3d Printer that does it all? - Qidi X-Plus 3 Long Term Review

If you want a 3D

printer

to print with engineered filaments, you've probably discovered that there aren't many budget options. Could the chitty X+ 3 do everything you want for a cheaper price? In this video, we will find out. This video is sponsored by pcbway what you won't see here is a first impressions video or a couple of quick impressions before I give you my opinion. I've been using this machine for over 6 months and it's pretty much become my go-to. to machine during that time, Chitty sent me this 3D

printer

to test, but unlike other manufacturers, they never pressured me to make a video.

I never really intended to take this

long

to make a video, but what it did was give me a Great idea of ​​what

long

-

term

ownership is like. If after watching this video you decide to buy a CHD X+ 3, check the links in the description where you will find the best price I can get. So the first thing you need to know is that the X+ 3 is big. Actually, it's not just big, it's huge. The reason it is so great is that Chitty has tried to give you everything you need from a 3D printer in one package. so if you buy it you won't need anything else and overall it's not that far off in that sense, it

does

have a few quirks but we'll get to those shortly.

The X+ 3 is actually so big and heavy that I needed help lifting the box in my workshop. The weight is 25 kg, but it is more the size that makes it a tower lift. The reason for all this is that underneath the appliance that looks like a plastic outer shell is a very solid metal frame. You may have seen some negative things about chitty machines and there were some problems with the first owner of this unit. Chitty have updated the firmware to fix a few things and they also sent out some other mods I've seen them do with other customers at no charge, certainly any X+ 3 you bought now would be a far cry from those first units. and it shows that Chitty is much more interested in satisfied customers than her own results, so once you take it out of the box, what do you need to do to make it work well?

Actually, not much like with many 3D printers you buy now, you will be guided through the entire setup process via the 3D printer screen. You will be shown how to move all packaging materials and zip ties and fixings to prevent things from being damaged during shipping. Once you confirm that this has been done, the printer starts. Straight into your setup process by heating the bed when it reaches the proper temperature, it asks you to use the included plastic sheet to set a ZED offset. This is simply a case of pressing a few buttons until the sheet is clamped between the bed and the nozzle if If you've seen any of my videos on bed leveling or Zed compensation then you'll know that I'm not a big fan of the way manufacturers tell you to set a Zed offset;

However, I followed the instructions to the letter and first. The print completed fine however we will move on once you have done your part with the Zed offset, then the rest of the setup and calibration process is done with very little interaction, the printer grabs a bed mesh and then runs a process called vibration. compensation which is supposed to remove surface effects from prints such as ghosting, it

does

this by moving the parts and then using sensors it checks how many things moved and then compensates, unfortunately I wasn't 100% happy with what it did here and When Later it was about getting the best possible printing results on a project.

I had to do a little bit of work, but I'll show you that when I do it anyway, once you're done with all your moves, it's time to load the filament with these. On Corx y machines, there's always a bit of a challenge as to where to mount the filament holders, and in fact, pretty much like what the shitholes have done with the X+ 3, there's a removable SPO holder on the back where you can put in a filament no matter how many The engineered filaments you will probably want to print with if you buy an filament separately. dryer or dry box to isolate the filament from the surrounding air.

What Chitty has done is designed their own dry box for filaments which attaches to the waste holder or in fact will sit on a flat surface next to the machine if you find reaching around the back to change filament is a pain. I have this problem. I've had the X+ 3 sitting on a bench and would have to rotate it every time I want to change the filament. What I do is place the dry box next to the printer that produces the filament. changes very easily, there is also room to desanctize the inside of the dry box to maintain a nice, dry environment for the filament.

The filament still has to be fed into the back of the machine, but I found that with a little practice I can do it Feel without having to turn on the machine with filament loaded, you're up and running if you're watching this video because you have a project that You want to continue and need some 3D printing, why don't you take a look at PCB form? PCB shapes are ok. known for their PCB prototype maker, but did you know that's not all they do? They now have extensive 3D printing CNC machining plus many other manufacturing options to help you get started on that project without having to learn a new machine Che check Check out the links in the description to see all their capabilities.

