looks like they are on sale at the moment: http://www.makerfarm.com/index.php/prin … board.html
(you would need to add the stepper drivers to this as an option)

another alternative would be a Ramps 1.4 setup... but not quite as versatile as the Rumba...
http://www.makerfarm.com/index.php/prin … hield.html
http://www.makerfarm.com/index.php/prin … -2560.html
(this would also require stepper drivers - sold separately)

Makerfarm is also a very good site to deal with. I purchased both of my Rumbas from them, as well as spare stepper drivers, and a few other things.

Off to find out where to get a new control board.

the other printers have all been in kit form, and of the 4 kits purchased, 1 was a complete and utter piece of *excrement* - the other 3 were all from FolgerTech - the 2020 Prusa i3, the Kossel Rev B, and most recently the FT-5 large format.

While not perfect by any stretch, all of the FolgerTech kits were able to print using only the parts supplied to build them - in other words, they are complete kits. That said, I did make a few modifications on each one of them to improve performance and ease of use.

I have since sold the Prusa to an online friend (i hardly ever used it) and he is quite happy with it. A little time spent fine tuning and he has it running circles around his Taz

I definitely know that these devices go down, pretty much no matter the cost. There is a 3D printer at the local community college that prints in metal and from what the guy responsible for their 3D printers told me, it is down constantly. We have four Prusa I3 type machines at the local makerspace and at any given time, you are lucky if one of them is running right.

I would like some input on a second machine though, even if it requires some up front improvements. I am hoping that if I have two and something needs to get done, I will be able to get one of them moving on it before too much time passes.

PrintIt Industries is such a place - and to top it off, they were started specifically to help those of us with Solidoodle printers, although many of their parts will fit other printers as well.

this motor would be a drop in replacement for your extruder motor: http://www.printitindustries.com/collec … hs13-0404s

Pretty much any printer under $1000 is going to need some upgrading and/or tweaking - and quite a few over that threshold as well..

Fix what you have, and get it running well and it will be a very reliable machine.
My 1st SD4 is my workhorse - I can fire it up and print whatever I need to with pretty much no issues at all. Did that happen overnight? no, but it did happen. Yes, there were hiccups along the way, but nothing that could not be overcome with a little research and work.
#2 is slowly getting to that point.

If I could afford a Stratasys, I would already have one :-)

I would like to stay under a thousand dollars. Once it gets above that, I would just assume buy a CNC machine and make parts from more durable materials.

I have seen some good reviews of the Wanhao Duplicator I3, but it also requires some upgrading.

Since I can confirm that your entire order of a E3D v6 and Titan were delivered last week. I had motor problems during my Titan mod because:
1) It is not recommended to use a .9 motor along with the Titan, which I was using previously.
2) The Second motor was a dud and did not work in any way.
3) The third motor works perfectly and I am still using.

This left me with some frustration, but I am very happy with the end result and found the frustration was worth it. Solidoodle made some great machines, but you need to spend a good amount of time and sometimes a little cash to get prints that would rival more well known and higher priced units.

Does anyone have good experience with another 3D printer? I am thinking about getting another because it seems that half the time I need to do something on the printer it is in need of something and I have to do without or make some other plans.

My current project was going to be to print 4 gears to build a device for painting a spiral on arrows that my daughter needs for DragonCon as well as designing and printing a prop from a tv show she watches for DragonCon.  I attempted to start over two weeks ago and encountered a clogged nozzle. I have since purchased 4 gears for painting the spirals, but I still need to print the "stel" and based on how this has gone so far, I have no confidence that changing the motor out is going to be easy or even finish the job. So, it would be nice to have another printer so when things come up I will have a better chance of one of them working.

The zip tie on the E motor isn't mandatory. Several users, myself included haven't had a zip tie on the motor for years. Swapping out motors is an easy mechanical change, but you will still need to recalibrate in EEPROM.

Mechanically, it looks like it is just held on with a cable tie. What I am more concerned with is the wiring. Most of the NEMA17 motors I am seeing don't look like their wires will extend all the way to the control box.