# 3D printing



## Paulus (26 Feb 2021)

Got a 3d printer for a while now and picking up the 3d modeling (still a rookie  ). I was thinking to make something for inside the eheim 2217 to prevent the foams and the especially the white foam to be crushed by the media on top of it (substrat).

More people have tried this or other filter "mods" and if so which filament did you use or is the best?
I've heard that PLA is not the best to use and instead go for PETG.
Is this correct? Would it be okay to use 3d printed stuff in the filter?


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## X3NiTH (27 Feb 2021)

The filter will likely be made the majority from ABS anyway so why not use ABS filament.


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## Paulus (27 Feb 2021)

Nice. Will see how that works etc. Only used PLA now in the time i have the printer (which is pretty cool).


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## LeesBingo (29 Mar 2021)

A late reply but...
I've used both PLA and PETG in my tank. 
The items I made weren't for a filter so I can't comment on that unfortunately but my parts are both still OK after several months.
I've made a simple bracket to hold my spray bar in place out of PLA which was one of the first things I modelled/made after getting my printer last year, and I've made a 'cage' (with filter sponge inside) to fit my powerhead out of PETG (bright orange )
Fish and shrimp doing just fine too 
Hope it helps (and I find the 3D printing thing cool too).


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## Paulus (29 Mar 2021)

For now i used 2 spare grid parts for the 2217 (7275600 - grid for classic 600 (2217)) 
1 of them i shorted the stands a bit so the gap was smaller. But works perfect to keep in the white filter + it was faster to do this instead of printing parts 

So now it has:
:Top filter:

grid
purigen (small bag)
substrat
grid
white foam
grid
blue foam
eheim mech
grid
:Bottom filter: 

So now Cleaner water will get to the substrat and the white foam/floss wont get crushed by the substrat


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## dino21 (2 Jun 2021)

Hi Guys,

Saw  this posts when doing a search and just wanted to ask what 3D machines you have and what made you go for them as we are becoming more interested in getting one.

Also lots of info and ytubes out there, but do you find there is any one particular 3D printing forum you find the most practical and realistic ?


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## jamila169 (3 Jun 2021)

dino21 said:


> Hi Guys,
> 
> Saw  this posts when doing a search and just wanted to ask what 3D machines you have and what made you go for them as we are becoming more interested in getting one.
> 
> Also lots of info and ytubes out there, but do you find there is any one particular 3D printing forum you find the most practical and realistic ?


I've got an ender 3 , it's a good little entry level machine and apparently new ones are a lot quieter (I like mine singing , it's cute) As for 3D printing forums, there's plenty machine specific ones on facebook, there's a huge general one on Reddit , i recommend the European run ones on FB , the American ones can be a cesspool, The Reddit one is generally good because of a large base of people that have been printing since you had to build from scratch, though it has it's moments the mod team are good and fair. Other than that there's technical blogs and the decent youtubers that any forum worth it's salt will direct you to


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## Paulus (3 Jun 2021)

ender 3 pro here. Perfect printer. Printed som upgrades etc.  

I used this video in the beginning to set it up 
And this one for some extra tips etc: https://www.youtube.com/user/beginnerelectronics

Also some subreddits like:








						r/Ender3Pro
					

r/Ender3Pro: community strictly for the Creality Ender 3 Pro 3d printer




					www.reddit.com
				











						r/FixMyPrint
					

r/FixMyPrint: The community of r/FixMyPrint will help you fix your 3D printer settings for the most optimal prints.




					www.reddit.com


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## dino21 (3 Jun 2021)

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the very helpful info, seems the Ender3 Pro is the way to go 
Will check out those links in more detail though we do not use FB, so will have to check with the young ones if we can look in on them without us signing up etc.


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## Paulus (3 Jun 2021)

There are different ender versions. Also a V2 etc.
Some have bigger build/print plates etc. Other screens/panels.
Extra options like a glass bed for printing.

So lot of options to choose from: https://all3dp.com/reviews/


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## Aqua sobriquet (3 Jun 2021)

I made a media basket from some oven mesh for my 2213 and I haven’t had any problems with the foams compressing.