Now back to the If you're very familiar with Clipper, you really won't get much more with Chitty's user interface, just a simpler interface that gives you everything he needs while he's in front of his machine. When it comes to remote access, there don't seem to be any restrictions on what you can do and connecting to the X+ 3 using a PC phone or tablet on the same network was a breeze if you're new to clipart. One of its great advantages, if you prefer, is that you can play with the things you want. to add a camera, no problem, I want to change the way certain processes run, no problem, the only problem with all this access is that it can cause you some problems if you're not careful if you start digging into the configuration files and change things without really knowing it. what you're doing then you're likely to mess up some things;

However, as Clipper is becoming more popular, there is now a growing resource base where you can usually find out how to fix anything that has gone wrong if you don't know. what you are doing then just stay away from the configuration files and you will be fine as with most 3D printers there are a number of preconfigured configuration files supplied on the USB stick and I would always recommend printing one of these first. X+ 3 came with a 500G PLA spool, which is much more than you normally get; However, there are many 3D printers that can print beautiful PLA parts.

If the X+ 3 wanted to impress me, then it would have to do more. Parts printed with Asa or ABS can be much more durable. A big problem they have is that they like to deform. If you want to stop the print from warping, you need to avoid drafts and keep the air around the print warm. That's why the X+ 3 looks like a big plastic oven which is pretty much what it is, there is a PTC heater with a fan inside the cabinet and you can set and maintain the temperature up to 65°. I decided to try this right away with some ASA. which I have to say, it printed much better than any other printer I have without a heated case.

I have the X+ 3's little brother, the xmart 3, and while I've always liked the way it works, it doesn't have a heated case. The only real way to warm up your cabinet is to preheat the bed for quite some time before you start printing. This works to a point, but the dedicated case heater on the X+ 3 works much better with a little more testing. I found that the parts I've made some attempts to get right on other machines, I printed for the first time on the X+ 3 with the correct settings. Getting the settings right is quite easy by simply using the included chitty cutter supplied on the USB stick.

I thought it was interesting that in between receiving my xmart 3 and my Another slicer called Cura that is one of the most popular in recent years, the Chitty Slicer, is based on the open source software slick 3r, which is the same one used by some of the others, such as Bamboo Lab Prusa and my new Ora Slicer favorite. I think this transition is definitely a change for the better and as a result the print quality has improved, as I already said, connecting to your 3D printer from another computer on the same network is one of the great features of the Clipper firmware, everything what you need to do to set this up. on the There is much better support for this Clipper connectivity and there is even a dedicated tab within the slicing software where you can connect directly to your machine, this means you can send your cut files directly to your 3D printer, launch them and then monitor their progress, all within the same software;

However, what makes this process much better is If you use a camera with a camera, you can obviously see if the print started well and monitor its progress and stop it if something goes wrong. Unfortunately, chitty, don't supply a camera with the X+ 3 as standard. I just used a standard USB webcam. and then after turning it on in settings everything worked, the only problem is that it can be difficult to get a webcam with a wide enough field of view to go into the printer and still see the entire bed, and then you need to do something else. sit outside, which can be very difficult.

I tried putting a camera inside, but it's not very good. Chitty, I have now released a camera designed to fit inside the nowadays and it's a shame they didn't include one like they do with the big brother, the x max 3. Aside from the camera, the whole cutter and printer integration is really clever now and is a big improvement over what that we had before. Another reason why the such as nylon and polycarbonate, but it doesn't come close to being able to print with really high temperature materials like Peak pii or ppsu, although unfortunately that is the case.

Even if it is a high quality hobby machine or a lower quality industrial machine, you can print with abrasive filaments such as those containing carbon fiber and the like, but you need to change the hot end to do this. The X+ 3 comes with a replacement hot end that has more durable components and a hard, steel nozzle if you want to use these filaments, although the of up to 20,000mm/s squared, it can also technically reach speeds of up to 600mm/second, all of this is on par with and in fact slightly better than many of the other Corex and leading machines we've seen recently, including Bamboo Labs X1, the X+ 3 doesn't have all the bells and whistles. and bamboo lab whistles Flagship machines, while you don't get things like a liar sensor that checks your first layers or the ability to print with multiple materials in a single print without stopping to change the material, you do get an outlet for the fumes that have room for a carbon filter bag, there is no easy way to add ducting to this vent so you have to be happy that whatever comes out can breathe or add some sort of DIY ducting yourself to make it print quickly with more filament options and has some clever ideas to take care of your delicate filaments, which is nothing to love, well it hasn't all been smooth sailing after a couple of months my original hotend set died.

