Printing small parts on the large Anet A6 is a pain, it being overkill printing something like a part that is only a couple of mm wide on a machine that can print a bowling ball! I'd been looking on Ebay, looking for small footprint printers. Not surprisingly the prices are prety high for a convenient sized printer - there are very basic machines, like the Easythreed Nano, aimed more at the children's market, but even they go for £70-80. I came across a listing for a machine, 'not working, parts or repair' no-one else seemed to be interested, o I put in a cheeky offer - offer accepted! This is what I bought
Monoprice Select Mini V2 The base is about A4, but various bits overhang. 120mm x120mm x 120mm build size, with a heated bed.
I wondered if I'd bought a train wreck - but, when it arrived, it looked like the picture above, except someone had added a glass build plate. HOWEVER, the first problem was the Z-axis was jammed at the bottom of it's travel. I had to puzzle out to remove the cover plates ( only by YouTube videos did I find which screws to remove & which to leave alone ). I found that the coupling on the Z-axis lead screw had come adrift - I fixed that & all axis now moved. Next, there was no filament being extruded from the nozzle - I supposed it to be a blocked nozzle - it took quite a while to dig out the fossilised filament. Did it work? Nope - the extruder motor was turning, but no filament was reaching the nozzle. I found the tension arm on the extruder was cracked & wouldn't transport filament to the nozzle. I replaced the tension arm - then success filament extruded! Next, I wanted to replace the glass bed, with a magnetic build plate like my Anet. Someone had attached the glass bed with some tenacious glue, that took me ages to remove. I had to cut down a larger magnetic plate, as I couldn't find one small enough
At last I was able to get it to print ( although I found out that the machine wouldn't recognize micro SD cards above 4Gb! )
Satisfied - all I need to do is refit all the panels & a few add-on parts!, then re-level the bed & its good to go.
Best part of all this, is the printer cost me less than £50 delivered, It has taken a lot of my time, trying to figure out what was wrong & fixing it. I had to get another extruder tension arm & a magnetic build plate, about another £12...................... This can be used with a minimum of hassle, to print small parts - like the loads of bits for the USS St Louis. When it's set up it's literally put the card in & push the start buttons & it's quiet!
Dave
Monoprice Select Mini V2 The base is about A4, but various bits overhang. 120mm x120mm x 120mm build size, with a heated bed.
I wondered if I'd bought a train wreck - but, when it arrived, it looked like the picture above, except someone had added a glass build plate. HOWEVER, the first problem was the Z-axis was jammed at the bottom of it's travel. I had to puzzle out to remove the cover plates ( only by YouTube videos did I find which screws to remove & which to leave alone ). I found that the coupling on the Z-axis lead screw had come adrift - I fixed that & all axis now moved. Next, there was no filament being extruded from the nozzle - I supposed it to be a blocked nozzle - it took quite a while to dig out the fossilised filament. Did it work? Nope - the extruder motor was turning, but no filament was reaching the nozzle. I found the tension arm on the extruder was cracked & wouldn't transport filament to the nozzle. I replaced the tension arm - then success filament extruded! Next, I wanted to replace the glass bed, with a magnetic build plate like my Anet. Someone had attached the glass bed with some tenacious glue, that took me ages to remove. I had to cut down a larger magnetic plate, as I couldn't find one small enough
At last I was able to get it to print ( although I found out that the machine wouldn't recognize micro SD cards above 4Gb! )Satisfied - all I need to do is refit all the panels & a few add-on parts!, then re-level the bed & its good to go.
Best part of all this, is the printer cost me less than £50 delivered, It has taken a lot of my time, trying to figure out what was wrong & fixing it. I had to get another extruder tension arm & a magnetic build plate, about another £12...................... This can be used with a minimum of hassle, to print small parts - like the loads of bits for the USS St Louis. When it's set up it's literally put the card in & push the start buttons & it's quiet!
Dave
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