I’ve started my 3d printing journey with M3D’s Crane Quad. A crowdfunded multicolor printer. And, to be honest, it never reached its potential. At least not for me. In the facebook community groups, I have seen plenty of working examples. However, every time I fix the crane and it starts working, something else stops and the process repeats.
Besides that, it’s even trickier to get supplies. Most crucial parts are propriatory components, only purchasable from M3D. They don’t ship outside of the USA anymore. The community does have some spare parts, but getting that to my house with the current shipping nightmares, adds another 100 euro’s to an already costly and fragile solution.
So after deliberation the Quad will be replaced. I’ve ordered and received the Zonestar Z9V5 pro just last week and I’m in the proces of constructing it. It comes semi-assemblied, just need to screw it together and hook up the connectors and I should be good to go.
As the title suggest, this will be a replacement. So should you be interested in either the entire crane quad, or just the crane head, contact me!
Zonestar Z9V5 pro
So why this printer, and why now? I had seen some ads on this printer on facebook I think and it looked interesting. It has a cube setup, like my Ender 5 plus, and roughly the same size. And it has a 4 in – 1 out extrusion, like the Quad has. The Quad community have noticed the printer as well and after some testing has been designated “printing as the quad should have”. The outputs I’ve seen are great and that got me convinced that this should be a good replacement. Comparing the Z9V5 with the Z9V5pro there are just 2 differences. One is a newer LCD touchscreen. The other is a glass build plate. The cost diffence isn’t that much so I just decided to go for the newest option. (newer is better, right?)
So why now? First of all, when I see something I like, I really have a hard time to not buy it. But I gave myself two rules to protect myself.
- The Zonestar is only being sold via their AliExpress store, default shipping is from China. I live in the Netherlands, so shipping from China is expensive (if you want it soon-ish), and a lot of VAT will be added. That would set me back about Γé¼200. I’d rather spend that cash on other things, like food. So rule 1 will be to only buy it once it’s shippable again from an EU-based warehouse.
- The Zonestar seems to increase their prices every time a sale ends. Stating a discount from $750 -> $500. (for the pro) So I decided never to buy it at full price, as I think that is too much for the components. Also, I think aliexpress never sells without a discount.
And low and behold, I was able to get it from the Polish warehouse two weeks after setting up these rules. Shipping was a bit harsh; appearantly the polish warehouse is under check because of the new VAT rules being setup on july 1st. (the non-VAT threshold of Γé¼22 is being dropped, for instance) So Zonestar helped me a lot with investigation and routed my printer with DHL via Germany. So it took longer then they told me at first (shipping within 4 days became 6) and the shipping itself took longer then I thought (took 8 days), but I’m able to build it.
The construction is pretty straightforward so far, especially after my experiences with the Ender 5 plus.
Just look at them, the two cubes standing next to eachother. The Ender is currenly carying the spool holders I removed off the Quad.
The printbed is a bit smaller, which is a shame as the construction has room for more bed size in my opinion.
The back end holds the motherboard, psu and has 4 spool holders.
It has 4 fillament runout sensors and 4 extruders at the back as well. Time will tell how convenient switching filaments will be, but it looks like a great solution so far.
Once I have a few hours of printing time, I will write up my first verdicts.
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