Amazon.com: Customer reviews: ELEGOO Mars 2 Mono MSLA 3D Printer UV Photocuring LCD Resin 3D Printer with 6.08 inch 2K Monochrome LCD, Printing Size 129x80x150mm/5.1x3.1x5.9inch, Green Cover

Top positive review

Not flawless, but an outstanding value

Reviewed in the United States on February 18, 2020

This is a good choice if you're starting out with 3D printing. Out of the box, you'll get solid results on your first print run, and it's surprising what the thing is capable once you really know what you're doing. There are some design flaws to overcome, which weren't mentioned in some of the other reviews I read, but nothing that would stop me from recommending this machine.

The main issue with this printer is inaccuracy in first several layers due to the way the Z-axis homes using an optical switch. The part on the Z axis that breaks the beam on the switch is a few mm too short, leading to a buildup in pressure that compresses a few components in the stepper and lead screw assembly. As the printer extends the Z-axis during the beginning of the print, the stepper motor turns, but the build plate doesn't move the measured value as the spring pressure is releasing, so the first several layers are compressed. The default firmware does not allow the user to manually set the Z=0 location, despite providing a menu option for it. There are a few easy fixes for this: there's a printable file for an adjustable beam breaker to set the Z=0 location manually. You can also just apply a little electrical tape to the existing part to extend it a few mm. Or, you can edit the firmware by removing one semicolon to enable the user setting of the Z=0 location. There are also reports on the forums of people being shipped modified stepper assemblies without compressible parts from Elegoo if they asked nicely. The most elaborate solution is to modify the assembly yourself. My results ended up being most reliable when I manually set the Z home to compress the spring on the ball joint of the build plate about 2mm.

The other issue I experienced was the FEP film adhering to a tiny resin fingerprint I left on the LCD during a tank cleaning. I pulled the tank forward and the force was enough to rip the LCD right out of the housing and tear the ribbon cable that connects it to the motherboard. The LCD is only attached with a few small strips of adhesive tape. The solution to this problem is to be meticulous about leaving absolutely no traces of resin on the bottom of the FEP sheet and the LCD. When removing the tank, loosen the screws that hold the tank in place all the way and lift the tank UP before pulling it forward.

Other issues with this printer are common to every other printer of this design, like smell, mess, and eventual failure of the LCD screen. I will say the LCD is fairly easy to replace, and the smell is nicely mitigated by the fully-enclosed build area of this printer. I'm also happy to report that Elegoo responded quickly and shipped me a new LCD after my fingerprint mishap. They really seem to stand by their product, and it sounds like the pro version of this printer will have the Z-axis problem solved out of the box. This printer really opened the door to the hobby for me, and I've had a great deal of fun with it. Having solved the issues I mentioned earlier, I'm getting stellar quality, accurate prints from parts stuck right to the build plate.