Chitty sent me a replacement right away, but I'm not sure if this is the case. because I had a unit

review

or if all customers are treated the same, changing the hot end is also a bit long, especially when you compare it to something like the Bamboo Lab A1 or the Forge Adventura 5m Pro flash, there are a few screws. to undo it so you can reach all the wiring, but what I found most difficult was being able to reach everything. I have my benches a little higher than normal to save my back and be able to reach the back of the hot end.

I would need a stepladder, what I found easiest was lifting the printer to a lower surface so I could climb to the top; However, at 25kg this wasn't so easy and is something worth keeping in mind if you plan on doing regular nozzle changes. Most of my other complaints are pretty minor. I don't love that looking at your print while it's running means trying to look through a molded plastic section of the door, which makes your eyes go funny after a while and also makes it difficult to fit that external camera. which I have been using to get a clear view.

It's also not that easy to clean and there are a lot of small pockets in the base for filament to get stuck in. Ideally you'll need a vacuum cleaner to clean it, but it doesn't really affect the operation of the machine. Also, I can't help but think that a lot of the heating in the cabinet is wasted, as there are a lot of small holes and gaps in the panels that let out the air. This would obviously also affect the xplus 3's ability to contain any undesirable VOCs in the air. The Flash for 5m pro does a much better job on both counts, but it does not have a chamber heater.

As I said before, I had to work a little harder than the standard settings to get the print results I wanted. The X+ 3 can print very well, but no matter how many times I ran the automatic vibration compensation process, I still couldn't match the results I got by doing the process manually for better results, like with any Clipper control 3D printer. Run all the different calibration procedures to make sure everything is adjusted correctly. Now it's all pretty easy with slices based on the Slick 3r software, but I found Orca Slicer to be a bit easier than Chitty Slicer, in fact I generally migrated all my slicing to Orca Slicer now and you can too if you have the X+ 3.

There are profiles for all Chitty machines and it is very similar to Chitty, but with a few more features, there are a couple more details that are worth it. Note also that I haven't mentioned the print volume which is 280 larger than City's K1 and k1c and is only slightly smaller than their K1 Max. I'm also pleased to see hard, steel linear rails on the X+ 3 instead of the carbon ones on the xmart 3. These should last pretty much indefinitely. I would like to show you all the pieces. that I printed with the However, I'm currently working on a really fun project that will have most of the parts printed on the X+ 3 and should really show off what it can do.

Hit subscribe if you don't want to miss it. In that case, the X+ 3 is Chitty's best effort at a large-core Where has the money been? saved I think with everything the X+ 3 can do chitty, I've saved money in most of the right places, like I say. I think not including a camera is a mistake, but overall owning and using the X+ 3 is a very pleasant experience if you don't. If you don't want to do any of those Clipper calibrations then you're looking at a more expensive machine or you're going to miss out on another feature like the heated chamber if you go with the Forge flash machines for example, one of the main reasons I've really enjoyed it. using the intelligent. the camera heater cuts a model, starts the model by printing and then watches it complete or while sitting in my pants if I want, obviously I can only do all this after adding a camera and that's not a camera to watch me sitting on my pants.

I'm sure you know what I mean. I don't really have another 3D printer that can do all those things in a cold workshop. If you have a similar setup, this will be a great 3D printer for you, however, if your printer has heating somewhere. or is very close to you while it is running, you may not get the full benefits of each feature. I can see this being a great 3D printer for anyone looking to print prototypes or things like cabinets due to its ability to print with some of the stronger higher temperature filaments and of course its build volume, remember to check out the links on the description if you decide to buy a CHD x+3, you could right click here for a couple more options if the