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## dino21 (3 Jun 2021)

Paulus said:


> There are different ender versions. Also a V2 etc.
> Some have bigger build/print plates etc. Other screens/panels.
> Extra options like a glass bed for printing.
> 
> So lot of options to choose from: https://all3dp.com/reviews/



Hi,

Yes, lots of machines out there, but so difficult when you have not had chance to see or try one and non of our more technically minded friends have one either.

The Ender 3 /Pro do seem to be the most popular starter machines with plenty of good reviews,  though as you say there is the new Ender3 V2 and others , though on that Filament Friday site you linked to, seems they still prefer the standard 3Pro over the   V2   etc ? 

For the price , think  the Ender3 Pro is the way to go for us....  ?


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## LeesBingo (5 Jun 2021)

I have a Prusa Mini.
I went with this after looking at lots of reviews and videos etc. because it I wanted something that was easy to use (never used a 3D printer before), had good customer service and was a trusted brand etc.
Not the cheapest but it was just plug and play. The ender was on my radar too but too many mentions of having to print modifications before it was a great printer (hopefully that's changed now ?)
Prusa have there own forums which are busy and friendly, their Slicer software is well regarded and they update it and the printers firmware on a regular basis.
I'd buy another Prusa


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## jamila169 (5 Jun 2021)

LeesBingo said:


> The ender was on my radar too but too many mentions of having to print modifications before it was a great printer


That was from people who wanted all the Prusa bells and whistles for £150 , some folks have literally spent the price of a prusa on mods for enders because they like tinkering , they've beefed up the under frame and put a mag surface on the build plate for the pro, I believe the latest mainboard is silent as well. The only add ons I've printed for mine are the dust covers and filament guide, I bought an aluminium extruder when the stock one cracked , otherwise it's stock , no yellow springs, no BL touch, no raspberry pi ,cameras, led strips, 32 bit mainboard , enclosure or fancy rails. People went nuts there for a while and every forum was full of people who'd bought stuff they thought they had to have, threw it all on at once and then didn't know why they couldn't get a successful print , and got really mad when more sensible folk pointed out their frame wasn't even square and they'd got their hotend wiring caught round something


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## dino21 (5 Jun 2021)

LeesBingo said:


> I have a Prusa Mini.
> 
> I'd buy another Prusa


Seems that genuine Mini is  about £370 from Prusa, though seems there are lots of Mini and i3 Clones around for about £230, but no idea what they are like ?



jamila169 said:


> That was from people who wanted all the Prusa bells and whistles for £150 , some folks have literally spent the price of a prusa on mods for enders because they like tinkering , they've beefed up the under frame and put a mag surface on the build plate for the pro, I believe the latest mainboard is silent as well. The only add ons I've printed for mine are the dust covers and filament guide, I bought an aluminium extruder when the stock one cracked , otherwise it's stock , no yellow springs, no BL touch, no raspberry pi ,cameras, led strips, 32 bit mainboard , enclosure or fancy rails. People went nuts there for a while and every forum was full of people who'd bought stuff they thought they had to have, threw it all on at once and then didn't know why they couldn't get a successful print , and got really mad when more sensible folk pointed out their frame wasn't even square and they'd got their hotend wiring caught round something


From some of the ytubes we have been viewing setting the frame square on a flat surface seems a key and obvious thing to getting a good quality output.

Afraid we are still hovering between the Ender 3 Pro and the V2 which is £60 more and does seem to offer decent improvements to our inexperienced eyes,  would you go with the V2 if faced with buying one or the other , knowing what you do ?


