ZYYX+ 3D printer review


 

Introduction

If you have read my latest posts (come on, there are not many of them), you’ll already know that I won Pinshape’s OpenRC F1 contest! Yay!! I also have received my awesome prize, a ZYYX+ 3D printer and a ZYYX limited polo t-shirt (thanks to Magicfirm). Well, after a couple of days printing things, it’s time I wrote some review.

So, without further ado, I present the ZYYX+ 3D printer!

ZYYX+ 3D printer

ZYYX+ 3D printer

ZYYX+ 3D printer and limited polo t-shirt

ZYYX+ 3D printer and limited polo T-shirt

Packaging and parts

Let’s start by talking about packaging. Everything was in place and well protected. There is a quick start guide that is very easy to follow and within minutes you have the printer ready to go.

The printer comes with everything you need to print, there is nothing missing (well, you’ll need some plastic).  It includes a maintenance kit, a tool kit and an SD card with 3D Benchy already sliced, so you can test the printer right away. It also includes a Simplify 3D license.

ZYYX maintenance kit

ZYYX maintenance kit

zyyx tool kit

ZYYX toolkit

Software

The Simplify 3D software is really good and, while I am still getting used to it, it lets you customize your prints to a level unknown for me. It comes with ZYYX+ profile so you only have to select one and go. The main advantage of this software is that it lets you control EVERY aspect of the printing process. I come from Cura and l love it, but the truth is, Simplify 3D gets you to another level. The possibility to add supports manually it’s unbelievably useful.

Simplify 3D screenshot

Simplify 3D, no problems with a 150MB stl, sliced in seconds

First print

So, when I had the printer ready to go (as I told you this only takes minutes) I loaded some filament and put it to print right away. The first print was really good quality.

First print ZYYX+ 3D benchy

First print ZYYX+ 3D benchy

First print ZYYX+ 3D benchy

First print ZYYX+ 3D benchy

Adhesion

About adhesion, this printer doesn’t have a heated bed. That may seem a problem (I thought that too) but after experiencing with it, I changed my mind. I haven’t tried ABS but with PLA you just have to keep the surface clean and refresh it every 2 to 4 prints with acetone. The first prints I didn’t cleaned it and I had some problems, but after using acetone it improved a lot. One good trick is to change design position between prints, so you don’t print two times over the same spot. I passed this question about adhesion to ZYYX team and they told me that they have just found a bug on Simplify profile that was making the printer go too fast on the first layer. Now, after tweaking this parameter I tried again and adhesion was really great. It surprised me how good it was, considering no heated bed and no lac or glue, and it’s much less messy.

Auto leveling

Talking about auto leveling, it works perfectly with no issues so far. It has three spots where the sensor takes measurements and that’s it. This is done by the printer before each print. You can also do a manual leveling but I haven’t had the need to do it for now.

Quality

I have tried fast and medium quality profile on Simplify. With medium profile quality is amazing, the accuracy with which the printer comes and goes is really great. You can even pause the print, change filament and unpause it without noticing where the pause point was.

With fast profile the quality is impressive but as you can expect, worse than with medium as layers are higher and it prints faster, but still very good.

One problem that I have with my PLA prints is blobs (you can see in OpenRC F1 lid). I contacted Magicfirm and told me that it may be caused by viscosity of PLA that I’m using. They offered to send me some filament to try (thanks!). I will try ZYYX proPLA and post if the problem disappears. With my PLA it’s only a matter of adjusting some settings on Simplify like retraction, coast and wipe. I’ll continue perfecting it 😉

Printing multiple colors

One awesome thing about the combination of Simplify and ZYYX+ is the ability to print with multiple colors. It’s true that you have to change filament while printing, but the results are quite good, and it opens a new world of possibilities for those of us that don’t have dual extruder machines.  Check these parts for OpenRC F1

Rear light of OpenRC F1 printed with multiple colors

Rear light of OpenRC F1 printed with multiple colors

Rim of OpenRC F1 printed with multiple colors

Rim of OpenRC F1 printed with multiple colors

Extras

ZYYX+ printer comes with some extra features like the filament sensor. I have to say that I was a bit sceptic at the beginning but it actually works very well! It saved me one print because the filament was tangled and the spool didn’t turn. So when I went to check the printer it was paused. I noticed that the filament spool was the problem. After solving the issue, I unpaused the print and it continued printing without a hassle. That’s very useful and it has already saved me some filament!

Magicfirm service

The support and service from Magicfirm has been excellent. They have been patient and kind with me through different emails with several questions from my part. I want to emphasize this point because sometimes you find companies that have good products but when you need something after buying their product, the service is not so good. In this case they have a great product, but also an outstanding service. They also support open source projects like my Humbot Sargantana and that is a plus.

Conclusion

I would strongly recommend this printer for those who want some extra features and high quality prints. It has some awesome features: all metal moving parts, auto leveling, fume filter, closed case, filament sensor, great service and support…, but, if I had to choose two strengths, my personal options would be the overall printing quality and the magnet removable bed. It’s a very clever way of attachment for the bed and it makes it much easier to work with.

Enjoy 3D printing!

ZYYX polo t-shirt and OpenRC F1

ZYYX polo t-shirt and OpenRC F1

Note: While writing this article I received some ZYYX proPLA filament (thank you again Magicfirm!). I’ll test it and get back to you with another post 😉

UPDATE: Check out our opinion about proPLA filament in the article “zyyx-3d-printer-and-propla-filament”

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