ELEGOO Mars 2 Pro Mono MSLA 3D Printer UV Photocuring LCD Resin 3D Printer with 6 inch 2K Monochrome LCD, Printing Size 129 * 80 * 160mm/5.08 * 3.15 * 6.30inch
CNC Machined Aluminum
Mars 2 Pro is made of CNC machined aluminum from build platform to resin vat. It has a very solid build quality and high durability like a reliable workhorse that always get its work done.
COB UV LED Light Source
Excellent heat dissipation performance, high luminous maintenance rate, uniform light emission, and no spots. COB light source has proved itself to be a fantastic upgrade that ensures each printing comes out perfectly.
Chitu Box Slicer
Chitu Box has been a very helpful companion when you are using ELEGOO MSLA resin 3D printers from slicing .stl file to adding supports. With the latest 8-times anti-aliasing function, you can get a much smoother printing surface.
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Product type | Resin 3D Printer | Resin 3D Printer | Resin 3D Printer | Resin 3D Printer | Wash and Curing Resin Model Machine | Curing Model Machine |
| LCD type | 6.08 inch Mono LCD | 6.6 inch Mono LCD | 6.08 inch Mono LCD | 8.9 inch Mono LCD | ||
| Build volume | 5.10in(L) x 3.10in(W) x 5.90in(H) | 5.64in(L) x 3.52in(W) x 6.5in(H) | 5.10in(L) x 3.10in(W) x 6.30in(H) | 7.55in(L) x 4.72in(W) x 7.87in(H) | ||
| Layer thickness | 0.01mm | 0.01-0.2mm | 0.01-0.2mm | 0.01-0.15mm | ||
| Z Axis Accuracy | 0.00125mm | 0.00125mm | 0.00125mm | 0.00125mm | ||
| XY Precision | 0.05mm (1620*2560) | 0.035mm (4098*2560) | 0.05mm (1620*2560) | 0.05mm (3840*2400) | ||
| Printing Speed | 30-50mm/h | 30-50mm/H | 30-50mm/h | 30-40mm/h | ||
| Official ELEGOO Support | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Weight: | 8.1 kg |
| Size: | Mars 2 Pro |
| Dimensions: | 57 x 29 x 29 cm; 8.1 Kilograms |
| Part: | EL-3D-M2P |
| Pack Quantity: | 1 |
| Batteries Required: | No |
| Manufacture: | ELEGOO |
| Dimensions: | 57 x 29 x 29 cm; 8.1 Kilograms |
| Quantity: | 1 |
| Reference: | EL-3D-M2P |
| Size: | Mars 2 Pro |
Excellent product for a good price. Minimum fuss set up and worked immediately. Incredibly detailed prints in a reasonable time frame. Very simple to use. Build plate is the perfect size for my projects. Will be investing in a Saturn when they become available.
Incredible print quality, fantastic customer service team, all round a great piece of equipment from a great company!
easy to level and up and running in 30 min
still lots to learn but so far so good
the quality is in a different league to my FMD printer!
Great printer had plenty of use using the water washable resin and prints turned out well. Software for slicing could be better though and takes a bit of fine tuning to make sure the auto supports don’t fail.
Does it perfectly. Just one think. Filter the resin being poured into the vat. our first attempt failed because of this. all other prints worked perfect. Have been printed relentlessly every day since set up. one touch design.
It’s a great printer amazing quality, only a couple of issues I feel personally the instructions could have been a little more in depth I had done alot of research before hand but felt for a begginer could have been a bit better, and the rubber seal a bit useless falls off everytime you remove cover but other than that it’s an amazing printer for the money
I love this printer. From the outset it has been easy to use, intuitive and straightforward. The slicer software is easy to use and the setup instructions are clear, giving reliable results from the outset. The only surprise was that the resin is susceptible to low temperatures, and putting the printer out in the garage in December was a Bad Idea as it gave less reliable results. Bringing it into the warm of the office cured that, and it turned out that I didn’t need to clean the printer after every print so the smell of the IPA cleaning fluid didn’t get too bad (or too frequent).
I can’t recommend this printer enough. It’s quick, quiet, easy to use – thanks Elegoo for a great product. I’m now thinking about buying the larger Saturn model.
This is a great entry level printer for 3D printing.
The instructions are very clear and easy to use. The machine isn’t overly loud, and the smell isn’t too strong compared to other printers I’ve encountered.
There was a small manufacturers fault with the screen that caused it to bubble and crack, but Elegoo have been very good with arranging a replacement screen.
They have easy to follow YouTube videos to follow to replace parts.
The prints themselves have all come out well. Some experimenting and experience is needed, but it’s all part of the process.
Out of the box, my printer fired up fine. Went through the motions of levelling bed and checking the lcd etc. Installed the tank, filled it with resin and plugged in the USB stick ready to print the rook test piece. This is where it started to go wrong.
The stick was fine – read perfectly well on my laptop. But clicking on the file icon on the printer failed to open any file structure from the stick. Wiggling the stick around and applying upward pressure would – occasionally) give me some access and the sticks led would flash. Obviously there was something amiss with the printers USB socket. No bent pins inside… Loose internal connector? I took the front part of the printer off, and saw that there is a small daughter card attached to the front of the printer. It is attached to the main main board by a standard usb lead, with a bit of hot glue on it to stop it from creeping out.
This was fine, no issue there. Looking more closely at the socket the memory sticks plug into revealed the issue. Half of the surface mount pads on the socket hadn’t been soldered… how did this pass quality control?! Rather than go through the pain of getting a return sorted out, I fixed it myself as I had the tools to do so. But I wonder how many more printers have had this issue and have been returned as dead on arrival?
Once fixed, printer reads memory sticks fine, and the test print worked fine. More than fine – it came out incredibly well. So what would have been a 5 star review is marked down due to a niggly issue that shouldn’t have seen the outside of the factory.
Out of the box, my printer fired up fine. Went through the motions of levelling bed and checking the lcd etc. Installed the tank, filled it with resin and plugged in the USB stick ready to print the rook test piece. This is where it started to go wrong.
The stick was fine – read perfectly well on my laptop. But clicking on the file icon on the printer failed to open any file structure from the stick. Wiggling the stick around and applying upward pressure would – occasionally) give me some access and the sticks led would flash. Obviously there was something amiss with the printers USB socket. No bent pins inside… Loose internal connector? I took the front part of the printer off, and saw that there is a small daughter card attached to the front of the printer. It is attached to the main main board by a standard usb lead, with a bit of hot glue on it to stop it from creeping out.
This was fine, no issue there. Looking more closely at the socket the memory sticks plug into revealed the issue. Half of the surface mount pads on the socket hadn’t been soldered… how did this pass quality control?! Rather than go through the pain of getting a return sorted out, I fixed it myself as I had the tools to do so. But I wonder how many more printers have had this issue and have been returned as dead on arrival?
Once fixed, printer reads memory sticks fine, and the test print worked fine. More than fine – it came out incredibly well. So what would have been a 5 star review is marked down due to a niggly issue that shouldn’t have seen the outside of the factory.
I’ve been spending a small fortune using a printing service and chose resin and a Mars 2 Pro to print at home.
After a couple of days trying different settings on small prints I was getting great results (its all about balancing height, cross sectional area, supports and angle so that unwanted resin doesn’t ‘hang around’ and become part of your model).
I did have an issue with the printer on a firmware upgrade, but Elegoo support was superb and sorted my problem, so I’m not deducting any stars for that, in fact, it’s what made it 5 star for me.
The printer is better than I expected, but was working fine until an upgrade. Sure, I would have preferred it to work, but I’m happier knowing that support is excellent than wondering what it would be like if I hit a problem in a year’s time. Thanks Elegoo!