One person found this helpful

Top critical review

Critical reviews›

Samuel P Farris

Who is the bad guy? Amazon or Elegoo? ★★updated 11/06/2019★★

Reviewed in the United States on November 3, 2019

*******update*******
Wednesday 11/06/2019.
Yay! The replacement arrived (a day late)! And it's obviously brand new! It's clean, all the scratch guards on screens and the FEP and the cover are in place.... all of which underscore the fact that the first one was broken, used piece of crap sold as new. Unpacked it, took it to my maker space, plugged it in and turned it on. Screen lights up....screen is pretty sensitive, even with the scratch guard still on it, pressed the tools button, then the 10 cm button, then the ^ button......AND IT WORKS!!!! WOOHOO! I'm gonna print me a rook! Let me just plug this "U-Drive in and.....oh...wait....THERE ISN'T ONE!!!! Really, Elegoo? Maybe I should return this and just keep my Longer Orange.....I will update this, again, when Elegoo support sends me the "U-Drive" so I can see how the printer works....Frankly, this is in the top 5 bad experiences I have had with on line ordering...
** **********************************************
So...I ordered this on Friday, 11/01/19. Much to my surprise included was free next day shipping! I was pretty excited....but then it arrived. I thought it was a little odd that there was 2 layers of tape on the box, but, hey, these things travel a long way, so maybe the tape tore and somebody re taped it. As I got the box open and began removing items I noticed that little things were amiss....cords not secured, spare bits of packaging, that sort of thing. Well...everything seemed to be there and nothing was obviously broken so I took it in to my maker space and set it up. I noticed that the resin tank seemed to have some residue in it....as if it had been rinsed out, but not thoroughly cleaned. "Great!", I thought, "it must have passed the test print they must do for QC"...Nope... As I continued with the set up and tried to raise the Z carriage to attach the build plate all became obvious. I went to "Tools" pushed the 10 cm button and pushed the "^" button.....there was a slight grinding noise....then nothing. Not being a 3d virgin, I recognized the sound as a stuck stepper motor. Again..."these things travel a long way, maybe it just needs a little assist to get going"...pushed the button and twisted the lead screw and lo and behold, the Z carriage raised a bit. Tried it again...it raised what might have been 10 cm. Tried it again...and the Z carriage returned to it's original position! Sudden!y all became clear....this printer had been returned, no repairs had been made and it was sold, again, as new! So that raises some questions...did I get the free next day shipping because this was sitting around the Amazon warehouse and Amazon was unsure about why it was there so they shipped it out? Are returns that go to Elegoo just re-packed and shipped out again? Not even the Shadow knows. At least the return seems to be going well...Amazon has promised a replacement by 11/05/2019 so we will see...when the replacement arrives and I have a chance to put it through it's paces I will update this review.

5 people found this helpful

2,669 total ratings, 868 with reviews

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

From the United States

J. Axton

Not flawless, but an outstanding value

Reviewed in the United States on February 18, 2020

Verified Purchase

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Samuel Koepnick

Surprisingly Usable

Reviewed in the United States on March 7, 2020

Verified Purchase

I've been wanting to get into this for awhile. The theory behind it is simple. Build plate moves upward while the LCD display at the bottom shines ultraviolet light (405nm) which polymerizes the bottom layer of resin in the reservoir. Wait 6 or so seconds, raise by 0.5mm and repeat. It seemed so simple that I went back and forth between simply building my own out of cell phone remnants and an Arduino. In the end I opted to buy this, telling myself that the worst case scenario was that I'd salvage it for parts that I'd need anyway for rolling my own.

I'm honestly not sure what I was expecting. Possibly a simple aluminum shell with off-the-shelf components and a USB port. Let's be honest here, if you're looking at this you're probably a maker and are likely way more interested in the output than the aesthetics of the machine itself. But the thing is very professional looking. If you saw it in a university lab or a prototyping facility I doubt you'd bat an eye.

First thing. The package arrived on time and in immaculate condition. I have no idea who actually is responsible for packing those things, but the styrofoam was so tight around the components that I had to use a tiny punch to break the vacuum that had formed. So, good job. The lone exception was a little plastic beaker that broke after it fell a few feet in a cat-related mishap. It was going to be recycled anyway so I really didn't care.

If you're into miniature style games, this is something that you could use to hit the ground running. There's a ton of models on Thingiverse that should print just fine. They even pre-load a number on the USB drive that they ship.

Since this is my first foray into this kind of printing, I wanted to write down a few notes. If you're a newcomer to this you may find them useful too.

1) The slicing software (takes your 3D model and outputs it in a way that the printer can interpret) is free, but not open source. I usually try to stick with FOSS, but Chitubox runs flawlessly on Linux (Wayland even!) which is really enough to make me happy at this point. If the authors decide to start charging, I have zero doubt that the open source community will fill the void.

2) The printing process is slower than that of a traditional FDM (Prusa-type) 3D printer. The 50mm tall "hello, world" rook model took about 4 hours to print at a layer height of 0.05mm. Lowering that to a coarser 0.075mm brings that down to about 2 hours. The printer, in theory, can go as fine as 0.01mm, but I haven't gone that far, yet.

3) The resin is nasty stuff. The actual Elegoo branded resin seems to be quite a bit less noxious than the other stuff that I've picked up. But no matter what, you don't want to get any of it on you. I had considered a bigger model but in hindsight am glad I went with this one. A bigger reservoir means dealing with larger volumes of this stuff.

4) The build plate and the reservoir are good and solid. You can feel the heft.

