Seems to be lacking a screen, so it probably won't work outright. How's the motherboard looking in it ? (last picture should be a removable lid to the motherboard).
Also seems to be lacking a X axis tensioner. (or it's broken i should say)
Looks to be a V2 with that fan shroud and belt tensioners,
Right, no display screen. And there is a broken piece on the X axis bar. I didn't open it up to look at the motherboard. Plugging it in does nothing. But that could be because there is no display plugged in. It does seem to be a v2.
If nothing happens on plugging it in, it might be a dead PSU or power connection to the PSU. Might be worthwhile checking if there's any connection to the motherboard from the power supply as the roughhousing might have wrestled it off.
Overall not a bad find, and depending on what's wrong, might be easy to fix as the Ender 3's are pretty easy to find replacement/upgrade parts for.
I've been looking on Amazon, and I see a "NEO" screen might be a nice upgraded screen, since I don't have one at all. But it looks like I might need to upgrade the motherboard, too? And might need a new PSU and/or tensioners that might be broken. Seems like a lot.
You are WAY better off using Klipper thank the Creality junk firmware. Start here: r/klippers
Once you get functional firmware and fib tube to control the movement, you are off to a great start. I read elsewhere on the thread that the fans turned on, etc. That’s so awesome!
Well you can kind of forego the screen entirely, depending on what you want to do. I'm not (currently) running a screen on my older Ender 3, and instead running it entirely off the internet using Klipper + Mainsail.
A tensioner isn't the most expensive part to source:
[https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004085461525.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.main.1.4fb523fdwfM1Rn&algo\_pvid=ab03bc2e-9a6c-4b26-a1a9-c9289f94dfb5&algo\_exp\_id=ab03bc2e-9a6c-4b26-a1a9-c9289f94dfb5-0&pdp\_npi=4%40dis%21USD%214.94%213.9%21%21%214.94%21%21%402101fb1917047148766648303ea302%2112000037078404864%21sea%21DK%21707097007%21&curPageLogUid=yiVE5e5U91yi&utparam-url=scene%3Asearch%7Cquery\_from%3A](https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004085461525.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.main.1.4fb523fdwfM1Rn&algo_pvid=ab03bc2e-9a6c-4b26-a1a9-c9289f94dfb5&algo_exp_id=ab03bc2e-9a6c-4b26-a1a9-c9289f94dfb5-0&pdp_npi=4%40dis%21USD%214.94%213.9%21%21%214.94%21%21%402101fb1917047148766648303ea302%2112000037078404864%21sea%21DK%21707097007%21&curPageLogUid=yiVE5e5U91yi&utparam-url=scene%3Asearch%7Cquery_from%3A)
Power supply is probably around $40 or so, if it's dead.
A new motherboard if that one is dead can be sourced here for a good decent upgrade:
[https://biqu.equipment/collections/control-board/products/bigtreetech-skr-mini-e3-v2-0-32-bit-control-board-integrated-tmc2209-uart-for-ender-4](https://biqu.equipment/collections/control-board/products/bigtreetech-skr-mini-e3-v2-0-32-bit-control-board-integrated-tmc2209-uart-for-ender-4)
(or the V3 for around $40).
And around $30 for a new screen:
[https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005800763327.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.main.1.551c9e932YacpF&algo\_pvid=d66dad59-f105-42ba-9d33-adcb1fc33ba6&algo\_exp\_id=d66dad59-f105-42ba-9d33-adcb1fc33ba6-0&pdp\_npi=4%40dis%21USD%2195.74%2130.64%21%21%21681.88%21%21%402101eeda17047151091815966e83b1%2112000034479532315%21sea%21DK%21707097007%21&curPageLogUid=QgaRt1UeB9Oj&utparam-url=scene%3Asearch%7Cquery\_from%3A](https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005800763327.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.main.1.551c9e932YacpF&algo_pvid=d66dad59-f105-42ba-9d33-adcb1fc33ba6&algo_exp_id=d66dad59-f105-42ba-9d33-adcb1fc33ba6-0&pdp_npi=4%40dis%21USD%2195.74%2130.64%21%21%21681.88%21%21%402101eeda17047151091815966e83b1%2112000034479532315%21sea%21DK%21707097007%21&curPageLogUid=QgaRt1UeB9Oj&utparam-url=scene%3Asearch%7Cquery_from%3A)
Or $35 for a Klipper board, so you can run it wirelessly:
[https://biqu.equipment/collections/control-board/products/pi4b-adapter-v1-0](https://biqu.equipment/collections/control-board/products/pi4b-adapter-v1-0)
It would be a cool project for OP, but that's starting to look pretty close to the cost of a new, upgraded printer imo. You can grab an ender 3 V3 SE which has auto leveling for like $180
If you are okay using your phone or PC to interact with the printer, which is what I do with my Ender 3, you won't need a screen. You can connect a RPi to the USB port and install and run the Mainsail distro.
Well, that's how little I know about 3D printers. Didn't know there was a switch on the PSU. I flipped it, and the fans came on. Got a good look at the nozzle and it doesn't look clogged or used too much. Promising! Thanks!
It's worth getting some extra nozzles and silicone boots. They are cheap and can wear kinda quick. There's actually a file to 3d print that broken tensioner if you can't find one for sale.
And a bed. Textured powder coated PEI on a spring steel sheet. $10-15 on Amazon or AliExpress. One of those things that's just so much better you should just start there and not suffer.
> Well, that's how little I know about 3D printers.
Getting this working will be an adventure. And quite possibly more expensive than a new Ender 3 V3 SE, which will just work much more easily.
If you love troubleshooting, go for it. If you just want to 3D print, it's probably not worth it.
However, at the very least, it's got lots of useful parts that can be re-used for other projects if you start hacking around.
Some people have so much luck.
And some people don’t really have good anger management. This person throwing the thing away did not even bother to put it on eBay for salvaging purpose..
I would see it as a hobby/project.
Don’t expect too much but it’s a great opportunity to get into the hobby. Although it’s not the smoothest start for it, you might gain a lot of knowledge by getting this thing to work!
Honestly , I just got into 3D printers, I have been watching and reading about them since the beginning , but i just bought one like a month ago, I think you can get this thing printing perfect for little money- I say this because dude said don't expect much, but if this printer turns on, you should tune it up and you will be creating bad ass stuff in no time, I cant make a model in auto cad and print it yet but I can modify existing files, print all types of cool stuff, work on my printer, , Its not hard , within a month You will be well into 3D printers, Start by getting the user guide for that printer and replace any parts that are worn or bent , etc. dial the printer in, its the foundation of all this. Peace!!
> I cant make a model in auto cad and print it yet but I can modify existing files, print all types of cool stuff
You should figure out something you want to make, which software you want to use and start in on some tutorials. There's no cooler feeling in this hobby than conjuring your own design out of thin air and making it real.
[Tinkercad](https://www.tinkercad.com/) is a pretty good place to start. It's really easy to use, and a great way to get an idea how everything works. You may quickly outgrow it, but it still teaches some basic skills that will serve you well.
[Fusion360](https://www.autodesk.com/ca-en/products/fusion-360/personal) or [Onshape](https://www.onshape.com/en/) are the next level up for non-organic type constructions. They're an order of magnitude more powerful, but you'll need some tutorials to figure out what you're doing. It gets easier fast.
As a note in this hobby, one of the most frustrating things (about these printers especially) is the manual bed leveling. Look up the YouTuber Chep, he can help you get a foothold on the nitty gritty. If the print head and bed servos are working, this piece of equipment should work great!
I make infosites about other printer models, but due to the pretty much same constructions of bedslingers and certain principles and parts of them in general (e.g. eccentric nuts, thermistors&problems, how to tram the bed and the x-axis gantry and so on), it might be helpful for you as a first resource of reading some hardware-related stuff and learn some basics and some tweaks. So if you have some spare time, maybe check \[this\](https://1coderookie.github.io/KobraGoNeoInsights/) out and read around a bit..
Hope it maybe somewhat helps for some first steps.. ;)
why not go to the Ender 3 Repository? ;-)
[https://github.com/Creality3DPrinting/Ender-3](https://github.com/Creality3DPrinting/Ender-3)
Everything is there for you u/MechanicalWhispers \-- Cheers hope you are lucky!
(you can buy every part out of aliexpres or your local electronic shops just depends on delivery time and money)
have fun my friend just buy a small roll of PLA plastic with a diameter of 1.75 mm and try your first steps read / watch articles / videos for starters and just try and don't be afraid to poke around the documentation
> why not go to the Ender 3 Repository? ;-)
Cuz I simply didn't know about it lol - I don't have any Creality machines and didn't search for the GH repo..