This is a great entry level printer for 3D printing.
The instructions are very clear and easy to use. The machine isn’t overly loud, and the smell isn’t too strong compared to other printers I’ve encountered.
There was a small manufacturers fault with the screen that caused it to bubble and crack, but Elegoo have been very good with arranging a replacement screen.
They have easy to follow YouTube videos to follow to replace parts.
The prints themselves have all come out well. Some experimenting and experience is needed, but it’s all part of the process.
As a beginner to 3D printing I did a lot of background research into the best printer for learning with. I have a friend who runs a business and he suggested the Mars 2 as a great starter and he wasn’t wrong.
There is a wealth of support and tutorials online aswell as a great community on discord and Facebook.
The Elegoo Facebook group is also extremely helpful and often run competitions to win great prizes.
I would also recommend looking at Patreon for a wealth of companies that supply high quality high resolution stl files. This printer is more than capable of printing high quality.
The only downside is the size, but that’s what makes it perfect to learn with, once you’ve become more competent I would suggest moving up in size which is what I plan to do.
This is a brilliant entry level priced Resin Printer with excellent print quality. I dont recommend this for anyone expecting something that works just using auto settings and a press of a button. This pretty much goes for all resin printers I think but something that needs to be considered before making a purchase.
If you dont know much about them, do your research (as I did) and make sure your happy with the workflow required to make a successful print. You need more than just resin. Nitrile gloves, a resin wash of some description (IPA, Meths or water depending on availability and resin used) and a Curing solution. I have a IPA wash bath, water bath and a curing station. This works for me as a cheaper option.
If a print fails to adhere to the build plate chances are it will be stuck to the FEP and that really is a PITA. Best solution is to soak VAT in IPA for atleast 1hr but longer if you can to release the print from FEP. This would get frustrating after a short while so I cant stress enough the importance of researching the right settings for your print. Its not like a FDM where you see a print fail immediately with a resin, you normally have to wait a good 30mins before you either see a print on the build plate or not.
Things to help maintain print success – longer bottom exposure times for larger prints (70-75s), dry ptfe lube film on fep film and a film of resin spread over the build plate.
Aside from that and after my first couple of failed prints. (due to improper slicer settings for size of print) Its working very reliably.
Overall, this resin printer is excellent value with no real faults for its price. I am very happy with this printer, great no nonsense touch screen works great, solid build with inclusion of Z Axis linear rail.. It could do with the internal fan being a bit quieter and in hindsight a cabinet style enclosure instead of the over top hood would have been better for me personally. Then the only other thing which I felt was worthwhile doing as a mod (20-30 on top) was to install a Flexi plate. If you do this you will also need the spacer to modify the z height to make this work. Thingiverse part #4609740
If you dont mind the potential challenges/workflow of using a resin printer you cant go far wrong with the Mars 2 mono.
This is so easy to level and use compared to a filament printer. The quality is amazing!
If you have never used a 3d printer before then there will be a learning curve. You will need to learn how to slice and hollow your models. It’s not that hard and you can download the software before you buy to get some practice in.
The Resin smells! No avoiding it even with the filter. It is not as strong smelling as epoxy Resin, but it’s not great. I have moved it to the loft. Problem solved.
Format the USB stick. I have had one failed print so far due to that messing up, but since formatting it I have had no issues.
If you need small highly detailed prints buy this printer.
I have a ender 3 printer but wanted a resin printer and wow the results from the elegoo mars 2 pro is fantastic best thing I did was buying this printer.
X-wing printed in 3 parts in less than 24 hours. Which is far quicker and much better quality.
I bought this with some of the water washable resin and a mylee UV nail cureing station. I’ve never used a 3d printer in my life but set up as per instructions did’nt even bother with the test print and grabbed a file from thingiverse. It just worked, seen reviews with people having multiple failed prints wich I can only assume meant they did’nt set it up properly. The first print was great at 0.04 and scaled to 30mm, the only problem was I used supports that were to thick for the models I printed so I lost a few fingertips, but lesson learnt. For less than 300 for the whole setup its excellent value and can’t wait to bang some more creations out and hopefully be able to get into designing my own.
I ordered this printer and it arrived with a small cracked printing screen. I contacted Elegoo by email and had prompt replies and after sending a photo showing the damage received a free replacement screen which is very easy to change and Elegoo provides a web page to view the repair; took about 5 minutes. Very impressed with the fuss-free after-sales service. Great printer and great after-sales
A wonderful printer, print quality is superb and the detail astounding.
Received this printer for Christmas as a present. I was never really happy with the finish from my FDM printer but this thing is off the charts. Prints come off the plate like they’ve come directly from a store! Easy to use and i’m having great results with Elegoo water washable resin (not as much hassle as regular resin) i’d advise anyone weighing up the odds to pull the trigger and get involved. So much fun!!!
Amazing quality fir the price. Has allowed me to make extremely detailed pieces with great accuracy
Great product, does what you want it to do. Pretty easy to use and set up. I recommend disconnecting the extraction fan though (not the heat lamp fan though ) and covering the chamber vent holes with tape. Otherwise you will end up with a horrible resin smell the entire time it’s running.
The mono screen apparently makes lasts much longer than the other type and also lowers the exposure time required for each layer. The only thing I would like to see is a 4K screen as opposed to a 2K screen, but the 2K screen here is absolutely amazing. The only issues with prints I’ve had are due to my own learning process.
After the first test print I was like “what, can 3D printer actually do that?”
Print quality is really good, speed is fair.
I’d also like to share my doubts, that were not all about this specific printer, but in general about resin 3D print.
I was afraid of the smell.
This printer has filters and you can barely feel any smell while it prints. When you remove the cover, the resin does smell, but it’s absolutely acceptable.
Dimensions.
This printer only occupies a small surface. It’s about 40cm tall, and 20×20 width/height. I live in a small apartment and I found a spot very easily.
Curing process.
It’s easy.
I bought a washable resin so I could use tap water: results are great and I found very little residue in the water.
I am also using a small uv torch, and so far I am happy with speed and quality of results.
Washing the machine.
No big deal. First, you can put back basically all the residual resin in the bottle (which is a good thing as it’s quite expensive). Second, I could clean tank, head and accessories very easily with soapy water.
Overall
Very happy with this printer. Great value for money!
This means I have no comparison but also it means if I say this has been a good experience then as a first printer is is likely to be a good one.
I read may reviews and went down many directions of research before I took the plunge into this printer.
My decision making was based on cost, as I didn’t know if I would be able to get into this and if it was a fail I was afraid of spending a fortune and losing too much. Another factor was either make it easy, FDM or more complex, resin. I don’t know what filament printing is like but the attraction to resin, due to it’s very detailed and smooth finish lured me this way.
The Mars 2 had no reviews at the time of purchase, so I was taking a big risk but the Mars and Mars 2 pro were well received so I hoped Elegoo made the Mars 2 somewhere in between. I have no comparison but I can say I am not disappointed.
My test print was perfect, the rook. I then tried another print which I downloaded the .stl file for and that went well. I did have to realise (learn) that .stl files needed to be put through the slicer in the Chitubox software to convert them to .ctb files before they could print 🙂 but all went well once I head read the support forums and realised my lack of understanding.
In terms of resin printing., I was concerned about all the talk of cleaning, disposal, filtering of IPS cleaner and the consumables which would be required to use resin rather than filament. I have to say it has not been anything like I had imagined after watching many YouTube videos on resin printing. Yes there is more to think about but it is as simple as print, clean it and then cure it.
Don’t throw the IPS (Alcohol cleaner) down the drain, filter it and re-use it. It’s not that hard to be honest.
