Out of the Field
Unpacking the Elegoo Mars 5 Extremely doesn’t take lengthy, and apart from the construct plate and drip tray, it requires no meeting in any respect. The field comprises the printer, lid, drip tray, Wi-fi antenna, and energy provide. A small instrument equipment is included, containing gloves, masks, a scraper, a USB stick, some spare screws and a few hand instruments.
The machine itself solely weighs 8.8kg, so lifting it onto a shelf for utilization isn’t strenuous, and the unit itself measures 260 x 268 x 451.5 mm, so it gained’t take up loads of area. Notice, that the lid just isn’t hinged although, so you will want a little bit of clearance above it when eradicating the lid to fill the tank or retrieve your completed prints.
When it comes to specs, the Mars 5 Extremely encompasses a 4.0-inch capacitive contact display, 7-inch 9K mono LCD, and 153.36 x 77.76 x 165 mmÂł construct quantity.
On the efficiency facet, the Mars 5 Extremely can print at a most velocity of 150mm/h, with layer thicknesses ranging between 0.01-0.2mm, an XY decision of 18Ă—18ÎĽm, and a Z-axis accuracy of 0.02mm.
With out even printing something, we are able to assume from these specs that the Mars 5 Extremely ought to be able to creating some detailed and clean prints, particularly because of its spectacular XY decision.
Yet another factor to say, is that the Elegoo Mars 5 Extremely additionally comes with a free one yr subscription to Chitubox Professional, which is good, contemplating the common subscription worth is $169
per yr – that’s solely $100 lower than the worth of the Mars 5 Extremely itself (which is at the moment on sale at $269.99)!
Setting Up
Establishing the Mars 5 Extremely was simple sufficient. Merely unpack it, set it down someplace sturdy and flat, plug it in, and comply with the on-screen setup information. This can information you thru connecting to WiFi prepared in your first print.
To check the Elegoo Mars 5 Extremely, we used two totally different resins. I opted for the Elegoo ABS-like 2.0 (in gray) resin, as a result of I’ve used this earlier than and I can verify that it’s a reasonably first rate resin for making harder prints. And secondly, I opted for an eSun water washable resin (in blue), primarily as a result of I’ve by no means used a water washable resin earlier than, and I’m curious how good (or unhealthy) it’s.
Cleansing with IPA is a messy job (and it prices cash), so something I can do to cut back that’s welcomed. I run my very own prototyping enterprise in my day-to-day existence, so I’m at all times on the lookout for methods to attenuate prices and cut back time spent on this stuff – let’s see if water washables ship on that entrance.
Can I Give you Some…Copper?
For the primary take a look at print with the water washable resin, I believed it will be worthwhile to check Elegoo’s new resin slicer software program (Elegoo SatelLite). Everyone knows what ChituBox seems like at this level, and it’s at all times fascinating to see a brand new slicer.
Plus, I figured the SatelLite would have already got the settings for the Mars 5 Extremely, which might save on loads of messing round if ChituBox didn’t have the machine presets already.
Properly, the excellent news is that the Elegoo slicer did certainly have the Mars 5 Extremely profile. The unhealthy information is that the “System” tab remains to be in improvement (and will probably be useful in Q2 of this yr), so I couldn’t use the WiFi, digital camera, or distant monitoring from this slicer.
However slicing was high-quality, and guide assist placement was fairly good. I opted for guide placement as a result of the article I selected to print has loads of element that will doubtlessly get ruined by overzealous auto-support technology. The item in query:
A 3D scan of the “Grievance letter to Ea-Nasir”, from The British Museum.
For these unfamiliar with the story (or the meme) surrounding the clay artifact, it holds the Guinness World File as the primary criticism letter in historical past. It was written in cuneiform in Sumeria, circa 1750 BCE.