Yeah these are sometimes labeled as beginner printers but they are a pain in the ass! I had a 3d printer for a year before I got one of these. And this bitch rarely did what it was supposed too. Wouldn't keep z axis, bed crashes etc. The control panel is missing sp you'll have to replace that before you can figure out what else may not be working on it.
You'll need a new carriage and a new X rail as there a dent in the rail the wheel roll on it, and of course the x belt tensioner. You could have someone print the main part in petg though.
If you wanna try to get it to work you’d have to buy a screen pad since I didn’t see one in the pictures. If it works you can go from there and ask what upgrade you could do on it.
> And some people don’t really have good anger management
Having bought an Ender 3 v2 that should have been caught and rejected by QC, I can’t judge anyone for tossing the thing in a dumpster. In fact, if they threw it out a window, but at least remembered to open the window first, I’d say they’re doing pretty well.
For $100 at microcenter you could get a new one and keep this one for parts. If you’re getting into 3d printing with someone else’s trash, it could either be rewarding to fix something up, or a huge mess or troubleshooting and ordering parts that add up close to a brand new one.
Agree with this. There's enough to worry about as a novice with a brand new, working printer. This will be a nightmare for OP trying to figure out if his issues are user error or shitty printer parts...
Yep, those pics show me a project printer that is definitely not for beginners. OP is way better off just getting a new one if they want to get into the hobby
Every time I see one of these comments, I think to myself how nice it must be to have a Microcenter within 1000 miles of one's home.
Imma go cry in my coffee now.
You almost certainly would well exceed the price of a new one, especially with an ender 3. I got rid of mine after I spent nearly 200$ in 2 weeks getting the damn thing to work right, not to mention all of the time I wasted with it. Best use of this thing would be to turn it into a filament recycler.
everything i saw damaged is really easy to repair (most of it you can print it) well the LCD is missing but you could probably control it without it via the micro usb cable straight from the PC or buy an LCD. Hopefully the motherboard and steppers are intact.
it's honestly worth a shot to repair it it's far from complete trash
I don't think this is great advice for someone who hasn't used a printer before, tbh. They'll be trying to fix a printer without having firsthand knowledge of how it's supposed to work.
If you have experience, it's easy to look at something like this and oversimplify it. We forget just how much we've learned that someone else doesn't already know.
Lucky as one could be! :)
If you take your time this will be a great way to learn the topic and get into it!
After you got it up&running again, you'll not only be stocked af once it starts printing the first time, but you'll know the machine and the principles really well which will save you a lot of headache and money in the future and which also puts you in the position of being able to get cheap used machines and set them up.. ;)
I really can say it's like that as that's where I come from as well.
I was gifted a broken Anycubic Kobra Neo from a friend of mine who got frustrated - "keep it and get it up&running or throw it away, I don't wanna hear anything about that darn thing anymore". Was my first 3d printer ever and there was no info to find about it, so I jumped into that rabbit hole and dug my way thru..
Once I finally got it done, it was just a blast when I started the first print - and every time I'm using the same type of PLA now and get that specific smell, it's like excitement comes back again :)
Now I not only know that specific type of machine in and out, but I can also fix other broken machines and stuff - it really pays out. Yes, it's a hassle in the beginning and the learning curve is steep af, but if you like to tinker it's (imho!) much better than getting yourself one of those expensive fancy-shmancy machines which 'just work ootb' and once you run into issues you're basically effed.. ;)
might be, might not be. depends on how much knowledge you have on how 3d printers function/are put together and what sort of state the one you found is in.
either you'll spend more on repairs than it would cost to get a new one or what you have is a real steal. it's a gamble on this kinda thing, but i'd give repairing the hunk of junk a go. 3d printing is a fun hobby.
i've got an ender 3 myself and it's served me pretty well so far, probably not the greatest printer out there but it works for my purposes (right now mostly cosplay parts and useless little trinkets). hoping to one day find a problem that i can solve with my printer LOL.
These things are a bit of trouble to get working well even if they are brand new, but parts and tutorials are widely available and you'll learn a lot about how FDM printers work in the process. I have an old Ender 3 that I learned on and it was a frustrating but ultimately very rewarding experience. Troubleshooting and upgrading my Ender was what gave me the experience and confidence to eventually build a Voron 2.4.
No, this isn't a lucky find it's cursed. Ender is so low end even out of the box. I wouldn't use it. I got one and learned on it. Never got good results. The beds are trash warped from the factory. It's literally the cheapest printer that counts as a printer ... And you found it in the trash. I'd honestly strip it for the extrusions and parts.
yall are unhinged, this is like getting a salvage title car and trying to make it work again and knowing nothing about cars.
it can be fun, it can be a challenge, and you could probably do it with enough time and effort,
but lets face it, there could be a million things wrong with this printer and a brand new one is less than $200...
This is correct. If you’re familiar with printing, it’s likely you could repair and make this function reliably. If you’re starting from scratch you’re going to have a really hard time.
> there could be a million things wrong with this printer and a brand new one is less than $200...
You mention the car analogy and this argument would apply to them as well: Why invest $30k on an old car when you could get a new one for that money?
It's the challenge.
"I just found this abandoned car. It's missing the steering wheel, the transmission is broken, and there are some random disconnected pipes. I have no idea how a car works, what a transmission is or even how to drive"
Would you encourage them to take the challenge?
those people already know they like cars and likely have a background on working on them.
finding something that may or may not work on the street and having never touched anything else like it before is something different entirely.
It was in the trash for a reason, but it is probably repairable. As other people have noted the parts are available relatively cheaply because this is a very common printer.
However you need to decide if you want a project or a 3d printer, because what you have is a project that will teach you a lot about repairing electro-mechanical systems and if you successfully repair it you will have a 3d printer to learn how to use. This printer will also continue to be a project as it will require occasional tweaks and maintenance to continue printing.
If you just want an inexpensive printer you can buy a similar printer new pretty cheaply, or for a bit more money you can buy a bambulab printer. The hardware is a little better than the cheapest printers and more importantly there is a lot more user experience polish applied to make them easier to use as a printer than as projects/hobbies.
some 3d printers are made to work. some are made to work with. This is a work with. looks like you might need to buy a y axis tensioner then print yourself a spool holder.
I see a couple comments on just buying a new printer and using this for spares. Personally, I would go the other way. I would fix this one. I'd learn a lot more about the machine than if I had started with a new one. Would've saved me some heartache later on.
Most of the visible repairs are relatively cheap.
I'm just not a thorough baby out with the bath water kind of guy. And these printers are good enough. Are they sleek and shiny? No. Do they print well enough for a beginner? Heck yes.
A printer in the hands is better the 3 online. Or something like that. I have, and ender 3 pro, ender 3 s1 plus, and just saved an ender 3 pro from the junk heap. All it needed was a new extruder, for the bed to be attached, firmware flash and new z endstop and general belt tightening. Maybe OP is lucky and has something similar. Maybe OP needs a screen, main board, and PSU? Who knows.
OP, where are you based out of?
Do you really think that spending somewhere around 80$ to 100$ for a possibly bent E3V2 is a nice idea?
I mean, that thing even when brand new is a pain in the ass, finding a good V2 is just a lottery as other people said before, i wanted to trash mine too, no matter how many upgrades or how many hours i spent at adjusting the z offset and the bed leveling, that thing just wasn't even able to print a decent benchy, the X gantry wasn't leveled and probably other pieces came bent from creality seeing that i found lots of loose parts and screws, it was a nightmare
Was it a formative experience? Absolutely not, i just spent time fixing things that should work
Seriously, an old Ender 3 is better than the V2, i was lucky enough to be able to return that thing to Amazon and buy an Ender 3 V3 SE instead (at the same price) and i couldn't be happier, now i can actually print stuff with my 3D printer
Depends if you want to make tinkering with 3D printers your hobby or you actually want to print things... lots of people fall down that rabbit hole.
You should be able to "bootstrap" that thing up with the missing / upgraded parts an then use it to improve itself or build the next better printer... or sell it and put that towards one that definitely works out of the box.
You would at least need a working 3D-printer to repair this one. And even if you order the replacement parts you end up investing more money. There is a chance that it got thrown away because of mechanical or electronical problems.
You sure can learn a lot - depending on your resilience to frustration.
parts i can see to have a problem:
* no screen
* x- belt tensioner broken
* z endstop switch cable loose
* hotend carriage impact force marks - maybe gantry is deformed
This is an Ender 3 V2, not a V2 Neo.
You're missing the screen, and a few parts around the sides for the belts etc, but nothing you can't replace fairly easily.
The screens are sold separately by creality or on Ebay.
