The long awaited Wanhao review is ready. It took me some time to write because I needed time to understand how this machine works and becuase I was facing some problems with it. Now, 4 months after the first print, I am ready to share my opinion with you. Enjoy this Wanhao review.
I was interested in buying a 3d printer for a long time. I needed one in order to make small things for everyday use. I was fansinated by the idea that I could make anything with a 3d printer. So, I read everything I could find about 3d printers in order to get one.
I needed a 3d printer that would be ideal for beginners. I had no previous experience with 3d printers so I needed the 3d printer to be easy to use and assembled. I needed it to be low cost as well. I didn’t want to spend much on 3d printer since I didn’t have any exprerience with 3d printing at all. So, after a lot of searching and reading online I thought that the Wanhao i3 Duplicator was the right choice for me. Was I right? Continue reading the Wanhao review to find out.
Wanhao Review: First Impressions
The 3D printer arrived in a box and it was almost completely assembled! It took me less than 30 minutes to read the instructions manual and power it up. The construction of the 3D printer is great! It is an all metal construction and it feels sturdy. The instructions manual that comes with the printer explains the very basics. I read a lot online before attemting my first print. I leveled the bed, inserted the filament and pressed print. I was amazed. Believe it or not, I was looking the first print at all times while printing. It took it almost 3 hours to complete and I watched it layer by layer to form before my eyes. I was so impresed with the technology! If you have ever printed your B/W photos in a dark rooom, you will understand how it feels, it is a similar feeling. When in the dark room, suddenly the photo appears on the paper, like magic. I felt the same thing with the 3d printer. Like magic, an object started to appear before my eyes. The first print was fantastic. I was so impressed! It was a sample file that comes with printer in a small SD card. The OK hand that you can see below. My first impression was WOW!
Wanhao I3 First print
First problems
As you can image for the first few days I was printing all day long. I was printing some nice toys for my nephew. After a few prints, the filament that comes with the printer run out so I had to enter my new filament. Having no experience at all I made a mistake and the head was cloged. It took two hours to clean the head and start printing again. It was the first problem I had with the printer. But this experience made me realise that 3d printing isn’t that easy after all. It make me realise that I needed to understand better how it works and why this problem occured.
After the printer was up and running again, I faced another problem. Some of my prints didn’t stick on the bed of the printer well. I was printing a big Pikatsu for my nefew and it fell off the printer bed after 6 hours of print time! From that time on I had many problem with parts not sticking on the bed. I was desparate. Every print I was attemting failed! What was wrong with printer? After a few days I knew what was wrong. The bed of the printer was not level and the surface of the bed needed some cleaning. Things I found out the hard way. Your 3d printer bed must be absolutely level. I can’t stress enough how important this detail is. Also the print bed must be clean! Very clean. Even after printing a few items and although there is no visible dirt on the bed, you must clean it with alcohol in order the items to stick on the bed.
An incomplete print
I cleaned the bed and I leveled it and I was back to successful prints! Great, I now knew a lot more about the machine. With the knowledge gained I can now have a successful print almost each time I print. The print quality is good but not great. I think my machine needs some calibration in order to produce even better results.
More Prints with the Wanhao I3
So is it good?
After printing with the 3d printer for almost 4 months now, I can say that I am really impressed with the 3d printing technology. It is a great tool for every maker. If you don’t have a 3d printer yet I think it is the time to get one. Is the Wanhao i3 best for fisrt time users? I am not sure about this. I had some very nice prints with the printer but I faced some problems as well. In order to overcome those problems I had to search on the internet and read a lot. That required time and effort. The result is that I know have a much better understanding of the technology so I can easily make beautiful prints.
There are many 3d printers out there some of which might be better than the Wanhao i3. The Wanhao i3 Duplicator is a low cost 3d printer that works out of the box but in order to print successfully for a long period of time the user must have some experience. If you don’t have that experience like I did, then you are going to experience so problems after a few prints. If you dont’t get discouraged by the problems, this printer will help you understand a lot about the 3d printing technology it uses, and at the end you are going to have great prints.
That’s my first thoughts on the printer. I hoped that you liked this Wanhao review. I am by no means an expert on 3d printer, I just want to share my experience with you. See you soon!
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