(Part 3) Top products from r/ender5

Thanks for making a new thread. You mentioned pre-assembled and quality/reliability over cost, but do you have a general price in mind?

Extruder

The most popular option is to just go with one of the cheap aluminum extruders. These are a considerable improvement over the stock plastic version. There isn't really much assembly involved, you will need to bolt on the extruder plate/lever and put the spring in, but it's about the most simple upgrade there is.

On the more premium end, depending on which version you buy, a genuine Bondtech comes pre-assembled. It's about $70 more expensive and the benefits are negligible, but that's an alternative.

Hotend

The two main choices for Creality machines are the V6 or Micro Swiss (or a clone), both of which do have some assembly involved.

E3D sells their V6 as a bunch of parts that you assemble yourself, but Filastruder offers it as a pre-assembled version. I believe most V6 clones come loosely pre-assembled as well. Keep in mind however that V6 isn't a direct install, you will need some kind of printed bracket / fan duct like the PetsFang to mount it.

The Micro Swiss on the other hand is a drop-in installation on Creality machines. You do have minimal assembly putting a few parts together, but it bolts up to the stock machine without any changes. I wrote a guide that covers how to do it for the Ender-3, but the Ender-5 uses the same hotend carriage design, meaning the steps are the same.

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I would personally go with the cheap aluminum extruder and a Micro Swiss hotend. This would be a cost efficient, yet effective set of upgrades for the machine. There is minimal assembly involved, but there isn't much on the market that is 100% ready to go.

When it was time for my 2nd printer (my first is an old Printrbot Simple Metal) I was planning to get an Ender 3 pro. Then I found out about the 5, watched a bunch of videos and read a bunch of reviews, and decided to go with the 5.
I don't know that it's that much better than a 3 since I cannot compare them, but based on all the reviews, it is more rigid and a bit better built than the 3. I have zero complaints with the build quality of the machine.

My thought was, if I get the 3 pro I'll probably regret not getting the 5. If I get the 5 I won't regret not getting the 3.
If you can can spare the extra $100 (or maybe less now) then get the 5 and be happy.


Mine has been pretty much perfect out of the box. There is only one thing that I could not live with, and that is the plastic extruder. I upgraded to the aluminum one.
I also added TL smoohters, Capricorn bowden tube, and a glass bed. I would not necessarily recommend the upgrades right away unless you are not happy with the performance of the stock machine. Over time you'll gather enough knowledge to decide if you will benefit from upgrades.


I ordered this one from Amazon: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07KQ2MTGM

Definitely sounds like a clogged nozzle. Clear that out and you should be good to go. You probably don’t need to replace your motor, but if you want to, look for something with higher torque. The Creality motor you linked to has a force of .4nm, while the other motor has a force of .46nm. Moons makes steppers with even higher torque if you’re interested in that. One point to note, when I’ve updated my stepper motors in the past, they haven’t always been precisely plug and play. I had to change the order of some wires in the harness to get it to operate correctly (it would run backwards, haha). You may also have to adjust your vrefs if your new stepper motor requires more current.

EZABL: https://www.th3dstudio.com
Glass Build Plate: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GV98LH1

Note: Any decent borosilicate glass plate will do; you just want to make sure it’s the right size. As for the EZABL, getting that up and running for your Ender 5 will probably involve using a jump host (arduino) to load a boot loader in order to update the firmware, etc. honestly I didn’t find the process particularly user-friendly, but if you’re comfortable setting jumper pins, wiring ports, modifying code, etc., you should be OK. The company has very detailed instructions and there are secondary resources (incl. videos) online.

I ended up ordering a generic borosilicate glass bed and applied some GizmoDorks PEI to the top of it. Works excellent and I don't need to use any painters tape or glue stick with it. It was a great upgrade from stock and much easier to level. Haven't decided yet if I want to dump my dial indicator leveling for a BLTouch or equivalent. I might end up doing that though.

The on/off plug just kills the power, its not initiating a system shut down or anything. I use a Octopi with a webcam to print and monitor and I have it and the printer in a smart plug. Works great for me and has saved me some pain in the past. Plus I don't like leaving it on unattended for long periods. I would definitely get an OctoPi going if you're doing things remotely though. Its got a ton of features, but makes remote control easy.

