Ender 3 V2 for beginners

[Robert S]

I’ve been thinking about that myself. Which brand direct drive did you go with? Are you using a single Z drive or have you already upgraded to double?

I used the Creality Direct Drive Extruder Upgrade Kit. It works with all of the Ender 3s I think. I have a 3 v2. Its a good thing I saved the unused parts from installing the Ender Touch because I needed the other optional bracket it came with when I installed this new part.

The biggest pain was removing the old harness and installing the new harness through the mesh wire channels. Everything ells was pretty straight forward.

I do not have two z screws.

 

[SlingShot]

Alright, with 3D printing there is a ton of heresay on the internet, poorly written articles penned by fresh journalism majors with 6 figures of government debt and zero clue about 3D printing, and just general internet/reddit d-baggery that there is an excess of information and not all of it is correct.

Thanks for doing this. Very helpful. I just got my new Ender 3 v2 up and printing with most of your mods. Very cool

 

[luvmy40]

After a year with my Ender 3 v2 I've concluded...

The only modification you need are yellow springs. Everything else is exorbitant or too much trouble, an extra thing to malfunction, for basically the same experience. With the yellow springs my bed stays level for months, and thats with a lot of abuse, putting weight on it. If you can remember which direction the knobs turn then you're 99% of the way there to being able to level your bed in like 30 seconds. There is a lot of crap out there telling you to buy this mod and buy that mod and do this mod. It's all bullshit, all of it. Don't get a bed leveler. Don't get lost in the sauce. They are marketing to you, even the ones who aren't doing it on purpose. Furthermore Prusa has some kind of viral internet campaign going on or there's some kind of weird elitist attitude surrounding it like Apple products - Prusa's aren't special, they use the same steppers we do, and they glitch and do all the same crap, they're just more expensive. Don't buy into the bullshit.

*You may need to adjust spring tension at the extruder, mine was too tight, making clicking noises at the extruder, biting into filament. If its too tight and can't be adjusted more, take it off and squish it between pliars and put a flame on it for 10-25 seconds

*You don't need adhesive for PLA with the stock glass bed

*Use purple glue stick for PETG

*Unless you want to frequently replace your bowden tube, don't go past 135 degrees



I can not elaborate enough that there appear to be hundreds, thousands of people on the internet who will insist that you need a BL Touch and all this other crap, and that all of them are completely wrong, and don't know what they're talking about.. because these days its impossible to differentiate between marketing mules and actual people, people think these well thought out posts are from individuals experiencing products, they're literally written by professionals interested in creating the illusion of expertise in order to get you to buy more crap. Learn which direction knob turns to raise and lower the bed. Use a piece of paper to level, use a glue stick.. and with the yellow springs (or just stronger springs, whatever you can find!) you will very rarely need to level the bed.

I agree with you 100% My bone stock Ender 3 Pro did everything I asked of it and did it well.

However, I am a compulsive tinkerer. I HAVE to modify things. It's a sickness.

My E3P is now equiped with upgraded bed springs, an aluminum extruder assy., direct drive, all metal, high temp. hot end and CR touch auto bed leveler, and multple tool storage devices. I also run it with OctoPrint with a Pi Cam, but that is less a modification than an optimization. It was also, unfortunately neccesary on my $99.00 Micro Center EP3 as it will not read from the SD card, which is eveidently a common problem with those discounted machines, and may be the reason for the price. Ialso noticed the bed roller assembly mounting bolts are reversed from the first 3 E3P's I had. This doesn't really effect the function, unless you want add that storage cabinet up front. The bolts drag and I had to grind them down to clear.

 

[WillL84]

After a year with my Ender 3 v2 I've concluded...