Getting Started

What's in the box isn't enough to get you started. You'll also need to pick up a bottle of resin. In theory that's that you need...But responsible making generally entails keeping all of your eyes, fingers, and skin intact at the end of the day. Here's my list of the most important safety equipment to have with this.

Gloves - They send a few with the device. They're quite small. Even if you have hands tiny enough to fit into them, you'll still want a bix box. Seriously. Don't try and save on gloves. The resin is as bad as honey when it comes to sticking to any surface.

Goggles - They do something!

Dust mask - They send a few N95 masks. Sadly, at the time of writing, masks are being hoarded by panic-stricken people who believe that a dust mask will keep a virus out of their systems.

Perishables:

Resin - Obviously

FEP film - This forms the bottom of the reservoir and is solidly clamped in place. It needs to be as clear as possible in order for the shapes to be nice and crisp. It feels like the one that comes with the printer will last for awhile, but had I known that I may need these in the future, I probably would have picked some up with the initial order.

Solvent - Used to wash non-polymerized resin from a model after the printing is complete. Also used as a general cleaner for the build plate and reservoir. Isopropyl alcohol is what's recommended. But since that's being hoarded by the same folks hoarding dust masks you may need to find alternatives. High proof Everclear, Xylene and mineral spirits come to mind. I've found that using a ultrasonic jewelry cleaner with distilled water works really well. But I've only tried it a few times. Your results may vary. I'd also recommend buying a box or two of eyeglass/lens cleaners. Good for a very soft, streakless spot clean.

Funnels - Useful for reclaiming unused resin from the reservoir. The conical filters that they send DO NOT fit properly into the resin bottles. Don't try to wing it. Learn from my mistakes. An oil funnel with a cotton ball stuffed in as a filter seems to work fine.

Ultraviolet light bulb - Good for curing in a hurry. In a pinch, the sun will also work.

Shop towels - Sopping up resin

Extra Credit

Crap that I already had lying around that turned out to be really useful.

* A garage

* Small fume hood

* Multiple borosilicate/Pyrex casserole dishes for multi-stage washing

* Mason jars for reclaiming solvent

* Magnetic stir plate

* Aforementioned ultrasonic jewelry cleaner

* Stainless steel mesh for straining

* Flush clippers for snipping model supports

That's it for now. I'll try and update as I try more prints and discover more things that I wish I had known.

6 people found this helpful

Helpful

Kyle.J

I'm blown away with the print quality!

Reviewed in the United States on October 31, 2019

Verified Purchase

The short version of this is YES, I'd buy another one and I love the Elegoo Mars!!!

I will first start by saying that I was hesitant to buy a resin printer because of the "mess", smell and other down sides I had previously heard about. I did my research to find the best fit for my needs and budget. The Elegoo Mars IS THE BEST! I'm blown away by the print detail and how easy it is to use. There's a slight learning curve and several things I don't like about resin printing compared to FDM printing but it's still worth the extra work and slight mess. I have several CR-10's and I will still use those for large prints but for small detailed prints, this is the machine to use!
First, the smell isn't nearly as bad as people said it was. It's probably best to have it in a shop or garage and not in your house because it does give off a slight resin odor especially the first time you use it but it's not that bad at all. I work around it all evening and it is never overwhelming or nauseating. After about 5 minutes in my shop I don't even notice it anymore. It does not smell any more than my FDM printers.
Second, it isn't that messy as I previously read in other reviews. You need a silicone nonstick mat to put down to avoid drips and spills but it's well worth the 20 bucks to get one.
Third, Did I mention yet the print detail is AMAZING! Most FDM printers print at a minimum of .1 and the Mars prints at a .05 layer height which means NO PRINT LINES to clean up!
Last, you do need to buy a UV light to cure your parts. I did a quick test and left several parts away from the sun to see how long the full cure time would be and they are still tacky to the touch after 3 days. Unfortunately we have had cloudy days since I bought the printer and I can't rely on the sun to cure my parts right now.