Edit: I use this https://smile.amazon.com/Kasa-Smart-Power-Strip-TP-Link/dp/B07G95FFN3?sa-no-redirect=1 to control 2 printers, two raspberry Pi, and some lamps. I was out of town for a week and I just had my wife remove the prints each morning, but I was able to work on it and turn on the lamp when I knew it wasnt going to bother her to check on prints (versus leaving it on always)

The TH3D board is 32 bit and has more room for firmware. So its "future proof" but I just got done installing exactly what you want to do, and the Creality 1.1.5 board with BLTouch worked just fine. Just make sure you get 2m of extension and not 1m.

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https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FR2LLZP/ref=twister_B07BH4PF2Y?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

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Print a BL touch Bracket first. I forget if I used the 3mm lower one or the regular one. I think I did the 3mm lower one.

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3388571

I also got these, should I install them?
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07DNT72SF/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

And what about springs/more bed travel. Any improvements I can make there?

I am going to print out the bed support now.

Might help clarify, I'm talking about adding something similar to these in line from the PSU to the power connector for the heat bed on the main board:

https://smile.amazon.com/Printer-Module-SIMPZIA-General-Current/dp/B06XY5HBFX

EDIT: I realized by watching the TH3D video I edited into the original post, that the above MOSFET is for a 12v PSU, you should research if a 12v MOSFET is needed instead. TH3D mentioned in the video that they do carry them.

Yup. Nothing really changed other then +5 degrees on the hot end. I do have small mods like these

Aluminum Extruder

tube & fittings

You're going to be looking for something like this.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BF8KXW3/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_Mhv4CbV5G6G18

Yep. Just the standard Creality bed.

Official Creality 3D Ender 3 Ender 3 Pro Ender 5 Tempered Glass Upgraded Build Plate Printing Surface for Heated Bed 235x235mm https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07F16WPR5/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_35VBDbA6SHFZB

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3122247

I was browsing Pi Camera mounts, and found this one. I happened to have one of those lamps already, so it was convenient. I have it mounted to the top front rail.

I put a camera pop up flash diffuser over the light, so that the lighting is less harsh. Without it, it was hard to see the print very well when the lamp was on. Mine is similar to this, and it fit okay on the lamp https://www.amazon.com/Stebcece-Colors-Diffuser-Olympus-Adjustable/dp/B06XCMP85B/

Only downside is that the camera is mounted to the frame, so the angles you can choose from and actually see stuff without being blocked by the rails or hot end are limited.

Meanwell power supply:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B013ETVO12

Ferrules and crimper:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07LCF39W9

Stepper smoothers (3-pack):

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0727QT316

Capricorn PTFE tubing:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B079P92HN9

Performance 3-D MK8 Apollo 0.4mm extruder nozzle:

https://www.p3-d.com/collections/duraplat-3d-extruder-nozzles

Glass bed (appears to be produced by creality), ebay seller usbkits :

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Creality-3D-Ender3-Ultrabase-Heat-Bed-Glass-Plate-235x235mm-for-3D-Printer-X6W6/143049426638

Aluminum drive feed, ebay seller creality-3d-direct :

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Upgrade-Aluminum-Extruder-Drive-Feed-Frame-For-Creality-Ender-3-3D-Printer/223095519332

***the tube fitting in this kit did not work well, so I used the fitting from the stock creality assembly and it worked fine.

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THD Firmware:

https://www.th3dstudio.com/knowledgebase/th3d-unified-firmware-package/

Which country are you in? I see 6 packs of the wheels.

CCTREE 3D Printer POM V Slot Wheel Plastic Pulley Linear Bearing for Creality CR-7,CR-8,CR-10,CR10S,Ender(Pack of 6) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DC99DPV/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_detDDbSH2HTZG

Just saw your inquiry about the bed: I'm using this one [Gulfcoast Robotics] 3D Printer... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DFTKCV9?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

I found this one after doing a search for an hour tonight on different websites: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0761PGLZ4/ref=ox_sc_act_title_3?smid=A2UHE58S2974CT&psc=1