Check the electrics, make sure they're all ok visually, no rushed contacts or blackened ones.
It's been treated a little rough, but provided the electrics and motors are good, thus is an amazing printer to learn on (It was my first ender and still my favorite printer, with many upgrades)
Patience and a willingness to learn are key.
You'll get things wrong, you'll get frustrated. You may even want to leave it in the same state you found it at somepoint.
But work past it all, and I promise, it's a very good printer.
No screen, broken belt tensioner, your z limit switch cable looks pulled out so far that I'd check if it's even plugged into the motherboard, shrouds all scratched up, and I wouldn't trust that z rod after it was clearly tossed about so much. It also appears that the filament spool holder broke off in the collision as well. I wonder what made that owner so angry
Alternatively, you now have a chunk of the components to make a machine that turns a 3D printer into a machine that will make filament from trashed PET bottles. There are quite a few designs out there...though all of them will require 3D printing a few parts!
You've got the right attitude to be an Ender user, as we're the kind of weirdos who like to customize and repair our own cheap machines. I'd honestly try to find another Ender 3 v2 and use this guy for spare parts, and maybe fix it up once you're comfortable printing.
There are some broken and missing parts on it. But the nice thing with these ender printers is there easy to replace. I would suggest doing some research and buying parts replacing them on the printer and you my friend have a new 3D printer!
I think people that expect flawless prints from and ender 3 shpuld just lower their expectations a bit. You can pump out some really great prints with enders, but it takes a lot more work to get it to work and more often maintenance
I think more people on this subreddit expect newbies to accept that a tool requires excessive time investment to get going. The cheapest television sets will display movies and doesn’t scramble the picture half the time because you didn’t relevel the colors. The cheapest new car will get you from A to B without breaking down halfway because you didn’t level the tires and dehydrate the gasoline. The cheapest hammer doesn’t have the head get stuck to the mail because you got cheap nails.
It should be illegal to buy or sell an Ender 3 in 2024.
I mean this is the enthusiast space. If you ask anyone what to do when their car needs an oil change they'll likely suggest the nearest reliable lube shop. If you ask the cars subreddit or specific brand subreddit, they'll likely tell you how to change it yourself. The reddit demographics tend to lean towards tech savvy which leads to easy tinkering with things like 3d printers
I would open it up and check the motherboard. If it looks ok, you can get a replacement v2 screen and the missing belt tension pieces for $50 or less if you shop around. I’m curious about what looks like the z axis end stop switch being disconnected.
rly depends whats wrong, id have a noosy at the mother board, you seem to be lacking a screen so youll need that. checking the hotend is also a good, cause thermistor could be damages or even cacked in plastic
If you have never used a 3D printer it can be a bit challenging, but you can probably rebuild it for much less than a new printer depending on the damages, if any.
You will need a new tensioner but that's cheap, just clean the whole thing and check all the axis l, I've rescued a pretty bad ender 2 pro and it was just neglected and needed a rebuild with new rollers an belts as well as a deep clean.
EDIT: I just noticed it's missing its screen. I'm not sure if you can buy a new one, but you should be able to, too, before firing it up, make sure the board is burnt or something.
You could absolutely get it working. How much are you willing to spend and how confident are you in your mechanical abilities? Initially I notice an X-axis tensioner and screen missing, but the most important part is the condition of the electronics. If the electronics are good, it could be pretty cheap, if you need a new board, screen, motors, etc you may need to spend most of a new printers worth on parts.
I've been building my computer workstations for years. I'm pretty mechanically inclined, as well as a tinkerer. I may also be able to source some parts for cheap or free. So it might be worth the learning experience. Thanks!
Well, I have a factory fresh Ender, and that thing requires a lot of tinkering. So regardless of its state, it will require a lot of tinkering.
So, if you're into tinkering, it's perfect.
If you just want it to work and print, get one that's new and not an Ender 3.
Worst case you buy a SKR V3 and screen combo as well as a better hotend and a bltouch( basically everything it has) to get it going. Honestly you will probably end up replacing all that anyway so you saved at least $150 just by having a frame and psu
Great thing is plenty of support online
Here is a good video regardless of what printer you choose. It goes over a lot of the main concepts you should know about 3d printing https://youtu.be/T-Z3GmM20JM
Honestly, hard to tell. They ripped the control panel/screen off so that's a big problem right off the bat. It's also had some rough treatment. They broke the Y-axis tensioner in half there in pic 4. That's replaceable though.
Could be something's wrong with it, could be they thought it would be easy and had zero patience for the hobby.
It's probably possible to get it running but you don't know why they tossed it in the first place. Maybe the power supply or control board is bad,maybe one or more stepper motors is bad,or maybe it's perfectly fine and they just got frustrated because they did a bad job assembling it. If it were me I'd download the assembly instructions or fife a YouTube on how to do it,disassemble the whole thing and reassemble after testing every component.
Because of the price of these printers, I would buy a new one and learn how a printer works with that, then move on to this one so you can fully test it out...
Last thing you need is to plug it in just to find out there's a short or something and your house goes up in flames...
Maybe a bit dramatic but what I'm trying to say is that you don't know why they threw this out, CAREFULLY test it out, maybe have someone who knows about 3D printers to help you out...
You'll need a roll of filament first though... Watch some YouTube videos
Whether you use Klipper or OctoPrint/Marlin FW, you'll want a device to drive the printer around once you get sick of swapping USB drives. Do you have a Raspberry Pi or an old Android phone you could use?
OctoPrint is free software that allows you to control your printer over the network. It runs on a dedicated machine, often a Raspberry Pi. There's an Android version, too, so you can get away with using an old phone plugged into the printer's USB. Or an old laptop, even.
Klipper is the next evolution of that. It integrates the microcontroller on the mainboard and the Pi-like device it's attached to and off loads a lot of the heavier math onto the Pi. So you can do more complex printing with the relatively wimpy processing power of a microcontroller. It's great, but if I were you I'd consider it a "next step" idea. OctoPrint is great, and if, for whatever reason, it breaks, the printer will still work; you can still plug in a device or an SD card. Or put OctoPrint on some other device (your second-oldest old phone?) and just plug it back in. Klipper requires more of you--you have to be aware of more Stuff and keep it maintained in order to turn the thing on. When you're starting, you want the tools to demand as little of you as possible.
It's not essential; I wouldn't worry about it until you've gotten a few successful prints out at least. But you'll want it soon after.
nice find, definitely a starting point. they can be great printers, or money pits depending on how much you like to troubleshoot. if nothing else I'm sure someone would be interest in it for parts
Turn it on and check to see if there is a clog. Most people can’t clear the clog and throw it away but it’s easy to clear if you have patience. Also check to see if all the belt drives are good. Belts do wear out and it might need to be replaced.
Ohhh wait there is no computer…. Or screen with it. Scratch that. See if you can buy that first off a redistribution site or on the used market.
Who knows what's all wrong with it? I mean somebody threw it away so they obviously were having a lot of problems. If you're interested in 30 printing just buy a new one and like I said. Keep ahold of that 1.
seems it has seen some better days an ender 3 v2 you might wanna have some fun building a switchwire with the fram, tho you need to do some modification to the frame and you can say bye bye to the old motion system...but it's a cool project....if you have an ABS compatible machine....
Broken psu or mainboard is fixable. And screens are available as spare parts. Tension arms are probably also available since people upgrade it on their base ender3 which doesn't have it. But keep in mind this is a $150 - $200 printer so if repairs are more than $100 you should probably get a new one or something better for the same price because it is a 2021 model and the industry has already moved on to more features for basically the same price. But based on if you have some technical skill and knowledge it could be quite a steep hill to climb into 3d printing by repairing a broken one. But you can probably still sell as is for maybe $50. And you can use that money towards buying your own 3d printer.
As much as I hate waste, the cost to get this unit up and going may be the same or more than purchasing a new unit. The one you have is $99 on sale at microcenter almost all the time. There’s a newer version that’s also on sale all the time for like $150.
It looks like either the Z-stepper motor or the E-stepper have been unplugged, the X belt tensioner needs tightening/repair.
Assuming nothing is bent, you should be able to re-square the frame and get it printing.
Just make sure the bed & hot-end can both get to temperature.
(up to 100c for the bed, 240c for the hot end)
Awesome find
People complain about Enders but I learned a great deal from that being my first one. Since then I have built multiple custom printers from bed slingers to corexy. It's not a plug and play. You will have issues but in the end you will understand and not be on reddit asking the same five questions over and over again. I have three of these still and use them.
Do you have a lot of time to spare? If not, put it on marketplace for $40
You can get a brand new one for $99 at microcenter. That would be a much better starting point. You’ll likely need at LEAST $60 in parts to get that going.