You do need a lot of paper towels and gloves though, that’s for sure.
All in all the printer has been a great introduction to resin printing. I am very happy with the results and not anywhere near as worried about handling the prints, cleaner and resins as I was from watching YouTube. Common sense a lot of it.
In summary, as I said I have no comparison but my experience with this and considering the price range it is in has been a great one and I am now well into 3D printing.
I also bought the Mercury clean and cure unit. This is perfect although I have mostly used it just to cure as I have printed quite small prints up to now, so brush and metal tray was enough.
I highly recommend buying additional resin trays as you can then keep the different coloured resin in these trays and simply swap them around according to the colour you want. Of course this costs but worth it when you can. I can have clear resin in one tray and grey in another and simply swap out the trays. This lessens the resin cleaning and mess which comes with it :).
If you can’t do this then the paint filters to pour the resin back in the bottle works fine.
Pro’s; Quiet, easy, USB at the front, good forum support with Q&A’s and not a bad start point price.
Con’s; Not having anything to compare too this is hard. Power switch at the back.
Recommendations; Get lot’s of paper towels, nitrile gloves, Alcohol (IPA) cleaner, a cleaning tray, paint brushes to brush down the prints when cleaning, a UV curing light or cleaning station, additional resin trays with lids.
Well I think that is about it. I’m happy and I hope this helps others make the leap.
I had a Mars Pro before but the Mono is definitely faster than the regular one. Still you’ll need a good ventilation to remove the odour but results of the prints are impressive. I do recommend this printe
Amazing machine – first foray into 3D printers for me and it couldn’t have gone better.
Incredibly simple to set up and get going, had my first print out same-day.
Little bit of learning to do regarding the physics of printing, but there’s loads of videos online that can help although there are masses of ‘ready to print’ files available too – Love it!!
So far my experience with the Elegoo Mars 2 Pro has been amazing, really good build quality. The detail of the things it can produce is very high. If you’re thinking about dipping your toe into 3D printing this would be an excellent place to start.
another excelent product from Elegoo I now own 3 Elegoo products and look forward to owning more Five star product and company
A bit of a solvent heaven. I seem to be swimming in vats of isopropyl alcohol and the pre-cure stickiness is a bit unpleasant. The quality of prints is excellent but generally quite small.
I simply cannot fault the printer itself, its solidly built and the output is of very very high quality the objects are very close to plastic moulded quality.
The problem I have is with the SLA printing process itself. Be prepared to have to do additional time consuming tasks to get the object to print properly, the numerous failures until you get the supports set properly and the time consuming cleaning and curing post process. Do not get into SLA printing if you want ease of use, stick to a FDM printer.
This is a hobby in itself and it will take time and effort to get a successful and good quality print.
The machine is great, love the print quality, I use the same brand resin and works really well
I have been using FDM printers for years but finally ventured into the DLP printers. This isn’t a DLP printer as such, it uses Digital Light projection but not via the TI chip. It is an array of UV lights that shine through or are blocked by a LCD screen.
The print quality is amazing but clean up is a little messy and a little costly in comparison to an FDM printer. I think I have paid out nearly as much as the printer in Gloves, Filters, Resin, IPA, Containers, Air purifier, Kitchen roll, Spare screen, Spare Vat, Spare plate. You don’t need all of those but they will come in handy.
Not regretting the purchase one little bit although I still favour my FDM Delta Plus for non ornamental prints. Prints are amazing and it will print detail that an FDM could never do. Setup was very simple as it was just a case of move the plate to a peice of paper and hit save when the paper is hard to pull out. Since then I have not had to level it. Clean up of prints is a little time consuming and can be a bit messy with the various cleaning stages and the UV curing, but worth it for some impressive prints.
Fantastic quality printer, fast prints, great quality, high detail prints. My first resin printer and I haven’t looked back. Fantastic customer support too
I have owned this printer for 3 months now and never had a failed print apart from when i haven’t put enough supports on which is user error.
i have printed over 50 figurines at full size build, some have been up to 15 hours. I am still on the same screen and it is still going strong.
Printer is built like a tank and print quality is first class. I cannot criticise this printer at all.
I am disabled and have limited use in my hands, i accidentally dropped the red uv cover lid and broke it. Got in contact with customer services and asked how much a cover would cost and they got back to me within hours and replaced the cover free of charge which they didn’t have to do they could have charged me. They were so helpful and quick. This is what i call excellent customer service. Best customer service i have ever had from any manufacturer.
I do use the elegoo resin for the printer and find their resin very good.
I have tried other makes of resin printers which was a mistake. They have all been sent back to amazon, they were all rubbish either faulty or couldn’t get them to print anything. I should have stuck to elegoo which will always be the best.
I have also recently purchased the elegoo mars pro 2 mono.
UPDATE 21/11/20
The UV cover was delivered as promised. Very quick delivery. I think elegoo is one of the best companies anyone could deal with. Packaged very well. I would give them 100 stars if i could. This was very nice of elegoo to send me the UV cover for free. Thank you elegoo.
Instructions incomplete/erratic for set up of the printer, some functions not explained. No information about size etc. of suitable flash drive for program storage.
Speedy delivery. Worked straight out of the box. Printing within an hour of setting up. (already own an FDM)
I will contact amazon for a replacement, as I’ve heard great things about the machine.
Update – I ordered a new printer of the same model and am very pleased to say, its excellent. The only failures I have encountered are due to different curing times for different resins, so be sure to do your homework. If I had recieved this machine instead of the initial machine, I would have delivered a five star review. Nice save!
Great little small resin printer, make sure you do research before buying as resin printing is a bit more hazardous than PLA and involves some post print work and curing.
Very good prints and much easier to use than a filament printer. Best of all with this particular printer is the customer service. I bought this fairly soon after release and was delighted with quality of the small prints I was producing. However, the user group started to complain about artefacts on larger flat prints, and eventually it became clear that there was a problem with the uv focussing. I was disappointed and didn’t expect anything – the size of the prints I was producing weren’t too affected by the problem. However, the manufacturer came up with a solution which involved a new uv array and lens unit and then shipped , from China, replacement parts to everyone who could show they had a problem. There’s a new model out now and I definitely recommend it.
Packaged perfectly, been using this for a few weeks for precicous metal casting and its perfect! Couldn’t ask for better print quality and times.
Absolutely amazing for 3D printing, way better than the original and pro versions.
Fast, precise and an all round dream to work/play with.
I tried the FDM geetech printer but just could not get it to work regardless of what i tried, returned it for a refund and after watching lots of reviews and doing more research i went for the elegoo mars pro.
I’ve not been disappointed and wish i’d bought it first, easy to set up and the first print was a success and the same with multiple prints therafter, tried prints with supports and that needed a slight adjustment in exposure times etc but again successful print after successful print.
All in all a really good printer for the begineer and the I’m sure the pro alike.
Fantastic device.
Definite learning curve though, so be prepared to have to search online resources and fiddle. Also can be very messy and the resins are an irritant, so important to bear that in mind and plan accordingly.
Once you get going though, it is extremely satisfying to print out things.
The quality is excellent, don’t think that you need to do everything at the highest quality, the difference is barely noticeable to the naked eye and using a lower resolution can save hours of print time.
After a terrible experience with my mars pro one, this is waaaaay better!
