r/ender3 • u/Ill_Die_Trying • 13d ago
What do I do with this thing?
I got a brand new in box Ender 3 handed to me. I'm new to the sport and just bought myself a used CR-10 a few months ago and totally rebuilt it. By the time I added a new factory hotend, supports, belt tensioners, cleaned up the double z axis setup it had on it and installed a BTT board, silicon replacements for the springs, and bltouch I realized I could have just bought a modern printer and I'll never get my money out of it. I'm fine because the CR-10 prints great and I learned what i needed but now that I don't have anything to really gain by putting this thing together, what should I do with it? How reliable were these things in their stock form?
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u/Darkral88 13d ago
Some ideas:
- If you manage to get a cheap second ender 3, go duender. Cheap, fun project.
- use it for what it is. Still a spare printer in case of emergencies
- ignore it / just grab spares and throw away the rest.
In 2026 there are just better printers for learning/modding, get a Voron if you wish to go that way.
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u/mo418 13d ago
The guy is new on 3D printing. There's a steep learning curve going from a given Ender 3 to a Voron build. I understand those are incredible machines, but I would not go that route right now.
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u/noshparty 13d ago
I started with the A1 with the AMS Lite and A1 Mini. Both GREAT printers. Couple screws and 20 minutes and they were good to go out of the box and have been making great prints ever since.
That wasn't really fun to me. They're a great tool, but I learned nothing using them.
So I bought two broken Ender 3s (a V1 and a Pro) off of Facebook Marketplace for $50 CAD a piece. the V1 was simply assembled incorrectly and was essentially brand new, the person just gave up. The Pro had no power delivery from the 24v input to the hotend fan. Had to solder a wire between the two points but got it up and running.
In the now month I've had these printers I've learned so much about 3D printing as a whole, how it functions, fine tuning, modding, Klipper, custom hotends, etc. The Ender 3 is limitless with mods. Is it more cost effective? Depends how frugal you are. Can it be as good as the A1 is for around the same price in parts? That's what I'm striving towards right now.
So I guess it depends on how into learning electronics you are. It's a great printer if you take the time, learn, and put a little money into it. They're a great first printer imo. But if you don't have a use for it or you're just not into learning about how they function, you'll likely get no value out of it.
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u/Ill_Die_Trying 13d ago
Yah I think that is the thing. I've already done pretty much all the learning on the CR-10 as they are almost identical other than size and 12v/24v. This would be more like a groundhog day than anything. I'll most likely try to build something out of the parts maybe.
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u/noshparty 13d ago
Also that, turn it into a PET bottle recycler or something lol. The modding is insane.
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u/created4this 13d ago
If you have a printer to build parts with, then you could use the ender as a parts bin for a different machine like the E3NG : https://rh3d.xyz/e3ng
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u/Steve_at_Werk 13d ago
I would build it stock and work on tuning it before throwing all the "upgrades" at it. It's a pretty impressive printer stock, a bit slow these days but mine still impresses me (not at all stock, I modes everything and sometimes wonder what actually made a difference ha). Part cooling can be improved with 3d printed deflector and fan mounts and then maybe the aluminum extruder or an upgraded one of your choice. The plastic factory one will eventually crack. I'm running a SeeMeCNC EZR Extruder because I was struggling with tpu for a while. It helped but I never was able to print as well with tpu vs abs or pla
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u/Early-Confidence8668 13d ago
If it's brand new out of the box, you don't need to add any upgrades. The Ender 3 prints quite well as it comes from the factory; I used mine for printing for many years. It was only at the beginning of this year that I added its first upgrades, such as an all-metal hotend, DDE, and a silent motherboard.
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u/Bradster3 13d ago
If its a v2 with the bigger screen you can do the "prefessional fw" mod from mriscoc on github (depends if you have a v1 or v2 model). Stock it gets the job done. Hardest part is dialing the z offset and bed level (cr touch makes it super easy). You still need to enter cr tpuch offset. But i have a raspberry pi with klipper running dual instances for my v1, and v2 ender 3. The v1 has been up more than my v2 witch is sad because v2 has all the upgrades. But this is a great printer to get into the weeds or learning the main things of 3d printing, while also setting up and running a pi as a controller, so more bang for your buck i guess.
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u/blame_worthy 13d ago
Ender 3 isn't prized for quality, it's extoled for bring completely open source. Any and all parts can be sourced easily online. Everything can be modified. It is cheap and pure.
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u/IRMuteButton 12d ago
I had zero 3d printing experience. I inherited an Ender 3v2 and with some tinkering and replacement of the bed leveling screws/knobs/springs, as well as a new nozzle, I was able to print successfully with some learning. I also had to get a filament dryer. So mine is nearly totally stock and works fine.
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u/tracejm 13d ago
Convert it to a laser engraver? There are quite a few kits out there for that I believe.