Ender 3 with the silicone sock and reported Thermal Runaway Protection enabled so I can only go by what I’m told from various sources including a Creality rep. I’m trying to get one of these silicon sock versions to verify. The latest available firmware for download from Creality does have it enabled in code but I’ve yet to successfully test it. Still working on this.

[aaronrosner]

I've used those couplers for the PTFE tube a lot for pneumatics. Make SURE each time you take it out that you re-cut the end back another 7mm or so before putting it back in. Each time the part that grabs on is engaged it marks the tube and can create a weaker Joint and eventually it can just pop out.

[DPrintedTabletop]

I've really enjoyed seeing you and Joel's very open videos about Creality's printers. They're so affordable, and come with all sorts of quirks, but I know the nuance is really helpful for others who haven't been around before it existed.

That being said, I'm glad they exist. I think it's been a net positive to have so many affordable printers, and I am looking forward to the next phase of printers when we have things like ABL at around this price point.

Looking forward to seeing your next Ender 3 vids, Angus. Cheers, and happy new year!

[printingotb]

I love harsh reviews!
Whenever I consider a new printer model I ask what people does NOT like about their printers. That lets me know what mods are necessary and how much work it is to get the best quality from it.

[nickp]

My first printer was an Anet A8 about a year ago, never had major issues with it until the hot bed connector caught fire... so I decided to get the Ender 3 which I got for Christmas. It was a world of difference between speed, accuracy and quality. Haven’t had any issues so far except the bed coming unlevel after about 10 prints. Thanks for the review! Love the content!

[seabreezecoffeeroasters]

As I put to Naomi it should have been Ender 3 'Plus'. Pro was just the wrong marketing word.

[oasntet]

I've love a tutorial on upgrading one of these to a direct drive. I've had my Ender 3 for almost nine months, and have everything dialed in incredibly well, _except_ for the stringing problem. I upgraded to a capricorn tube (easily the most important upgrade), and that helps, but switching to a direct drive sounds like the next step...

[katzolik]

I can't back your printing experience... I had an early Ender 3 and got amazing print quality. No stringing at all with the stock CR10 settings in cura.
Looked way better than your stringingtest with your UP mini 2.

[skyhacker]

Well, I didn't experienced any stringing issue with mine so far, and when I look at the benches people use to talk about turned "great" I'm completly shocked by their horrible printing quality compared to what I print. To be honest, the printer is in an enclosure at about constant 32°C inside.

[tjeremiah]

got an ender 3, put a glass bed on it, new tubing with new couplings, silicon sock on the hot end. And it is printing pretty nice and reliable for me. Great printer if you want to get into 3d printing.

[VincentGroenewold]

Modding costs time and money yes, but I learned much doing it. And having a pretty good basis for no money is better then going for a Prusa and then start modding on that (which I would do). :) But I did mod the hell out of it because components simply are that bad, so for just wanting a printer that works and prints beautifully, you’re absolutely right.

[parkeredison]

I got my ender 3 pro today, it works great!

[TDDMakes]

Thanks for sharing Angus. I got my Pro (Gen 4 I guess, has sock). I'm happy with it so far. Completely agree about the difficulty of purchasing (so many variants).

You mentioned once somewhere of maybe doing a video about adding direct drive on the Ender. It would be interesting seeing your approach to that. Cheers and HNY!

[y]

I have honestly never had any issues with this printer for all the time I have had it. I do have artifacts, which I do agree are caused by the ptfe tubing but everthing else is like a wet dream.

[skipjackson]

Got stock Ender 3 from Bangood 4 weeks ago.
Very, very pleased. Spectacular value for money.
I got silicone sock, removable bed, upgraded tube couplers (I did still mod these with tie wraps) and all the other recent upgrades.
Yes you will need to learn/tolerate manual bed leveling but an evening on youTube will teach you all that.

Believe me, for the money you pay this machine constantly gives incredible results!

[ajhartmanaero]

I got a CR10s a few months ago and love it (my first printer) and just ordered an Ender 3 since Im printing so much, but mainly smaller things. Love the channel and all you insight and info!

[jaytee]

I got my ender 3 pro this week, I've printed the same retraction test with Cura 4.3 default settings (0.2 layer height standard quality) and I get no stringing at all, I got an extremely clean print

[videotracx]

I put my Ender 3 Pro together last night. The POWER SUPPLY clearance was my issue with it too. I flipped the Extrusion so the top was down and down was up. This moved the bolt holes about 3/4" away from the heated bed than the plans show. That means that the power supply is moved to the right by 3/4" of the location the plans show.