THE DOWNSIDES: These aren't a deal breaker for me but the print bed size is small but I knew that going in. That being said, it's still a good value for the bed size. If I wanted a bigger bed I'd have to go to a 1,700 dollar machine. It is a little more of a mess than an FDM printer. You do have to pour resin in a basin, wipe up the drip from the bottle that seems to happen every time and wipe off the bottle every time you fill the tray. I have only cleaned the tray once in the 3 days of constant printing because I had a mis-print that caused the resin to cure to the bottom of the resin tray. It was my design error and no fault of the printer. I scratched up the film on the bottom of the tray so I'm sure I'll have to replace that after numerous prints but I was expecting that anyway from previous research. The film typically is under 20 dollars to replace and you get several replacement pieces and the labor to do it seems pretty easy.
Cleaning the resin tank is simple and straight forward. 99% alcohol works great and you have to use alcohol to rinse off your printed parts but here's how I look at it.. I sometimes spend hours sanding prints off my CR-10 (that I love) and now I'm spending minutes cleaning up small resin drips and occasionally cleaning parts. It's a good trade off on time.
I HIGHLY recommend this printer and do plan to buy an even bigger one eventually. This thing is amazing! I'm very pleased with Elegoo.

Helpful

Scott Presbrey

Impressive entry-level resin printer for the price!

Reviewed in the United States on February 19, 2019

Verified Purchase

I ordered the Elegoo Mars around the first of the year. My experience has been positive overall. The support is very good, and I found that using the facebook Elegoo Mars group is very helpful as well. Some pros and cons:
Pros:
-Very easy to set-up and use (software is relatively simple to use). Far fewer settings to adjust vs FDM printers (only 5 or 6 settings really make a difference in the end product)
-Less finicky than FDM printers (not as susceptible to print fails from factors like first layer adhesion/settings). It's very forgiving.
-Incredible detail and resolution
-Good support
-Resin is ideal for painting
-Relatively low maintenance

Cons:
-A bit messy
-A bit smelly (not as bad as people mention IMO).
-A bit slow. Not a true con, because DLP laser resin printers are expensive, commercial grade printers for higher volume application.
-Elegoo resin sticks to everything and transfers easily. 99% isopropyl/ethyl are the only readily available solvents to remove resin from surfaces. (Tip: after printing, rinse with 99% isopropyl or ethyl alcohol, then water, then alcohol and water again.)
-Quality control: I had to return first 2 units. First one had an issue where the rising and lowering metal plate would not detach from FEP during first several layers. SOLUTION: add a piece of painters tape to corner of LCD screen, under FEP film, but do not cover active pixel area! (Issue is a vacuum is created that cannot detach).....Second printer had to be returned because units are susceptible to a part knocking loose during shipment, which will cause the UV lamp to turn off randomly. I found tapping the side of the unit helps temporarily, but it is shorting out. Support has a solution to fix it yourself. Just wrap it in an insulator that doesn't conduct electricity (I deferred to the amazon exchange process).

Some tips:
The printer has a relatively easy learning curve. Default settings in Chitubox 1.3 are ok, but not ideal. For Elegoo transparent resin, I use a minimum of 8 seconds per layer at 0.05mm height. For opaque resins, I use 11-12 seconds per layer at 0.05mm. As a default, I use 8 bottom layers at 30 seconds each. I don't change settings for different layer heights. For most models, especially ones with large internal volume, be sure to add a drain hole in the software or manually with a drill bit after printing. If you drill too small a hole, another hole to let air may be necessary.
-Always check the resin reservoir after printing and especially after fails for resin that is stuck to the TPE film and loose in the leftover resin. They include filters for this.
-When picking models and preparing a print, you should use any empty area of the print bed for additional models. The only thing affecting print speed is the height of your models. You can print as many models simultaneously as you can fit on the bed without affecting print speed as long as you don't add a taller model. (This is not the case with FDM printers).
-Get a nail curing lamp or put your models in the sun to cure for 30 min-1 hour for increased strength. Too long will change the color of some resins (like elegoo transparent).
-Try the transparent resin at least once. Transparent resin prints the fastest and you can also calibrate and level your bed without having to empty the resin and clean it (you can see through to the LCD screen to align the ballast without removing the resin).
--Another reason, is that transparent resin allows you to see the internal structure of your model. You can see the infill grid and see if any resin is trapped. I didn't understand the importance of a drain hole in some models until I used transparent resin and saw liquid resin moving freely in a finished model.