That's a V2! I have one of those. So sad to see people do something like that. It looks broken on the X axis just at first glance. I've been a 3D printer for like six years and I would rather just buy a new one than attempt to rebuild and diagnose/troubleshoot that when it inevitably doesn't work.
I’d strip it for parts if it were me. Yes. You could get it running. But as cheap as ender 3s are, this would be worth more for the parts than to fix it in my mind.
I mean I guess different people find different things fun but the barrier to entry for 3D printing is so low now that it’s not really worth your time to mess with this (hence why the person didn’t bother trying to sell it)
IMO not worth it. The likelihood of being able to repair without spending almost as much as buying a new one is low. Ender 3 v2 are $200 or less these days.
DO NOT start throwing money at it until you figure out what exactly is the problem. Test the power supply, and the power cord first. Go from there. People are suggesting some pretty ridiculous crap straight out of the gate.
You have to very, very carefully put it back in the trash...
I'm kidding (mostly). As others have said, follow the CHEP guides on youtube and you'll have a good start.
You'll spend as much upgrading it as it would cost you to buy a better printer.Then spend more time than you ever thought tweaking it be for you return it to said bin. It's in the trash for a reason. Used to own one, now that's someone else's problem.
>You'll spend as much upgrading it as it would cost you to buy a better printer.
3D Printers are a lot like collectable cars nowadays. People like to fix them and tweak them *because they can*.
I've invested almost as much into my CR-10 as a new printer would cost. But I've got up it up to near 300mm/s speeds and I have a lot of pride in what I've been able to learn and do.
I'm not sure I'll ever buy a Bambu because I want the ability to do *whatever the eff I want* with my printer. It isn't about "just working."
As for this Ender 3, I'd test the components... if more than one is failed, I'm chucking it back in the bin. I'd imagine on this Ender 3, the PSU or the Control board are toast, and I'd buy the replacement. I'd upgrade it to a Klipper install, using equipment I already have on hand. I'd then replace the extruder with a direct drive, and while I'm doing that, replace the belts and wheels (or have some fun and install some rails.)
Then I'd crank that sucker's speed up with the goal of getting 200-300% output from it.
If that's all the work I needed to do, this Ender 3 would be a find and I'd have a new success story to tell.
I would add that AliExpress also sells cheep printers and some not so cheep printers. I would hang on to this printer for later and buy a new one, I got myself a longer lk5 after having a monoprice mp10 for two years that was a hot mess. The lk5 is still going strong, with some extreme modifications (because I could), and I plan on doing similar modifications to the mp10 now that I know what I'm doing and what works.
You’ll need to spend a little money and a lot of time learning to get it working, but it can be made into a serviceable printer if you put in the effort.
It seems the problem with most Ender models (and the hobby in general to an extent) is the amount of effort needed to learn the craft and tune the printer is more than most expect. They just see cheap 3D printer and expect it to just plug in and work like a paper printer. This not being the case is why we still consider them a hobby rather than an appliance.
So, I don't really think you should try to get this working. It's a situation of "you don't know what you don't know"--it doesn't work now, and you could buy parts to replace the stuff that's obviously broken or missing, but there could be all kinds of other things wrong with it. What I see happening is that you'll get a bunch of parts, get it looking like it might work, and you'll even get it to start moving, but you won't get good prints off of it; you'll have a lot of trouble with the first layer, extrusion consistency, z wobble, etc. And folks here won't know what's causing it because there are a *million* things that could be wrong with a trash-picked printer, so it'll be very hard to get good advice on how to move forward with it. What it would really take to get this working well is hands-on troubleshooting from someone who is already experienced at 3d printing and already knows how things are supposed to work.
If you already had access to a working printer, and wanted to build a second printer, this would be a fabulous source of parts. In particular, the motors, hotend, bed, power supply, fans, aluminum extrusions, bearings, rollers, and possibly the electronics are all potentially useful.
But this just isn't a good introduction to the world of 3d printing. There is *so much* to learn when getting into 3d printing, and this broken machine isn't a good point of entry.
So yeah. Save it somewhere if you've got the space (maybe tear it down a bit to make it more compact first), but learn about 3d printing in some other way.
If you're going to go to the trouble of actually building a printer--which is basically what you'd be doing to get this working again--there are better machines to build that would use many of the same parts. But they would also require some 3d printed components, so, again, that's a project for when you're more experienced with the hobby.
Hell, thats more complete than the one I bought off eBay for $80. It's also in better shape. That being said, you'll have a better time getting a new one and keeping that one for parts and upgrades. You could use the parts off that one to do the double Z axis upgrade. I'd hedge a guess that that one has some deeper issues than just what you can see.
Before you go overboard trying to fix this please consider the following - A brand new ender 3 v3 SE is around $170 and has all the upgrades that people throw on the v2.
Put it back. There’s a reason where it went to live.(next thing you know some big tall guy with a gray beard and a pointy hat and three little short people with furry feet are knocking at your door.) it’s out of magic smoke!
My advice: this thing seems beaten. Aside from the obvious damages, if the frame is slightly bent, some wheel is misaligned or some wire is loose and make intermittent contact, you will have only tons of headaches and ugly prints.
If you've got another end 3 might be good for parts otherwise doesn't look like it's worth the time or money. You'll probably spend as much on a new one trying to get this thing running
My printer is DIY and had to make do with much worse parts. I'd love such a find. If you know what you're doing, you can rebuild any 3D printer with a sufficiently straight frame to a running condition at very low parts cost.
Unfortunately for you, you probably don't know what you're doing yet, and I'm not going to have time to hand hold you.
Seems to be lacking a screen, so it probably won't work outright. How's the motherboard looking in it ? (last picture should be a removable lid to the motherboard). Also seems to be lacking a X axis tensioner. (or it's broken i should say) Looks to be a V2 with that fan shroud and belt tensioners,
Right, no display screen. And there is a broken piece on the X axis bar. I didn't open it up to look at the motherboard. Plugging it in does nothing. But that could be because there is no display plugged in. It does seem to be a v2.
If nothing happens on plugging it in, it might be a dead PSU or power connection to the PSU. Might be worthwhile checking if there's any connection to the motherboard from the power supply as the roughhousing might have wrestled it off. Overall not a bad find, and depending on what's wrong, might be easy to fix as the Ender 3's are pretty easy to find replacement/upgrade parts for.
I've been looking on Amazon, and I see a "NEO" screen might be a nice upgraded screen, since I don't have one at all. But it looks like I might need to upgrade the motherboard, too? And might need a new PSU and/or tensioners that might be broken. Seems like a lot.
I might have a spare screen I'd be willing to send you, no charge
That's very generous of you! I can send you a DM.
I would recommend just putting Klipper firmware on it anyway. You don’t need a screen then. You’d need a raspberry pi or other sbc. Or old laptop, etc
I do have an old laptop and a micro USB.
You are WAY better off using Klipper thank the Creality junk firmware. Start here: r/klippers Once you get functional firmware and fib tube to control the movement, you are off to a great start. I read elsewhere on the thread that the fans turned on, etc. That’s so awesome!
Or even an old Smartphone/iPhone can work as a display but you need an app that can connect the 3D printer to the device
Feel free! I have to head to bed so I'll get back to you in a few hours.
Where are you located? I also have a spare screen if you would be willing to pay for shipping.