PRO:
– very fast, i got 3s @ 0.05mm layer height on the Resin XP2 Validation Matrix for Elegoo ABS Like Gray
– easy to level, easier than the Mars and more precise
– if you are used with printing full plates on a 5.5″ dispaly you will be very gratefull for the bump to 6.1″
– no layer lines on the prints that had layer lines on my clasic Mars printers
– INSANE print bed adhesion, be carefull with bottom exposure time, i regreted everytime i went above 25s for 0.05mm layer height
– shaper than my simple Mars printers even though they have the same pixel density
– MAX level written on the vat
– way less smell than with the simple Mars
CONS
– the drops of resin that fall from the front margin of the build plate land on the margin of the vat and splash the hood
– when you lift the hood, the rubber that attatches to itd bottom will get stuck in the legs that hold the vat, a bit annoying when it falls in a vat full o resin
Nobody wants to be in need of technical support but when you print non stop, inevitably something will break. Rest assurred that the Elegoo service team will do everything they can to troubleshoot and solve your problem, in my case they even sent me a new build plate which i broke while i was leveling it.
Overall the Mars Pro is a brilliant user friendly little printer, with some beautiful detail achievable with the right pre-production in place. However just over a month in and with only light use the USB port has failed, one of the fans makes a horrendous grinding sound intermittently and I have had to wait some months to get a replacement from the manufacturer and replace myself which is not something you’d want to do if you aren’t semi comfortable at least with electronics.
Customer services for Elegoo though have been extremely helpful and clearly want to help.
Don’t get me wrong this unit is overall a good sturdy piece of kit but some details do feel like they need an upgrade. The USB port obviously being the main one for my particular unit.
Overall the Mars Pro is a brilliant user friendly little printer, with some beautiful detail achievable with the right pre-production in place. However just over a month in and with only light use the USB port has failed, one of the fans makes a horrendous grinding sound intermittently and I have had to wait some months to get a replacement from the manufacturer and replace myself which is not something you’d want to do if you aren’t semi comfortable at least with electronics.
Customer services for Elegoo though have been extremely helpful and clearly want to help.
Don’t get me wrong this unit is overall a good sturdy piece of kit but some details do feel like they need an upgrade. The USB port obviously being the main one for my particular unit.
Takes up next to no room.
The noise isn’t horrific.
Seems to be fairly gentle on the electric bill.
User friendly.
Easy to set up.
Very well made and very sturdy.
Cons:
Can be a bugger to clean and maintain.
Removing prints from the build plate really can be a pain.
Other:
(Personally) The FEP film supplied really doesn’t seem to like being used. I took both clear sheets off the film, installed it and got one good print then the rest failed. This may be my fault and perhaps I haven’t figured out where I went wrong yet.
I’m only one print into it but everything worked out of the box, in roughly 2/3 of the time this would take the original. I’m actually fairly impressed with the dimensional accuracy across the plate, something that has been an issue for me with the original. The build plate texture is also nice, and seems to give the print an improved adhesion. Overall, a decent upgrade to the original Mars, and what the ‘pro’ should have been.
I’m only one print into it but everything worked out of the box, in roughly 2/3 of the time this would take the original. I’m actually fairly impressed with the dimensional accuracy across the plate, something that has been an issue for me with the original. The build plate texture is also nice, and seems to give the print an improved adhesion. Overall, a decent upgrade to the original Mars, and what the ‘pro’ should have been.
Absolutly perfect !! Thanks Elegoo team! You are the best company! Amazing printer!
best price for amazon! i am very happy!
thanks at all!
well after using my Machine for a while I decided to do a little review.
I will start of by Saying its a Great machine for the Price ..can be tricky to get used to it as it has a small learning curve,but once you get your first prints they are pretty much Fantastic and wonderfully detailed
So if your prepared to get a little messy ..pouring and cleaning resin , its a Fantastic little Machine.
There is a smell with the machine ..but personally I dont find it a problem as I have a vent nearby
but remember you are playing with resins , ps there are water washable resins and plant based ..so you could play with those but you can get resin cleaning machines as well to make the work even less messy ..
Consumables………
the screen on the build plate is classed as a consumable and burn out after a while, this is on the first color versions of the Machine the New ones Have mono screens and last a lot Longer,but the replacements are not overly expensive and simple to replace ..
there is also another consumable Which is a plastic sheet called a FEP.. its a thin sheet that covers the Vat base this also wears out over time and can be easily damaged so care is needed here ,but again its not an overly expensive part ..
Support…..
I have had a few Dealings with Support and found them to be extremely Helpful and Very professional and they have gone all out to help with Any issues I had, so be prepared to be pleasantly surprised by Great customer Service 🙂 but give them time as its a very Busy time for all at the moment ..
SO OVER ALL ….
If your really wanting to do high detailed small parts ..this is definitely the Machine for you ..
it takes up a very small Space is relatively quiet and looks Great
In fact I Now Own 3 of these printers and they are kept very Busy
So its 5 stars all round from Me
well after using my Machine for a while I decided to do a little review.
I will start of by Saying its a Great machine for the Price ..can be tricky to get used to it as it has a small learning curve,but once you get your first prints they are pretty much Fantastic and wonderfully detailed
So if your prepared to get a little messy ..pouring and cleaning resin , its a Fantastic little Machine.
There is a smell with the machine ..but personally I dont find it a problem as I have a vent nearby
but remember you are playing with resins , ps there are water washable resins and plant based ..so you could play with those but you can get resin cleaning machines as well to make the work even less messy ..
Consumables………
the screen on the build plate is classed as a consumable and burn out after a while, this is on the first color versions of the Machine the New ones Have mono screens and last a lot Longer,but the replacements are not overly expensive and simple to replace ..
there is also another consumable Which is a plastic sheet called a FEP.. its a thin sheet that covers the Vat base this also wears out over time and can be easily damaged so care is needed here ,but again its not an overly expensive part ..
Support…..
I have had a few Dealings with Support and found them to be extremely Helpful and Very professional and they have gone all out to help with Any issues I had, so be prepared to be pleasantly surprised by Great customer Service 🙂 but give them time as its a very Busy time for all at the moment ..
SO OVER ALL ….
If your really wanting to do high detailed small parts ..this is definitely the Machine for you ..
it takes up a very small Space is relatively quiet and looks Great
In fact I Now Own 3 of these printers and they are kept very Busy
So its 5 stars all round from Me
Neat, compact, well built ,easy to set up and use.
Pros
Good build quality
Easy Levelling
Great Software
Spares available
Cons
No sample resin included so you must purchase some to use
Will be superseded by mono-screen resin printers later in 2020, these will print faster and the failure rate on the lcd’s will be much lower.
An excellent machine for the price. Small build size but much more detailed prints in less time than FDM. Be prepared for learning curve but we’ll worth it.
Had the Elegoo Mars for just over 8 months now and not missed a beat. Details in the print are second to none. It took about half and hour to set up (very easy), and was blown away by my first print (the castle helix thingy that comes on the supplies usb stick). had well over a 100 prints on it, no sign of the LCD screen going yet, but please be aware this is classed as a consumable and will need replacing at some point (plenty of youtube vids on how to do this). have changed the film in the bottom of the resin vat twice, the first time was done to me slicing the film with a metal scrapper and the second time was for exactly the same reason, but very easy to replace, just a little time consuming due to all the screws!
Overall, had a fantastic time with my little printer, not looking at changing it anytime soon.
Had my Mars for a while now, and as a newbie to 3D printing, this unit made it easy.
Remember to buy resin and ipa as well. I now use water washable resin, due to the smell, and other chemicals used to clean the.models. Much easier to remove supports in hot water.
Quality is great, and software easy to use. I have a Mac, and that version seems pretty solid. (Pardon the pun!!)
Downside, which I think applies to most resin printers are the lcd seems to fail for no reason. Mine has cracked twice in 6 months, but these parts are available and not expensive.
The fan is also quite loud and runs continuously, until I found a file on one of the many support groups, which only turns it on when it is printing. Much better, but may replace it at some point.