Despite needing to make an exchange, my overall experience has been very positive. For $500, I think it is a great deal relative to other resin printers with similar abilities and performance. I would definitely make the purchase again.

625 people found this helpful

Helpful

N. Gramlich

Been great after initial ordering issue

Reviewed in the United States on March 23, 2021

Verified Purchase

When I placed my initial order for the Mars 2 I received an original Mars (red cover) instead. Additionally, when I opened the box, the item had clearly been previously used. It had fingerprints and smudges all over the screen and cover and the power cable was just tossed loose in the accessory box (which also had chew marks from someone's pet). I immediately requested an exchange through Amazon and contacted Amazon support about the issue. They placed a note on my return order for the warehouse to ensure I received the correct item, which I did.
Now that I finally have the correct item I'm very pleased with it. I'm new to the world of 3D printing but this thing is easy to use and prints wonderfully detailed items. One note for other new folks, the "Rooks" test print is exceptionally difficult to get to release from the build plate because they print with the base flush against it. This crates a poor experience for any first-time user and I ended up with several scratches on my build plate from struggling to wedge those off with the included metal scraper. I've since quickly learned to print objects at an angle using supports in the slicing software to elevate them off the build plate. This makes for far easier removal. Fortunately, the scratches seem completely superficial and haven't affected successive printing in any noticeable way.
The only specific issue I've run into using the printer is the included flash drive turned out to be faulty. Everything seemed fine at first but about 20% of the way through my very first test print, I got a memory error message telling me to remove and reinsert the flash drive then continue. I did that several times but the error persisted. When I tried plugging the flash drive into my PC it would mostly not recognize anything was connected. If I removed and reinserted I could get it to sometimes be recognized for a few seconds but would not remain connected. To fix this, I just downloaded the flash drive contents from the Elegoo site and copied it to my own flash drive and haven't had any problems since.
Overall, I'm quite pleased but removing one star for receiving the wrong model in a used state on the first order and the faulty flash drive.
One other tip, I chose to order the grey water washable Elegoo resin to use and I'm very happy I did so. There are no special cleaners or alcohol needed to clean prints or the tools/parts, making the post printing cleanup much easier. Though, I do give my build plate, resin vat, and other tools a quick wipe down with alcohol after I clean them with water just to be sure they are 100% cleaned.

Helpful

Skrishna

Excellent 3D printer

Reviewed in the United States on July 5, 2019

Verified Purchase

I am a newbie to the world of 3D printing, and this is my first ever 3D printer. All I can say is that this printer is amazing. For someone coming off the street, to learn about the technology, learn the tools needed, to getting some of the coolest prints within 3 days, is just amazing.

I am a hobby n-scale model railroader and I build a lot of n-scale buildings, completely from scratch, using Styrene plastic. I have resisted the world of 3D printing because I needed to learn all these new 3D tools and FDM print quality at n-scale (1:160) they never looked appealing. So I waited for a very long time to get into 3D printing, and I am glad I did. I think I have found the perfect solution for making a lot of add on features for my model building hobby.

I will be honest, while the machine is fantastic, the whole Stereo Lithography is very messy. The materials are poisonous and requires a lot of safety precautions - Do yourself a favor and buy more nitrile gloves, a proper organic solvent gas mask and some good eye protection. The monomers in the resin are highly toxic and unless they are polymerized, they can cause all kinds of health hazard. My father-in-law is a chemist and worked with OSHA. He was surprised these products were being sold openly in the market, without much precautions around them.

Having said that, the machine itself is amazing. The prints you are seeing are mostly within 3 attempts of me printing n-scale cars that I downloaded from Thingiverse. The two Street Lamps (on the quarter) is the real reason I got into 3D printing, because one of the models I am building needed these. The teardown truck parts are so delicate and detailed, I am excited to paint each one of them separately and actually have it be a show case 3D printed and painted n-scale car.

Pros:
- Very sturdy, yet delicately designed product
- Very easy to get started
- Took no time at all to align, the instructions are pretty good
- Runs pretty quietly and the smell is not as bad as I thought it would be
- Instant gratification!

