Gone are the days of “beginner” printers welcoming new manufacturers with fire trials. Elegoo ease of use neptune 3 pro (opens in new tab) It arrives 90% assembled and takes 30 minutes from box to first print. Now available with a retail price of $230, this machine is as easy on the wallet as it is on the set.
of Neptune 3 is already a great 3D printer, earning 4 stars when I reviewed it in June. The Pro version adds some new features. A direct drive that really grips slippery filaments like TPU, dual Z-screws for stable printing, and a built-in task light. A task light is he one of those small quality-of-life improvements that seem ridiculous until you squint in the dark at the first layer.
Everything you loved from Neptune 3 has been carried over or improved on this new machine. The PEI coated build plate holds the print with just the right amount of stick and releases as it cools. The bed was easy to level and the Z height was on target with no adjustments needed. The detachable touch screen is easy to use and displays thumbnails when using Elegoo’s slicing software.
This is one of our favorite printers. best 3d printer Beginners and veterans alike.
Specifications: Elegoo Neptune 3 Pro
| build volume | 225 x 225 x 280 mm (8.5 x 8.5 x 11 inches) |
| material | PLA/PETG/TPU/ABS (up to 260 degrees) |
| Extruder type | direct drive |
| nozzle | .4mm MK8 |
| build platform | PEI textured spring steel plate, heating |
| bed leveling | automatic induction probe |
| filament runout sensor | yes |
| connectivity | microSD card, USB Type A |
| interface | Color touchscreen, detachable |
| machine footprint | 475 x 445 x 515 mm (18.7 x 17.5 x 20.3 inches) |
| machine weight | 8.1 kg (17.8 lbs) |
Creality Elegoo Neptune 3 Pro: Included
Neptune 3 Pro comes with everything you need to set up your printer. You get tools to build and maintain a printer, side cutter, plastic scraper, two spare nozzles, and a microSD card with a USB adapter. I also have a small sample of white PLA to print my first model.
There is a very helpful short video on assembling the printer on the microSD card. Also available is a PDF copy of the manual, a copy of Elegoo Cura, and sample models in pre-sliced .gcode and .stl formats.
The design of the Elegoo Neptune 3 Pro
The new Neptune 3 Pro looks a lot better, so perhaps Elegoo was listening when we said the old Neptune 3 wasn’t so distinctive. The old-school plain black frame has been replaced with gray aluminum with painted stripes and the catchy “Create the Future” motto engraved on the front.
The most interesting update is riding the gantry. It’s a dual gear direct drive that’s great for grabbing squirrel-like material like TPU. The machine features three cooling fans and an improved aluminum heatsink. Elegoo boasts a new “TC4 titanium alloy” throat his pipe, but it still has chunks of PTFE tubing in it, not an all-metal hotend. The improvement should help prevent clogging, but the hotend is still limited to 260 degrees. This is fine for most of his 3d printing enthusiasts anyway.
The power supply has been moved under the build plate to make room for the second Z-axis screw. Lowering weights and adding z-rods on each side will improve print accuracy, especially on tall prints.
The Pro uses a large detachable touchpad with a magnetic base that was introduced in June with Neptune 3. The pad is connected to the processor by a curly landline-style cord. The “buttons” could be more sensitive, but the graphic menus are easy to understand.
Elegoo has also tweaked the automatic bed leveling system to tap 36 points before doing the math. It uses a hard-mounted build surface and an inductive probe that works surprisingly well.
The runout sensor is now placed closer to the spool and seems less tight than its predecessor.
Assembling the Elegoo Neptune 3 Pro
The Neptune 3 Pro ships mostly assembled and only a few bolts are required to assemble the machine. The upper frame is attached to the base with four bolts from the bottom.
The touch screen base is screwed to the side, but one of the screws was in a really awkward spot and I couldn’t get my Allen wrench in there, so I unscrewed it. This caused the screen to wobble a bit. You can probably find a better wrench, but I like to put the printer together for review using the tools provided.
All electrical connections are labeled. Or very clear where you need to go.
The videos included on the microSD card are helpful. Elegoo was so thoughtful that he mentioned video twice in the printer documentation so that users could recognize it.
