05/14/2025

Welcome back to Tabletop Thoughts! Today, we have some bad news and some good news.

Bad News:

Yesterday, my Ender 3 Pro finally died. I hoped it was the Raspberry Pi that was controlling it, but it wasn’t. I was actually a little sad.

I received my Ender 3 Pro in the fall of 2021. It was a refurbished machine that I had purchased to see if 3D printing would be something that I enjoyed. (Turns out that I really do enjoy the hobby very much) Since then, that machine has been running most of the time (except for maintenance and stuff). Looking at the stats for the machine, I have run about 35km of PLA through that Ender 3! That is over 25 miles of filament!

I used this machine to teach myself (using YouTube videos) about 3D printers. I have replaced quite a few things on the printer. I spent more time than I care to know leveling the bed to the point that I liked, but I learned how they work and what each part of the system does. Maybe it is the engineer in me, but I really like knowing the details and functions of things like this.

After printing A LOT of items, I decided in 2022 to open up eBay and Etsy stores to get some of the items out of the way to make room for more stuff. I sold the printed items at a reasonable price since I didn’t need the money to support my family, just to earn enough to continue to pay for itself.

After I got the Elegoo Mars 3 in March 2024, my Ender 3 Pro moved from printing out miniatures to mostly making terrain. I still would print out some supportless miniatures from Brite Minis and Fat Dragon Games on it, but it wasn’t long before these miniatures moved over to the Mars 3 because of the better resolution. The Ender 3 still had a larger bed, so I still used it for larger miniatures that wouldn’t fit on the smaller Mars 3.

For Christmas 2024, I received my Saturn 3 resin printer. That was the end of the Ender 3 Pro printing miniatures. Between the two resin printers, I could print heaps more with better resolution.

Good News:

Luckily, I have an awesome wife and a good job. Since it is my birthday month, she told me that I could get a replacement FDM printer if I wanted one. I said, “YES, PLEASE AND THANK YOU!” then ran off to start looking for another printer.

I started looking to get a Creality Ender 3 V3 SE (Amazon for $229) since I really liked my Ender 3 Pro, but I ended up ordering the Elegoo Neptune 3 instead (Amazon for $209). I like the Elegoo resin printers that I have, and the Neptune 3 is just as big as the Ender. It will arrive tomorrow night, so I should have it up and running this weekend. (What is up with me and ordering 3D printers with the Number 3 in it: Ender 3 Pro, Mars 3, Saturn 3, Neptune 3)

Today, I have plenty of experience with 3D printers because of my Ender 3 Pro. I have my units at home, plus I have access to an Ultimaker S5 (a very nice FDM printer with a LARGE bed) as well as to a new Uniformations GK3 Ultra resin printer. I usually volunteer to do all of the maintenance on the printers and have even worked with some of our mechanical engineers on using the slicer programs since I have been using them for years.

I will keep the Ender 3 Pro around for now. I might want to try to get a new motherboard and see if I can bring it back (Again, the engineer in me). While I am at it, I might replace the hot end with a new direct drive unit that I bought but never installed. Who knows? With a little work and some spare parts, I might be able to bring my old friend back from the dead….

BTW… Young Frankenstein is a GREAT movie! If you haven’t seen it, you need to watch it this weekend.

Keep on gaming!!