The gist of the criticism is that the client (“Nanni”) is sad with a dodgy copper service provider (“Ea-Nasir”), for promoting inferior copper ingots. The hilarious tirade particulars how Nanni despatched his assistant to resolve the problem, and the assistant was handled rudely by the service provider. The service provider returned dwelling with out a refund and was compelled to hold the substandard ingots again “via no-man’s land”.
Apparently archaeologists discovered many such criticism letters within the basement of Ea-Nasir’s home throughout excavations. By all accounts, he gave the impression to be a little bit of a fraud.
Anyway, I believed it will be enjoyable to have my very personal Sumerian criticism letter, so I printed it on the Mars 5 Extremely. It took about 6 hours to print in complete, and you’ll see the outcome beneath. Not unhealthy! I’m a bit unhappy that I couldn’t make a timelapse from it, however I tried this on the subsequent print, utilizing the Elegoo resin and ChituBox.
Printing in ChituBox
I downloaded ChituBox for this second print, which, preserving with the theme of Babylonian memes, is the “Standing Male Worshipper” statue, excavated from Inform Asmar (modern-day Iraq). This determine attained meme standing as a proxy for the aforementioned copper service provider, regardless of being separated by about 1,000 years and round 1,000 km in distance from Sumeria.
The web doesn’t take care of such particulars. It’s now regarded by the web because the face of Ea-Nasir.
Establishing in ChituBox is simple, because it already has the settings for the Elegoo Mars 5 Extremely obtainable from the machine choice display. In an effort to use the digital camera, it’s worthwhile to set up ChituManager, which is simple sufficient and might be achieved inside ChituBox itself.
In response to an Elegoo rep on social media, ChituBox is the one method to make use of the digital camera in the intervening time, though assist for Lychee is coming quickly.
It has been some time since I used ChituBox, and plainly ChituBox 2 is sort of buggy. However nonetheless, it connects to the Elegoo Mars 5 Extremely with out concern, and it has the Resin Alliance database included, so downloading the settings for the Elegoo ABS-like resin was simple sufficient.
From ChituBox I used to be in a position to orient, slice, and ship the mannequin on to the printer over WiFi, and begin the print. The time lapse might be initiated via ChituManager, though outcomes could range, on condition that the digital camera is barely 720p, and doesn’t have a lightweight. So if you’re printing at night time time, the recording high quality could also be a bit potato-like, as you possibly can see beneath.
The print took solely a few hours, as I had it set to quick mode, which reduces the journey distance for the FEP to launch (apparently).
General, the print high quality appeared affordable, and getting the assist materials off the printed mannequin appeared simpler than with different printers. I’ve used Elegoo ABS-like earlier than, and I bear in mind the marks left by the assist have been fairly noticeable final time, however on this machine the dimples have been minimal.
Closing Ideas on the Mars 5 Extremely
This was my first time utilizing an Elegoo resin printer, and given the worth, print high quality, and usefulness, I can perceive why they’re standard. Each prints have been profitable on the primary try, which isn’t at all times the case when reviewing resin printers. Even the water washable resin printed high-quality, and I had learn some feedback on-line that different customers have had some points with this sort of resin.
Concerning the “AI digital camera”, it’s laborious to understand how efficient that is, as a result of each of my prints got here out high-quality. It could be good if the digital camera was the next decision (or had a lightweight), as a result of the timelapse movies are a bit grainy. However the machine prices $269.99 in the intervening time, so at this worth level, it’s most likely a bit a lot to count on a 4K digital camera fitted as normal.
It could be nice if Elegoo may get their very own SatelLite slicer working totally too, however as talked about beforehand, the system supervisor operate is anticipated to be operational in Q2 of this yr.
Except for these small gadgets, it appears to be a reasonably succesful machine for a really reasonably priced worth, and it’s greater than appropriate for rookies, and extra skilled makers alike.
So if you want to study extra concerning the Elegoo Mars 5 Extremely, or order one for your self, then head on over to the Elegoo web site for extra data.