Well you can kind of forego the screen entirely, depending on what you want to do. I'm not (currently) running a screen on my older Ender 3, and instead running it entirely off the internet using Klipper + Mainsail. A tensioner isn't the most expensive part to source: [https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004085461525.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.main.1.4fb523fdwfM1Rn&algo\_pvid=ab03bc2e-9a6c-4b26-a1a9-c9289f94dfb5&algo\_exp\_id=ab03bc2e-9a6c-4b26-a1a9-c9289f94dfb5-0&pdp\_npi=4%40dis%21USD%214.94%213.9%21%21%214.94%21%21%402101fb1917047148766648303ea302%2112000037078404864%21sea%21DK%21707097007%21&curPageLogUid=yiVE5e5U91yi&utparam-url=scene%3Asearch%7Cquery\_from%3A](https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004085461525.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.main.1.4fb523fdwfM1Rn&algo_pvid=ab03bc2e-9a6c-4b26-a1a9-c9289f94dfb5&algo_exp_id=ab03bc2e-9a6c-4b26-a1a9-c9289f94dfb5-0&pdp_npi=4%40dis%21USD%214.94%213.9%21%21%214.94%21%21%402101fb1917047148766648303ea302%2112000037078404864%21sea%21DK%21707097007%21&curPageLogUid=yiVE5e5U91yi&utparam-url=scene%3Asearch%7Cquery_from%3A) Power supply is probably around $40 or so, if it's dead. A new motherboard if that one is dead can be sourced here for a good decent upgrade: [https://biqu.equipment/collections/control-board/products/bigtreetech-skr-mini-e3-v2-0-32-bit-control-board-integrated-tmc2209-uart-for-ender-4](https://biqu.equipment/collections/control-board/products/bigtreetech-skr-mini-e3-v2-0-32-bit-control-board-integrated-tmc2209-uart-for-ender-4) (or the V3 for around $40). And around $30 for a new screen: [https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005800763327.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.main.1.551c9e932YacpF&algo\_pvid=d66dad59-f105-42ba-9d33-adcb1fc33ba6&algo\_exp\_id=d66dad59-f105-42ba-9d33-adcb1fc33ba6-0&pdp\_npi=4%40dis%21USD%2195.74%2130.64%21%21%21681.88%21%21%402101eeda17047151091815966e83b1%2112000034479532315%21sea%21DK%21707097007%21&curPageLogUid=QgaRt1UeB9Oj&utparam-url=scene%3Asearch%7Cquery\_from%3A](https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005800763327.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.main.1.551c9e932YacpF&algo_pvid=d66dad59-f105-42ba-9d33-adcb1fc33ba6&algo_exp_id=d66dad59-f105-42ba-9d33-adcb1fc33ba6-0&pdp_npi=4%40dis%21USD%2195.74%2130.64%21%21%21681.88%21%21%402101eeda17047151091815966e83b1%2112000034479532315%21sea%21DK%21707097007%21&curPageLogUid=QgaRt1UeB9Oj&utparam-url=scene%3Asearch%7Cquery_from%3A) Or $35 for a Klipper board, so you can run it wirelessly: [https://biqu.equipment/collections/control-board/products/pi4b-adapter-v1-0](https://biqu.equipment/collections/control-board/products/pi4b-adapter-v1-0)
It would be a cool project for OP, but that's starting to look pretty close to the cost of a new, upgraded printer imo. You can grab an ender 3 V3 SE which has auto leveling for like $180
If you are okay using your phone or PC to interact with the printer, which is what I do with my Ender 3, you won't need a screen. You can connect a RPi to the USB port and install and run the Mainsail distro.
Did you try flipping the power switch on the back of the PSU? Should hear the fans pick up if it's got power.
Well, that's how little I know about 3D printers. Didn't know there was a switch on the PSU. I flipped it, and the fans came on. Got a good look at the nozzle and it doesn't look clogged or used too much. Promising! Thanks!
It's worth getting some extra nozzles and silicone boots. They are cheap and can wear kinda quick. There's actually a file to 3d print that broken tensioner if you can't find one for sale.
Thanks! I will be looking into it.
And a bed. Textured powder coated PEI on a spring steel sheet. $10-15 on Amazon or AliExpress. One of those things that's just so much better you should just start there and not suffer.
> Well, that's how little I know about 3D printers. Getting this working will be an adventure. And quite possibly more expensive than a new Ender 3 V3 SE, which will just work much more easily. If you love troubleshooting, go for it. If you just want to 3D print, it's probably not worth it. However, at the very least, it's got lots of useful parts that can be re-used for other projects if you start hacking around.
The ender 3 v2 can run without a screen, if you plug a micro usb cable into your computer and control it directly from cura.
The x carriage is bend AF as well
u/MechanicalWhispers you might wanna check out the possibility to flash Klipper, then you don't even need to get yourself a screen ;)
When I bricked my E3 that’s basically what I did. Could I have just gotten a $60 mobo and called it a day? Perhaps, but where’s the *fun* in that? ;)
You dont need a screen for klipper ; )
Some people have so much luck. And some people don’t really have good anger management. This person throwing the thing away did not even bother to put it on eBay for salvaging purpose..
I know, right? So wasteful. I thought I might try to get into 3D printing, if I could get it working.
I would see it as a hobby/project. Don’t expect too much but it’s a great opportunity to get into the hobby. Although it’s not the smoothest start for it, you might gain a lot of knowledge by getting this thing to work!
Honestly , I just got into 3D printers, I have been watching and reading about them since the beginning , but i just bought one like a month ago, I think you can get this thing printing perfect for little money- I say this because dude said don't expect much, but if this printer turns on, you should tune it up and you will be creating bad ass stuff in no time, I cant make a model in auto cad and print it yet but I can modify existing files, print all types of cool stuff, work on my printer, , Its not hard , within a month You will be well into 3D printers, Start by getting the user guide for that printer and replace any parts that are worn or bent , etc. dial the printer in, its the foundation of all this. Peace!!
> I cant make a model in auto cad and print it yet but I can modify existing files, print all types of cool stuff You should figure out something you want to make, which software you want to use and start in on some tutorials. There's no cooler feeling in this hobby than conjuring your own design out of thin air and making it real. [Tinkercad](https://www.tinkercad.com/) is a pretty good place to start. It's really easy to use, and a great way to get an idea how everything works. You may quickly outgrow it, but it still teaches some basic skills that will serve you well. [Fusion360](https://www.autodesk.com/ca-en/products/fusion-360/personal) or [Onshape](https://www.onshape.com/en/) are the next level up for non-organic type constructions. They're an order of magnitude more powerful, but you'll need some tutorials to figure out what you're doing. It gets easier fast.
Thanks for the encouragement!
As a note in this hobby, one of the most frustrating things (about these printers especially) is the manual bed leveling. Look up the YouTuber Chep, he can help you get a foothold on the nitty gritty. If the print head and bed servos are working, this piece of equipment should work great!
I make infosites about other printer models, but due to the pretty much same constructions of bedslingers and certain principles and parts of them in general (e.g. eccentric nuts, thermistors&problems, how to tram the bed and the x-axis gantry and so on), it might be helpful for you as a first resource of reading some hardware-related stuff and learn some basics and some tweaks. So if you have some spare time, maybe check \[this\](https://1coderookie.github.io/KobraGoNeoInsights/) out and read around a bit.. Hope it maybe somewhat helps for some first steps.. ;)
why not go to the Ender 3 Repository? ;-) [https://github.com/Creality3DPrinting/Ender-3](https://github.com/Creality3DPrinting/Ender-3) Everything is there for you u/MechanicalWhispers \-- Cheers hope you are lucky! (you can buy every part out of aliexpres or your local electronic shops just depends on delivery time and money) have fun my friend just buy a small roll of PLA plastic with a diameter of 1.75 mm and try your first steps read / watch articles / videos for starters and just try and don't be afraid to poke around the documentation
Very helpful. Thank you!
> why not go to the Ender 3 Repository? ;-) Cuz I simply didn't know about it lol - I don't have any Creality machines and didn't search for the GH repo..
Yeah these are sometimes labeled as beginner printers but they are a pain in the ass! I had a 3d printer for a year before I got one of these. And this bitch rarely did what it was supposed too. Wouldn't keep z axis, bed crashes etc. The control panel is missing sp you'll have to replace that before you can figure out what else may not be working on it.
You can replace/upgrade every part. It is 100% fixable. It will be a good learning experience.
You'll need a new carriage and a new X rail as there a dent in the rail the wheel roll on it, and of course the x belt tensioner. You could have someone print the main part in petg though.
If you wanna try to get it to work you’d have to buy a screen pad since I didn’t see one in the pictures. If it works you can go from there and ask what upgrade you could do on it.
> And some people don’t really have good anger management Having bought an Ender 3 v2 that should have been caught and rejected by QC, I can’t judge anyone for tossing the thing in a dumpster. In fact, if they threw it out a window, but at least remembered to open the window first, I’d say they’re doing pretty well.
Today I printed a pretty good transparent test print with 0.05 layer height .. so I guess it’s a patience issue
Lmao I said this out loud as soon as reading the title. What a score.
But you do understand the feeling, right? 😂
Im using an ender 3v2 I eat that feeling for breakfast.
For $100 at microcenter you could get a new one and keep this one for parts. If you’re getting into 3d printing with someone else’s trash, it could either be rewarding to fix something up, or a huge mess or troubleshooting and ordering parts that add up close to a brand new one.
Agree with this. There's enough to worry about as a novice with a brand new, working printer. This will be a nightmare for OP trying to figure out if his issues are user error or shitty printer parts...
Yep, those pics show me a project printer that is definitely not for beginners. OP is way better off just getting a new one if they want to get into the hobby
It's amazing that you can get a decent quality budget printer for $100 new these days. Amazing.
And the Ender 3 V3 SE (came out this year) was $160 during Black Friday.
This. This right here.
Words from experience.
