Are 3D Printers the Most Unreliable Machines Ever Made?

[rockpopandchips]

I question the reliability of consumer-grade 3D printers, especially resin models from brands like Elegoo and Anycubic. While the technology behind 3D printing is undeniably impressive, the machines themselves often seem plagued by hardware failures and frustrating support experiences.

 

Take my Elegoo Saturn 3, for example. It performed well for a few months before a cascade of issues began, a faulty USB board, an internal USB lead, and a failed constant current board. While Elegoo support did respond, the back-and-forth nature of email troubleshooting turned what should have been a quick fix into a drawn-out 5-week ordeal.

 

Then there’s the Anycubic M5s, OK it was a second-hand purchase, that turned out to be a nightmare. Despite a near-complete rebuild, the print quality remained poor, possibly explaining why the original owner gave up on it so quickly. Then there’s my Anycubic M7, the lead screw motor failed after only a month and 7 liters of resin. Now, another teardown is required on a nearly new machine.

 

This raises a bigger question are manufacturers cutting corners on build quality, banking on the idea that replacing parts under warranty is cheaper than building more durable machines? It’s a frustrating situation, especially for those without the time, tools, or technical know-how to perform constant repairs.

 

Or it just my bad luck?

[Rabbit Leader]

No, I think that exotic title goes to the Fiat 124. 
 

[LorenSharp]

I dont know, I had an Anycubic Mono X that I used for 2 years until I ruined my top LCD screen through my own stupidity. The FEP film punctured because I neglected to remove parts from the build plate before starting another print( I was in a rush)and didnt have a protective screen in place. It was cheaper to get a new printer instead of a new screen. I have a Mono X 5 thats been doing great for almost that same amount of time. Both were Re-Mans. My first printer was a first Gen Elegoo Mars. I had to get new LCD screens about every 300 hrs of use. They were full color rather than monochrome, so they didn't last as long. Cheap to replace but still a pain. I'm somewhere around 2-3000 hrs currently and aside from my own garbage in garbage out errors in the object creation before doing the print has worked very well. The vat is cleaned and checked after each use.  The FEP gets replaced after about 50k layers,but the printer tells me when I get there.And I clean and re-grease  the  z-screw about every 4 months. Now of course that I have said this the printer will probably die.

[rockpopandchips]

 My first printer was a Mono M4, which had already been running in a print farm for two years before I got it and it still works flawlessly. I haven’t even cleaned it or done any maintenance on it. In contrast, the S3 and M7 have me questioning whether I’m just wasting my time and money. I’m starting to wonder if I should’ve invested in a higher-end brand like UniFormation, Phrozen, or even Heygears. But honestly, the high upfront cost and the lack of clear information about their reliability make me hesitant. On top of that, it feels like every year these companies release a new printer that’s supposedly better than the last, which only adds to the uncertainty.

[LorenSharp]

And as soon as they introduce a new model they quit supporting the old models. But for me personally, I'll probably stick with the Anycubic, if but for no reason they do accept Re-mans back if you're not satisfied. Elegoo doesn't.

[Stu_davros]

I've had 3 printers, An anycubic photon, a Mono X and an Elegoo Saturn 2.

Changed a couple of screens on the Photon and the z screw on the Mono X. The Saturn has been solid and they have all been used a lot.

I think you might just be unlucky with the units you get sometimes.

[Ben Brown]

On 6/4/2025 at 5:21 AM, Rabbit Leader said:

No, I think that exotic title goes to the Fiat 124. 
 

When I saw the thread title I immediately thought TR7! Specifically, the ‘75 I once owned.😄
 

Ben

[bootneck]

I have had an Anycubic Mono M5s for a couple of years without any issues, apart from the normal FEP changes; however, my printer is currently in bits as the LCD plate has some defect areas on it. 

 

It was my fault because some bits had fallen off the build plate, or not properly printed leaving residue in the vat.  I had a couple of prints to do so I just did a change over after the first print without doing my normal checking the vat for any debris. 

 

That next print, when the build plate moved down to zero level, pushed the debris down through the FEP and ruptured it.  That wasn't a problem as all I had to do was replace the FEP; however, all my subsequent prints were failing badly, with ragged holes appearing through the top and bottom of the model of the hull.  Further investigation showed that the debris had also been pushed onto the protective sheet which then pushed down onto the LCD screen; somewhat like applying excessive pressure on a phone screen or TV screen.

 

A salutary lesson to always check my vat after a print, just in case some debris or failed part has remained in the vat.

 

cheers,

Mike

 

[Sebastien]

I received my Mars 4 Ultra with a faulty touchscreen, and the LCD screen died out on me once.

All the others problem I've met were of PICNIP nature (I know the acronym is supposed to be PICNIC, but the Problem was In Chair, Not In Printer).

 

Cheers,

 

S.

[dnl42]

12 hours ago, Sebastien said:

I received my Mars 4 Ultra with a faulty touchscreen, and the LCD screen died out on me once.

All the others problem I've met were of PICNIP nature (I know the acronym is supposed to be PICNIC, but the Problem was In Chair, Not In Printer).

PEBKAC - problem exists between keyboard and chair

[rockpopandchips]

@bootneck I must say the M7 is very good at stopping any prints if there is debris or other problems with leveling etc. 

 

The new lead screw and motor have just arrived, so i will start to dismantle the M7 some time this week. Its a very involved job so not really looking forward to it and I'm busy rebuilding the front end of my 500 Ninja, its sunny and i need to ride!

[Casey]

Mars was giving me some headaches. 

 

I do have X1C which is different tech, and this one is basically 'press button to print'. Maybe this company will make a resin printer one day... but so far they went to laser engraving.  I do not have the laser version but if I ever get one, I will for sure test it out with silkscreen design. Maybe that could make a good homemade white decals problem solved. (very similar way to xTool Screen Printer)

Edited June 15 by Casey

[dnl42]

9 hours ago, Casey said:

Maybe that could make a good homemade white decals problem solved.

Try a Silhouette Portrait cutter; print decals on white paper with registration marks that the cutter will use to cut at specific locations on the page. My older (1st-gen) version doesn't support registration marks, but I do use it to cut white decal paper (for backgrounds) using the SVG file I created to print the decals. I typically cut masks with the device.

 

The recent versions can also cut thin plastic; my version can only score it. But, I did use it to make these mounts for an LCM(3)

Now, of course, I'd just print the mounts.

 

[CE1]

Can’t comment on resin printers as never had one, but my Bambu A1 has been amazing. Apart from the odd failure to stick due to me being lazy and hardly ever cleaning the plate, I haven’t had a single failure due to the machine in hundreds of prints.

[Casey]

19 minutes ago, dnl42 said:

Try a Silhouette Portrait cutter

I did, I have this cutter for a while. I need to use cmyk layer on top of it instead of being able to put proper mixed colors on it like I could with silkscreen. But maybe I could use engraving feature to make details like cockpit.

 

I use Silhouette extensively for making masks though  

[Six97s]

Maybe I'm lucky.  I've had no problems with my Mars 4 Ultra over the last 18 months.