The only modification you need are yellow springs. Everything else is exorbitant or too much trouble, an extra thing to malfunction, for basically the same experience. With the yellow springs my bed stays level for months, and thats with a lot of abuse, putting weight on it. If you can remember which direction the knobs turn then you're 99% of the way there to being able to level your bed in like 30 seconds. There is a lot of crap out there telling you to buy this mod and buy that mod and do this mod. It's all bullshit, all of it. Don't get a bed leveler. Don't get lost in the sauce. They are marketing to you, even the ones who aren't doing it on purpose. Furthermore Prusa has some kind of viral internet campaign going on or there's some kind of weird elitist attitude surrounding it like Apple products - Prusa's aren't special, they use the same steppers we do, and they glitch and do all the same crap, they're just more expensive. Don't buy into the bullshit.

*You may need to adjust spring tension at the extruder, mine was too tight, making clicking noises at the extruder, biting into filament. If its too tight and can't be adjusted more, take it off and squish it between pliars and put a flame on it for 10-25 seconds

*You don't need adhesive for PLA with the stock glass bed

*Use purple glue stick for PETG

*Unless you want to frequently replace your bowden tube, don't go past 135 degrees



I can not elaborate enough that there appear to be hundreds, thousands of people on the internet who will insist that you need a BL Touch and all this other crap, and that all of them are completely wrong, and don't know what they're talking about.. because these days its impossible to differentiate between marketing mules and actual people, people think these well thought out posts are from individuals experiencing products, they're literally written by professionals interested in creating the illusion of expertise in order to get you to buy more crap. Learn which direction knob turns to raise and lower the bed. Use a piece of paper to level, use a glue stick.. and with the yellow springs (or just stronger springs, whatever you can find!) you will very rarely need to level the bed.

LOLOLOLOLOL

BLTouch is amazing. Especially with Jyers firmware and UBL. Also the silicone bed spacers instead of springs work better with UBL. Also Capricorn tubing makes a big difference as well as a metal extruder to get rid of the plastic arm that likes to break. Also the cooling mods with the taller feet to fit in a standard 120mm fan. Makes things nice and quiet. Also get rid of that junk glass bed and get a magnetic PEI sheet. Works mint with no adhesives for PLA and PETG. Plus you can remove the bed and flex it to get the part off easier. Also a Raspberry Pi and OctoPrint make a world of difference.

 

[WillL84]

oh man it's like they're cloning you guys somewhere.. some SF tech bro factory where you're all 3D printed on Prusas out of very expensive organic materials. A pull-string in your backs that makes ya squawk like parrots. I'd be nicer if you weren't jeering but we are where we are now. I'm sure the convenience you've experienced from your modifications is just revolutionary, but the attitude from a lot of you guys is really crappy and elitist - next you'll tell me I need an RTX 3090 and a Rolex. The title of the thread is Ender 3 v2 for beginners, and I'm just saying you don't "need" all the crap you mentioned, as seems to be spammed over and over on every corner of the internet, and prompts a level of anxiety in any would-be creator because you want to put them in the pilots seat of an F-18 before they even know what an aileron is, while raising the financial barrier.

Anyway the glass bed ensures a perfectly straight surface where the part was printed while your PEI magnetic sheet could be warped because it follows the contour of the build plate. I make airplanes, not trinkets. My parts are made to fly, not clutter the homes of facebook moms with non-recylable plastic decorative garbage. You can have fun wasting money and being a living breathing advertisement though I guess. Maybe go print out a storm trooper helmet or something useless with the souped up printer, maybe hang some dice like a modded 90s civic with a real loud muffler on that pointless abomination. As long as your having fun, and laughing.

Build plate warpage doesn't matter much with Unified Bed Leveling (UBL). You can even use the mesh UBL generated to get your bed as level as possible and then UBL will take care of the rest - automatically adjusting Z height for the minor variances in the bed. It also does a 4-point tilt check before each print then applies your saved mesh to that tilt.

You're so butthurt over nothing lol. I've done plenty of pointless mods to my Ender 3 V2 but I've also done a bunch that make it print so much better like the BLT with UBL. Also added a second Z screw kit. Also a better part cooling fan duct that cools from both sides. Also different fans to make it so I can be in the same room as it while it's printing.