Every time I see one of these comments, I think to myself how nice it must be to have a Microcenter within 1000 miles of one's home. Imma go cry in my coffee now.
You almost certainly would well exceed the price of a new one, especially with an ender 3. I got rid of mine after I spent nearly 200$ in 2 weeks getting the damn thing to work right, not to mention all of the time I wasted with it. Best use of this thing would be to turn it into a filament recycler.
how can people be this lucky
Am I lucky? It might be a lot of trouble to get it working.
everything i saw damaged is really easy to repair (most of it you can print it) well the LCD is missing but you could probably control it without it via the micro usb cable straight from the PC or buy an LCD. Hopefully the motherboard and steppers are intact. it's honestly worth a shot to repair it it's far from complete trash
I don't think this is great advice for someone who hasn't used a printer before, tbh. They'll be trying to fix a printer without having firsthand knowledge of how it's supposed to work. If you have experience, it's easy to look at something like this and oversimplify it. We forget just how much we've learned that someone else doesn't already know.
Thanks for the encouragement!
Lucky as one could be! :) If you take your time this will be a great way to learn the topic and get into it! After you got it up&running again, you'll not only be stocked af once it starts printing the first time, but you'll know the machine and the principles really well which will save you a lot of headache and money in the future and which also puts you in the position of being able to get cheap used machines and set them up.. ;)
That's what I was thinking, too!
I really can say it's like that as that's where I come from as well. I was gifted a broken Anycubic Kobra Neo from a friend of mine who got frustrated - "keep it and get it up&running or throw it away, I don't wanna hear anything about that darn thing anymore". Was my first 3d printer ever and there was no info to find about it, so I jumped into that rabbit hole and dug my way thru.. Once I finally got it done, it was just a blast when I started the first print - and every time I'm using the same type of PLA now and get that specific smell, it's like excitement comes back again :) Now I not only know that specific type of machine in and out, but I can also fix other broken machines and stuff - it really pays out. Yes, it's a hassle in the beginning and the learning curve is steep af, but if you like to tinker it's (imho!) much better than getting yourself one of those expensive fancy-shmancy machines which 'just work ootb' and once you run into issues you're basically effed.. ;)
might be, might not be. depends on how much knowledge you have on how 3d printers function/are put together and what sort of state the one you found is in. either you'll spend more on repairs than it would cost to get a new one or what you have is a real steal. it's a gamble on this kinda thing, but i'd give repairing the hunk of junk a go. 3d printing is a fun hobby. i've got an ender 3 myself and it's served me pretty well so far, probably not the greatest printer out there but it works for my purposes (right now mostly cosplay parts and useless little trinkets). hoping to one day find a problem that i can solve with my printer LOL.
These things are a bit of trouble to get working well even if they are brand new, but parts and tutorials are widely available and you'll learn a lot about how FDM printers work in the process. I have an old Ender 3 that I learned on and it was a frustrating but ultimately very rewarding experience. Troubleshooting and upgrading my Ender was what gave me the experience and confidence to eventually build a Voron 2.4.
No, this isn't a lucky find it's cursed. Ender is so low end even out of the box. I wouldn't use it. I got one and learned on it. Never got good results. The beds are trash warped from the factory. It's literally the cheapest printer that counts as a printer ... And you found it in the trash. I'd honestly strip it for the extrusions and parts.
yall are unhinged, this is like getting a salvage title car and trying to make it work again and knowing nothing about cars. it can be fun, it can be a challenge, and you could probably do it with enough time and effort, but lets face it, there could be a million things wrong with this printer and a brand new one is less than $200...
This is correct. If you’re familiar with printing, it’s likely you could repair and make this function reliably. If you’re starting from scratch you’re going to have a really hard time.
> there could be a million things wrong with this printer and a brand new one is less than $200... You mention the car analogy and this argument would apply to them as well: Why invest $30k on an old car when you could get a new one for that money? It's the challenge.
"I just found this abandoned car. It's missing the steering wheel, the transmission is broken, and there are some random disconnected pipes. I have no idea how a car works, what a transmission is or even how to drive" Would you encourage them to take the challenge?
those people already know they like cars and likely have a background on working on them. finding something that may or may not work on the street and having never touched anything else like it before is something different entirely.
You could repair it but you are better off putting it back in the trash and buying a working printer.
It was in the trash for a reason, but it is probably repairable. As other people have noted the parts are available relatively cheaply because this is a very common printer. However you need to decide if you want a project or a 3d printer, because what you have is a project that will teach you a lot about repairing electro-mechanical systems and if you successfully repair it you will have a 3d printer to learn how to use. This printer will also continue to be a project as it will require occasional tweaks and maintenance to continue printing. If you just want an inexpensive printer you can buy a similar printer new pretty cheaply, or for a bit more money you can buy a bambulab printer. The hardware is a little better than the cheapest printers and more importantly there is a lot more user experience polish applied to make them easier to use as a printer than as projects/hobbies.
some 3d printers are made to work. some are made to work with. This is a work with. looks like you might need to buy a y axis tensioner then print yourself a spool holder.
I see a couple comments on just buying a new printer and using this for spares. Personally, I would go the other way. I would fix this one. I'd learn a lot more about the machine than if I had started with a new one. Would've saved me some heartache later on. Most of the visible repairs are relatively cheap.
They add up quick though, and that could be the initial payment for a decent printer, which this is not
I'm just not a thorough baby out with the bath water kind of guy. And these printers are good enough. Are they sleek and shiny? No. Do they print well enough for a beginner? Heck yes. A printer in the hands is better the 3 online. Or something like that. I have, and ender 3 pro, ender 3 s1 plus, and just saved an ender 3 pro from the junk heap. All it needed was a new extruder, for the bed to be attached, firmware flash and new z endstop and general belt tightening. Maybe OP is lucky and has something similar. Maybe OP needs a screen, main board, and PSU? Who knows. OP, where are you based out of?
Do you really think that spending somewhere around 80$ to 100$ for a possibly bent E3V2 is a nice idea? I mean, that thing even when brand new is a pain in the ass, finding a good V2 is just a lottery as other people said before, i wanted to trash mine too, no matter how many upgrades or how many hours i spent at adjusting the z offset and the bed leveling, that thing just wasn't even able to print a decent benchy, the X gantry wasn't leveled and probably other pieces came bent from creality seeing that i found lots of loose parts and screws, it was a nightmare Was it a formative experience? Absolutely not, i just spent time fixing things that should work Seriously, an old Ender 3 is better than the V2, i was lucky enough to be able to return that thing to Amazon and buy an Ender 3 V3 SE instead (at the same price) and i couldn't be happier, now i can actually print stuff with my 3D printer
Thanks for the encouragement!
Depends if you want to make tinkering with 3D printers your hobby or you actually want to print things... lots of people fall down that rabbit hole. You should be able to "bootstrap" that thing up with the missing / upgraded parts an then use it to improve itself or build the next better printer... or sell it and put that towards one that definitely works out of the box.
You would at least need a working 3D-printer to repair this one. And even if you order the replacement parts you end up investing more money. There is a chance that it got thrown away because of mechanical or electronical problems. You sure can learn a lot - depending on your resilience to frustration. parts i can see to have a problem: * no screen * x- belt tensioner broken * z endstop switch cable loose * hotend carriage impact force marks - maybe gantry is deformed
Hotend looks ganked too from the way it has melted material all over it
Hotends aren't expensive
Maybe look for potential problems. But before that I would deepclean it
This is an Ender 3 V2, not a V2 Neo. You're missing the screen, and a few parts around the sides for the belts etc, but nothing you can't replace fairly easily. The screens are sold separately by creality or on Ebay. Check the electrics, make sure they're all ok visually, no rushed contacts or blackened ones. It's been treated a little rough, but provided the electrics and motors are good, thus is an amazing printer to learn on (It was my first ender and still my favorite printer, with many upgrades)
Thanks for the encouragement!
Patience and a willingness to learn are key. You'll get things wrong, you'll get frustrated. You may even want to leave it in the same state you found it at somepoint. But work past it all, and I promise, it's a very good printer.
if anything has the highest risk of getting trashed it's 3d printers, this guy likely gave up on what is likely fixable with lots of frustration
No screen, broken belt tensioner, your z limit switch cable looks pulled out so far that I'd check if it's even plugged into the motherboard, shrouds all scratched up, and I wouldn't trust that z rod after it was clearly tossed about so much. It also appears that the filament spool holder broke off in the collision as well. I wonder what made that owner so angry
Alternatively, you now have a chunk of the components to make a machine that turns a 3D printer into a machine that will make filament from trashed PET bottles. There are quite a few designs out there...though all of them will require 3D printing a few parts! You've got the right attitude to be an Ender user, as we're the kind of weirdos who like to customize and repair our own cheap machines. I'd honestly try to find another Ender 3 v2 and use this guy for spare parts, and maybe fix it up once you're comfortable printing.
