Ender-3 3D Construction

The build of the Ender-3 was very easy. The longest part was the replacement of the crimped on imitation XT60 power plug.

Unboxed and ready to install

First off we inventoried all the parts needed. Creality had each screw/bolt type separated in to labeled bags so that helped.  They also provided extras of every screw/bolt.

Crimped connectors on XT60

Then we had a close look at the XT60 Power plug. They are known to have problems with being badly crimped and not providing a good connection, sometimes leading to over heating and catching fire/melting the plugs.  We had a look and sure enough they had used the crmiped connection and a cheep knock off plug.  The walls of the plug were much thinner and the connection poles were not as beefy.  They also had the male end on the power side which is not suggested as it can more easily short if it was unconnected and the poles touched something.  So we cut them off and replaced them from out supply for our RC aircraft.

Stock fake XT 60 connector (left) vs. real (right)

When we returned the next night we began construction and were able to do a quick test print that evening. All and in all it took about and hour and a half to build it.

Jadon attaching control panel.

We followed along with the the instructions from Tomb of 3D Printed Horrors - Creality Ender 3 assembly and pro build tips.

Install went smoothly. We printed a level test print and all was good. Except that the filament stuck far to well to the stock Ender-3 bed.  We are still trying to scrape it all off 3 days later.  However the Glass plate works much better and give a very flat surface (almost to flat)

Jadon checking travel of the Z access.

Jadon and Eric with completed Ender-3 3D 

Printing part the Test Dog.