Cons:
- The process is very messy
- Need a lot of safety tools and processes around how to handle the products used in the printing
- Be careful about exposing anything to sun light, I had plastic form on my print plate due to just few mins of exposure to sun. Took me about 20 mins to clear them with a blade
- The operating temp of the unit is very narrow (22 to 25 C). I had to move the setup into the house, as the garage was too hot for it. I ended up building a ventilator for the printer so I can keep it in air conditioned room, but push the fumes out of the window.
- You have to paint the objects with some sort of UV block (I use Testors Spray Lacquer Clear Coat) to prevent them from becoming brittle

Finally, this is an excellent product and worth the trouble

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

Louis Mazziotta

Elegoo Mars - a great printer for the price.

Reviewed in the United States on October 27, 2019

Verified Purchase

This was my first experience with a resin based printer. I have worked with hobby FDM printers and commercial printers of many types. Additionally, I have attended many additive manufacturing trade shows. With all of my experience and exposure to what is out there, I must say that this printer is outstanding for the money and the print results rival some of the more expensive systems.

PRINT RESULTS
The items that I have printed, lived up to the hype and I am very pleased. My first two prints consisted of a "Tesla Valve" and the "Elegoo sample rook file." Both prints were near perfect. The rook file was flawless, but my "Tesla Valve" had some deformation where I had too many supports. The supports interfered with some of the finer details. I am sure that I could make adjustments to overcome this issue. The third print I made failed as the surface area of the part was much greater than the supports could handle resulting in the part separating at the support points and leaving the part on the FEP film with the raft and supports on the build plate. In hindsight I should have printed this part without support directly on the build plate.

BEGINNERS BEWARE
If you are a beginner in 3D printing, especially resin printing, you should do your homework about 3D printing to manage your expectations. 3D printing is NOT at the level of pressing print and getting a repeatable result. There is still a element of art to the process. All of the 3D printing that I have done comes with trial and error, learning about the materials and the tools and their interactions. I have found what seems to work on one systems does not always directly translate to the same result on anther system, so temper your expectations until your familiarity with the process improves. Moreover, environmental considerations are a must. Depending on the printer, materials and process your success will sometimes be affected by things like temperature and humidity, so know and control your environment.

SAFETY
Adhere to all safety recommendations, these systems are not toys for children and lack of understanding could put your health at risk. From my understanding and reviewing some of the MSDS/SDS on some of the resins there are serious health consequences for mishandling the resins. That is not to say that FDM printers are without there considerations as well. Do your homework and know the safety concerns before jumping in.

PRACTICALITY
Consider what you are buying a 3D printer. Each technology out there offers a solution that is better suited for your goals.

Resin printers offer high detail, small prints, but the materials are limited and not necessarily the strongest functional parts.

FDM printers cannot compete with the details of a resin print, but larger and sometimes stronger parts can be made.

There are other great printers out there, but they are not in this price point, so I will not talk to their benefits here.

CONCLUSION
Resin printers are great for fine details in small part and models such as figurines, small parts for model builders and for casting jewelry. There are greater safety considerations, but with proper protective equipment and care the results may be worth the effort. The printer is just one component of the process and before buying do your homework and buy all the support environment items before printing. There are a great deal of YouTube videos out there on resin printing and many of the printer models being sold; spend some time watching others to learn more about it. One suggesting that I agree with is, have a dedicated place to do your printing with your resin printer; this will help with staying safe. Finally, while I have not reviewed any of the other low end resin printers, I can say that I am extremely please with the Elegoo Mars printer.

Helpful

Leacar

Best Bang for Your Buck!!!

Reviewed in the United States on June 30, 2020

Verified Purchase

I bought this printer to replace my Longer Orange 30 (which i had for two weeks and it died on me) and to keep me printing while i waited for my Elegoo Saturn...
Figured I’d get something with more fans and “hype”
The hype was very very accurate. I’ve had maybe 2 failed prints with this machine, both my fault, and quality could not be better for the price...
Everything on it works amazing and is very user friendly. The machine is open source so you can print upgrades/mods for it on the machine itself (i suggest printing a shorter bed knob, it gives you an extra 20mm in the Z direction)

I did my standard benchy (as seen in photo) but i printed it at 20% so it fits on a quarter perfectly... as you can see the quality is phenomenal!!!