Overall very pleased
Amazing machine! I wanted to get an SLA printer after having used FDM for a while. I was nervous at first as I didn’t know much about SLA but my base knowledge of FDM helped a lot.
If you’re completely new to the hobby please make sure you watch lots of YouTube videos on this.
I use Elegoo Grey resin which has given me great results, it takes a few tweaks in the settings to get the best results but it’s worth it.
I’ve printed over 50 Dungeons and Dragons minis, all are either the same or above Hero Forge quality.
This is my first entry into 3D printing. This is a brilliant machine and so easy to setup up with excellent online community if you get stuck. Having so much fun with this thing!
Edit: I accidentally damaged the cover completely my fault and they simply sent me a new cover straight away. I am simply gobsmacked at the level of service especially given the current times and difficulties businesses are having. Proof they simply stand by the quality of their products. They now have me as a long term customer and will be recommending them to friends and family. They are like the John Lewis of the 3D printing world
This is my first entry into 3D printing. This is a brilliant machine and so easy to setup up with excellent online community if you get stuck. Having so much fun with this thing!
Edit: I accidentally damaged the cover completely my fault and they simply sent me a new cover straight away. I am simply gobsmacked at the level of service especially given the current times and difficulties businesses are having. Proof they simply stand by the quality of their products. They now have me as a long term customer and will be recommending them to friends and family. They are like the John Lewis of the 3D printing world
Very low expectations but really impressed with it,
tbh seen a few like this (LCD resin based printers) recently. I stumbled across this one on you tube & things looked good but yeh always a little sceptical as they get paid to say nice things.
Anyways decided to take a gamble, opening it up everything seemed well packaged.
The build quality I am super impressed with.
The software for the splicing is really impressive, super easy to use & just works.
USB port on the back is annoying so I’d advise an extension cable
I was using a random brand of resin (UV Photocentric) & managed to get a successful print on the second go.
You will need a few other bits for resin printing (UV chamber, isopropanol, a container) this printer is pretty much ready to go. The fans are noisy to sleep in the same room & though my resin isnt smelly you might need to have it in another room anyways. Motor is quiet :).
If your looking for a resin printer I would definitely buy. If your new to resin printing then there will be a learning curve like you have with all of them.
Easy to set up and use, I had my first part in print within an hour. The slicer software accepts a range of common 3D CAD formats I mainly use STL as both Inventor and Shapr3D will do this format. I was expecting the resin to be more unpleasant to work with but it actually only has a faint smell.
The part come out a little soft, I put them in a UV cure oven for an hour, but an hour in the sun works just as well.
Two things to bear in mind however
1) The parts need to be washed in isopropyl alcohol after printing, you need a tank to do this.
2) The resin tank on the unit is a nuisance to clean, particularly if you have multiple resins. I have made a small drawer system to store up to 4 tanks with resin which seems to work well.
All in all, this is the most fun I have had for under 300 quid in ages!
I am writing this after 3 months of purchase. I have had a lot of time to use this and here is my reveiw.
Overall, very good 3d printer which is capable of creating very good 3d prints. I made all teh 3d models seen on the image. For a 3d artist like me, this printer proves to be very useful. A few pointers though –
1 – The default setting is not good. Increase the exposure time for teh bottom layer so it sticks properly to the bed or the model will fall of mid print which will just end up wasting time and ink.
2 – Join FB groups, there are 5 that I have joined, where you have a lot of info, much more that the officail websites.
3 – Try prints of different types and play around with chitubox support system as it is not the best.
I am still learning and can’t wait to try out more challenging prints.
What to say about this machine. First impressions are that the build quality is really good. However, not without problems. One of the bed screws had plastic moulding covering the screw thread preventing the vat from being secured properly. Easy to fix so no great problem. The touch screen is really useful and a nice touch. A minor grumble is that the USB port is on the back of the machine. Again, not a big thing just use USB extension cable.
With regards to ease of printing. You better get used to “the lift of disappointment”. Let me be clear, I am not saying that this is not a good printer, it is, but you have to know what you are doing before you start printing. The provided rook design prints perfectly and lulls you in to a false sense of security. However, do not be fooled!!! Unless you understand how to slice your design for printing you WILL end up with no prints. Given that it can take hours to see if a print is successful, this is frustrating to say the least. Quite clearly the rook has been carefully designed to just work.
Again, let me be clear, the printer does work and it works well once you understand how to use it. Spend some time researching on Google, YouTube, Redit, Elegoo Mars facebook groups, learning from other peoples experiences before you jump into trying to print your own designs. It will save you a lot of frustration.
Oh, one more thing to say. In your trawl of the Internet you will find people recommending that you alter your machine in some ways. For example, sand the build plate. My experience is that I didn’t have to do any printer modifications. They might work, I really don’t know, I just never did any.
Points to pay attention to:
1. It matters that you print in an environment that is not too cold. 20C plus
2. Make sure that the print plate is level
3. Make sure that you expose the resin correctly. More exposure time required for the initial 6 – 12 layers. The resin you use will effect the exposure time
4. You almost certainly will need to put your design on supports to get it to print. Yes I know the rook print does not use supports. No I don’t understand this. Yet!
It’s a good printer and creates really great objects. You just need to put in the time upfront to be successful.
What to say about this machine. First impressions are that the build quality is really good. However, not without problems. One of the bed screws had plastic moulding covering the screw thread preventing the vat from being secured properly. Easy to fix so no great problem. The touch screen is really useful and a nice touch. A minor grumble is that the USB port is on the back of the machine. Again, not a big thing just use USB extension cable.
With regards to ease of printing. You better get used to “the lift of disappointment”. Let me be clear, I am not saying that this is not a good printer, it is, but you have to know what you are doing before you start printing. The provided rook design prints perfectly and lulls you in to a false sense of security. However, do not be fooled!!! Unless you understand how to slice your design for printing you WILL end up with no prints. Given that it can take hours to see if a print is successful, this is frustrating to say the least. Quite clearly the rook has been carefully designed to just work.
Again, let me be clear, the printer does work and it works well once you understand how to use it. Spend some time researching on Google, YouTube, Redit, Elegoo Mars facebook groups, learning from other peoples experiences before you jump into trying to print your own designs. It will save you a lot of frustration.
Oh, one more thing to say. In your trawl of the Internet you will find people recommending that you alter your machine in some ways. For example, sand the build plate. My experience is that I didn’t have to do any printer modifications. They might work, I really don’t know, I just never did any.
Points to pay attention to:
1. It matters that you print in an environment that is not too cold. 20C plus
2. Make sure that the print plate is level
3. Make sure that you expose the resin correctly. More exposure time required for the initial 6 – 12 layers. The resin you use will effect the exposure time
4. You almost certainly will need to put your design on supports to get it to print. Yes I know the rook print does not use supports. No I don’t understand this. Yet!
It’s a good printer and creates really great objects. You just need to put in the time upfront to be successful.
After to failed prints (teething issues new to this)
It’s printing absolutely amazing, easy to use when u get you’re head around it an the build quality it’s unreal for the money.
Its worlds apart from a flat packed PLA printer which I have own previously and there’s no comparison in the print quality.
The first print of the elegoo rook failed, but thay was due to human error! When leveling, make sure to use a page of the provided instruction book, that was the sweet spot!
Once I was properly set up I managed to complete a print. The quality was absolutly astounding.
If you’re looking into getting a resin printer grab this model! If it’s not in stock, it’s more than worth the wait.