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## jamila169 (5 Jun 2021)

I'd get the V2, it's got some worthwhile improvements -restart after power interruption, 32 bit silent board, colour screen, better y tensioner- over the base model and the pro (which TBH is the basic model with slightly more expensive parts, just changing to a glass bed and an ally extruder made mine a pro back when it was launched, it already had the meanwell PSU). I heartily recommend Michael Laws (teachingtech)'s videos , with CHEP a close second. The best assembly and tuning guide on the planet is Luke Hatfield's https://support.th3dstudio.com/wp-c...Help-guide-Creality-and-others-5-22-21091.pdf
and the best FB group (of which Luke's a mod) is ender3 support and modding - UK admins, zero tolerance for numpties and full of people that genuinely like helping beginners


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## dino21 (5 Jun 2021)

jamila169 said:


> I'd get the V2, it's got some worthwhile improvements -restart after power interruption, 32 bit silent board, colour screen, better y tensioner- over the base model and the pro (which TBH is the basic model with slightly more expensive parts, just changing to a glass bed and an ally extruder made mine a pro back when it was launched, it already had the meanwell PSU). I heartily recommend Michael Laws (teachingtech)'s videos , with CHEP a close second. The best assembly and tuning guide on the planet is Luke Hatfield's https://support.th3dstudio.com/wp-c...Help-guide-Creality-and-others-5-22-21091.pdf
> and the best FB group (of which Luke's a mod) is ender3 support and modding - UK admins, zero tolerance for numpties and full of people that genuinely like helping beginners



Many thanks for your helpful comments and those links, the Chep/FF one we had already followed, but the other links will take some time to digest 

One last question , if we may,  any suggestions as to a good UK supplier to purchase from eg Technology Outlet or  Box seem to offer keen prices ...  ?


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## jamila169 (5 Jun 2021)

well, I got mine from amazon, but you do have to be careful with the supplier, I don't know which the best one is now( might be something on the FB group about that). We've had good service from Box for computers and whatnot, and looks like they've got the best price right now


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## Rockfella (28 Jun 2021)

Aqua sobriquet said:


> I made a media basket from some oven mesh for my 2213 and I haven’t had any problems with the foams compressing.
> 
> View attachment 170244


Neat job! If you can make the mesh holes a bit smaller it will be a perfect filter for an Anoxic filtration system.


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## dino21 (21 Jul 2021)

Just an update that might be of interest to anyone else looking to buy an Ender printer in the UK.

The price of an Ender 3 V2 mentioned  here last month was  £217  but some UK stockists have now dropped to £199.
However then spotted this "Flash" sale offer direct from Creality  for £170, plus another £5 off if you are a new customer, so just £165 !
At that price and the  helpful comments from the members above , could not resist !

If similarly looking for an Ender printer, worth checking Crealitys own site where ever you are to see if they have similar flash sale

Ender 3 V2 3D Printer UK|Free shipping Ender 3 V2|Creality UK


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## idris (8 Nov 2021)

Apologies for resurrecting an old thread ...
What software is everyone using to create their models?


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## Paulus (8 Nov 2021)

idris said:


> Apologies for resurrecting an old thread ...
> What software is everyone using to create their models?


I use Fusion 360 for the modeling/adjusting files. And for the printing part Ultimaker Cura


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## dino21 (9 Nov 2021)

Was suggested to us that we start with TinkerCad  but Fusion 360 ( free edition)  would be better, though a bit more of a learning curve; masses of ytube tutorials on both.
Again Cura seems the most popular slicer.

Octoprint with a Rasp Pi can be used as a remote controller and with a camera which we find very handy as our printer is in an outside workroom,  but even used  locally it allows you to upload your sketches without having to mess around with the little SD card as used on our Ender 3.


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## idris (9 Nov 2021)

I've played with Sketchup quite a bit (just for designing - not building) but am looking for an alternative.
I've tried FreeCAD, and my head imploded. I loathe the hostage-ware philosophy of Fusion 360. TinkerCAD looks a bit primary-school-crayons, but I'm probably being unfair.
Am currently looking at Blender, but that's more movie-GFX than milling-machine-isometric, so I'm not sure that's the way to go yet.


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## Hufsa (9 Nov 2021)

I spoke to my SO and he says one can use just about any 3D program, he uses 3DS Max but says you could also use Blender or Maya etc. And for the slicing he uses the program that comes with the machine.


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## dino21 (9 Nov 2021)

If you have not already seen it, this link suggests some programs to try  and their level of complexity, Blender being the hardest.
It also mentions SketchUp which though basic,  looks like a step up from Tinkercad ..
https://all3dp.com/2/best-free-cad-software-for-3d-printing/


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