The machine is fairly quiet, prints quick enough, and has a good size build volume (pretty standard for the price range)
Slicing models is quick and easy in ChiTuBox and the stock profile works with almost any resin. (I suggest upping exposure to 90s bottom and 10s top layers makes post-processing easier)
I printed about 20 pens on it (also seen in photo) and the threads printed beautifully at 0.1mm layer heights with only one pen failing due to bad supports (my fault)

I have 2L of resin in 2weeks on this machine so i have it running non-stop, just so you know how reliable my experience is...

Long story short:
If you want to get into resin printing and want something easy and reliable BUY THIS NOW
If you like making your machines your own with mods and upgrades, BUY THIS NOW
If you think you want this machine vs. the Mars pro I’ll tell you this:
Other than Siraya Tech Blu and Siraya Tech Tenacious, i can not smell the resin while printing unless i stick my face by the exhaust vent. The print chamber and the electronics case is really well insulated from each other...
If you’re still worried about the smell - For $20 you can buy Elegoo’s battery carbon filters that (Elegoo support themselves told me) are better than anything the Mars Pro has.

What about the 1second quicker layer times in the Mars pro? Pretty useless in my opinion because 90% of print time is from z-moves not from exposure (it takes 15seconds for it to do the z-move and 7-8seconds of exposure time)

Save yourself $50-60 and buy the standard Mars, buy the Elegoo Carbon filters if you’re worried about smell, and use the rest to buy extra resin.

All in all:
10/10 will recommend
10/10 ease of use
10/10 reliability
10/10 will buy again

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

Metapulp Inc

Great for Prototyping

Reviewed in the United States on December 30, 2019

Verified Purchase

I spent about a week reading reviews and comparing to the Anycube. I chose Elegoo because I already buy their Arduino products and use the boards in some really sophisticated microcontroller electronics. I do not need a 3D printer for making figurines but for prototyping and have sent my .stl files off to printers via 3Dprint hubs etc. in the past. This printer puts an end to the expense of having others do my printing. I had been looking at the Formlabs line, and $4000 was just out of touch pricing. My last print by others experienced considerable shrinkage, and when I saw how much money I would spend and how much time I would waste trying to get the prototype right versus $249 for the Elegoo Mars, I finally hit the "buy" button. This will be day 3 of printing, and I am already on iterations 3-7 of my prototype. The resin does come with its expense, but a little goes a long way, and ChituBox also tells you how much your part costs by dividing the cost of the resin by the volume of your part. I can make 1250 small parts out of one liter of Siraya Blu ($50), for example (let's reduce by 20% for waste, and I'd only get 1000). 1000 prototypes would cost me closer to $10,000. By comparison, just prior to buying the Elegoo Mars, I got a quote exceeding $6000.00 just to make the mold for one version of this part. So, this printer completely changes everything for me. I may end up going the injection mold route, but if the tougher resins hold up (lots of data out there) then I may just print them myself. My wall thickness is .5 mm by the way, and I have details that are only .1 mm. These are clearly visible.

Now, a word about stinkiness and toxicity. I heard the word "toxic" used in some reviews. Let's put that word aside. The MSDS or SDS sheets are readily available for all of these resins as well as the alcohol you will use for cleaning. I own an inexpensive North respirator with vapor/fume cartridges, and I have been using this mask for 25 years. Had to buy a second one about 10 years ago because I lost the first one. Forget about the paper masks. The vapors you smell are not any worse than you would find working with any epoxy or chemical or bleach for that matter. Once the cover goes over the printer and epoxy bed, the vapors are contained and you don't need the respirator. I am using gloves but then I use gloves for all of the epoxy work I do. Clean up is a little bit of a pain, but so is doing the dinner dishes. Put together a little assembly line. Also, you see people using very large washing tanks. You don't need to go that big. I just used a little plastic container for washing the print in household 91% isopropyl and a UV flashlight I have for curing.

I rarely write reviews. This one goes up for others like me, DIY, citizen scientists, who need to make functional prototypes but can only find reviews by people making figurines. I have not had to reach out to Elegoo for tech support, so no comment there. Nothing I have bought from them has not worked, so there has been no need.