When I first bought this machine, I assumed the low price meant I would likely have to tinker with it to get it working right. I certainly wasn’t expecting any for of decent customer support; for such a low price they must cut some corners, right? Wrong – my very first print with Elegoo Grey ABS-like resin came out phenomenal – this was in an entirely different league compared to printing miniatures with my other FDM printers. 5 successful prints later and I was loving this machine. I had a question and thought ‘hey, let’s contact Elegoo support’ again, not expecting much. Wrong again, they replied almost instantly, went above and beyond, and were super friendly throughout. If you’ve gotten this far in the review, save yourself some time, and just get it – the cominbation of a stellar machine and great customer support means you can’t really go wrong – especially at this price!
Sub 250 for a 3d Resin printer with HD quality.
well built, well documented, great components.
Just be aware the Z Axis screw will most likely need cleaning as the factory applied grease will probably have gone solid – DO THIS FIRST – clean it with a good solvent, and clean it well, to remove any lumps that might jam the screw. Thats been our ONLY problem. If you hear a grating sound as the build plate moves up and down, or you get compression of your prints, or half way through, a print fails, then its likely to be the Z axis jamming.
We use a teflon based lube made for bike chains – seems to work 100%
40k player here. This is a great piece of kit. This was my first 3d printer. There is a leaning curve for 3d printing. I had a good few failed prints in the beginning, but once I learned how to orient and support my prints a new world opened up for me. I rarely get a failure now.
The detail this can produce is amazing. For those of you addicted to plastic crack, this has replaced my usual purchasing pattern. I have printed a full army and the quality is excellent and very usable. I also find it very useful for printing different load out options that are scarce in the boxes that you buy. It is great for terrain too.
I had one issue due to my own error where I cracked the screen. I did not re-level between prints and as a result the build plate was pushed too low. The replacement part was cheap, and very easy to change.
Highly recommended.
I have several FDM printers and after much research I decided to jump into the resin printing world with the Mars.
The printer arrived incredibly quickly and it was very well packed. The printer itself is smaller than I thought and fits easily onto a shelf, however the build area is an excellent size.
Construction wise its solid and well built, spare screws are included within the accessories a very welcome addiction.
The print quality is suburb, I use the 3d printing pros support system and I can’t believe how fantastic these prints are from a 230 machine! The printer isn’t very loud at all and the smell from the Elegoo abs like resin I use is not powerful at all. Levelling the printer was incredibly easy thanks the the spring loaded build plate, it’s been printing along merrily for plate after plate with no issues!
I did have an issue with the build plate screw hole stripping, I contacted Elegoo customer service and WOW their customer service is way above and beyond. They asked for a photo of the issue and within hours I had an apology and a replacement build plate was dispatched. With the overall quality of the machine I have no doubt that while I had an issue they are rare and I couldn’t ask for better, faster or nicer customer service.
I know people reading this review will be debating between this or other similarly priced printers. What I would say to everyone reading is. The print quality is amazing! Go for the mars, the price is fantastic and you will be more than happy with the results. Even more importantly however I know you are going to get the best customer service if you need to contact them! They go above and beyond and have gained a customer for life with me.
I have several FDM printers and after much research I decided to jump into the resin printing world with the Mars.
The printer arrived incredibly quickly and it was very well packed. The printer itself is smaller than I thought and fits easily onto a shelf, however the build area is an excellent size.
Construction wise its solid and well built, spare screws are included within the accessories a very welcome addiction.
The print quality is suburb, I use the 3d printing pros support system and I can’t believe how fantastic these prints are from a 230 machine! The printer isn’t very loud at all and the smell from the Elegoo abs like resin I use is not powerful at all. Levelling the printer was incredibly easy thanks the the spring loaded build plate, it’s been printing along merrily for plate after plate with no issues!
I did have an issue with the build plate screw hole stripping, I contacted Elegoo customer service and WOW their customer service is way above and beyond. They asked for a photo of the issue and within hours I had an apology and a replacement build plate was dispatched. With the overall quality of the machine I have no doubt that while I had an issue they are rare and I couldn’t ask for better, faster or nicer customer service.
I know people reading this review will be debating between this or other similarly priced printers. What I would say to everyone reading is. The print quality is amazing! Go for the mars, the price is fantastic and you will be more than happy with the results. Even more importantly however I know you are going to get the best customer service if you need to contact them! They go above and beyond and have gained a customer for life with me.
The FEP is the plastic bottom of the resin tank and it is always below the print layer. I sprayed some PTFE spray on a paper towel and applied it to the FEP. This is a non stick coating that helps every layer to stick a little less to the FEP film and less failed prints. (PTFE is dangerous, so is resin)
If the area of the first layer you print (the one stuck to the build plate) is small and you print a larger area, the larger area will be more likely to stick to the FEP film and detach from the build plate. The solution is to add supports.
Once I kept these two things in mind everything was easier and I haven’t had a single failed print.
WARNING : NEVER press the home button on the lcd if the build plate is not loose. The build plate moves to hit a switch so if it can’t move you’ll probably break something.
I have not had to level the print plate since setup.
I hope Chitubox keeps improving with more fill types maybe. It’s a very easy to use program with everything obvious and settings preloaded, and not having too many features or buttons to learn about is good too.
The learning curve is remarkably easy and the print quality even on really small pieces is fantastic.
What makes this the perfect printer though is Elegoo’s customer service, Ive had a couple minor problems and Elegoo have been fantastic at helping me sort them. They honestly have some of the best customer support I’ve ever come across.
If you’re looking for a printer to print minis or any form of detailed model this is definitely the one for you.
Bar resin for printing and alcohol for cleaning the prints this comes with everything in the box, even rubber gloves, masks, filters and a USB flash drive with very useful software in it. It’s very well made and packed with spare screws etc, someone has really put a lot of thought into making this and making it right. The software is actually better downloaded as you get the newest version but everything is so very, very simple to set up and get going with …
… there’s some excellent Q&As below if you have any queries but seriously look how many folks are recommending this and offering tips and tricks. That’s a testament in itself.
Here’s the bottom line, in over 50 years of making miniature models I have never found any tool or machine that has been so useful as this straight out of the box. One tip I would offer is that when playing with the software you set the initial exposure time to 80 ms instead of the default 60ms (this will make sense when you see the software and read the instructions … instructions that by the way are very simple, clear, accurate and useful). This will ensure a better adhesion of your model to the build plate … but then again as I’m using mine in a cold garage if you’re using yours in a heated room 60 ms may be fine for you … that though was the only tinkering I had to do to get great results.
Detail … this is a resin printer and going down to a 0.05mm resolution is child’s play … aligning the 3d model for printing is easily done using the included software, there is almost no learning curve, the same software will even hollow out your models for you to save on resin.
Optional additional items you may wish to get in due course: More gloves, more paper filters, UV lamp, a couple of screw top jars (one for alcohol and one for water) for cleaning your models, lots of tissue paper (blue examination couch paper is best) and that’s about it. Having said that though, you don’t need any of this to get up and going.
Bar resin for printing and alcohol for cleaning the prints this comes with everything in the box, even rubber gloves, masks, filters and a USB flash drive with very useful software in it. It’s very well made and packed with spare screws etc, someone has really put a lot of thought into making this and making it right. The software is actually better downloaded as you get the newest version but everything is so very, very simple to set up and get going with …
… there’s some excellent Q&As below if you have any queries but seriously look how many folks are recommending this and offering tips and tricks. That’s a testament in itself.
Here’s the bottom line, in over 50 years of making miniature models I have never found any tool or machine that has been so useful as this straight out of the box. One tip I would offer is that when playing with the software you set the initial exposure time to 80 ms instead of the default 60ms (this will make sense when you see the software and read the instructions … instructions that by the way are very simple, clear, accurate and useful). This will ensure a better adhesion of your model to the build plate … but then again as I’m using mine in a cold garage if you’re using yours in a heated room 60 ms may be fine for you … that though was the only tinkering I had to do to get great results.
