I think it's time to join the big leagues. Can anyone give me a review on the CR-5 Pro High-temp 3d printer. Want to be able to print off all accessories needed for reefing nowadays. Not worried about price, just ability to get the job done. I also want it enclosed. I primarily use Mac but I have a pc if the compatibility program is a problem. I also have an iPad and won't be doing much designing anyway if at all.
Here is the link to the printer:
https://creality3d.shop/collections/3d-printer/products/cr-5-pro-h-3d-printer
Appreciate the input.
I've been printing regularly for a few years now, 6 months ago it was time for a 2nd printer so I got a Creality CR-10s Pro V2. I liked the large Creality user base, what I read seemed ok and thought it looked pretty nice. I really like the CR-5 look but it was more than I wanted to spend, in hind sight I'm happy I didn't get it.
So I was very close to returning this thing, with lots of experience it wasn't possible to get a print to stick, quickly discovered the bed was a soup bowl, after leveling corners the center was 2-3mm space, not even close. After doing some reading I discovered this was a thing so it quickly clicked in that's why the printer comes with a BL touch, impossible to print without. Even with that and doing the calibration process it just wouldn't work.
Then I came across Tiny Machines who updated the firmware and had a different process for calibration, I ripped it apart, uploaded the firmware, uploading new touch screen images and finally I was able to calibrate and print. It's crazy, if I look close enough I can see the Z axis moving up down as it prints the level.
When I found that firmware I discovered the printer had no thermal runaway protection, not good, thankfully their firmware addressed this. It seems the manufacture wasn't able or didn't care and a reseller had to address themselves. I know based on my other printer this is very good, wires breakdown on heaters and temp probe where they enter in time from the heat and that will catch it every time. The Creality as I got it would heat forever so with any printer verify this is a feature, most it is and I took for granted this was.
Then I discover no directories are allowed on SD card and I think only 20 files or something, so I need many SD cards for it and sometimes names read jibberish... Then I discover for some reason Creality tweaked the threads on the nozzle so the standard ones don't fit like their other printers... Then I discover because it's a touch screen the 100's of settings you can tweak are non existent, you need to update firmware or send command that may or may not work, don't ask how I know... Because of this it's nearly impossible to fine tune, need to print at a crawl to get square corners. Other than this I like it, it's very quiet.
Another thing I don't like but not the fault of the printer is the bowden extruder, my other printer is direct extruder and you have much better control on flow, with a bowden there's a lot of pressure when the motor stops so it continues to extrude and is very stringy. As an example I have something like a 7-9 mm retraction when the extruder stops and it's still could use more, on the direct extruder I think I have 0.6mm or so, when the motor stops so does the flow. I would never buy another printer with a bowden, at some point I'll upgrade the CR-10 with a direct. I do print as fast as possible so with slow prints maybe bowden isn't so bad.
Downside with direct extruder is the weight which causes small vibrations. The CR-10 definitely prints smoother side walls vs the Tevo and I think that's due to small vibrations.
The CR-5 is bowden and I think because it's touch screen you'll have no advances settings, probably SD card issues and maybe no thermal runaway, it's likely the same firmware tweaked to match printer size.
I almost got the Prusa i3 that
@Malcontent suggested but it was a little to small for me, does look good though.
My other printer is a Tevo Black Widow, I love it, was going to buy another but wanted something with a more rugged bed, this balances on a beam so it's easy to mess up leveling but I can level way quicker than the CR-10 without a BL touch. It also needed a few minor mods to get it assembled so wasn't perfect. It's a work horse though, I did need to get a real power supply for it but other than that just wires break internally. The Tevo is very noisy, I could solve but don't want to touch it, I was hoping to use the CR-10 as primary for this reason and Tevo as overflow but I haven't turned on CR-10 for over a month now. I only use it when I really need to, kind of sad as I was so excited to get it. With all that said the CR-10 does print really nice and they look better than the Tevo, minus cleaning the strings, but it needs to run really slow, like a 2 hour print taking 4+ hours, not for me.
Anyways sorry for the long rant. Please let us know what you settle on and how it works out.