44 people found this helpful

Helpful

Jon Schoffel

Unbelievable print quality for less than $300!

Reviewed in the United States on September 16, 2019

Verified Purchase

This is my first purchase of a 3D printer, and was sold on buying this particular machine after checking out all of the reviews on Youtube and such. I was first interested in 3d printers back when Makerbots and Repraps were the new hotness, so it's been awhile. When I found the Elegoo Mars for less than $300, and found how good the print resolution has gotten in comparison to earlier FDM printers, I couldn't resist trying this machine out.

First, I have to say, I am absolutely thrilled with how good the print quality is. I tried printing both the test Rook, as well as the most popular Eiffel Tower model I found on thingiverse.com. Both prints came out absolutely spectacular. There's not a single flaw on either of them. It took 4 hours for the rook, and 9 hours for the Eiffel tower prints to complete, so that might be the only drawback. However, considering the quality in comparison to a normal PLA/ABS FDM printer, it's totally worth it.

The odor of the resin is a little annoying, but it's not terribly irritating. Just make sure to use the cover while your model is printing. I haven't gotten any on my hands, so I can't attest to how much of a skin irritant the resin is, but I'd rather not find out. Either way, it's certainly sticky/greasy stuff so you need to be thorough about cleaning the resin up after using this printer.

With that said, I've only printed 3 items so far with the printer, and everything's been gravy. I haven't tested any prints with overhangs and supports yet, so that's my next attempt. The kit came with almost everything you need, although I'd recommend a few other miscellaneous items if they haven't been mentioned already:

1) Resin (obviously)
2) Paper towels
3) >91% isopropyl alcohol. You'll need a fair amount of this stuff to clean your prints, as well clean the FEP resin tank/print surface. A couple bottles should be enough, and is definitely reusable.
3) Large puppy pads. To avoid getting the resin all over my table/floor, I put a puppy pad under the machine and use it as my work surface. You WILL get resin on your table, no matter how careful you are.
4) UV light. I bought a popular $20 20W UV light here on Amazon, and have used that to cure prints. Living in the PNW, we don't get direct sunlight all the time, so this works great.
5) Tupperware containers w/ lids. Use this to wash your prints in and agitate them w/ IPA.
6) Small funnels. You'll need these to pour the IPA and resin back into their respective bottles.
7) Latex gloves. The kit comes with a few pairs already, but you'll go through these quicky.
7) Glass/windshield scraper (with razor blade). Some models might stick the print bed. Spray some IPA onto the piece/pad and use the blade to scrape it off. I tried using the included scraper tool, but the edge was too dull to get underneath the print. The razor blade did the trick. Definitely worth the $2 investment.

With these items and a bit of research, anyone should be able to get great results from this printer. So far, the printer been reliable with 1 4-hour print and 2 9-hour prints. If any reliability issues arise, I'll report back.

Helpful

Questions? Get fast answers from reviewers

Need customer service?

‹ See all details for ELEGOO Mars 2 Mono MSLA 3D Printer UV Photocuring LCD Resin 3D Printer...

5 star
4 star
3 star
2 star
1 star

ELEGOO Mars 2 Mono MSLA 3D Printer UV Photocuring LCD Resin 3D Printer...

›

Customer reviews

Customer reviews

ELEGOO Mars 2 Mono MSLA 3D Printer UV Photocuring LCD Resin 3D Printer with 6.08 inch 2K Monochrome LCD, Printing Size 129x80x150mm/5.1x3.1x5.9inch, Green Cover

Top positive review

Top critical review

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

From the United States

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

Questions? Get fast answers from reviewers

ELEGOO Mars 2 Mono MSLA 3D Printer UV Photocuring LCD Resin 3D Printer... › Customer reviews

Customer reviews

ELEGOO Mars 2 Mono MSLA 3D Printer UV Photocuring LCD Resin 3D Printer with 6.08 inch 2K Monochrome LCD, Printing Size 129x80x150mm/5.1x3.1x5.9inch, Green Cover

Top positive review

Top critical review

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

From the United States

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

Questions? Get fast answers from reviewers

ELEGOO Mars 2 Mono MSLA 3D Printer UV Photocuring LCD Resin 3D Printer...

›

Customer reviews