Detail … this is a resin printer and going down to a 0.05mm resolution is child’s play … aligning the 3d model for printing is easily done using the included software, there is almost no learning curve, the same software will even hollow out your models for you to save on resin.
Optional additional items you may wish to get in due course: More gloves, more paper filters, UV lamp, a couple of screw top jars (one for alcohol and one for water) for cleaning your models, lots of tissue paper (blue examination couch paper is best) and that’s about it. Having said that though, you don’t need any of this to get up and going.
If you are used to printing with an FDM machine, this 3D Printer will come as a revelation to you. The quality of the print is just so much better than the FDM type. Although the print medium is expensive, good design of the parts, with holes where needed to drain excess resin means ti sin’t much if any more xpensive than an FDM print in material cost. Well recommended!
I just bought the Elegoo Mars SLA printer. It took me about 15 minutes to un-box set up and begin printing. This is my first SLA Printer and I have to say it is a great piece of engineering, it looks great but best of all it is sooo easy to use. The slicer software is as easy to use and as yet I have not had a print fail. So far I have done nine prints and they have all come out great.
I wish more prnters coul dbe as user friendly as the Elegoo Mars. Indeed I am so impressed I bought the limited edition Elegoo Mars SLA printer which arrived today.
The elegoo water washable resin is fantastic and I have already used 500ml- unfortunately I am unable to get any more at the current time in the UK as Amazon have said it is out of stack and they do not know if/when it will be back in stock. This resin is a must as it allows so much less fuss and bother unlike using IPA to clean your prints
Well done Elegoo
My first print off the Elegoo Mars failed and my heart sank, it was a little blob of resin sitting on the FEP sheet. But I quickly realised was my fault as I hadn’t levelled the bed correctly. In next to no time my Mars was churning out impressive print after impressive print. The fidelity and detail I can get from this printer still amazes me.
Like most people new to resin printing I was unsure whether to go for the tried and trusted Photon or to go for the Mars. I’ve used the Photon before round a mates so knew what it could do, but for me the Mars felt like a better product at a cheaper price, so I took the risk and I’m so glad I did, I’ve never looked back. For me it’s a hands down a better solution; bed levelling is way easier, the removable lid provides great access, the large touchscreen is great compared to the photon, the more powerful UV means quicker prints and the Elegoo resin is the best I’ve used.
Elegoo really knocked the market for six with this printer. It truly is the best printer in its class and they came in at a pricepont that is great for the customer, something their competitors are still trying to recover from!
Would I recommend it? I can’t stop recommending it to anyone that will listen!
I’m so impressed I’m saving up to buy another one!
CONS: Small build volume (compared to your regular FDM printer)
: Prepping and post processing a bit more messy / time consuming
: Any failed prints ( only had one so far, which was down to user error ) will only be noticeable when the
Build plate is clear of the Vat which is approx. 1 hr into the print
: Consumables more expensive
PROS: Works straight out of the box, the only assembly needed is to fit and level the build plate which takes a couple
of minutes
: Print quality and detail far better then on any FDM printer
: High dimensional accuracy
: Printing times can be comparably faster than using a FDM, especially if the print has a large cross-sectional area
: Post Processing of the cured part is far easier ( resin can be easily sanded, drilled and tapped
If you want to print high quality, highly detailed or complex parts or figures that fit within the build volume then I can fully recommend you buy one.
My only wish is that Elegoo made this unit with twice the cross sectional build area, even at twice the price I would buy one without a second thought.
I’ve been running a Formlabs form 1+ for a few years and this strips it in every way, the quality is outstanding, so much clearer, sharper and dimensionally accurate. The resin vats and better quality, the FEP film easier to replace (than the silicone layer on the form 1+), it’s quieter, the display is very useful and helpful and the resins that elegoo sell for the printer are better quality as well.
There is nothing I can complain about the printer, sure the power switch is on the back and the usb is there too, but just run a usb extension to the front and mount with a suitable printed item and it’s pretty much perfect.
The only limitation is the Y axis size, but the X and Z axis are fine, it just means that some models need to be orientated differently. Perhaps Elegoo will be making a bigger one sometime. At which point I will be in line for one of those too.
I am now selling the form 1+ and keeping the Elegoo Mars. After years of the form 1+ that has to say something (well it does, obviously).
For the price, there is nothing out there that comes close, but even compared to the high spec printers out there, this one is still perfect.
Thoroughly recommended.
I have edited this post from a 1 star to a 5 star and i want to explain why.
We got out first Mars back in july and it worked great until it needed a replacement LCD. The one sent to use by Elegoo was incompatible with the board, a genuine mistake but one that seemed to damage the motherboard as no other replacement LCD would work with it. It took weeks to figure this out which caused us loss of business.
We contacted amazon to get a full replacement printer which they said they couldn’t currently do due to the listing being unavailable. Gutted, i took the refund and started looking for other printers.
A day or so later we were contacted by Leslie and Camille from the Elegoo customer service team. After exchanging brief and very friendly emails, they offered to send us a brand new unit at no additional cost to our business. They are the BEST customer service we’ve ever dealt with in the 3D printing industry and this machine produces AMAZING prints. You’d be stupid not to buy it.
The only thing was that the printer kept coming into stock and selling out almost immediately, so I had to set a camelcamelcamel alert for when it comes back into stock, which it did – and I jumped at the chance to buy it.
So, I’d investigated the whole ownership aspect of 3D resin printing and preparation is very important. Firstly, you need a space to do the printing that is well ventilated and away from pets, children and food. You also need to buy a few consumables, such as latex/plastic gloves (in bulk!), isopropanol alcohol, above 95% for cleaning your prints, lots of paper cleaning cloths and lots of plastic containers for cleaning your prints in. I just use plastic take-away trays and old ice-cream tubs for this, as they will generally need disposing of after a while, and there’s no point spending money on things you would normally throw away. Oh, and you need to buy resin as this printer does not come with any. I bought the crystal red Elegoo product. It looks fantastic and works very well. You can also benefit from having a UV curing booth or UV torch or something similar in order to cure your items post-print.
The unit is packed really well with any moving parts secured very well for transit. You can also pack your printer back into the box when you’re not using it. Once I unpacked the printer, I was up and running within 30 minutes, printing out my test ‘Rook’ that comes on the supplied USB stick. It took about 3-4 hours to print two rooks and I have to say that the quality is absolutely outstanding, using the crystal red Elegoo resin that I bought with it. I’ve printed a whole bunch of other things since then, and they’ve mostly printed very well. You have to put a bit of thought into printing stuff with supports, and I’ve found that if I print with very thin supports, then the print can often fail, but in general, if you use the medium or thick supports then everything is great.
Would I recommend this product? Absolutely, if you’re into 3D printing then you just cannot go wrong at this price. Yes, it’s much messier than FDM printing. Yes, the running costs are way more expensive. But it’s really a separate application; this is great for high-detail small things, like printing figurines, whilst FDM is more suited to larger things, like enclosures, or costume parts or large brackets – that sort of thing.
Build quality is solid, you really can’t complain about bang for buck. All of the added extras make a nice complete package.
Ease of use is aided by the slicer software, Chitubox is tailored to the beginner but that said you really don’t need much more.
So far I’ve been using Elegoo resin with no failures. It’s a shame resin is still quite pricey compared to filament and if you need more exotic resin then be prepared to pay big bucks.
As far as I can see the only limitation is the modest build platform compared to a typical FDM printer… But then you generally don’t buy a resin printer for anything other than small, precise prints.