Leveling the Elegoo Neptune 3 Pro
Neptune 3 Pro comes with automatic bed leveling with inductive probes.in the main menu[レベル]Just select and the printer will heat up to 140 degrees at the nozzle and 60 degrees at the bed. After returning home, tap 36 points across the bed.
Then stop in the middle of the bed and wait to recheck the Z-height. To do this, place a piece of plain paper under the nozzle and use the buttons on the touch screen to lower or raise the paper until the nozzle rubs against the paper.
You can also tweak the Z-height from the print menu while printing is running, but I didn’t find this necessary.
Load filament into Elegoo Neptune 3 Pro
The Neptune 3 Pro is a direct drive printer with an extruder and hotend all in one place.To load filament, on the main menu[準備]then tap[温度]and select one of four presets that match your filament. Once the hotend is warmed above 190 degrees, you can insert the filament into the top of the extruder and pull the filament with the wheel.
To unload or change colors, simply reverse the process.
File/software preparation for Elegoo Neptune 3 Pro
Neptune 3 Pro comes with a copy of Elegoo Cura with profiles for all machines. Also added is the ability to create a thumbnail of the model and display it on the printer. This feature does not work when using Octoprint as the Raspberry Pi overwrites the main screen.
The standard versions of Cura or Prusa Slicer don’t have profiles for Elegoo’s printers, but you can use profiles for Ender 3 Pro and adjust the build volume accordingly.
Regular Cura can display thumbnails with a little workaround. Go to Marketplace in the top right corner of Cura.[コミュニティ プラグイン]Click. Select the MKS Wifi plugin. Unfortunately, you can’t provide WiFi for your printer unless you purchase separate hardware. Restart Cura,[プリンタの管理]to enable the MKS plugin. Under Preview, select Enable Preview. Use “default” for the printer, set Simage to 100 and Gimage to 200.
Printing with Elegoo Neptune 3 Pro
The Neptune 3 Pro printed great right out of the box. My first print was a pre-sliced Buddha Elego that came on a microSD card. I used the sample PLA that came with it and it is very smooth. The sample PLA was enough to print one test file, so I recommend ordering a few rolls of filament immediately.See our guide Best filament for 3D printing For examples of our favorite ingredients to add to your supply.
This derpy pigeon stuck in a piece of bread is Layers In Green’s two-part print-in-place model. Birds have extendable legs that extend and retract from the inside of their bodies.These types of prints can be tricky, but the Neptune 3 Pro handled them with ease on smooth, clean walls. protopasta nebula silver silk and the bread 3D Fuel Buzz PLAAt 60 mm/s and a layer height of 0.2 mm, both prints took 6 hours and 51 minutes together.
To test the TPU, I ran a wavy Christmas tree in vase mode with the TPU. The print had no bottom and needed a single line width of TPU to cling to the build plate. It printed perfectly smooth with no gaps or issues. It took 4 h 40 min in vase mode using a robust 0.64 mm linewidth and a speed of 50 mm/s.printed with Matterhackers Build Series Translucent Green TPU (opens in new tab).
I used a more functional print from the Voron project to test PETG. I was able to print beautifully without distortion or stringiness.The textured bed did not require an adhesive stick as a buffer layer, and the prints peeled off easily as the PLA cooled. simply black PETGwhich was printed in 42 min with a layer height of 0.2 mm and a speed of 65 mm/s.
Conclusion
The Neptune 3 Pro is the perfect 3D printer for those looking for a sleek machine that’s easy to use right out of the box. Its simple automatic bed leveling, PEI-coated flex plate, and superior direct drive help beginners by eliminating major headaches often experienced with stripped-down, basic printers.
This machine packs an amazing amount of fancy features into its bargain price of $230. Even when sold at a $300 MSRP, the Neptune 3 Pro beats the competition Clarity Ender 3 S1 $100 cheaper. It’s not as fast as some of the newer machines on the market, but it’s reliable and offers smooth, high-quality prints.
If you’re looking for an even bigger bargain, check out $169 Clarity Ender 2 Proa portable budget printer with a similar hotend and manual leveling, but with a much smaller build volume and no direct drive. Creality Ender 3 S1 Pro for $499.
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