XVICO 3D Printer X3s DIY Kit Rapid Assembly with Open Source Marlin 2.0, Large Build Print Area 220x220x250mm for PLA, PETG, ABS, TPU Filaments

Love this printer had a few issues however contacted the Manufacturer and have spare parts coming soon, this printer is definetly a great first time 3d printer to get to learn the ropes, would highly recommend this printer.

It is ver easy to set up and easy to use. Of course, as with any 3d printer you should take the proper time to ensure that it is set up somewhere stable and that the printing floor has been levelled but other than that there should be very few problems. It is a great printer for first time users.

This is a printer I picked up when it was on a special ‘limited time’ deal to add to my existing Creality Ender 3 Pro. I’ve had a few printers over the last few years, but this one was definitely the easiest to assemble out of the box, there are literally only 4 screws required which attach the upright gantry to the pre-assembled base. It takes just minutes to do this. The only other tasks are to connect all the labelled leads between the base and the upright gantry and to attach the filament spool holder (two small screws to loosen and re-tighten).

However be aware that tweaking and adjusting things takes quite a bit longer. This isn’t particularly a problem just with this printer, most have similar issues except as most of them require you to build them from a box full of parts you tend to do that as you assemble them.

Points to check;

1. Belt tightness – I found both the ‘x’ axis (left right) and ‘y’ axis (forwards/backwards) were loose. In a worst case scenario you will find the belts coming adrift and ruining a print totally, more likely is if they are loose the quality will suffer artifacts and other defects resulting in poor quality prints. The ‘x’ axis is tightened by loosening the two bolts on the front right bracket that are nearest to the gantry (i.e. not the one on the far right of the bracket). Once loosened pull the bracket to the right till the belt is nice and tight, but still allows the carriage to move smoothly. At this point re-tighten the bolts to hold the bracket in this position. Similarly the front bracket is loosened by loosening the 4 bolts (2 per side) closet to the bed (not the pair furthest forwards). Again pull the bracket toward you and fasten the bolts again.

2 – Bearing wheels, you will see the bearings with rubber tyres on them that roll on the ‘x/y/z’ extrusions (i.e. bars) you should check each wheel to make sure it is properly in contact with the bar, in other words it does not rotate without moving the relevant axis or carriage. I found one on the right hand ‘x’ axis bracket that was not in contact with the uppright (z) extrusion, a turn or two of the bolt and it was fixed. The ‘x’ axis itself also had a problem as when trying to move the print head carriage I found it was binding slightly in a couple of places, checking it more closely I noticed it was everytime the bottom wheel reached a certain point in its rotation. Loosening and re-tightening the two upper wheels slightly fixed it in no time.

3. This is the most important issue, the print nozzle. This was not tightened on my model fully and seems to be a common fault as my sis-in-law had the same problem on her machine and other reviewers on youtube have commented on this as well. To fix this you simply need to tighten the nozzle in the heat block (this is under the print head carriage, remove the blue silicon sock to allow you to tighten the nozzle with the little spanner or better still a small wrench and socket. If you do not do this you will likely get melted filament leaking out of the gap between the nozzle and heat block. Apart from making a mess this can result in plastic leakage which will eventually burn and drip onto your model as you print resulting in some nastly looking blobs. Longer term it is likely to lead to print head blockages as the leaking/burnt plastic will cause clogs in the print head, something you don’t want if it is possible to avoid it.

Once all the above is done check you connected up the wires the right way before you try to print anything. Use the printer touch screen menu to select ‘tools’ then ‘movement’, you can then see up/down for the z axis, left/right for the x-axis and back/forwards for the y-axis. Firstly select ’10mm’ as the movement amount then check each axis moves in the correct direction when you press the buttons.

Finally level your bed, this is achieved using a piece of copier paper or similar, you simply use the menu options and select each point and then using the small brass wheels on the bottom of each appropriate bed corner twist them (left to move the bed closer to the nozzle, right to move it down away from the nozzle). You will have the correct distance between bed and nozzle when you feel a slight resistance when trying to move the paper. You may find that you’ll have to go round all the points a few times as adjusting one can change the setting for the others, especially the one on the diagonally opposite corner.

Once that is done you can then put the micro-SD card into the printer socket on the right hand side (contacts facing upwards) and then select printer from the menu and look in the ‘gcode’ directory. Here you will find a couple of relatively simple test prints. The brush barrel is the nicest as it is a form of a pen/brush pot with a decoration on it. This will take a number of hours to complete, but if you have everything adjusted correctly you should end up with a nicely finished model.

If you want to setup your own models you should install the copy of Cura software included on the micro-SD card or alternatively you can download a generic version of Cura if you want the latest version, but be aware it probably will not have a profile for this particular printer at this time so you will need to configure it yourself. The Creality Ender 3 profile is a good starting position for that.

One thing you may have an issue with is getting your prints to stick to the bed, this is a common problem for virtually any 3D printer and unless you want to spend time checking the levelling each print (even auto levelling systems are not perfect) the best solution with the type of bed provided here (glass) is to use a very minimal spray of a product called 3DLAC, this helps the model to adhere but then releases it when finished if you allow the bed to cool properly. It’s a bit of a cheat, but oh so convenient for reliability.

So there you go some hints and tips as well as an overall assessment of the ease of assembly.

As for features this printer is great value, it is fundamentally a Creality Ender3 clone, but in addition has several upgrades you don’t get as standard on a stock Ender3, specifically you have a nice useable touch screen, a filament run-out detector which pauses the print if you run out of filament so you can replenish it before re-commencing the print, a dual geared extruder (Titan clone) which ensures better filament feed, and a glass bed surface as well as upgraded bed springs. Normally all of these are after market upgrades for an Ender3. So overall this is a geat value package even at its full price.

The best part though is as it is an Ender3 clone (like many on the market) it does have the advantage of access to a widely available range of spares as many things are compatible between the two machines. I should add I only gave tech support 3 stars, not because it is poor, but simply because I never used it so have no view on their reponsiveness or reliability.