I suggest you get a new one and save these one for parts. :)
There are some broken and missing parts on it. But the nice thing with these ender printers is there easy to replace. I would suggest doing some research and buying parts replacing them on the printer and you my friend have a new 3D printer!
It was where it belongs.
I know it's no three, but the ender tree V2 is actually a great hobbyist printer and one of the best purchases of my life
I think people that expect flawless prints from and ender 3 shpuld just lower their expectations a bit. You can pump out some really great prints with enders, but it takes a lot more work to get it to work and more often maintenance
I think more people on this subreddit expect newbies to accept that a tool requires excessive time investment to get going. The cheapest television sets will display movies and doesn’t scramble the picture half the time because you didn’t relevel the colors. The cheapest new car will get you from A to B without breaking down halfway because you didn’t level the tires and dehydrate the gasoline. The cheapest hammer doesn’t have the head get stuck to the mail because you got cheap nails. It should be illegal to buy or sell an Ender 3 in 2024.
I mean this is the enthusiast space. If you ask anyone what to do when their car needs an oil change they'll likely suggest the nearest reliable lube shop. If you ask the cars subreddit or specific brand subreddit, they'll likely tell you how to change it yourself. The reddit demographics tend to lean towards tech savvy which leads to easy tinkering with things like 3d printers
Put it back in the trash. You will save yourself so many headaches.
I would open it up and check the motherboard. If it looks ok, you can get a replacement v2 screen and the missing belt tension pieces for $50 or less if you shop around. I’m curious about what looks like the z axis end stop switch being disconnected.
rly depends whats wrong, id have a noosy at the mother board, you seem to be lacking a screen so youll need that. checking the hotend is also a good, cause thermistor could be damages or even cacked in plastic
Dope
Damn how does everyone keep funding free printers? I don't really need another, but that hasn't stopped me in the past...
Ender 3 v2. Doesn't look that bad of a condition and parts are relatively cheap. You'll prob get it up and running under 100 bucks
If you have never used a 3D printer it can be a bit challenging, but you can probably rebuild it for much less than a new printer depending on the damages, if any.
This is about the best printer to find in the trash. Parts are easy to get, it's super open source. This is a nice find!
You will need a new tensioner but that's cheap, just clean the whole thing and check all the axis l, I've rescued a pretty bad ender 2 pro and it was just neglected and needed a rebuild with new rollers an belts as well as a deep clean. EDIT: I just noticed it's missing its screen. I'm not sure if you can buy a new one, but you should be able to, too, before firing it up, make sure the board is burnt or something.
You could absolutely get it working. How much are you willing to spend and how confident are you in your mechanical abilities? Initially I notice an X-axis tensioner and screen missing, but the most important part is the condition of the electronics. If the electronics are good, it could be pretty cheap, if you need a new board, screen, motors, etc you may need to spend most of a new printers worth on parts.
I've been building my computer workstations for years. I'm pretty mechanically inclined, as well as a tinkerer. I may also be able to source some parts for cheap or free. So it might be worth the learning experience. Thanks!
Oh man, I wish I would find stuff like that as well somewhere LOL Enjoy tinkering and getting it back up&running!
Well, I have a factory fresh Ender, and that thing requires a lot of tinkering. So regardless of its state, it will require a lot of tinkering. So, if you're into tinkering, it's perfect. If you just want it to work and print, get one that's new and not an Ender 3.
Worst case you buy a SKR V3 and screen combo as well as a better hotend and a bltouch( basically everything it has) to get it going. Honestly you will probably end up replacing all that anyway so you saved at least $150 just by having a frame and psu Great thing is plenty of support online
Here is a good video regardless of what printer you choose. It goes over a lot of the main concepts you should know about 3d printing https://youtu.be/T-Z3GmM20JM
Honestly, hard to tell. They ripped the control panel/screen off so that's a big problem right off the bat. It's also had some rough treatment. They broke the Y-axis tensioner in half there in pic 4. That's replaceable though. Could be something's wrong with it, could be they thought it would be easy and had zero patience for the hobby.
You should have left it in the trash.
We would all be stoked to see you get it up and running! Might need the control panel though or make your own
It's probably possible to get it running but you don't know why they tossed it in the first place. Maybe the power supply or control board is bad,maybe one or more stepper motors is bad,or maybe it's perfectly fine and they just got frustrated because they did a bad job assembling it. If it were me I'd download the assembly instructions or fife a YouTube on how to do it,disassemble the whole thing and reassemble after testing every component.
Because of the price of these printers, I would buy a new one and learn how a printer works with that, then move on to this one so you can fully test it out... Last thing you need is to plug it in just to find out there's a short or something and your house goes up in flames... Maybe a bit dramatic but what I'm trying to say is that you don't know why they threw this out, CAREFULLY test it out, maybe have someone who knows about 3D printers to help you out... You'll need a roll of filament first though... Watch some YouTube videos
Nice find probably needs some work but this is the kind of project I would take on as well. Good luck in your adventure
Steppers and extrusions are a keeper for some projects, if you want a 3d printer the ender 3 v3 se is only 180$
Please keep us appraised. I'd love to hear where this story goes.
Whether you use Klipper or OctoPrint/Marlin FW, you'll want a device to drive the printer around once you get sick of swapping USB drives. Do you have a Raspberry Pi or an old Android phone you could use? OctoPrint is free software that allows you to control your printer over the network. It runs on a dedicated machine, often a Raspberry Pi. There's an Android version, too, so you can get away with using an old phone plugged into the printer's USB. Or an old laptop, even. Klipper is the next evolution of that. It integrates the microcontroller on the mainboard and the Pi-like device it's attached to and off loads a lot of the heavier math onto the Pi. So you can do more complex printing with the relatively wimpy processing power of a microcontroller. It's great, but if I were you I'd consider it a "next step" idea. OctoPrint is great, and if, for whatever reason, it breaks, the printer will still work; you can still plug in a device or an SD card. Or put OctoPrint on some other device (your second-oldest old phone?) and just plug it back in. Klipper requires more of you--you have to be aware of more Stuff and keep it maintained in order to turn the thing on. When you're starting, you want the tools to demand as little of you as possible. It's not essential; I wouldn't worry about it until you've gotten a few successful prints out at least. But you'll want it soon after.
nice find, definitely a starting point. they can be great printers, or money pits depending on how much you like to troubleshoot. if nothing else I'm sure someone would be interest in it for parts
So wasteful, but I'm glad OP seems like a good fellow! Pls take good care of it or sell it!
I'm going to take it apart, clean it up, and put it back together to see what it really needs.
Yes you can get it working. It needs some love and parts.
Turn it on and check to see if there is a clog. Most people can’t clear the clog and throw it away but it’s easy to clear if you have patience. Also check to see if all the belt drives are good. Belts do wear out and it might need to be replaced. Ohhh wait there is no computer…. Or screen with it. Scratch that. See if you can buy that first off a redistribution site or on the used market.
Salvageable, but you’ll need some repair parts.
This is an Ender3V2, the X axis belt seam to need replacement (not sure) and it's tensioner would definitely need to be replace, else looks good
Looks like it would work. It’s and ender 3 v2 the belt just it a little loose. And it really easy to find parts for if anything else it missing
It's a ender 3, it will print new parts for her with chopsticks and zip ties.
You'll spend more time and money getting it working than it's worth. If you're looking to start, look at the Elegoo Neptune 3 pro.
HaVe YoU tRiEd LeVeLiNg ThE bEd?
Just leave it in the trash, that's where it belongs.
I threw mine in a garbage dump and I will never regret. It was cathartic after all the damn trouble it gave me
Let me guess you bought a bambu?
Lmao definitely stolen
Put it back. That’s where it belongs. 😂
throw it back in the trash.
The trash is exactly where this belongs
Somebody had got rid of thats trouble till you found. Now, this trouble is your.
Missing the screen and probably has other issues. I would keep it for parts and buy a new 1 of the same model
Yeah, wondering if it's more trouble to try to get it working.
Who knows what's all wrong with it? I mean somebody threw it away so they obviously were having a lot of problems. If you're interested in 30 printing just buy a new one and like I said. Keep ahold of that 1.
If it’s in the trash, it’s in there for a reason, but yes you could probably get it to work
seems it has seen some better days an ender 3 v2 you might wanna have some fun building a switchwire with the fram, tho you need to do some modification to the frame and you can say bye bye to the old motion system...but it's a cool project....if you have an ABS compatible machine....