Your hatred is astounding. You're like one of those douchebros who thinks everything everywhere needs to be stock 100000% of the time because that's how it was designed. Yet you fail to take into account things are designed a certain way usually for cost. Mods can make things better and mods can make things worse.

Why are you even bothering with PLA and printing planes? Just glue them out of hand-cut 10000 year old native balsa that you cut down yourself then.

 

[luvmy40]

Well, this went bad very quickly. Didn't it?

I would highly recommend that it ends now and Y'all just agree to disagree. Not that I have any authority here, I just know how these things usually end up.

 

[WillL84]

I don't print with PLA because PLA is a garbage plastic that melts when you touch it. You're the one who came at me with a LOLOLOLOLOL like Alex Jones throwing a tantrum. I'm just tired of reading the same information over and over again from you repeaters, lemmings, consuming, grazing cows who call yourselves experts. A bunch of morons with more money than sense. Go take a chill pill and let people open the box first.

I'm gonna assume that you're the one printing with PLA which is really dissapointing since you seem to be putting so much effort into weak, halfass parts, no matter how nice your printer is, and apparently printing entire airplanes which is really just silly for the aforementioned reasons and then some. I printed planes to get through a roll of LW PLA I experimented with and determined was crap compared to other materials and needed to use it or lose it.

Now who's the elitist? 🤷🤦

In the end IDGAF what you do with your printer. But coming in here raging about mods like they just banged your mom is there only bullshit honestly. Just because you get all raged up over mods that others actually enjoy makes you the elitist no? You are, just in the opposite sense.

 

[Mr NCT]

I absolutely love the "You're not having fun right" arguments. Get some perspective, get a life. Anybody physically hurt, killed? No? Then it's all just background noise.

 

[AIRFORGE]

This is how to get a thread locked/deleted, and get banned, unless forum guidelines are followed. No need for this stuff, brothers.

 

[AIRFORGE]

Yeah no free speech on the internet anymore, anywhere, ever. God forbid a differing opinion or you'll get laughed at and ridiculed and then banned. These losers like will with their little crying/laughing emoji and LOLOLOLOLOL rude trolling behavior always get off free. They do their cowardly virtual drive by shooting and win, every time. I say ban me, go ahead, for reacting to an assault. Yeah yeah justice. Great way to build a community by banning all the different folk. Not like I'm just minding my own damn business and just offering advice until I'm attacked or anything right? Then come the hyenas, and the upstanding citizens, alike - to witness the great banishment in this modern day colliseum

As long as we follow the guidelines, we have free speech.

 

[WillL84]

I hope you're having fun with your cyber assassination attempt anyway pal. You also understand what I'm saying and you know it's true but you're insulted and sad because you happen to be one of the unfortunate jackasses Im talking about who bought into bullshit and bought those mods.

Not my fault you made stupid choices. Or, did the Russians hire you to troll or do you just behave like them? Clearly you feel your account is disposable enough to war with me, to be rude and laugh at my statement. "LOLOLOLOLOLOL" because I'm so "stupid" right?

How about one piece of evidence that you produce anything that isn't crap? You sure talk a lot of crap and say I need a lot of stuff for my printer but haven't said why? What is it youre making that is so grand there buddy?

Why take the side of misinformation and hidden advertising and general gatekeeping asshole behavior, and point and laugh at me? Is it because you're too stupid to see it or what? I want to know.

Here you go Mr elite. Printed in Matterhackers pro series tough pla at work on an old Flash Forge Creator Pro. It's an adapter to raise and lower the bed on a Bridgeport style mill. Put a socket on an adapter in a drill and boom. This gets used many times a day 5 days a week. I've had this one about 6 months now. The last one went almost a year before it snapped and that was because the drill got caught and broke it.

View attachment 20221018_130406.jpg

I designed and printed wall mount tire holders to mount my Legacy V2 to the wall.

View attachment 20220101_134303.jpg

I printed these PETG wall mount helmet hooks. Also in the bottom right of this image is another mod: power switch relocation so your don't need to reach around the back of the printer to power it on and off.