I always cap a review with a whinge because rarely is anything perfect. The Elegoo Mars is no exception. It seems it’s pretty hit and miss, some folk report no issues but the fan on my model was exceedingly loud. I did replace it with a fan from Coolermaster which significantly improved the printing experience. Oh, and the USB port around the back is annoying. Simple problems to fix for your average hobbyist so neither one a deal breaker.
Buy one of you’re lucky enough to find one in stock, you will not regret it.
However the trip has not been without its issues. Firstly I’ve found that the orientation of the models on the build plate can make the difference between successful prints and failures. It is possible that sometimes a piece of the model will stick to the film at the bottom of the resin vat causing a failure, so simply put its better to orientate the model so any large flat areas are printed on a diagonal so that they are not printed in a single layer. This reduces the chance of those layers sticking to the vat.
However having said that I’m not sure that all the failures I’ve had, it had been around 25% until I got my head round the model orientation issue. This is due to an updated firmware that was published in the last couple of days to help address issues with the LCD projection which if i understand it correctly could result in ‘shearing’ (whatever that means). All I know is since updating the firmware I’ve not yet had any further failures, but I’m not sure how much of that is due to the firmware and how much to the model orientation. I intend to try a previously sliced and failed model next to see if that now prints correctly without any changes. This will give me the answer as to which was at fault.
You should also be aware that as with all resin printers there is a substantial amount of post-processing of models required, its not just a case of popping the model off the build plate as it is with an FDM printer. Basically the steps are; remove the model, strip any supports, thoroughly rinse the model in alchohol or similar cleaner to remove any excess resin, rinse in water to remove the alchohol, then ‘cure’ the model in UV light (can be sunshine). This has to all be done using rubber gloves and other protection as the resin is an irritant so you don’t want to get it on your skin, in your eyes or anything 🙂
My total score of 4* reflects the firmware issue and one omission from the package, sample resin. Surely it would not have added that much cost to add say 100ml of resin for printer testing to the package?
A last couple of words of advice before I go, when preparing your models for printing in the supplied slicer program make sure where relevant you ‘hollow’ the model and add drain holes into a hidden base area. This will reduce the amount of resin used and prevent issues where you end up with liquid resin inside the final printed model – curiously this is one issue that affects the ‘sample’ files of the chess rook as they do end up with liquid resin inside the model due to being hollow but lacking the drain holes. This file is a good one though to test your printer as it is effectively a torture test which could be compared to the well known ‘3D Benchy’ used on FDM printers 🙂
Then I heard about the Elegoo Mars.
I was familiar with Elegoo as I have some Arduino kits and various bits of DIY electronics from them and I am pleased with the quality and also the price, and so I thought I would give the Elegoo Mars a shot.
I had heard good things about it from all over the place. Youtubers, Makers, enthusiasts… How good could it be?
Well after the first print (yes the very first) I was gobsmacked…
I didnt waste my time printing the Test Rook, I didnt see the point, I didnt want one and if I wanted to test the printer I was going to print something I needed and would refine over time.
Needless to say I didnt need to refine it, it worked. (I printed some buttons and rotary knobs for an electronics project)
I had used digital calipers and blender 2.79 to design the bits I wanted and the accuracy is on par with if not better than the calipers I used to design the bits in the first place.
I then printed everything I could.
I needed new headphones as mine had broken at the hinge (Logitech G930) I found a 3d printable (several infact) left and right replacement set and they worked, almost identical to the original bits that broke, headphones fixed!. A friend got a new puppy so I printed a couple of little model puppys for his children and he took one for himself!!??
I wanted to use a small servo motor connected to an AT Mega (Elegoo) that was being fed data from a flight sim about what climb rate I was going, so again with blender I made a KA50 Vertical velocity indicator…dial, needle and housing..brilliant. It then got out of hand. Dragons, stencils for the children to draw infinite numbers of unicorns hangers for their dressing gowns with little rabbits on, I havent had this much fun with a bottle of resin since, well EVER.
Back to the present. I cannot recommend this printer enough. It is relatively easy to use, more so than the pages and pages of settings with some of the other printers I have seen. Chitubox is the GUI of choice and its powerful and simple, also I recommend anyone thinking about buying or about to buy an Elegoo Mars to join the ELEGOO MARS LCD 3D PRINTER OWNERS Facebook group. There are loads of people (over 2000) who can give advice or settings etc and they are all friendly and a great community. (Also theres free stuff and vouchers 😛 ) one more thing, buy resin! Money off in Facebook group at time of writing. (among other things)
Also blender 2.8 is now out and I have used previous versions countless times to make my own 3d models/buttons/switches/ stencils/battery covers/arduino cases/pots/stands etc etc. maybe you want it as well, maybe you dont! Its free btw.
See you in the FB group perhaps.
I already own a few FDM printers so the printing results and speed of setup were a pleasant surprise.
I can happily recommend this machine to anyone looking to get into DLP resin printing.
Thats where the Elegoo MARS comes in. I’ve been looking at resin SLA printers for a while an dat this price (220 in the sale), it was too good to pass on.
And what an great printer it appears to be. It has a small footprint compared to both my FDMs and is a lot quieter when running. The red acrylic case also makes it pop.
The touch screen may look small comapred to some, but its responsive, the icons clear and the menu kept simple. It doesnt have too many options in my mind, which is the way it should be.
I’ve only printed a few models so far and had some failures, but as with the FDMs, it takes some practice to get it right but when you do, Boy does it do it well!
The print quality is almost on par with injection molded parts and the Elegoo resin, while it smells, isnt as strong or potent as initially expected.
This printer has a slightly larger print volume than most at this price and comes equipped with decent enough accessories. The only thing missing would be a sample amount of resin (I had sample filament with both FDMs).
I can also say that the Elegoo customer support appears to be fast. MY case had a crack in it, emailed them and the following day they have responded offering to send a replacement. Unexpected for such a low cost item. And i’ve only seen others comenting how good the support is, so this must say something.
Overall a great little printer to have sat on a shelf making the finer, smaller items i need. just need to see how it fairs long term, but its got to be less hassle to maintain than the FDMs.
This is my third Resin printer and I also own another popular make sold on Amazon, The Elegoo has a better UV screen and much easier to keep clean, You’ll be printing within 5 Mins of taking it out of the strong box as long as you purchase Resin separately as it comes with none. Buy the Elegoo Resin as it’s a good price and the smell is very low, You will also need to purchase spare Fep sheets as again you get no spare and I’ve given it 4 stars instead of 5 for that reason but the price reflects it. So if you want a printer that will print amazing detail at a tiny size then you need to get this printer.
I bought my printer in February and have been using it a couple of times a week since then. I wanted it for printing small jewellery parts and pendants so the high detail was the main draw. So far I’ve been very happy with it and the quality of the pieces it prints are amazing. It was my first 3d printer so I wasn’t sure what to expect but it’s been surprisingly easy.
A couple of basic things tripped me up initially;
1. You have to really tighten the screws on the build plate when you are levelling it otherwise it starts to twist during printing and everything goes skewed.
2. You need to select the MARS profile in ChiTuBox software before you slice your model, again if you don’t everything gets skewed.
Once those were sorted it’s just been a case of sticking the USB stick in the back, pressing start and letting it get on with it. They also have a Facebook user group which is really helpful if you’re new to 3d printing like me and want some advice from other users.
This printer features a new resin Vat, new settings (clean tank ect) it is also quiter when printing, new injection moulded uv cover rather than the perspex type.
Once again well packed, improved tool box, metal scraper, gloves, masks and a hanger for the plate to drip drain.
In 20 mins, levelled and printing and it’s been as good as the old one… 190 bargain..