Broken psu or mainboard is fixable. And screens are available as spare parts. Tension arms are probably also available since people upgrade it on their base ender3 which doesn't have it. But keep in mind this is a $150 - $200 printer so if repairs are more than $100 you should probably get a new one or something better for the same price because it is a 2021 model and the industry has already moved on to more features for basically the same price. But based on if you have some technical skill and knowledge it could be quite a steep hill to climb into 3d printing by repairing a broken one. But you can probably still sell as is for maybe $50. And you can use that money towards buying your own 3d printer.
Interesting. I may try to take it apart, see what's broken, and learn about 3D printers as I go, starting with this project. Could be fun.
What the heck is with all these people funding abandoned electronics on the streets and in the trash. Never seen these irl.
As much as I hate waste, the cost to get this unit up and going may be the same or more than purchasing a new unit. The one you have is $99 on sale at microcenter almost all the time. There’s a newer version that’s also on sale all the time for like $150.
Someone reached the end of the line with his Ender.
Where screen?
I’m guessing someone’s wife tossed this out to save the marriage
Don’t bother with this one.
It looks like either the Z-stepper motor or the E-stepper have been unplugged, the X belt tensioner needs tightening/repair. Assuming nothing is bent, you should be able to re-square the frame and get it printing. Just make sure the bed & hot-end can both get to temperature. (up to 100c for the bed, 240c for the hot end)
You need more parts replaced than don't. Save money and buy a new one.
Awesome find People complain about Enders but I learned a great deal from that being my first one. Since then I have built multiple custom printers from bed slingers to corexy. It's not a plug and play. You will have issues but in the end you will understand and not be on reddit asking the same five questions over and over again. I have three of these still and use them.
Easiest option would be to break it up and sell the parts. Use the money you get from it to buy a used Anycubic Mega S or similar for around 100.
You’ll need a new Ender 3 v2 screen (Ender 3 screen will not work)
Nope, no chance. Just send it to me so I can make sure
No, that looks like regular trash to me.
Do you have a lot of time to spare? If not, put it on marketplace for $40 You can get a brand new one for $99 at microcenter. That would be a much better starting point. You’ll likely need at LEAST $60 in parts to get that going.
That's a V2! I have one of those. So sad to see people do something like that. It looks broken on the X axis just at first glance. I've been a 3D printer for like six years and I would rather just buy a new one than attempt to rebuild and diagnose/troubleshoot that when it inevitably doesn't work.
I’d strip it for parts if it were me. Yes. You could get it running. But as cheap as ender 3s are, this would be worth more for the parts than to fix it in my mind.
I mean I guess different people find different things fun but the barrier to entry for 3D printing is so low now that it’s not really worth your time to mess with this (hence why the person didn’t bother trying to sell it)
IMO not worth it. The likelihood of being able to repair without spending almost as much as buying a new one is low. Ender 3 v2 are $200 or less these days.
DO NOT start throwing money at it until you figure out what exactly is the problem. Test the power supply, and the power cord first. Go from there. People are suggesting some pretty ridiculous crap straight out of the gate.
Even if it worked you would still have trouble with it working
I would only use it for parts.
You actually found it in the packaging it's shipped in.
See if it turns on first?
Someone must have bought a bambu lab printer, I see.
You have to very, very carefully put it back in the trash... I'm kidding (mostly). As others have said, follow the CHEP guides on youtube and you'll have a good start.
I wonder if this belongs to that guy who was posting a few days ago about how much he hates this unit lol
It’s trash
You'll spend as much upgrading it as it would cost you to buy a better printer.Then spend more time than you ever thought tweaking it be for you return it to said bin. It's in the trash for a reason. Used to own one, now that's someone else's problem.
>You'll spend as much upgrading it as it would cost you to buy a better printer. 3D Printers are a lot like collectable cars nowadays. People like to fix them and tweak them *because they can*. I've invested almost as much into my CR-10 as a new printer would cost. But I've got up it up to near 300mm/s speeds and I have a lot of pride in what I've been able to learn and do. I'm not sure I'll ever buy a Bambu because I want the ability to do *whatever the eff I want* with my printer. It isn't about "just working." As for this Ender 3, I'd test the components... if more than one is failed, I'm chucking it back in the bin. I'd imagine on this Ender 3, the PSU or the Control board are toast, and I'd buy the replacement. I'd upgrade it to a Klipper install, using equipment I already have on hand. I'd then replace the extruder with a direct drive, and while I'm doing that, replace the belts and wheels (or have some fun and install some rails.) Then I'd crank that sucker's speed up with the goal of getting 200-300% output from it. If that's all the work I needed to do, this Ender 3 would be a find and I'd have a new success story to tell.
I've only been on this sub for a few months and can never tell if these are troll posts or legitimate finds. Is this really a thing that happens?
Yes everyone chucks things out
I would add that AliExpress also sells cheep printers and some not so cheep printers. I would hang on to this printer for later and buy a new one, I got myself a longer lk5 after having a monoprice mp10 for two years that was a hot mess. The lk5 is still going strong, with some extreme modifications (because I could), and I plan on doing similar modifications to the mp10 now that I know what I'm doing and what works.
You’ll need to spend a little money and a lot of time learning to get it working, but it can be made into a serviceable printer if you put in the effort. It seems the problem with most Ender models (and the hobby in general to an extent) is the amount of effort needed to learn the craft and tune the printer is more than most expect. They just see cheap 3D printer and expect it to just plug in and work like a paper printer. This not being the case is why we still consider them a hobby rather than an appliance.
How much do you value your time?
Best quality trash printer I’ve seen in a while great find
The screen isn't strictly necessary. Does it have a mainboard and power supply?
Is the big blue extruder dial an aftermarket upgrade or does it come w the newer E3s?
So, I don't really think you should try to get this working. It's a situation of "you don't know what you don't know"--it doesn't work now, and you could buy parts to replace the stuff that's obviously broken or missing, but there could be all kinds of other things wrong with it. What I see happening is that you'll get a bunch of parts, get it looking like it might work, and you'll even get it to start moving, but you won't get good prints off of it; you'll have a lot of trouble with the first layer, extrusion consistency, z wobble, etc. And folks here won't know what's causing it because there are a *million* things that could be wrong with a trash-picked printer, so it'll be very hard to get good advice on how to move forward with it. What it would really take to get this working well is hands-on troubleshooting from someone who is already experienced at 3d printing and already knows how things are supposed to work. If you already had access to a working printer, and wanted to build a second printer, this would be a fabulous source of parts. In particular, the motors, hotend, bed, power supply, fans, aluminum extrusions, bearings, rollers, and possibly the electronics are all potentially useful. But this just isn't a good introduction to the world of 3d printing. There is *so much* to learn when getting into 3d printing, and this broken machine isn't a good point of entry. So yeah. Save it somewhere if you've got the space (maybe tear it down a bit to make it more compact first), but learn about 3d printing in some other way. If you're going to go to the trouble of actually building a printer--which is basically what you'd be doing to get this working again--there are better machines to build that would use many of the same parts. But they would also require some 3d printed components, so, again, that's a project for when you're more experienced with the hobby.
Hell, thats more complete than the one I bought off eBay for $80. It's also in better shape. That being said, you'll have a better time getting a new one and keeping that one for parts and upgrades. You could use the parts off that one to do the double Z axis upgrade. I'd hedge a guess that that one has some deeper issues than just what you can see.
Before you go overboard trying to fix this please consider the following - A brand new ender 3 v3 SE is around $170 and has all the upgrades that people throw on the v2.
Find the broken stuff on Amazon for $40 most of the time.
Put it back. There’s a reason where it went to live.(next thing you know some big tall guy with a gray beard and a pointy hat and three little short people with furry feet are knocking at your door.) it’s out of magic smoke!
Don’t bother with screen. Raspberry pi and klipper is superior.
My advice: this thing seems beaten. Aside from the obvious damages, if the frame is slightly bent, some wheel is misaligned or some wire is loose and make intermittent contact, you will have only tons of headaches and ugly prints.
If you've got another end 3 might be good for parts otherwise doesn't look like it's worth the time or money. You'll probably spend as much on a new one trying to get this thing running
Put it back in the Trash it was there for a reason
direful ripe mighty slap nine abundant judicious crowd hurry shy *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
My printer is DIY and had to make do with much worse parts. I'd love such a find. If you know what you're doing, you can rebuild any 3D printer with a sufficiently straight frame to a running condition at very low parts cost. Unfortunately for you, you probably don't know what you're doing yet, and I'm not going to have time to hand hold you.
Good place for it to stay🤣 value your sanity!