View attachment 20220923_165128.jpg

Also you're the one coming out with the asshole behavior saying all mods are bullshit while wearing your anti-prusa tin foil hat. My LOLOLOL was laughing at you thinking you're mr expert and all mods except yellow springs are trash. I also didn't say you needed a single thing. All I did was say what mods that I personally have and why I have them. You're the one being defensive about it all.

Point once again is IDGAF what you do with your year old printer. Just don't come in here mouthing off that all mods are dumb and bullshit and elitist just because you personally don't like them or see a practical need for them.

When your stock plastic extruder arm breaks are you going to replace it with another plastic one that will also break because the metal extruder mod is bullshit elitest talk?

You also might want to take a Xanax and chill with the name calling. You're awfully upset over what others do with their printers

 

[Interdimensional Aircraft]

yeah well I can do this

 

[WillL84]

yeah well I can do this

Do you think I'm new to the Internet? I'd expect this kind of reply from a child.

 

[Interdimensional Aircraft]

Do you think I'm new to the Internet? I'd expect this kind of reply from a child.

Do you think I'm new to the Internet? I'd expect this kind of reply from a child.

ok boomer.. nice helmet hooks. Do you wear a helmet all the time? I can't imagine how dangerous it must be to ride a bike when you have such awful situational awareness as to not realize that my claims regarding Prusa's advertising style are 100% spot on. No tin foil hat here, just a basic 2022 advertising campaign.

I am just doing a public service anyway. Save time and money you won't get any mind blowing results from mods. Maybe a faster print speed, and most advances claimed on the web are based on PLA tests which sucks for outdoor r/c.

 

[WillL84]

ok boomer.. nice helmet hooks. Do you wear a helmet all the time? I can't imagine how dangerous it must be to ride a bike when you have such awful situational awareness as to not realize that my claims regarding Prusa's advertising style are 100% spot on. No tin foil hat here, just a basic 2022 advertising campaign.

I am just doing a public service anyway. Save time and money you won't get any mind blowing results from mods. Maybe a faster print speed, and most advances claimed on the web are based on PLA tests which sucks for outdoor r/c.

Show me on the printer where Josef Prusa hurt you

 

[WillL84]

ok boomer.. nice helmet hooks. Do you wear a helmet all the time? I can't imagine how dangerous it must be to ride a bike when you have such awful situational awareness as to not realize that my claims regarding Prusa's advertising style are 100% spot on. No tin foil hat here, just a basic 2022 advertising campaign.

I am just doing a public service anyway. Save time and money you won't get any mind blowing results from mods. Maybe a faster print speed, and most advances claimed on the web are based on PLA tests which sucks for outdoor r/c.

LOL deleted all your comments. Classy

 

[tomlogan1]

What great advice on this thread! I finally broke down and installed a raspberry pi and octoprint, it's fantastic. Now to explore the cura and octoprint plug ins. I noticed that when I turn on the pi the control on the ender 3v2 comes on without turning on the power switch for the printer. Does yours do that?

Took the easy way out and installed Octoprint on Windows. Not using a camera but really to stop handling SD cards which seem to always be in the wrong place after slicing the next thing you want to print. Couldn't find a Raspberry Pi at a reasonable price so just dumped it in Windows and it works fine.

 

[WillL84]

Took the easy way out and installed Octoprint on Windows. Not using a camera but really to stop handling SD cards which seem to always be in the wrong place after slicing the next thing you want to print. Couldn't find a Raspberry Pi at a reasonable price so just dumped it in Windows and it works fine.

I did Octoprint as well. I also use the OctoRemote app (android) to control the printer through my phone when I'm at home and the OctoEverywhere page to do it while I'm not home, usually when I'm at work and want to start a print or shutdown the system and turn the printer off after a print ahs completed. The webcam setup is nice too, I have a cheap Logitech C270 and printed a PETG mount for it: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4809662