What's the best survival 3D Printer? Creality vs Flashforge vs BambuLabs vs Qidi

If you want to 3D print off the grid, which 3D printer will be the best for it? In this video I test the Creality K1, Flashforge Adventurer 5M Pro, Creality Ender 3, Qidi X-Smart S, BambuLabs Carbon X1, P1S and A1 Mini to find out which one uses the least battery.

Check out the printers and filament featured in this video (affiliate links whenever I can):
Ender 3 V1: Unavailable... thank heavens.

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0:00 3D Printing off the Grid
2:38 Introducing the Maker Cart
4:20 Setting the Rules
6:22 Creality K1
7:38 Flashforge Adventurer 5M Pro
10:29 Qidi X-Smart 3
13:03 Ender 3 V1
15:06 BambuLabs Carbon X1
18:37 BambuLabs P1S
22:30 BambuLabs A1 Mini
25:05 Conclusion

[ijcarroll]

If you go for a creality, use a 24v system you can cut out the conversions (inverter, power supply) and connect directly to a fuse block. Also, a bl touch w the bed perfectly trammed, and using gluestick and a glass plate, with PLA you can turn off the bed heater.

[paladingeorge]

the concept of using a 3d printer on a solar battery just absolutely delights me!

[SirHackaLt.]

My A1 Mini is plugged into my Anker 4kWh battery. Works fine and runs for an amazing amount of time.

[AlexSwavely]

@20:00 you could set your phone or laptop into hotspot mode - no need to add a separate wifi gateway

[silasdenny]

I find this idea interesting.
One thought in your more testing, environment temperature is going to change how much power is used.
I am looking forward to a follow-up video.

[LucianoFoxtrot]

The material is always defined in the slicer, which ajust the temperature, extrusion rate and so. It's not very surprising that you can print without telling the printer what's loaded.

[Mr.XD]

Seriously, I’m doing this test by daily basis. Live off grid. The X1c is =ok=, the p1s is actually I little bit better. The A1-mini is the best performer in terms of consumption. Still, it depends a LOT of what material you’re printing. PLA, is cheap (consumption wise). but if you’re to print functional parts (ABS/ASA/PA/PC), that would most likely happen after the apocalypse, you’re power consumption will more than double. The heat bed is the biggest consumer, hence the good results with the qidi having much smaller bed.And if you have a heater chamber…. Yeah… that battery won’t last for more than 5 hours. I printed a 9h PA-GF on the plus4, took 6kwh from the battery… 🙈

[OmegaBN]

I have literally been looking at this from the reverse angle. Which battery pack will be best at powering my 3d printer!

[got]

Isn't internet connection required to design - slice anything for Bambu machines?

[peersupportcounselor]

I’m planning on getting a p1s S as my first 3d printer

[vilkann]

I ran some similar experiments to see how much power my printers use with my jackery 1000. Similar setup, charge to 100% and run a print with it. I chose the classic 3D benchy with standard settings (not the high speed "benchy in x minutes") for a realistic test. Record the percentage remaining at the end of the print. On my A1 Mini and X1 Carbon, the power usage was nearly identical.

After the printing completed I recorded the % remaining on the battery. Both prints took about an hour to complete, and the results were interesting. The A1 Mini had 91% power remaining, the X1C had 90% remaining.

Other factors to consider:
Is the printer enclosed or not? Escaping heat can use more power.
Turn off the heated bed and use glue instead? (at least for PLA) Less heating, less power used.
For other printers, bypass the AC inverter and run the machine directly off DC?
What role does ambient temperature/humidity play in power consumption?
Less cooling from the hotend? My thought is it's blowing excess heat off the bed.

This is a very interesting concept! I've been following your updates on discord and have been intrigued by battery powered printers! So much testing to be done! Gonna run my ender 3 with and without the heated bed next!

[TekkOnMe]

What about to add mobile phone with hotspot? Maybe even without mobile services it could create sufficient network for sending files to the printer, so you don’t need to deal with copy data throught usb drive/SD card. With enabled mobile data you could even enjoy cloud services and watch print remotely. It should work at least for bambu. As well old wifi rounter should work too, for using LAN only mode. Power consumption for both devices will be unsignificant.

[juliushowlett]

Great vid and pretty interesting - very surprised Bamboo labs had an opening like that on the bottom
Always thought 'Qidi' was pronounced "Chee-Dee" (instead of 'Cutie')

[Thibs]

I don't think that you'll be doing much 3d printing in a doomsday scenario. They just don't provide shelter, warmth or help with gathering food and water. However, for portability, I would look at the Positron. I mean, it fits in a filiment box.

[guruthossindarin]

LOL! I've been thinking about this, but not so much the power consumption. I can deal with that.

[ScottDrobny-mogf]

Imagine living somewhere that you could leave your battery power supply and 3d printer outside without them walking away...

[jareddehart]

Adding a Panda Touch, for $60, to the P1S could solve a lot of your problems.

[EdwinPurmerend]

This test would be more accurate with a kilowatt hour meter in a room with constant temperature and humidity. This test has far too many variables.

[GeorgeGraves]

Welp, that's all the bloviating I can take out of you. Time to unsubscribe. Best luck with the channel - even though we both know it's more of a outlet to listen to yourself talk. Enjoy.

[haraldlonn]

First Kia is not a American car. So no bueno there. If you use a hourse ans carrage I understand. ROFLOL.