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Buying Advice - A5S vs. A1 vs. Anycubic Mega X
spooknik
Posts: 19Member
Hello everyone!
I'm new here but have 3D printed before back in 2015 - 2016. I found the website and forum through googling about JGAurora. I'm really happy to find a group such as this with organized information and custom firmware.
A little background: I ordered and then quickly cancelled a Sidewinder X1... I wanted a large format printer for around 400 USD. The Sidewinder X1 got good reviews (with caveats) from youtubers. I then discovered there's a big design flaw in the Z-axis which introduces Z-wobble. Anyway... I moved on...
I'm looked at getting either an A5S, A1 or an Anycubic Mega X... and I'd like to hear advice from people who have experience with at least two of these printers. I've gathered all the info I could and organized each machine into a pros and cons list:
AS5 Pros & Cons:
Pros | Cons |
32 bit board | Soldered drivers |
Shorter Bowden Tube | Junk linear bearings |
Good community Support | Extruder design seems questionable (grinding filament?) |
Custom Firmware | Noisier |
24V | Hard to access for maintenance (Y Axis adjustments requires disassembly) |
A1 Pros & Cons: | |
Pros | Cons |
32 bit board | Soldered drivers |
Shorter Bowden Tube | Junk linear bearings |
Good community Support | Extruder design seems questionable (grinding filament) |
Custom Firmware | Noisier |
24V | |
Easier to access (open frame) | |
Thicker steel frame | |
Cool blue color Anycubic Mega X Pros & Cons: |
Pros | Cons |
Includes spare Hotend | 8 Bit Board |
Comes with 1kg PLA | 12V |
Reviews say print quality is very good out of the box | Limited Community (brand new product) |
Easier to access (open frame) | No custom firmware |
Non-soldered drivers | Y and X Axis uses rollers rather than linear bearing |
Quieter | Strange spool holder |
Doesn't require be bearings out of box | Untested in the long run - Machine just released. |
At the moment I'm learning towards the A1 since it's cheaper and for my purposes I'd prefer the open frame. Please let me know what your opinions and findings are!
Thanked by 1Samuel Pinches
Comments
Re. Anycubic Mega X - looking at Amazon reviews, there are already plenty of complaints about warped beds that are unusable - lack of custom mesh bed levelling rules Anycubic Mega X out for me - and I also don't like the idea of rubber roller wheels
The likely supplier for A1 for me would be https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32949870839.html who have local warehouses - just got to make sure TNT is not the UK delivery company (TNT tried to extort import duty from me for an import from China - failed but I'm probably blacklisted now)
2) Either A5S or A1 is great. A1 if you want something easier to work on. A5S if you want more Z-height and don't mind the difficulty of working on an enclosed printer.
3) The main reason why the X1 got such good reviews is because of the direct drive and volcano hot end AND the mains powered heated bed. Honestly, at 300x300, the JGaurora needs a 115/220V heated bed if you want to do anything over 80C on the bed. The z-wobble is something even the JGaurora printers suffer from. Just loosen the nut that attaches the lead screw to the x-axis and that is mostly solved.
Hey there, Upgrading an ender 3 etc is way more easier as you have a much larger community - its probably the number one selling printer. I have a cr10 - heavily modified, finding the stl files was very easy, and i had a choice. I recently bought an a5s and finding it a lot harder. As mentioned before im not a lover of the roller bearings, so it was the main reason for buying the a5s,
The first thing you will have to do is replace all the bearings, and that alone made me wish i has not bought the a5s. I have also changed the hot end for an e3d v6, changed the extruder for full metal (same version used on the cr10) . The print quality is still not anywhere near my cr10, but it will get there eventually.
.12
.2
Yes the hotend is easily upgraded.. the front metal housing remains, but the back housing which the belt secures too is 3d printed. along with the cap and new part cooler.
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